The comeback of the Commodore

Before smartphones, laptops and game consoles there was a piece of history that remains in people's minds and hearts for the joyful memories. The Commodore 64 was at the beginning of the 80's the platform for entertainment that any kid would want. It was a portable keyboard with the hardware inside that could be plugged to your television in the living room. Unfortunately bad market strategies and poor leadership caused the company to close. But this did not stop fans from worshiping a piece of electronic history and in 2011 is expected a re-launch of a more modernized version. One of the newest version is called the Commodore VIC Pro that has a more modern appeal with many updated and upgrades, from DVD player to SD card slots and USB ports. The evolution of a 'new' product comes with an average price tag of $600 and other versions that promise to rethink the concept of the personal computer. 

The original Commodore 64 from 1982

Commodore VIC Pro

Commodore VIC Slim

According to Commodor's website there are plans to revive the Amiga series with the models 1000, 2000 and 3000. The design looks modern and futuristic enough for a major comeback to compete against other hardware names.

Floating city

Imagine leaving your home boarding a ship so big you won't feel the waves rocking. A ship so big that can house  transportation on wheel to reach the extremities and maybe a runway on the upper deck. This is the direction and the future of ship design that are more than your average cruise in the Caribbean, they are floating cities that can host thousands and thousands of people while touring the world.

Freedom Ship is the design of a possible mega-ship that will be build without following the standard hull construction methods. The project is a staggering 1371 m in length, 106.7 m in height of 25 decks, and 33000 room units. 

Building better cities

To create a functional city we must consider the importance of its design and blue prints in order to have something long lasting. People have been building cities from previous generations and walls, many were upgrades built on top of existing structure while others are not good example of architecture. 

We previously discussed about Paolo Soleri and Arcosanti in Arizona, where it's possible to build better cities that are the opposite of what the current design is. We notice immediately the main difference between North American cities and Europeans ones where roads and blocks are completely different in size and shape. The wide and square approach of the new continent led to thinking in big to accommodate the byproducts of this philosophy.

Building better cities is the next big challenge that the human kind faces, with the implementation of renewable energy sources and very low pollution levels. The urban system must be radicalized to create something progressive and innovative and Jacque Fresco had the right idea forty years ago with Project Venus, a possible solution for humanity towards a better living. The new architecture will have cities built in a concentric pattern where in the center there will be the core of the fully automated structure. Food will be grown pesticide-free in tower crops to save space and resources saving water consumption and it will be enough to feed everybody. 

The lifestyle proposed by this project is a radical change in social behavior and human interactions, in fact Jacques Fresco sustains that poverty,crime and corruption can be prevented if people live in this urban system because the economy won't be based upon money but resources. A Resourced-Based Economy (RBE) is needed to dismantle all the obstacles that defy this planet and instead of banknotes and coins people will be rewarded with what is needed in resources.

The new society will live in an environment where greed, corruption, religions and politics are non existent because Fresco strongly believes that those factors are the real problems that led humanity into the current conditions it's going through.
It's not only architecture, but also a revolution in transportation from cars to helicopters to water transportation where automation will be the key factor to increase safety and prolong human life by diminishing the mortality rate. 
The focus of this project is on natural resources that Earth can provide for a very long time when its distribution is well planned. The use of renewable energy sources is the primary goal to improve the condition of the planet by avoiding fossil fuels and immersing homes and buildings into forests and water bodies.
A Resource-Based Economy does not require money to run and according to Fresco this will perish the crime related to money obsession, that are source of violent and non-violent crimes on this planet.

Nike Vs Reebok shoes selection

Randomly browsing the internet I came across several pictures of Nike and Reebok shoes that have unique styles...


Nike Blue Lobster
The shoes is the classy walking-style format, but with the markings that lobstars have on their shell.

Nike Red Lobster?

The markings make this shoe look like it came out of a restaurant. The table-cloth inside matches perfectly with the already-cooked lobster outside texture.

Nike Tiffany

The colours are inspired by the classy theme of the famous jewelery Tiffany's. The high contrast between the black and the light blue make us think of early 60s theme.

Nike Heineken

These pair is something I've never seen. It spells dedication to beer drinking, but the colours are fine... bottle not included.

Nike Guns 'n' Roses

These are my favorite because they are dedicated to one of the best Rock N Roll band of the last century. The theme is with high contrast, but that because you be walking Hollywood's main streets to be noticed.

Reebok Basquiat

These pairs celebrate the famous New York Artist Jean Micheal Basquiat with his metropolitan style on feet.

Reebok Voltron

I almost bought the green pair, too bad the shoe store did not have my size. Here's the Voltron design from the  80s cartoon series.

