ProxTube

ProxTube unblocks youtube videos. It is useful because in some countries like Germany YouTube videos are blocked for rather questionable reasons. Please do not abuse it for accessing videos of which you know that they are violating your local penal code.

Two questionable reasons for why videos are blocked in Germany:

1. The copyright holder possibly (in contrast to actually) does not allow the content to be  online.
2. The video contains symbols of unconstitutional organizations.

The latter is very annoying. In general, German laws outlaw the use of symbols of unconstitutional organization but not if they serve to further civil enlightenment, to avert unconstitutional aims, to promote art or science, research or teaching, reporting about current historical events or similar purposes.

However, I repeatedly had to circumvent youtube's blocking to watch videos that use original footage from the NS era to illustrate the terrible crimes committed by Nazi Germany. They were blocked due to the ubiquitous swastikas, not due to their message that simply put was: We must never let this happen again.

The History of English in 10 Minutes

The video contains ten short chapters, namely:

1. Anglo-Saxon or whatever happened to the Jutes?
2. The Norman conquest or excuse my English
3. Shakespeare or a plaque on both his houses
4. The King James Bible or let there be light reading 
5. The English of science or how to speak with gravity 
6. English & Empire or the sun never sets on the English language
7. The age of the dictionary or the definition of a hopeless task
8. American English or not English but somewhere in the ballpark
9. Internet English or language reverts to type
10. Global English or whose language is it anyway?

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YouTube meets German history, fails miserably

Believe it or not: YouTube recommended SS (Nazi) March songs because I have been listening to the national anthem of the strongly antifascist German Democratic Republic. Now this clearly is an epic fail.

Are you kidding, YouTube?

If you wonder about the brown area in the thumbnail: After consulting the German penal code I covered the SS logo that originally was present because it would have been legally too risky for me to leave them unaltered.

The History of Our Universe Made Easy

Two videos from Potholer54 on the history of our universe and how scientists little by little learned about it.

The History of Our Universe Made Easy, Part 1

The History of Our Universe Made Easy, Part 2

Keith Olbermann on Michael Bloomberg

Actually he speaks of morons in general and why morons were the people who actually brought forward the USA and then picks Michael Bloomberg as a fine specimen of moronhood.

Keith Olbermann Special Comment On Michael Bloomberg

Searching Eos

Scientists have come up with the theory that the current Earth-Moon system is not a direct result of the collision of a Mars-sized object with the young Earth but that for some time there have been two moons that eventually and considerably after the collision themselves collided to form our current Moon. Chances are that NASA’s GRAIL mission will be able to answer the question whether Eos actually existed.

“Eos?” you ask? I must admit that this is just my idea for naming this former celestial body; however, in Greek mythology, Eos is the sister of Luna and the goddess of dawn. The name seems to be perfect as Luna is associated with the Moon and the lost celestial body dates back to the dawn of Earth’s history. Moreover, in antiquity Eos was not associated with an actual celestial body.

ScienceCast: Did Earth Have Two Moons?

The future of the Web as predicted in 1994

This video was created in February 1994. Thousands of copies of it were distributed to help spread the word about the business potential of the Web, which, at that time, many business people found difficult to imagine.

A Glimpse of the Future