@richmondywong
Assistant Prof at Georgia Tech in Digital Media. Research at the intersection of tech ethics, human-computer interaction, and science & technology studies. Lover of design, trains, Star Trek 🖖and curling 🥌. (he/him)
Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than being drunk or high—no wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its senses.
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 25 - And a bonus for good measure, an alternate version of the Horne Section's Christmas No. 2 (with the slightly different and original version of the lyrics). Happy holidays all! www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2pE...
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs (belated) Day 25: One more featuring Taskmaster's Alex Horne (and the Horne Section). Sometimes happiness is just about setting realistic goals and all you want for Christmas is to be the second best, so you ask Santa for a #2 music hit! www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK6L...
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 24: Back to the Arthur's Perfect Christmas album. I love their version of Joy To The World--it's upbeat, they sing in character, the guitar licks are amazing, and the chorus repeat at the end is fun! www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EyC... (open.spotify.com/track/6vEPTM...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 23: Another one from the Earth, Wind, and Fire holiday album! Their version of Winter Wonderland always makes me want to get up and dance when it comes on, especially the chorus repeat at the end. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMok... (open.spotify.com/track/3tYfhn...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 22: Another cover of The First Noel, this time by Beatles cover band The Fab Four. Ever want to hear The First Noel sound like Let it Be? It sounds like this! www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9iX... (open.spotify.com/track/44ZN0v...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 20: We're back to Arthur's Perfect Christmas, which basically has half comedy songs on the album, courtesy of DW. Here she sings about The First Noel, the second Noel...up to as high as she can count! www.youtube.com/watch?v=twfY... (open.spotify.com/track/5brSA1...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 20: We all know Rick Astley from Rickrolling and "Never Gonna Give You Up", but he has a cool Christmas song too, "Love This Christmas" www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYCU... (open.spotify.com/track/10ZH7g...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 19: I first heard "Sweet Gingerbread Man" in the credits of the Marvel Hawkeye TV series (which takes place over Christmas). It's an upbeat 70s song that feels holiday-esque! www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p89... (open.spotify.com/track/5WYmcj...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 18: I love Kool and the Gang's soul and funk hits from the 70s and 80s, but they also had a 2010s Christmas album with this cool track, Home for the Holidays www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Fi... (open.spotify.com/track/7z4wES...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 17: Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons are back again, with what to me seems like the strangest cover of Jingle Bells I've ever heard, called "Jungle Bells" (which seems to about random animals?) www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDuA... (open.spotify.com/track/4iLkIg...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 15: "It's Coming Home" has been an anthem for English football since 1996, mourning the men's lack of a World Cup record since 1966. For the 2022 World Cup (held in Qatar in December) they updated the song to be Christmas-y! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubRB...
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 15: What started off as a corny joke song on Saturday Night Live in 2000 by Fallon/Sanz/Katan/Morgan became an actual Christmas single! First by Julian Casablancas in 2009, later by Cheap Trick www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0mE... (open.spotify.com/track/2drjHv...)
Just to be clear: if 'no one was ready' a lot of people fucked up, bc those of us who work on this laid out what was going to happen 8yrs ago.
The twofold issue that 1)it's not just a tech problem, and 2) Big Tech allowed itself to be ref-worked into spinelessness.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...
Very much reads like they are significantly reducing the influence of peer review on scientific funding, which under the current regime opens the way for more politicized funding instead.
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 14: Maybe less obscure, but the "Snow Miser/Heat Miser" from the 1974 Christmas TV special "The Year Without A Santa Claus" holds a special place in my heart. Us high school band geeks loved the trombone work in the song! www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SGl...
(Bonus lyrics version from the Closing Ceremonies! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl0m...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 13: Since we're coming up to a Winter Olympics year, feels right to share "Winter Games," the instrumental theme of the 1988 Calgary Olympics by Dave Foster www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aFt... (or open.spotify.com/track/58gWVO...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 12: Cher's"DJ Play a Christmas Tree" kind of sounds like someone made a holiday parody of "Believe" but it's a real Cher song! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z6A... (or open.spotify.com/track/18uSfZ...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 11: Jenny/867-5309 is always fun to sing along to in the car or at karaoke - but in December you can use the lyrics of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". (That starting "ho ho" really kicks things off) www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgCd... (open.spotify.com/track/213fqU...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 10: Another 60s throwback, child singer Lisa Miller's upbeat Motown/pop "Loneliest Christmas Tree" with some rather dark lyrics about a tree at the center of attention before ultimately being discarded www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVpA... (open.spotify.com/track/5ojo15...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 9: I'm a fan of 60s/70s group Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, with Frankie's signature falsetto - and they have a Christmas album! Great falsetto & harmonies in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I1W... (or open.spotify.com/track/5YW842...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 8: From Sesame Street, Grover, Cookie Monster, and Herry sing about their saddest "Blue Christmas"! (Christmas will be so blue without me cookie!) They're all so blue! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywEZ... (or spotify: open.spotify.com/track/7cSDDY...)
(Plus the harmonies that last verse are so good!)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 7: Since it takes place at Christmas, I always felt that "NYC" from Disney's 1999 TV adaptation of Annie was holiday-esque! Audra McDonald! Victor Garber! Extended dance break! Cameo from Andrea McArdle (the original Annie on broadway)! www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_O...
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 6: Little Alex Horne isn't just the assistant on Taskmaster (go watch if you haven't!), he's also in a (comedy) band singing about the annoyances that make staying home on Christmas worthwhile! www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hKS... (or open.spotify.com/track/5b6fQF...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 5: I kinda figured out how to play the Lexus December to Remember commercial jingle by ear, but then I found the full length version posted by the composer Steve Kujala called “Family & Friends” (with a cool bridge and a lot of flutes!) youtu.be/jwK6mgfWZLU?...
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 4: I'm sure we've all asked what if the Beatles sung "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" to the tune of "Help!"? Well Beatles cover band The Fab Four has answered that for us! www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJXM... (or open.spotify.com/track/6deP5p...)
#ObscureNoveltyHolidaySongs Day 3: If you're in my PBS generation, you too may know the holiday musical special "Arthur's Perfect Christmas" featuring this opening number! (The spat in the middle of the song between Arthur and DW about tinsel is classic Arthur humor!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=N08t...
