Tag Archives: Media

Salad Fingers turned 20 this week and there’s a new episode out to commemorate it

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It pains me to say this, but it’s been 20 years since David Firth’s Salad Fingers made its debut and irrevocably altered the humor of the internet. The first episode of the web series hit Newgrounds on July 1, 2004. To mark this milestone birthday, Firth dropped a 20th anniversary special earlier this week that sees the titular Salad Fingers taking a walk down memory lane, bringing us all the way back to those early moments that seared the phrase “I like rusty spoons” into the collective consciousness of an entire generation of internet users.

Things won’t be exactly as you remember them, though. This is how it all went down according to Salad Fingers and, well, are we really expecting Salad Fingers to be a reliable narrator? The 7-minute video expands the lore a bit and revisits characters like the shrieking “young child” (who has some clarifications to make regarding their identity) and the disturbing finger puppet friends Hubert Cumberdale, Marjory Stewart-Baxter and Jeremy Fisher. If you’ve followed the series over the years and made it all the way to 2023’s “Harvest,” you’ll also recognize the absolutely horrifying Melvin Wishcake, who Salad Fingers refers to this time as “Manky Melvin, the stinky reject.”

I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for this deranged cartoon, as I’m sure many of you do, and this was a real treat. I might just have to dive back in and rewatch the whole series now, which is up to 13 episodes not counting this latest special. Thanks for the (cursed) memories, Salad Gregory Stuart Fingers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/salad-fingers-turned-20-this-week-and-theres-a-new-episode-out-to-commemorate-it-163230203.html?src=rss

Salad Fingers turned 20 this week and there’s a new episode out to commemorate it

Posted on by

It pains me to say this, but it’s been 20 years since David Firth’s Salad Fingers made its debut and irrevocably altered the humor of the internet. The first episode of the web series hit Newgrounds on July 1, 2004. To mark this milestone birthday, Firth dropped a 20th anniversary special earlier this week that sees the titular Salad Fingers taking a walk down memory lane, bringing us all the way back to those early moments that seared the phrase “I like rusty spoons” into the collective consciousness of an entire generation of internet users.

Things won’t be exactly as you remember them, though. This is how it all went down according to Salad Fingers and, well, are we really expecting Salad Fingers to be a reliable narrator? The 7-minute video expands the lore a bit and revisits characters like the shrieking “young child” (who has some clarifications to make regarding their identity) and the disturbing finger puppet friends Hubert Cumberdale, Marjory Stewart-Baxter and Jeremy Fisher. If you’ve followed the series over the years and made it all the way to 2023’s “Harvest,” you’ll also recognize the absolutely horrifying Melvin Wishcake, who Salad Fingers refers to this time as “Manky Melvin, the stinky reject.”

I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for this deranged cartoon, as I’m sure many of you do, and this was a real treat. I might just have to dive back in and rewatch the whole series now, which is up to 13 episodes not counting this latest special. Thanks for the (cursed) memories, Salad Gregory Stuart Fingers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/salad-fingers-turned-20-this-week-and-theres-a-new-episode-out-to-commemorate-it-163230203.html?src=rss

YouTube upgrades its ‘erase song’ tool to remove copyrighted music only

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YouTube is trying to make it easy for its creators to remove songs from their videos and resolve copyright claims. In a new Creator Insider video, the website has announced that it has released an upgraded "erase song" tool that has the capability to remove music from video segments without deleting other audio, such as conversations, as well. 

When creators get a copyright claim for music, YouTube gives them the option to trim out the affected segment or to replace the song with an approved one in its audio library. Creators can't monetize that particular video until they resolve the claim. The website has been testing its "erase song" tool for a while, but in the video, the company says it hasn't been as accurate as it would like. To solve that problem, it redesigned the tool so that it now uses an AI-powered algorithm to accurately detect and remove copyrighted music from videos. 

Still, YouTube admits that the tool might not always work. If a song is particularly hard to remove, presumably due to audio quality or the presence of other sounds while it's playing, creators may have to resort to other options. In addition to being able to trim out the offending segment or to replace its song, creators will also be able to mute that part of their video through the new erase tool. 

The website's upgraded erase song tool will be available in YouTube Studio in the coming weeks. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-upgrades-its-erase-song-tool-to-remove-copyrighted-music-only-140032261.html?src=rss

YouTube upgrades its ‘erase song’ tool to remove copyrighted music only

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YouTube is trying to make it easy for its creators to remove songs from their videos and resolve copyright claims. In a new Creator Insider video, the website has announced that it has released an upgraded "erase song" tool that has the capability to remove music from video segments without deleting other audio, such as conversations, as well. 

