From FoxNews.com:

With southern California fighting wind-driven flames and spot fires breaking out across northern California, firefighters have fingered at least one arsonist: an unlucky squirrel.

Redding firefighters say the squirrel set off the blaze when it shorted out a power line, caught fire and dropped into dry vegetation.

 Flaming Squirrel Blamed for Northern California Wildfire [FoxNews.com]

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In another brilliant article at the weblog Consumerist.com, editor Carey Greenberg-Berger details the evils of one of the most blatant monopolies of our time, and how it goes far beyond the annoying service fees and convenience charges that tack on 30% to your ticket purchases.

Did you know you aren’t Ticketmaster’s primary customer? Sure, you and your friends bought 141 million tickets last year, but Ticketmaster’s loyalty belongs to their true customers: venues and promoters. Ticketmaster secures its monopoly by goading them into multi-year agreements that empower Ticketmaster to act as their exclusive vendor. In exchange, Ticketmaster gives them money. Lots and lots of money. Several million dollars upfront, sometimes.

Click the link below for the full, eye opening article.

Ticketmaster Is Evil And Must Die [Consumerist.com]

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Steps to creating a new Internet Meme:

1. Find a cheesy ’80s music video that everyone is familiar with [CHECK]
2. Overdub cheesy ’80s video with your own soundtrack which explains, in song, what is literally happening in the video [CHECK]
3. Post video to YouTube [CHECK]
4. Get link posted on BoingBoing [CHECK]
5. Repeat

Take On Me: Literal Video Version [YouTube via BoingBoing]

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Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor) is a free software that stitches multiple photos together to create panoramas and 360-degree views. All you need to do is install the software and then drop your images into the window and ICE does all the work. After a few seconds of “solving” you’ll have a nearly, if not completely seamless panoramic available to export in a wide range of file types.

Having up until now dealt with AutoStitch, the often-frustrating stitching software bundled with my Canon camera, I nearly gave up on shooting for panoramics all together. (Ironically, one commenter on Lifehacker noticed that Matthew Brown, the original creator of AutoStitch, was once on the team at Microsoft Research’s Interactive Visual Media Group that developed ICE.)

I was skeptical about Microsoft ICE, until I started throwing all the panoramics I could at it, as it defiantly spewed back amazing results with no effort on my part. For instance, the NASCAR panoramic above, one of many I’ve taken over the years, even with all the straight lines of the track, moving clouds in the sky and thousands of people in the stands, I’m still having trouble spotting any noticable seams from the output provided by ICE.

Honestly, this is the first program in a long time that I’ve come away saying “Wow!” Even as a dedicated PC user, I’d have to say that Microsoft surprised me with this one. Microsoft ICE does one thing, does it extremely well and all without any useless features or confusing bloat. All software should be so streamlined. Pssst! Hey, Microsoft! More stuff like this, please!

Microsoft ICE works on Windows XP and Windows Vista with at least .NET Framework 2.0 installed.

Microsoft Image Composite Editor [via Lifehacker]

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YouTube Link [via BoingBoing]

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I still have no idea what the Ad Council does, or why they do it, but I really don’t care after watching this hilarious PSA commercial promoting arts education. Whatever it is they do, as long as it features a wall-smashing Johannes Brahms distributing a hearty Guten TAAAAAG!, I’m sold.

YouTube Link. [via BoingBoing]

UPDATE: As Susan Jacobsen (apparently of the actual Ad Council) points out in the comments, the Ad Council is an important non-profit organization dedicated to the creation and distribution valuable public service announcements tackling a wide range of issues, many of which have become iconic campaigns over the years. This info is for those of you people who didn’t already know. You know who I’m talking about. For shame.

I, for one, am absolutely thrilled that someone from the Ad Council actually took time to read, and comment on, It Makes Your Nose Tickle. This makes the first IMYNT reader who isn’t A) a family member, or B) myself.

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Geeks and techies around the globe are looking forward to the release of Mozilla’s Firefox 3 web browser, scheduled for official release on June 17th. In addition to the rollout, the Firefox marketing community at SpreadFirefox.com (which I am conveniently a member) is looking to set a Guiness World Record for most software downloads in 24 hours (since no previous record of that kind has been set, it shouldn’t be too hard to achieve).

I’ve been using a portable version Firefox 3 RC2 for the past few weeks and I must highly recommend the download. All of my friends and family are faithful Firefox converts, thanks to me, and I’m sure to be installing this latest major release for them as well. When its finally released tomorrow (June 17), head on over to GetFirefox.com to upgrade!

SpreadFirefox.com Download Day 2008

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Some generous humanitarian has posted fourteen pages of some of the best Tonight Show “Headlines.” They are best read all at once, and in order… by page three I was rolling on the floor with laughter-tears streaming down my cheeks… in the office… during business hours.

Link [via BoingBoing]

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This is surveillance footage from inside and outside a bank as an F5 tornado ripped through Parkersburg, Iowa Memorial Day weekend with winds exceeding 200mph. Several angles from the interior of the bank show windows exploding and debris flying in every direction. The exterior security camera captured the tornado leveling a house that was located across the street from the bank. No one was inside the bank at the time, though this series of storms killed eight people in the Parkersburg area.

Interior Bank Security Camera Footage – Weather.com

Exterior Bank Security Camera Raw Footage – Weather.com

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Sigur Ros, the Icelandic band best described as what Radiohead would be if they were even more innovative, has announced the release of their newest album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (English translation: with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly) due to hit shelves on June 24th. If you can’t wait until then, they have also kindly released the first track from the album called Gobbledigook as a free mp3 download availiable at SigurRos.com. There you can also watch the NSFW music video for the track, featuring the same tree-dwelling nudists that grace the cover of the new album.

From the Sigur Ros MySpace bulletin:

Inspired by the unfettered feeling of the acoustic performances filmed during Heima [their most recent Live album and concert film], Sigur Rós decided to adopt a looser approach in the writing and creation of their brilliant fifth album. The material for the album was written, recorded and mixed entirely in 2008 and is being released just one month after its completion. The album glows with the perfect imperfection of live takes, the sounds of fingers playing guitar strings, cracked notes, and a stark, upfront presence not found in previous Sigur Rós recordings, moving away from reverb-soaked guitar sounds towards something altogether more affecting. The record also contains some of the most joyous music the band has ever recorded.

www.sigur-ros.co.uk – Official Sigur Ros Site
sigurros.com – Free Download of Gobbledigook
myspace.com/sigurros – Sigur Ros MySpace Profile

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