freebutterfly

Windows Phone 7 interface shots

Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

dodane: 2010-09-01 11:44:15 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-09-01 23:13:58

Xtina`s New Album, Get It For Free Overseas!

This is pretty embarrassing,Xtina!

Looks like Sony Korea currently has a deal going on, where for the equivalent of $50 USD you can get a Sony MP3 player, along with other accessories including headphones, and Xtina`s new album, which is listed last on the bottom right corner of the case.

Can`t imagine it feels too good to be an afterthought for Sony Korea, but at least her album is getting SOME sort of exposure.

Would U get Xtina`s new album if it came with a brand new MP3 player and headphones?

It`s been a long road, hasn`t it? Well, in some respects, it hasn`t -- in fact, it`s only been about two years since development of Windows Phone 7 as we know it today kicked off -- but when you consider that this product will be replacing Windows Mobile 6.5, that puts things in proper perspective. In fact, even the very latest maintenance releases of good ol` WinMo are based on the same rickety underpinnings as version 5.0 was way back in 2005, at a time when WVGA smartphone displays were science fiction, 4G networks were a good two Gs beyond the average American`s comprehension, and Engadget looked like this. Nowadays, it`s a very different game; eight year-olds have access to mobile email, your phone understands German, and "Yelp" is a verb (okay, actually Yelp is a verb). Indeed, mobile devices are the new PCs -- and companies like Apple and Google are dominating an industry that had once been practically handed to Microsoft on a silver platter. No one -- either inside or outside of Redmond -- is arguing that change isn`t desperately (and quickly) needed, because it simply isn`t enough to dominate the desktop anymore.

In light of all that, you could call Windows Phone 7 a desperation move to become relevant in the pocket again. Call it whatever you like, but regardless, brand loyalty isn`t going to save this product -- it simply has to be good to sell. Scratch that; it actually has to be nearly flawless in a world where iOS 4 and Gingerbread play. Microsoft still has a few months before it intends to get the first volley of Windows Phone 7-based products to the marketplace, but we`ve recently been provided with reference hardware -- a not-for-retail Samsung called "Taylor" that`s closely modeled on the Symbian-based i8910HD -- to get a feel for where they`re at as the clock ticks down. Is this shaping up to be a killer platform for the next generation of high-end smartphones? And more importantly, can it win customers? Read on for our first take.

Windows Phone 7 preview

Overall look and feel

What you`ve likely already seen of the Windows Phone 7 user interface hasn`t changed dramatically in the months since the announcement of the OS, but it has been majorly tightened up and tweaked.

As before the "Metro" UI is in full effect here, meaning lots of very 2D, stark blocks of color and text. Actually, 2D isn`t quite right -- the interface utilizes a lot of layers within a single page, so when you`re swiping through menus you get a kind of parallax scrolling effect reminiscent of 16 bit side-scrollers (think Castlevania for the SNES). It actually works really well here, giving a sense of depth and detail but not detracting from the content Microsoft is putting up front. Of course, the controversial cut-off text is still present, and while we happen to like the way it looks, it`s definitely an acquired taste, and there are times when it just doesn`t work, like in the Office hub where PowerPoint looks like it reads "PowerPoir."

We were extremely surprised and impressed by the software`s touch responsiveness and speed. In fact, this is probably the most accurate and nuanced touch response this side of iOS4. It`s kind of stunning how much work Microsoft has done on the user experience since we first saw this interface -- everything now comes off as a tight, cohesive whole. It really put one of our major fears about Windows Phone 7 to rest. We haven`t seen any substantial lag while using the device, and the short transitions between applications or pages are well suited to the overall experience.

Getting around the OS really comes down to three main sections: the homepage "tiles," (a list of glanceable information, updates, and favorite apps or people), the application list (an alphabetical list of all your applications), and the "hub" pages (really a kind of in between point that`s sandwiched between a full on app and a menu). We found the overall navigation of the UI to be really quite intuitive, despite the fact that a good number of options and in-app menus are accessible only through a long press... something you`re not really made aware of in most cases. The long press becomes a bit like the skeleton key of the OS -- you just have to try it and see what kind of functionality it unlocks. Once you get into the habit of holding down on items instead of wildly searching for the next screen or tile, it makes a lot of sense, but it does take some getting used to.

Windows Phone 7 relies on a drop down, Android-like window shade to show when you`ve got a new SMS message, so Microsoft is already besting Apple there, and if you`re playing music in the background, you`re able to bring up your controls by tapping one of the volume buttons. Weirdly, that same area up top is used to show your signal, battery, and WiFi status, but it only drops down if you touch or swipe the upper part of the screen. And in some apps (like pictures) it doesn`t appear at all. We`re not sure why Microsoft doesn`t want to make that info consistent, but it seems like wasted effort to have to call it up manually. Oh, and guys, please add a percentage meter to that battery icon.

Other flourishes in the UI come in the form of subtle animations when something is loading or syncing -- a series of tiny dots that appear and coalesce in the upper portion of the screen. A small touch, but it`s nice to know the phone is thinking or working. Otherwise, the UI mostly gets out of your way -- is most apps there aren`t a plethora of controls or options immediately visible. Just you and your content... and it actually really works here.

There are two big omissions here, in our opinion. The device won`t support copy and paste, and won`t support third-party multitasking of apps. We knew this would be the case given what we heard at MIX10, but it doesn`t stink any less now. The former really doesn`t make any sense to us, especially since Microsoft did a good job of nailing text editing and selection (at least in Word, and really... you guys make Word), and it looks like it would only be a short walk to a contextual pop-over for copy and paste functions. The latter is practically inexcusable in this day and age -- even Apple (which has been a complete laggard in this area) now supports basic multitasking. When we heard in our meeting with Microsoft that the phone wouldn`t even support something as simple as Pandora background streaming, our minds were a little blown. It`s doubly irritating given the fact that just like in iPhone 1.0, the first-party apps are free to background all they want (mail loads, the browser pulls down pages, music plays in the background, etc.), so there isn`t any technical reason why they couldn`t extend some of this functionality to other applications. We`re hoping that by some magical twist of fate these two items get addressed before launch... but we`re not holding our breath.

Still, those issues aside, Windows Phone 7 is easily the most unique UI in the smartphone race right now, and the real perk here is that it doesn`t just seem like an arbitrary decision to make things look different than other OSs -- there is real purpose and utility to a lot of what Microsoft has come up with.

Keyboard

Let`s just put this up front: the keyboard in Windows Phone 7 is really, really good. We`re talking nearly as good as the iPhone keyboard, and definitely better than the stock Android option. It`s one of the best and most accurate virtual keyboards we`ve used on any platform -- and that`s saying a lot. The phone we had to test with is actually rather narrow despite its screen size (3.7-inches) and resolution (the Windows Phone 7 standard 480 x 800). So while typing was sometimes a little cramped horizontally, it was never a chore.

The WP7 keyboard is as simple and clean as the rest of the OS, showcasing little more than rows of monochromatic keys (white on black or black on white depending on your app), which pop-up a letter above them when depressed. Hold on a key and you get additional options for accents, just as you`d expect. The general layout offers a familiar placement of the shift, return, and number / punctuation keys, but adds an emoticon button as well. Frankly, we could have done with a little more room down there in its place. Still, Microsoft has made some smart decisions here, such as always having the comma and period keys present, double taps for periods, and our personal favorite, mimicking the iPhone`s behavior of pressing on the punctuation key and being able to slide your finger to your desired character instead of requiring three presses.

We were surprised at how refined the keyboard is -- when we saw it at MWC and MIX10, things were still quite stuttery and uneven. Those days are certainly gone, and we think Microsoft got this aspect of the phone`s UI pitch perfect.

Contact management and social networking

Windows Phone 7 doesn`t have "contacts," per se -- it has a People app, and there`s quite a difference. This is a thoroughly social platform, and it doesn`t really seek to make any sort of differentiation between people you talk to / text / email, those you just casually observe, and those with whom you`re "friends" in name only. If that kind of philosophy reeks of Motorola Blur or Palm Synergy, you`re on the right track; as soon as you add a Windows Live, Exchange, or Facebook account, it pulls in every contact associated with that account and disperses associated content throughout your entire phone -- there`s nothing you can do about it. That means, for example, that your Pictures app could have a bunch of shots of your ex`s aunt`s new boyfriend`s dog in it (more on that in a bit), and there`s not a whole lot you can do to stop that behavior without completely removing your Facebook account from the phone.

With Exchange, this strategy is probably fine in most cases -- contact sync is one of the main reasons you use Exchange ActiveSync, really -- but seriously, Facebook is another matter altogether. If you`ve got a lot of Facebook friends, this renders your People app all but useless as a traditional phone contact list. So, say you`re looking for someone`s phone number: if you`re a normal human being with maybe a couple hundred or fewer actual contacts, you`re used to just flicking through your contact list to get to whomever you need. With Windows Phone 7, though, Facebook has puked all over that list, so Microsoft instead recommends you search for what you`re looking for (matching names filter as you type), pin extremely frequent contacts as tiles on your home screen, or make use of People`s Recent list, which auto-populates with contacts that you`ve recently used.

We think the solution is pretty simple: Facebook just needs to be sandboxed a little bit more. Optimally, Microsoft would go with the Android philosophy, which allows the user to choose whether to import all their Facebook contacts to their contact list, sync the information for contacts that are already in the local list, or not to sync at all; meanwhile, you`ve got an actual Facebook app you can go check out if you want to see your full list of friends. Currently, Windows Phone 7 has no dedicated Facebook app, so that`s part of the problem -- your Facebook friends simply have no place to live other than your primary contact list. Alternatively, they could do what Blur does and import everything but at least still give you the option of filtering by contact type so you don`t need to see the Facebook noise.

What`s strangest about all of this, though, is that as socially-aware as Windows Phone 7 seeks to be, there`s not a lick of Twitter integration to be found. For some, Twitter is every bit as important as Facebook -- if not more so -- and it seems like a glaring omission (MySpace isn`t there either, but we`re far more willing to forgive them for that). All of the UI infrastructure is there to make Twitter an easy addition, because the People app lets you see a stream of status updates from your social networks and tapping on an individual contact gives you access to a stream of their updates alone; plus, the phone comes equipped with a "Me" tile on the home screen that you can tap to update the networks of your choosing (just Windows Live and Facebook for now). Twitter is the perfect fit, they`ve just got to make it happen.

Email and messaging

As with most smartphones these days, email setup in Windows Phone 7 is relatively automated and painless, and there are plenty of options to go with most people`s leanings. When you initially boot the phone, you`re asked to provide a Windows Live ID, though it`s not necessary to use one. On the email setup screen, you`re provided with self-configuring options for the aforementioned Live, Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, and Gmail. You also get options for manual setup of POP or IMAP accounts. As heavy Gmail users, the option was obvious for us, and you`ll be happy to know that Microsoft provides full (well, almost full) EAS support for Google accounts. After a little bump in the road caused by our hosted account not having its mobile sync options switched on (a problem on our side), we were off and running. Contacts and calendars came along for the ride, though we noted a problem right off the bat with calendar sync -- only our primary Google calendar was syncing, apparently a limitation which Microsoft says they`re working on. The plan is for full EAS calendar syncing, but the company doesn`t know if they`ll have it in time for launch.

You`re provided with a number of sync frequency options, including push, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, hourly, and manual updating. Push seemed to work relatively smoothly, though we can`t comment on battery drain because this version of the OS and demo hardware aren`t optimized yet.

The email app on the phone is pretty terrific on the whole, providing a clean, clear layout and upfront options for your most-used functions. In the standard inbox view you get your emails with one line of a message preview, and you can swipe right or left for sorting options by unread, flagged, or urgent (on top of the standard folder view). We found the inclusion of the unread view especially helpful when triaging our inbox. What wasn`t helpful, however was the lack of threaded messaging. We pretty much expect everyone to have this figured out by now, but somehow Apple slept on it, Palm hasn`t stepped up to the plate, and now Microsoft is leaving us high and dry. We pressed the company on whether or not it would be included, and the word was that it was planned for, but there was no telling if it would be happening by launch (our takeaway was pretty much that it wouldn`t make the cut). On the bright side, multiple message management is executed here better than most mobile email apps we`ve used, requiring only that you tap to the far left of a message to engage your checkboxes. It definitely sped up the process of killing or moving mail. Also nice was the fact that in a standard message view, when you delete an email you`re kicked back to your inbox -- not to the next message. If you`re like us, you don`t want to read an email before you`re good and ready. Along the bottom of the display you have icons for creating a new message, viewing folders (that mysteriously doesn`t display all folder by default), multi-message editing (which seems superfluous), and refresh.

Tapping the search button while in mail gets you to a pretty powerful search which parses subjects, message content, senders, and receivers all at once. It made it astoundingly easy to find what we were looking for with almost no hesitation. Unfortunately, it only searches messages downloaded onto the device, so if you`re looking for that long lost password, you`re out of luck here. Additionally, you can tell the app to sync individual folders, but it doesn`t seem to peer into those during searches anyhow.

Another thing to note -- there`s no combined inbox here. In fact, when you create a new mail account, it places what amounts to a separate app for that inbox into your application list. Likewise, to access it from the homescreen you need to pin that separate app to the front page. We would like to see an option to have multiple items inside of one tile (not dissimilar from the iPhone`s new folders) where you could bundle things like your mail accounts into one place. Of course, it would be preferable just to have a combined inbox.

Overall, the mail experience is solid, but not best in class. There`s a lot here that is laudable (like the sheer snappiness of it), but there`s also a fair amount that`s missing. We`d really like to see Microsoft strive for threaded messaging, joined inboxes, and an improved server-side search by the time this hits the market, but we`re guessing that`s asking a lot.

SMS

The SMS / MMS app in Windows Phone 7 is fairly barebones, but it definitely gets the job done, and looks pretty good while doing it. Microsoft has adopted the all-too-familiar speech balloon motif for this view, and while we can`t gripe too hard about that, we wish the company would differentiate sender and receiver by color (even lighter and darker shades of the same color). We found that with the same color used for both incoming and outgoing messages, conversations could get a little confusing.

Creating and sending messages is fairly straightforward, and MMS (at least photos) display inline, but can be saved to your phone as well. Long pressing on individual messages gives you the option to delete or forward them, while in the list view of all your conversations, a long press gets you the option to delete the whole thread. There`s not much to it, but it works as advertised. We did run into a few problems, however. One of our test units had a persistent display issues which caused lots of text to overlap, while our other unit started taking ages to go back from a conversation view to the list of conversations. We know this is still unfinished software, but this feels like something that should be already squared away.

Browser

For as much crap as Internet Explorer gets (less, admittedly, now that the debacle of IE6 is finally starting to fade), we`ve got to say that web browsing on Windows Phone 7 is actually a really pleasant experience. Our understanding is that it`s essentially using desktop-class code, bits and pieces of Internet Explorer 7 and 8 tossed together and massaged into something that`ll look (and work) better on a smaller display with less horsepower.

Loading the desktop version of Engadget was just a hair slower than an iPhone 4, and just as importantly, rendering new parts of the page as you scroll is plenty fast -- not instantaneous, but fast enough so that you never find yourself consciously waiting for it to catch up. Zooming -- which is accomplished with a pinch gesture, of course -- is buttery smooth. The phone accomplishes this in the same way you`re probably used to from other devices: when you first zoom in, it uses the same render resolution so that it can at least show you something without going blank, then it renders the appropriate level of detail as it catches up (Google Maps works the same way on almost every platform). It works well. Zooming out to see as much of the page as possible isn`t quite as pretty; in its current incarnation, the browser seems to be using a pretty awful scaling algorithm, and small text looks like a jumble of jaggy, meaningless blocks without a hint of anti-aliasing. We`ll admit, it makes browsing just a little less fun, even though you can`t really read anything at those zoom levels regardless.

There isn`t a lot of bonus functionality, but we appreciated the "pin to start" option that lets you turn a page into a home screen tile, complete with a miniaturized view of the site (of course, there are standard bookmarks available as well). Tabs are also supported; on our test device, they were limited to a maximum of six, which we would assume will be true of all Windows Phone 7 devices -- but let`s be honest, you probably don`t need more than six open tabs at a time on your phone, and if you do, you should be in front of a laptop anyway. The tabs all continue to load independently regardless of whether they`re active or not, which is nice, and doesn`t seem to have much of a negative impact on overall browser performance.

Neither Flash nor Silverlight are currently supported on pages, and as anyone with an iPhone can attest, that`s generally not a problem (though we`d be curious to see what kind of performance they could achieve). Of course, the real kicker is that you don`t get HTML5 video support either, which makes the browser situation somewhat painful. There`s not even a YouTube app on the phone! Microsoft -- you`ve got to step it up on the video front if you want to play this game.

One other thing that did concern us was that a number of sites that detect our iPhone and Android devices to show mobile sites don`t detect Windows Phone 7 properly -- a key example being Gmail, which shows you a nasty WAP-compatible site designed as the least common denominator for data-capable dumbphones -- but we imagine this will be a quick fix for most publishers if the platform gets enough traction to justify making mobile IE-compatible versions.

Zune

If you know the Zune HD, then there won`t be many surprises here (except, of course, this is a real Zune experience on a phone you might actually want to own). The Zune integration is rather seamless on Windows Phone 7, allowing you to browse and play what you have in your library, sync music and video back and forth to your PC, and if you have a Zune Pass subscription, you can grab whatever you like (well, almost) right on the phone without hesitation. In general, we like the combo here, but there were times when the Zune interface was a bit confusing. Sometimes it was hard to know what section of the player you`re in -- the line between previewing and listening is very fine here. In fact, you can listen to a preview clip while doing other things on the phone (one of the places you see Microsoft`s first-party only multitasking). It doesn`t make a huge amount of sense to us -- previews should likely quit when you leave app. Other times, because Zune Pass lets you sample the entire song, you can be streaming a full length preview, which gives you the impression of listening to a piece of music you "own" (or at least have downloaded) when that isn`t the case. We also take issue with the lack of a proper jog control to skip into tracks -- holding down the fast forward or rewind button is inconsistent and seems a bit clunky to us.

