Steve Wilhite (pictured above in the monitor of a fan) will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at tonight’s Webby Awards, as his creation of the GIF has made him a god among mere mortals obsessed with animated images on endless loops. Otherwise known as the Graphics Interchange Format, the GIF has become a handy dandy tool for us bloggers in conveying simple messages by using familiar faces an pop culture memes and moments.

Alas, all is not well in the world on the GIF on this eve of Wilhite’s greatest recognition. At least I think it’s his greatest recognition, because, like many, I had never heard of him before today. Either way, the GIFmaker himself has ignited a furor of Twitter controversy by finally putting an end to the great pronunciation debate. Is it pronounced “GIF” or “JIFF”? Be prepared to look like this.

He is proud of the GIF, but remains annoyed that there is still any debate over the pronunciation of the format.

“The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations,” Mr. Wilhite said. “They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story.” (Via the NY Times)

Oh yeah? Well, as a proud member of Team Hard G (both in terms of GIF and my rap star name), I feel that I can only properly convey my disappointment in Mr. Wilhite’s iron hammer of justice with this collection of GIFs.

The post Steve Wilhite, Inventor Of The GIF, Puts An End To The Great Pronunciation Debate appeared first on UPROXX.

So, how about that Xbox One reveal, huh? I bet it was pretty exciting if you’re in the market for a new DVR — if you were hoping to play games on the Xbox One, well, hopefully something will be shown at E3. But hey, maybe I’m just being cynical. Sure, Microsoft only spent 10-minutes of their hour long presentation talking about games, but they were a pretty solid 10-minutes! There will be a game where you drive cars and, unlike the Wii U, Xbox One will actually be getting some sports games!

Also, they showed off the first trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts. Hit the jump to check it out…

Here’s a “behind the scenes” featurette that shares a lot of footage with the above trailer.

Okay, looks a bit more interesting than the last few CoD games. The trailer could have used more footage of your new dog buddy though.

As in, it should have been all footage of your new dog buddy.

via VG24/7

The post Here’s The ‘Call Of Duty: Ghosts’ Trailer Microsoft Managed To Fit In After All The TV And Sports Talk appeared first on UPROXX.

Vine is a relatively recent phenomenon, but we’ve already seen some stellar uses for the social app, including “Children Friendly Rap Songs,” “Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal,” and, of course, everything that Community‘s Gillian Jacobs uploads to her account. People, especially comedians (so, “people”), are still figuring out how to use Vine and it could eventually prove to be as much of a game-changer as Twitter.

But I can say with complete confidence that Marlo Meekins’s “Mario Dog” will never be topped.

(Via)

The post There Will Never Be A Better Vine Than ‘Mario Dog’ appeared first on UPROXX.

Soon after Defense Distributed was forced to take down its 3D plans for a goofy, useless plastic gun some other guy — this time the anonymously named “Joe” — put up a video of his much better, but still awful, plastic gun made on a much cheaper 3D printer. And he called it the “Lulz Liberator.” There’s a name that inspires confidence. A lot of people are freaking out about these things. But they really shouldn’t be.

So why shouldn’t I be freaked out about untraceable guns?

If you weren’t freaked out about them before, why should you be now? The only thing new about Defense Distributed and Joe’s plans are really the whole 3D printing thing, which makes them inaccessible to anybody but nerds with money, but the reality is nothing they’re doing is something you couldn’t do, right now, with a few simple tools.

WHAT?!

We all know from cop shows how a gun works, sorta: A hammer strikes a firing cap or a primer, triggering a small explosion that the barrel focuses in a specific direction.

Now, doing this accurately across reasonably far distances is extremely hard to do and we spend millions improving it every year. But if you just want to fire a bullet at somebody, you can do that with a visit to the hardware store. Here’s some guy doing it in less than two minutes with stuff you can find in the house. In fact, it’s probably a lot more untraceable than one of these things.

Why?

Because these “untraceable” guns are pretty easy to trace, in the sense that not many people currently own a 3D printer, and if the police find “Untraceable plastic gun” in your Google search history, they’re probably going to have a few questions for you.

What makes you think it’s that simple?

For two reasons: one, criminals tend to be pretty stupid. Just look at the ongoing exploits of Florida Man. Two, because they’re insanely dangerous and just as likely to kill the guy pulling the trigger. Defense Distributed’s own designs tended to explode, melt, or both, and Joe had to fix his precision crafted weapon with the subtle and artful way of smacking the thing with a hammer. It’s true the “Lulz Liberator” is claimed to be a lot sturdier and more reliable than Defense Distributed’s design, but that’s a bit like saying an AMC Gremlin is better than a Yugo. The first attempted murder with one of these things is probably going to end with the killer trying to pick plastic shrapnel out of his face.

But won’t crooks eventually get these 3D printers? And won’t the designs improve?

Sure, along with everyone else. And metal ones already exist and are getting cheaper all the time. But there are two things people need to stop and consider before freaking out.

