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Sunday, April 11, 2010

May I mention the meme?

One of the more entertaining aspects of the Internet is watching trends exponentially explode, videos going viral, and how photographs can be exploited by creative people using imaging software like Photoshop, or the free, open-sourced software, GIMP.

For Internet aficionados, geeks, amateur Photoshoppers and pranksters, there is a new site that categories these "memes" and provides the history behind each phenomenon -  a database of examples of the trend that have been used, popularity statistics, and in most cases, how you can jump on the bandwagon and play in these Internet reindeer games. Checkout Know your meme.

For example in 2004, someone created this image (below) to illustrate their interpretation of the differences between the Europe and the U.S.A.

Then people start to jump on the bandwagon:


Europe and America even have their own version of actor Hugh Laurie:
There are oodles of examples for each meme. And Know Your Meme database often gives you the template or what they call an "exploitable," to keep adding to the pile of oodles with your own creative prowess:


So if you want to know how a crazy phrase on the Internet got started, are Bonsai cats for real?, and how many YouTube versions exist of people trying to swallow a teaspoon of cinnamon, Know Your Meme database will provide the answer of how it all came to be, and loads of laughter as you make your way through the entertaining (sometimes gross, funny, mean, politically incorrect) examples.

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