That said, we love having almost limitless access to new music on a phone, and the Zune Pass subscription certainly adds that capability, though you`re adding another $14.95 on top of your existing phone bill if you decide to go that route. Ultimately it`s a question of how voracious of a music buyer you are -- but something tells us we`re going to see a marked increase in Pass users when these phones hit the market.

One other important aspect to note about Zune and Windows Phone 7 is that the desktop software and these devices are now extremely interconnected. Not only do you use the Zune software to sync your music and videos, but you`ll be able to buy apps from the marketplace on your computer, you can sync photos in the Zune application, and your general account and device management is handled through the app now. It`s pretty much a similar arrangement to that of the iPhone and iTunes, and we can`t really complain about Microsoft taking that page out of Apple`s playbook. Microsoft has always been good about syncing, but this makes the process slightly less obtuse than its ActiveSync options from the Windows Mobile heyday.

Camera and photo management

We`d heard before that one of Microsoft`s big goals for Windows Phone 7 devices was stellar camera performance -- not just in terms of picture size and quality, but speed, too. After all, if your camera app takes too long to load or you`re waiting for five seconds between shots, the phone`s utility as an easy way to capture impromptu moments the same way a point-and-shoot can is significantly diminished. Fortunately, it seems like they`re making good on the promise so far -- on the Taylor, we were regularly clocking about four seconds from camera button press to the first shot, and around two seconds between shots. We didn`t evaluate the pictures or video for quality since we`re dealing with hardware that`ll never be released, but needless to say, Windows Phone 7`s minimum specs should ensure that you`re getting at least moderately decent shots no matter what device you choose.

Once you take a shot, something pretty cool happens: it advances to the left, almost as though you`re looking at an actual roll of film, and you can see a dimmed sliver of the shot you just took on the left side of your viewfinder. You can then swipe to the right to see shots you`ve taken in the past, starting with the most recent, and returning to viewfinder (camera mode, as it were) is as simple as swiping all the way to the left again. It`s a neat user experience that we suspect novice users will pick up on very quickly. The available camera options and modes can be extended by phone manufacturers, but the default list is pretty impressive and includes configurable white balance, image effects (grayscale, sepia, and the like), saturation, ISO, exposure, and even metering mode -- and most of these options are still available even when capturing video. Naturally, you can also set the flash to fire automatically, always, or never.

Once you`ve taken your shots, the phone can be configured to automatically upload them to your Windows Live SkyDrive account in the background with your choice of privacy level (private, friends only, or public). You can also zip pictures over to your Facebook account using a menu item in the Pictures app, but interestingly, you have to choose between "upload to SkyDrive" and "upload to Facebook" menu items in the app`s settings -- you can`t have both. Menus can scroll, so why not?

Speaking of the Pictures app, this is your one-stop shop for imagery on the phone -- both your shots (locally and from supported online services) and those of your friends show up here. You`ll come here to view and send pictures, change your lock screen wallpaper, and -- because this hub is extensible -- use any third-party services that developers have plugged into it. In a way, it`s kind of the prototypical Windows Phone 7 app "hub" in that it cycles through your own pictures for its background and has some cool time-dependent features; for instance, it adds a "moments" page that summarizes pictures on the phone that were taken in the current month. It`s all very pretty, though we wish there was a way to configure the background image [turns out you can change it by long-pressing on the hub`s title! -Ed.] -- and as we mentioned before with the People app, the "what`s new" page tends to get cluttered with countless updates from Facebook friends you barely know. Instead, we`d love a way to be able to select an inner circle of contacts from whom we wanted to see a photo stream here.

Marketplace

Microsoft has already started handing out prototype Windows Phone 7 devices (the same ones we`re reviewing here, actually) to developers, and it`s going to continue to do so in liberal quantities as it gets closer to launch -- oh, and the side of the box says "developers. Developers! DEVELOPERS!!" on it. So yeah, you might say that Redmond understands full well how important third-party apps are going to be to the success (or failure) of this platform. Those will end up being exposed through the Marketplace hub, which as you might expect, is a thoroughly different experience than the one you might be used to on Windows Mobile 6.5. Instead, you get something more akin to what Apple and Google are offering -- with a few twists.

The first thing you notice when you open the Marketplace is that you`ve got music as an available category, whereas iOS breaks it out into a separate iTunes app and Android leaves that to third-party providers like Amazon. It`s not quite as integrated as you think, though -- tapping on music just bounces you out to the Zune Marketplace, which is fine since you wouldn`t want two disjoint places to purchase tracks anyway. Likewise, hitting the games category sends you over to the Xbox Marketplace, which sadly isn`t live yet and wasn`t available to test. Swiping to the left takes you to the Featured page of the Marketplace, which interestingly mixes up both music and applications into a single view -- kind of a neat way to keep people interested in everything Microsoft has to sell without trying to send users` attentions to two (or more) completely unrelated places.

That leaves us to the final category: apps. Though there`s just a light smattering of Microsoft-built demo apps available in the Marketplace at this point, it was enough for us to get an idea of the purchase process. Tapping on it takes you into a separate marketplace hub that, by swiping around, gives you the typical views you`d expect: newest, most popular, and featured. You can also search by pressing the phone`s hardware search button; on the plus side, it searches across all of Microsoft`s marketplaces so you get apps, games, and music in your results, and that`s kind of cool. On the downside, though, it appears as though there`s no search suggestion functionality as you type.

If you`re just browsing, you can delve into the whole list or narrow it down by category; presently they`ve got Tools, Lifestyle, News & Weather, and Business Center, though we wouldn`t be surprised to see this list grow by launch day. Once you`ve selected a category, the list view is interesting -- it shows you the typical icon, app name, and rating on a five-star scale, but it also shows you a short description of the app directly below the name. Goodness knows not every app has the most descriptive title, so we imagine this feature`s going to come in handy fairly frequently. Tapping on an app takes you to its information page, which is pretty much what you`d expect: you`ve got the price up top (everything appears to be free so far), a full description, screen shots, reviews, version number, supported languages, and a list of phone services that the app needs access to, similar to what you find on Android. The screen shots you see on this page are hilariously small, so you need to tap `em to get an idea of what`s going on -- not a big deal, though this would be a pretty easy one to solve by showing two or three thumbnails at a time rather than four.

Once you`ve decided to buy, the entire process happens in the background -- just as it should -- and after a few moments, you`ll find the app has been added to your applications list. We`d like some sort of unobtrusive notification when the app`s installed, though, because as it stands now, it seems to be a guessing game -- you just have to keep checking until it shows up. Microsoft`s sample apps are quite small, but with bigger items that third parties will undoubtedly be developing, this could become more of an annoyance.

Office

Tight Office integration, complete with an awesome on-phone document and viewing experience, stands to be one of the biggest differentiators for Windows Phone 7 -- a feature that could almost singlehandedly make these devices impossible to ignore for serious business users regardless of their seemingly consumer-centric slant.

Instead, we came away feeling that Microsoft may have spent too much effort focusing on the collaborative side of Office and not enough time on the actual document editors themselves. Though Word seems to do a decent job rendering pages onto the small display, the editing capabilities are weak at best -- you can`t change fonts, for example, and you can only choose from four font colors: orange, green, red, and black. Though there`s a spell-checker (you`ll recognize the familiar red squiggly lines), there`s no copy / paste capability -- and in an app like this, it`s hard to imagine being too productive without any sort of clipboard whatsoever. Excel seems similarly gimped, though it`s got a pretty solid set of built-in functions; we don`t know what percentage of the full app`s functions are supported, but it`s a long list.

PowerPoint documents, meanwhile, can`t be created on the phone at all. And really, that`s totally fine -- if you`re creating your presentation that you have to give in half an hour on your phone during your train ride into the city, you`ve probably already blown it. The important thing with PowerPoint is probably the slide show capability -- especially for retail devices that have TV-out -- and in that regard, it seems to do just fine (cheesy transitions and all).

We mentioned collaboration -- indeed, Windows Phone 7 supports SharePoint servers, which`ll undoubtedly come in handy for some business users. There`s also OneNote, which in many ways is simply Word by another name; Microsoft gears it toward freeform note-taking by making it easy to attach pictures and voice recordings, but really, you should be able to do this from Word just as easily (spoiler: you can`t). You can configure it to automatically synchronize to your Windows Live SkyDrive account any time you make a change, which basically means your up-to-date notes are accessible from any computer with an internet connection -- you know, that whole "cloud" thing. Magic!

Xbox Live

As we stated above, there really isn`t much in the way of Xbox integration on the device right now. You can add your Live account and you get your avatar into the phone... and that`s about the extent of it. We`re hoping that before long Microsoft shows off just what these devices will be capable of. We were told by Joe Belfiore during a meeting that there would be two kinds of games on Windows Phone 7 devices -- turn based, "app" games, and Xbox Live content which would be full-on arcade experiences. We`re dying to get our hands on something more than just a brief demo of The Harvest, but that`s not possible yet.

Maps

Though it`s not quite as full-featured as the latest renditions of Google Maps on Android have been, Microsoft`s Bing Maps implementation on Windows Phone 7 is pretty great -- they`ve done a fantastic job of blending the experience of using a mapping app into their so-called Metro design language. You`ve got access to satellite imagery and real-time traffic information; location fixes happen quickly, though we found that they tended to be a little less accurate than Google`s when indoors and out of GPS reception. Pinch-to-zoom is smooth and fast, and we liked the almost ethereal appearance of the map tiles as they loaded after panning or zooming in -- it`s hard to describe, but it`s a pretty neat (though admittedly unnecessary) effect. Likewise, we liked the zoom-out, zoom-back-in effect when locating your position on the map while a different area is being displayed, which gives you a better idea of your relative position than the iPhone`s rapid scroll.

Since this is straight-up Bing Maps on the back end, you can expect the same database of locations here that you get when you search for stuff from your computer. On the phone, you can search either by text or voice (more on this later), which will call up pushpins for matches near your map view. As you`d expect, tapping a pin brings up the name of the result; a second tap calls up a page of information where you can find a phone number, URL, average rating, and even hours if they`re available -- this is extremely handy for restaurants since it can save you an awkward trip to the business` inevitably non-mobile-friendly website. Swiping around calls up a screen with nearby points of interest, and another screen with individual reviews; Microsoft is aggregating several sites for these, and we regularly found entries from both Citysearch and JudysBook. No Yelp, it seems.

Our favorite part of Maps, though, has to be the directions list when navigating to a destination. It`s no voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, of course, but the app has a cool split-screen mode that shows the list at the bottom and the map corresponding to the currently-selected list item at the top. As you swipe through the list and highlight different items, the map moves around -- in other words, you can quickly see where (and how) you need to turn. Both pedestrian and car modes are available, but no mass transit, which -- when you`re living in a big city, anyhow -- is a feature we`d definitely miss coming from Google Maps.

Search

Like Maps, Windows Phone 7`s search capabilities are naturally powered by Bing. Microsoft has done a neat job translating Bing`s well-known home page layout to the small screen, complete with gorgeous rotating imagery and hotspots that reveal factoids when you tap them. There`s a mic to the right side of the text box that lets you conduct a voice search, and while we wouldn`t bother trying to find anything with an odd name this way, common mobile searches (think "burritos") worked really well. Once you run your search, you get not just web hits, but also news (burritos come up in the news more often than you may think) and local results -- basically a tie-in to Bing Maps that uses your location to find stuff nearby.

Though it`s a great search app at its core, the details of the implementation fail on two levels. First, accessing it is somewhat arbitrary -- you can get to it by pressing the phone`s hardware search button, but not always. Apps can override that key`s functionality (People, Maps, and Marketplace all do this, just to name a few), but if they don`t, you fall through to Bing -- so there are times when you really have no idea what`s going to happen when you press that button. Secondly, the Bing app isn`t a universal search, and that`s a huge misstep in an age when smartphone users can easily have fifty or more apps and thousands contacts and tracks of music installed.

Wrap-up

What we`ve been presented with here doesn`t exactly feel like a complete mobile operating system in many ways. Some parts of Windows Phone 7 are more like a wireframe -- an interesting design study, an example of what a next-gen phone platform could be. That`s both good and bad. On one side, we`re still really excited by the prospect of Metro as a viable, clean-slate approach to the mobile user experience, and there are lots of smart moves being made that could lead to greatness. On the other side, Microsoft has to turn this into a viable retail product that can hang with the fiercest competition in the history of the cellphone in just a few months` time, and there are some serious issues that need to be addressed. Frankly, it`s a little scary.

By any measure, Microsoft`s got its back against the wall in the mobile game, and becoming competitive quickly is vital to the company`s success -- and in that regard, we understand why they`ve been so adamant about getting Windows Phone 7 on shelves in time for Holiday 2010. The thing is, putting out a product that`s half-baked risks alienating early adopters at the worst possible time, especially considering that we see a clear-cut (and pretty painless) path to fixing the most egregious shortcomings. Seriously, if the WP7 team put their heads down and added a clipboard and some rudimentary multitasking, Microsoft could have an exceptionally solid version-one product in Windows Phone 7 -- especially when coupled with the company`s fierce outreach to developers.

Of course, that`s a big "if" -- the clock is ticking on Windows Phone 7, and the industry has already proven that it won`t wait around for companies to play catch-up. It`s not about lapping the competition at this point, it`s about just being in the race -- and if Microsoft doesn`t know that by now, it may already be too late.

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Testing the Goods

dodane: 2010-09-01 11:29:10 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-09-01 11:29:10

Testing the Goods: iPhone 4, or Apple`s Icarus Moment

The iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market, but a potentially serious flaw could be indicative of bigger problems

iPhone 4 John Mahoney

A long, long time ago, Icarus and his father Daedalus did something pretty incredible: they constructed wings out of wax and feathers and flew. Apple too has achieved remarkable greatness--after proving themselves consistently capable of pushing mobile gadgets further than anyone else, here lands the iPhone 4, the best smartphone ever made. Onwards and upwards, to the sun.

But what`s that faint honey smell? And the feathers slowly peeling off, drifting lazily back down to Earth on the wind? There are problems. The wax is starting to melt.

As everyone who`s been following the story is well aware, the iPhone 4 has a design flaw. Its innovative structural antenna--the stainless steel rim of the phone--can be easily shorted out by placing a finger over the small black seam on the lower left hand side.

iPhone 4`s antenna seam:

All phones are subject to signal loss if you cup the whole thing in your hands, or cover the antenna just so. But after thorough testing, Consumer Reports this week found that signal strength can drop as much as 20 decibels when the seam is lightly touched (completing the circuit between the two antenna pieces), which is far more attenuation than normal. Enough to slow down data transmission and drop a call--especially if your signal isn`t great to begin with.

Apple has completely botched their public damage control of the issue. Steve Jobs himself has been a source of mixed (and often condescending) signals in his increasingly bizarre email responses to users` individual queries. First, "there is no reception issue", then we`re all simply holding the phone wrong or not using a case. And to make matters worse, Apple then issued a surreal press release promising that a software update to recalibrate the signal strength display would completely fix the problem. All of which seems highly unlikely in light of Consumer Reports` and others` testing, all indicating a hardware issue. (The release also indirectly acknowledges that Apple has been cooking the books since the very beginning with displayed vs. real signal strength).

That makes the prospect of buying an iPhone 4--which in all other respects is an astonishingly excellent phone--a bit more complicated. I`ve been using one as my primary phone for a week and a half (after a delay in receiving a review unit, we purchased one from an Apple store, which due to high demand took about a week in New York City), and here are some of my thoughts. If you`re still on the fence on whether or not to get an iPhone 4, hopefully they`ll help.

What`s New

The iPhone 4 packs in the highest-resolution display ever on a mobile phone at 960 x 640 pixels, with a pixels-per-inch density of 326. That`s high enough to render individual pixels completely invisible to the human eye--as long as the graphics being displayed are themselves at a high enough resolution. It`s also the first phone to have an on-board gyroscope for more accurate orientation sensing.

New for iPhones, but not necessarily other phones: the main camera has been upgraded to five megapixels, with an added LED flash and 720p high-def video capture, and a front-mounted VGA camera enables you to have video chats with other iPhone 4s connected to Wi-Fi via Apple`s new FaceTime protocol, take pics of yourself, or use your phone as a mirror. A fast Apple-made A4 processor (the same one in the iPad) ensures iOS 4`s multitasking apps run at a decent clip. And the industrial design has been completely redone, with a flat panel of glass now covering the front and the back of the phone.

What`s Good

So much. The first thing that strikes you is, of course, the "Retina" display. The moment you realize that everything on-screen looks not like a digital image, but a piece of back-lit printed acetate, is breathtaking. The colors and contrast are super crispy, and there are no visible pixels, which is incredible. Text is the sharpest I`ve ever seen on an LCD, and reading longer magazine articles in Instapaper or books in iBooks or the Kindle app is now a much more enjoyable experience.

iPhone 4`s glass back: John Mahoney

Next is the design. It`s heavier, smoother and more expensive-feeling. This is good and bad; I have yet to drop it, so I haven`t chanced either glass panel`s well-documented propensity to shatter. But in the first few days, I was hyper-conscious of holding something that seemed fragile.

At the same time, the shape and materials are far more satisfying aesthetically than the 3G/3GS`s more rounded, plastic shell. When I have the phone out, I find myself unconsciously flipping it around in my hand or running my fingers around its smooth, cool surfaces--I want to always be touching it, basically. A well-designed object will do that. I felt the same way with the more contoured aluminum of the original iPhone, but not the 3GS I replaced it with--I never really got into the bulgey plastic back. Then again, over the course of two years, I dented my original iPhone to all hell, dropping it several times with no shattering; I can`t imagine the iPhone 4 being as durable, which is the unfortunate downside of Apple designer Jonathan Ive`s aesthetic choices here.

The camera. I always try to keep a good camera on hand, and prior to this week, my phone`s camera didn`t really qualify. Now it does. The iPhone 4 camera is fast, renders colors appealingly, has solid tap-to-focus macro performance (often with nice depth of field variation blurring out the background) and performs decently in low-light.

