Today we launched our first original animated series from Next New Networks, Channel Frederator’s Meth Minute 39, by genius animator Dan Meth. The first episode — Internet People! — is a tribute to everyone who’s entertained all of us on the web the last couple of years. Here’s the whole story behind its birth, but what’s untold (for now) is the amazing support the NNN team gave Dan and company to make this thing internet-ubiquitous in less than 12 hours. We published at noon, and right now the video is already on the front of MySpace, YouTube, DailyMotion, climbing on Digg, and embedded on dozens of sites and blogs… and I feel like it’s just getting started.

Hope you like it, and stay tuned for more episodes of Meth Minute 39, coming soon. Believe me, they actually get better than this one.

http://www.InternetPeople.tv

p.s., If your first thought was, “This is just like We Didn’t Start the Fire,” congratulations, you’re officially old.

Last night, as I looked at all the photos tagged “iphone” rolling in on Flickr, I wanted to capture all the iconic first photos people would inevitably take with their new iPhone once they got it. At the same time, I wondered, can an iPhone buy happiness*? So I started two competing groups at the same time: Photos of me with an iPhone, and Photos of me without an iPhone. Here are some of my favorite photos posted in the last 12 hours so far:

The Haves

Xeni Jardin covered the line for BoingBoing with Sean Bonner, a Have-Not.

Andrew Mager, who covered San Francisco.

Elsie Flannigan

vernhart, trying to decide whether to open the box or not.

The Have Nots

Dana Robinson’s photo inspired me to start the pool.

Micki Krimmel is perfectly happy in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Josh Leo’s happy enough in West Michigan.

Action Girl’s got the old-skool bling.

Paul Dateh, and gorilla can not has iPhone.

Lots more great ones in there. Got a photo with or without? Please add it to one of the pools: Haves | Have-Nots

*For a little extra fun, check out the first episode of Technology Show Internet, where they see if anyone in the Fifth Ave Apple Store line can really say, “iDeserve iPhone.”

I’ve been a big fan of Jonathan Mann’s videos at GameJew since my friend and co-worker Scott Moschella first showed them to me a few months ago. Jonathan usually does these inventive, totally original videos and songs mostly about video games, but yesterday decided to cover a peaceful immigration reform rally in Los Angeles, and when things turned unbelievably bad, with the police firing rubber bullets into the crowd and chasing them block to block through the city, Jonathan and the person filming with him stuck around and kept the video rolling. What they put together is a damning indictment of a dark direction we’re increasingly going in the United States — it’s breaking my heart, and we need to put a stop to this now.

I haven’t had a response to a videoblog post like this since, well, another of Jonathan’s videos, though that was a very different reaction. Think citizen journalism can’t help keep the fourth estate alive? Watch this. Embedded below, and I hope to see this everywhere — across big media and small — tomorrow.

For more, check out LAist, which is updating pretty regularly on the issue at this point.

Update: some pretty incredible video from LA’s Fox11 is up on YouTube, where Fox reporters with press credentials actually get knocked down by police batons, but what’s really depressing are the comments, both on YouTube and Jonathan’s site. Outright racist, horrible stuff in there. Are we doomed? I think we may be. Jonathan responds.

I really miss the days sharing an office with the Serious Eats crew when they do a thing like full-team coverage of National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. The picture below says everything… until you see the diagram.

Why does everything have to change? Ze ends a year of the show. What a great year it’s been. It’s hard to know what to say about it, except that a year ago, things were so much different, for him and for many of us watching. I owe Ze a lot — it’s safe to say I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now, may not have been able to make it all happen to move to NY and start the new company, if it wasn’t for him, and I know lots of people who have been inspired and touched by the show. That’s pretty unbelievable. Bravo, Ze. We love you. Can’t wait to see what you do next.

Favorite episode? Hard to say, but the debt and ray are two from the last few weeks that I really loved.