When creators get a copyright claim for music, YouTube gives them the option to trim out the affected segment or to replace the song with an approved one in its audio library. Creators can't monetize that particular video until they resolve the claim. The website has been testing its "erase song" tool for a while, but in the video, the company says it hasn't been as accurate as it would like. To solve that problem, it redesigned the tool so that it now uses an AI-powered algorithm to accurately detect and remove copyrighted music from videos. 

Still, YouTube admits that the tool might not always work. If a song is particularly hard to remove, presumably due to audio quality or the presence of other sounds while it's playing, creators may have to resort to other options. In addition to being able to trim out the offending segment or to replace its song, creators will also be able to mute that part of their video through the new erase tool. 

The website's upgraded erase song tool will be available in YouTube Studio in the coming weeks. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-upgrades-its-erase-song-tool-to-remove-copyrighted-music-only-140032261.html?src=rss

YouTube film essay pioneers ‘Every Frame a Painting’ are back

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Between 2014 and 2016, a YouTube channel called Every Frame a Painting posted 28 video essays critiquing movies and dissecting different aspects of filmmaking before it went silent. Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou, the people behind the channel, talked about how Robin Williams was a master at blocking and using movement to portray his characters, as well as how Steven Spielberg does one long takes all the time that tend to go unnoticed by the public, among many other topics. Now, the duo is back, promising another series of video essays followed by the debut of a short film at Fantasia International Film Festival on July 20.

Ramos and Zhou wrote and directed their upcoming film called The Second starring Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Ethan Hwan. They didn't share a lot of details about the movie, but the film festival's website says it's about "an alternate version of today’s world where dueling is still acceptable" in which Philip "must perform the role of 'Second' on the day of his only son's duel."

Every Frame a Painting has over 2 million subscribers on YouTube and was one of the creators that helped legitimize video essays on the website. Ramos and Zhou also created the Netflix series Voir, produced by David Fincher, which featured video essays about film, as well. Seeing as they promised new posts on YouTube before their film premieres, we'll likely see them upload a fresh batch of videos in the coming days.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-film-essay-pioneers-every-frame-a-painting-is-back-130014490.html?src=rss

YouTube film essay pioneers ‘Every Frame a Painting’ are back

Posted on by

Between 2014 and 2016, a YouTube channel called Every Frame a Painting posted 28 video essays critiquing movies and dissecting different aspects of filmmaking before it went silent. Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou, the people behind the channel, talked about how Robin Williams was a master at blocking and using movement to portray his characters, as well as how Steven Spielberg does one long takes all the time that tend to go unnoticed by the public, among many other topics. Now, the duo is back, promising another series of video essays followed by the debut of a short film at Fantasia International Film Festival on July 20.

Ramos and Zhou wrote and directed their upcoming film called The Second starring Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Ethan Hwan. They didn't share a lot of details about the movie, but the film festival's website says it's about "an alternate version of today’s world where dueling is still acceptable" in which Philip "must perform the role of 'Second' on the day of his only son's duel."

Every Frame a Painting has over 2 million subscribers on YouTube and was one of the creators that helped legitimize video essays on the website. Ramos and Zhou also created the Netflix series Voir, produced by David Fincher, which featured video essays about film, as well. Seeing as they promised new posts on YouTube before their film premieres, we'll likely see them upload a fresh batch of videos in the coming days.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-film-essay-pioneers-every-frame-a-painting-is-back-130014490.html?src=rss

The Watch Dogs movie has finally started filming after 10 years

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Ever since the open world hacker adventure game Watch Dogs captured the attention of 2012’s E3, there were rumors circulating of a movie remake before the game even got a release date. Now more than 10 years later, the film version is finally happening. Ubisoft announced today on X that filming has begun on the Watch Dogs movie with a picture of a clapboard and the caption “Lights_Camera_Action.exe.”

The Watch Dogs movie was first announced in 2016 at Sony’s GamesCon press conference, according to IGN. Sony announced that Ubisoft Partners teamed up with New Regency to make a film adaptation of Aiden Pearce’s data-hacking adventure in a metropolis overseen by an intrusive server.

Since then, drips and hints of the movie’s status came and went for years until last month, when Ubisoft posted a press release announcing that production on Watch Dogs would start sometime this summer. The press release also announced that actor Tom Blyth from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sophie Wilde from the sleeper horror hit Talk to Me will star in the Watch Dogs film. The movie is being directed by Mathieu Turi based on a script written by Christie LeBlanc (who wrote the 2021 Netflix sci-fi film Oxygen) with rewrites by Victoria Bata.