The speed. I`ve found that the iOS 4 update runs nice and smooth on the 3GS, but friends with older 3G models have reported the upgrade is intolerably slow. On the iPhone 4, though, performance is fantastic, which is absolutely essential to a good experience with a full touch interface.

What`s Bad

The design. Even though I`m not babying it as much as I did in those first few days, this phone is not durable, which means that by most criteria, it is poorly designed. I see no reason why the back could not be made of high-gloss black plastic, or even a matte surface of some kind. Ive is passionate about materials, and I don`t believe for a second that he couldn`t come up with several non-glass alternatives that wouldn`t shatter on impact and still preserve the same elegant feel.

The added value over the 3GS. Many will replace their current iPhone simply because a year has gone by and it`s time for a new iPhone. This is what we do now. But for a satisfied 3GS owner, the improvements here may not be worth another 2 year commitment to AT&T and $200 or $300 on top of that. The 3GS is still a great phone.

The reception issue. The other side to the reception issue, voiced by Apple spokesmen like Steve Jobs and John Gruber, is that having a vulnerable point that drops your calls and weakens your connection if the phone is held incorrectly is a minor inconvenience. And in truth, after a week of nonstop use, I have not noticed my AT&T service sucking significantly more than it usually does. But that`s the thing--it always sucks, so it`s hard to tell. So if you`re coveting all the pros here and dive in tomorrow, you`ll have a phone that generally works pretty well.

But just now, while holding the phone and looking at its display, I noticed I`d lightly placed my finger over the antenna`s seam and watched my signal go from full bars to two. I`ve taken the phone out of my pocket and found it had no service in there (for how long I don`t know), with strong service immediately recovered in the open air.

There`s nothing worse than getting a ton of voicemails or text messages from people who`ve been trying to reach you while your phone was not in service for God-knows-how-long. The iPhone 4 seems like it might increase the likelihood of that happening, as well as the likelihood of poor(er) network performance while holding the phone naturally in your hand.

The Price

$199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB (with a 2-year AT&T contract).

iPhone 4 bumper`d up: John Mahoney

The Verdict

At the iPhone 4 event in May, Apple for the first time announced their own case. It`s essentially a double-wide rubber band, a "bumper," with strategically placed holes and metal volume button overlays. It costs an absurd $30, and most colors are currently backordered up to 3 weeks on Apple`s site. When they sent our review unit, they included two of them, where before cases were never officially considered essential.

I initially thought this was a backhanded acknowledgement of the glassy phone`s increased fragility, and that constantly shattering phones would be the source of a significant consumer backlash. But in light of the reception problems (and the fact that a non-conductive material placed between your finger and the phone`s antenna seam almost entirely removes any chance of signal loss), it`s not exceedingly crazy to think, at least for a second, that Apple at least knew of and was preparing to deal with this design flaw.

The potential implications of this seemingly innocent introduction of an Apple-branded case says a lot. Rather than acknowledge a problem and delay the phone`s rollout or, more catastrophically (and unlikely), issue a recall--Apple simply pretends that there is no problem, hoping that most users won`t notice. And if they do, that they`ll buy a high-margin bumper for $30.

Apple is starting to lose control, and a lot of it comes down to communication deficiencies. The engineers not communicating with the designers. The customer service and PR folks are not communicating openly and honestly with their customers and the press. It`s evident there is far more internal effort being spent on whether or not to acknowledge a fault, rather than simply fixing the problem.

And lest we forget, we all saw this phone months before its official unveiling and release thanks to Gizmodo, in what will likely remain the biggest gadget scoop of all time. All of these factors equal a palpable shift--Apple is moving from its long-standing position as a counter-culture-embracing underdog to the man himself. Chinks are appearing in the armor.

iPhone 4 from the bottom: John Mahoney

And before we brush this all off as "just a phone, no big deal," stop to think about how Apple basically sneezed and then, boom, took over the music industry. How they`re going after book publishing next. How they`re the only company really to figure out a way to get people to pay for software and media on the Internet. How they`re about to pass Microsoft in market capitalization. How seemingly every kid in every American family, even the ones that are working hard for every discretionary spending dollar, has an iPod.

Right now, Apple`s products are steering the future of computing. They`re doing that because they`re better than everyone else`s. The iPhone 4, even with a fairly egregious hardware antenna fault, provides a mobile computing experience that`s better than any to come before it.

Icarus fell to Earth because he was giddy with newfound power. Intoxicated by it. Apple is following in his footsteps, flying closer to the sun with each groundbreaking release. So the question is less about whether the iPhone 4 is a great phone--it most certainly is. The question is, when will it all come crashing down?

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Quantum Hackers

dodane: 2010-09-01 10:51:49 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-09-01 11:06:25

Quantum Hackers Use Lasers to Crack Powerful Encryption Without Leaving a Trace

Inside a Quantum Cryptography Scheme Vadim Makarov

Quantum cryptography is one of the most secure known means of transmitting data, due to the fact that even if a third party does intercept a quantum signal, that interference changes the encryption key, making the tampering apparent to parties at both ends. But a handful of quantum hackers at Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim recently performed successful hacks of two commercial quantum cryptographic systems -- and they did so without leaving a trace.

Quantum encryption is based on the notion that you cannot take measurements of a quantum system without in some way disturbing it. A sender uses standard values of zeros and ones. That key is encoded into a beam of light using two different quantum states of photons. The receiver has a detector that measures the quantum states of the incoming photons. Anyone who messes with the signal in between will change it in some way, making it apparent to the sender and receiver that someone tampered with the signal.

The quantum hackers got around the rules of quantum physics by simply intercepting the incoming signal and generating a brand new one to send on to the receiver. To do so, they shined a continuous 1-milliwatt laser at the receiver`s detector, blinding it while they intercepted the sender`s signal.

But the trick is in how they blind the receiver`s detector. While blinded, it cannot act as a quantum detector, but it still functions as a classical light detector, reading a "one" if an extra bright pulse of light hits it, quantum properties of the light notwithstanding. So as the interceptor receives the sender`s signal, it pumps an extra bright pulse of light at the receivers` detector every time it reads a "one" in the original signal.

In this way, the receiver still receives the correct signal from the interceptor even though it`s a forged signal. Since it`s a classical signal rather than a quantum one, quantum rules no longer apply and the sender and receiver aren`t made aware of the signal tampering.

The makers of the two quantum cryptographic schemes, Switzerland-based ID Quantique and Boston`s MagiQ Technologies, likely weren`t thrilled to find a hole in their systems but welcomed the news as it will help them to shore up weaknesses in their encryption schemes.

`Quantum Hacker` Lars Lydersen Gets Cracking: Vadim Makarov

If quantum cryptography really gets your photons entangled, a PDF of the Nature Photonics paper published by the quantum hackers is available, or you can check out the hackers` "how we did it" site.

The Five Billionth Device Will Plug Into the Internet Any Day Now

The Internet seems to offer countless chances to win -- "You`re Our Lucky 10,000 Visitor!!! Click Here to Claim Your Free iPod!!!" -- but this month you really could be the lucky winner. According to IMS Research, sometime this month the 5 billionth device will connect to the Internet, and within a decade that number will swell by more than four times.

While that number largely consists of PCs -- there are some 1 billion connected in the world that connect to the Internet regularly -- and mobile devices like smartphones, future growth will be driven by machine-to-machine technologies like smart grid-enabled appliances, e-book readers, public safety systems, traffic and parking control devices, sensor networks, Web-enabled TVs, and automobiles that sync up to the Net. IMS also projects that by 2020 there will be 6 billion cell phones in the world, most of which will have Internet connectivity.

We should note here that we have no idea how IMS is keeping count, but we`re not ones to spoil a perfectly good celebration

Why an iPod Touch With Cameras Would Be a Serial Killer

A new iPod touch with the iPhone 4`s dual cameras—specifically its awesome 5-megapixel shooter—is more than just another iPod touch. It`s a true killer gadget.

"A friend of mine is moving to France for a year. Her contract with Verizon is up for renewal. She`s not a super dweeb, but she was considering getting a decent Android phone—the Incredible, or Droid X—and simply running it on Wi-Fi, using it as her ultra pocketable computer for music, web browsing, Facebook, email and importantly, an internet-connected camera alongside a cheap pay-as-you-go phone for basic service over there. The Verizon salesperson inexplicably told that wouldn`t work at all. I told her it simply wouldn`t be very good. What she needs, really, is an iPod touch with the iPhone 4`s retina display and dual cameras.

Inexplicably, there`s never been a credible iPod touch competitor. The Zune HD doesn`t run apps (the handful it`s got don`t count), so it`s limited in what it can do—it`s simply a very good music player. Android is still a miserable place to be when it comes to media, and on top of that, all of the Android "tablets" have been thoroughly mediocre. There`s nothing out there that`s remotely like the iPod touch. And obviously, there`s a demand for it, since it`s the only iPod whose sales are still growing.

An iPod touch with the iPhone 4`s remarkable-for-a-phone camera would be the gadget that`s effectively a ninja assassin squad against a whole range of other middling gadgets. A 32GB model would be $300, assuming Apple keeps the same pricing scheme as always. (They will.) A FlipHD is bulkier, shoots the same 720p video, and it`s about $150. The average cheapish point-and-shoot is around $150 too, and doesn`t shoot photos that are much better in the hands of a normie. An iPod touch with the iPhone 4`s excellent camera would replace both of them—with some superior capabilities, like easy uploading to Flickr or Facebook—while doing all of the other things an iPod touch is awesome at for a minimal amount of extra scratch.

The camera app is less flexible than a dedicated camera, this is true. There`s no white balance control, or exposure compensation, or other advanced controls you`d find on even middling point-and-shoots. But the people who could replace their point-and-shoot with an iPod touch are the kind of people who didn`t mess with that stuff anyway: They point. They shoot. And excellent imaging apps like Hipstamatic and Pano deliver the kinds of effects and fireworks the average person is looking for in their photos. Even I`ve semi-replaced my S90 with my iPhone 4, for 90 percent of the quick photos I take.

An iPod touch with a camera. It`s a powerful proposition. The fact that it can replace a camera makes it that much more powerful of a gadget, that much more of a threat to everything else—because that means it really can replace everything in a manbag or purse but the phone—iPod, camera, notepad, gaming device, the list goes on. And it`s everything that`s great about the iPhone 4, but without the technological venereal disease that is a two-year AT&T contract. It`s approachable, even to people who aren`t super tech savvy—they can keep their simple, reliable phone on any carrier and use the iPod touch right along with it. That`s a killer gadget. "

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Hot Tech

dodane: 2010-08-30 13:04:12 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-08-30 13:04:12

Hot Tech Coming `Round the Bend

Project Natal

Project Natal

Take control of your video games - and other digital media - without holding a controller at all. Due out this November, Microsoft`s upcoming `Kinect` peripheral for Xbox 360 houses multiple cameras and microphones to sense where you are in the room: use your arms, legs and voice to fight, race, kick and shoot. Some versions of the Xbox 360 console will be bundled with the accessory, as well

Ford MyTouch

Ford MyTouch

Some 2011 Ford vehicles will be equipped with the motor company`s MyTouch system (we`ve also seen it called MyFord Touch), which lets the driver and passengers access a wealth of multimedia stored on the car`s hard drive, access the Internet over WiFi, download apps and RSS feeds, receive turn-by-turn navigation instructions and ask for email to be read aloud

Hybra O.R.B.

Hybra O.R.B.

Winner of the `Best of Innovations` award at the last Consumer Electronics Show, the Hybra O.R.B. resembles a ring worn around your finger -- that vibrates to tell you when a call or text is coming in - plus it shows caller I.D., text messages and meeting reminders on its small e-ink display. When you want to chat, the O.R.B. twists into a Bluetooth headset that fits over your ear.

New Powermats, Chargers

New Powermats, Chargers

One of the most talked-about gadgets of 2009 is getting a makeover this fall. Not only do the new Powermats wirelessly charge up your favourite portable devices -- so you can do away with all those AC plugs -- but instead of requiring a special backing or receiver case for your devices, the new models are simply a Powermat-enabled back doors that replace your smartphone`s one (except for iPhone).

Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo 3DS

Due out some time by next March, the Nintendo 3DS is Nintendo`s next portable game system that can deliver eye-popping 3D graphics -- without the need for special glasses. It can also take 3D photos with its dual-lens camera. The Nintendo 3DS lets you choose how strong the 3D effect is (or turn it off altogether), plus it supports older Nintendo DS game cartridges and has an analog stick to better control the action

Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid PC

Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid PC

While the Apple iPad is certainly cool, it`s not a true PC. But what if you could have it all in one device? The Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid might look like any other 3.8-pound laptop but you can pull off the 1.6-pound touch tablet and take it with you. As an added bonus, the base of the laptop can still be used by connecting it to another display! Expect it by year-end.

Kodak meets Facebook

Kodak meets Facebook

You might not remember to bring your digital photos to the mall on a USB stick on memory card, but if you remember your Facebook password, you`ll be able to log in and print colour photos on the spot at Kodak photo kiosks this summer. Not only can you turn these online memories into glossy 4x6 prints but simple editing tools let you first touch-up the photos, too.

Intel WiDi

Intel WiDi

The TV and PC are becoming one with Intel`s WiDi - or `Wireless Display` technology - that lets you stream high-definition video, photos and other media from select Intel Core-powered PCs to a small Netgear-branded box connected to your television. This product is also ideal for listening to your digital music collection, wirelessly, through your home theatre speakers.

New Skype

New Skype

Why talk with just one friend over a webcam when you can chat with many of them at the same time? The next version of Skype will support up to five windows, each with a different smiling face, perfect for making plans to go out with friends (and to ensure no one is wearing the same thing). According to industry sources, the new Skype video conferencing
service will be free to start, but will require a small fee later in the year

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gangsta

dodane: 2010-08-24 20:01:39 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-08-24 20:01:39

How To Speak Gangsta
but

bein a gangsta aint about the language.

it`s all about the attitude...

CRIP FO` LIFE.......

These words give you an introduction to gangsta lingo.
Remember :D :D, being a gangsta does not just require the look, it needs the talk! :D

Here are some words from gangsta lingo and their corresponding meanings:

T’sup? – It is a contracted version of the phrase, “what’s up”. It is commonly used as a greeting for fellow gangstas. It is also used to ask about someone’s condition. (ex. Hey shawty, t’sup? Heard yo’ doing some whack.)
Harsh – From the word “harsh”, this could be used to describe something that’s out of the ordinary, remarkable or different. (ex. Ya don’t got some cash? Harsh!)
Amigos – While this comes from the Spanish word meaning “friend”, amigos are more commonly used by Latino gangstas, though many others use it as well. (ex. Shawty, here’s mah amigos from tha otha block.)
Hommies – From the word “home”, hommies imply friends, or people you are comfortable with. That means you can actually hang out with your hommies, as your relationship with them is “tight”. (ex. T’sup hommies? Wanna hang out in mah place tonight, crash and have som beer?)
Dawg – From the word “dog”, it also evolved into a word indicating a friend. This became popular from Randy Jackson in American Idol, who commonly punctuates his sentences with the word. (ex. Tha was hot, dawg!)
Dunkno – From the phrase, “don’t know”, you indicate your ignorance about a certain thing. (ex. Wha’, yo askin’ me if yo’ momma’s askin’ bout you? Dunkno!)
Beaking – Just like what a bird does, beaking indicates acting like a bird, similar to cackling, in order to indicate approval. (ex. Yo’ beaking to me? Aaaaw!)
Styll – From the word “style”, styll indicates your attire, your get-up. (ex. Whoa! That’s some styll there!”)
Da hood – From the word, “the neighborhood”, da hood refers to your area or the place where you are from. (ex. Where did he say he came from? Aw, he just came from da hood!)
Whack – This word describes something good, great or unexpected. (ex. Wha’, you gonna have a job? That’s whack!)
Bling bling – The word “bling bling” normally refers to jewelry worm by gangstas. In order for a certain piece of jewelry to become a bling bling, it should be big, chunky, shiny and ostentatious. (ex. Ya got some bling bling there, shawty! That’s whack!)
Diss – The word “diss” refers to saying something not so good about another person, as in you are making fun or ridiculing someone. (ex. Don’t diss him, he’s a dawg from da hood!)
Holla back – From the word “holler back”, this means to answer back or to reply. (ex. You holla back to me later tonight.)
Peep this – From the word “peep”, meaning to look, “peep this” means to check out, or to look at something. (ex. Look at this show shawty. Peep this now!)
My bad – “My bad” means an admission of fault, and an apology. (ex. Was my fault, shawty. My bad.)

"Was Up Man"
>>" Hello my friend "

"Yo G, Dat Rave was PHAT!"
>>"Hello my friend, the party was great!"

"Yo Homey, Dat honey is fly!"
>>"Hello my friend, that girl is good-looking"

" Why You trippin` foo`?"
>>" Why are you acting mad/odd"

" I don`ts gots no love fo` da foo`."
>>" I really don`t care for that person."

“Hey Homey, ur lowrider is cherry.
You gotsda phat chromes anda phat hydros.
Yous da daady mac, foo`!!"
>>"Hello my friend, your car is good(very nice).
You have nice hub caps and the nicest hydralics.
You are a very cool guy, my friend."

"Yo foo`, hook me up wid da phat ride!"
>>"Hello Friend, can you give me a ride?"

" Yo G, lets go cruisin` da scene"
>>"Hello friend, would you like to go driving on the streets(the city)"

" I give yous props for dat phat ride man."
>>" I give you thanks for the good ride my friend."

"Yo BITCH, I needs a Jacksn` a Lincon,
An sum ones. Don`t gots all day, bitch."

>>"Excuse me mam, I need a $20 a $5 and a few ones.
Could you please hurry?"

" Sup G, I jus stole da fresh gangsta CD!!"
>>" Hello my friend, I just got the newest rap CD!!"

