OddballGreg - Ridiculous Pain Remedies

Ah, dentists. Nothing screams out pain and terror like having an automated drill stuck in your mouth.

If you happen to be human, which you probably are, then you are most likely familiar with the unfortunate sensation that is pain. You've probably also gone to some interesting lengths to deal with it. Lets talk about that.

Right now I'm sitting typing with one hand while I attempt to pretend that the right side of my mouth is not driving me crazy as two of my teeth compete to be where my gum is. The sensation is comparable to taking a flap of skin from anywhere on your body between a pair of pliers and applying significant pressure for about half a day at a time. (For added pleasure, chewing on that side of my mouth is comparable to clamping the aforementioned pliers down as hard as possible.)

So as you do in situations like these, I thought it might be humorous to browse the whimsical internet in search of some mystical pain remedy, considering my anti-drugs stance with life. (I don't like the idea of addictions, and thus only take pills as an absolute last resort.) Of course, me being me, I can't think about a single subject, and researched the cures they have for ALL kinds of pain.

What did I find? About everything you'd expect to find on the internet. Hanging magnets from your ears for headaches, botox injections, homeopathy (pffffft. Good for the placebo effect.), meditation, sniffing apples, swearing, dreaming about sex, and probably thousands more ridiculous cures that you can think of. Sure there may be credence to some of these solutions, and perhaps some of the more herbal solutions such as cloves soaked in whiskey have some founding, but for the most part, I found exactly what I expected to find on the internet when googling anything with the term "Ridiculous" in the bar:

Basically, anything anyone decided was funny, worth reading, or effective click-bait to gain view for their website. Too bad my mouth still hurts. I think I'll go back to dulling the pain with measured doses of rum and coke until my next dentist visit. I'm sure he'll understand.

In any case, that's about all that's worth mentioning. If you don't think you've heard enough ridiculous remedies, click this link and wait for your brain cells to start commiting suicide. That should cure you of that. On the other hand, if you happen to have any effective pain rememdies, do be sure to let me know down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter. We here at TCSA love to hear your feedback (And pain cures). And of course, if you enjoy finding out about awesome stuff on the web and world then do please be sure to like the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left to get all the latest posts as they're published. Also, do be sure to share posts you enjoyed with your friends as it helps us out a great deal. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Rest easy my friends.

OddballGreg - YouTube Rewind 2014

Grainy video screenshots: $5. Extra-Grainy video screenshots: $10 dollars. Ripping off a MasterCard catchphase: Priceless.

Do you spend hours of your life watching various people on YouTube do things ranging from talking about food, to playing games, to discussing fascinating science facts and more? If so, we've got more in common than I thought. You'll probably like how YouTube recaps the best things of the year too.

Depending on how closely you follow the goings-ons of the internet, you may have heard of the greatly popular "YouTube Rewind" videos in which YouTube gathers together all the personalities who have made the greatest impact on the internet, (specifically on YouTube), and creates a music video in which they dance to remixed music of the year while references to some of the most popular videos, memes and jokes are placed ever which where within the video.

If you're curious to see the YouTube Rewind 2014 video which was released today, check it out below which contains a rather interesting remix of Frozen's "Let It Go", "Turn Down For What" and various other songs from the 2014 year. Of course, since I figured you might be curious to see what was the most popular things on YouTube in previous years, I kindly placed 2013 and 2012's video's below that as well. (Always a pleasure.)

In any case, there's not much more I can say on the subject, so give the videos a watch and see what you think. Wish to tell us about something awesome on YouTube that you feel should have been featured in the latest Rewind video? (Like JackSepticEye or Quill 18) Then do be sure to let us know down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter as we here at TCSA love to hear your feedback. And of course, if you enjoy finding out about awesome stuff on the web and world then do please be sure to like the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left to get all the latest posts as they're published. Also, do be sure to share posts you enjoyed with your friends as it helps us out a great deal. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Enjoy the video my friends.

OddballGreg - Immortality On The Internet

This wonderful screenshot, slightly edited for the privacy of everyone that isn't me, is from that website everyone's always talking about these days... what was it? Oh yes. www.facebook.com

Do you suffer from questions of the "existential crisis" variety? Do you often question what people will remember about you after you die? If so, rest easy knowing that provided no apocalyptic event brings down the human race and it's technology, then your online footprint will immortalize your memory... possibly forever.

A statistic I read a few years back discussed the great many people that will be outlived by their Facebook accounts. While the original article is long lost to all but my vague memories, I did find a similar article which corroborates my memories and substantiates the topic. blog.1000memories.com spoke here about how many ghosts there are on Facebook, and how many there would be by 2015 in a American-centric but world inclusive look at the statistics of death and Facebook user by age. While mathematics is more JovialJman's forte than my own, their work seems solid enough to at least conjecture that currently, there may be around 40 million Facebook accounts whose owner has since passed on. For interesting point of comparison, the average amount of people you can maintain a proper relationship with is about 300, and on average will meet roughly a less than a 3000 people in your lifetime. (Basically, there are more dead people on Facebook than you will ever know, as astounding as that sounds. Also, apparently i'm good at being sarcastic to myself.)

