viral

New tech can detect even viruses yet to be discovered

Sometimes a concept is simple but the tech behind it is not. This is the case with a new approach to identifying new viruses, which could ultimately lead to screening patients for viruses that haven't even been identified. (Think of the one currently rearing its deadly head in the Middle East.)

Researchers at Saint Louis University are using the next-gen sequencing approach transcriptome subtraction, and it really does employ basic arithmetic -- with very fancy tools. They take a human blood sample. Then they subtract the entire human genetic sequence from the genetic material in the sample. Then they … Read more

The 404 1,256: Where we go off the charts with Shanon Cook (podcast)

Spotify's Top 10 Trending Songs of the Week

Daft Punk - Get Lucky - Radio Edit Lorde - Royals Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines Hunter Hayes - I Want Crazy Nashville Cast - Ho Hey Florida Georgia Line - Cruise - Remix Avril Lavigne - Here's To Never Growing Up Selena Gomez - Come & Get It Psy - Gentleman Bastille - Pompeii… Read more

Psy's 'Gangnam Style' sequel, 'Gentleman M/V,' hits YouTube

Psy's follow-up vid to the hyper-uber-gigantic "Gangnam Style" landed on YouTube today, and as of this writing it's garnered only a paltry 7 million viewings or so, with about 350,000 thumbs up and 38,000 thumbs down.

It's tough being an international sensation.

Of course, it's impossible to know if "Gentleman M/V" will top its predecessor's more than 1.5 billion views -- the most ever on YouTube -- but something tells us the preadolescent crowd will find one or two things to love here (things we're too … Read more

Google declares end of YouTube in April Fools' prank

The best April Fools' pranks are absurd but also have a kernel of believability at their core just big enough to reel people in.

While the notion that YouTube has been a 8-year-long contest and Google is finally choosing a winner and shutting the site down tonight is pretty hard to swallow on its face, Google did shock many people by announcing the shutdown of Google Reader recently. Perhaps Larry and Sergey are beginning to go all Howard Hughes on us?

That's how the below video just put out by YouTube operates. The basic premise is that YouTube has … Read more

How Jeff Gordon fooled the Web (and wasn't even Jeff Gordon)

When the Web gets excited, it can lose its faculties.

These might be critical or merely observational, but the effect can be comical.

Over the last couple of days, millions have been enthralled by a Pepsi Max video which, as they say, went viral.

It purported to show race driver Jeff Gordon putting on a disguise and going to a car dealer to test drive a 2009 Chevy Camaro.

He even put on glasses equipped with a camera. Yes, it made him look even more elegant than anyone wearing Google's future goggles.

Then, claiming to be Mike, he took Steve the car dealer for a ride. … Read more

Viral video star sues Apple over sample sold on iTunes

A viral video star has sued Apple over the sale of a track put on iTunes that sampled her catchphrase.

Kimberly Wilkins, who goes by the nickname "Sweet Brown," filed a complaint against the tech giant as well as local radio stations earlier this month, reports NewsOK.

Wilkins garnered Internet fame for her appearance in an on-the-scene TV interview about a local apartment fire last year, which included her saying, "Ain't nobody got time for that."

Some sampling from that interview was turned into a song called "I got bronchitis" that was sold … Read more

The 404 1,220: Where it's always greener on the other side (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Lucasfilm forces Flyers goalie to change the "Star Wars" graphic on his mask.

- NIN's "Head Like a Hole" mashed with "Call Me Maybe" is terrible and perfect.

- Teddy Faley made a mashup album using Mobb Deep lyrics over 8-bit Mario samples.

- Never lose at pool again (by cheating).

- Silicon Valley is full of stoners.… Read more

Physics and Oreos go together like cookies and cream

The video below describes separating an Oreo cookie as a "basic human desire." While it may not be quite as fundamental as all that, separating cookie from cream has become a ritual for Oreo lovers around the world.

But why must we use our soft, weak human hands to pry these cookies apart? Why can't someone invent a hilariously overcomplicated machine to do this painstaking work for us?

Luckily, someone did.… Read more

Video: Viral videos -- time to make money

I love a good viral video. Who doesn't? In preparing to work on this video and blog post, I decided to rewatch some oldies but goodies. JK Wedding Entrance Dance, anyone? I also made my way through a list of top click-earners on YouTube to find some I might have missed from a few years ago. Six minutes of Judson Laipply showing us the Evolution of Dance was supremely entertaining and I could easily see why it has earned all 209,558,808 views. And then there's the wondrous 17 seconds of a tiny baby panda's gigantic sneeze … Read more

NASA takes on 'Gangnam Style' and wins

For those of you with a dirty wit, please lend me some patience before you fly off the rails when I say that a group of NASA interns made a "Gangnam Style" parody named "NASA Johnson Style."

Wondering what's with the song name? Well, NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center houses educational programs for interns and students aspiring to progress further into the field of space science. The eclectic group of youths created a parody video that plays off Psy's "Gangam Style" in a geeky way by amusingly attempting to "inform the public about the amazing work going on at NASA and the Johnson Space Center," says a related video description. … Read more