" I was chillin` down at da sevn-leven whens da foo`-assed
clerk gets the hand cannon on me!!!"
>>" I was having fun at 7-11 when the stupid clerk tried to shoot
me with a .357 magnum."

" Yo bitch, I didn`t ask for no sprinkles!!"
>>" Excuse me mam, I don`t recall asking for sprinkles."

" Did you getsda cigs foo`? "
>>" Did you steal any cigarettes my friend?"

" Was up wid Dat Foo`"
>>" Why did you just make that offense action!!!"

" Back da Fuck up G"
>>" Watch out!"

" Why you talkin` trash foo`?"
>>" Why are you saying offensive things about me?"

" I got ur back G"
>>" You have my proctection my friend."

"What up now bitch"
>>"Look who is the loser now woman!!"

" AW YEAH! Dis buddha be all dat, homey!
>>" My, my, my, this is some good marijuana."

" I gotsda fotie right here G!!"
>>" I have some liqour right here."

" Lets book da honky pigs a comin`"
>>” We better run from the cops who are coming."

Gangsta Dictionary

AK - AK-47 assault rifle
Bad-ass - a tough person or rebel.
Bang - to be in a street gang
BG - Baby gangster
Bird - Police helicopter
Blood - Member aligned to red
Blount - Marijuana
Buck - To shoot a gun to kill
Bust a cap - To shoot a gun
Busta - Talk shit, can`t back it up
Catch a hot one - To get shot
Chill - To hang out
Chop a lot of game - To talk to girls/chop crack cocaine
Chota / five-0 - Police
Chronic - Marijuana
Colors - gang attire, usually colored to differentiate between gangs
Crack head - someone addicted to crack cocaine
Crew - Gang
Crip - Member aligned to blue
Cuz / Cuzz - Crip,
Dank - Marijuana
Dis - Disrespect
Duece - Duece - .22 caliber hand gun
Faded - Drunk, under the influence
Fetti - Money
Funk - Fighting/wanting trouble
Gaffle - To take/steal without knowledge
Gassed / ing - A challenge (head/verbal)
Gat / 9" - Gun/9mm hand gun
Glock - Gun
Gone - Danked out or drunk
"G" Ride / GTA - A stollen vehicle
"G" / "OG" - Gangsa/original gangsta
Head - Someone who uses illegal drugs
Ho - Sex partner
Homies - Friends
Hood - Neighborhood
Izzle - Izzle was not a word until of course Snoop Dogg created/used it in one of his Rhymes in the early to mid 90`s & simply it`s a word that you would use if you want to sound THUG or GANGSTA by adding it to the end of various other words. Eg: Brizzle=Break, Nizzle=Nigga, Shizzle=Shit
Jimmy Hats - Condoms
Jumped in - Physical beating
Kick it - Hang out
Marinate - Hang our
"Miss me with that" - "I don`t understand"
"My bad" - Admitting a mistake
Off the hook - Trippin
Parlay - Hang out
Peel a cap - Shoot a gun
Philly blount - Cigar with marijuana inside
Playas - Promiscuous person
Playa hater - Person who dislike promiscuous person
Por vida - For life
Posse - Crew
Punk - A disrespectful, rude, or otherwise unpleasant person
Set - Neighborhood
Set trippin - Rival between neighborhoods or gangs
Scratch - Money
"Shake the bustas off" - Get rid of the` police
Skanless - low life, don`s care
Skrilla - Money
Snaps - Money
SP 12 - Gun
Spinster - A gangster who rides on spinners, rims that rotate continuously, even if the actual wheel is not turning
Stack papa - Make money
Stoner - A person who frequently smokes marijuana
Sucka - A person that goes out
Sucka free - A person who doesn`t` go out
Swool - Buffed/cool
Tight - Good or pretty girl
Tripping - Acting stupid
Tweaker - A person who uses methamphetamines
Vato loco - Crazy dude
Wanksta - Someone who pretends to be a gangsta
Wangster - A white person who wishes they were African American, so they use slang and innapropriate words, change their outfits, and become sexually interested in African American women
40`s - Bottle of malt liquor or beer

Gangsta / Hip Hop Celebrities

Paris Hilton was rumored to be launching a reggae / hip hop album and also dating 50 cent!

Vida Guerra - hip hop girl and voted 26 in FHM`s Top 100 Sexiest Women in 2005 was born in Havana, Cuba. At age five Vida and her family arrived to the United States after escaping their country.

Jessica Alba in the 2003 hip hop movie "Honey". Many a boyfriend have been dragged reluctantly into see this movie yet have come out wanting to see more....... of Alba.

komentarze

The rich keep getting richer..

dodane: 2010-08-24 18:15:27 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-08-24 18:15:27

Top Earning Musicians of 2010

The rich keep getting richer, at least according to Forbes Magazine`s latest tally of the top-earning musicians of the last year (from June 2009 to June 2010). Most of the artists listed in this edition are returning members of the magazine`s mega millionaire musician`s club, but there is one fresh face, who is a first timer to this prestigious list... Can you guess who it is? Give you a hint - she’s been known to project fire and sparks from her million-dollar bosom... to find out for sure, keep reading:

U2 - Despite Saint Bono`s recent back injury (which forced the band to cancel a bunch of their 2010 dates), U2 sits firmly at the top of the heap, bringing in a whopping $130 million over the course of the year, thanks to its massive 360 Tour. The Irish quartet, who have been inspiring awe in their Claw (their monstrously huge traveling stage set-up) wherever they go, are already back on the road, and Bono seems to be in great health now. With their world tour back on track, longtime manager, Paul McGuinness, predicts it will be the ``biggest grossing music tour by anyone of all time`` by the end of the year, but he was quick to add that the band lost around $15m as a result of the setback� awwww poor U2, I hope they don`t have to cut down on their daily cash baths!

AC/DC – The Thunder from Down Under (also known in their native Australia as Acca Dacca) are in the number 2 spot on the Forbes list, amassing a very respectable $114 million between June 2009 and June 2010, mostly as a result of the tireless trajectory of their Black Ice world tour. The Rock ‘N` Roll Train just kept rolling on and on and on from city to city, country to country, and even across vast oceans, bringing the iconic bands to the 4 corners of the globe (all told, 108 cities in over 28 countries)! That`s pretty amazing for a bunch guys who are approaching their golden age. AC/DC also celebrated the 30 year anniversary of their classic album Back In Black recently – the album, which was released on 25 July, 1980, has gone on to sell an estimated 49 million units worldwide, making it the highest-selling album by any band and the 2nd highest-selling album in history, behind Michael Jackson`s Thriller. For those who continue to rock, we salute you!!

BEYONCE - Miss B bounced her way up to the third spot (making her the highest earning female musician of the year), at $87 million, much of which came from major endorsement deals with Nintendo and L`Oreal, as well as her House of Dereon fashion line) not to mention her hugely successful world tour. She actually brought home more bacon that her hubby, Jay-Z, who is number 6 on this year`s list. Wow � looks like we know we know who now wears the pants in this marriage (then again, we haven`t seen B wearing pants in awhile, something tells me she doesn`t have too many pairs of slacks in her wardrobe, either!)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN � The boss is no slouch, banking a cool $70 million over the last year, making him the 4th highest earning musician according to Forbes. Bruce is expected to make an appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival next month for the premiere of a new documentary called The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town - a film about one of the New Jersey rockers` most beloved albums. According to Thom Powers, the TIFF`s documentary programmer, ``Lots of rock & roll movies are about something [besides artistry] � substance abuse, ego problems or the glamour of being a rock star. What`s missing from those films is an emphasis on what makes us interested in this artist, their creative process. The strength of this movie is that is just concentrates on the making of just one album. There`s not even much concert footage�. There are also rumours circulating that during the festival, The Boss will be interviewed onstage by his pal, Ed Norton. According to Norton, �You can be totally un-objective about Bruce. Even (Ronald) Reagan was!

BRITNEY SPEARS – She may have struggled with all kinds of demons over the years, but one thing that is not a problem for Brit is money. She`s got lots of it, and she keeps making more. Holding the fifth position on the list, the pop diva earned $64 million over the year, mostly because of her endorsements, including her Elizabeth Arden fragrance and spokesperson deal with Candies. Someone in her entourage seems to be doing something right, because Britney announced that she`ll actually be appearing on an all-Britney episode of Glee, which is sure to send her career back into the stratosphere again.

JAY-Z – His wife may have made more $$ than he did last year, but let`s be clear here – Jay-Z has not lost his edge, nor is he any sort of slouch when it comes to making the cheddar. He came in at No. 6 on the Forbes list, earning $63 million from his varied business endeavors, including his stake in NBA team the New Jersey Nets, his 40/40 nightclub chain, ``The Blueprint 3`` album sales, and his investment in the Broadway musical, ``Fela!``. The entrepreneur, who claims: “I`m a not a businessman - I`m a business, man!!”, is getting into the literary world now – the rapper will be releasing ‘Decoded` a 336-page memoir, on Nov. 16… apparently, the book was in the works three years ago, but Jay-Z was reluctant to release it till now… maybe he was feeling the heat from Justin Bieber who is set to release his own memoir soon (a Bieber autobiography? What`s it gonna be - a picture book? Choose your own adventure? Co-written by Dr Seuss?)

LADY GAGA – Gaga is the list`s only major fresh face (she comes in at number 7, with earnings of $62 million), and judging by the photo, she looks like she may have something weird growing on that fresh face of hers… Maybe she shouldn`t be associating with MAC products, and concentrate more on Clearasil… a couple of weeks with some acne cream, and I am sure it`ll all be cleared up

MADONNA - $58 million isn`t bad… but Madge is just barely squeaking into the top ten this time. Maybe that`s why her recent 52nd birthday party was such a dismal and un-festive occasion. According to the Daily Mail, guests looked miserable at the party: One onlooker told the paper that ``There was barely any music or laughing coming from the party, it was like a wake. We thought Jesus might have set up the decks for a dance, but it was very stuffy and serious.`` Too bad Jesus never got on the 1`s and 2`s… that would have been a party!! And despite rumours, Buddha didn`t show with his b-boy crew to do his patented belly spin breakdance move!

KENNY CHESNEY – He`s a country boy, and a rich one at that… coming in at 9th place on the Forbes list, singer Kenney Chesney racked up a sizeable amount of dough last year - $50 million to be exact (well… give or take a few dollars). Much of that fortune was amassed through his tour and sponsorships with Corona and MasterCard, but it looks like it`s gonna be another big year for the Ches-man – he just broke his own record for the biggest amount of opening-week downloads by a male country artist. Chesney sold 82,000 downloads of his new single ``The Boys of Fall`` this past week, beating the 71,000 downloads that CHESNEY sold of ``Out Last Night`` in 2009, which formerly held the record. His new album, Hemingway`s Whiskey drops September 28th

3-WAY TIE: BLACK EYED PEAS, COLDPLAY, TOBY KEITH: All three of these acts generated about $48 million in the last year, which begs the question: if rap, rock, and country music were pitted against each other in some kind of mudslinging cage match, who would win? Or better yet, what about next year, when pop meets indie in a death match as Justin Bieber will probably go head to head with Arcade Fire in an all Canadian epic battle for music supremacy? Actually, in all honesty, I can imagine the match would be probably be averted when K`naan shows up, waving his flag, and they would all just count their money and go get a poutine at Harvey`s and call it a day!

komentarze

50 Dumbest

dodane: 2010-08-15 13:59:58 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-08-15 14:26:55

50 Dumbest Rock-Star Extravagances

50. Rap Sheet
DMX
Item: Freedom
Cost: $1,000
It may seem steep, but a thousand-buck fine was a bargain compared to the jail sentence the rapper faced after being charged with smashing his SUV through a security gate at New York’s JFK Airport. While high on Valium. And impersonating a federal agent. If only he hadn’t been arrested a mere week later for doing 104 in a 65 zone …

49. Platinum Spokes
Chris Kirkpatrick
Item: Wheel spinners
Cost: $40,000
While Lance Bass spent his time and money trying to become the first member of a boy band in space, fellow ’N Syncer Kirkpatrick decided to invest his money more practically: on a set of platinum-plated wheel spinners for his Cadillac Escalade.

48. He Got Game
Jermaine Dupri
Item: Videogames
Cost: $12,000
JD apparently ascribes to the age-old adage “You can never be too rich, too thin or own too many PS2s.” Because really, when you’re a multimillionaire rap mogul who’s sleeping with Janet Jackson, what better way to unwind than with a few hours of Crash Bandicoot 3?

47. Express Delivery
Keith Moon
Item: Customized milk truck
Cost: $595
In 1971, Who drummer Keith Moon bought a British electric-powered milk delivery cart and had it converted into a “mobile Victorian parlour” — with armchair, wallpaper, cocktail cabinet and gramophone. To fit it in his garage, Moon also removed his Corvette and drove it into a nearby hedge.

46. Scissor Sister
Britney Spears
Item: Shears
Cost: $3,000
When Mrs. Federline gets her locks trimmed, not just any scissors will do. The new mama opts for a set of custom-ordered clippers, handmade and imported from Japan for a whopping 3 G’s — or roughly the cost of 40 Flowbees. It’s a far cry from the Supercuts in Kentwood, La.

45. Bed Buggin’
Jessica Simpson
Item: Bedsheets
Cost: $1,400
“I don’t sleep good,” was how Simpson chose to defend shelling out a grand and a half for a set of Egyptian-cotton bed linens. When they were almost ruined in the wash, husband Nick Lachey had an explanation of his own: “Even the washing machine thinks $1,400 sheets are fucking ridiculous,” he said.

44. Popper Gun
John Popper
Item: Civil war cannon
Cost: $10,000
Popper, the once-hefty frontman for chooglers Blues Traveler, is known to be an enthusiastic endorser of the right to bear arms. In addition to the working Civil War–era cannon, he owns some 80 guns and a collection of daggers and samurai swords.

43. Home Movies
Russell Simmons
Item: Movie theater
Cost: $2,000,000
The Def Jam/Phat Farm mogul is such a cinephile, he had a theater installed in the basement of his New Jersey house. And not just a couple of La-Z-Boys and a video projector: Simmons’s home theater has a Loews marquee, a popcorn machine and a ticket booth.

42. Humpin’ Around
Bobby Brown
Item: Child support
Cost: $63,500
In March 2004, Brown was released from a 60-day jail term in Georgia … so he could stand trial in Massachusetts for failure to pay child support. The good news? He spent only a day in jail by ponying up the delinquent back payments. The bad news? He then had to go back to Georgia to face another set of charges.

41. Metal Molars
Nas and Kelis
Item: His ‘n’ hers gold grills
Cost: $36,000
Love means never being without matching gold teeth, if you’re hip-hop’s newest newlyweds (his read ‘Nasty,’ hers ‘Tasty’). Kelis’s family did insist they remove their grills at last January’s nuptials — presumably allowing the photographer to take pictures without fear of going blind.

40. Empire Building
John Mayer
Item: Boba Fett action figure
Cost: $1,719.15
In 2004 the mint-condition miniaturized bounty hunter was an impulse buy on eBay — where Mayer also gets his shoes — at a time when the unrepentant singer-songwriter also admitted to having spent $1,500 on phone sex in four months.

39. H.O.V.A. craft
Jay-Z
Item: Mercedes Maybach
Cost: $360,000
Not so much a car as a spirited attempt to see how many optional extras you can cram on four wheels, Jay-Z’s top-line Maybach features an electro-transparent panoramic glass roof, reclining seats with massage function, a DVD player, a 21-speaker hi-fi, an “interphone” and, most vital of all, two cup holders.

38. Patients Wearing Thin
Kurt Cobain
Item: Drug treatment
Cost: $40,000
Cobain might have started using to help relieve his lifelong stomach troubles, but his troubles with Mr. Brownstone led to two prematurely ended rehab stints in 1992 — one at L.A.’s pricey Exodus Recovery Center and one at Cedars-Sinai (when he also passed out during his daughter’s birth) — and some of his mopiest facial expressions.

37. Shoe Fly
Usher
Item: Sneakers
Cost: $26,000
We’re sure R&B’s answer to Imelda Marcos had a good reason for copping the equivalent of 365 days’ worth of Air Force Ones; after all, simulated onstage sex can really scuff up a pair of kicks. Maybe next time he should also think about investing in a wardrobe of T-shirts that don’t rip quite so easily …

36. Caffeine Junkie
Tommy Lee
Item: A Starbucks franchise
Cost: $4,000
Mötley Crüe drummer and erstwhile porn movie star Tommy Lee’s 1999 purchase of a Starbucks might have seemed a sound investment for those post-rock years, but his financial strategy had one very major drawback: zero paying customers. Why? The replica café was built in his house as a gift for then-wife Pamela Anderson.

35. Ay Diablo!
Jay Kay
Item: Lamborghini Diablo SE30
Cost: $306,000
The Jamiroquai frontman, an avid exotic-car collector, bought this rare (only 150 were made) “anniversary edition” jewel, shipping it from the U.S. to England so it could appear in the video for “Cosmic Girl.” Too bad the car’s handler took it for a joyride and smashed it up beyond repair.

34. Are you gonna pay my way?
Lenny Kravitz
Item: Boozy night out with Lionel Richie
Cost: $20,400
In late 2004, Kravitz, Richie and 30 close friends took over London’s Kaberet’s Prophecy bar for three hours of dropping $1,190 on magnums of frankly overpriced Cristal. Richie enjoyed a little bop to “Dancing on the Ceiling” and the K Man was good enough to pick up the tab.

33. Baby Love
Mariah Carey
Item: Marilyn Monroe’s piano
Cost: $662,500
When Christie’s auctioned off Marilyn Monroe’s possessions in October 1999, the third-priciest item turned out to be the icon’s white baby grand, bought by an anonymous buyer — who turned out to be fellow vixen Ms. Carey herself, who installed it in her Tribeca penthouse.

32. Heil! Heil! Rock & Roll!
Lemmy Kilmister
Item: Luftwaffe sword
Cost: $6,000
Born in 1945, Motörhead frontman Lemmy is fascinated with World War II. This rare sword is the prized piece in his extensive collection of memorabilia and has doubled in value since he acquired it. “It’s a very good investment,” reasons Lemmy, who says that he has no admiration for any Nazis except Hermann Goering.

