If you like Remove.bg then you're going to love Unscreen.com

When Remove.bg hopped on the scene, arduous hours in Photoshop to remove backgrounds from photos disappeared in an upload and a quick. Now, the same folks are back with Unscreen.com, a tool to instantly remove backgrounds from video clips and then easily layer in a new background. Final products download as .Gif files.

Simply upload a clip and then pick either a stock background or upload your own. Here the site is preparing a clip of me irresponsibly lighting 30-year-old Mexican firecrackers I had bought in junior high from a lady who sold these homemade dandies on the beach in Puerto Peñasco. They were in a bunch of junk my mom had recently cleaned out of my old bedroom...but I digress.

After the upload was complete, I picked one of the stock backgrounds to gauge how the clip looked.

I could have stopped right there as the project was pretty cool, but I thought, "Why not make this video doubly ridiculous?". For my background, I upload a dumb clip of me dunking a basketball on an eight-foot and somewhat leaning basketball hoop. I think it turned out pretty cool.

Now I am thinking, "How many other videos of me doing silly things could I layer into this?". There have to be five or six floating around my Google Photos.

I am sure there are a ton of curricular applications for Unscreen, but I always have the most fun learning a new tool by creating something of absolute little use to the educational advancement of anyone...like this.

Thanks, as always, to the incredible Brian Briggs who shared Unscreen with me this week by mashing up other videos that were "of absolute little use to the educational advancement of anyone."

Check out "Check This Out with Ryan and Brian" podcast

I've followed the great ideas of Ryan O'Donnell and Brian Briggs for a long time on Twitter. On Sunday I discovered their podcast "Check This Out".

What got my attention was when Brian tagged me in a tweet announcing their latest episode. In episode 81, the two California educators spend some time talking about my "Chromebook Crisis" post earlier this winter. Not only are they keeping the conversation going about the need for more more creative uses of Chromebooks, they drew a nice connection to another project already underway.

Ryan has been presenting on and posting with the #CreateWithChromeBooks hashtag since the Fall of 2016 when he launched his own initiative to promote more creativity in learning with Chromebooks.  His efforts are right in-line with what I am trying to do with the Chromebook Creativity Project on this site. One of my favorite ideas these guys mention is who cool a CUE Rock Star  camp would be if it could be entirely Chromebook creativity themed.

Other cool parts of this episode include throwbacks to an app that emulates 8 bit Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? and the new handheld Oregon Trail game device. They throw in some rants too about a few things in edtech that could use an improvement or just hit the bricks. You also have to tip your hat to a couple of podcasters who share their favorite podcasts. Check out their show notes for links and give the episode a listen.

I am off to listen to more episodes....and get rid of the cutesy tile font I changed my Twitter name to. I agree guys, they're pretty lame.