Tech Article 2 - iPod Classic

For nearly a decade now the word iPod has become a synonym for music player. This not only proves that Apple have an effective marketing department, but also that they have made something special. Their newest version of that original gem is the iPod Classic. This for one means saying goodbye to the old gleaming white iPod and hello to more space than you will ever need for music.

The 160GB Classic holds 40,000 songs or to put it another way 4 constant months of music. This is the same old iPod that has become so popular, just with a new interface. The few new additions are a cover flow feature for scrolling through albums and a tough metal cover for the front - but the click wheel is still here. While only a small detail, the wheel has become the trademark of the iPod and even though the Touch and Shuffle have gotten rid of it, it's nice to have a familiar option.

The flaw with this iPod is it's slow interface - probably busy loading the 160GB of music. That said, you get used to the 2 second delay very quickly. It's a small price to pay for so much storage, you no longer need to carefully chose which songs make the iPod. Although its bulky, true music fans will gladly put up with it's weight for the music they love. This is only a small setback as the iPod has a great new QVGA display and a clearer screen cover which makes a big difference. All in all, you're still getting one of the best music players on the market. The best part- they seem to be getting cheaper by the day.

http://stuff.tv/Review/Apple-iPod-Classic

Laptop

If I was buying a new laptop for my course i would need to consider the following areas before purchasing one. The brand would not be a main issue but I would avoid buying a Dell because of the bad battery life that comes with it.

Operating System - Windows XP. Vista is too RAM consuming, 7 is too new, and I prefer windows to Apple.

CPU - Central processing unit. Here I would look for something fast and dependable. My current laptop has a Intel Centrino Duo core processor. Its never had a problem.

RAM - For a laptop 2GB of RAM will be fine.

DVD RW Drive - essential. A lot of things have to be backed up and memory sticks can be undependable.

Hard Drive - Nothing too big is needed. 160GB standard is fine.

Monitor - 14" is fine. A big screen is not needed.

These are the main factors but there are others. Such as good office software for presentations and assignments, USB ports and wireless connection all essentials for a student. Adobe programs can be a nice option to have.

Tech Article 1 - Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport

What if... the worlds best innovators were give an unrestricted budget and told to build their dream car? What if they then got rid of the roof and made the car a convertible? The answer : the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport.

This $2 million car is one of the most technologically advanced cars ever made. The Veyron is packed with two 8-litre V8 engines forming one huge W16 engine featuring 4 turbochargers. This produces a mythical 1,001 horsepower. The technology is used to tame those 1,001 horses. But it's gadgets aren't flash, instead they come into action, quietly, when needed. Aesthetically its a thing of beauty. The computers and gadgets are hidden from obvious view. We couldn't have the leather dash being disfigured in a seven figure car. In this case, the rear-view mirror houses the display screen. The driver enters the navigation destination using the touch-screen interface on an Hewlett-Packard iPaq HX2000 PDA running Bugatti's own custom software. The iPaq gives u more information than you will ever need. This computer does everything from hooking up your phone using bluetooth to telling you the pressure and temperature of each tire.

It also takes care of you at those high speeds that the car is capable of (254mph). Past 100mph the windows automatically raise, the car lowers to just 3.15 inches off the ground and the spoiler raises to force the car onto the road. But if you want to max the car out you have to insert a special top speed key into an ignition-type lock. This lowers the car to 2.5 inches and lowers the spoiler to 2 degrees to reduce drag. With enough space and courage you can try bring it to 254mph. At this speed, the touch of the brake pedal deploys the spoiler like an aircraft-like air brake. this alone has the stopping power of a Ford Mondeo. The carbon-ceramic brakes do the rest, these can bring the car to halt faster than it accelerates - quite an achievement.

Despite the state of the art technology in the car, it is by no way neutered.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33081765/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets

Psychology Links

http://www.psihq.ie/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/

http://www.apa.org/

http://www.sportpsychology.com/

http://www.forensicmed.co.uk/psychology.htm

Dublin Discoveries

Dublin, Ireland.

Every city has it's dark secrets.
Every city has his beauty.
Contrary to what you might think,

it's not the tourist attractions and fancy buildings that give a city it's soul.
It's the places that no one sees, those that only few know and fewer yet venture into.

Getting Up

A 30 min documentary about graffiti.

part 1


part 2


part 3

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

"Homely letters grew outlines, colours, patterns, highlights, depth, shadows, arrows. Names were bubblized, gangsterized, mechanized. Letters dissected, bisected, cross-sected, fused, bulged, curved, dipped, clipped, chipped and disintegrated. They filled with shooting stars, blood drips, energy fields, polygons. They floated on clouds, zipped with motion lines, shot forward on flames. And they got bigger and bigger. Expanding from window-downs to top-to-bottom to end-to-ends, the pieces began appearing as dazzling thematic murals by 1974, covering entire sides of twelve-foot-high, sixty-foot-long cars. They were imposing themselves in bigger, more unavoidable ways. This was style as confrontation."

- My favorite passage from "Can't stop, won't stop", a book which documents the rise of hip-hop culture.