31. Justified Expenditure
Justin Timberlake
Item: Harrods shopping spree
Cost: $1,700,000
Wanting to beat the crowds to buy Christmas presents in 2003, Timberlake had the exclusive London department store open especially for him and 80 close friends. His purchases, including a remote-control toy Mercedes and jewelry for Cameron Diaz, were transported away in two rented buses.

30. Establishing Boundaries
Paul McCartney
Item: Gigantic fence
Cost: $170,000
Herds of wild boar were becoming a problem on McCartney’s 1,000-acre English estate, tearing up trees and carrying swine fever. But he didn’t want the guilt of the pests being shot on his property, so in 1999 he had a four-mile long fence built to keep them out. “He does whatever he wants because he can afford it,” said a disgruntled local farmer.

29. Real Fir
Sting
Item: Christmas tree
Cost: $11,900
A man who has done so much for the plight of the rainforests could hardly hack down one of his wooden friends just for holiday decoration. So in 2002, Sting had a special living Christmas tree brought into his 41-room English mansion, hiring a top-flight florist at additional expense to give the festive centerpiece a lavish makeover.

28. Hello Sailor
P. Diddy
Item: Yacht rental
Cost: $800,000
Even by the standards of a man who employed Fonsworth Bentley, Diddy’s choice of transport for his Summer 2003 holiday in the Mediterranean seemed sightly de trop: a 181-foot luxury yacht, rented at a cost of $40,000 per day, with its own gym, gold-plated taps in the Jacuzzis and, most vitally, a helicopter pad.

27. The Joy of Wrecks
Billy Idol
Item: Hotel vandalism
Cost: $20,400
Possibly bored of “dancing with himself” to pay-per-view porn, Idol wrecked three luxury hotel suites to pass the time while vacationing in Thailand in 1989. A friend of the peroxide rebel assured one hotel manager that the damage would be paid for once Billy had his fill of mayhem. A check was duly cut.

26. Boat Bloat
Billy Joel
Item: 57-foot commuter yacht
Cost: $2,000,000
Forget subways, forget taxis … hell, forget helicopters: When Billy Joel commutes from his Long Island home into Manhattan, he does it on his custom-built 57-foot yacht, the Vendetta. It’s one of four boats the piano man owns — after all, it’s harder to get a DUI from the Coast Guard.

25. Pup Psychology
Will Smith
Item: Dog shrink
Cost: $2,500/month
When the pressure of life on the A-list has Smith’s four Rottweilers feeling down, he calls on the Sigmund Freud of the canine world — renowned Hollywood hound analyst Cesar Millan, a.k.a. “The Dog Whisperer.” Apparently, it takes a special talent to help a pooch get over the trauma of watching Bad Boys II.

24. Pond Ambition
Freddie Mercury
Item: Fish
Cost: $1,500,000
A passionate koi carp enthusiast, Mercury amassed a collection whose value rose to over $1,000,000. Tragically, after his death all but five of the 89 fish —worth up to $17,000 apiece — were killed in a bizarre gardening accident when landscapers at his London home turned off the power for their storage tank.

23. Doctored Results
Ozzy Osbourne
Item: Drug “counseling”
Cost: $708,000
After a successful narcotics detox in June 2002, Ozzy rehired Dr. David Kipper to provide him with antidepressants. The good doctor proceeded to charge Ozzy $650,000, plus $58,000 for the horseload of tranquilizers that resulted in the crazy trainwreck witnessed on The Osbournes.

22. Family Album
Marilyn Manson
Item: Charles manson memorabilia
Cost: $500
Given that Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey made Manson a reverend, it’s fitting that Manson should visit Odium, the L.A. occult shop that was co-owned by LaVey’s grandson. While there in 2002, Manson picked up framed photos of the Manson Family murder scene. Perfect for the guest dungeon!

21. Broadway Blunder
Paul Simon
Item: The Capeman Musical
Cost: $3,000,000
In 1998, Paul Simon opened a play about a Puerto Rican teen who stabbed two white kids in 1959. Enraged picketers ("Murder is not entertainment!") outnumbered ticketholders. Backers backed out, Simon dug seven figures deep into his own pockets and The Capeman closed 10 weeks later — deeply in the hole.

20. Beatle Mania
George Harrison
Item: The natural law party
Cost: Several million
Seduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Harrison dumped unspecified amounts into a British political party based on his philosophy (that all conflict can be solved through meditation) and organized a benefit concert at the Royal Albert Hall. They pulled a handsome 0.4% of the U.K. vote in 1992.

19. While My Pendant Gently Weeps
Patrick King Jr.
Item: A diamond-encrusted guitar necklace
Cost: $30,000
Apparently more than confident that his Euro-tinged boy band Natural would succeed where countless others had failed, King blew the price of a new Acura on a tiny diamond guitar that — get this — actually plays!

18. Wonderwallet
Noel Gallagher
Item: Home remodeling
Cost: $680,000
The Oasis guitarist was merely showing his love for the Beatles when he decided to cover his kitchen walls with costly paintings of yellow submarines in 1997. The $34,000 he spent on carpet in the colors of his favorite soccer team, on the other hand, is somewhat tougher to explain.

17. Gest of Honor
Liza Minnelli and David Gest
Item: Wedding
Cost: $2.7 million
It seemed like a match made in heaven: The gay icon and a guy who — ahem — is fond of musical theater. What could go wrong? The extravagant wedding was held in New York City in March 2002, but the marriage lasted barely a year and a half.

16. Million-dollar Baby
Mick Jagger
Item: Love child
Cost: $15,000,000
Born in 1999, Lucas Maurice Morad Jagger turned his father’s affair with Brazilian lingerie model Luciana Morad into one of the most expensive flings in history. Jagger’s new son was the final straw for long-suffering wife Jerry Hall, who got a reported $15,000,000 divorce settlement from him — while Morad hit him with a claim for $35,000 a month in child support, citing nannies, rent, housekeeping and security.

15. U Can’t Afford This
MC Hammer
Item: California mansion
Cost: $12,000,000
When Stanley Burrell became a global pop-rap superstar worth $30 million in 1990, he did what anyone would do — put 250 people, many of them friends, on his payroll, bought 17 luxury cars — and a Bay Area mansion. By 1996 he’d found God and filed for bankruptcy, $13.7 million in debt.

14. Crowd Control
Bryan Adams
Item: Peace and quiet
Cost: $680,000
After releasing Waking Up the Neighbors, adoptive Londoner Adams then lived it; the pub next to his Chelsea mansion hosted boisterous louts whose noise kept him from sleeping. In 1994, Adams did the only feasible thing: He bought the bar … and shut it down.

13. Class Act
John Lennon
Item: All of first class
Cost: $12,980
Lennon famously banked on his "working class hero" image, but didn’t shy away from enjoying the fruits of his Beatles labor, and once bought out an entire first-class airline cabin — so that his son Sean could set up his model train set. Fittingly, Lennon now has an airport named after him in Liverpool.

12. Privileged Headgear
Bono
Item: Flying a hat first class
Cost: $1,700
Poised to play a charity show for Iraqis with Luciano Pavarotti in 2003, Bono realised he’d forgotten his favourite trilby, so he arranged to have it flown from London to Italy by British Airways. Amid fears it might get squashed, lost or stolen, the hat was upgraded from its first-class seat and got to ride up front with the captain.

11. A View to a Spill
Simon Le Bon
Item: Yacht
Cost: $1.35 million
The Duran Duran frontman planned to sail his 78-foot racing sloop around the world, but nearly died when it capsized in the English Channel in 1985, trapping him underneath for 20 minutes. He later sold the yacht to a Scottish car dealer; supermodels and champagne, presumably, were not included.

10. Papal Bull
Kanye West
Item: Michelangelo’s ceiling
Cost: $350,000
“I’m the closest that hip-hop is getting to God,” remarked Kanye West recently. “In some situations I’m like a ghetto Pope." Which may explain the decoration he chose for his L.A. dining room last year: a complete recreation of Michelangelo’s frescoes from Rome’s Sistine Chapel ceiling.

9. PETA to the Metal
Nelly
Item: Mink-lined Rolls-Royce
Cost: $385,000
Despite a trip to the customizer for new rims, Nelly clearly felt his Rolls-Royce Phantom still lacked a certain discreet charm, so he had the interior totally re-worked in mink fur. Just consider the aesthetics: It probably looks as if someone stuck a Wookiee in a microwave.

8. Great Balls of Fire
The KLF
Item: Torched cash
Cost: $1,700,000
Ah, who doesn’t love the smell of flaming cash in the morning? British pop duo KLF clearly do — why else would they have set 20,000 50-pound notes ablaze, then circulated a videotape of the bonfire? Some say the 1994 stunt was inspired materialist satire. Others called it moronic decadence. Starving children worldwide were unavailable for comment.

7. Bar for the Course
Ron Wood
Item: A replica British pub
Cost: $66,000
When the Rolling Stones guitarist bought Sandymount, an “18th century gentleman’s residence” in County Kildare, Ireland, he outfitted the garden with a British pub where the Stones could relax during rehearsal sessions. Nowadays, though, it tends to go half-stocked thanks to Wood’s sporadic bouts with sobriety.

6. Football Foolishness
Rod Stewart
Item: Personal soccer field
Cost: $100,000
There’s being a sports fan, and then there’s building a professional-sized soccer field on the grounds of your Epping, England, mansion, complete with dressing rooms modeled on those of Scottish team Celtic FC, and groundsmen to maintain them. Sadly, in 2004, English zoning officials objected to his plans to install floodlighting.

5. Saturday Night’s Alright for … Florists
Elton John
Item: Flowers
Cost: $419,000
Although renowned for his lavish spending habits and Rococo taste in interior décor, it still came as a surprise to learn that between 1996 and 1997 Elton John spent almost half a million dollars on flowers alone. Even he’s not sure how he did it. Questioned over his expenditure during a 2000 trial, he replied simply, “I like flowers.”

4. Gold Dust Man
Mick Fleetwood
Item: Cocaine
Cost: $8,000,000
In 1994, Mick Fleetwood estimated how long a single cocaine rail, composed of everything he’d ever blown, would stretch. He guessed five miles, but given his concurrent admission that he’d spent a lifetime total of $8 million on coke, five miles sounds like an average weekend. Fleetwood later described himself as "cocaine monster, rampaging the countryside out of my mind."

3. Electric Dreams
The Beatles
Item: Apple electronics
Cost: $510,000
Part of the Beatles’ infamously extravagant Apple Corps company, which also included Apple Records and a boutique, was this subdivision led by one “Magic” Alex. In his single year of employment, Alex outlined numerous inventions, including electric paint, a flying saucer and a recording studio with a “sonic force field,” not one of which ever worked. He was fired in 1969.

2. An Offer He Couldn’t Refuse
Michael Jackson
Item: Marlon Brando
Cost: $1,000,000
A frequent (and conspicuously overage) guest at Neverland, Brando demanded a cool mil for his bizarre appearance at Jackson’s 30th Anniversary show in September 2001. After accurately introducing himself to the Garden crowd as an "old fat fart," the star of Jackson’s "You Rock My World" video ranted about children being hacked to death with machetes … from a leather recliner.

1. Snack attack
Elvis Presley
Item: Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches
Cost: $3,387.28
On the night of Feburary 1, 1976, Elvis Presley pulled off a stunt that combined three of his favorite activities — profligate spending, showing off to cops and eating repellent things. While entertaining two Colorado policemen at Graceland, he mentioned a sandwich that he had once eaten at the Colorado Gold Mine Company restaurant in Denver: a hollowed, buttered loaf, filled with peanut butter, jelly and a pound of fried bacon. The sandwich was meant to feed eight, but Presley had finished one unaided. Remarkably, one of the cops expressed an interest. Even more remarkably, Presley insisted they should head to Denver to try it, a distance of 1,000 miles. His stretch Mercedes took them to the Memphis airport, where his private jet, the Lisa Marie — upholstered in aquamarine plush in further testament to the King’s understated elegance — awaited. Two hours later, they landed in Denver, where 22 of the $49.95 “Fool’s Gold” sandwiches on silver platters, plus a bucket of Perrier water and a case of champagne, were brought to a private hangar at the airport by the restaurateur, his wife and a waiter.

Money to Burn

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lip

Top 10 auto gadgets

dodane: 2010-07-31 21:44:46 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-07-31 21:44:46

Top 10 auto gadgets of CES

Want a look at the latest tech for cars? The Consumer Electronics Show, or CES in Las Vegas, is where every major technology company shows off their latest wares — and 2010 looks set to be a banner year for amazing in-car capabilities.

Chevrolet Volt smartphone app
Have a Chevrolet Volt? Want to know how charged the battery is, but don`t want to get up from the dinner table? Download a mobile app, and check battery status — along with a host of other items — from the comfort of your cell phone.

Sony DSC-S100
So it looks like an iPod being eaten by a Tupperware container. We know. This is a diagram of inside the car stereo — which, to an observer, looks just like a normal one. The only thing missing is a CD drive, that space is now for your MP3 player. Neat.

Pioneer AVIC-X920BT
This unit has a 6.1-inch screen, can use your phone`s Internet connection for Internet radio, Bluetooth handsfree calling, and navigation — including addresses right from your phone.

TomTom Ease
The only thing worse than getting lost is dealing with the confusing menus of a navigation system. This pint-sized (like a square smart phone) Ease simplifies every menu and command to make not getting you lost its top priority…as it should be.

Kia UVO
Like the Ford / Microsoft Sync system, UVO is built on a platform designed by Microsoft. Simpler than Sync, however, UVO will allow for text message reading and full voice control commands over your music.

myFord Touch
"myFord" and "myLincoln" are just…impressive. Excuse the point form: two 4.2-inch colour LCDs, one in the instrument cluster and one in the centre of the dashboard. It can be upgraded to "MyFord Touch," which puts two 4.2-inch LCDs on either side of the speedometer and adds an 8-inch touch-screen LCD to the centre of the dashboard. Traffic data, weather, gas prices, on-board navigation, HD radio with song tagging (to save your favourites for later), and if a cell phone is plugged into the USB slot, its Internet connection turns the whole vehicle… into a mobile Wi-Fi hot spot.

In-car "widgets"
Kia`s UVO and Ford`s myFord (and myLincoln) will allow users to download new programs to extend the functionality of their systems — including one that displays and reads out your Twitter, RSS, and Facebook feeds.

Digital mobile television
Already available in Europe and Japan, Kia and others are pushing hard to offer mobile, live television at an affordable price to people sitting in the back seats in North America. Well, as long as SpongeBob doesn`t leave a mess

Pioneer MVH-P8200
Like the CD drive-free Sony DSC-S100 also listed here, this single-DIN unit from Pioneer will pretty much play any music on your iPod or MP3 player, via Bluetooth streaming… or radio. Leave it to radio to outlive CDs…

Visteon in-car apps
Automotive supplier Visteon showed their new in-car application using this mockup, with the Internet radio service Pandora hooked up and kicking out the tunes. The big news here is that any manufacturer could buy this tech and put it in their future products.

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Legal Drinking Ages

dodane: 2010-05-01 13:07:33 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-05-01 13:30:11

Minimum Legal Drinking Ages around the World

The legal drinking age for different countries varies dramatically, from zero to 21, as seen in the following...

No Drinking Age

Albania
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Comoros
Equatorial Guinea
Fiji
Gabon
Ghana
Guinea-Bissau
Jamaica
Kyrgyuzstan
Morocco
Solomon Islands*
Swaziland*
Togo
Tonga
Viet Nam

Antigua
Barbados
Belgium
Georgia
Germany
Greece*
Luxembourg
Malta
Norway*
Poland
Portugal
Spain (16 in Asturias)

17
Cyprus

18

Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Bahamas
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chile
China
Columbia
Congo, Republic of
Costa Rica
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt*
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Guatemala
Guyana
Hungary
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Jamaica
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Latvia
Lesoto
Lithuania
Malawi
Mauritius
Mexico
Moldova
Mongolia
Mozambique
Namibia
New Zealand
Niger
Nigeria
Norway*
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Phillippines
Russia
Samoa
Seychelles
Singapore
Slovak Republic
South Africa
Spain (16 in Asturias)
St. Maarten
Sweden*
Thailand
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukrane
United Kingdom (age 5 with parents)
Uruguay
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe
19
Canada
Alberta - 18
British Columbia - 19
Manitoba - 18
New Brunswick - 19
Newfoundland and Labrador - 19
Northwest Territories - 19
Nova Scotia - 19
Nunavut - 19
Ontario - 19
Prince Edward Island - 19
Quebec - 18
Saksatchewan - 19
Yukon Territory - 19
Nicaragua
South Korea
20
Iceland
Japan
Paraguay
21
Fiji
Pakastan (for non-Muslims, prohibited for Muslims)
Palau
Sri Lanka
United States

Map showing the legal age for buying alcohol around the World

No laws (15 years and younger) 16-17 years and older 18-19 years and older 20-21+ years and older Illegal Data not available

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Biggest Alcohol Consumption

dodane: 2010-05-01 12:45:47 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-05-01 12:45:47

Top 10 Countries in the World with the Biggest Alcohol Consumption

Luxembourg

14.9 litres per capita ***

Ireland

14.2 litres per capita ***

Portugal

13 litres per capita ***

Hungary

12.3 litres per capita ***

Czech Republic

11.8 litres per capita ***

Spain

11.7 litres per capita ***

Denmark

11.5 litres per capita ***

Austria

11.3 litres per capita ***

Switzerland

11.2 litres per capita ***

France

10.5 litres per capita ***

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Worst Drug Problems

dodane: 2010-05-01 12:24:00 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-05-01 12:24:00

Seven Countries with the Worst Drug Problem

Some countries are locked in a death match with dangerous drugs. While Amsterdam is widely known for decriminalizing recreational marijuana use, the city’s drug-related problems are actually relatively tame. The real chaos can be found in countries where the manufacture and trade of drugs make up most of their economy. This creates constant headaches and turmoil for the doctors and rehab clinics charged with treating the intoxicated populace. Here are seven countries with the most vexing drug problems and how they got that way.