The first is that we’re years, likely decades, away from being able to run off an AK-47 in our living room. The history of firearms essentially doubles as the history of precision engineering, and the materials science and precision of 3D printers is nowhere close to that level yet. Considering the big idea for these things is to run off spatulas and Crocs, it may never be available on a consumer level anyway.

The second is that we are just not that violent as a society. We had over 14,000 homicides in 2011… and over two million burglaries. You’re far more likely to have your stuff stolen than get shot because criminals are capable of evaluating opportunity cost too, and a crime that nets you more money where you’re less likely to be caught is highly appealing. Violent crime has been dropping for years and it seems unlikely to suddenly spike just because a bunch of nerds with more toys than sense have decided to play revolutionary in their backyard.

So why is the media going nuts about this?

Because it’s clickbait like you wouldn’t believe. Gun control is a highly charged issue right now, and these things are freakishly timed to cater right to the desires and/or fears of the loudest extremes. The facts are getting in the way of a good story, so the facts are being conveniently ignored.

Unless that’s what they want you to think!

Yeah, you’ll find the proper place to discuss that theory right here.

The post Why You Shouldn’t Be Freaked Out About 3D Printed Guns appeared first on UPROXX.

Grimm (NBC, 10:01 p.m.) — You know what’s worse than summer television? That two week period between the time the Spring shows end and the summer shows begin. Consider yourself in that morass, where the season finale of Grimm is not only the best option, but you’re only decent one.

Awkward (MTV, 10 p.m.) — That is, assuming you don’t watch Awkward, where a school dance plays a central role in tonight’s episode.

Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.) — I stand corrected. Amber Tamblyn will be on tonight’s episode. CANCEL ALL YOUR PLANS.

Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel (HBO, 10 p.m.) — In tonight’s episode, BryanT Gumbel explores steps that can be taken to protect referees from injury. Step 1) GET OUT OF THE DAMN WAY.

The Voice (NBC, 9 p.m.) and Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 9 p.m.) — These shows are still on, so there’s that. Or you could watch a movie. Here’s the 10 best recently released movies on Netflix.

LATE NIGHT LISTINGS: Jason Bateman is on Letterman to talk Arrested Development, Eric Stonestreet is on Leno to plug tomorrow’s Modern Family season finale, Zach Galifianakis is on Ferguson, Aziz Ansari and Gillian Anderson are on Fallon, the cast of Workaholics is on Conan, and Phil Jackson is on The Daily Show.

The post What’s On Tonight: You Gotta Be Kidding Me, Right? appeared first on UPROXX.

Whenever two comedians get into a fight on Twitter, my “FAKE FAKE PUBLICITY STUNT FAKE FAKE” alarm goes off, especially when said comedians recently released books, as Marc Maron and Michael Ian Black did. Then again, Maron and Ian Black aren’t big fans of one another — check out their recent chat on Gothamist as proof. But even if their online squabblings — which began a short time ago when Maron tweteed, “I guess if everything is garbage principles are stupid” and Ian Black responded, “So you watched your show, huh?” — isn’t real, it’s still pretty amusing.

Not recommended for people with daddy “hates himself as much as he loves suits” issues. Might be too real.

The winner: Louis C.K.

(Via Storify)

The post ‘How Do Your Wife And Kids Handle You?’: Marc Maron And Michael Ian Black Got Into A Fight On Twitter appeared first on UPROXX.

No, not Captain America: The First Avenger. This is Captain America, the movie starring J.D. Salinger’s son, produced by the infamous Menahem Golan and directed by the even more infamous Albert Pyun. Yes, somehow this movie has gotten a Blu-Ray release and it… is… glorious.

Not because it’s any good, mind you. There’s a reason this movie, which was supposed to come out in 1990 in theaters to celebrate Cap’s fiftieth anniversary, didn’t arrive on US shores until 1992, and directly to video. The trailer explains it better than I could:

Still, it’s worth seeking out, not least because it’s one of the single funniest things you will ever see, albeit for completely accidental reasons. Since it’s made on a shoestring, the effects are, well, about what you’d expect; the rich taste of cheese will fill your mouth every time Matt Salinger mimes throwing his plastic shield, only to cut to a shield on a string knocking over a model. Or, for that matter, when you see the fake ears glued to the side of his mask.

Adding to the fun/problems is the fact that pretty much everybody in this movie is miscast. Matt Salinger, son of J.D. Salinger, just doesn’t work as a hero, although to his credit he’s got a real sense of humor about the role. Ronny Cox, better known as the bad guy in RoboCop and Total Recall, seems to believe he was hired to play Jimmy Carter, only wimpier. This extends to the entire movie; Albert Pyun is infamous for his total lack of pacing and editing best defined as butchery, and this movie is arguably his anti-masterpiece in that respect.

Still, nearly twenty-five years later, it’s hard not to be charmed, somewhat, by the proceedings. The movie is ridiculous, but in its own way, it becomes a lot of fun to watch; as bad as this movie is, you get the sense that at least some of the personnel, Salinger in particular, really loved the character and that shines through. In the end, it’s no worse than other takes on superheroes throughout the years, and hey, at least they tried, which is more than we can say for some superhero movies. And there are worse ways to spend ten bucks, so if you like cheese, keep an eye on the bargain bins.

