oatmeal

It's Matthew Inman's world, SXSW just lives in it

AUSTIN, Texas -- If a Web comic about bears, beastiality, righteous indignation, and Nikola Tesla tickles your funny bone, the place to be at this year's South by Southwest Interactive was Exhibition Hall 5 in the Austin Convention Center.

Matthew Inman, creator of the Web comic The Oatmeal, entertained a packed room at the close of the Interactive segment of the festival. Inman might appear to some as an unlikely hero of the Internet and an unusual choice to deliver a closing keynote address, but he found himself right at home on stage.

"I'm not a cartoonist. … Read more

It's Oatmeal vs. Oatmeal in a new trademark suit

Internet comic The Oatmeal is back in the legal spotlight after a Massachusetts greetings card company began litigation against the comic for allegedly infringing its trademark.

According to Ars Technica, who first reported the story, the popular Web comic's creator Matthew Inman is being sued by Oatmeal Studios, after Inman joined forces with Recycled Greetings to offer greetings cards based on The Oatmeal's comics.

This caught the eye of Oatmeal Studios, which then filed a suit against Inman in a Boston, Mass. courtroom, claiming a trademark on the term "Oatmeal Studios."

The … Read more

Tesla museum fundraising effort hits $850K goal in one week

A crowdfunding effort to build a museum to honor scientist Nikola Tesla has surpassed its $850,000 goal by more than $35,000 -- with more than a month to go in the funding drive.

Announced last week by The Oatmeal, aka Matthew Inman, the goal is to build a museum to honor the achievements of Tesla, the inventor and electrical engineer credited with making early strides in wireless communications. The funds will be used to buy land in Shoreham, N.Y., on which Tesla's last laboratory stood.

The land is listed for sale at $1.6 million, but … Read more

The 404 833: Where we're burning up the quarter-mile (podcast)

On today's show, we have CBS' own Morgan Seal, who recently came to the company from Clicker.com, along with CBS Interactive's new president, Jim Lanzone. She joins us today to chat about her history with Clicker.com, as well as Intel's strange new Museum of Me app on Facebook, Malaysia's Twitter punishment, a war between The Oatmeal and FunkyJunk, Shaq's retirement announcement on Twitter, and more!

The 404 Digest for Episode 833

Intel's Facebook 'Museum of Me' is a must-try. Malaysia defamation case: 100 apologies on Twitter. The Oatmeal vs. FunkyJunk: a war for copyrights. Shaq chooses Twitter to announce retirement.

Episode 833 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 784: Where we won't pull a houdini on Jeff's birthday (podcast)

The 404 Digest for Episode 784

Send Jeff your happy birthday wishes on Twitter! While you're there, say hi to Justin, Wilson, and Natali Urban Dictionary's definition of " ulling a houdini." Google launches U.K. online magazine "Think Quarterly." Duke Nukem never comes early. Duke Nukem's misogyny going out of style? Wireless carriers delay text donations to Japan--sign this petition to help! Baby Activity helps parents track the crap. Oatmealy comic submissions with a 404 twist from Mike McD. and Jeff. Sean Shin composes a tween theme song for The 404 that probably took longer to write than Rebecca Black's "Friday"--download the rock version or the acoustic remix! Meme Molly on the show tomorrow!

Episode 784 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 778: Where we've stepped in the Oatmeal (podcast)

Comics, graphics, and quizzes from The Oatmeal are all over the Web, so we're lucky to catch its creator Matt Inman during his countrywide tour to support his new book, "5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth."

The book is a collection of Matt's favorite comics and includes 25 previously unseen works plus a pull-out poster included with every copy. We also have three signed copies of the book to give away on a future show, so check back for your chance to win.

Matt tells us about his history with the Internet with stories about how he came up with the name, his former obsession with Gillian Anderson from "The X-Files," and offers tips on what to do when you meet your idol--in this case, cartoon legend Gary Larson.

After the break, Matt pulls out his laptop and shows us how he creates characters using Adobe Fireworks, software usually designed for graphics editing that Matt appropriates for The Oatmeal.

Using just this software and an Apple Magic Mouse, he quickly takes us through the processing of designing one of his recurring characters--the angry fat man!

Stop by The Oatmeal to check out more of Matt's work. His new book is available for $7.71 on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

We'll end today's show with the Kodak Deal of the Day: a Lenovo Z560 Core i5 Dual 2.66GHz 16-inch LED laptop with free shipping for $599.99.

Episode 778 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more