Sundance Channel

5 better ways to express your intimacy

Em and Lo — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:36 +0000

A recent survey by Pew Internet and the American Life Project found that one in three teens had shared a password (email, Facebook, etc.) with a friend or boyfriend or girlfriend. Apparently sharing your password is the new way to express intimacy, to prove to your partner that you have nothing to hide. Um, hello Facebook hacking! (Aside: Did you know that if you work at Facebook HQ and accidentally leave your FB account logged in when you leave your desk, some jokester colleague will update your status to say that you are pooping? Apparently it's a company tradition.) Anyway. Maybe teens don't have any credit card digits to lose just yet, but identify theft (or even just unauthorized identity borrowing) can suck in junior high too. We hope we don't need to explain what a terrible idea this is.

Follow the Sundance Film Festival Awards LIVE!

Michelle Byrnes-Carney — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:06:27 +0000

Still bummed you couldn't make it out to Park City? Well, Sundance Channel will be at the awards ceremony tonight and we promise to bring you up-to-the-minute reports on the winners, the losers and who is passing out from "altitude sickness". Make sure you are following @SundanceChannel so you don't miss a thing. And, if you're really committed, you can watch a live stream of the whole shebang. The festivities begin tonight at 9 ET/7 MT.

Top 10 dirtier books

Em and Lo — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:00:44 +0000

A few weeks back we jumped on the Twitter hashtag #lessambitiousbooks bandwagon, with a list of our Top 10 Less Ambitious Sex Books (The Joy of Dry Humping, Slight Hangup About Flying, etc.). This time around we figured we'd create our own damn hashtag -- #dirtierbooks -- so that nobody could accuse us of being late to the game. The trick with #dirtierbooks is to be clever without sounding like a cheesy porno (The Da Vinci Load, A Tale of Two Titties, et al). Below are our top 10 best attempts. So, er, anyone want to jump on our bandwagon? (That came out dirtier than we meant it.)

GOP candidates summarized in hand signals

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:05:20 +0000

BuzzFeed (going increasingly political with their recent hiring of Ben Smith from Politico) has a hilarious photo recap of the recent GOP debates that's focused on simply their hand gestures. My favorite is the one above of Romney displaying the "He Was THIS Tall" expression.

Green tech finds: the monster trade shows edition

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:44:16 +0000

CES and the Detroit Auto Show are going on this week, and we've got finds from both! The tiny electric pick up: Need to haul stuff? You won't get much into the Smart For-Us, but, as Charis Michelsen at Gas 2.0 points out, it's awfully cute, and may serve the actual hauling needs of most truck drivers. Your plants are Tweeting: And they're thirsty. That's right: the Botanicalls gadget (not sure what else to call it) sends you a tweet when your plants need watering. Only marginally green, but kind of cool. (via Crisp Green)

Top 10 less ambitious sex books

Em and Lo — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:00:28 +0000

We're suckers for a good Twitter hashtag -- they can make everyone feel like a stand-up comedian for a few minutes (not to mention giving us all a break from reading what our colleagues ate for breakfast). We particularly loved the #lessambitiousbooks hashtag that was trending this week, and of course we jumped on the bandwagon, finding ourselves hilarious @EMandLO. We were planning on publishing a round-up of our favorite sex- and love-related entries found on Twitter, but as it turned out, we had more fun coming up with our own. So here are our top 10 less ambitious sex (or sexy) books:

GWLBWLB Nashville Premieres TODAY– Only on Twitter

Sundance Channel — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Sundance Channel just can't wait to share the new season of GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS with you. So, we've teemed up with Twitter to host the first ever television show premiere via tweet! Want to watch the first episode TODAY? All you have to do is follow @SundanceChannel on Twitter and stand by for an exclusive link to the first episode! You're welcome.

