Laughing Squid

Cracked imagines a wonderful world where retail stores were actually honest about “Black Friday”. Black Friday: The day invented by people who sell things to lure the people who buy things away from their families on one of the only nationally recognized holiday weekends on the calendar.

In his latest video, the ever-informing CPG Grey explains the history of plagues – Cholera, Smallpox, Typhus, Measles, Influenza and the Black Death – and the complex coordination of circumstances that made it possible for each disease to travel across the ocean from the highly populated Old World to the sparsely inhabited New World in […]

Scooter from the Muppets performs the Eminem song “My Name Is” in the latest Muppet Mashup by Adam Schleichkorn (a.k.a. “Mylo the Cat“). For comparison, here is the original music video for “My Name Is” and Scooter’s performance of the Randy Newman song “Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear” featured in the video.

Dan Gruchy and Gavin Free of The Slow Mo Guys build a fire tornado and capture it in spectacular 2,500fps slow motion. As we learned from Make: host Caleb Kraft recently, the process of building a fire tornado is actually quite simple, but should still be done with all possible safety precautions.

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver asks why the United States still makes pennies when they actually cost more to make (1.7 cents per penny) than they are actually worth.

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Star Wars has released a new television spot for J. J. Abrams‘ upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, that gives us a look at Finn‘s lightsaber fighting abilities while he battles a First Order Stormtrooper. The Force Awakens is currently set to slice its way into theaters on December 18th, 2015.

Mr. Sunday Movies points out the numerous easter eggs and hidden references in Marvel’s new series Jessica Jones that recently debuted on Netfilx.

In August, we wrote about the Flying Robot International Film Festival, the brainchild of videographer and Laughing Squid friend Eddie Codel. Within the festival was a video competition that culminated with the winners being announced last night at the awards ceremony. This afternoon Veronica Belmont, one of the esteemed FRiFF judges, announced via Twitter that […]

In 2014 episode of BrainStuff – HowStuffWorks, host Jonathan Strickland explains the origins of the very deliberate pattern of speech known as the Transatlantic (Mid-Atlantic) Accent, some of the theories as to why it was so ubiquitous in early Hollywood and why it isn’t employed that much anymore. So what happened to this accent? Linguist […]

The conductor of the Hogwarts Express gives an inside look at some of the attractions of the village of Hogsmeade at the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction opening at Universal Studios Hollywood in Spring 2016.

People who have spent any amount of time around dachshunds know how stubborn they can be, especially when it comes to administering medicine. A clever man named Fellipe Vilaca Chibante, however, figured out a way to get around that tenacious personality and actually tricked his little doxie to beg for her medicine – the operative […]

BeON Home smart lightbulbs are capable of learning a user’s lighting patterns, responding to audio cues like a doorbell or smoke detector, and can operate for up to four hours on battery power. The lights are designed to increase security by giving the illusion that a person is home even when the residence is empty […]

John Atkinson brillantly breaks down the basic elements of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year in his latest Wrong Hands comic “Anatomy of the Holidays”.

In October, the talented light artist Jun Ong created a beautiful star installation crafted from over 500 meters of LED rope and then “embedded” into a four-story open cement building. The brilliant star was then turned on lighting up the vendors, artists and guests at 2015 Urban XChange Public Art Festival in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia. […]

ReadyAimAction Productions took a little bit of license and came up with “Formewla 1“, a really amusing video that combines video of a serious Formula 1 race with the sound of incessantly mewing kittens. Brilliant. The original video in which tiny orange kittens try to scale the denim leg of their bemused human. via Boing […]

D. Vader is a photo series by photographer Pawel Kadysz that depicts Darth Vader living an ordinary life and doing things like drinking coffee, doing chores, and listening to music. In the narrative of the piece, Vader has taken up photography as a hobby and floats the camera and releases the shutter using the Force. […]

In 2014, Dave Delisle of Dave’s Geeky Ideas put forth a brilliant concept for a planchette-style coffee table and a matching rug with a Ouija Board pattern. The set is not commercially available, however, custom furniture maker Tom Spina Designs is Dave’s builder of choice. Almost a year later and I’m still getting a lot […]

Humanwire is a newly launched platform that was specifically created to assist approved refugees from the Middle East in the Humanwire database with money raised through crowdfunding. Founder Andrew Baron, formerly of Rocketboom and Know Your Meme, explains what motivated him to create Humanwire. I first got interested in the Syrian crisis because my wife […]

A geeky and caring father, who would love nothing more than to talk Star Wars with his growing daughter, finally bonds with his little girl over the magic of a galaxy far, far away in a new commercial by Toys”R”Us. via The Mary Sue

Talented YoYo artist Andrew Hulterstrom has created a gorgeously mesmerizing video that features the spinning body of his Yoyofactory Dream Titanium as a fixed point in the center of the frame while a pair of arms loops the bright green string around it. Hulterstrom used varying speeds, other editing techniques and used music by K-391 […]

Mashable recaps the entirety of The Hunger Games franchise in three minutes in their latest TL;DW video.

