This is a very clever video from Jessa of Hyperbolium of a MIDI player performing a piano medley of each US state’s shape as roughly drawn in a visual MIDI player. All the states sound so good you almost forget they’re nine-tenths filled with people you can’t stand. Just for reference, all the states are played in alphabetical order, so if you’re looking for a particular state, you do the math. Or alphabet. Whatever, I failed all school subjects. So — which state’s song was your favorite? “I didn’t watch them all.” Me neither!

This is a video of several crash tests being conducted, pitting older model cars versus newer ones. Some more info while I remember to tape my bumper back on before my next state inspection. It’s all a racket!

Unfortunately, as a vehicle ages, a number of factors come into play that reduce the automobiles safety, aside from mechanical wear and tear. According to statistics, a driver is 10 times as likely to suffer fatal injuries in a collision while operating a 30-year-old vehicle versus a late model. The auto industry is continually working to improve the safety of current mechanisms, as well as developing and testing new ideas for safer vehicles. Developments in driving technology and new types of airbags have been prevalent just this year.

I learned a lot by watching the video. Mostly, that new cars are designed to crumple and absorb as much energy as possible to prevent damage to the passenger compartment, and old cars were designed to crumple right into all your vital organs. The more you know.

Note: Plenty of profanity. Really good stuff too.

UPDATE: Professor has since been suspended due to video, and is threatening to sue if not reinstated.

This is a video of Ferris State University history professor Dr. Mehler’s welcome to my class Zoom speech. It’s moving. Moving in the direction of dropping his class while you still can. Or maybe I actually want to take it, I still can’t tell. He begins with a few very choice words for the administration, followed by calling all students vectors of disease he doesn’t want anywhere near him (valid, he wears a specially filtered space helmet to avoid infection). He then proceeds to explain that he grades by the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, assigning all students grades randomly before the first day of class, only looking at their student number. Lastly, he discusses attendance, how coming to class isn’t value-add at all, and how he views anybody who does come to class as someone who doesn’t care if their own grandpa lives or dies (via potential COVID transmission). All this smattered with calling everyone profane names. Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. Need a TA?

keep going for a three minute cut of the video, as well as the full 14-minute TED Talk.

@maddyswift09 I’m terrified #fyp #college #scary #covid #lol #trending #tiktok ♬ original sound – Maddy Swift

This is a brief video of an automated lemon-stickering machine (I know it was on my Christmas list) doing its thing. Its thing being applying the stickers to lemons so both you and the cashier can identify them at the supermarket. Oh is that a lemon? Shoot, I meant to get kiwis. I like how there are a handful of stickers stuck to the conveyor belt below the lemons. The little stickering arms responsible for those? Let’s just say those little robot arms don’t work here anymore.

@cyrusanhdp82

Vous good

♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

This is a video of music student Matthew Van Ness (of the Loch clan presumably) performing the Halo theme by previously recording himself performing 100 different parts of the song, then mix-tracking them all together. That is impressive. For reference, I would have come up with the idea, said I was going to do it, then abandoned the project as soon as I thought about editing all that footage together. Not unlike the time I volunteered to record my nephew’s first birthday party. My sister still hasn’t spoken to me and he just graduated high school, which I also offered to record as a peace offering.

This is a video from musician and Youtuber Andrea Boma Boccarusso providing a history of metal music, from the 1950’s to present. His lesson plan includes “a medley of metal examples accompanied by descriptions, artists, and albums that typified each era.” Neato. Of course if you don’t have time to watch or skip around the twelve minute video, just remember this: metal was born when I was. Can I get a hell yeah?! No? What about a sign of the horns? Come on –0 anything? “A swift kick in the ass?” You sound like my brother.