Viral videos of the week: Game of Thrones, John Oliver, and World Cup fever

8 Jun 2014

Still from 'Beats by Dre | The Game Before The Game' by Beats by Dre on YouTube

We take a look at some of the most-viewed and most-shared videos on the web. This week features a dog with an eternal source of entertainment, a Game of Thrones recut, John Oliver’s net neutrality rant, and some clips to get you ready for the World Cup.

About 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, 500 years of video watched on Facebook every day, and more than 700 YouTube videos shared on Twitter each minute, ensuring there is always video trending on the web.

With so much video available for viewing, we take a look at some of the viral videos that have caught our eye this week.

This is what happens when an engineer owns a dog

You know how they say dogs end up looking like their owners? In this engineer’s case, the clever canine might even think like his owner, who has created a device to let the pup play fetch by himself all the live long day. Genius!

 

Uploaded: 19 May 2014

John Oliver on net neutrality

A must-watch, this excerpt from comedian John Oliver’s HBO show Last Week Tonight not only explains the issue of net neutrality with expertly applied ascerbic wit, but this is also the video that led to the FCC’s website collapsing under the strain of a deluge of negative feedback.

 

Uploaded: 1 June 2014

Oberyn vs The Mountain (the denial version)

For Game of Thrones fans still shaken by last week’s shocking episode, YouTuber Ozzy Man has recut the final scenes to make you all feel a little bit better. At least, until tonight’s episode decides to rip your heart out once again.

 

Uploaded: 4 June 2014

Victory by three goals and a paper plane

Watch as the little paper plane that could, flung from a seat in the nose-bleed section of Wembley stadium during England’s World Cup warm-up against Peru, not only makes it to the pitch but even makes contact with Peruvian defender Hansell Riojas. A feat of paper engineering!

 

Uploaded: 30 May 2014

Adubarey’s epic penalty

Thanks to a cunning trick by Ashad Ali Adubarey, the Maldives national squad secured third place in the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup against Afghanistan. I wonder if any of the World Cup competitors have taken note of this sneaky tactic…

 

Uploaded: 29 May 2014

The game before The Game

As you may have guessed, World Cup fever has gripped our viral videos round-up this week and this last video will put any football fan on edge ahead of the tournament’s kick-off on Thursday. Forget the Beats by Dre marketing shtick, ignore the fact that Neymar Sr’s advice is more suitable for a gladiator than a footballer, try to pretend Thierry Henry isn’t there (because we’re still not over that handball), and just get ready. Let the anticipation fill you up. It’s almost here. Four more sleeps!

 

Uploaded: 5 June 2014

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Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com