A few years ago, there was also talk of turning Watch Dogs and Far Cry, another big Ubisoft franchise, into an animated TV series following a run of the Rabbids Invasion cartoons. However, there’s been nothing but radio silence from those projects ever since then. Maybe if the Watch Dogs movie becomes a hit, the animated series will follow it into production.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-watch-dogs-movie-has-finally-started-filming-after-10-years-201040830.html?src=rss

Netflix has reimagined Minesweeper and it’s out now

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The latest title to join the Netflix Games roster is a very modern take on one of the icons of Windows computing. That's right, you can now play Minesweeper through Netflix's app. The classic PC puzzle game has been reimagined with an international setting, tasking the player with very literally looking for underwater mines by overlaying the usual interface of numbers and flags over vibrant pictures of waterways from around the world.

For those of us who grew up playing the original game, this take from Netflix is certainly a departure in appearance. Colorful aquatic backgrounds? A journey mode? Buh? However, the Netflix version does have one definite bonus that the trailer calls out at its close: "No in-game ads. No extra fees. No in-app purchases." Trying to find a modern-day Minesweeper game for mobile involves sifting through what feels like countless options that mimic the look of the original, but are either ad-supported or require purchase to go ad-free.

Minesweeper is also an interesting retro addition to what has become a wide-ranging collection of titles at Netflix. The company has its own takes on card games Hearts and Solitaire alongside indie darlings like Hades and international mega-hits from the Grand Theft Auto series. Plus there are some games that tie into Netflix's own programming. The company has definitely cast a wide net with this endeavor.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-has-reimagined-minesweeper-and-its-out-now-220009017.html?src=rss

Get three months of Audible for $3 this Prime Day

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The deals are flying fast and furious this Prime Day, and there's plenty to be had from within Amazon's own ecosystem. Right now, you can snag three months of an Audible Premium Plus subscription for just a dollar a month. It's not quite as good a discount as it was earlier this year (free!), but three bucks for three months still ain't bad if you missed that window. This deal also seems to be available to any listeners who aren't on an existing subscription plan with Audible, as opposed to the summer discount that was restricted to Amazon Prime members.

After the three-month deal, subscriptions will automatically renew at the usual price of $15 per month. But as with any Audible subscription, you can cancel at any time. So if you're an avid audiobook listener and have been waiting for a good deal, or if you're mildly curious about the service and want a longer time to test whether it's right for you, now's a good time to hop aboard.

At this tier, Audible grants subscribers one title from its catalog every month. With this membership, you get unlimited listening access to the Plus catalog of originals, audiobooks and podcasts in addition to your one title per month. Audible also runs members-only sales and discounts that you can take advantage of as well. While the platform is best known for audiobooks, it also hosts original productions of radio plays and audio-only stories. Notable names such as Neil Gaiman and The Walking Dead's creative team have collaborated on Audible Originals.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/get-three-months-of-audible-for-3-this-prime-day-204245203.html?src=rss

Dead Rising’s deluxe remaster boasts fluffier poodles

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Capcom's announcement trailer for Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will give you a glimpse of the game's improved graphics for the PS5, the Xbox Series X/S and Windows computers. It also reveals that the digital version of the remastered game will be released on September 19 for all platforms. 

The company first gave Dead Rising an HD remaster back in 2016 for the PS4 and the Xbox One as part of the game's 10th anniversary, but this version gives the world and its characters more textures and more realistic looking features. Frank West definitely looks more human with more natural-looking expressions in the Deluxe Remaster, while Madonna the poodle looks a lot more fluffy and dog-like. Capcom says this version is a "full graphical overhaul of the first game." It used its own video game engine called RE Engine to rework the title's graphics, including its environments and backgrounds.

The remaster is fully voiced, but West sounds noticeably different in the trailer compared to the older versions. In a text conversation with @FrankByDaylight on X/Twitter, original voice actor TJ Rotolo said he's not reprising his role in the remake because Capcom didn't invite him back for the project. If that's not a deal breaker, then you can enjoy the game's other quality-of-life improvements, including the addition of auto-save, revamped controls and a better UI. 

While the digital release is scheduled for September 19, Capcom will also start selling a physical version sometime in November. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dead-risings-deluxe-remaster-boasts-fluffier-poodles-130035391.html?src=rss