‘The Example Show’ on Netflix – newest meme involves over-the-top reviews

There is a new meme floating around the internet and it involves finding the rarest of cult hits on Netflix. Anything from classic 80s comedies, to Japanese cartoons, even art-house flicks from the 50s.

Well, here is a new one, the 11-minute entertainment clips Netflix created to test out new streaming devices.

“This is television done right.” “Absolutely spellbinding!” “This wasn’t a show. It was a revelation.” These are only some of the raving customer reviews for Netflix’s first original TV show…I asked Netflix about it, and was told that the clips were produced a few years ago for testing purposes. Also, the moon-walking Shakespeare aficionado starring in them doesn’t actually work at Netflix. He’s a freelancer, specifically hired for this project.

Netflix’s secret cult hit

It’s silly and childish, I know. But where else can you write an over-the-top review just to make yourself laugh?

 

 

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Helping China, the world’s largest smoking country, move away from tobacco farming

Curbing tobacco use by growing less

In China, 350 million people smoke. Each year, 1 million die from smoking. Many more become disabled. Approximately 20 million Chinese farmers produce the world’s largest share of tobacco, nearly 40 percent of the global supply.

A compelling story of how one scientist created a for-profit organization for the farmers. It teaches them the skills to grow other crops, like fruits and vegetables, which allow them to increase their revenue while decreasing the supply of tobacco, something China is committed to doing.

 

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UCLA researcher discovers Mars has tectonic plates

Planetary geologist An Yin has made a startling discovery about Mars:

UCLA scientist discovers plate tectonics on Mars

For years, many scientists had thought that plate tectonics existed nowhere in our solar system but on Earth. Now, a UCLA scientist has discovered that the geological phenomenon, which involves the movement of huge crustal plates beneath a planet’s surface, also exists on Mars.

This is exciting news, Mars has earthquakes and lava!

The article also talks about the Grand Canyon of Mars that is 9x times bigger, called Valles Marineris.

 

 

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Amazing overhead shots of the U.S. open of Surfing in Huntington Beach

Surfer magazine has posted 16 amazingly large overhead shots of the U.S. Open of Surfing and the Orange County coastline.

Here is one of them, mightily shrunk:

 

 

See the rest – Above the Open – an oddly serene look at the U.S. Open

The world of professional sports is going green

Allen Hershkowitz, from The N.Y. Times, has written up an interesting piece about The Greening of Professional Sports.

Among the many great points he makes, include how every industry will need to participate and public opinion is the most important factor, as well as:

 

Fifteen professional stadiums or arenas have achieved LEED certification for green building design and operations, and 17 have installed on-site solar arrays. Millions of pounds of carbon emissions have been avoided, and millions of pounds of paper products have been shifted toward recycled content or not used at professional sports sites. Recycling and composting programs have been developed or are planned at virtually all professional stadiums and arenas.

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NASA releases a full 360-degree panorama of Mars surface – feels like you’re there

NASA has released an amazing panorama shot of Mars:

 

This full-circle scene combines 817 images taken by the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It shows the terrain that surrounded the rover while it was stationary for four months of work during its most recent Martian winter.

Its release this week coincides with two milestones: Opportunity completing its 3,000th Martian day on July 2, and NASA continuing past 15 years of robotic presence at Mars.

 

And, Panoramas.dk has turned it into a it’s-like-you’re-there 360-degree view. Make sure to visit Panorama.dk, the shot will make you feel like you are on the surface of Mars.

 

A screenshot of 90-degrees of the panorama:

 

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Airbnb has biggest night ever – while guests stay on private islands, in castles, & on boats

Last Saturday Airbnb had a pretty amazing night:

 

Not long ago, we told you about the 10 million guest nights booked on our site. Little did we know that our community was just getting warmed up…After a few massive weeks of travel, plus a bit of excitement in London, we saw our biggest night in history take place last Saturday, August 4.

How big? Well, 60,000 people were staying on Airbnb that night. That’s five times the number of guests from August 4, 2011.

 

More than two-thirds of those travelers were from outside the U.S., coming from 174 countries. That’s pretty incredible.

The company put together a few graphics celebrating this feat:

 

 

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How nonpartisan are national parks? 95% of voters want them protected

New Poll of Likely Voters Finds Unity in Public Support for National Parks

According to a new public opinion poll commissioned by (two nonpartisan groups), national parks are cherished by Americans and an overwhelming 95 percent of voters want the federal government to ensure they are protected for the future and available for their enjoyment.

The new poll finds that more than 80 percent of voters have visited a national park at some point in their lives, and nearly nine in 10 say they are interested in visiting a park in the future.

 

via @NPCA

 

You can count me in on that – our next trip is to Yosemite Valley in September.

 

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Google Chrome now owns the internet – most popular web browser in the world

The Next Web is covering the massive rise of Google’s web browser, Chrome:

 

Remember when Google’s Chrome browser overtook Internet Explorer as the world’s most popular browser for a week back in May? And next, for a full calendar month?

 

Now, it’s on top and looking to stay…

 

For July 2012, StatCounter pegged Chrome’s global market share at 33.8 percent, up from 32.8 percent in June and from 22.1 percent in July 2011.

 

That’s a pretty meteoric rise in one year, or a precipitous drop by the others. Rankings by market share:

 

  • Chrome – 33.8%
  • Internet Explorer – 32%
  • Firefox – 23.7%
  • Safari – 7.1%

 

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Vertigo dethrones Citizen Kane as the best film of all time

If you’re looking for a quality list among all those top 10s, then this is the one. It occurs only once a decade and queries nearly 900 of the world’s top critics. The numbers are collated into the “Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time”.

The results are in:

 

And the loser is – Citizen Kane. After 50 years at the top of the Sight & Sound poll, Orson Welles’s debut film has been convincingly ousted by Alfred Hitchcock’s 45th feature Vertigo.

…Hitchcock, who only entered the top ten in 1982 (two years after his death), has risen steadily in esteem over the course of 30 years, with Vertigo climbing from seventh place, to fourth in 1992, second in 2002 and now first, to make him the Old Master.

 

I heard about this list through the Slate Culture Gabfest where it was remarked, “these movies are part of a great film education”.

How’s your education?

 

  1. Vertigo
  2. Citizen Kane
  3. Tokyo Story
  4. La Règle du jeu
  5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
  6. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  7. The Searchers
  8. Man with a Movie Camera
  9. The Passion of Joan of Arc
  10. 8 1/2

 

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