How it works: while the video plays, it offers options through links embedded in the video, which take you to a different place on the timeline or to a different video, which offers new options, and so on. Here is a look at interactive YouTube videos in the wild.

You Tube Radio

A simple but effective example is YouTube Radio:

Barack Paper Scissors

The sheer number of individual videos required to execute this simple concept (over 1,000) make Barack Paper Scissors really impressive:

Oscars Interactive Photo Challenge

The 2009 Oscars Interactive Photo Challenge also took a simple concept — photo hunt games — and YouTube-ified it to give the game a major boost of novelty.

Interactive YouTube adventures

The interactive video format gave rise to the “interactive YouTube adventure genre” which is like the Choose Your Own Adventure book genre, but for our future generations, who I imagine won’t read books. I’m sure this has huge implications for people who enjoy webseries, but I prefer my internet with more clicking. And more brand integration. So… let’s turn our attention to two of the coolest things I’ve ever seen (in the past hour) instead.

Hunter Shoots a Bear

Tip of the hat to Tipp-Ex for the Hunter Shoots a Bear video and the tippexperience.

Pardon the NSFW language and put on some headphones or something because you definitely want to watch this. It’s like a double rainbow of interactive.

Sure, Crispin Porter + Bogusky did it first with the Subservient Chicken for Burger King, but this one is on YouTube. And British — thus, better.

BoonOakley Homepage

Finally, this is the the most award-winning-est use of the interactive videos highlighted here (and it’s really funny!). Advertising agency BooneOakley traded in their regular homepage for an entirely YouTube based interactive video site. So don’t bother clicking that hyperlink; it seriously just redirects to this video below…

You totally clicked the BooneOakley link anyway, didn’t you? I know I would have.

Well, at least make sure you navigate your way to the company vision “page” (meme alert):

The Tipp-Ex and BooneOakley campaigns/websites/videos (whatever the correct term would be) are extremely creative and do a great job of utilizing this feature, but some people would argue that these sorts of campaigns are more award-bait than effective branding strategy. What do you think? Either way, do you know of other brands that are effectively using interactive YouTube videos?

Some of the products that come out of Google Labs are so cool that it’s a little scary.  Google Goggles is a perfect example. The app, which is available for Android and iPhone, lets you search the web using photos taken with your mobile device. This means you can take a picture of a landmark, book, logo or artwork using the app and Google will identify it and return search results for that object.  It also translates text into English and scans business cards to easily add contact info to your address book.

Goggles is awesome in theory and still pretty cool in practice.  When I tested it out on my HTC Droid Incredible, I had difficulty getting the app to recognize a business card, but it had no problem recognizing a book cover or barcode.  So even though it’s not flawless, when it does work, the novelty of visual search definitely delivers serious wow-factor.

Google launched a new version last month enabling faster QR and barcode scanning and two cool new tricks.  The first is the ability to recognize print ads in popular magazines and newspapers, and return web search results about the product or brand.  This has some interesting possibilities for print advertisers to Goggles-enable their ads, as explored in November with the Google Goggles marketing experiment. But while this is all very practical, the second new trick is my favorite: it solves Sudoku puzzles. According to Google, “if you ever get stuck, take a clear picture of the entire puzzle with Goggles and we’ll tell you the correct solution.”

As you’d expect from Google, they’ve created this nifty Sudoku demo video:

ReadWriteWeb seems skeptical that this is more than just a “fun parlor trick type app (at least for now).” I have to agree, but with emphasis on the for now. I can imagine plenty of situations where this would be useful, but it will only be truly useful when it becomes more reliable (and when mobile device camera quality improves). I’m sure when Google Labs works out the bugs, they’ll turn their attention to solving the second hurdle: making visual search top-of-mind for Android and iPhone users. And who else but Google could lead this movement?

What do you think? Have you used Goggles? Did you have different results on another device?

Now I challenge you to say Google Goggles five times fast.

As @att tweeted, “Nothing says I love you on Valentine’s day like a mountain man shouting it from a mountaintop!” Can’t argue with that.  So they hired some “fully qualified” mountain men to do just that on behalf of those of us stuck at sea level.

The deets from the Facebook app:

“Starting February 10, you can send us any message of love that you want shouted from a mountaintop.

We’ll send it to a group of fully qualified Mountain Man Yellers on a real mountaintop, and they’ll try to get to it.

Be sure to come back here February 14 starting at 8am PST, to hear all of the live shouting via web cast.”

