By now, you've certainly seen at least one earnest documentary talking about the profound effects the Internet is having on society. That's why Cassetteboy's "The Web for Beginners" mashup video [1] of uncut footage from a forthcoming four-part BBC documentary about the Internet is so funny - it takes all the usual talking heads and cuts their interviews into wonderfully absurdist statements like, "It turns out that the Internet is just fax machines that think the thoughts of somebody who lived 8,000 years ago."

The BBC is actually encouraging this use as part of their Digital Revolution Short Film Competition [2], which provides the uncut footage to anyone to download and edit; the BBC commissioned Cassetteboy [3] (a self-described "double act who edit footage they've nicked off the telly to make celebrities swear") to create this piece as an example of what can be done.

[1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gGopKNPqVk
[2]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/digitalrevolution/competition.shtml
[3]: http://cassetteboy.wordpress.com/

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