Today’s top hashtag: #ThatsWhatHoesDo

Perrin Drumm — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:20:21 +0000

The #ThatsWhatHoesDo trend follows the same basic premise of Jeff Foxworthy's "You might be a redneck if…" jokes. In fact, it might as well read, "You might be a hoe if…" Apparently, hoes are quite dexterous where social media is concerned, strategically changing their Twitter location and Facebook relationship status. These are some of the best I found (even Betty White and Harry Potter chimed in), but it got about 100 new tweets per minute (for realz) so if I missed one, add your fave in the comments.

#undatableinlit: Publishers learn how to use the Internet

Perrin Drumm — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:30:32 +0000

Would you go for this man of few words?

Now that an increase in book sales has officially been reported (5.6% increase in revenue and 4.1% increase in book sales), we can all stop perpetuating the doomsday message that print is dead. No other phrase is guaranteed to irk me (and my fellow fiction grad students) more. Part of the reason those numbers are on the rise is because the publishing industry has finally become web savvy, or at least savvier, by reaching out to readers through a variety of decidedly un-bookish social media outlets like Twitter. Avid Tweeters are a choosy and demanding bunch, though - there are thousands of 140-character blips to read. Publishers have upped their game accordingly, supplying their followers with more than just book announcements and reading event listings.

How Twitter was almost named Twitch, and other titles that suck

Perrin Drumm — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:09:52 +0000

Earlier this week I heard a story on my local NPR affiliate about how Twitter - a word that has transcended the confines of a brand name to become part of our everyday vernacular, even spawning its own verb conjugations of the infinitive to tweet - was almost named Twitch. Co-founder Jack Dorsey explains, "We wanted a name that evoked what we did. We wanted something that was tangible. And we looked at what we were doing and when you received a tweet over SMS, your phone would buzz. It would jitter. It would twitch. And those were the early names, Jitter and Twitch. And neither one of them really inspired the best sort of imagery."

Comedy gold: tweets in a Peanut universe

Matthew Rodriguez — Fri, 13 May 2011 17:30:01 +0000

Peanutweeter is my current favorite website for chuckles: the site takes tweets from various people offering their insights, observations, and some thoughts better left unsaid and matches it with a frame from a Peanuts comic. For all of us bloggers, this is a great question asked by Lucy.

Twitter invasion

Perrin Drumm — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:02:44 +0000

Does the new Tweetseat make a compelling case for connecting digital and physical communities or is this an example of technology and social media gone too far? Designed by Chris McNicoll, the Tweetseat is a park bench at the Botanical Gardens in Dundee, Scotland that takes two pictures each time someone sits on it. The first picture, taken from the bench, captures the point of view of the sitter, and the second is a photo of the person/people sitting on the bench taken from a nearby tree. This set of pictures is then automatically uploaded to the Twitter feed @Tweetingseat.

Tweet Roundup: Joe Zee

Joe Zee — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:51:37 +0000

@mrjoezee: Snow white, snow bright, will my flight take off tonight? #Goodmorning @mrjoezee: More info! RT @Styleite Introducing the designers on @MrJoeZee‘s new show, “All on the Line.” http://styleite.com/ojncv @mrjoezee: IT’S OFFICIAL: All On The Line will premiere @Sundancechannel on Tues March 29 at 10pm. LIKE this page for updates. http://on.fb.me/gUMgl1 Joe’s packing up his [...]

Cory Booker, hero with a snow shovel and a smartphone

Amy Reiter — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:00:02 +0000

The efforts of Newark Mayor Cory Booker to clean up his city feature prominently in the Peabody-Award-winning Docu-Series BRICK CITY, the second season of which will premiere on Sundance Channel on January 30. Those efforts are also capturing major attention this week, thanks to Booker’s use of Twitter to come to the aid of Newark citizens trapped in the aftermath of the blizzard that brought the Northeast to a standstill.

Twitter’s top 10 most powerful tweets of 2010

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:32:13 +0000

Twitter rounded up their list of the top 10 most influential and powerful tweets this year. Although they might not be world leaders, nationally recognized reporters, or celebrities, here is my recommended short list of must-follow people on Twitter due to their excellent linkage or humor (or both!): jennydeluxe (memes, news, and lolz), CardiffGarcia (financial), [...]