So what do these statistics have to do with Immortality? Consider every biography or account of a person's actions you have ever read. How it dictated their lives and actions. Our Facebook accounts, and Twitter, Myspace, blog's, etc, all these things on the internet that we pour our lives into will stand as memorials to our lives when we are no longer alive. Every relationship you had, every heartbreak, and accident, success and failure. Your frustrations, inspirations and painful jokes will all stand and represent who you were and what you lived for to those who wish to know. In the future, your great-grandchildren might not peruse an old newspaper when they want to know who you were, they will look for your memorialized online footprints, and see first hand just what kind of person you were.

It's as equally frightening a prospect as it is exciting to those who wonder why it is that they do what they do. To be remembered by the world after you are gone by every silly picture and inspirational quote you thought was worth sharing. A long time ago I heard the quote that "A legacy is not the things that you leave behind, but the story's that people will tell about you when you can no longer hear what they have to say." Perhaps that quote is now truer than ever? Or perhaps it is slowly become a debatable point as the evidence of our existence in the form of pictures, statuses, videos, tweets, instagrams, blogs, websites and comments stand as potentially ever present examples of who we were.

So I suppose the question is, what kind of legacy do you wish to leave behind for those to personally see for themselves on your Facebook accounts. Do you like that people will have such an in-depth view of your life based on what you shared, or do you think that it really doesn't matter since you're going to be dead anyway? If so, do be sure to let us know down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter. We here at TCSA love to hear your feedback. And of course, if you enjoy finding out about awesome stuff on the web and world then do please be sure to like the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left to get all the latest posts as they're published. Also, do be sure to share posts you enjoyed with your friends as it helps us out a great deal. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Live how you want to be remembered my friends.

OddballGreg - Video Game High School (A RocketJump Production)

An image of the Video Game High School logo, nefariously borrowed from http://lazytechguys.com/news/vghs-is-on-netflix-now. Muhuhuhuhuhuhua. 

Ever wondered what it would be like to go to a high school that was all about playing video games and being the best at them? Welcome to Video Game High School, the low-budget but fantastically awesome and entertaining web-series from Freddie Wong.

About 3 years ago when I was still fairly new to being able to watch video's on YouTube at any time,(Uncapped internet at decent speeds costing what they do in South Africa), one of the YouTube channels that drew my attention quite significantly was what was, back then, simply called "Freddie W". Freddie W would make video game skits where he would take situations typically found in video games and the like and record a live action version of those type of events, which he then edited afterwards to give it that awesome video game appeal. Of all the countless channels I have watched on YouTube, only his channel, which is now called RocketJump and another channel called Corridor Digital, had done anything like that. At least as far as I know.

In any case, fast forward to the present, and things had changed since I'd last watched Freddie Wong's channel. (For starters it's called RocketJump now.) Having been busy with a wide variety of other things, blogging included, the kickstarter funded web series Video Game High School had eluded my attention until today.

Let me just be frank and say it. This show... IS AWESOME. Made on a budget several times smaller than most series these days, Video Game High School, or VGHS for short, is a well made and thoroughly entertaining take on the idea "What would it be like to go to a school for playing video games?"

Complete with a talented selection of actors, a fantastic storyline, some great use of gamer jargon and brilliant video graphics makes for a well rounded and thoroughly entertaining series complete with equal parts humor and intensity which honestly left me leaning in close to my screen to see what comes next. (Something that few shows do these days.) I will admit I'm probably biased because of all the gamer styled inside jokes and references makes me giggle like a schoolgirl who know's more than she should about male anatomy, but that's part of the appeal. If you consider yourself a gamer than you will definitely enjoy what is one of the few pieces of fiction these days which really focuses on gaming as it's central plot device. (Gamer and Noobz being the only others that readily come to mind.)

In any case, I'm going to stop sounding like a fanboy and let you watch the epic first episode of Video Game High School above, and then place a convenient link to the RocketJump YouTube page so that you can go watch all the other episodes in one day like I did today. (Teehee) It's definitely worth watching.

Of course, if it wasn't (which I doubt), or it was (which I mostly guarantee), do make sure to let us know down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter. We here at TCSA love to hear your feedback. And if you have any gamer friends who you think would enjoy watching a gamer oriented show, feel free to share this article with them aswell. I'm sure they will appreciate it. Of course, if you yourself would like to read more articles about awesome stuff on the web like this one, consider liking the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or following us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left to get all the latest posts, as they're published. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had and absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Enjoy the show my friends.

OddballGreg - A Day Without Internet

Google. The most accurate description of the internet these days... Also Bronies.

Have you ever spent a day, without access to the internet? If you’re over the age of 30, probably, but some for the younger generations these days, the thought of being without internet is a slightly alien idea, and today, was one I experienced, with much strange thoughts as a result.

Yesterday at about 2pm roughly, the internet ceased to function at my house. I don’t know why precisely, as the internet and telephone service providers had no idea either. So there I was, sitting with no internet, no ability to do my usual day to day work, and a rather unsure, niggling feeling in the back of my skull wondering what to do with my day.

