Viddler

Disney is basically another word for “fun”. You can experience movies made by Disney at theme parks like Disneyland (in California and Paris) and Walt Disney World (in Florida), and Tokyo Disney Resort (in Japan). These theme parks can make anyone feel like a kid.

There are many more products and services with the Disney brand on them, but one of the largest and most exciting ones is their line of cruise ships. Imagine how much fun a cruise is, and then add the Disney touch to it. Yeah, epic!

The Disney Cruise Line has been sailing since 1998. They currently have two ships (Disney Magic and Disney Wonder) in service and another two projected to set sail in 2011 (Disney Dream) and 2012 (Disney Fantasy). Both the ‘Dream‘ and ‘Fantasy‘ are larger than the current ships and they offer some giddy features!

Today’s video is about the water coaster (a.k.a. water slide) to be appearing on the Disney Dream. It’s called the AquaDuck and it can push riders forward at 20 feet per second thanks to powerful water jets. It takes you farther than the length of two football fields as it twists and turns on top of the ship. Oh, and there’s a drop that extends 4 decks of the ship. Have a look for yourself!

The Disney Parks Blog (subscribe) is the official blog for the Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort and Disney Cruise Line. It provides the latest information and behind-the-scenes videos of Disney Parks’ magical kingdoms. You can receive updates via Twitter by following @disneyparks.

Remember: If you’d like to suggest a video for a feature on the Viddler blog and front page, then please send me a message, link it up in our forums, or just comment on this post.

These days you have to be innovative to stay ‘in the game’. This is especially true with technology. Nikon released a DSLR that had a “hi” ISO of 102,500, then Canon released a camera with an equivalent ISO range. Competition is good for consumers.

Ricoh has definitely brought something new to the consumer camera industry. A camera with interchangeable lenses AND sensors. Yes, the sensor and lens are combined into a slider package that fits in to the Ricoh GXR.

Ben Stevens from Which? (subscribe) gives a brief overview of this interesting camera system from Ricoh.

About Which?

Which? is a product-testing and campaigning charity based in the United Kingdom. Even in such a connected world I hadn’t heard of them until a few days ago. Michael Young founded the charity in 1957 after the wars in Britain had ended and much of the population embraced consumerism.

Basically, Which? offers everything a person could want or need to know in magazine or online forms. Product reviews range from toilet paper to cars. They offer legal service, product price comparisons, a digital store, local business search, advice on topics from greener living to your rights with the law, and much more.

There’s so much knowledge available from Which? that you’ll probably end up with a masters degree by the time you’re done absorbing it all. Thus, the video featured today is just a tiny fraction of what they have to offer.

You can discover all of this information at which.co.uk. @WhichNews, @WhichTech, @WhichCampaigner, @WhichMoney, and @WhichCar are the Twitter accounts that offer information and advice from Which?.

Remember: If you’d like to suggest a video for a feature on the Viddler blog and front page, then please send me a message, link it up in our forums, or just comment on this post.

After all the crushcrushcrush yesterday I couldn’t help but throw in another CRUSH today and show you this rad mashup of video reviews from people that have read Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Crush It.

The book launched just over a month ago and has been a hot item for long before that. People are loving it, and it’s no surprise because Gary is a caring guy and that shines through in the book.

If you’re someone that lives under a rock (hey, sometimes there’s a nice climate under rocks — no judgment here), then I’ll give you a brief rundown on the book.

Crush It goes to the heart of a person and taps in to what you truly love. Honestly, anything. What do you love? Gary tells of how following your passion can lead you to making a living off of what you love. The cost of entry in to any industry right now is zilch. Nothing. Nada. Being true to yourself and those around you shows authenticity and that is what people love. Live your life with passion, folks!

Crush It is available on countless book shelves around the globe and, of course, online. Links below.

You can find all the places to buy Crush It at crushitbook.com. Of course, following @garyvee on Twitter will speed up your path towards enlightenment.

Remember: If you’d like to suggest a rad video for a feature on the Viddler blog and front page, then please send me a message, link it up in our forums, or just comment on this post.

