Given that Halloween is one of the more colorful, creative holidays, its not surprising that we’re seeing so many videos its inspired hitting YouTube. Tens of thousands of Halloween-related videos have been uploaded in the past week or so, some of which have millions of views.
Some of the most popular costume videos this year were these two similar clips of a “kidnapper” style costume. Oddly enough, they were both posted in 2009, but are suddenly seeing hundreds of thousands of views in 2011 after being featured on pop-culture sites. (It’s been a big year for 2009 Halloween videos. Here’s another.)
Costumes are great, but the trending Halloween video of the year is definitely this clip from some inventive California homeowners, which delivered an amazing synchronized light show to the tune of LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem.” It’s drawn over 3.5 million views so far and the most common search terms on YouTube this week associated with the word “Halloween” were “light show.”
The Riverside home got some notice last Halloween when its “Thriller” video was seen nearly one million times.
There are actually quite a few other light shows that have also drawn interest this year, like this one synched up with “Crazy Train.”
Read more about Halloween costumes at the YouTube Blog.
Herman Cain made a big splash this week with his ad featuring Chief of Staff Mark Block smoking a cigarette. The ad, titled “Now is the Time for Action,” has now been seen over one million times since Monday. According to YouTube.com/Politics, it’s the second-most-viewed video of the 2011 GOP Candidates, only behind Rick Perry’s “Proven Leadership.”
Meanwhile politically-engaged jokesters created a number of parody versions, a selection of which are available in the CitizenTube playlist below.
(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)
Everyone has heard of hackers, viruses, and spam. What fewer people have heard of or understand are botnets despite statistics that show they’re trending to be the choice of current cybercriminals.
By using “Command-and-Control” servers, hackers are able to remotely take over computers to execute their nefarious activities. Connecting through C&C servers allows a “bot herder” is able to send out spam emails, spread viruses, distribute malicious software, and steal identities.
Nearly 90% of all email spam is sent through botnets – and that’s not their biggest threat.
As the buzz surrounding the iPhone 4S fades a little (it’s been a week, after all), Samsung unveiled the most anticipated Android phone of the pre-holiday season with the Galaxy Nexus. Armed with the first installation of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest entry into Google’s Nexus program will go on sale in the US, Europe, and Asia next month.
Nearly all of the specs are impressive:
1.2 gigahertz Dual Core Processor
4.65 inch Touchscreen
Slender 8.49 millimeter depth
1280 x 720 Resolution
NFC Technology for Mobile Payments
1 gigabyte of RAM
Front-Facing Camera
There is one feature that is less impressive and may prove to be a big mistake when consumers start their smartphone shopping next month. Despite having a rear camera that shoots 1080p at 40 frames per second like its high-end smartphone competitors, it shoots at a mere 5-megapixels.
8-megapixels is the new standard set by the other high-end options such as the iPhone 4S, Motorola Droid Bionic, Photon 4G, and even the Galaxy S II.
Those who understand how digital photography work know that the difference in quality in most situations will not be noticeable, but numbers are numbers and when people are comparing the devices, having an “inferior” camera will likely sway a good portion of people considering it against these and other competitors.
Having a pure installation of Android 4.0 will help, of course, as will other improvements such as the removal of physical buttons and improved screen clarity (including a new font called Roboto), but for many it will not be enough to overcome a camera that seems 3-megapixels inferior.
If sales are sluggish, we’ll know who to blame: the decision-maker who chose a camera that is comparable to last year’s models.
