Bit of Friday-fun here to wipe away those post-election blues. Nick Hagman aka 'The guy who killed Castlevania's Dracula armed with just his bare feet, Dance Dance Revolution mat and entourage of cuddly toys' has only gone and done it again!

Vampire slaying Hagman puts his feet to work once more in another unintentionally hilarious video, this time completing the original Super Mario Bros. in fifteen attempts; a much quicker affair than his Castlevania playthough.

There is something strangely hypnotic about watching the split screen between Nick's feet and the response of Super Mario running and jumping about, which you can see for yourself in the video above.

Fewer classic cries of frustration this time around though. "'Mother!... Mother!!... Mother!!!' from his demon battling days deserves to go viral in its own right.

The 2010 General Election is almost upon us, and after months of long, hard campaigning up and down the streets of Britain, it's turned out to be pretty riveting, nail-biting stuff. A real three-horse race for the first time in over 50 years, it's really going down to the wire. Labour, Tory, Lib Dem, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nick Clegg; it's all up for grabs and it's still anyone's game.

Here then, is Tech Digest's guide to the General Election in 12 YouTube videos.

The First Election Debate

The race for Number 10 may have been running for months, but it was the first televised debate between Labour Leader Gordon Brown, Tory David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg that really saw the election go up a gear. All candidates looked visibly nervous, but it was one of the most accessible formats with which to help the public form their opinions before voting, attracting around 9.4 million viewers.

Cleggmania!

After a sterling effort in the first Election Debate, the Liberal Democrats had their first vote of confidence from the public in an incredibly long time. From Nick Clegg Who? to Cleggmania overnight, Clegg struck a chord with a nation increasingly disillusioned by the governments of the two "old guard" parties.

David Cameron egged

David Cameron has been knocking "Broken Britain" right the way through his election campaign, with his views on hoodied youths marginalising younger voters up and down the country. Tired of being tarred by Cameron's brush of generalisations, an angry hoody eggs David Cameron during a visit to a college. More ammunition for Cameron showing ASBO land at its worst, or an example of a youth fed up with being unfairly labelled as one of a nationwide epidemic of broken moral values? You decide.

Gordon Brown and "Bigotgate"

If there was one FAIL moment throughout the whole of the campaign, it undeniably has to be Gordon Brown and "Bigotgate". After a seemingly pleasant chat with loyal Labour supporter Gillian Duffy, Brown, believing to be out of earshot and off camera as he drove away from his tour of Rochdale, described the voter as a "bigoted woman" into a lapel-mic, and into wringing hands of the media. Brown quite valiantly returned and apologised at length (an apology Duffy accepted), but for many the damage was already done.

David Cameron "The Common People"

With over 313,000 views David Cameron's take on Pulp's classic Common People anthem is the most hilarious viral the 2010 general election has produced. Giving an insight into his privileged background and rise to Tory power, the song is a satirical warning against Cameron's policies, reminding viewers of the Thatcher-era problems re-electing a Conservative government could bring.

General Election 2010: Hang Parliament!

With this election closer to being a three-horse race than any other in history, there's the very real possibility of a hung Parliament as the end result. The Guardian's John Harris talks the pros and cons of this potential outcome, and the need for electoral reform.

Eddie Izzard and Brilliant Britain

Did you know that gender-bending comedian Eddie Izzard recently completed a run around Britain? Well if you didn't, now you do. Far from seeing it as the "Broken Britain" the Conservatives saw, Izzard here waxes lyrical on all the wonderful people he met, and the positive changes he saw that a Labour government had brought to many areas.

Nick Clegg's Fault

Nick Clegg's Election campaign success took most of the country by surpise, and none more so than the traditional media outlets, many of whom had pledged allegiance to the Tories. A quick and ill-considered media backlash against Clegg ensued, with some very unfair and ridiculous results. If the Daily Mail could have blamed cancer on Clegg, they would have.

And so the Twitter hashtag #nickcleggsfault was born, quickly attributing all the world's ills to the Liberal Democrat leader with comical results.

This clever news skit sums up the "Nick Clegg's Fault" trend with aplomb.

Paxman nailed by Plaid Cymru economist

A little removed from the General Election campaign trail, here is a great video of Newsnight stalwart Jeremy Paxman getting a right rollicking from Plaid Cymru's economic adviser, Eurfyl ap Gwilym.

Arguing over the finer points of the redistribution of Welsh taxes, the usually steadfast Paxman gets rather flustered when he fails to find the figures backing up his argument. Great, heated stuff.

