Tag: humour

What's the difference between tragedy and comedy? According to Mel Brooks: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die." For the rest of us, the difference is usually just a matter of timing. Is it too soon to start making fun of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (also referred to as the BP Oil Spill)? Well that, according to the folk at UCBComedy, depends entirely on who you are making fun of.

In this fast and furious clip, filmed at the Churchill Club's 11th Annual Top 10 Tech Trends event in California last month, Steve Jurvetson is given two and a half minutes to explain why he thinks the future looks bright for 'disruptive' startup companies.

99Designs' achievements have scored it the Best Web Service & Application gong in the Webby People’s Voice Awards, beating international crowdsourcing heavy-weights Dropbox and Tumblr. When entering, 99Design founder Mark Harbottle promised his Twitter followers that should his company win an award he would thank fans of the company in song. The following clip is the fulfilment of that promise.

If you've ever doubted the capacity of savvy marketing to transform an average product into the must-have slice of cool, check out this brilliant eBay campaign from early 2009.

If you've ever been a part of an organisation that has merged with another, you'll know that there's always at least one person who tries a little too hard to impress the newcomers. Take this effort from David Brent, Ricky Gervais's middle management anti-hero from The Office, as he welcomes 'the Swindon lot' to the fold.

If you've ever attended a networking event and been introduced to someone who spends the next few minutes looking over your shoulder at who else he/she could be talking to, know that it could be worse. You could have Professor Himonya's undivided attention.

After learning of Fiverr's existence, I figured it was going to be jokey. And, indeed, there are some humorous "gigs" (see examples). However, Fiverr is a serious commercial site -- it's brimming with legitimate postings by service providers who are deadly serious about completing the jobs they offer (the site facilitates the transaction). It's quite remarkable how much work some people will do for US$5.

The app is a rare example of an Aussie brand developing a promotion exclusively for iPhone users. I'm talking about the development of an actual application, rather than the increasingly passe trend of giving an iPhone away as a prize. Or, strangely, giving iPhone users free access to Twitter and making a big fuss about it.

ChatRoulette might not be your cup of tea, but this compilation video of Piano Chat Improv Guy is impressive, hilarious and does a better job of explaining what ChatRoulette is all about than any news article could. It's been viewed almost 2.4 million times on YouTube in just over a week. And you're about to see why.

As founder of Oracle, one of the pre-internet powerhouse technology companies, you might expect Larry Ellison to be cynical of all this talk about cloud computing. He is.

As founder of Oracle, one of the pre-internet powerhouse technology companies, you might expect Larry Ellison to be cynical of all this talk about cloud computing. He is.

From the wonderfully verdant mind of entrepreneurial illustrator Hugh MacLeod, author of Ignore Everybody (listed among Amazon's Top 10 Editor's Picks for Best Business Books 2009), comes this print worthy of hanging on any entrepreneur's wall.

From the wonderfully verdant mind of entrepreneurial illustrator Hugh MacLeod, author of Ignore Everybody (listed among Amazon's Top 10 Editor's Picks for Best Business Books 2009), comes this print worthy of hanging on any entrepreneur's wall.

Chicken restaurant chain Nando's Australia is hoping to cash in on the Bingle-Clarke-breakup-saga zeitgeist with this latest promo declaring all Nando's outlets 'Bingle-free zones'.

Chicken restaurant chain Nando's Australia is hoping to cash in on the Bingle-Clarke-breakup-saga zeitgeist with this latest promo declaring all Nando's outlets 'Bingle-free zones'.

Over 18-minutes, Godin outlines his theory that the internet has banished the era of mass marketing, and that the ancient social unit of the tribe has returned, empowering ordinary people to lead extraordinary movements. It's both educational and inspirational, with Godin conveying his message with purpose and humour (helped along by some witty photo slides).

I've been procrastinating today -- though, technically, trawling for interesting web videos is part of my job description. Nevertheless, what a stroke of luck to stumble on a video homage to procrastination while procrastinating.

This spoof of "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys has been climbing up the viral charts. Produced by Pantless Knights, it's a tribute to The New Dork ruling the roost in today's tech world. It's catchy, and you can even download the free MP3.

Come on, face it. Google controls your life. Oh, you don't like how they launched Buzz? Well here's the "official" Google response, courtesy of comedy.com. Step down.

This one will be unfamiliar to many readers, but sheesh it struck a chord with the Anthill editorial desk. PRs take note: the game has changed.