The post ‘Captain America’, The 1990s Version, Comes To Blu-Ray appeared first on UPROXX.

So today Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared before a Senate panel to talk about that whole tax thing people have been talking about, and Sen. John McCain, man of the people, asked Cook a question we’d all probably like to ask him.

“Why the hell do I have to keep updating apps on my iPhone all the time?”

Meanwhile, how great would it have been if Cook had replied by asking, “Why the hell did you pick Sarah Palin to be your running mate?!” Pretty great, I think!

The post Watch John McCain Ask Apple CEO Tim Cook A Really Tough Question appeared first on UPROXX.

Halo‘s history of becoming more than just a video game, but a way of life, man, is a tortured one. In 2005, Alex Garland began writing a script for a film based on the game, which I distinctively remember involved me running around in circles and getting upset at Cortana for reasons that are neither here not there, but it was rewritten by D. B. Weiss and Josh Olson a year later. On top of that, executive producer Peter Jackson and Columbia Pictures president Peter Schlessel got into a fight with Universal Studios, who were set to co-finance the film with Columbia, and, well, a lot of people couldn’t agree on a lot of money. At one point, it was even rumored that Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Pictures would buy the rights for the movie, but that never happened, either.

But just as Halo-branded Mountain Dew never left me hanging when I needed it the most, Spielberg never gave up on Halo. According to CNET, Señor Spielbergo’s American union equivalent will produce a Halo TV show.

Director Steven Spielberg will helm the creation of a new Halo live-action TV series. Microsoft and 343 Industries announced the new series during their Xbox One unveil event today.

Spielberg presumably will produce the new show in conjunction with Halo developer 343 Industries. Halo, the popular franchise that has anchored Xbox for years, used to be developed by Bungie Studios. Microsoft did not specify what Spielberg’s role would be.

Though Spielberg was not able to attend Microsoft’s Xbox One event in Redmond, Wash., he appeared on screen, noting that the Halo franchise is “myth-making meat.” (Via)

If Halo: The Television Series, as it’s been creatively called for now, is half as good as Animaniacs, which Spielberg also produced, it will be a generation-defining classic. Maybe Master Chief can even teach us about state capitals? SPACE state capitals.

(Via CNET)

The post Steven Spielberg Is Working On A Live-Action ‘Halo’ TV Series appeared first on UPROXX.

A few short hours ago, the most consistent band in indie rock ‘n’ roll, the National, who will soon perform at a 19,000-seat arena in downtown Brooklyn, played a surprise set at a bar that doubles as a flower shop. The occasion: the group released their sixth album, Trouble Will Find Me, today, and they’re making the rounds of New York City, stopping at small venues as an early thank you to fans for having Trouble almost assuredly debut in the Billboard top-10. I was at the Ditmas Park-based Sycamore show, because I live in the area and don’t mind showing up at public settings with unwashed hair, an oversized shirt, and a demeanor that screams, “Sure, I drink wine at 12 p.m. on a Tuesday.” I wasn’t alone, and the response to the National was quietly rapturous.

Of the eight songs they played, seven were from Trouble, with the propulsive “Bloodbuzz Ohio” the lone standout. These were new songs, many of which have only been played live less than a handful of times, and already they sound like they’ve been a part of the National’s set for years. That aforementioned consistency works to their advantage here — the last four albums, from Alligator to Trouble, sound approximately similar to one another (brooding vocals; sad anger; complex, intelligent arrangements from the Dessner brothers), but on each, there’s something distinctive about them. Alligator, for instance, is looser and louder than Boxer, while High Violet is more lush than anything that came before. Trouble is melancholy and precise, yes, but it’s also relaxed, and it shows in their live set. Led by Bryan Devendorf’s repetitive bang-bang drumming, “Graceless” twists itself into a warm whirlpool of noise, while “Pink Rabbits” sounds like the end-of-the-bar lament the National have been waiting their entire career to record. The one-two of first single “Sea of Love” to “I Need My Girl” begins with a plea and ends with an emotional punch to your longing heart, a feeling the National excels at without ever being too obvious about it.

Matt & Co. seemed at home and comfortable during the 55-person capacity set, as they should (much of the band lives in the area; they’re local celebrities and can’t even go to the Mexican restaurant without receiving at least a few appreciative handshakes), but that’s the environment they breed no matter where they go. Anyone who’s mistaken complacently with being “too boring” (an unfortunate tag often associated with the National) clearly hasn’t seen them live; there’s a fueled-by-alcohol jolt of swaying energy, literally led by Matt compulsively moving both his mic stand and body back and forth, to their live performances that’s missing from the albums. Not that the records aren’t essential, but rather, they’re templates for which the National can work off of at their shows. For such personal songs, they’re made for public consumption, whether surrounded by bottles of whiskey at Sycamore or overpriced pretzel stands at Barclay’s Center. Also, babies like them.

That baby later got BLASTED on wine. The National will do that to you.

The post Live Review: The National Played A Huge Show In A Tiny Brooklyn Bar appeared first on UPROXX.