Reactions:

1. How funny/clever! Why hasn’t anyone thought of this yet?
2. This is so clearly not a real mountaintop. Don’t lie, AT&T.
3. What’s with the comma in the 3rd paragraph? It seems totally unnecessary, and this is coming from someone who uses commas liberally.
4. Where exactly would one obtain a Mountain Man Yeller qualification? Is there some sort of certification process or program?

Regardless of certification, these mountain men definitely have that special spokesperson likability factor (unlike some obnoxious cavemen I know). Check it out:

So far, almost 5,000 shouts have been submitted.  I’m actually puzzled as to why there hasn’t been more attention surrounding this campaign. It’s funny, smart, and a totally creative way to deliver an impersonal Valentines Day message to that moderately un-special someone.  They must be waiting until the 14th for the big media push, but that seems stupid silly, given the over-saturation of brands trying to push their love-related messaging on Vday and given the fact that it will be too late for people to actively participate.  But perhaps that’s why they included an awkward squirrel video* on the FB page to express their regret for not being able to get to every shout.

I’ll be interested to see how this pans out once they release all the videos. It probably will have little to no effect on AT&T sales, but has at least generated some goodwill towards the brand if the reactions of me and my friends are any indication.  One even decided this would be the perfect funny way to finally tell her boyfriend she loves him.  And I’d put good money on someone submitting an Old Spice man-style marriage proposal.

AT&T probably wasn’t feeling the love this month with the long-anticipated Verizon iPhone launch Wednesday.  So perhaps it is no coincidence this campaign launched February 10 as well… although I’m sure it has more to do with the whole Vday tie-in.  Either way, this campaign conjures up almost as many warm fuzzies as AT&T’s Rethink Possible – Birthday ads. Almost.

*Unfortunately I can’t link to the actual awkward squirrel video, but I did find this WAAAAAYYY more awkward AT&T squirrel commercial that I was not previously familiar with.  You’re welcome.

But Google has taken this technology to a whole new (classier) awe-inspiring level with Google Art Project, a website that takes you on a 360-degree virtual tour of 17 of the world’s greatest museums and galleries, including (examples are those deemed cool by me, because I’ve visited them): the MoMA (NYC), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), National Gallery (London), Tate Britain (London), and the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam).

I have to agree WSJ‘s take on what Art Project really has to offer:

While this is not terribly exciting, the real innovation in the project is the use of “gigapixel” resolution images that allow users to get a microscopic view of the paintings. The level of detail offered up by up to 14 billion pixels is pretty jaw-dropping.

Everyone has seen Starry Night, but seeing it in this much detail is pretty astounding (especially since you won’t get anywhere near it without physically assaulting a crowd of MoMA visitors, which is generally frowned upon in museum-going/civilized human being circles).

Even Google’s preview video is cool.. although I have to admit, Google always does phenomenal things on YouTube to promote its products (remember Google Zeitgeist 2010: How the World Searched). Check it out below and get pumped up for some virtual museum tours. Yeah!

Other than allowing you to do the equivalent of pressing your face against these paintings without getting escorted by museum security, my favorite feature is that it lets you tour the museum as if you’re walking around, which gives you an experience much more akin to actually being there without… you know… having to go there.  Considering I spent two entire consecutive days at the Met last summer and still didn’t feel like it was enough time, being able to virtually walk around at leisure is quite a luxury. And if you know me, you know how I like to mosey around at a leisurely pace.

Obviously, this comes nowhere near the feeling of wonder and awe you get when actually being there with history’s greatest works for art.  For example, I almost keeled over and died when I wandered into a dark room in the Met to find three rooms of paintings and sculptures by Edgar Degas, my favorite artist (other than Banksy of course).

After spending a good 20 min trying to find this room virtually in order to recreate the moment for the below screen shot, I can assure you it does not hold a battery-powered faux candle to the experience of actually being there. Still totally awesome though.

So as you can see to the right of The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, there are some other features, but I’ll let the man with the strange voice and the guy who looks like Hagrid tell you about them in this video. Way lazier. Plus this way you can see what I mean about the Hagrid comment. I hope this summary was as educational as Google’s Art Project itself.

I rarely shop online because I hate paying for shipping and never seem to reach the minimum amount you need for free shipping. And how much do you hate getting this message pop up? I mean what can you honestly get for $3.11?

The Amazon Filler Item Finder helps you answer that very question. Enter the amount you need to spend and it’ll show you all the filler items on Amazon you can add to your order to push you over the edge to earn free shipping.

