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Giphy cuts out the middleman with DIY GIF-making
Tired of fruitlessly searching the internet for the right GIF? Find an immensely-giffable clip but don't have the m4dl33t Photoshop skills necessary to actually create it? You are in luck because Giphy has unveiled a new online Gif-creation tool called GIFmaker that does all the heavy lifting for you.
NFL complains, Twitter shuts down Deadspin and SBNation accounts
Copyright laws are a complex beast. One person's fair use is a content owner's reason to shoot off a DMCA takedown notice. Gawker Media's sports site, Deadspin and Vox Media's SBNation both found that out today when their Twitter accounts were suspended after continuing to post GIFs of NFL-owned content. The @Deadspin account has since be reinstated while SB Nation's account (@SBnationGIF) is still unavailable. Gawker Media executive editor Lacey Donohue confirmed via Twitter that the notice concerning the suspension from the social media site was from the NFL. Earlier reports indicated that MLB was also involved, but that turned out to be untrue.
Drop all the GIFs with this OS X app
GIFs are bite-sized bits of internet awesome. From video clips to meme-based animation, the file format CompuServe begot has survived and thrived in a world where technology is generally tossed aside after a few months. Thanks to GIF keyboards in iOS like the one from Riffsy, the moving-image format has become shorthand for a reaction via text messages. Excited about something? Don't type it out on your phone, drop a GIF of someone dancing in conversation. Now Riffsy is bringing that quick and easy access to GIFs to OS X so you'll never be too far from a goat being amazing.
Watch these drones build a rope bridge
One of the big selling points of drones is that they can get to areas that aren't exactly safe or accessible by humans. That's why watching quadrocopters assembling a rope bridge that's sturdy enough for a person to walk across is so damned awesome -- it immediately calls to mind a real-world use scenario that probably all of us can relate to. The video below was filmed at RTH Zurich Flying Machine Arena in Switzerland, and, according to the YouTube description, aside from the scaffolding on either side of the bridge, the structure is "entirely realized by flying machines." Every knot and braid in the 7.4 meter (just over 24 feet) bridge was tied by the UAVs using Dyneema rope. As Robohub tells it, the material has a low weight-to-strength ratio that makes it pretty great for aerial construction uses.
Old Atari games had graphics glitches because of CPU bottlenecks
Now that we know how the graphics worked on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Commodore 64, The iBookGuy wants to tell us all about how the Apple II and Atari 2600 got their groove on. In the latest video he says that the Apple II actually used two different techniques for producing visuals depending on whether you had a monochrome or color monitor unit. And the reason white text on a black background appears almost rainbow-like in nature on color machines has to do with pixel placement. For example, blue and green being next to each other on screen requires perfect alignment lest you want white mages to have spots of the former bleeding into them.
Cat Shake gives you an endless stream of OMG KITTIES
Few things in life are better than videos and GIFs about cats -- they bring joy to people. If you feel that way, then you'll probably want to download this new iOS app called Cat Shake. As its name suggests, the application requires you to, well, shake your device to fulfill its purpose. Once you do so, your reward will be too-cute-to-handle cat videos, "classic" cat GIFs and, because why not, adorable cat sounds. For those of you who don't have an iPhone or iPad, don't worry -- you can always go to Tumblr TV, type in what cat you're in the mood for (we'd recommend "funny cat") and problem solved. Or, you know, there's YouTube too.
Tumblr TV makes sure you never run out of GIFs to watch
You already know Tumblr is like GIF heaven. But now, with Tumblr TV, the social network wants to make the animated-image viewing experience better for people. Not only does the newly minted site let you easily search for GIFs, but those results can be enjoyed in fullscreen mode, played continuously and shared with other Tumblr members. So say you search for "Drake," as this editor would do, you can then watch a feed of nothing but Drake-related content that's been uploaded by the community. Unfortunately, it's not as easy to share a specific GIF's URL if you don't have a Tumblr account -- instead, your only option is to use the link related to the topic you've searched for. Either way, Tumblr TV is definitely worth bookmarking.
Twitter automatically plays videos on iOS and the web
Facebook isn't the only big social network automatically playing most videos these days -- Twitter is hopping on that bandwagon, too. Visit your feed on iOS or the web and any GIFs, Vines and native Twitter video will start playing as soon as you look at them. On iOS, clips will go full-screen if you switch to landscape mode. The move is meant to both save you a clip and, of course, keep you using Twitter's services as much as possible.
