Funny or Die is a comedy video site that brings forth an interesting mix of celeb and user-generated content with social media elements.
Users, including some celebs and professionals, upload videos who are then voted on: funny or die. The funniest videos make it to the top of the list while the others ones sink.
The model is somewhat reminiscent of On The Inside’s, in that we profile local celebs, and soon will allow users to share content (recommendations).
Funny or Die was started by Will Farrell and writers Adam McKay (Talladega Nights) and Chris Henchy (Entourage). In case, you haven’t seen it, here’s their submission The Landlord:
According to Google Analytics, Funny or Die has attracted 4.4 million pageviews and 1.7 millions unique visitors in its first week of operation. From vcratings.com: “Funny or Die’s rise shows what can be done when you combine the power of Hollywood celebrity with user generated content and cheap Silicon Valley technology.”
Our photog Liz went out this morning to shoot upcoming personality Doug Jaeger in the meatpacking district. We got a nice little preview tour of some design week exhibits by the same token. Nice.
Did you know UC Berkeley webcasts—and archives—their college courses? Video webcasts are posted within a couple hours of each lecture, available and free to all.
Also, audio podcasts are available directly on the Itunes store (no tuition either). Each podcast episode is a full single lecture. I’m currently rocking History 7B.
You would probably save all of them to study the man and his life. Lucky for us, Charles Darwin was an avid writer and some 5,000 of his letters are now transcribed online. Talk about a record of history. It’s all available to you at:
The massive, 10 year-old, project is still in the works. All letters have a concise summary, are searchable, and categorized by correspondent.
To his wife on June 5th, 1844, he wrote:
My. Dear. Emma.
I have just finished my sketch of my species theory. If, as I believe that my theory is true & if it be accepted even by one competent judge, it will be a considerable step in science.
I therefore write this, in case of my sudden death, as my most solemn & last request, which I am sure you will consider the same as if legally entered in my will, that you will devote 400£ to its publication & further will yourself, or through Hensleigh, take trouble in promoting it.
Amazon is announcing the launch of a digital music store. The big news: it’s DRM-free (no Digital Rights Management). That means you can download your music and use it without restriction, play it on any device or burn it. However, EMI is the only major record company that allows the sale of its music free of DRM. The other big 3 (Warner, Universal, Sony BMG) are not, so you will not find their music at Amazon, but they’re bound to feel some pressure to comply.
Last month Apple announced DRM-free music for sale at the Itunes store, for $1.29 a track instead of $.99 for the restricted versions. Amazon haven’t made public their pricing structure but they should be good competition for Apple seeing as so many people already have accounts with Amazon for books and CD’s.
Shares of Amazon rose $2.64, or more than 4 percent, today. The digital store opens late 2007.
On a side note, kind of funny that a bookseller would name themselves Amazon. I guess books do require paper.
The Hatchery is a dot com incubator here in New York where early-stage companies submit a biz plan summary to the “Gauntlet”, and if selected have the opportunity to pitch a panel of advisors within a public forum of “attorneys, financiers, accountants, Angels and other business professionals”. The start-ups are given a 5 minute presentation, 15 minute Q&A session and 20 minute critique.
