Coffee Talk #520: Your Favorite Viral YouTube Videos

Within the next month, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” music video will hit over 300-million views on YouTube. That’s phenomenal for a video that became popular virally. Numbers like that are usually achieved by established artists that attract millions of teenage girls (Justin Bieber) or millions of horny guys (Jennifer Lopez). A music video featuring a goofy dude singing in Korean and doing a ridiculous dance usually isn’t the type of video that catches on globally. It’s a testament to the power of the Internet (and possibly an indictment of the Internet’s taste-makers)…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Andy Pettitte turning back the clock, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. testing positive for marijuana, or Marissa Mayer’s big Yahoo! address today, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Within the next month, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” music video will hit over 300-million views on YouTube. That’s phenomenal for a video that became popular virally. Numbers like that are usually achieved by established artists that attract millions of teenage girls (Justin Bieber) or millions of horny guys (Jennifer Lopez). A music video featuring a goofy dude singing in Korean and doing a ridiculous dance usually isn’t the type of video that catches on globally. It’s a testament to the power of the Internet (and possibly an indictment of the Internet’s taste-makers).

The “Gangnam Style” phenomenon is unbelievable. I’ve stopped trying to figure it out. I’ve accepted it and started thinking about other YouTube wonders of the world. Out of all the YouTube videos that became popular virally, Tay Zonday’s “Chocolate Rain” is my favorite. After all these years, it still makes me laugh. The combination of his impossibly low voice, the Casio keyboard tone, the low production values, and the crazy lyrics cracks me up. I can always count on “Chocolate Rain” to cheer me up.

How about you? What are some of your favorite YouTube viral videos? Star Wars kid? The Leave Britney Alone dude? Please list, link, and discuss in the comments section!

Nexus 5 By HTC On the Way?

Rumor has it that Google will be serving up multiple Nexus phones (Nexi?) in November. The latest rumor is that HTC will be offering a “phablet” Nexus with a five-inch screen, appropriately called the Nexus 5. According to a GSM Arena tipster, the Nexus 5 will have a 1080p five-inch screen, Android 4.1.2, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset, a 12-megapixel camera, a 2,500 mAh battery, LTE connectivity, and 64GB of storage.

As some of you know, I’m a big fan of HTC. Not many Android phone manufacturers use top-notch materials and bold designs. HTC is one of the few (Motorola is another). I would strongly consider moving to an HTC Nexus 5 sold on Google Play, with updates provided by Google and not crap-bag carriers. I love HTC’s build quality and its use of Super LCD screens (as opposed to Super AMOLED).

Are any of you interested in the rumored Nexus 5 by HTC?

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The Wonderful 101 Preview Video (Wii U)

Justin and I recently checked out The Wonderful 101 by Platinum Games for Wii U. The game is like a more violent Pikmin, but with Viewtiful Joe-style art. The brief portion of the game we saw looked and played great. The art and tone of the game was charming, while the gameplay was clever. Check out what Justin had to say about the game, as well as some gameplay footage onscreen and on the Wii U gamepad. After you’ve digested all of that, I’d love to hear your thoughts on The Wonderful 101. Is this something you’d buy?

This Week’s Videogame Releases

It’s a pretty loaded week for videogames! Fans of fighting and scantily-clad women will want to pick up Dead or Alive 5. If football is more your thing then FIFA 13 — available on pretty much every platform known to man — will do you good. Pro Evolution Soccer 13 doesn’t have the broad availability of its competitor, but many football fans I know think its the better series. Do you love birds and hate pigs? If so then Angry Birds Trilogy should be right up your alley. A few of my writer friends were surprised by The Testament of Sherlock Holmes. Wipeout 3 should satisfy fans of high-speed racing. I usually don’t include PC games on this list, but World of Warcraft: Mists of Panderia is simply too big to ignore.

Any of you picking up new games this week?

Coffee Talk #519: Happy Birthday Google Android!

Yesterday was Google Android’s fourth birthday. In a short amount of time, Google has become the global market leader in smartphone operating systems. Whether you’re a fan or not, that’s pretty damn impressive. The feat is all the more impressive when you consider its start in America. The first Android product in the U.S. was an underwhelming piece of hardware (the G1) on the country’s fourth-largest network (T-Mobile). It wasn’t until the next year that Android really took off, thanks to a combination of more mature software (Android 2.0) and aggressive marketing from the nation’s biggest carrier (Verizon). Android came to America in October 2008, but it didn’t really…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, iPhone 5 scratches and light leaks, the Yankees hanging onto the AL East lead with 10 games to go, or the return of Ricky Hatton, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Yesterday was Google Android’s fourth birthday. In a short amount of time, Google has become the global market leader in smartphone operating systems. Whether you’re a fan or not, that’s pretty damn impressive. The feat is all the more impressive when you consider its start in America. The first Android product in the U.S. was an underwhelming piece of hardware (the G1) on the country’s fourth-largest network (T-Mobile). It wasn’t until the next year that Android really took off, thanks to a combination of more mature software (Android 2.0) and aggressive marketing from the nation’s biggest carrier (Verizon). Android came to America in October 2008, but it didn’t really take off until October 2009 with the Motorola Droid on Verizon.