Tumblr makes it easy to search for reaction GIFs
Reaction GIFs are already a common sight on Tumblr, but this new feature might make them even more prolific. The social network/blogging platform now has a built-in GIF search and insert feature: simply click the plus sign (+) while you're creating a post, click GIF and type in any term you want, such as "slow clap" to get the one above. When the animated images show up, just choose one, and it will be embedded into your post with the proper credits. On the other hand, you'll get a notification if other people use your images, which only means you can contribute by uploading your own. So, make sure to post GIFs from your extensive collection first, before completely nuking them -- if you can stomach deleting years of hard work, that is -- from your computer.
Giphy has come to Gmail and lo, it is glorious
The best thing to happen to your email client since spam filters just did! Giphy, the ubiquitous search and discovery site for animated gifs, has released a Chrome extension that allows you to easily insert moving pictures directly into your electronic mails. After installing the extension, users will find Giphy's rainbow icon in their edit bar; click that to bring up a search bar and a few trending animations which can then be inserted inline. And with an internet's-worth of animation at your fingertips, who needs emoji?
Chill out with this 'holographic' virtual aquarium
There's something inexplicably tranquil about gazing at fish in an aquarium as they swim back and forth, darting about rocks or that tacky plastic treasure chest sitting in the corner. But what if you could have one on your desk, without all the water changes, filter cleaning and general maintenance? That's probably a ways off, but Memukhin Oleg's "Fishing Day" explores such a (not entirely virtual) reality. As you'll see in the video below from The Creators Project, he's used a handful of different 3D modeling techniques to bring artificial fishies to life. They react to a handheld submarine, schooling and separating as they might in the real world, flitting through a gaudy shipwreck you'd find at a pet store's aquarium aisle. It's all really, really impressive and there's even a breakdown of how the effects shot came together. The only bad part? The video's a bit on the short side.
Creep your friends out with this online GIF tool
GIFs are usually a source of delight and wonder. Artist Vince McKelvie, however, has taken that wonder and warped it beyond recognition. In his new site, click drag click, you can create animated terrors by plugging in a URL of a photo or GIF. Then, just select and drag the image around to start the insanity. When you're done defying the laws of nature, your creation is uploaded to the site's stream of equally creepy images manipulated by people just like you. From there you can share it to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr to give all your friends nightmares.
Hulu's GIF library offers visuals for your reaction tweets
Websites like Giphy and others are useful for supplying a GIF to get your point across. Hulu is looking to help too, so long as your thoughts/feelings/hot takes can be summed up with an image from one of the TV shows streamed there. The company launched it's own repository, which is appropriately housed on Tumblr, allowing you to search for specific shows, actions and reactions to find the perfect moving picture for your needs. Heck, there are even gems like this one from Star Trek: The Original Series.
Animated GIFs make their way to Google Messenger
Sometimes 160 characters just can't adequately express what you're trying to say, but a soundless loop of the Bluth family doing his best impression of a chicken will. Google knows this and has added animated GIF support to Messenger as a result, bringing in functionality that Hangouts has had for awhile. The app has a new widget as well, in addition to the usual bug fixes and performance improvements that TalkAndroid notes. Not seeing the update on your device? We've got your back with a Google Play link right here.
Imgur now lets you easily make gorgeous GIFs from online videos
Are you an animated GIF virgin? Do you hang your head in shame when your friends share their custom made GIFs? If so, then the new video to GIF tool from the popular image hosting service Imgur might be perfect for you. All you need to do is plug in the URL of an online video (I tested it with several YouTube clips), choose a portion to animate, and wait while Imgur converts it. It's worth noting that you likely won't end up with a true animated GIF, though. Most of the time the tool spat out one of Imgur's new "GIFV" files, which loop like GIFs, but more closely resemble video files when it comes to sharing them. The big benefit of GIFV? It produces higher quality animated images with smaller file sizes than traditional GIFs. YouTube is testing out its own quick GIF conversion tool as well, but Imgur deserves credit for trying to evolve the archaic image format.
Graffiti and satellites combine for a massive animated GIF
Look, it isn't easy making GIFs on the computer without the right applications, so it's giving us a headache thinking of the work that goes into each of these graffiti-turned-GIFs by an artist named INSA. Especially the one you see above, because the piece was so large, its pictures were taken by a couple of Pleiades satellites from space. To be exact, the satellites took the snapshots in orbit, 431 miles above the ground -- the ISS, in comparison, is orbiting the Earth at an altitude of around 268 miles. But first, let's go back to how INSA makes these GIFs. See, he doesn't manipulate pictures of his work on the computer to make these "Gif-itis" (that's not a disease, it's GIF + graffiti, get it?): he actually repaints the graffiti over and over, taking pictures of each iteration.
