Listening to informational noise: music and videos that no one should have found
The popular TV series Rick and Morty has a recurring element - Interdimensional TV . This is a special prefix to the TV, with the help of which the heroes get access to all kinds of television channels in all parallel universes. In ours - this device, unfortunately, does not exist, but the Internet allows us to observe something very similar.
If you analyze the "information noise", you can see our world from a new point of view. And (most likely) it will seem unfamiliar, unpredictable and even a little alien to you.
We’ll tell you how to do all this.
Photo Bruce Warrington / Unsplash
Every minute, YouTube users download more than 500 hours of video content, so the algorithms of the service’s recommendation system are aimed at showing the viewer only what he should like. Because of this, you can observe a situation where a third of all videos on the site have less than ten views. This is a huge archive of commercials that were recorded without pretense of professionalism, mainly for themselves or relatives. This is the life of ordinary people without color correction and editing.
But the most interesting thing here is that for watching such videos there are special services that allow you to stream videos with a small number of views.
Astronaut.io [ GitHub ]. This web application analyzes fresh downloads whose headers have standard names given by a smartphone or camera. Usually they start with IMG or DSC and end with a file serial number. It is logical to assume that the videos, the name of which the owner did not bother to change, were not intended for a wide audience and will not be popular with millions of YouTube viewers. Trying yourself as a researcher of such videos is easy enough - you only need to press the GO button. Next - every few seconds, the player will automatically switch from one clip to another.
It is worth noting that the service has alternatives. The French PetitTube website, which works on a different algorithm, is not limited to new videos with standard titles. On it you can see useless advertisements, MRI videos and other strange content. It may seem strange, but such videos (like a phenomenon) have a loyal audience. The small but vibrant Reddit IMGXXXX community is dedicated to finding and discussing such content.
The DeepIntoYouTube reddit community is another source of similar videos, but there are rarely videos that can be found on Astronaut. Instead, the focus of the subreddit is on amateur content that, for one reason or another, “didn’t shoot.” There you can find videos in which a person in a Shrek mask writes a thematic ASMR , there is still a large number of absurd comedy videos and can not do without strange user vlogs.
Ctrl + Shift + Face . A few years ago, the content that is published here would be impossible - but even now it is perceived as something strange. This is a deepfake video in which the faces of comedians, actors and other famous people are replaced with the faces of others. Of course, such content is much more popular than ridiculous videos. On the channel you can see something like an “alternative reality” in which Jim Carrey got the main role in Kubrick’s Shine, and Freddie Mercury personally starred in the Bohemian Rhapsody.
It may seem strange, but this YouTube video contains its own URL. How is this possible? If you believe the creator of the video, there is only one answer - it was downloaded from the future.
But in practice, there are ways through which you can "reserve" an ID for your video even before the download starts. But even despite the explanation, this web anomaly seems supernatural. Similar manipulations can be made with Twitter - and create a recursive tweet containing its own address. The algorithm that allows you to predict the address before downloading content was first published back in 2009 . It is worth noting the experiment with GIF animation, which contains its own hash.
The Forgotify service resembles the aforementioned PetitTube, but instead of videos on YouTube, it finds songs on Spotify that almost no one listened to. This is the fifth part of everything uploaded to the site: from forgotten artists of the 60s to rappers who are "not given", or just tracks that are most likely forgotten even by those who took a direct part in their recordings.
Photo Lex Aliviado / Unsplash
Let's get back to where we started. In the information noise that surrounds us in social networks and global video services, we are guided by algorithms. They protect us from the vast majority of content, which, in their estimation, cannot be called "quality".
But it turns out that around even the rarest and most useless things, like displaying unpopular search results, thematic communities and even special services like the ones that we told you about above are formed. If you would like to share your findings on the topic, we will be glad to see them and discuss them in the comments to this material.
What else to read on our blog:
Like the crack of a fire, the creaking of doors and ordinary noise become electro-acoustic tracks
“They are watching us”: what can happen in an inconspicuous minivan right under your window
“Finds of an audio man”: sound cards as a way to plunge into the atmosphere of an unfamiliar city
The phenomenon of ASMR audio: goosebumps and pleasant tingling
What is musical programming - who does it and why
Earth Rumble: conspiracy theories and possible explanations
Massage for Your Brain: Talking About ASMR
If you analyze the "information noise", you can see our world from a new point of view. And (most likely) it will seem unfamiliar, unpredictable and even a little alien to you.