Good Monday to everyone!

Here’s some rock to start off the week. Alternative rock, that is.

Paramore is a band from Franklin, Tennessee, that formed in 2004. Before being signed with a label, the original members of the band played gigs around the Nashville area. John Janick, CEO and co-founder of the music label Fueled by Ramen, signed Paramore in 2005 after he saw performing at a concert in Orlando Florida.

Current band members consist of Hayley Williams (lead vocals), Josh Farro (lead guitar and backing vocals), Jeremy Davis (bass guitar), Zac Farro (drums and percussion), and Taylor York (rhythm guitar. They’re all currently around 20 years old. Yup, they started in their early teens.

Shane Drake directed the music video for “crushcrushcrush” (from their 2007 album Riot!) in the desert. That’s right, this wasn’t recorded on a green screen with an artificial background placed in during the editing process. They recorded this in a barren wasteland. In fact, towards the end of the shoot a dust storm was seen in the distance and they had to get as many takes in before it hit the location they were recording in.

Keep up with Paramore’s latest concerts and projects by checking out their website, following @paramore on Twitter, and becoming a fan on Facebook.

If you enjoyed Paramore’s music then you might enjoy other music by bands on the Fueled by Ramen (yeah, that name makes me chuckle every time) label. Find said bands on FueledbyRamen.com, their Facebook page, and, yes, @fueledbyramen on Twitter.

Remember: If you’d like to suggest a music video for a feature on the Viddler blog and front page, then please send me a message, link it up in our forums, or just comment on this post.

If you’ve listened to music on commercial radio within the past few years, then no doubt you’ve heard at least one song featuring the effects of Auto-Tune. It’s that effect which was created to “repair” an imperfect voice recording, but once the general public started experimenting with the effect it became a meme.

In the latest episode of Know Your Meme (subscribe) “Weird Al” Yankovic joins team to discover the background of the Auto-Tune Meme.

Know Your Meme is an Internet show and website produced by the Rocketboom team. You can learn about other memes by searching for more videos on Viddler, visit their website, or by following @KnowYourMeme on Twitter.

Remember: If you’d like to suggest a video for a feature on the Viddler blog and front page, then please send me a message, link it up in our forums, or just comment on this post.

As you may be aware, our good friend Owen JJ Stone (aka OhDocTah) had the hardship of having his father (James O. Stone) pass away today. Of the very little I know about Owen’s father, I do know that he was passionate about family and raised an amazing son.

Best wishes and massive hugs go out to Owen and his family from everyone at the Viddler team. “Poppa Doc” will be missed by us all!

Here’s an episode of Ask OhDocTah recorded last year with Owen, his father, and Owen’s buddy James Woodson Jr. All of the topics discussed in the episode are still completely relevant, and most of all look how young Owen’s dad is.

James O. Stone asked for your love in September. I hope you send him an his family left behind all the love you can give.

Bart recorded the lighting of remembrance candles from when his dad passed away, and has shared it with the Viddler community in recognition of Owen’s loss. Reflect on the loves of your life while you watch this.

Please leave your thoughts and well wishes for Owen and his family in the comments.

Robert Fraser (friend him up!) is a nurse and graduate student in Toronto, Canada. He loves to learn and help others and nursing provides such an opportunity for that. He even created Nursing Ideas for sharing ideas and passion to make a positive impact on nursing an healthcare. There’s some great interviews on the site!

Rob recently posted a video showing where he works and posted it on Twitter with the hashtag #whereIwork.

After the video show us where you work by making a similar video.

You can either upload a video or record one right now.

This will be an on-going project, so don’t feel discouraged if you find this post months after it was written: Just make a video in your workplace and comment the link to it below. I’ll collect a few and then revisit this project with a new blog post every now and then.

Discover more about Rob on his website and by following @rdjfraser on Twitter.

Want more examples of #whereIwork videos? Well, I made one a while ago after I saw Rob’s (Viddler’s president) awesome Viddler HQ video.

Comment links to your videos below and I’ll update this post with a few.