1) Afghanistan

Afghanistan is well known as the world`s foremost producer of opium, one of the essential ingredients in heroin. This makes Afghanistan an obvious problem area for those concerned with the spread of harmful and addictive substances. According to the CIA World Factbook, "if [Afghanistan`s] entire poppy crop were processed, it is estimated that 526 metric tons of heroin could be produced." The Factbook also states that an astounding 80 to 90 percent of the heroin consumed in Europe can be traced back to Afghan opium. Not surprisingly, many Afghan citizens wrestle with horrific withdrawal symptoms and other heroin-related problems each year.

2) New Zealand

According to one website, New Zealand has the dubious distinction of ranking first in the world in cannabis consumption, teen suicide, rape, property theft, and teen pregnancy. While it`s unclear to what extent drug use factors into these high rates, it certainly has at least some influence. A recent study clocked New Zealand`s cannabis-using population at an alarming 22 percent of people aged 15 and over. As a frame of reference, the United States and Britain clocked in at 12.3 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

3) Russia

Certain parts of Russia are plagued by HIV/AIDS outbreaks as a result of people sharing syringes and needles. The problem is so serious that the World Health Organization has tabbed Russia as the nation with the worst HIV/AIDS epidemic in all of Europe, encompassing nearly a million infected people. VOANews.com cites "intravenous drug use, especially among young people" as the primary vehicle causing the rapid infection to continue and worsen with each passing year. Moscow and St. Petersburg are believed to be the most heavily impacted areas.

4) Britain

According to a June 2007 study by Maryland University and the UK`s Kent University, Britain has the highest level of overall drug abuse in Europe and the second highest number of drug-induced deaths. Specific findings in the study revealed that a quarter of the UK`s 26 to 30 year olds have experimented with dangerous drugs such as cocaine or heroin, while nearly half of the nation’s youth has experimented with cannabis. In total, Britain`s illegal drug trade encompasses about $10 billion per year.

5) The United States

While the US is not known for producing all that much of the world`s drug supply, the country is a very heavy consumer. Numerous reports rank the US as the world`s leading consumer of cocaine, for example. The US is also, along with Australia, the country with the highest number of drug-related deaths in the world. Marijuana is another American favorite, as both the US and UK rank just behind New Zealand on the list of the world`s biggest cannabis consumers.

6) Iran

Worsening heroin problems in Iran have led to the opening of the nation`s first for-profit methadone clinic in 2004. According to the BBC, the Persepolis Center offers struggling addicts "a package of syringes, clean needles, tape, alcohol pads, condoms and distilled water - as well as food, clothes, a bath and medical attention, including wound and abscess management." Unfortunately, the heroin problems appear to be a precursor to another major medical issue: the rapid spread of AIDS/HIV. Of the first 500 addicts to visit the center, a quarter of them tested positive.

7) Australia

A February 2007 article in The Australian opens by claiming that "today, about 175 Australians will go into the hospital because of a major drug problem." Readers then learn that alcohol is a major cause of drug-related problems in the country. It is estimated that a mind-blowing $23 billion per year is spent on alcohol by Australians young and old, which the author suggests leads to an array of health issues including brain damage, high blood pressure, and stroke.

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Best Country to Live

dodane: 2010-05-01 12:06:52 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-05-01 12:06:52

Best Country to Live: List of Countries on 2009 UN HDI

The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) released its 2009 Human Development Report, and ranked 182 countries in terms of the quality of life of their citizens, or the UN Human Development Index (HDI). The criteria included life expectancy, literacy rates, school enrollment, and the country`s economy. Norway is ranked the first, followed by Australia and Iceland.

The data, however, were collected in 2007, before the global financial melt-down in 2008. Much has changed in countries such as Iceland, which experienced severe bank failure. However, Iceland`s ranking is not expected to decline too much because of its high life expectancy and education standard.

Ranked the lowest were Niger, Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone.

Afghanistan was considered the second least desirable place to live in, with a life expectancy of 43.6 years, due to the war and civil unrest.

Here is the list of countries on the Human Development Report:

Top 30 on Human Development Index Ranking

Bottom 10

173. Guinea-Bissau
174. Burundi
175. Chad
176. Congo (Democratic Republic of the)
177. Burkina Faso
178. Mali
179. Central African Republic
180. Sierra Leone
181. Afghanistan
182. Niger

Here is the original Human Development Report 2009 from UNDP.

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Greatest Guitar Riffs of all time

dodane: 2010-04-29 12:42:52 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-29 12:45:25

It seems like everyone can be a guitar god these days. It’s not hard to do – just show up at your local electronics store (or video game outlet), purchase the latest version of Guitar Hero, and you can wield the power of the great axmen of our times. But it’s one thing to be dazzled by the bright lights on a screen and play rockstar with a couple of friends in your basement, and another thing to stand under the bright lights of a monster stage of an arena, with the volume cranked to 11, and rip into one of your own riffs that sends thousands of fans into an orgy of air-guitar theatrics… Here is a list of some of the greatest rock riffs of all time (in no particular order):

BACK IN BLACK - ACDC: Back In Black was the first album to be released by AC/DC after the tragic death of the band’s original vocalist, Bon Scott. The song, Back In Black, written as a tribute to Scott, still ranks as one of the greatest tracks of all time. Several cover versions of the song have been recorded over the years, one of the most bizarre versions would have to be Hayseed Dixie’s bluegrass take on it… yeeeehaw!

SMOKE ON THE WATER - DEEP PURPLE: Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple is probably the song most hated by guitar store clerks... if you have ever worked in a guitar shop, you have heard countless beginners butcher the riff. According to original guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, most who attempt to play it, do it improperly. On June 3rd, 2007, in Kansas City, 1,683 people played ``Smoke on the Water`` by Deep Purple at the Community American Ballpark, breaking the Guinness World Record for the most people playing the same song simultaneously.

SWEET CHILD OF MINE - GUNS N` ROSES: In an interview with Hit Parader Magazine in 1988, Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan noted: “The thing about `Sweet Child Of Mine,` it was written in five minutes. It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, `What is this song? It`s gonna be nothin`, it`ll be filler on the record.` “ Boy was he wrong about that one…

PARANOID - BLACK SABBATH: Rumour has it that Black Sabbath wrote the song Paranoid in 15 minutes (based on a solo by guitarist Tony Iommi) to satisfy the record companies request to make the album a little bit longer. Iommi lost two of his fingertips in an industrial accident many years ago, and he plays with prosthetic tips… he’s like the 6 million dollar guitar player!

SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT - NIRVANA: According to Kurt Cobain (in a 1994 Rolling Stone interview) the song Smells Like Teen Spirit was attempt to write a song in the style of The Pixies: “I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band— or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.

PURPLE HAZE - JIMI HENDRIX: Purple Haze is often cited as one of Jimi Hendrix’s greatest songs, and first international hit. When writing about Hendrix, The Who’s Pete Townshend once noted: “I feel sad for people who have to judge Jimi Hendrix on the basis of recordings and film alone, because in the flesh he was so extraordinary. He had a kind of alchemist`s ability; when he was on the stage, he changed. He physically changed. He became incredibly graceful and beautiful”.

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE - LED ZEPPELIN: ``Whole Lotta Love`` was, in fact, the last song Led Zeppelin ever played live in their original lineup. Although the guitar riff is one of the most recognizable riffs of all time, the song did attract some undesired attention for plagiarism: In 1985, bluesman Willie Dixon sued Led Zeppelin, claiming that lyrically, ``Whole Lotta Love`` was largely plagiarized from ``You Need Love,`` written by Dixon and recorded by Muddy Waters as a single for Chess Records in 1962.

DAY TRIPPER - THE BEATLES: The Beatles song Day Tripper features one of the most recognizable riffs of all time. According to John Lennon, the lyrics were aimed at weekend hippies who could only get high once the work week was done. He’d only recently started taking LSD himself, and may have been making fun of McCartney, who until that point had steered clear of the stuff. John explained: “Day-trippers are people who go on a day trip, right? Usually on a ferryboat or something. But it was kind of – you know, ‘you’re just a weekend hippie.”

MASTER OF PUPPETS - METALLICA: It’s hard to say which Metallica song takes the prize for greatest metal riff – some may say Enter Sandman, others may say Seek And Destroy, but the one song that appears on most greatest riffs lists is Master Of Puppets (ranked the third greatest metal song of all time by VH1).

LAYLA - DEREK & THE DOMINOS: The song Layla by Derek and the Dominos was written by Eric Clapton to woo George Harrison’s then wife, Patty Boyd. The riff became one of the most celebrated guitar hooks of all time, but Eric isn’t comfortable taking all the credit. ``I didn`t do it — it was Duane,`` says Clapton… According to Rolling Stone magazine, guest guitarist Duane Allman created one of rock`s most exciting and memorable licks, pinching the vocal line from Albert King`s ``As the Years Go Passing By`` and speeding it up

MY GENERATION - THE WHO: My Generation was written by Pete Townshend, while on a train and is said to have been inspired by the Queen Mother who is alleged to have had Townshend’s 1935 Packard hearse towed off a street in Belgravia because she was offended by the sight of it during her daily drive through the neighborhood. According to Townsend, “‘My Generation’ was very much about trying to find a place in society”.

WALK THIS WAY - AEROSMITH: According to Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time: “the syncopated lick at the center of ``Walk This Way`` jump-started Aerosmith`s career twice — as a hit single in 1976 and then again, a decade later, with Run-DMC`s version. Joe Perry knows exactly where he came up with it: a soundcheck in Hawaii. ``I was in a funky kind of mood,`` Perry says. He began to play a riff inspired by New Orleans legends the Meters. Drummer Joey Kramer, who had made his rent money in Boston funk bands before Aerosmith, joined in, ``and it all came together.

PANAMA - VAN HALEN: Eddie Van Halen didn’t just play guitar and keyboards on the Van Halen song Panama - During the bridge of the song, Eddie can also be heard revving his Lamborghini in the background. The car was backed up to the studio and microphones were attached to the exhaust pipe to record the sound for the song.

MONEY FOR NOTHING - DIRE STRAITS: Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing won the Grammy for the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with a Vocal in 1985 at the 28th annual Grammy Awards. The songwriting credits are shared between Mark Knopfler and Sting. Sting was visiting Montserrat during the recording of the song, and was invited to add some background vocals. Sting has stated that his only compositional contribution was the ``I Want My MTV`` line, which was sung to the identical melody of a section of his own song ``Don`t Stand So Close to Me``, originally recorded by The Police. Sting was reportedly embarrassed when his publishing company insisted on a co-writing credit (and royalties).

AMERICAN WOMAN - THE GUESS WHO: Although there has been much speculation about who the song American Woman was written about, Guess Who guitarist Randy Bachman once claimed the song was written about The Statue Of Liberty. Shortly after the song was released, The Guess Who were invited to play at the White House. Because of its supposed anti-American lyrics, Pat Nixon (Tricky Dick’s wife) asked that they not play ``American Woman”.

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Hottest Abs in Music

dodane: 2010-04-29 12:22:32 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-29 12:22:32

Gwen Stefani

Usher

Fergie

P!nk

Nelly

LL Cool J

Mel B.

Madonna

50 Cent

Justin Timberlake

Shakira

Rozonda ``Chilli`` Thomas

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Star Power

dodane: 2010-04-28 13:00:52 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-28 13:00:52

Star Power: Beyonce

These days, a successful celeb is a star at their job, but shines even brighter when it comes to business. This week on Star Power, we take a look at the success of Beyoncé – singer, actor, designer, spokesperson and entrepreneur.

Name: Beyoncé Knowles

Age: 28

Claim to Fame: Musician

Salary: $87 million a year

Beyoncé first broke into the music scene singing with the R&B girl group, Destiny’s Child. Her success continued to skyrocket after branching out into a solo career. Her records topped the charts with viral hits like Single Ladies.

Fashion: $15 million a year

Like many celebs, Beyoncé took her first step away from music into the world of fashion. In 2004, with the help of her mother Tina, Beyoncé launched her high-end fashion line, House of Deréon. The line focuses mostly on evening and cocktail dresses, which come with a hefty price tag. She also launched a sister brand, Deréon, which is more modestly priced. The second line offers ready-to-wear pieces like jeans, handbags and shoes.

Besides creating and approving designs for her two clothing lines, she is the face of the company’s advertising campaigns.

Fragrance: $3 million in the first month

The first fragrance created by Beyoncé, Heat, hit shelves this past March 2010. Launched exclusively with Macy’s, this scent is so hot, the department store giant is having trouble keeping it in stock. In just once moth, Heat made over $3 million and became the top brand offered at Macy’s during the month of March.

If the fragrance continues to profit at the rate it’s been selling, Beyoncé could see roughly $36 million by the end of the year from this one product alone. The fragrance retails between $39 - $59 U.S.

The launch of this hugely popular fragrance is another victory for Beyoncé’s growing business portfolio

These two profitable fashion lines make her a cool $15 million a year.

Though music is her passion, Beyoncé is as much a businesswoman as she is vocalist. Her record sales and concert tickets bring in just a slice of her staggering salary.

Endorsements: $20 million

Beyoncé offers her face to a variety of already successful companies including Samantha Thavasa handbags, Armani Diamonds perfume and most commonly recognized, L’Oréal.

Her L’Oréal campaign, though it sparked quite a bit of controversy, was everywhere. It was plastered throughout woman’s magazines as well as on television.

Beyoncé has done an expert job accepting only the endorsements that make sense for her overall brand; a true sign of a successful businesswoman.

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you`re an Internet addict

dodane: 2010-04-25 14:29:18 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-25 14:32:05

4 signs you`re an Internet addict

Sure, we all use the Internet constantly these days—but an unhealthy addiction to the Internet is a very real health problem. Watch for these four signs of problem behaviour

4 signs you

It should come as no surprise to you that YOU are spending more and more time on the Internet (you are reading this story online, after all). According to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), we spend an average of nearly 14 hours per week online.

However, surfing the web can become an addiction for some people, says Linda Bell, CEO of Bellwood Health Services, an addiction-treatment centre in Toronto that offers both publicly funded and fee-for-service programs. “An Internet addiction is the same as any other addiction—you get [online] and you find that your behaviour becomes out of control,” she explains.

The U.S.-based Center for Online Addiction Recovery defines Internet addiction as a compulsive behaviour that dominates a person’s life. Though cyber sex and pornography use are the most common types of Internet addictions, people can also become addicted to online chatting, shopping, gambling and even website surfing. Here’s how to tell if it’s time to seek help for an Internet addiction.

1. You’re spending more time online than with family or friends

Internet addicts will choose to spend time online rather than participate in social activities, says Bell. “I did an interview recently with someone who was into gaming online. He would spend over eight hours a day after work gaming and it was interfering with his social life,” she describes.

If your Internet use is out of control, you may find that your family and friends question why you’re choosing the computer over them or express concern about the amount of time you’re spending online.

2. You’re neglecting yourself and your work

“We have clients who will be online for 15 hours at a time and don’t eat or wash,” says Jennifer Kotry, a therapist at Bellwood who treats individuals with Internet addictions.

You don’t have to spend more than half your day online to be suffering the symptoms of an Internet addiction—it’s the way your Internet use negatively affects your life that determines whether or not you have a problem, notes Kimberly Young, a psychologist and director of the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery. If you find that your Internet use is causing you to neglect your health, your chores and your work, it may be time to seek help.

3. You’re using the Internet to alter your mood

“Those who are depressed are three times more likely to become hooked on the [Internet], those who suffer from anxiety disorders are twice as likely, and those who suffer from an addiction to alcohol and drugs are twice as likely,” says Young.

Those that compulsively use the Internet may find that going online helps relieve the symptoms of a mood disorder—but the relief is short-lived. A study conducted by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society found that the more people used the Internet, the less time they spent in contact with real people, which could lead to loneliness and isolation.

4. You think about the Internet even when you’re not online

As with addictions to drugs or alcohol, Internet addicts are constantly searching for their next fix. If you’re preoccupied with your next purchase on eBay or tactics in an online game, you may have a problem.

How to find help

Internet addiction may be treated in a number of ways, including counseling, cognitive-behavioural therapy, group therapy and medication to treat underlying symptoms of anxiety or depression. Speak to your family doctor for advice or find a therapist who specializes in addiction treatment.

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Polska rozsyła najwięcej spamu w Europie

dodane: 2010-04-23 23:52:21 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-23 23:53:15

Największa ilość spamu w ubiegłym roku spośród krajów z regionu Europy, Bliskiego Wschodu i Afryki rozsyłana była z komputerów w Polsce - informuje Symantec Polska w XV edycji "Raportu o zagrożeniach bezpieczeństwa w Internecie”.

Spam może być wysyłany z naszych komputerów bez naszej wiedzy.

Jak mówi raport Symantec, Polska była odpowiedzialna za wysyłkę 10 procent niechcianych wiadomości w skali regionu EMEA. To daje wynik aż czterech procent w skali całego świata.

Polska awansowała w tym niechlubnym zestawieniu z 5 miejsca w 2008 roku, wyprzedzając takie kraje jak Turcja (2 miejsce i 9 procent rozsyłanego spamu), Rosja (3 miejsce, 9 procent), Rumunia (4 miejsce, 6 procent), czy Niemcy (5 miejsce, 5 procent).

W 2009 roku spam stanowił 88 procent wszystkich wiadomości e-mail odnotowanych przez firmę Symantec. Jak podkreślają eksperci firmy Symantec, najwyższą pozycję naszego kraju w tym
zestawieniu w raporcie ISTR, można tłumaczyć dużą ilością komputerów zainfekowanych złośliwym oprogramowaniem typu "bot” (12 procent w regionie EMEA i 6 procent w skali świata).