Leaders' Wives

More-so than any other Election campaign, the wives of the party leaders have been thrust into the media spotlight. From Sarah Brown's Twitter feed to Samantha Cameron's perfectly timed conception, they've been integral on the trail pretty much every step of the way. This little sketch rips into all three, including Nick Clegg's mysteriously elusive with Miriam.

David Cameron exposed

Classic Armando Ianucci here in this clip from Time Trumpet. David Cameron's suspect PR techniques are laid bare in this scathing deconstruction of the Tory leader in an alternate reality in which he's already in Number 10. The actor playing Alastair Campbell deserves a medal.

May 3rd: Gordon Brown hits his stride

It's been a long time coming, but Gordon Brown really came out fighting yesterday, speaking at a Citizens UK event. A really impassioned speech, touching on everything from the civil rights movement to Brown's own humble beginnings as a church minister's son, it was both more confident and more well received than any event held by Brown's rivals.

Brown's beginning to look like a real leader now, and it'll be interesting to see if this final push will be enough for him to retain office.

Though those of you with an eidetic memory may recall that YouTube's birthday is officially February 14th 2005, it wasn't until April 23rd 2005 that any videos were actually uploaded.

So today we're celebrating the fifth birthday of the first ever YouTube video upload. "Me at the Zoo" was filmed by Yakov Lapitsky, runs for 19 seconds and shows YouTube founder Jawed Karim enjoying a day at the San Diego Zoo.

It may not look like much, but it was the start of a snowballing internet phenomenon that by July 2006 saw 65,000 videos uploaded every day. A year and a bit after it launched, YouTube was bought by Google for a whopping $1.65 billion. A tidy sum, wouldn't you agree?

Android fans and iPhone-owning Google sympathisers may want to pay particular attention to this post. David Wong, a young Canadian coder has pulled off a feat of software-hacking mastery by getting his iPhone to dual-boot the Android OS alongside Apple's regular operating system.

Wong documented the whole process in the video above, which involved using a bootloader to get a Linux kernel onto the handset. Once up and running with Android, Wong shows off connecting to a Wi-Fi network, sending text messages, web browsing and even voice calling.

Due to the lack of hardware buttons on an iPhone he's had to re-purpose the up and down volume controls to Android's home and call buttons.

Hacked on an iPhone 2G, Wong reckons getting the OS onto a 3G wouldn't be all that difficult. Getting Android onto an iPhone 3GS however poses a more complex problem though, he believes.

The latest trailer for Disney's high-tech movie sequel Tron Legacy is now available for download in silky-slick high definition.

You can pick it up here.

The first Tron film is a downright classic, starring Oscar winner Jeff Bridges with visuals that were state-of-the-art back in 1982 and remain just as compelling nearly 30 years on. In tech-y terms, it was also the first film to creatively do justice to the burgeoning video game scene, while this December 17th-slated sequel promises some of the most advanced 3D filming techniques seen this side of Avatar.

Oh, and keep an ear out for a snippet of the robot-rocking soundtrack to be provided by the French Dance-pop mentalists Daft Punk. Never have a film and it's musical contributors been more appropriately matched.

It takes something special for a video of a guy sitting in his bedroom with an iPhone to get Tech Digest excited, but this viral marketing video for the iPhone app Everyday Looper really is something.

From the looks of things, Everyday Looper is a pretty basic multi-track recording app that uses the iPhone's mic to layer sounds on top of each other. If however, you have the crazy skills of the guy in this video (who apparently is also the app's developer) you can make Everyday Looper sound like a little beat-boxing barbershop quartet in the palm of your hand.

Watch the vid, and then see if you can't help but click here to pick up the app.

Microsoft are researching experimental technology which will allow people to control gadgets through the electrical impulses in our muscle tissue.

Sensors connected to the body measure Electromyography (EMG), the electrical signals that rush around our bodies. These sensors then translate the measurements into commands and instructions for PCs and other tech.

Confused? Check the video above.

The potential here is awesome. I've already begun saving up for my EMG enabled Iron Man suit.

Via: Gizmodo

YouTube have revealed the most watched videos of 2009, and there is one breakaway leader miles ahead of the competition. Susan Boyle's Britain's Got Talent audition has racked up over 120 million views this year, an absolutely massive amount of hits that totally eclipses runner-up drugged child clip "David After Dentist", itself picking up a huge 37 million views. In third place sits quirky wedding video "JK Wedding Entrance" with 33 million views.

YouTube have also pooled together the fastest rising search terms for 2009. It reads like a pit-stop tour of everything 2009:

January: inauguration
February: christian bale
March: the climb
April: susan boyle
May: pacquiao vs hatton
June: michael jackson thriller
July: michael jackson
August: usain bolt
September: kanye west
October: paranormal activity
November: bad romance
December: tiger woods

For the full breakdown of YouTube's 2009 story, visit the YouTube Blog.

