Acoustic folk seems to be the sound that I have been enjoying lately. It has that chill factor while still being able to enjoy the soft sounds of a guitar and listening to the well written lyrics.
Joshua Radin is one of those artist that meets those criteria. Radin, who was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio is known for his works that have been on many different TV shows such as Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy and many more.. That is how I came about finding his music. He currently has two CD out "We Were Here" (2006) and "Simple Times" (2008). Here is some information about Radin that I found interesting. He never intended on being a professional musician. He actual went to school for art and after his stint as an art teacher, screenwriter, and art gallery employee he gave music a try. Good thing he took that plunge cause his music is well written and performed.
The iGo Green power smart tower is a well thought out power strip not only for the user but also for the conservation of energy usage. This smart surge bar has eight outlets and four of them stay in a fixed position while the other four feature iGo Green technology and it rotates 360 degrees to accommodate all the different shaped plugs.
The iGo Green technology automatically powers down outlets that aren't currently in use and powers them back up when devices need power, reducing standby power usage by up to 85%. Other features include a tower-style design with integrated cable management, dual front-mounted USB ports for charging portable devices, and a 6-foot power cable with a right-angle rotating plug. The price on the iGo Green power Smart tower is a little pricey at ($80) however, it is sure to save you money in the end.
Apple has unveiled it's new Tablet called the iPad. Apple will sell the newly unveiled tablet-style iPad starting at $499 which is a lot cheaper than most would have expected from Apple. The new iPad looks to be just a overly large version of the iPhone which I think most will agree in that department.
The iPad has a 9.7-inch touch screen, is a half-inch thick, weighs 1.5 pounds and comes with 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes of flash memory storage.Carrying a custom 1 GHz "Apple A4" chip, the iPad weighs in at 1.5 pounds and is .5-inch thin. All iPad models have an accelerometer, compass, speakers, a microphone, and a 30-pin dock connector. It will also have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity built in. The iPad screen is an OLED back lit which is a plus. Just a note on the iPad it does not allow you to run more than one app at a time. Jobs said the device has a battery that lasts 10 hours and can sit for a month on standby without needing a charge. The basic iPad models will cost $499, $599 and $699, depending on the storage size. The iPad will start shipping in 60 days. And, then later, they will have 3G models. The Non-3G models will be available in March.
Now if your looking for an iPad that has 3G services you will have to wait longer and pay more in price and also have a subscription with AT&T for the data plan. AT&T will have two tiers of data plan will be available without contracts: $14.99 per month for 250 megabytes of data, or $29.99 for unlimited data usage. The 3G models will cost you $629, $729 and $829, depending on the amount of memory. These models will be available in April.
Jobs said the iPad will also be better for playing games and watching video than either a laptop or a smart phone. The iPad comes with software including a calendar, maps, a video player and iPod software for playing music. All seem to have been slightly redesigned to take advantage of the iPad's bigger screen. Applications designed for the iPhone can run on the iPad. Apple is also releasing updated tools for software developers to help them build iPhone and iPad programs.
Now here comes the task of convincing the consumer that they need this product. So many of use out there already have laptops and smartphones. Is this something that you think you would use or want. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
I happened to find the photography works of Julius Shulman wondering the internet of the world. I was fascinated by his work and his use of different angles, styles, and lighting that he used to capture his images. So while I was doing some research I found that he has a movie about how his works have coined today's view of modern architecture, many of his photographs became iconic shots. Especially famous are his photographs of Californian modernism, buildings by Richard Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pierre Koenig, and Charles Eames.
Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930's. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images. The movie came out October 2009 and was narrated by Dustin Hoffman. I rather enjoyed watching the trailer to Visual Acoustics and enjoyed his photography. Therefore, my hat goes off to you Julius Shulman.
The people at the University of California, San Diego are looking to find out how babies develop and it's importants of understanding how the human brain works. So to do that they built a creepy robotic baby. In cooperation with Japanese robotics firm Kokoro Co., Ltd., the team constructed this rather complicated machine that is meant to mimic the actions of a one-year-old human child. I still can't figure out why they gave it a baby face but they forgot to give it body skin.
