Or: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/fooled-sharpie-cheating-birds-steered-fidelity-red-marker-8C11309346

Or: http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/calwild/2004spring/stories/materialgirls.html

Love the numberphile videos. I hate when they start drawing on rough paper with sharpy markers. Painful, but worth it?

I always treat women as equals... and that means: passed out drunk = draw sharpie dick on face =)

Sharpie should sponsor Vi Hart's videos.

I like how lazy his picket sign looks lol. I mean really you just used a ball point pen on a piece of cardboard and expect anyone to actually be able to read the thing. Come on man how cheap is this guy he can't afford a $1 sharpie at least. LMAO!

>> ^spawnflagger:

.. my guess is that each card has a metal strip(s) embedded in different spots, and the top cap of his Super Sharpie is a strong magnet. notice that he waves it around several times, front and back, before making his actual guess. If the magnet is strong enough, he wouldn't have to touch the paper to still be able to feel a slight tug.
I say it's in the cap, because he removes the cap and sets it aside before writing on the envelope - this way it wouldn't accidentally "stick" to the envelope.
comments welcome...

I like spawnflagger's magnetic sharpie idea. If this isn't how the trick is done, it certainly could be done this way.

at first I thought the trickery is in the "opaque black paper" sleeve, which actually hides the 2 cards that he predicts, regardless of how the deck is shuffled, but on 2nd viewing, I doubt it.

it was an awfully thick deck for only being 5 cards, maybe they are weighted... 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 "units". although he would have to train a LOT to be able to tell the difference between 17 (16+1) and 18 (16+2). I doubt any human could do this reliably, at least without the audience participant noticing something funny about the cards.

my guess is that each card has a metal strip(s) embedded in different spots, and the top cap of his Super Sharpie is a strong magnet. notice that he waves it around several times, front and back, before making his actual guess. If the magnet is strong enough, he wouldn't have to touch the paper to still be able to feel a slight tug.

I say it's in the cap, because he removes the cap and sets it aside before writing on the envelope - this way it wouldn't accidentally "stick" to the envelope.

comments welcome...

I actually posted this before watching the *entire* thing. I guess it's obvious most of the cigarettes are fake and he stuffs her card in his mouth when he drops the Sharpie. When he comes back up he is clearly trying to talk around something in his mouth.

My first Top 15 in a week -- and it took a promote.

Granted, my vids for the past week sucked. But still. This is pretty funny.

In reply to this comment by siftbot:
Your video, <a rel="nofollow" id="postlink-199574" href="http://videosift.com/video/Robert-Reich-and-His-Sharpie-explain-the-economic-downturn">Robert Reich and His Sharpie explain the economic downturn, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

This achievement has earned you your "Pop Star" Level 13 Badge!
<img src="http://cdn.videosift.com/images/badges/popstar.png"/>

Thanks for the promote, fission!

In reply to this comment by fissionchips:
*promote

Some people got charged for promotes even when they didn't "take." I don't know if they fixed it.

Thanks for trying.

There is gnashing at the bit for promoting and qualitying!!!!

In reply to this comment by fissionchips:
Can I get a *promote?

Darn, I can't.

Thanks for the attempted quality....

You might want to check your power pellets -- some folks got charged the point, even though their quality/promote didn't take.

In reply to this comment by ObsidianStorm:
Oh for fuck's sake...

And then, just before the presentation to the President, Brad found out the kids had used a sharpie...

sharpie dot

If i were him I would have sharpie marks on the other edge of the ruler to help.

>> ^Psychologic:

I wonder how many hours this person wasted on invested in this skill.