Common Paradox Tech Blog

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The best parodies start with a laugh before leaving us with the hollowness of their truth. Sorry, Google Buzz. Sorry, under-lived life. Sorry, sweet butterfly.

NBC’s hit show, 30 Rock, typically takes a social norm and parodies it to no end by dedicating an entire episode to it. Last night’s installment, “Secret Santa,” was no exception. This time around the subject of the show’s comedic jabbing was Facebook.

On the show, parent company GE acquires YouFace, “an up-and-coming social network.” Because Jack is an executive, he immediately sets up a profile with his “Phollo,” a cross between the words “photo” and “hello.” Immediately after Jack joins the network, an old high school crush finds him, which leads to “fingertagging” and much parsing of status changes — with Suri acting as a guide.

There are several hilarious moments in the episode that comes at the expense of YouFace, but we especially love the scene in which Suri uses her iPhone to check the wall of Jack’s crush. While Suri is able to “check her FaceWall to see her previous BingBangs” in a matter of seconds, Liz scrambles to bring up YouFace to no avail on her laptop. Liz asks: “Is ‘YouFace’ hyphenated? Nope. Do not put a hypen in ‘YouFace.’ There are definitely faces here, but they are not being treated with respect.”

Watch the full episode below to see 30 Rock’s comedic take on social networking.

The embed is from Hulu, which is U.S.-only, but if you find an embed that we can use for our international viewers, please share a link in the comments.

Reviews: Hulu, iPhone

Tags: 30 rock, youface

Here at Mashable, there’s little we love more than a good mashup. And when that mashup involves one of the most heavily anticipated films of the year as well as puppets, we get even more excited. You hear that right. Puppets.

Avatar hits theaters worldwide in a little more than a week, but the trailer parodies have already arrived — including mashups, which take the audio from one trailer and combine it with clips from a completely different film (usually an animated film for better lip-matching). And of all the creations out there, this mashup of the trailer for Avatar and the 2004 film Team America: World Police is one of the best.

Check out Matt Shapiro’s fine work:

You know, I kind of like this version better. The real Avatar hits theater on December 18.

[via Dark Horizons]

Tags: avatar, mashups, team america, viral video

Official Star Wars artist Matt Busch has created six horrific zombified posters for the Star Wars films, with a mini zombie storyline running through them. See Obi Wan decay more with every new movie poster!

This has all come about because of the latest Clone Wars episode, titled ‘Brain Invaders,’ which sees several key characters becoming zombies.

Of course, now we’re all crying out for zombified parodies of the original films to be uploaded to YouTube. Can we somehow convince Simon Pegg to take part, maybe decapitate a few with some vinyl? [CorePlanets via Geekologie]

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Memories of mornings spent singing into a hairbrush flooded back as I listened to this Apple-themed rendition of Britney Spears’ Oops…I did it again being performed by David Pogue. He could have a heck of a pop star career.

For comparison, or if you just happen to be unfamiliar with the original pop culture horror, you can have a listen to it here. [Brainstorm Tech]

For those hoping for a re-enactment of the Kanye/Taylor Swift viral video that became an Internet meme, SNL didn’t deliver the goods last night. There was, however, a nod to one of the biggest Internet fads of the year, as guest host Taylor Swift included a mention of the event in her “Monologue Song” (video below).

For those wishing to relive the meme one more time, check out our Top 10 Kanye West Interruption Parodies.

For international viewers, versions of the clip are still available on YouTube.

Reviews: YouTube

Tags: kanye west, taylor swift

America’s most trusted satire newspaper and website, The Onion, has been steadily moving into online video in the past few years (with many hilarious pokes at the Web, the iPhone, and social media along the way).

Now, the outfit has landed a very real deal with Comedy Central to develop a pilot for a show based on its Onion Sports Network (OSN) videos.

According to a statement put out by the companies, “the as-yet untitled series will take on the whole universe of modern sports – teams, players, leagues, sycophantic fans, ridiculous products and over-hyped sports coverage – with an eye towards appealing to sports fanatics and more casual fans.”

It’s not hard to see an OSN-based show fitting in nicely alongside The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The completely over-the-top parodies of ESPN and FOX Sports Net talking heads and cliché stories and soundbites is very analogous to what the network has done with its take on cable news.

You do have to wonder, however, if the humor of stories like today’s “Tom Coughlin Retires From Family to Spend More Time With Team” might be lost on those that don’t quite get the whole satire genre.

If you haven’t seen OSN before (or even if you have), here’s the hilarious Coughlin story:

Tags: Comedy Central, the onion, tv, video

One of the top Internet memes of 2009 is likely going to get a shot of new life this weekend as Taylor Swift hosts Saturday Night Live.

Of course, we’re talking about Kanye West’s interruption of the singer at the MTV Video Music Awards that spawned countless “I’ma let you finish” parodies, Halloween costumes, and even the use of the word “jackass” by the President.

NBC has just released the first preview for the show, which, you guessed it, alludes to one of the greatest viral video moments of all-time. We won’t ruin the punch line for you, but you can probably guess what it is. Here’s the video:

Tags: kanye west, snl, taylor swift, video

As you probably know, today is Windows 7 launch day. Leading up to the event, Microsoft has been promoting the idea of having a Windows 7 launch party in your own home – if your application was approved – complete with its own series of awkward videos.

This of course created brilliant fodder for parodies. While we’ve already seen a number of them, today Funny Or Die is out with “Hosting Your Windows 7 Torrenting Party,” for those of you who may be obtaining your copy of the operating system by means other than the Microsoft Store.

The concept is basically a can’t-miss for video success, but be sure to throw your headphones on as there is some NSFW language towards the end:

Tags: microsoft, video, Windows 7

Is America done with Balloon Boy? As if! With reports that the Heene family’s aviatory escapades were more viral than David Letterman’s sex scandal, it’s doubtful we’ve seen the end of it yet.

Case in point, this hip-hop adaptation of the Balloon Boy story, featuring the original kitchen table incident that inspired it all and liberal usage of the Auto-Tune vocal effect. Some might say this video was practically inevitable.

Check out the music vid below (warning: NSFW language) which also stands as a fitting tribute to another popular parody, the I’m on a Boat rap cliche sendup. Let us know what you think — are Balloon Boy parodies tired? Wired? Fodder for another few weeks’ worth of YouTube videos, Fresh Prince adaptations, and Venn Diagrams?

[via Buzzfeed]

Reviews: Auto-Tune, YouTube

Tags: balloon boy, parodies, video, youtube