Remembering WonderTurkey

Remember our old Thanksgiving video from two years back? Adam, a WGer in a past life, reminded us of this old gem and pointed out that it has somehow racked up 42,000+ hits on YouTube. Since we dug it up, Ried pointed out that we ought to share it here again. Who knows, maybe we'll make it to 43k views.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

P.S. It's been a while but I believe JP had the most to do with this video. They're his vocals and he wrote the song, which is a play on the Llama Llama video of yesteryear.

O sweet awesomeness: The Time Machine

This morning, my friend Kris sent me a link to a YouTube video that he'd discovered through Twitter. "The Time Machine," embedded below, rocked my ever-lovin' world.

I loved it right off the bat because Choose Your Own Adventure stories were deeply ingrained in my childhood, but it also thrilled me because it's such a perfect use of the medium. Video brings a new life to this style of storytelling, and the added interactivity makes it something truly new.

Watch "The Time Machine" and let me know if you found it as interesting as I did. (Thank you, Kris, for sending this my way!)

P.S. Did you notice that YouTube changed its aspect ratio? That's another exciting development that I ought to mention.

Bike Hero

via Geekdad

There are so many fantastic details in here. So well-done. I'm jealous.

New Cincinnati Bell holiday spots

Have you been fast forwarding through commercials lately? For shaaaaame. We wouldn't want you to miss the new Cincinnati Bell spots, so watch them here! And yes, one includes a new Nick Lachey appearance...

I asked WG's Cincinnati Bell team if they had any anecdotes about the filming the St. Nick spot, and I was greeted with the traditional WonderGroup sarcasm. Matt wants you to know that he was mistaken for Nick Lachey, "which created some awkward moments." Barrett, on the other hand, was "frequently mistaken for a little person." And JP-- well, he's not allowed on any more shoots.

Cynthia did want to mention that Nick Lachey was so gracious with his fans that the WG team had to pry him away so they could get back to work.

The filming was on-location in Western Hills. Big thanks go to Amy for getting me these videos!

Here's the other current Bell spot, featuring a Blackberry Pearl deal:

Week-startin' link roundup

Shared by @bud_caddell: a post on Obama's online masses. How did they gather? What now?

From @thepeross (via AdAge): "People love their free coffee: Starbucks' positive buzz rating jumped from 25% on Oct. 31 to 51% on Nov. 5."

From our own Vicki: Oprah moves her store online. Now everyone can purchase "O"-emblazoned golf club covers or whatever their hearts desire.

And my contribution, of a different ilk completely, "The Matrix runs on Windows." (I embedded it but the size of the video destroyed everything I ever loved. A thousand apologies.)

Excel!sior

Earlier I emailed a challenge: show me something cooler than this today, and I'll give you a dollar. "This," if you haven't clicked, is an astronomy Flickr pool that labels the sky for you. (Thank you for sharing this, Jared!)

So far the only contender is from Ried: an ASCII version of an AC/DC music video (which won't allow me to embed it). I will admit it's pretty awesome, but I'm struggling with cooler than an astronomic calibration service.

But maybe that's just me.

Anyone else want to weigh in? There's a hot dollar in the table, legal tender.

Another impromptu roundup

Read this article, which I discovered via @cosguru, about cloud computing: what it is and why it sucks. Granted, I don't really agree with this statement; still, it's an interesting side of the story. What control are we giving up for sweet, sweet convenience?

Vicki shared an article about iTunes becoming more accessible for the blind. How long before regulations start making the web more handicap-accessible by law? There are some small movements in that direction, but we have a long way to go.

JP passed on a link to this innovation in DVR technology, about which he says: "This could totally change how we buy/shop for products. Imagine seeing a commercial, then hitting a button on your remote linking you automatically to Amazon to make a purchase or review that product."

Finally, below is a video of my brother playing Jam Legend. Notice anything different from your standard Guitar Hero fare?


Jam Legend from Erica on Vimeo.

Yes, he's playing with his PC keyboard as the guitar. You can read his review of the service here. Silly fad or game-changer?

P.S. Did anyone notice that my brother is wearing a WonderGroup shirt in that video? Completely unplanned, I swear it.

How to Build a Social Media Campaign

Yoinked from AdRants (thanks Steve!), an interesting video about the basics of social media. It solidly explains a concept I grapple with just about every day. The author mentions a few helpful tools, some of which you've heard me talk about before and all of which you should check out.

"And remember, online, nothing fails faster than 'phony.'"

ToppsTown: demo video

Check out this awesome demo video that the team put together to promote the world! This is ToppsTown, in case you haven't signed up and have been living vicariously through me and my posts.

And if you'd like to see a higher-quality version, check out our homepage (for now).

SesameStreet.org evolves

Sesame Street has revamped its site (thanks Cynopsis) and I think it's fantastic. I've spent quite a bit of time watching old Sesame clips-- I was a huge fan of the show when I was younger, as I've mentioned twice before.

Explore the site and see if it doesn't take you back. What a great resource for kids-- it reminds me of when my coworker Lisa brings her son to the office and shows him PBS videos. As the practice of watching videos on the computer together gains popularity, sites like the new Sesame Street will definitely be an asset to families.

(My only beef: videos should not start automatically with no pause or mute button! Freakin' Elmo.)