NEWSLETTER: ISSUE 51: "WEEBL IN FIVE FIGURE MTV DEAL"
This Week:
- Spam Ticker
- Psychic Trick
- Weebl in five figure MTV deal
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________ ____ __ ___
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___/ _ |/_ </ __/ __ | "We're saving the
__/____/____/\__/_/ |_| web ... together"
B3ta email 51 - 9 Aug 2002
Read this issue online:
http://b3ta.com/newsletter/issue51/
Subscribe: [email protected]
Unsub: [email protected]
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: SPAM TICKER
The ideal presentation for your corporate lobby
Brian Millar has been collecting spam. He's
edited the best into a ticker that works much
like the New York Stock exchange.
Sounds rubbish doesn't it?
It's not - it's strangely uplifting and gives
the material a gravitas that it doesn't really
deserve.
http://www.baker-street.net/spam/
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: WEIRD PSYCHIC TRICK
Think of a number ....
Simon is an amateur magician and he can read
your mind.
His site asks you to think of a number between
10 and 99 and then do a sum.
We chose 23.
So 23 - 2 - 3 = 18
Simon has made a list of shapes that
correspond with the result.
The site will then guess the correct shape.
It's spooky because it works.
http://www.dogbomb.co.uk/psychic_shapes/
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: WEEBL IN 5 FIGURE MTV DEAL
The first graduate from the B3ta Fame Academy!
Regular readers will be familiar with the Weebl
and Bob animations which have gained a cult
following of net users.
And now? Their creator Jonti Picking has been
commissioned to use the characters to make 20
shorts for the European MTV2 channel.
We're very excited by Jonti's success, and he's
made a new Weebl animation to celebrate.
http://www.weebl.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/b3ta/show.ht...
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: WHAT B3TA PEOPLE HAVE BEEN MAKING THIS WEEK #1
Animal Band, Penis Anim, Love Story, Kitten Owl
>> Bad Weather Blues <<
The weather has been awful in the UK. We've
had thunderstorms, rain and some flooding.
At B3ta we're never despondent, and Spacefish
has galvanised the message board people to do
something about it. They've put together this
cheering song and animation to fight the
bad weather.
http://www.glastonbridge.co.uk/blues/
>> Penis Animation <<
It's been a long time since someone has
submitted something this weird. It's a music
video starring penises. We think the TV deal
might be a long time coming. (Thanks HootyOwl)
http://www.ultraville.com/flash/new%20swfs/gennies...
>> Kitten Owl Wallpaper <<
Pop has made you some new wallpaper. It features
an adorable kitten owl creature in a snowscape.
It's classy. Install it.
http://www.robb.karoo.net/wallpaper.htm
>> A Love Story <<
Now that Weebl is an international superstar,
his animator is working on new ideas. Jonti's
most recent is a short animation about two
people in love.
http://www.weebl.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/flash/lovest...
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: WHERE I LURK
Cider Girl on "Liphook Messageboard"
People pass time on the web in different ways.
Some people like links, some read news, others
watch message boards. Each week we ask a B3ta
reader where they like to lurk.
Cider Girl writes -
"I'm totally addicted to the Liphook message
board. It was set up to serve a local community
but got invaded by a load of media wannabees
who big themselves up, squabble and bang on
about how many drugs they take. It's a cross
between Eastenders and Big Brother, only
more pretentious."
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/board/kb4354/
BTW: Do you lurk on any message boards? We'd
like you to contribute to this section. Send a
couple of paragraphs to http://www.b3ta.com/mailus/
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: WHAT B3TA PEOPLE HAVE BEEN MAKING THIS WEEK #2
Mahjongg, Decision Machine, Clicky game, Irwin
>> Mahjongg <<
Thomas Weibel has built this neat web version
of Mahjongg to play with his children. He says,
"Kids are great at it, they recognize patterns
and characters much faster than an adult but
they'll leave finger prints on the screen.
Mucky puppies."
http://www.thomasweibel.ch/mahjongg.htm
>> Decision Maker <<
Izb has built an advice machine. You go through
a series of questions about your problem and
it attempts to solve it. If it doesn't fix
your quandary then you can suggest your own
solution. Izb is hoping that your entries
will make the site able to resolve
every problem in existence.
http://www.lifesdifficultdecisions.com/life/
>> Clicky Mouse Game <<
Salmon of Knowledge has made his first
web game. "I got the idea from an attraction at
Alton Towers," he says. It's very simple. You
need to click your mouse as fast as you can to
race your character across the screen. It'll
fuck up your hands.
http://www.oshq.co.uk/b3tarace/
>> Steve Irwin Game <<
Aaarrgghh...wasps has made a game where you
pretend to be TV's Steve Irwin and chuck eucalyptus
chewing gum at koala bears. But of course!
http://waspworld.gotdns.com/2dpb.htm
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: SITES IN BRIEF
Stuff we like that wasn't made by our mates.
>> Write an email in piss <<
Pee-Mail is a fantastic new service. You
scrawl your message using a cute little
cartoon chap weeing on the screen. You can then
send the message to your friend. Here is a
special message we've prepared for our
readers.
http://www.pee-mail.com/index.php
>> 'Rejected' Animation <<
Utterly insane minimalist account of an
animator's decline into madness and eventual
self-implosion. One of the best animations
we've ever seen.
http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~mad/krischan/download/R...
>> Anco's Energizer <<
This cute problem-solving game gets you to
push blocks and avoid giant insects to get to
the next screen. The stepped level of difficulty
eases you in gently and then shags your brain.
http://www.miniclip.com/acno/acno.htm
>> Lego Porn <<
Artist David Thomas has been photographing
naked Lego ladies. Slightly disturbing but
tastefully posed.
http://soli.inav.net/~thomas/mfactory/lm002.html
>> Elephants on acid <<
40 years ago two psychiatrists administered the
equivalent of 3,000 LSD trips to an elephant.
It shat itself and died. Poor elephant.
http://makeashorterlink.com/
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: B3TA IMAGE CHALLENGE
Results from "How Things Really Work" Challenge
Each week we run a competition to test your
creative skills. We set a challenge and you
open Photoshop and mess with our heads.
Last week we wanted to know how things really
worked.
http://b3ta.com/challenge/howstuffreallyworks/
We asked B3ta boarder Breel to judge the
entries - here are his 3 faves.
Breel writes -
#1 "How Medical School works - simple concept,
excellent execution and made me spill me
tea. (Rogan)
http://www.b3ta.com/board/2/5/1/1/1/5/
#2 "How batteries work - cute brand subversion.
(Kubox)
http://www.b3ta.com/board/2/4/8/1/5/8/
#3 "How Daleks Work - know I know why they are
so wobbly. (CJ)
http://www.b3ta.com/board/2/4/3/9/8/2/
# Honorary mention. "How Chaotic Illuminator
really works."
http://www.b3ta.com/board/2/5/2/4/7/6/
>> This Week's Challenge <<
This week, B3ta contributor Freddy Woo gave us
the suggestion, "What is the fifth emergency
service?"
http://b3ta.com/challenge/fifthemergencyservice/
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: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
Follow-ups on previous stories.
* We asked you to buy Glitter Band T-Shirts.
The fan club bloke thanked us and said "you've
emptied my garage."
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: STAR IN NEXT WEEK'S ISSUE
Make something cool and tell us about it.
Stuff we'd really like to see includes
* Where you lurk
* Things to buy
* Your latest stuff
Send contributions to http://www.b3ta.com/mailus/
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Thanks to Dave Stevenson and Lucy Reese for
helping edit the newsletter.