Terminem "bot” określa się komputer, który wykonuje polecenia cyberprzestępców bez wiedzy ich właścicieli i jest wykorzystywany do nielegalnych celów choćby do dystrybucji spamu, przeprowadzania ataków na inne stacje, czy przechowywania internetowych stron reklamowych.

Spośród 107 miliardów niechcianych wiadomości wysyłanych codziennie na całym świecie średnio 85 proc. jest efektem działalności sieci typu bot.

- Dla cyberprzestępców korzystanie z sieci typu bot jest wygodnym rozwiązaniem. Po pierwsze, mają oni do dyspozycji ogromną moc obliczeniową oraz szerokie pasmo internetowe do rozsyłania miliardów niechcianych wiadomości dziennie. Po drugie, ukrywają się ze swoją nielegalną działalnością za komputerami zwykłych użytkowników - powiedział Piotr Chrobot, dyrektor generalny Symantec.

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Pamięci ofiar

dodane: 2010-04-18 12:33:26 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-18 12:35:03

Pamięci ofiar katastrofy lotniczej pod Smoleńskiem

Tak nagle ucichło i tak posmutniało.
Pustka niby pętla zaciska się wokół.
Tak ciężko uwierzyć, że coś już się stało...
Tak trudno zrozumieć tajemnice mroku

Płaczą trawy, drzewa i płaczą kamienie,
które choć raz jeden spotkały się z Wami
i miejsce, gdzie oddaliście swe ostatnie tchnienie...
Łzawią moje oczy i chmury nad głową.

Gdzież szukać przyczyny? W marnym przeznaczeniu?...
Że miejsce, że czas zły, że człowiek bezmyślny?
Że cel osiągnięty w tym krótkim wcieleniu?
Że teraz marzenie, to senne się ziści?

W czystej i niewinnej, najbielszej bieli
różowa śmierć skrycie czyhała nad drzewem
po to, by Was zranić, żeby nas rozdzielić –
pozostawić smutek przeplatany gniewem.

Już czas się nie cofnie, życie nie powtórzy.
Zastygnie tęsknota i żal, łzy przelane...,
bo przecież dzień zawsze przychodzi po burzy –
tak było, tak będzie, tak jest zapisane ...

W katastrofie samolotu zginął m.in. prezydent oraz jego małżonka

W deszczową wiosnę - odeszli,
stalowy ptak łamiąc skrzydło
runął w czerń - na zawsze,
łzy jeszcze długo nie wyschną,
serce Europy pogrążone w żalu,
jakby Smoleńsk chciał skraść
pamięć koszmarom z Katynia,
krakowski krzyk Zygmunta
kwiaty, znicze, smutek… pamiętając
nie zapomnijmy o jutrze..

komentarze

Arrest the Pope!

dodane: 2010-04-13 04:03:18 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-13 12:05:48

Sin and innocence

Film still from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (You Tube)

Arrest the Pope!

He may be the head of the Vatican but the Pope cannot claim sovereign immunity in the UK File photo: Pope Benedict XVI celebrating mass (Getty Images: News) .

Listen (4`52")

It`s a strange sad business, the current outcry against the Catholic Church and the sexual abuse of kids by priests. The outrage has been so great that the cries have actually penetrated as far as the inner sanctum of Pope Benedict himself, Joseph Ratzinger that was, that donnish man who, when he was elected pontiff, said to his fellow cardinals that they had taken him where he did not want to go.

Well, the finger is now pointed that under his watch as Archbishop of Munich, Ratzinger - through the agency of one of his underlings - allowed a priest who`d been guilty of paedophile offences to continue with his ministry.

There`s a grave irony in all this because this very scholarly and attentive Pope - Ratzinger in religion, at least as much as Kevin Rudd in politics, is the supreme bureaucratic mandarin of the church - has being vigilant to the point of severity in dealing with the problem. Far more so than the burly Pole who preceded him, John Paul II, who was never personally tainted by the scandal that has been rocking away at the church for ages now.

Why? It can`t be quite as simple, even in our image raddled world, as the fact that John Paul looked like a prize fighter, skied like an obsessive for as long as his health lasted, threw back the wine and food and smoked - an awe-inspiring detail - just one cigarette after dinner. Whereas Benedict loves cats and relaxes playing Mozart.

No, it can`t just be the muscular Christianity of the one and the theology-inflected thoughtfulness of the other that can be so easily made to look furtive. But images and mythologies come at us from every side with this issue.

To begin with, we live in a world that wears as the badge of its secularism an obsession with sexuality so marked and so self defining that we think the Catholic ideal of a celibate clergy (and, all the more so, as celibate and exclusively male clergy) as downright sick. If we cut some slack to other religions, to Hindus or Buddhists or Muslims in this respect, we think that in the western dispensation this is a denial of nature and we`re at least half inclined - when we`re being psychologically deterministic rather than judgemental - to think that the crisis in the church is the consequence of this aberration.

Well, you certainly sometimes hear from Catholic insiders that some religious are driven by the loneliness of their calling to behaviour that they would never have conceived of.

Obviously that may well be the case just as single sex worlds - boarding schools, prisons, the Navy- may encourage an artificial homosexuality. As a previous generation, boisterously represented by Jeff Kennett, used to say, "If you can`t get a girl get a Melbourne Grammar boy."

Well, yes, but boys being boys together is no real reason for thinking that men (however much they may be overgrown boys, as some offending clerics no doubt were) should prey on boys or girls. Nor should it tarnish a time-honoured ideal or - if you want to talk turkey - should the lapse from that ideal necessarily or in calamitous numbers take the form of child abuse.

But does it, though? The numbers do not bear out the notion of priests and brothers as some race of pariahs peculiarly given to the rape - whether it`s literally coercive or persuasive it`s liable to be technical rape when someone is underage - of the kids in their charge.

The figures don`t bear it out in terms of percentages that any young person is more likely to be interfered with by a man of the cloth than he or she is by a social worker or a scoutmaster or the babysitter down the road. It simply that the duty of care in the case of the Catholic Church is statistically immense. It was the church who ran the orphanages and the schools and who ministered to the poor and down and out long before governments knew the name of mercy. And the priests and co. continue to do so on a massive scale so that of course they will appear to be numerically greater - as well as much more visible because of the catholicity of their calling - than any other grouping.

The church can also be sued and the clergy can be execrated as a race of child molesters who at some level were bound to be because they deny sex so that it comes and gets them (and everyone else) in the darkest and nastiest way.

The secular world, of course, pretends it is sitting pretty with sex. Sex is what sells hamburgers and glossy magazines, it governs our choice of newsreaders, it`s something we want as an extra diversion in our films, and it`s something we entertain ourselves with privately on the Internet (except for the pervs who get off on kids who should be sent to jail for the stuff they look at).

That last caveat is part of a giveaway. Everyone`s teenager is, at least on the discernible surface, far more knowing about sex than people even in their 30s now were 20 years ago. And it`s a fact of life that just as films are increasingly marketed for mid teens, so ideals of beauty have been getting younger and younger for decades. (Leonardo DiCaprio is now a pudgy thirtysomething. It`s 15 years or so since Germaine Greer denounced magazines for tweens which were all about getting it.)

And yet in the midst of this proliferating eroticisation we hold to the ideal of the innocence of the child like a last stronghold of sexual purity.

It makes sense, in its way, that mythologies have their own coherence, that a world which defines itself as primarily sexual should define priests as sexually aberrant (therefore predatory) and kids as the potential objects of absolute violation in a world that admits of no other form of purity.

One of the things which gets lost in the midst of all this is the fundamental Christian (and definitionally Catholic) belief that sin can be forgiven - murder and rape and child molestation along with highway robbery and defrauding widows - and that it is the duty of people who sign up to the system to hate the sin, not the sinner. And along with this too goes the strong belief in the freedom of the individual will.

One of the things we`ve inherited from the Christian tradition is the belief in mercy. If you believe that we are, in the words of Mr Casey in James Joyce`s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, "all sinners and black sinners" then you will throw yourself on the mercy of whatever spirit there is and resolve to sin no more.

It should not be beyond all powers of understanding to think that some priests who had offended could reform themselves. No doubt they sometimes did. Christ`s injunction to "render unto Caesar" cuts both ways. Most people faced with the wrongdoing of their own intimates, their family, would hope and pray for reformation. Not every lawyer or businessman who`s ever done a shoddy deal has a permanent commitment to iniquity.

And sexual behaviour of one kind or another is a one-to-one map of the world. Isn`t everyone guilty of it one way or another?

No one wants to see kids interfered with and every sane thing should be done to prevent it. But when we sit in judgement on these churchmen of a few decades ago we should remember that the bishops believed in mercy, they believed people who stuffed up could come good and they believed that what the Church could do for the world was a wonderful thing, whatever the sometimes failings of its ministers.

One of the strangest things about the current witchhunt is that it treats secular justice as a kind of religious absolute. The only thing that can ever be done with the malefactor in this area is to throw him to the hounds of secular justice. Never mind that at least some misbehaviour in this area seems to be a consequence of chain reactions (i.e. suffering the same thing as a child), let alone in the treatment of sexual offenders in prison.

Again we`re dealing with unexamined mythologies. But we should not be too quick to decry mercy. It is very odd that bishops who have tried to practice mercy tend, in a context of hysteria, to be tarred with the branch of the whole horror. Because they are deemed not to have attacked with maximum stringency, they are treated as if they had been complicit in the sexual offence. It also brought down Peter Hollingworth when he was Governor General. Because he had not acted harshly to a particular priest he was execrated as if he was responsible for the primary offence. It is crazy that the same kind of mythological thinking could be applied to the Pope.

Vatican to Bishops: Follow Law, Report Sex Abuse

The Vatican responded Monday to allegations that it had concealed years of clerical sex abuse by making it clear for the first time that bishops and other high-ranking clerics should report such crimes to police if required by law. (April 12)

play video

The Beatles forgiven by Vatican

The Vatican’s official newspaper `L’Osservatore Romano’ has run a feature on The Beatles that forgives their rock’n’roll ways and John Lennon’s claims that they were more popular in Jesus.

The paper said: "It`s true they took drugs, lived life to excess because of their success, even said they were bigger than Jesus and put out mysterious messages that were possibly even Satanic.

"They may not have been the best example for the youth of the day but they were by no means the worse. Their beautiful melodies changed music and continue to give pleasure.

"Thirteen albums changed the history of popular music and there is little else to add ... The Beatles were the most famous and acclaimed band in the world`.

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Mass helps Polish community

dodane: 2010-04-12 11:42:49 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-12 11:42:49

Mass helps Polish community

come to grips with tragedy

Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins celebrates Mass Sunday at St. Casimir`s Catholic Church, in the heart of Toronto`s Polish-Canadian community, to mark the death Saturday of Poland`s president Lech Kaczynski and the cream of the country`s leadership in a plane crash outside Smolensk, Russia.

It was a day of mourning and remembrance for Toronto’s Polish community starting with Mass at St. Casimir’s Church and ending with the laying of wreaths at a nearby park.

The tragic death of Polish president Lech Kaczynski and the cream of the country’s leadership in a plane crash Saturday has stunned many parishioners and pastor Fr. Marian Gil told the packed service: “we come here today and pray for Poland and all the Polish people around the world.”

Toronto Diocese Archbishop Thomas Collins lead the concelebrated High Mass at the Roncesvalles Ave. church — in the heart of the Polish community — and told worshipers in his sermon to “keep Christ in our hearts” as we deal with the “terrible things” that happen in our world.

Memorial: A mourner cries during a ceremony at the Katyn memorial in Toronto on Sunday. The ceremony, initially organized to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, was dominated by remembrance for the Polish President Lech Kaczynski who died in a plane crash Saturday in Russia.

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Sex Crimes and the Vatican

dodane: 2010-04-11 14:29:39 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-13 04:05:00

The secret Vatican document Crimen Sollicitationis here.) has again been at the centre of a public debate about clerical child abuse. The directive was issued in 1962 and sets out instructions for dealing with abuse allegations related to the Confessional, and more broadly any occasion of child abuse by a priest. Critics say this document is the smoking gun in the Vatican files, that it functioned as a mandate for a worldwide cover-up of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. (Read an English translation of the Latin text

The Catholic Church in Ireland emphasizes that it, like other church authorities, now operates in accordance with new and robust child protection guidelines. But questions are now being asked about the church hierarchy`s role in an alleged cover-up of child abuse, over many decades, including the use of vows of secrecy to silence child victims. In Ireland, there are increasing calls for a public enquiry to investigate the church`s handling of abuse allegations in every diocese.

Internationally, Pope Benedict XVI also faces questions. While he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , a position he held for more than 20 years, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ordered that files relating to all clerical abuse allegations be sent to his office at the Vatican. It was his office that enforced the instructions set out in Crimen Sollicitationis.

The canon lawyer Fr Tom Doyle says the Vatican could, if it chose to do so, open its archives and allow the world to see what is there. The Pope, he claims, could simply say: "Here`s the policy: full disclosure to the civil authorities, absolute isolation and dismissal of any accused and proven and convicted clerics, complete openness and transparency, complete openness of all financial situations, stop all barriers to the legal process and completely co-operate with the civil authorities everywhere. He could do that."

In 2006, the BBC`s Panorama programme investigated the relationship between the Vatican and the international sex abuse crisis. Watch the programme by clicking on the screen below.

David Willey, the BBC`s veteran Rome correspondent, reports this week on the demolition of the Vatican`s "wall of silence". He writes: "During four decades of reporting from the Vatican, I have never seen a graver crisis affecting the very credibility of the leadership of the world`s longest surviving international organisation, the Roman Catholic Church." Listen to David`s full report on Radio 4`s From Our Own Correspondent.

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Apple`s iPad hits U.S. stores

dodane: 2010-04-04 12:30:52 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-04-04 12:39:15

People in a Chicago store look at the new iPad from Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. began selling its much-anticipated iPad on Saturday in the United States, drawing eager customers intent on being among the first owners of a new class of tablet-style computers.

Apple must convince people who already have smart phones, laptops, e-book readers, set-top boxes and home broadband connections that they need another device that serves many of the same purposes. But the scores of people who waited in long lines across the U.S. on Saturday seemed willing to buy first and discover all its uses later.

Beth Goza has had iPhones and other smart phones, along with a MacBook Air laptop, yet she believes the iPad has a place in her digital lineup. She likened it to a professional tennis player owning different sneakers for grass, clay and concrete courts.

"At the end of the day, you can get by with one or the other," she said outside an Apple store in Seattle`s University Village mall. But she`s already dreaming up specific uses for her iPad, such as knitting applications to help her keep track of her place in a complicated pattern.

Danita Shneidman, a woman in her 60s, said she isn`t particularly tech-savvy, yet she already knows what she`s going to use the iPad for — looking at photos and videos of her first grandchild, born this week in Boston.

The iPad is essentially a much larger version of Apple`s popular iPhone, without the calling capabilities. The new device is a little more than a centimetre thick, weighs 750 grams and has a touch screen that measures 24 centimetres inches on the diagonal — nearly three times the iPhone`s. Also like the iPhone, it has no physical keyboard.

For now, Apple is selling versions of the iPad that can only connect to the internet via wireless networks. Those models start at $499 US. Versions that also have a cellular data connection will be available by the end of the month. They will cost $130 US more, with the most expensive at $829 US.

In Apple stores in Seattle and on New York`s Fifth Avenue, the atmosphere was festive, with employees cheering and clapping as customers entered and left.

Device has skeptics

Once the initial iPad excitement settles, though, Apple may have to work harder to persuade a broader swath of people to buy one. Other companies, such as Compaq, have tried selling tablet computers before, but none caught on with mainstream consumers. And while early adopters who pre-ordered an iPad in recent weeks have gushed about all the ways they hope to use it, skeptics point to all the ways the iPad comes up short.

They argue the on-screen keyboard is hard to use and complain that it lacks a camera and ports for media storage cards and USB devices such as printers. They also bemoan the iPad`s inability to play Flash video, which means many websites with embedded video clips will look broken to web surfers using Apple`s Safari browser. And the iPad can`t run more than one program at a time, which even fans hope will change one day soon.

The iPad won`t be available in Canada until the end of April, giving Canadians a few more weeks to gauge whether the devices really are the next big thing.

Among crowds outside Apple`s New York City store, a happy customer shows off his new iPad

Andres Schobel holds up two iPads as one of the first customers to buy an iPad on the first day of Apple iPad sales at an Apple Store in San Francisco, Saturday, April 3, 2010. Eager customers have been lining up outside Apple Stores and some Best Buys to be among the first to buy one as sales started at 9 a.m. Saturday in each time zone.

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mar

New Nano car bursts into flames...

dodane: 2010-03-26 17:40:45 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-03-26 20:07:54

New Nano car bursts into flames,

raising safety concerns

Then there was smoke. And then there was fire.

Minutes after the software engineer`s wife and five-year-old son clambered out of the back seat, smoke from the engine, located in the Nano`s rear, erupted into flames that engulfed the tiny car.

His ordeal showed just the latest problem with the low-cost Nano - raising fresh questions about safety and quality as top Indian carmaker Tata Motors sets its sights on global expansion and aims to ramp up production of the Nano with a new factory next month.

"My wife now doesn`t want to buy any car," Sawant said by phone from his home in northern Mumbai on Thursday. "She doesn`t even want to go for a Mercedes."

Starting around US$2,500, the Nano has been heralded as the world`s cheapest car, and was meant to usher in a safety revolution, which would get millions of families off dangerous motorbikes and into the cool comfort of an affordable car.

Tata Motors, which also owns Jaguar and Land Rover, plans to start selling versions of the Nano in Europe in 2011, and later, in America.

Tata Motors spokesman Debasis Ray said the company is investigating the incident but believes it to be a one-off problem rather than the result of faulty design or manufacture.

"We believe it was a one-off stray incident," he said. "It did catch fire. We`re trying to figure out what may have caused it."

This is not the first time there have been customer complaints about the Nano, which has been feted with rave reviews and awards since its launch a year ago.

Last fall, three customers in India complained that their Nanos started smoking.