Remember that scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, where all of Chevy Chase's festive struggles come good when his ridiculous fairy light system shines brighter than the sun? Well some bright spark has gone one better. Or should that be one louder?

A round of applause please for Mr Ric Turner, one time Disney special effects expert, who has turned his entire house into a festive lightshow, powered by...wait for it... GUITAR HERO.

Using 21,268 twinkling fairy lights and an intricate knowledge of electronics, Ric has rigged his house up to his Wii Guitar Hero game so that it lights up in time with his button mashing.

Words just don't do it justice, so check out the video above. It's totally mental, and 100% awesome.

For full details of this mammoth undertaking, check out Ric's conversation with Make.

As we've all come to accept, robots will eventually become far too clever for their own good, revolt, and throw humanity into eternal servitude. Until that point though, lets take a minute to salute our Japanese cousins who have humiliated our future robot-overlords once again, this time by programming one to break-dance.

The scientists who built the robot consulted professional dancers to fine-tune the bot's uncanny moves.

Peter Crouch was as yet unavailable for comment.

Oh dear. In a frighteningly embarrassing bout of "spontaneity" employees over at the newly opened Mission Viejo Microsoft store burst into an impromptu line dancing session. Fair play to them for keeping it up for a nerve-wracking 4 minutes, despite the store's customers clearly either uninterested or too embarrassed to look.

I hope these poor cogs in the Microsoft machine got a nice bonus for this little stunt. Their tired feet and tainted souls sure have earned it.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is easily the most hotly anticipated game of the year. It could be a steaming mess of a game and still top the charts on the back of the reputation of it's predecessor alone. But from the looks of this trailer, it's safe to say Modern Warfare 2 is going to be a very special title indeed.

Modern Warfare 2 features gripping and heart-racing first-person shooter action as players face off against a new threat dedicated to bringing the world to the brink of collapse.

You can pre-order Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from Amazon UK here, ready for it's 10th November release.

Zombies, zombies, zombies; just when will we stop getting a kick out of maiming these lumbering, brain-eating foes? Not any time soon if game developers Valve have their way. Left 4 Dead 2 is set to hit shops on the 20th November, so get ready for another frantic blast of four-player, undead whacking first-person madness on its way.

The highly anticipated sequel takes place in the Deep South, where four brand new survivors are battling against the zombie horde. Valve promise three horrific new Special infected foes, the brand new addition of melee weapons, and a refined version of the AI Director that made the original so replayable.

Check below as Tech Digest's very own Gerald Lynch gets prepped for the zombie horde with an SAS survival training session.

As many as 10 million people are believed to have watched U2's gig at the LA Rose Bowl Stadium, streamed live via YouTube on Sunday night.

Estimates had at first circulated around hundreds of thousands of viewers; very respectable figures themselves. But now Variety are reporting a staggering 10 million people around the globe saw the show.

The figure makes U2's show the single largest live-streaming event in YouTube's history, with the only comparable figure being the 700,000 who streamed the YouTube Live event in the summer.

Watch the full recorded gig here.

MJ, RIP.

Meet Martin Jetpack, Dutch inventor determined to produced back-strapped solo powered flight. Presumably a big fan of Thunderball. In this video we see Martin's latest creation. This is the Ducted Fanpack and, according to the man, it can get up to speeds of 60mph and has a range of 8,000 feet before you need the in-built emergency parachute.

It's not exactly portable and looks more like a drum kit than anything else but, well, take a look...

It doesn't look like it goes that high which could be an issue if you don't live in Holland or East Anglia but, should you be sufficiently stunned and not in stitches, then see if you can tap up the bank for the $100,000 you'll need.

(via Oh Gizmo!)

This video/work of genius by Rotterdam based animator Evelien Lohbeck speaks for itself. I wouldn't normally feature animation on Tech Digest but, then, animation is always titled "Note Book". Enjoy.

(via Rubbishcorp)

As I watched the first 15 seconds of this video, I was convinced it was an advert for Cadbury's Creme Eggs. For the rest of the 2mins and 20secs, I was too busy wondering if my jaw was ever going to close again. Watch the clip and you'll see what I mean...

Here's a video to make you glad that none of your friends class themselves as 'experimental media artists.' In his latest video, Daito Manabe hooks up four (presumably former) friends to his face visualiser - a device which transforms music into electrical pulses that stimulate the facial muscles.

You might have forgotten this, or been unaware of its existence, but I thought it was worth some nostalgia. This is Doctor Spin performing their rave-tinged version of the music from "Tetris" on Top of the Pops in 1992. Oh da!