For the most part, I love Android. Since I use a lot of Google products for work, Google’s operating system works best for me. Gmail and Google Voice are just two of the mobile applications I use daily and they work best on Android. Yes, it’s still behind iOS in terms of app quantity and quality, but the gap has gotten much smaller.

The usability, looks, and performance of Android have come a long way too. Google made a fantastic move by snatching up Matias Duarte and putting him in charge  of Android UI. Duarte did outstanding work on the novel webOS operating system for Palm. Under him, Android has gotten better looking (Ice Cream Sandwich) and smoother (Jelly Bean). The best part is that he’s barely gotten started, so expect more significant improvements from Android in the near future.

Kindly join me in wishing Android a happy birthday. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the rise of Android, what you think of the OS, and where you think it’s going. Please shout it out in the comments section!

K-Town, Britney Spears, and Gangnam Style

I love the video above of Britney Spears learning the “Gangnam Style” dance from Psy. It’s awesome on multiple levels. First of all, it’s fun watching her learn how to do this ridiculous dance that’s sweeping the nation (this decade’s “Macarena”?). Secondly, I’m quite pleased with the MILF she has transformed into. Watching her go from teen sensation to troubled youth to MILF has been a wonderful journey.

All of that aside, this “Gangnam Style” thing is troubling. As a resident of Los Angeles Koreatown, I feel bad for the Korean-American population. There are many people that will think of Psy’s stupid song-and-dance when they think of Koreans. There are many that will think that Korean-American youths are like the idiots on K-Town (season finale below). I’m guilty of the same thing. I have nice and normal friends that live on the Jersey Shore, but when I visit them, part of me thinks that every other person in town is a moron like The Situation or Snooki. Sadly, some people will think that Koreatown is full of miscreants like the ones in K-Town and people walking down the street doing the “Gangnam Style” dance.

Reality television and stupid music, killing the world one neighborhood at a time. *sigh*

Coffee Talk #518: Wal-Mart Boots the Amazon Trojan Horse

Wal-Mart recently decided that it will no longer sell Amazon Kindle products. Target made the same decision earlier this year. I always thought it was remarkably stupid for either company to sell Kindle products, particularly the Kindle Fire. Prior to the launch of the original Kindle Fire in 2011, I wrote (for another web site) that it was a “gateway drug” and “Trojan horse” product. While Target and Wal-Mart benefit in the short term from Kindle Fire sales, Amazon wins in the long haul by selling digital and physical products to those consumers. I was astounded by the shortsighted thinking of the brick-and-mortar stores and impressed that Amazon duped these…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames,Verve’s Ethiopia Gakui Peaberry, Britney Spears learning the Gangnam Style dance, or Ichiro Suzuki’s hot streak, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Wal-Mart recently decided that it will no longer sell Amazon Kindle products. Target made the same decision earlier this year. I always thought it was remarkably stupid for either company to sell Kindles, particularly the Kindle Fire. Prior to the launch of the original Kindle Fire in 2011, I wrote (for another web site) that it was a “gateway drug” and “Trojan horse” product. While Target and Wal-Mart benefit in the short term from Kindle Fire sales, Amazon wins in the long haul by selling digital and physical products to those consumers. I was astounded by the shortsighted thinking of the brick-and-mortar stores and impressed that Amazon duped these dinosaurs into carrying its Trojan horse.

Obviously the Kindle Fire makes it easy for people to buy digital media. That’s less CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs consumers would buy at a brick-and-mortar store. The really clever tactic is Prime Instant Video. With an Amazon Prime subscription, Kindle Fire owners get access to a large library of streaming movies and television shows. They also get free two-day shipping on most physical products sold by Amazon. This makes buying from Amazon really attractive. Consumers can buy nearly everything they can find at Target and Wal-Mart, but without the hassle of going to a store and with the benefit of fast (and free!) shipping. It’s awesomely conveniently, as well as a bit dangerous to impulse shoppers and those prone to addiction.

Why would you allow a Trojan horse like the Kindle Fire to be sold in your stores? I’ve always wondered what idiot executive thought this was a good idea. Thankfully, logic has prevailed and these companies will no longer be selling a product that makes their stores mostly obsolete. About time, morons.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Justin and I will be spending some time with the Wii U this afternoon. I’m mildy excited to play more Wii U, though I’m also disappointed that I’m not more excited for the opportunity to play Nintendo’s upcoming console. On paper, getting to play new console hardware before it comes out should result in a mark-out moment. The Wii U is not getting me psyched (yet). Let’s see if that changes after I play with it for a bit. Aside from that, I’m going to spend some time with digital downloads: Double Dragon Neon on PlayStation Network and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD on Xbox Live.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

LIFX: Lightbulb Controlled By Android and iOS Devices

LIFX is a recent Kickstarter project that has been getting a done of buzz and funding. As of this writing, the project has blown past its $100,000 goal with $1,107,996 in pledges. LIFX is an LED lightbulb that can be controlled with Android and iOS devices. Users can control the brightness and the color of the light with their phones and tablets. This is an energy-efficient product with an extremely high level of nerd appeal. Check out the video below for info on LIFX. Continue reading “LIFX: Lightbulb Controlled By Android and iOS Devices”