Tata Motors attributed that to a faulty electrical switch and said it had changed suppliers and done additional tests to rule out a recall or redesign.

Ray said Thursday that the incidents are not related.

The switch problem, he said, "has been comprehensively addressed."

"Safety has never been an issue with Tata cars," he added. "They are one of the safest cars on Indian roads."

But some say the Nano`s smoke and fire problems are symptomatic of pervasive quality control issues at India`s number three carmaker, which must be addressed before Tata can successfully take its brand global - especially in the wake of Toyota`s massive recalls of more than six million vehicles around the world, which have left car buyers jittery about safety standards.

"As of today, is Tata good enough to take on the world? I would say no," said Deepesh Rathore, an auto analyst at IHS Global Insight in New Delhi. "On quality standards, Tata barely makes the cut."

There are fewer than 30,000 Nanos on the road today, which means on a percentage basis the problem rate is fairly high, he said.

"The Nano is a wonderful product, but these incidents really tarnish the image of the car as well as the company," Rathore said. "This is the time for Tata to have a deep look at quality."

He said the recent addition of Carl-Peter Forster, former head of General Motors in Europe, as group chief executive is a step in the right direction.

"They`ve got a guy running the show now who knows how the industry should work," he said. "How soon will the effects be seen across the Tata product range? Well, that will take time."

Meanwhile, Uruvashi Shah, manager of Ashapura Travel World, which runs a high-end taxi service, said she has gotten rid of all the Tata models in her fleet because they needed too much repair work.

She prefers Toyota.

"Corolla is quite good. There is a comfortable feel but the mechanical side is good too," she said.

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mar

`The worst car in history`

dodane: 2010-03-18 18:17:35 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-03-18 18:17:35

The car was "a turkey, a lemon, a dud, a failure, a blunder, a boondoggle, and a bust." The movie version of the long-running television series Dragnet called – tongue in cheek -- the "cutting edge of Serbo-Croation technology."

We are, of course, talking about the Yugo, "the worst car in history."

Jason Vuic (rhymes with Buick), an assistant professor of modern European history at Bridgewater College in Virginia, has written the Yugo story in all its blemished splendor. The homely little hatchback epitomized the failure of Easter Block countries during the Cold War.

Somehow, somewhere in the old Yugoslavia, someone thought bargain-hungry westerners would accept the Yugo despite its many faults. What a mistake. The Yugo succeeded only in providing easy fodder for lazy comics.

Vuic brings a professional historian’s skill to a rollicking tale of crazy socialist factories and good, ol’ Western greed. It was a potent combination and it left buyers scratching their heads in amazement, that anyone or any country could produce such a horrible car – and any sales person would have the chutzpa to sell it.

The Yugo jokes, of course, are a treat and thanks to Vuic they are here in spades: What`s included in every Yugo owner`s manual? A bus schedule. Why does the Yugo have a rear-window defroster? To keep the owner’s hands warm while pushing.

The Yugo actually was an early hit. When the car arrived in August 1985, Yugo America sold 1,050 in one day, notes Vuic.

"Clearly, the world`s automobile manufacturers had vacated the very low end of the American market," writes Vuic. The Yugo`s base price was $3,990 (US); it appealed to buyers looking for a no-frills hatchback.

What they got was a car manufactured in a Serbian factory that had previously been used to manufacturer hand grenades. (Make up your own jokes here.) Vuic notes that workers in the plant started their day with copious amounts of plum brandy. All this was reflected in the final product.

Consumer Reports said the Yugo was "hard to recommend at any price." During the CR test, an oil leak dripped onto the exhaust system, filling the car with smoke.

"The clutch chattered. The brakes squealed…The speedometer clicked. The hood became loose," noted the CR testers.

Malcolm Bricklin, the American businessman who brought the Yugo to North America, somehow managed to squeeze a truckload of money out of investors eager to see the Yugo take the developed market by storm. Malcolm Bricklin? Need we say more?

The last Yugo rolled off the assembly line in 2008 after nearly 800,000 were produced over a 28-year period. The whole story of those years is told in The Yugo , by Jason Vuic. At 262 pages, this is a book for car lovers, history buffs or anyone in need of a few good laughs.

komentarze

mar

Sinead O`Connor attacks Catholic church

dodane: 2010-03-08 18:58:49 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-03-08 18:58:49

Irish bishops want their followers to help compensate children sexually abused by priests. The move comes after the Dublin archdiocese was rocked in November 2009 by the release of The Murphy Commission Report, a document resulting from a public inquiry into allegations the Vatican had hidden child abuse by its priests between 1975 to 2004.

Controversial singer Sinead O`Connor has launched an attack against the Catholic church. Irish bishops want their followers to help compensate children sexually abused by priests. The move comes after the Dublin archdiocese was rocked in November 2009 by the release of The Murphy Commission Report, a document resulting from a public inquiry into allegations the Vatican had hidden child abuse by its priests between 1975 to 2004. Following a plea from Dublin-based Bishop Denis Brennan to churchgoers, asking for help in paying £9.2 million in settlements to abuse victims, the singer has once again stepped forward to show her anger against the Catholic church. In an open letter to several major Irish newspapers, O`Connor has written: "If Christ was here, he would be burning down the Vatican. And I for one would be helping him. How long do they expect us to restrain ourselves? We have put up with this bull dung for hundreds of years. "A true Christian is someone who, in any given situation, is supposed to ask themselves what would Jesus do, then try to do that. How an organisation which has acted, decade after decade, only to protect its business interests above the interests of children can feel it has the right to dictate to us what Christians should do is beyond belief."

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lut

Sequentix...

dodane: 2010-02-27 14:58:32 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-05-01 15:35:12

Sequentix Announces Cirklon Hardware Sequencer

February, 2010

Don’t know exactly why Sequentix Music has decided to develop a dedicated hardware sequencer for 1000 quid, but they recently announced that they are updated their P3 dealio. The new unit, dubbed the Cirklon, is a totally new hardware sequencer design, with software based on the P3, but greatly improved both in usability and internal operation.

The user-interface is based around a 240×64 pixel graphic LED display, 19 rotary encoders with push-switches, 2 assignable knobs, 35 high-quality Cherry keys with integrated LEDs, and a further 35 tri-colour status LEDs. Cirklon has 16 tracks, with 5 independent MIDI INs and OUTs to connect a large number of controllers and synths/sound modules while keeping MIDI latency to a minimum. There will also be USB MIDI, native CV/gate support, and a dedicated DIN sync output. You can watch the video below, but it’s not very exciting, nor shows off the Cirklon’s mojo…

The 32-bit, 72MHz ARM Cortex CPU runs a proprietary sequencer engine to ensure optimum timing accuracy. All MIDI ports are provided by hardware serial ports in the CPU core itself. The CV/gate connectivity will be available in two levels – a pair of 12-bit resolution CV and gate outputs, or an external CV breakout box with a large number of CV outs (details to be finalized). Pattern storage is comprised of 2MB battery-backed internal RAM and 512MB internal NAND flash, with a SD/MMC card socket for data backup.

Sequentix claims the Cirklon will go into production when they get around to finalizing the design of the production enclosure with shipping in low volume to begin sometime at the end of March…or April…or May…

Image-Line Releases Drumaxx – Percussion Synth Modeler

February , 2010

Image-Line has released Drumaxx, a percussion modeling instrument that gives the user control over 16 physically modeled drum pads that can be routed to independent outputs for external effects processing.

Drumaxx is not based on samples or even commonly used synthesis techniques, where oscillators are mixed and the result is always electronic. Drumaxx uses modeling algorithms to create bass drums, hi-hats, snares, realistic and electronic sounds too. But what about the traditional Achilles’heel’ of synthesis, cymbals? Drumaxx creates cymbals and metallic percussion also.

At the core of Drumaxx is a model where the vibrating membrane is represented as a mesh of interconnected points. Each point is given physical properties including mass, inertia, stiffness, damping, and all that good physics stuff. For the musician, this means Drumaxx gives you control over multiple parameters such as material, thickness, tension and shape. More importantly, the parameters can be modulated in real-time as a function of velocity or external controls. The drum body is also under user control too, including body material, size, vibration damping, and shape. All this gives you multi-dimensional performance options, a Matrix of variables providing nearly infinite possibilities.

Crysonic Updates Sindo Stereo Image Widener To Version 3.5

February , 2010

Crysonic has updated Sindo to version 3.5. The latest version of Sindo is Crysonics third Generation Professional stereo image Expander (widener) / Narrowing Audio plug-in Processor. Version 3.5 introduces new features such as customizable UI interface colors and an industry first Stereo image compression feature — this is not to be confused with audio level compression however it is a proprietary stereo field width compression system developed by crysonic which is fully automated and working at zero latency allowing the user to attain maximum stereo width and retain mono compatibility with minimal side effects.

Another important and proprietary tool made available with Sindo is the multi-band Stereo Dynamics section with smoothing, which further adds better stereo presence and definition without coloring the sound. Low frequency stereo separation can also be separately targeted with adjustable cut-off frequencies and width amounts together with the ability to preview. Sindo 3.5 features a unique stereo field display showing information regarding stereo phase coherence/ correlation and compression amounts for both Left and Right Channels when active. These and many other enhancements are now part of Sindo V3.

Sindo 3.5 offers a uniquely powerful stereo toolkit for digital editing, mastering and tracking for all stereo audio material. Sindo allows to dramatically broaden and ’sweeten’ the spaciousness of the stereo image whilst retaining mono compatibility and not affecting the tonal character of the original sound. The Global and individually adjustable frequency Rotations can be used to Pan the center stereo image without altering the mix level balance.

Designed for efficiency Sindo 3.5 comprises of an intuitive user interface with full automation of all parameters and new enhancements such as the ability to double click on any dial to set it to default. The fatiguing ‘phasiness’ found in other processors of this type has been avoided by adhering to established audio engineering principals. Two Phase-compensated Hi and Low Shufflers are also included to further enhance and improve the spaciousness without introducing unwanted artifacts.

Crysonic’s Sindo 3.5 costs $129 and comes in the Native Universal Binary AU, VST flavor for Mac and VST for PC users. There’s a New Release Special for $50.95 until the 4th of March 2010, regular price $129 All previous Crysonic customers can purchase Sindo for $31.95.

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lut

VH1`s 100 ...

dodane: 2010-02-21 21:43:33 ostatnia zmiana: 2010-05-01 15:39:56

VH1`s 100 Most Shocking Music Moments (2009)

From popeater:

1-20 Include (The Top 20 is randomized): Sinead O`Connor`s Pope-ripping `SNL` incident, murders aplenty (Marvin Gaye, Tupac, Notorious BIG, John Lennon), deaths (Michael Jackson, the Great White concert fire, The Who concert tragedy, Kurt Cobain), animal abuse (by both Alice Cooper and Ozzy) Britney Spears` head-shaving, Nikki Sixx`s overdose ... nope, we`re not done. The arm-taking Def Leppard accident, Chris Brown`s assault on Rihanna, the jockery of Woodstock 99 and, of course, Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown`s trip to Israel.

The rest of the `100 Most Shocking Music Moments`

21. Disco Demolition
22. Altamont
23. Akon throws fan
24. T.I. gun bust
25. Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash
26. Rick James busted
27. Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift at 2009 VMAs
28. Elvis Presley death
29. John Lennon says Beatles are bigger than Jesus
30. Michael Jackson trial
31. Nas album controversy
32. Fergie pees her pants
33. Lisa `Left Eye` Lopes death
34. Gary Glitter child porn bust
35. Bjork airport attack
36. James Brown on PCP
37. 50 Cent shot 9 times
38. The Who drummer Keith Moon replaced by fan
39. Travis Barker / DJ AM plane crash
40. Axl Rose beats up fan
41. Scott Stapp drunk on Spike TV
42. Chuck Berry`s toilet tapes
43. Van Halen`s 1979 tour
44. WASP onstage torture chamber
45. Cam`ron won`t snitch
46. Lisa `Left Eye` Lopes burns down house
47. Jim Morrison death
48. Johnny Cash attacked by ostrich
49. Diana Ross DUI
50. KISS Kasket
51. George Michael bust
52. Motley Crue release The Dirt
53. Eazy E dies of AIDS
54. DMX at JFK
55. Keith Richards snorts
56. Ted Nugent adopts girlfriend
57. Sid & Nancy
58. Grace Slick taunts Germans
59. Michael Jackson dangles baby
60. Courtney Love in NYC
61. Ozzy Osbourne / Nikki Sixx gross out contest
62. Rush`s Alex Lifeson fight with cops
63. Dave Matthews poop scandal
64. Oasis attacked by fan
65. Cop Killer
66. Mick Jagger / Keith Richards drug bust, orgy rumor
67. Jam Master Jay murder
68. George Jones tractor DUI
69. Gram Parsons` corpse kidnapped
70. Metallica on stage accident
71. Boy George hooker scandal
72. Courtney Love at Pam Anderson Roast
73. Ant flips out
74. Danzig KO`d Adam
75. Aaliyah plane crash
76. Faith Hill chews out fan for grabbing hubby`s crotch
77. Sebastian Bach hit with bottle, attacks fan
78. Pete Doherty bloody interview
79. ODB cashes welfare check
80. Cyndi Lauper eats bird poop during concert
81. Whitney Houston and Serge Gainsbourg
82. Three 6 Mafia win Oscar
83. Sonny Bono skiing accident
84. Blues Traveler John Popper gun bust
85. Green Day wakes fan from coma
86. Mayhem sheep head injury
87. Randy Rhoads plane crash
88. Elvis meets Nixon
89. Billy Bob Thornton awkward interview
90. Steven Tyler casts underage daughter as stripper in video
91. Bobby Brown fight at Disneyland
92. Vince Neil TV facelift
93. Selena shot by fan
94. Leif Garrett car accident and BTM reunion
95. Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman marries teen
96. KISS drummer impersonated by homeless man
97. Three Dog Night singer Chuck Negron`s penis explodes
98. Foxy Brown assaults manicurists
99. Poison feud at VMAs
100. Beyonce falls

I think John Lennon or Michael Jackson will be #1.

In comparison: here`s the original list in 2001 when it was called "VH1`s 100 Most Shocking Moments In Rock & Roll" (with a dark, red, black, and scary background):

100 MOST SHOCKING MOMENTS IN ROCK & ROLL

1. John Lennon murdered
2. Michael Jackson accused
3. Altamont
4. Kurt Cobain suicide
5. Marvin Gaye murdered
6. Fans trampled at The Who concert in Cincinnati
7. Milli Vanilli Exposed
8. Woodstock `99
9. Sinead O`Connor rips Pope
10. Beatles more popular than Jesus
11. Madonna`s "Sex"
12. Alice Cooper`s chicken madness
13. Jerry Lee Lewis marries teen cousin
14. Elvis Presley shocks America
15. PMRC hearings
16. Sid Vicious charged with murder
17. Led Zeppelin shark attack
18. Ozzy Osbourne bites head off dove
19. Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial disaster
20. Tommy Lee / Pamela Anderson sex video
21. Death of Elvis Presley
22. Beach Boys befriend Charles Manson
23. Prince changes name
24. Judas Priest on trial
25. Rick James busted
26. Rolling Stones / Marianne Faithfull busted
27. Selena slain
28. George Michael`s bathroom bust
29. James Brown races cops
30. Tupac murdered
31. Jim Morrison busted
32. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes burns down house
33. Al Green gets religion
34. John and Yoko`s "Two Virgins" cover
35. Ice T`s "Cop Killer"
36. Nikki Sixx cheats death
37. David Bowie`s fascist flirtation
38. Michael Jackson outbids Paul McCartney
39. Eminem lyric controversy
40. Van Halen`s 1979 tour
41. Professor Griff`s explosive interview
42. "Rock Around the Clock" riots
43. The Go-Go`s sex video
44. Death of Keith Moon`s chauffeur
45. Courtney Love`s press controversy
46. Gary Glitter`s child porn bust
47. Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley
48. Snoop Dogg`s murder rap
49. Brian Wilson suffers nervous breakdown
50. Bob Marley`s assassination attempt
51. Payola scandal
52. Iggy Pop cuts himself on stage
53. Chuck Berry`s shocking home videos
54. N`Sync break free
55. Curtis Mayfield`s tragic accident
56. Grace Slick`s drunken performance
57. Sly Stone`s rock and roll wedding
58. Pamela Des Barres bares all
59. Keith Richard Canadian drug bust
60. 2 Live Crew Obscenity Trial
61. Gloria Estefan`s bus accident
62. Black Crowe`s cover banned
63. Studio 54 busted
64. Bill Wyman marries teen
65. Death of Michael Hutchence
66. Suge Knight renegotiates with Vanilla Ice
67. L7 Tampon assault
68. Bobby Darin`s family secret
69. Lynyrd Skynyrd graves vandalized
70. Red Hot Chili Peppers put a sock on it
71. Freddie Mercury dies of AIDS
72. Puffy`s gun trouble
73. John Fogerty sued for plagiarizing himself
74. Neil Young sued for not sounding enough like himself
75. Carnie Wilson`s surgery webcast
76. "Sgt. Pepper`s" the movie
77. Cynthia Plastercaster
78. Kiss on fire
79. Rick Wakeman`s "King Arthur" on ice
80. Axl Rose takes a stage dive
81. The Who explode on TV
82. Boy George on heroin
83. Marilyn Manson becomes priest in church of Satan
84. Campaign to deport John Lennon
85. Whitney Houston misses Oscars
86. Geto Boy shot in eye
87. Madonna`s "Like a Prayer" condemned by church
88. Cat Stevens condemns Rushdie
89. Def Leppard drummer loses arm
90. MC Hammer bankrupt
91. Stevie Wonder`s near fatal car accident
92. Homeless man impersonates Kiss drummer
93. Death of Karen Carpenter
94. Fan struck by lightning
95. Gram Parson`s corpse kidnapped
96. Bjork attacks reporter
97. Screamin` Jay Hawkins fathers over 50 kids
98. David Crosby, sperm donor
99. Elvis meets Nixon
100. Wendy O. Williams arrested for obscenity

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