Read this novel made of GIFs
A sign of the times. The future of storytelling. An attempt at something a little different. None of the above. Whatever the reasoning, Dennis Cooper has decided to craft a novel entirely in GIFs, each one show-and-telling a little bit more of the (sometimes fragmented) story. You can read it yourself either online or by download to PCs or tablet. "Zac's Haunted House" is made up of a whole load of GIFs that you scroll through to form the narrative of each chapter. Cooper, whose previous work spans both fiction and art, has taken the animations from a wide range of mediums: sometimes they're cribbed from Samurai Jack, other times it's older movie vignettes from long before the birth of the web. While we'd say it's more of a short story than a novel, how long it'll take you to finish will largely depend on your connection speed -- no reading required.
YouTube is testing a GIF sharing option
Click on the "share" button under any YouTube video, and you'll get three simple options: Share (for a URL), Embed (for HTML code) and Email (take a guess), but Google's video streaming site is about to get one more -- animated GIF. YouTube hasn't officially announced the new feature, but it seems to be testing it on select channels. Click on any video from Good Mythical Morning or The Idea Channel (the only two channels we found with the feature activated), for instance, and you'll be given the opportunity to make a captioned, six-second GIF like the one above. It's pretty easy; YouTube starts the GIF at the point of the video that was playing when you click "share" and allows it to be adjusted via timestamp or visual slider. Want to check it out? Click on either of the two above channels and have at it. Oh, and let us know in the comments if you find any other GIF-ready channels.
Stupid Hackathon produces zany projects that no one needs
iPad on a face, a Google Glass app that makes the user throw up and a device powered by twerking. These are but some of the masterpieces out of this year's Stupid Hackathon, and they all embody what the event's organizers are looking for: "stupid shit no one needs and terrible ideas." Now before you think we've gone rogue or have had too much wine and stuffing, we promise you that Stupid Hackathon is real, and this is its second run. In fact, we've talked to its masterminds, Amelia Winger-Bearskin and Sam Lavigne, who told us that the event's goal is "to create and fully realize projects that have no value whatsoever."
Jeff: Screen sharing through GIFs
When you're trying to explain something to someone, often a screenshot isn't enough as you need to show how something progresses over time. Screencasting tools are wonderful, but the file sizes can border on the ridiculous and sharing can be an issue as a result. Along comes Jeff (US$9.99), a new Mac app that makes it drop-dead simple to capture a whole screen or a portion of it, then turn the video into a short GIF that makes sharing much more simple. Jeff is absurdly simple to use. Launch the app, and you'll see a menu bar icon - a J in a circle. Click on it, and a little dialog comes up. Follow the simple instructions by clicking the record button or use Shift-Command-5 to record a section of a screen or Shift-Command-6 to record all of a screen. For a quick example, I decided to do a search on the App Store for Solar City's new app, which I want to load onto my iPad so I can obsess about how much energy my PV panels are generating. Here's the GIF: (Note: the GIF may stop playing after one time through. To restart it, please clear your browser history (one hour is fine) and then reload the page) All I had to do is click the button, drag out a rectangle over the iTunes app, click a Start button, perform the actions I wanted to show, then click the Stop button. When setting up Jeff, I linked the app to Dropbox. After about two minutes, the completed GIF was sitting in Dropbox waiting to share. Jeff showed a small version of the GIF that I could click on to view it in a web browser, and there was also a button for copying a link to Dropbox. In addition, Jeff also supplies a number of other ways to share the link via email (the first image is also included), Messages, AirDrop and various forms of social media. Two features I'd like to see developer Robots & Pencils add in a future version of Jeff are 1) the ability to scale a capture to a preset size and 2) the ability to control how often screen captures occur. This would provide much more control over the size of the GIF file. Scaling in the Mac's Preview app is time-consuming after the fact and it would just be nice to be able to adjust a slider for frames per second as well. Other than that, I like Jeff (the app, and I also like Jeff Gamet, the blogger/podcaster) and think it's a great way to capture and share screens easily. Jeff is well worth the $10 if you often need to explain things to other people visually. Jeff requires OS X Yosemite 10.10 or later, so be sure your Mac is up to the task.