If you’re a lover of astronomy, then you’re going to love the app reviewed in this episode of AppJudgment. In fact, even if you only like looking at images of space, there’s something for you in this application for the iPhone.

Revision3 launched AppJudgment (subscribe) back in August, 2009. Various hosts (Patrick Norton, David Prager, Stephanie Chu, Maurico Balvanera, Annie Gaus, Ron Richards) review mobile phone (read: smartphone) applications and then give their judgment on the app. Each episode is around 3-5 minutes in length and can include reviews of just a single app or multiple apps. Obviously, there’s more iPhone apps reviewed because the App Store has many more apps than other application stores (such as Android Market, Ovi Store, webOS Applications).

Here’s David Prager (one of the founders of Rev3) with his review of the NASA iPhone  app.

You can download the NASA iPhone app for free from the App Store. Keep up to date with AppJudgment’s latest reviews by following @AppJudgment on Twitter and becoming a fan on Facebook.

Remember: If you’d like to suggest a video for a feature on the Viddler blog and front page, then please send me a message, link it up in our forums, or just comment on this post.

Art constantly amazes me in ways I’ve learned to expect. Yes, the weird, the clever, the traditional and everything in between. That phone number you wrote down on a coffee-stained napkin; someone would consider that art.

When I discovered gourd art I was intrigued. My knowledge of gourds extends about as far as the word. Gourd. Goooooorrrd. It’s fun to pronounce. If you also don’t know much about gourds, then here’s some quick facts:

• Gourds are in the same family as pumpkins; hollow inside with a tough outside shell.
• Gourds are a product of the plant species Lagenaria siceraria — which can be harvested young for the fruit or when the it is mature, ala a gourd.
• Gourds were the earliest plant species to be cultivated by humans. They were used as containers before stone and clay pottery replaced them. The earliest use of gourds was found to be in Africa.
• Cutting open the shell of a gourd can be hazardous because when it is mature and dry it is like wood, and the fine dust that occurs during the cutting process can cause respiratory issues for some people.

So now you’re hip on gourds. Hip, indeed. Considering you can turn them in to pieces of art. (In case you missed the memo: Art is hip.) Remember, they’re similar to wood. Think of all the wood products/art you have in your home. Now imagine if you made that from a gourd. Okay, so a table might be a bit more trouble than it’s worth, but you follow me drift.

Gourd art is quite a good business and creative art form. There are gourd farms all over the United States and many other countries. The Welburn Gourd Farm (subscribe) in California is the largest organic gourd farm in the USA. They don’t just harvest and sell gourds though. They have all kinds of gourd related products. They have tools for cleaning gourds, cutting gourds, dying gourds, and tons more.

The artistic dying of the gourds is what excited me, and the video below shows the process of how to artistically dye your gourd in the best way.

There’s a gourd art festival which has been occurring annually for over 14 years. Find out more here.

Have you ever made any gourd art? Leave your comments below.

Remember: If you’d like to suggest a video for a feature on the Viddler blog and front page, then please send me a message, link it up in our forums, or just comment on this post.

I love chips! Especially multigrain chips. Now I’m hungry. See what happens? I feature awesome (if you don’t think they’re awesome, then see the reminder at the bottom of the post) videos and they make me hungry. Gosh. I digress.

Mark Burstiner (subscribe) has created a clever way to seal a bag of chips (or any packet of equal size) without the need for a ‘chip clip’ or any other device. This is handy because most of us have been in that situation where you eat half a bag of chips, and then you want to put them away, but you discover that all the other items in your cupboard are occupying the clips you use to seal your chips.

In my house we use a mixture of clothes pegs and jumbo clips, yet we still run out of them when we have several open bags at once. Sometimes we just bunch the top of the bag closed and bunch some things in the cupboard against it to keep it shut. It never really works that well though.

Luckily, a lack of bag clips or begs will no longer make us frown because Mark’s how-to is very useful.

For more clever fun you can find all of Mark’s social media profiles on his website.

Remember: If you’d like to suggest a video for a feature on the Viddler blog and front page, then please send me a message, link it up in our forums, or just comment on this post.