Actor John Malkovich, inspired by the amount of time it takes for a bottle of LOUIS XIII Cognac to mature, wrote and starred in 100 Years – The Movie You Will Never See. The Robert Rodriguez directed film tries to envision what 100 years in the future will look like using three different scenarios – […]

Winnipeg-based guitarist and songwriter Steve Onotera (a.k.a. “samuraiguitarist“) recently performed a wonderful multitrack cover of the classic “Theme A” song from the Tetris video game franchise. Onotera‘s cover is currently available to purchase online from iTunes and Loudr. The original version of the song for comparison:

Ember is an adjustable heated mug for keeping beverages at the perfect temperature on the go. The mug can maintain a specific temperature for up to two hours, or longer with the use of the charging coaster. The Ember can be preordered now through the company’s Indiegogo campaign. images via Ember via Fubiz

“Film Is Fragile” is a short film by The Mill and the British Film Institute that is made up of scenes of people running in famous movies while the film itself melts behind them. The project is intended to raise awareness of the work BFI is doing to preserve, restore, and protect film. submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

In 2011, we wrote about Tattly Tattoos a gallery of “designy” temporary tattoos that could be purchased online. Now, just in time for the holiday season, Tattly has opened up a fun full-service pop-up temporary tattoo parlor in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. …Tattly Parlor is more than just a store, offering […]

DIRO the Bear is a smart teddy bear robot toy that can listen, think, and learn as a child plays with it. DIRO works as a baby monitor, alarm, educational toy, storyteller, and more. Parents can connect to DIRO through a smartphone app that allows them to access the bear’s microphone remotely to check in […]

The Huffington Post explains what happens to your body when you don’t bathe for long periods of time.

Minute Physics explains why it isn’t faster to fly west, even though the Earth is spinning East at 1000 MPH.

Taras Kulakov aka “Crazy Russian Hacker” shares 10 of his Thanksgiving food hacks in his unique style.

To celebrate the horror comedy film Krampus coming out in December 4th, the Wholesale Halloween Costumes Blog released a detailed makeup and costume tutorial on how to transform yourself into the European Christmas monster known as Krampus. The full step-by-step guide is available to view online. images via Wholesale Halloween Costumes Blog

The Iris Series by Photojojo is a simple system for adding wide angle, fisheye, and macro lenses to smartphone cameras. The interchangeable lenses can be swapped in and out of the specialized mount that can be easily slid over an existing phone case. The lenses and mount are available to preorder now individually or as a […]

Hulu has released a trailer for 11.22.63, their upcoming eight-episode limited series based on the book 11/22/63 by Stephen King. The series will be executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Bridget Carpenter, and Bryan Burk. James Franco will play the part of Jake Epping and travel back in time to prevent the assassination of […]

Foodbeast created this handy guide to hacking the menu at the legendary California-based fast food chain In-N-Out Burger, including their Not-So-Secret Menu.

Grant Snider explores creative approaches to making coffee in “Let’s Make Coffee!” on Incidental Comics.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren recently played “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes while on board the International Space Station as a tribute to research scientist Victor Hurst who recently passed away.

They Might Be Giants has released “Daylight”, the new music video directed by Jason Willis that was created for week 45 of their year-long Dial-A-Song Direct series. Jason Willis writes about what his process was like creating the video.

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk recently attempted the first ever horizontal loop on his skateboard and, after a couple of close tries, he nailed it. Hawk captured footage of his impressive stunt on Sony‘s mountable Action Cam.

Longboarder Ko Hyojoo dances a smooth and beautiful routine while she skates on her board in a video set to the song “Unique” by Lenka. via Digg

Harrison Ford and Omaze recently teamed up to surprise Star Wars fans on Skype. After popping in on the fans’ live chat, Ford announces a new Star Wars: The Force Awakens charity auction that will “present two winners with tickets for them and three guests each to attend the premiere of Star Wars: The Force […]

Filmmaker Geoff Thomkinson documented his trip the charming seaside town of Hallstatt, Austria using a technique called HyperZoom, a continuous time-lapse technique that gives the feeling of flying through the scenery. Thompson has employed this technique in a number of his location films from around the world. Revolutionary new filming technique allows visually continuous flight-like […]

During a school open house on November 1, the Marching Golden Lions of North Hunderdon High School in Annandale, New Jersey, recently performed absolutely killer cover versions of “Girl U Want Jam” by DEVO, “Down in the Park” by Gary Numan and “Metro” by Berlin, encompassing not only the musical style, but the distinct mannerisms […]

Laser tube cutting machines make precision cuts in a mesmerizing product video by the BLM Group, the company that manufactures the machines. The BLM Group YouTube page features a number of interesting videos demonstrating their products. via reddit

“Cloud” by artists Caitlin r.c.Brown and Wayne Garrett is a is a multi-faceted cumulus cluster of 6,000 lightbulbs, each controlled by individual chains that falls down from each bulb like rain under a cloud. Before we even considered the light bulb, CLOUD was a study of light – its magical ability to create ephemeral space, […]

John Cleese recently appeared on Conan and during his interview he told Conan O’Brien how he would play on his late mother’s dark sense of humor by offering to have her killed and stuffed as a means of cheering her up.

Super Science Friends is a clever and stylish animated series by Tinman Creative about a super-powered team of some of the world’s greatest scientists. The team includes Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, Tapputi, and Sigmund Freud all with super powers inspired by their greatest discoveries. In the first episode, the team must travel […]

In “The Clock of the Long Now” by Public Record, inventor Danny Hillis of The Long Now Foundation explains how the idea originated for a 10,000 Year Clock and what the clock is meant to symbolize. I wanted a symbol of the future, in the same way that the pyramids are the symbol of the […]

AltspaceVR gives a demonstration of how to play their virtual reality version of Dungeons & Dragons. The AltspaceVR version of the game mimics the tabletop experience of playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends, allowing users to manipulate figures on a grid, roll virtual dice, and share images of things like the monsters the players are […]

On the latest episode of Man at Arms: Reforged, the talented team of blacksmiths and craftsman at Baltimore Knife and Sword built Katniss Everdeen‘s iconic bow from The Hunger Games films. After recreating Katniss’ deadly weapon, the team took the bow outside and pierced arrows through cans of soda, cans of shaving cream, and gallons […]