Mom mistakes Neil Gaiman for Neil Patrick Harris. Cool conversation ensues.

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:41:34 +0000

I enjoyed this back and forth on Twitter recently between famous author Neil Gaiman and self described Midwestern mom of two April Roller who mistook him for the other great Neil: Neil Patrick Harris. This whole conversation acts as an antidote to YouTube comments.

First ever interview with @BPGlobalPR

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:09:06 +0000

In the aftermath of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this summer and the subsequent inept response by BP, a Twitter account “@BPGlobalPR” became an overnight retweeted sensation. Parodying a faceless corporate PR spokesperson, this anonymous writer began tweeting on May 19, and Journalists, bloggers, and Tweeters quickly ate them up. Unsurprisingly, it [...]

Green tech finds (9/9/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:15:06 +0000

A bee beard for David Cameron, subway energy harvesting, and using search technology to identify endangered species... this week's green tech finds.

The Wolverine solar cell: Researchers at MIT actually looked to plants, not the X-Men, when creating a solar cell that "heals" its own UV damage.
Tweet for the honey bees: British marketing firm LBi has created a "twittition" (Twitter petition) to support honey bee populations in the UK. Each tweet added to the petition adds a bee to a "bee beard" on a likeness of Prime Minister David Cameron (shown above).

Green tech finds (8/12/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:06:49 +0000

The greenest cell phone companies, solar Marines, and DIY LED Facebook notification... your green tech finds for the week.

Smart energy cities: The NRDC's Smarter Cities project has published a list of 22 US cities taking the lead on more sustainable energy use and production. (via GreenTech Pastures)
LED Facebook notification: OK, this is only marginally green, but Instructables has a project up for a DIY Facebook notification device that uses LED lights.

Rainn Wilson tweets for LACMA

Perrin Drumm — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:30:21 +0000

In an effort to broaden their reach, LACMA has enlisted the twittering service of Rainn Wilson, whose own Twitter feed is one of the most popular on the site. His campaign is called "I HATE LACMA" and includes tweets like "LACMA isn't nearly as cool as the African American museum down the street, BLACMA," and "My new sculpture is displayed in the 2nd floor mens room. It's made of feces and shaped like a big poo."

Twitter’s analysis of tweets during the World Cup

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:10:41 +0000

By Internet time the World Cup seems like it happened eons ago, but Twitter’s official blog recently posted their analysis of tweets during the World Cup. Their analysis and relevance team compiled results into a cool infographic “charting fans’ use of hashflags (like #esp or #usa) during the tournament with a background of TPS [tweets [...]

Robyn’s Bitch Track

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:48:39 +0000

Robyn, the Swedish disco-pop songstress, embarking on a tour with Kelis this summer has released her first of three slated albums this year already. I’ve highlighted the first single, “Dancing On My Own,” here already. The song “Killing Me” is equally as mesmerizing. The video is quite remarkable too. The song sees Robyn, repeatedly, saying [...]

I, a Jew, will miss Helen Thomas

Paula Froelich — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:00:05 +0000

Helen Thomas — You will be missed… If only by me. OOooof… what a week! I got my ass chewed out on Facebook for saying I would miss Helen Thomas… Okay. Half of what she said was pretty indefensible (I am of the mind that Israelis should, indeed, stop building on settlements. However, I do [...]

The Horrible Truth About Celebrity Tweeting

Michael Musto — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:20:51 +0000

As someone who follows celebrities for a living, I’ve found that they’re fascinating creatures who radiate excitement and sex appeal in everything they do—except tweeting! I know this because the second I joined Twitter a few months ago, I started “following” any celebrity I could track down there, anxious to eavesdrop on whatever stellar utterances were available to me thanks to this trendy form of techno-networking. But just as quickly, I was bored into submission by the fact that in this context, bold-face luminaries are every bit as trivial and fatuous as you and me!

More White Noise from the Narcissist Generation

Paula Froelich — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:15:11 +0000

Lady Bunny — Photo by Charles Eshelman/Getty Images I spent much of last week in three inches of make-up doing my best Lady Bunny impersonation. No, really. I ended up doing LXTV, Joy Behar, Fox Business, etc. and it’s amazing how much make-up they put on a person just so they are “TV ready.” It’s [...]