No guarantee you’ll be able to get anything valuable for that $3.11, but hey, it’s cheaper than paying the shipping fee.

Thanks to my coworker Jade for sharing this helpful tool!

If you like hipster jokes, wordplay and/or satire and aren’t easily offended, goosestep on over to HipsterHitler.com.  And yes, the t-shirts are for sale, so you can show your appreciation for german/history/indie rock/web comics/irony  in a single screen printed tee… although I’m not sure wearing them (mainly this one) in public would be such a great idea.

The following comic is my favorite, but mostly because I find extreme closeups hilarious and can use it to torture my German hipster friend who once criticized my resume for being in arial. Apparently his was in garamond because — and i quote — “Harry Potter is in garamond so it will create a positive association.  Plus it just looks way more professional.” *gives judgmental look*

Unfortunately he didn’t find it very funny when I posted this on his Facebook wall… something about wanting to work for the German government some day and it still being “too soon”…. whatever.

For the rest of you, enjoy.

But back to the topic of douchey staches.  This next comic makes me feel like there has to be some connection between crumb catchers and evilness.  That’s why last night I told this mustachioed chap (who Caitlin dubbed Senor Mustache and I later dubbed Burt Reynolds), first that he didn’t look cool, he just looked like the guy on the tube of Pringles. Second, I told him he looked like he was going to teach me how to draw a 3D dinosaur on his PBS show and then molest a child [insert link to a picture of any creepy guy with a mustache].

Now, I don’t mean to suggest something negative about all men with ‘mos. I also told Senor Mustache he looked like my uncle, who happens to have been one of my fav relatives.  However, unlike my uncle, Sr. M is FAR below the age at which a mustache becomes acceptable (I’d say that age is 40, but even then, it’s like c’mon, are you trying to look unattractive?). Thank god Movember is over.

Anyways, I am vehemently anti-facial coif (a little facial fur is okay, so long as it appears accidental or unplanned) because things can get a little *ahem* “hairy” when people subconsciously associate a person with some of history’s biggest creepers, since most of them were rocking the evil dictatorship stache before it was “cool” (fyi: it’s still not cool). Observe:

I think I’ve made my points.  1. Staches are creepy, not ironic. 2. Hipster Hitler is hilarious.



To make up for the long hiatus, I’m sharing one of my favorite things: TED.  TED is a nonprofit devoted to sharing “Ideas worth spreading.”  TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, attracts intellectuals, artists, visionaries, scientists, inventors, poets, humanitarians, comedians, innovators and everyone in between by challenging them to give the best talks of their lives in under 18 minutes.  These talks take place at TED Conferences, or as Kathy Griffin describes it, “a conference for geniuses.”  For all of us non-geniuses, the talks are available to watch and share for free on ted.com/talks. Some of the videos, like the Steve Jobs graduation speech below, aren’t even directly tied to TED events, but are featured on TED’s Best of the Web, or other partner series “to highlight inspired talks on sites other than TED.com.”

In addition to inspiring, entertaining and informing, TED awards a yearly prize of $100,000 and access to the TED Community’s resources to fulfill “One Wish to Change the World.” Check out past winners and learn ways to get involved at tedprize.org.

To get you started, here are a few of my favorite talks.

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die



Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world

Jason Clay: How big brands can help save biodiversity

Dave Eggers‘ wish: Once Upon a School

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

Susan Blackmore on memes and “temes”

So now for the big question: Are you a TED person?  If so, share your favorite TED talk in the comments section!

Related Articles

• Top 5 Must Watch TED Videos (freestylemind.com)
• Announcing TED’s Ads Worth Spreading Challenge (ted.com)
• Announcing TED Conversations! (ted.com)
• TED Launches Quora-Like Platform for Intelligent Discussion (mashable.com)

PBR: Official Beverage of Williamsburg (the Brooklyn one, not the colonial one) 

My roommate in San Francisco frequently listened to Joanna Newsom and I couldn’t decided if I really hated her music or really liked it.  I still am undecided so let’s settle this by crowdsourcing a conclusion.

Here is the video for one of her songs that is popular among last.fm listeners.  Give it a listen.

Now please take the quiz to finally answer the question, “Will Kristin’s neighbors find this incredibly annoying?”

**Bear in mind that I will likely be moving to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, so I will not have your typical neighbors [see also: hipsters]

Side note: I liked hipster kitty before hipster kitty was cool

*Sorry guys, if for some reason this won’t embed, please kick it old school and click this link for the poll: http://poll.fm/27y02

In honor of serious procrastinating, I would like to share my favorite procrastination tool with those that have not yet had the pleasure of using this fabulous time-waster.

