Casey Chan, Author at Gizmodo

I can’t believe these crappy Star Wars props looked so great in movies

We’ve really come a long, long way when it comes to special effects in movies. It makes sense that today’s movies look great because of all our computer whiz processing power animation software. Back in the old days though? We had to rely on the magic of the movies. Seriously. Turning scale models that look…

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Man pretends to be shot by violent movie posters

There’s a lot of violence in movies and TV shows. Guns, blood and murder are welcomed into the family living room by the bleary eyes of desensitized souls. But it’s entertaining! But it’s also pretty ridiculous how un-shocking it is to see. We can pass violent ads without giving it a second look. This artist…

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A guy got knocked unconscious skydiving but somehow survived

Terrifying. Skydiving is already brown your pants scary when you’re conscious. Imagine being unconscious while you’re falling from 12,500 feet in the air. Think about all the horrible things that could happen. That’s what happened to skydiver James Lee. Luckily, miraculously, thankfully, impossibly, he survived the fall. The Telegraph says that Lee was hit by…

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Watch how much visual effects have improved in Oscar winning movies

Starting in 1977 with Star Wars and moving all the way until last year with Gravity, this video covers all the Academy Awards winners for best visual effects. It’s a wonderful walk through movie history and revealing to see how much more realistic movies have gotten through fake computer generated effects. One thing though, Star…

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This tree branch is actually a camouflaged bird standing really still

What are you looking at? Some trees, some leaves, a few branches and… a bird. You see, on top of that broken tree branch actually stands a completely still bird, the common potoo. It’s hiding in plain sight and will stay that way even if predators are deathly close to them. The common potoo stands…

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This cute animation about love is just as good as any Pixar short

Sit back, grab a hot cup of tea, maybe open up a bag of cookies and enjoy yourself with this lovely musical animation called Love in the Time of Advertising. It’s a short made by David Bokser & Matt Berenty and it’s adorable in all the right ways, punching through with humor, emotion, double meanings…

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I want a drone to follow me around like in this super fun video

Sure the constant bzz bzz buzz of a drone would get annoying. And of course the invasion of privacy thing is a little bit of a concern. But man, it sure looks fun to see all your life’s exploits get recorded from the angle of the all seeing eye of the drone. Just watch this…

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Pouring beer on a frying pan creates amoebic alien goop

What happens when you pour beer onto a frying pan? It boils and evaporates, right? Not exactly. The beer sort of turns into this goopy blob that looks like some alien amoeba. Look at it go and tell me you’re not going to do this the next time you’re drunk (don’t do this while you’re…

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Listen to the fascinating history of sampling songs in music

New music is often just old music put together in different ways. There’s only so many notes you can play, tunes you can sing, words you can string, you know? It’s just how it works, music sampling happens whether it’s acknowledged or not. For an entertaining look at the history of sampling, watch the video…

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Which famous villain had the biggest and baddest secret headquarters?

It sucks to be a villain. Not just because you’re destined to lose to the hero but because when you do lose, you lose everything, including your stupid awesome villain hideout slash lair slash headquarters. Why couldn’t you just lose a little bit and get to keep rolling around in the Death Star? Why can’t…

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Watching music videos without the music is pretty damn funny

This is genius. Mario Wienerroither replaces the music from popular music videos with imagined sound effects and noises of what’s actually happening in the music video. If you see someone jumping around, you’ll hear jumping around and not the song. The result? An awkwardly funny mashup of artists dancing by themselves to no tunes, making…

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Hike 2600 miles through the United States in six minutes

From Mexico and all the way up to Canada with something called the United States of America in between. One man, Tyler Fox, decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and make his way completely through the US. That would be a 2,600 mile hike through California, Oregon and Washington. Here’s what he saw. It…

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Real life returning batarang boomerang would make Batman jealous

It’s pretty hard to make Batman jealous. The dude has enough money for an entire world, gadgets to play with everyday, a secret cave to hang out in, dashing good looks and beautiful companions to take out to dinner. But here’s one thing you can have that’s better than Batman’s: a fully returning Batarang in…

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This two-year-old in diapers is ridiculously good at skateboarding

Boy, this kid is fearless. Actually, I’m not sure Kahlei Stone-Kelly from Australia is even old enough to be called a kid. He’s just a baby. A two-year-old toddler in diapers who’s already better at skateboarding that many full grown human adults. Just look at him go and display excellent balance, a little bit of…

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The images in this video can actually screw up your brain and vision

I squinted my eyes and covered the screen and looked away when I was watching this video by Tom Scott because I don’t want to have colored vertical and horizontal lines ingrained in my vision because my brain got fried from staring too long at the images in the video. So I suggest you do…

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Getting hit by a 25-foot wave is like being inside a water tornado

When you get swallowed by the waves of the biggest sea monster in the world (also known as the wonderful ocean), there’s not much you can do but protect your head and hope you know which way is up. It’s like being trapped inside a water tornado. This footage, captured by pro surfer Mark Healey,…

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I’d love to watch a Game of Thrones set in beautiful feudal era Japan

Game of Thrones is one of the most beautiful shows on television because of its expansive sets, elaborate costumes (and lack thereof), obsession with detail, intimidating weather and anything dealing with the world of Westeros. It’s such a magnificent place that even if the characters disappeared I could watch the golden glow of King’s Landing…

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Genius man used one first class airplane ticket to eat free for a year

Airports are often terrible places to be. There are too many people rushing somewhere combined with too many cranky folks leaving somewhere mixed with annoying obstacles in the form of TSA security and rolling luggages. But it’s just like that for us normal folk. For first class flyers? It’s like being a rock star. One…

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This book somehow opens up 6 different ways to reveal 6 hidden books

Done with this book? No need to get another one because you can just open it a different way to reveal another book. Done with that one? Well, just open it another way and you’ll have another story. And again. And again until you do it 6 times. Because you see, there are six books…

Sploid Casey Chan

Fearless man plays with grizzly bears like you play with your dog

Oh, nothing to see here. Just a guy playing wrestle with a grizzly bear and letting it fake swallow his head. Wait, what? Mmhmm. Bear trainer Doug Seus plays around with an 8 foot tall behemoth of a beast the same way you would mess around with your dog. It’s stunning to see. I mean,…

Sploid Casey Chan

Casey Chan

I can’t believe these crappy Star Wars props looked so great in movies

Man pretends to be shot by violent movie posters

A guy got knocked unconscious skydiving but somehow survived

Watch how much visual effects have improved in Oscar winning movies

This tree branch is actually a camouflaged bird standing really still

This cute animation about love is just as good as any Pixar short

I want a drone to follow me around like in this super fun video

Pouring beer on a frying pan creates amoebic alien goop

Listen to the fascinating history of sampling songs in music

Which famous villain had the biggest and baddest secret headquarters?

Watching music videos without the music is pretty damn funny

Hike 2600 miles through the United States in six minutes

Real life returning batarang boomerang would make Batman jealous

This two-year-old in diapers is ridiculously good at skateboarding

The images in this video can actually screw up your brain and vision

Getting hit by a 25-foot wave is like being inside a water tornado

I’d love to watch a Game of Thrones set in beautiful feudal era Japan

Genius man used one first class airplane ticket to eat free for a year

This book somehow opens up 6 different ways to reveal 6 hidden books

Fearless man plays with grizzly bears like you play with your dog

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