We’ll tell you how to do all this.
Photo Bruce Warrington / Unsplash
Nobody needs videos
Every minute, YouTube users download more than 500 hours of video content, so the algorithms of the service’s recommendation system are aimed at showing the viewer only what he should like. Because of this, you can observe a situation where a third of all videos on the site have less than ten views. This is a huge archive of commercials that were recorded without pretense of professionalism, mainly for themselves or relatives. This is the life of ordinary people without color correction and editing.
But the most interesting thing here is that for watching such videos there are special services that allow you to stream videos with a small number of views.
Astronaut.io [ GitHub ]. This web application analyzes fresh downloads whose headers have standard names given by a smartphone or camera. Usually they start with IMG or DSC and end with a file serial number. It is logical to assume that the videos, the name of which the owner did not bother to change, were not intended for a wide audience and will not be popular with millions of YouTube viewers. Trying yourself as a researcher of such videos is easy enough - you only need to press the GO button. Next - every few seconds, the player will automatically switch from one clip to another.
It is worth noting that the service has alternatives. The French PetitTube website, which works on a different algorithm, is not limited to new videos with standard titles. On it you can see useless advertisements, MRI videos and other strange content. It may seem strange, but such videos (like a phenomenon) have a loyal audience. The small but vibrant Reddit IMGXXXX community is dedicated to finding and discussing such content.
The DeepIntoYouTube reddit community is another source of similar videos, but there are rarely videos that can be found on Astronaut. Instead, the focus of the subreddit is on amateur content that, for one reason or another, “didn’t shoot.” There you can find videos in which a person in a Shrek mask writes a thematic ASMR , there is still a large number of absurd comedy videos and can not do without strange user vlogs.
Ctrl + Shift + Face . A few years ago, the content that is published here would be impossible - but even now it is perceived as something strange. This is a deepfake video in which the faces of comedians, actors and other famous people are replaced with the faces of others. Of course, such content is much more popular than ridiculous videos. On the channel you can see something like an “alternative reality” in which Jim Carrey got the main role in Kubrick’s Shine, and Freddie Mercury personally starred in the Bohemian Rhapsody.
It may seem strange, but this YouTube video contains its own URL. How is this possible? If you believe the creator of the video, there is only one answer - it was downloaded from the future.
But in practice, there are ways through which you can "reserve" an ID for your video even before the download starts. But even despite the explanation, this web anomaly seems supernatural. Similar manipulations can be made with Twitter - and create a recursive tweet containing its own address. The algorithm that allows you to predict the address before downloading content was first published back in 2009 . It is worth noting the experiment with GIF animation, which contains its own hash.
Music that no one listens to
The Forgotify service resembles the aforementioned PetitTube, but instead of videos on YouTube, it finds songs on Spotify that almost no one listened to. This is the fifth part of everything uploaded to the site: from forgotten artists of the 60s to rappers who are "not given", or just tracks that are most likely forgotten even by those who took a direct part in their recordings.
Photo Lex Aliviado / Unsplash
Let's get back to where we started. In the information noise that surrounds us in social networks and global video services, we are guided by algorithms. They protect us from the vast majority of content, which, in their estimation, cannot be called "quality".
But it turns out that around even the rarest and most useless things, like displaying unpopular search results, thematic communities and even special services like the ones that we told you about above are formed. If you would like to share your findings on the topic, we will be glad to see them and discuss them in the comments to this material.
What else to read on our blog:
Like the crack of a fire, the creaking of doors and ordinary noise become electro-acoustic tracks
“They are watching us”: what can happen in an inconspicuous minivan right under your window
“Finds of an audio man”: sound cards as a way to plunge into the atmosphere of an unfamiliar city
The phenomenon of ASMR audio: goosebumps and pleasant tingling
What is musical programming - who does it and why
Earth Rumble: conspiracy theories and possible explanations
Massage for Your Brain: Talking About ASMR
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