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.

Rules Of Graffiti

You suck until further notice

It's gonna take a long time before we even acknowledge your existence, even longer before we can bear to look at that foul scribble you call your name. To speed the process of acceptance, you can A) Choose a clever name that defies the norm of simple-minded slang. An example of a good name is "ARGUE" (RIP). It looks good when written, sounds cool when spoken, and conveys a combattive attitude. On the other hand, "ENEMA" (actual name) looks, sounds, and conveys a shitty attitude. BE CHOOSY. B ) Use paint, gain a thorough knowledge of supplies, remember that permission walls, stickers, and dust tags are small parts of a balanced diet, be bold, learn a style of writing for every occassion,and write your name bigger every time you go out.

Jealousy is a disease for the weak

Your heart is your greatest possession, dont let it get taken from you.

Dont write on houses of worship, people's houses in general, other
writer's names, and tombstones. Writing on memorial walls and cars is beef beyond belief. Furthermore, involving civilians in your beef is grounds for dismissal. These are are the five fingers of your right hand. Get to know them well. Give soul claps, firm handshakes, and throw smooth bolo punches.

Although being a toy seems undesirable, you should enjoy it while you can. At this stage you can bite all you want with no remorse. All your elders will say is, " Awww isn't that cute, kootchie kootchie koo." So steal that dope connection, rob that color scheme. and loot whole letterforms. Dont worry about giving any credit, we'll pat ourselves on the back and brag how we're influencing the next generation. However, style isnt a crutch or a schtick. It is understanding why that connection you bit flows, or why that color scheme bumps. Style is the process to an appealing end. Once you got it down to a science, you can reinvent letterforms to suit yourself. This creative growth will amaze the old and young alike. Pretty soon somebody will steal your secret sauce and the cycle will be renewed. If this happens to you, don't bitch about not getting your due. Graffiti is the language of the ignored. If your style is stolen, someone heard you speaking. You got what you wanted from the beginning, some attention, you big baby.

It must be noted that the vandal squad loves graffiti. Their job requires them to fiend for graff as much as you do. When you wreck enough walls, they'll want to meet you. Just like the ball huggers outside the graff shop, they'll recite every spot you hit, with the difference being you'll also hear the Miranda Warning. To postpone this, go solo as much as possible. Dont write with anyone that wont fight for you. Don't be paranoid, but be careful. If you avoid writing on pristine properties, you'll stay in misdemeanor territory, and you wont divert the cops' attention from pastry and caffiene consumption (consult local laws to be sure). Remember, if they didn't see you do it, it's almost impossible for them to win a conviction without your own damming testimony. Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Giving a cop info on another writer will doom you to a life of ridicule, from cops and kids alike, with no parole.

There's nothing wrong with knowing your the shit as long as you are. But once you reach that conclusion, your one foot over the edge of falling off. Watch your step fathead, there's no shortage of people chanting, "JUMP JUMP JUMP!" There are plenty of writers that have been painting well for the better part of 20 years, and your posing and fronting looks retarded next to them. Get back to work, you "never was" slouch. In conclusion, graffiti is free, impresses the girls, is heroic in our couch potato culture, will provide you with a million stories to tell at parties, and a sure cure for the inner-city blues. If it's not fun, you're doing it wrong or have been doing it too long. So get going, fame awaits the fly among you.

Piece By Piece

A Brief History of Modern Graffiti

1969 Philadelphia - A kid tries to impress a girl by writing his nickname (cornbread) onto her locker, it didn’t work. He then writes it’s on her bus route and apartment block quite likes the idea and continues with the rest of the city. Soon other people copy him. Whether he gets the girl is unknown.

New York 1969-1974 - The idea works its way to New York with people mainly writing on the subway system with new styles and being developed and the names becoming bigger and most complex. One of the first to gain attention from the media is ‘TAKI 183’ a footmessager from Manhattan who used his job walking the city to put up his name.

New York mid 70s - One of the busiest and heaviest periods of graffiti in the city due to financial problems in New York city, the subways where left un-maintained with graffiti not being removed.

Rome 1979 - Lee Quinones, and Fab Five Freddy has a gallery opening in Rome. The first time graffiti art is in a gallery space.

London 1979 - Punk band ‘crass’ stencil political slogans around London.

Paris 1981- Blek Le Rat started stenciling small rats unto the streets of Paris and other French cities he soon moved onto life sized stencils of people and is one on the most influential graffiti artists of all time.

1980s - graffiti spreads to the 4 corners of the world where new styles are developed.

1990s - The obey campaign starts with Shepard Fairey creating stickers and posters of wrestler André the giant and is soon all over the country and eventually the world for people to stick up it becomes so famous it is seen in several films and TV shows.

Bristol 2003-Banksy has his ‘turf war’ show where he paints on cows.

Washington 2004-05 John Tsombikos starts the ‘BORF’ campaign a tribute to a dead friend, at his court appearance he turns up in paint-splattered clothes.

Art

I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said "that's a clever anagram of art" and I had to pretend I'd known that all along.

This is a blog dedicated to graffiti from around the world. Its accompanied by pictures, videos and clever quotes.

Banksy's Manifesto

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me. - Emo Philips