The robot, named Diego-san, has over 60 moving parts in its body. Its five-fingered hands are able to grasp objects, and the robot can even stand up from a sitting (in a chair) position. The head contains more than 20 moving parts that allow Diego-san to create facial expressions. The head also contains high-res cameras in the eyes, a speaker in the mouth, and accelerometers in the ears that detect the robot’s movement and position.
Diego-san is also learning while he is being taught which I think is pretty cool for a robot to do but on the other hand if he got mad. That would not be good. It could turn into a really disturbing Chucky movie.
The KODAK SLICE is not an ordinary camera. It’s an instant connection to all of your memories. With its sleek touchscreen interface, you can cruise through thousands of your favorite shots. And with just a tap, the unique SLICE Search feature lets you sort pictures by person, place, occasion, or date. The KODAK SLICE also recognizes friends by face, so even the moments you can’t put a label on are as easy to find as they are impossible to forget. You’ve always kept your pictures close to heart. Now you can have them all right at your fingertips.
The Kodak Slice is an ultra-thin camera with a decent price tag of ($350) to match the other competitors in the touch screen sector of cameras. It has a large 3.5-inch, 16:9 touchscreen on the back, the Slice also features a 14 megapixel sensor, a 5x optical zoom lens, 720p/30fps HD video recording, optical image stabilization, an included rechargeable Li-Ion battery, and more. The Kodak Slice will not be available until April of 2010. If you want to find out more about this new camera check out Kodak's website.
Do I have a nice treat for you. In this playlist I decided to do a deep house/house mix. I have been digging on some good deep house lately and thought I would share some of my most liked tracks with you. So have a listen and get down. Listen to the stream mix or download it. If you want to hear other Playlist sets click here.
Cover Art by Damion Schweizer
Tracklist
1. Bay Hum (orginial mix) - City Walkers
2. Volar (Montano Sunset Mix) - Mike Montano
3. Beautiful - Stryke
4. Yearning (Shingles Edit) - Basti Pieper & Florian Dalinger
5. You're Special (Ralf Gum Gogo Music Dub) - Soul Creation Feat. Stephanie Cooke
6. Fearless - Nacho Marco
7. Keep On (original) - Pascal Dubois
8. Remember When (Orgininal Mix) - Phonic Funk & Teika
9. Que Me Levante (Original Mix) - Miss Jools
10. Schaumbad (Original Mix) - Smalltown Collective & Dj Miguel
11. Gotta Use it (Gorge Remix) - Solan
12. Garuna (Original Mix) - Gorge
13. Solbel - Kresy & Handrus
We’re entering the realm of ‘affordability’ in 2010 with this green studio composed of roughly 120 sq feet of room. I dig the large windows and such features as a green roof, heated water-resistant rubber flooring, sustainable red cedar insulated walls, and the small footprint offered by Ecospace. A standard model costs about $37K. Check out there website as well its very well designed and gives great information on there product.
The Mini-Jot
Although if your looking for another cheaper alternative to align with your budget then how about the Mini-Jot. At roughly $100 per square foot, this 120sq ft. studio can fit perfectly as a home office, guest house, etc. The structure is designed with passive solar in mind to reduce heating and cooling costs; as well as insulated lightweight structural panels, super-efficient windows, and optional concrete flooring to act as a heat sink. With the money you save on building costs, you could also add on solar, a wood stove, or other cool green features.
I was looking for some inspiration for some poster designs and I came across Mihail Mihaylov. He is a graphic designer and illustrator from Sofia, Bulgaria. Mihail designs are influenced by the aesthetics of modernism. He says that he loves doing minimalistic graphic design and playing with type, colors and shapes. Which you can tell he does by his work.
Acoustic folk seems to be the sound that I have been enjoying lately. It has that chill factor while still being able to enjoy the soft sounds of a guitar and listening to the well written lyrics.
