Half-Serious

Here's something fun that I did for Prof. Taffy Raphael from the College of Education at UIC.

The idea was to present a series of (fake) Google searches that ultimately would reveal the winner of an award that Taffy would be announcing at the annual meeting of the National Research Conference in Albuquerque.

Since I had content of all kinds related to the winner (photos, video, bibliography, etc.), I just appropriated whatever corresponding Google interface there was. For example, for the bibliography I used something that looked like a combination of Google Books and Google Scholar; for the video I used something that looked like Google Video. I even managed to work in a Google Map or two.

Judging by the tittering in the audience during the presentation, it seems to have been a success.

So the email goes out: "pumpkin nut/raisin bread" in the Reference Workroom.

Sounds nice, huh? So what's left when the Saturday crew finally shows up? You're looking at it.

Outrageous!

Talk about potpourri, this week's DePaulia, the student newspaper of DePaul contains the following highlights:

Buy new underwear!

You too can have your own 'dream' funeral parlor, no doubt exquisitely furnished, within easy reach of the Loyola Redline Stop and the Lake.

"I want to do a business plan and I need your help."

So yes, everybody and his mother has sent me a message about the Conflicker Worm that's supposed to strike on April 1.

All I can say is, April Fools to you too!*

(*I mean, some of us remember Y2K.)

Apparently until the following legislation finally passes, if you're dead in Mississippi but don't meet the "residency requirements", your chances of getting a pauper's grave don't look too good:

And the winner is: a cornstarch laced brown foamy liquid that apparently is supposed to appeal to easily distracted (and hallucinatory) teenagers.

Wow, here's something I haven't seen for a while: It's a clip called, "The Sisters Zilla" that I did as a final project for one of my classes at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program -- almost 10 years ago! It's kind of funny, especially near the end. What's more amazing: the link still works (requires RealPlayer):

Here's the original description for the piece:

The Sisters Zilla (in RealVideo). Emotive blockbuster combining the best of "The Three Sisters" by Anton Chekov together with "Godzilla" by Sony Entertainment plus a shot or two of ITP thrown in for good measure. Done with Debbie Tarjono for 'Digital Video'. (Premiere 5.0, AfterEffects 4.0; Summer 1999).