Kiersten Essenpreis Twitter drawings and more

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:41:20 +0000

Similar to Draw My Tweet that Brad wrote about here, Twaggies is site where a group of artists post visual interpretations of people’s tweets. I particularly enjoy the artistic efforts of talented and fellow Brooklynite Kiersten Essenpreis‘ drawings as seen above. She’s gained attention from bloggers in the past for her whimsical and humorous illustrations. [...]

The wisdom of Twitter: You ain’t for me

Em and Lo — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:00:39 +0000

We love to browse the "trending topics" at Twitter to see what people are tweeting about across the world. Where else can you get relationship wisdom from millions of people simultaneously? Our most recent favorite topic is the hash tag #YouAintForMe. Here are twenty recent ones for your edification -- though we guarantee that by the time this post goes live, a few more thousand will have been tweeted. (By the way, you can follow us here on Twitter.)

MiszMaddy: if you tried to get at my bestie, #youAinTForMe
BenedicteCakes: skinny jeans? #YouAintForMe
jt_makemoves: #youaintforme if you cant play the faithful part...no time for infidelity

Draw My Tweet

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:16:55 +0000

I think the blog Draw My Tweet is good fun. Featuring cute drawings in a childlike style, the site's author/artist chooses random Twitter updates and turns them into art. Anyone can submit their tweet, or their friend's, to be included with a simple tag. The collected group of images, and unrelated tweets, begin to tell a story. Now if only mine gets picked!

Take This Job and Shove It

Paula Froelich — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:32:45 +0000

Paula Froelich kisses a giraffe in Kenya

Heh. So. I am trying to get a life. No. seriously. Quit my full time job at the New York Post on July 25, 2009 — otherwise known as "Independence Day" and yes, I played the Martina McBride song over and over as well as "Take This Job and Shove It" when I announced the news. So anyhoo. I have been enjoying life since then — went to Africa, Mexico, Sundance, LA several times, Oscars, you name it. But after a certain point in time, ennui starts to set in along with brain rot. And I will not Brain Rot! Unless, of course, it’s called for.

We asked some of our friends to film their favorite tweets.

Matthew Rodriguez — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:57:22 +0000

Twitter: The Criterion Collection from sween on Vimeo. In an attempt to answer the question, “What if Twitter came to life?” various people submitted their filmed reenactments of other people’s tweets which were then compiled into this single video of hilarity. This is an example of when the combined collective creativity, talent, and humor of [...]

Green tech finds (3/11/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:04:29 +0000

Homes wired for electric vehicles, artificial islands, and floating power plants... here are your green tech finds for this week.

Dell's new Optiplex -- most efficient desktop ever? According to Jaymi Heimbach at Treehugger, the new 980 model is, as it features a 90% efficient power supply, meets ENERGY STAR 5.0 standards, and has earned an EPEAT Gold rating.
No more downcycling for plastic? That's what researchers at IBM and Stanford claim their new development in plastic production does: the material can be continuously recycled. See the video above... (via Green Inc.)

The Wisdom of John Mayer, Tweeted

Em and Lo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:00:18 +0000

photo by Patty Keigan Say what you will about John Mayer's music -- here marks the spot where Lo censored Em's compliments about "Your Body Is a Wonderland" as a matter of principle -- his Tweets are some of the funniest in the biz. (Okay, so he doesn't have a lot of competition. Britney Spears: "How's everyone's 2010 going so far?") Anyway, love him or hate him -- or, most likely, a combination of the two -- we thought you'd appreciate some of his Tweet-wisdom (twisdom?) on the topics of love, sex, bodily functions, and other important stuff. Here are a dozen of our favorites from the last month or so -- you can follow him yourself at Twitter.com/JohnCMayer:

What 1 area of your body gets touched the least? I'm going to guess sub-scrotal flange, but it could also be knee cleavage.
If you call a girl 62 times and she's sleeping, does it read in the morning as one missed call or 62? Asking for a friend.

