For the past week or so, the web and Hollywood has been buzzing about the leaked workprint of the new Wolverine film, which opens May 1st. If you haven't heard, somehow a DVD-quality copy of the movie, with some incomplete special effects, has been downloaded millions of times through P2P file-sharing networks. Apparently Fox is so freaked out it that they called in the FBI to investigate.
Hello there! Lots of you have been asking on Twitter and through email about the status of the show, so we wanted to get some info out there! First of all, check out our awesome 2009 Sizzle Reel embedded above!
We've been spending a lot of time going to meetings and figuring out what the next move will be from a business standpoint for the show and for Smashface. From June 2008 to January 2009 we did 46 shows in 30 weeks, so we also needed a little break from the regular show schedule to keep our heads clear and to keep our energy level up around EPIC FU and the other projects that are in the works.
On this week's EPIC FU, Rick Rey put together a great ride through some of the top conspiracies on the web, including the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, Project Bluebeam, HAARP, and Reptilian Humanoids. Check out the show page for all the links and watch Zadi run it down.
But we also had to leave out some of the stuff Rick researched due to time constraints. So what better place to pick up where we left off than with UFO's!
[ Via: Rick Rey, conspiracy maestro ]
Some say it's a hoax or part of a Terminator ARG, but others say it's legit. UK-based dot com millionaire Ben Way has purportedly launched a new startup called Weapons Against Robots (WAR), "the world's first defense company solely dedicated to weaponry against robotic entities."
[ Via: (via io9) ]
OK so you wanna protect yourself from RFID hackers who may try to steal all that juicy purchasing power stored on your RFID-enabled credit cards? No problem. A little aluminum foil will do the trick. Check out this DIY tutorial courtesy of i-Hacked.com.
The new police chief in Flint, Michigan is cracking down on the victimless act known as pants sagging. Call it a fashion faux pas, call it bad taste -- CALL IT ILLEGAL!
I'm really glad that someone is stepping up to fight these hoodlums... they think they can show off their boxers in plain daylight and nobody's gonna do anything about it? Not anymore!
Hardcore Nine Inch Nails fans got a special treat last week when Trent Reznor and company hid tickets to a private concert all over Los Angeles. More than twenty question marks appeared on a Google Earth map that NIN put out on their tour page. The question marks were labeled with phrases like "Men's room. Behind the mirror. Be discreet," and "Incredibly ugly hat. Last pair of tickets." Quick-thinking fans noted the GPS coordinates of question marks and set off on a treasure hunt, much like geocachers.
Radiohead's new music video, directed by James Frost, for "House of Cards" was created using all kinds of neat technology instead of cameras. Lasers were used to scan Thom Yorke, a party scene, and a cul de sac to gather three-dimensional data about these objects. The data was then rendered and manipulated to produce this amazing video.
This is not the first time Radiohead has done something outside the box. Last October, Radiohead initially released their album "In Rainbows", online through a pay-what-you-want system. This was after they finished out their record contract with EMI... so essentially, Radiohead served their own FU to the record industry. Word.
Look for a "Making-of" video and more after the jump.
Apple fanboys get on your knees and slap that Steve Jobs tattoo on your upper thigh! Tomorrow we'll see the release of the iPhone 3G, a modest update to the original iPhone with faster internet, built-in GPS, and a cheaper price tag thanks to a $200 subsidy courtesy of AT&T.
I have to be honest. I'm mostly ambivalent about the release tomorrow, partly because of the forced in-store activation and partly because the new features aren't that tempting for someone who already owned the O.G. iPhone. The GPS sounds cool on paper, but the word on the street is the built-in GPS antenna is too small to support reliable turn-by-turn navigation. Whether or not I pick one up depends on how easily I can finagle a unit for use off AT&T's network. Hehe I wrote "finagle a unit."
Facebook Dipping! On the other side of the pond, The Telegraph reports that it's all the rage for British teenagers to find pools on Google Earth and throw ad hoc pool parties via Facebook. To avoid getting caught, the party-goers are told to dress up in costume and bring bikes to ensure a fast getaway. Trespassing is illegal in the UK as well as here in the States- not like we're condoning this kind of behavior or anything... but when have laws really held back kids from having fun?
It's always cool to see mainstream artists making an effort to connect with their fans on a more personal level. Weezer's Hootenanny tour is just that -- an intimate acoustic set where fans are asked to bring their own instruments and play along with the band.
The footage from today's EPIC FU was taken in Portland during a cover of Radiohead's Creep -- a song which is gaining momentum as a cover song after the recent Price take-down debacle. I'm wondering if the song will begin to take on new meaning when played live.
It only took a few hours for Spore fans to realize its Creature Creator was so customizable they could design creatures that resembled human genitalia, or two-headed creatures that could have sex with itself. This is how the Sporn industry was born.
[ Via: [Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun] ]
In an attempt to protect artist rights, France introduced a new law to take away internet access from people who download copyrighted material. According to the law, an ISP would be required to ban a user's bandwidth for up to one year on the third offense of illegal downloading.
[ Via: [Via Times Online] ]
This week Zadi introduced us to a website called Ecomodder with 100+ tips to help improve your gas mileage. Changing your driving habits to exceed EPA's gas mileage estimates is called hypermiling. Kind of a cool term isn't it?
We're big fans of the Firefox 3 betas at EPIC FU. It runs faster, eats up less memory, and generally speaking we like the new features, e.g. the almighty location bar. Also, the Mac theme is much more Mac-like. Did I mention we like Macs?
Firefox is hoping to break a Guinness world record for the number of downloads in a day when the final Firefox 3 browser is released. Over a million people have already pledged to participate.
