New Video Site Released

Posted on November 12, 2009 | Filed Under Web

I always thought the Invasion Cinema site was pretty cool.  They had some cool retro sci-fi movies and a blog with additional information. I even had the site in my delicious bookmarks and linked from here.

Awhile back, that site seems to have disappeared, so as an offshoot of a video testing project I had done, I decided to create a video site of my own.  I tracked down the retro sci-fi movies that had been on Invasion Cinema’s site.  This includes the following:

These movies are free and you can watch them on demand.  I will also be adding content to include plot synopsis, cast information, and other information about the films.

While I am at it, I decided to add the classic Superman animated shorts from the 1940s.  This series of animated shorts was done by Max Fleischer and I’ve always wanted to have a site with a “Superman Film Festival” flavor to it.  The first film is up at http://video.butlerblog.com/2009/11/12/superman/ and I’ll be adding more later, until we have the entire series.  You can view the entire “Superman Film Festival” here.

Google Trends: A valuable tool for webmasters and bloggers

Posted on May 23, 2007 | Filed Under Web

Google Labs does it again with their recent unveiling of Google Trends.  Google Trends will give users the inside scoop on what search terms are hot, and how hot.

If you are a webmaster or blogger trying to increase your exposure, this type of information is key.  You can see not only what terms the world is searching for, but what the trend of those search terms has been over time.  Additionally, you can compare up to five different search terms to see how they compare in terms of trend.

Here is what Google says about the service:

With Google Trends, you can compare the world’s interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched for on Google over time. Google Trends also displays how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and which geographic regions have searched for them most often.

Here are some links for more information:

About Google Trends (includes FAQs)
Google Trends Discussion Group

And for something interesting, here is the Google Trends data on the terms “google trends.” Interestingly, when I looked at it, the “Hotness” was ranked as a mere “mild.”  I would have expected more from a newly released data tool.

I’ll be looking forward to some type of API for this from Google Labs.

Free Online Warning Label Generator

Posted on May 22, 2007 | Filed Under Web

Here’s a way to have some fun… Make your own warning labels with this online warning label generator: warninglabelgenerator.com

The one I made demonstrates that you cannot use an apostrophe in your text:

Bugmenot.com

Posted on March 29, 2006 | Filed Under Web

Here is an interesting service. I’ll leave it up to the individual as to whether you feel this is ethical or not. Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just pointing out this exists.

Are you annoyed when you go to view a news article on a newspaper site (like chicagotribune.com or nytimes.com) and be prompted to login or register “free”?‚  What do you think the cost is of giving up your email (and other miscellaneous and sundry personal information) is?
Bugmenot.com – bypass compulsory registration with these free passwords

Google Mars

Posted on March 14, 2006 | Filed Under Web

In the spirit of Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Moon, the next frontier for Google maps junkies has been released – Google Mars.

Using maps from images taken by NASA’s orbiting Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor, Google provides users images of the Martian surface. View mountains, craters, dunes, ridges, canyons, and plains… all by name. You can also view the location of various spacecraft that have explored Mars.

It works just like Google Maps, you can zoom in, drag from side to side, and pinpoint locations. � You can view by elevation, by infrared, or by the straight image.

Hopefully, Google will follow through with plans to add the images to Google Earth, which would allow you to tilt and pan the image. � Until then, enjoy the browser based version here – it’s pretty cool.