A story of HIV via Twitter

Bradford Shellhammer — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:56:30 +0000

December 1st was World AIDS Day and it came and went with little attention from the media. You know Tiger Woods is much more important. Anyway. The Huffington Post spotlighted the Twitter feed of Chris MacDonald-Dennis. MacDonald-Dennis is a college dean in Philadelphia. On World AIDS day he fired off 100 tweets, 2,100 words, documenting his life and his HIV infection. It's pretty moving and keeping in mind Twitter posts are limited to 140 words, the end result, when read chronologically, is like an epic poem. It is full of frank and honest dialogue and also hope. Click below to read the entire day's posts in order.

Tweeting twat

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:37:40 +0000

William Shatner is once again poking fun at another fame-seeking Alaskan. If you remember, several months back, the veteran actor and musician lampooned Sarah Palin by reading her tweets to a beat poetry rhythm. He’s turned his attention towards Levi Johnston, onetime Palin family member. Something tells me this is the least of Levi’s worries. [...]

A post-coital Tweet is the new cigarette

Em and Lo — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:00:10 +0000

photo by giant_mice_kill_rabbits A new study has found that 36% of people under the age of 35 Tweet, text, or check Facebook right after sex. For the over-35 group, that figure drops to only 8%. Are we totally giving away which side of the 35 dividing line we are located on when we say, Seriously, people? That's really what you want to waste your post-coital warm fuzzy glow on?

Historical tweets

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:42:49 +0000

What if everyone’s current favorite micro-blogging service, Twitter was available when various historical notables were around? What would Joan of Arc tweet? Abraham Lincoln? Johannes Gutenberg? Well, Historical Tweets takes a peek into the 140-character limit archives and share snippets from the lives of these historical figures and others. Speaking of Twitter, you can follow [...]

I just made love

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:04:06 +0000

I’m someone who definitely kisses and tells. I have been all my life and usually it turns my partners red with embarrassment and sometimes red with anger. Additionally, I’ve never been popular with guys who seek “discretion” when hooking up. FYI: “discretion” is code word for “I have a boyfriend.” I am really dangerous to [...]

Visualizing Twitter

Andrew Hearst — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:33:22 +0000

Mashable, the blog about social media, has compiled a list of cool Twitter visualizations. Below is a video example of Just Landed, a geo-visualization of tweets containing the words “Just landed in…” As Mashable explains, “It finds the tweets containing the phrase, checks for the location they¹ve landed in, and the location they were sent [...]

New meme alert!

Matthew Rodriguez — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:37:00 +0000

Along with playing a useful role in sociopolitical upheavals, Twitter also seems to be fertile grounds for the development of memes, such as this latest one involving Michigan Representative Pete Hoekstra after he tweeted the following specious comment: "Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House." It's similar, except not at all. Having tossed this giant softball in the cyber air, Twitterers started taking the proverbial swing at him. Talking Points Memo collected some of the home runs...

Hot Tweeters: The ranking site you didn’t know you needed

Lux Alptraum — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:29:35 +0000

It seems safe to say that no technology can be deemed truly mature until people are using it to cast judgment on others' appearances (that, or to try and get a date). The founders of Twitter can breathe easy, then, now that Hot Tweeters (a sort of "Hot or Not" for Twitter) has arrived.

Robert Redford: the importance of Earth Day

Robert Redford — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:48:10 +0000

Image: NASA On its 39th anniversary, Earth Day still feels vital to me, but I know that some of you out there think that its time has passed. Every day should be Earth Day, you say. Choosing just one, single day to say you care about the planet we call home — what good is [...]

Garry Trudeau on “journotwits”

Andrew Hearst — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:47:51 +0000

Mediabistro’s Webnewser blog has an exclusive interview with Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau about the media world’s obsession with Twitter. Trudeau, who generally thinks the microblogging service is a useless time-suck, devoted a recent series of strips to the Twitter experiments of the hapless journalist Roland Hedley. Here’s what Trudeau has to say about real-life tweeting [...]