For some, the answer would be obvious. Read! Play Videogames! Sleep! (All rather enticing options of course.) Unfortunately, the greater majority of my consciousness insists on at least a partially productive day, and so I spent my day doing housework in preparation for the upcoming weekend. (A truly eventful day to be certain.)

While hardly a startling revelation in itself, this rather strange day of menial labour and disconnectedness left me wondering what it would be like for the world if all of a sudden, the entire internet shut down for a day.

The comic in me likes to think it will be the most productive day in human history, but only because everyone would be trying so hard to get the internet working again. On a more realistic note, one has to wonder just how badly the world would be affected by such a thing. Children would actually have to do their homework instead of googling the answers, researchers would have to actually go to a library, internet trolls would probably be completely unsure what to do with themselves, or would simply go back to irritating people in some other way. (Who can say what they’re going to do at any time.)

While it is unlikely that the internet would ever go down and cause such utter pandemonium on earth, (Likely…), it is strange to think that the internet, this strange construct of interconnected computers, has become such a largely important and often integral part of our lives. Humans appear to be very keen to become dependent on things when it suits them, despite the tragic consequences they may suffer if their addiction ever become unfulfillable.

In any case, I’m done cleaning for now, and at least have been able to post this article but a single day late, which is hardly terrible by any means. If you think it is, or simply wish to add to the list of problems having no internet would cause, then please feel free to let us know down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter as we here at TCSA love to hear from you guys. Of course, feel free to share this with any friends who like to ponder strange possibilities. It might be fun for them. Better yet, if you yourself enjoy posts like these, then consider liking the official TCSA Facebook page and/or following us on Twitter so that you can get all the latest posts, as they’re published. Regardless of what you do, I hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Happy thinking my friends.

JovialJman - Internet Easter Eggs (Unknown Fun)

Screenshot is of the Google page after one searches the term "Zerg Rush"

Easter eggs are this thing that you get around Easter, (kinda in the name), and they are made from Eggs, (who would have thunk it, learn something every day.). In media however the Easter Bunny just loves to leave these little secret things all over the internet.

YouTube has some Easter Eggs such as: If you search "do the harlem shake" then the song will start playing while the YouTube logo dances to it. When the base drops, all of the thumbnails will move around and do the harlem shake as well. This was introduced just after it became a popular phenomenon on the internet. When you search for "doge meme" your search will yield videos but the font and colour of all the words will have changed. After searching for "beam me up scotty", your results will appear as if they have been transported onto your screen from Star Trek. If you have slow internet, like here in South Africa, you can play the classic Snake game while you wait for your Youtube video to load, while it is loading just hit the down or left arrow key and that should start the game. However it didn't work on my profile, but on the same computer under a different user, I was able to do it in the same browser, very strange.

Google is also very well know for their hidden items. There are very famous ones like searching for "do a barrel roll" to make the screen rotate 360 degrees and searching "z or r twice" will yield the same result. While searching "askew" will make your result a bit tilted and "tilt" will do the same. Apparently 1 is not just a lonely number but the most lonely, if you search "what is the loneliest number" a calculator will show you 1 because calculators understand English now apparently. This calculator can also answer the most difficult question "the answer to life the universe and everything" which is a reference to an awesome book/movie that I still need to read called "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Googling "once in a blue moon" is apparently measured in hertz while if you want to nag a ram, Google "anagram" but for the nerd fame again search "define anagram".

Google has different ways in which you can search things like if you can speak "pig latin", give this a go; whereas if you would prefer to be a pirate, this might be better suited to your poop deck. (I just wanted an excuse to use the word poop), then there is the l33t style that has come with the digital age. If you would like to see what it was like to "google in 1988", then google just that. Then there are the little games which you can play as well; search "zerg rush" and google images for "atari breakout". There is this web page that mimics google but adds gravity to it and Google maps lets you see inside the TARDIS!! Just go to this police telephone box and click inside. (By the way if you do not know what a tardis is then you have missed out on an awesome series my friend.)

Try and beat my score, it can't be too hard.

There are not as many on Facebook though. Most of the Easter Eggs most people know of are not much to talk about, but there are still some. If you enter ":putnam:" into the Facebook chat then the head of Chris Putnam, the Facebook engineer, will show as an emoticon. And just like Google you can be a pirate on Facebook by changing your language setting to English (Pirate) and make it upside down by changing the language to English (Upside down) in your account settings.

In Mozilla Firefox you can type "about:robots" into the address bar to come across this really strange message. Go to this web site and look at the source code (hit F12) to see a dragon. Yes a ****ing dragon (the asterisks mean flying). Wikipedia has a blank page that cannot be changed. What is its use? To look pretty, what else?

Anyways, if you like these Easter Eggs that the Easter bunny has left for us, or if you have beaten my score on zerg rush, then please let us know down in the comments, over Facebook, tweet us on twitter or you could even email us if you want as we love to hear from you. If you have any friends that are bored, please consider sharing it with them to make their day that much less boring, I am sure they will greatly appreciate it. If you would like to see new posts as they come out or just want to show your support, also please consider liking us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left. Hope you have/had a really fun filled day, and I shall ramble again overmorrow.

Happy hunting compadres.