Some pictures are worth 1,000 words, but others are worth 1,000,000. By (subjective) category, here are 10 of the most amazing viral images of 2007. Undoubtedly some of these you will have seen before, but some will be new as well. Click on the images below to go to the full-sized originals. Enjoy!
Most Touching: Loyal to the End
Most Geeky: Why We Love Firefox
Best of Technology: 1 Gigabyte Then and Now
Best of the Web: Why Net Neutrality is So Important
So wait, what? The Earth … hollow? Yes, it’s an insane theory, and yes it is as fictitious as the fairy tales that gave rise to it, yet at the same time it can’t be directly disproved. Why? Because we have never actually dug more than about 15 miles below the surface of the Earth, so there is no 100% direct evidence the Earth is solid through an through! Does this mean Hollow Earth Theories could hold true? Sure, and Santa might actually drop by 6 billion houses a year on a sled pulled by a glorified pack of deer.
What may be most amazing about Hollow Earth theories is the fact that some people believe them even today. One self-identified scientist and explorer is currently trying to raise two million dollars to mount a mission where no man has ever gone before: through a polar ice cap and into a supposed ‘Inner Earth’ with its own oceans, continents and of course its own sun. What is strangest about his video presentation on the subject (above) is the deadpan, candid and intelligent-sounding way in which he presents his arguments.
Shocking as it may seem that some people still believe the world to be empty at its core this idea is unsurprisingly nothing new. Early theorists held that there were a series of concentric spheres within the Earth while more recent models have posited a viable interior space or even that we occupy the center rather than the interior surface of sphere with everything else in orbits within this sphere.
There are a lot of hilariously bad videos on YouTube, some bizarre but good ones and some that are downright amazing. This set of videos progresses from one end of the spectrum to the other with no stops in between so hold onto your hats because this is going to be ugly to begin with but don’t worry you’ll love the last one!
One has to wonder if these guys dance this badly just to be funny.
Some work clearly went into this crazy light-sabering.
There is something about the end of the year that brings out the Top 10 lists all over the interwebs. Instead of trying to come up with one here, how about a compilation of some of the good ones that are floating around right now? Always better to start with an exception rather than the rule, so here are the Top 15 Winners of an awesome photoshop contest. We’ve all seen these way too many times, but here they are all in one place: the Top 10 cliche dorm room posters. There is some serious wow to be found in these Top 10 astronomy posters of 2007. The Top 10 hottest women in tech can only really be followed by the sequel. A much more soothing compilation, here are the Top 10 sites for colo(u)r lovers. And to round it all out, a few videos:
Top 10 unsportsmanlike plays – some seriously dirty stuff.
Top 10 Tetris-related TV skits – some hilarity to balance out the pain
It’s happening (again): a high profile black man is turning white, though this case is arguably more tragic than Michael Jackson’s disputed case of vitiligo. “I’m a black man turning white on television and people can see it,” says Thomas, an anchor and entertainment reporter for the local Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate. “If you’ve watched me over the years, you’ve seen my hands completely change from brown to white” said Thomas in an interview on CNN
Think it can’t happen to you too? As it turns out, “the population incidence worldwide is considered to be between 1% and 2% (0.74% in the United States). Also known as “leukoderma” vitiligo is a bizarre “chronic skin condition that causes loss of pigment, resulting in irregular pale patches of skin.” No one knows for sure what causes this strange disease but it is suspected to be related to environmental as well as genetic factors. At least Michael now has some adults to keep him company.