*Fun fact: That was accurate when I started this post.  Then I saw the Arcade Fire video and thought that was more interesting and posted that.  Then I got bored of packing and decided to finish this post and schedule it to be posted as I’m being picked up by the Super Shuttle to head to the airport. Now it would be more accurate to say I’m leaving in 4.5 hours.  How is that for procrastination?? [See also: AD/HD]

StumbleUpon.com

Original image at http://bit.ly/aHwDd

StumbleUpon.com is a social tool but it is so fun on its own that antisocial people will enjoy it as well! The lowdown: Click the “Stumble!” button and you will be sent to a random site that StumbleUpon thinks will match your interests.

The first step is to create a profile so you can identify what these interests are.  The categories start out really broad, but there are plenty of choices — everything from Anime to Yoga (not that I in anyway support Anime as a legitimate interest. Rude? Yes.  Fair judgment? I would argue, also yes).

StumbleUpon is best experienced by downloading the StumbleUpon toolbar to bring it with you wherever you go, but if you go to the website, it pulls up a temporary one for those that are opposed to browser plugins.

The results you stumble become more accurate as you rate the results, either with a thumbs up, or with a thumbs down, which includes the option to share why you didn’t like it.  The toolbar also lets you tag a page, write a review or take a shortcut to share it.  This option is convenient because it automatically generates a shortened url for easy tweets.

"StumbleUpon is the greatest thing ever invented!" - Oprah (Magazine)

The nice thing about having the browser plugin, is that you can thumbs-up or thumbs-down pages that you go to normally to make your stumbles more personalized and to add more information to your profile.  This is the social portion of his tool: you can follow your friends and see which pages they have “favorited” during their own stumbles.  This ties into another toolbar feature: if you are on a page one of your friends has favorited, the toolbar will alert you.

Having an account is also great because search engine results that have been favorited on StumbleUpon will include a StumbleUpon icon and 1-5 stars, depending on how StumbleUpon users have rated the page.

Another feature is StumbleThru, which narrows your stumbling to one of a variety of delightful websites.  Feel like discovering a new video that you are likely to enjoy?  Try a StumbleThru YouTube.  Looking for a great new blog like… ahem… this one?  StumbleThru WordPress.  See? Totally useful.

Finally, you can sign up for su.pr for free, which adds your website into the database of potential stumble results and puts a StumbleUpon badge on your site.  It also syndicates your content across StumbleUpon, Facebook and Twitter with one click to save you time.  The best part is that it allows you to track analytics across multiple social media platforms.

Two important notes:

1. The badge (and therefore the traffic generation) is not compatible with WordPress blogs hosted on WordPress.com.  However, as you can see, WordPress.com blogs are now able to include a StumbleUpon share button at the bottom of individual posts.

2. If you are using StumbleUpon for traffic generation, you will notice that it brings in a lot of page views, but these visitors produce extremely short average viewing times, since StumbleUpon is the internet equivalent of flipping through channels.  They are also unlikely to ever return to your site.  For these two reasons, it is important that you do not solely rely on StumbleUpon to increase your readership.

Unfortunately, my friends are kind of social media Luddites so I have very few (as in 2) actual friends I am following.  If you want to help me resolve this problem and be stumbling buddies, you can find my profile here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/kristinkepp/all/

Happy stumbling!

The Wilderness Downtown via Mashable.com

In keeping with the depressingly poignant themes of the album, the video makes you face your own lost childhood by showing your own childhood street.  Mashable’s Brenna Ehrlich put it best when she wrote, “the story of childhood ending as time rapidly slips away becomes your own as trees shoot up out of nowhere on your old street.”  The cincher is that the video prompts you to write a letter to the younger version of yourself, which *spoiler alert* spurs the growth of the afore-mentioned trees.  It has a cool PostSecret element because the postcard you write gets sent to other viewers, who can respond, or it might even be incorporated into artwork on the the band’s tour.

The program that creates the personalized video is pretty intense so I would highly recommend closing all other browser windows.  Ehrlich suggests viewing it with Chrome, which I downloaded for just this purpose, and warns against Safari.  Now enough chat, go to The Wilderness Downtown immediately, if not sooner.

What do you think?  Depressing, but in a really toe-tapping kind of way, right?

Legally* download The Suburbs right now if you haven’t already.

*Sorry, with my zillions of 5-10 readers a day, I can’t be too careful! Hey FBI, we cool, right?