Reebok Pump Green Glow

These shoes spells TRON for the design and the fact that at night you will be coolest person ever. But during day you will be Bruce Wayne with a white pair of shoes.

Reebok Pump Colette

I don't know the design history, but this flashback from past is welcome as it brings back a whole era.

Thinner and thinner

We have another landmark from Apple and it's called Mcbook Air. But this time it's smaller and thinner than the previous versions because on the market you can find the 11.6 and 13.3 inches. It is a symbol of design that continues to draw attentions worldwide and it is called the wow effect , because Apple is good at surprising its costumers. 

It is a fine product that defines another chapter in technology because others are only trailing after Apple.

Why is that? Some do argue that Steve Jobs' products are good but focus too much on aesthetics. Others are die-hard fans who sustain that Apple's products are the latest in portable gadgets.

The design is similar to the first Air distributed with the exception of its reduced size. It also means that ethernet port and cd/dvd are not present. but there are at least two USB 2.0 ports. It is the perfect tool to carry around if you are not familiar/friendly with the iPad or if you do not like tapping on a screen.

This is not only a gadget, but also another important step for mainstream product to become. Mcbook air's Specs are shrunk to reduced in order to better fit its size and to dissipate heat in a smarter way. Off course it will be always a choice between style Vs. functionality.

You know it's not democracy when you smell something funny

Somehow it was clear that external influences were being used to wrap the whole thing as fast as possible. Yet, the fact that internet is a valuable tool was proved again, when officials channels are not giving us facts, but fiction. When the case of Pirate Bay came out we stood upon the beginning of understanding who is who and which is which.

For ages the media outlet painted a dark and sinister image of the underground internet to push the masses towards the hate. It all goes down to following the everlasting thought "I don't know it, therefore I must despise it!". There is more to it than what you might think.

It's all happening in Sweden where the biggest torrent server Pirate Bay was under attack from the Swedish authorities to shut down operations, under the false accusation that they were facilitating the worldwide industry of movie/game piracy.

What merged was an intricate game of cat ad mouse where foreign pressures were applied directly by the US, from the RIAA ( Record Industry Association of America). Someone was upset that a bunch of kids from Europe were upsetting the cash flow in Hollywood. It also looks like that the interests of few people are far more important than geo-political issues happening on this planet, and before you can say the word "Lawsuit" a search warrant was issued against the operating location of the Pirate Bay. The rest is well known, but now we are seeing the aftermath piece by piece all over the internet.

Browsing Reddit I found this interesting article about how the US forced Sweden to crackdown on the Pirate Bay and on file sharing. It is upsetting that two countries so far away and culturally apart are magically summoned by the attention of piracy that is only allegedly hurting a very small minority in USA. What is also disturbing is that if Sweden denied cooperation it would have faced trading sanction directly by the US.

There a feeling of being at gun point jumps into my mind: if Sweden does not do what America wants, shit will hit the fan. There's democracy taking place where the movie and the recording industry is desperately trying all it can to grant survivability for the next five years, maybe.

What followed after is a huge chunk of information given from many blogs, torrent and technology website over how really the situation is unfolding. But the impoverished RIAA would suffer the synergy of the internet users when the events of the Wikileaks and the secret cables followed suit after the Pirate Bay shut down and became a political party. What remained is a trail of news and facts that put together are becoming a clear mosaic that represents the private and shady deals that American corporations are orchestrating on a global scale. It's clear that whenever there is the will and the power anything can be done in no-time, and this highlight the arrogant behavior of US politicians whenever their shady interests are touched. 

I wish USA cold be that quick in eradicating real-life threats like starvation and famine, things that matter more than a few less dollars that the RIAA doesn't get. But it also shows a failed American foreign diplomacy that acts only upon the needs of the few in an aggressive way that casts shadow over the creation of a fair bill over net neutrality.

INDIE!

It has the meaning of some sort of underground musical trend that you heard somewhere, but you weren't sure what it's made of. Indie is the underground, it's the label of the creation that comes from outside the mainstream.
Some will say it's the underdog and it sounds like it because someone managed to become big.
When I started playing Minecraft I thought I was getting into another easy-catch game that would fill the empty hours for a week or two. I way wrong and on top of that I was amazed by the success that Machinarium had last year.

Machinarium presents its original art

The majority of these indie games are based one principle which is to have a product that works and it's fun. Creators are game-veterans that treasured the big-developer mistake and spawned something with an amazing game play. Graphics are, off course, not the top-notch quality because of limited materials and budget. What you have in your hands is a truly amazing creation that has the possibility to influence the rest of the player-base.

Minecraft met Hollywood

There's a whole new galaxy of games that are packed wit more content and more fun than your latest action game. The price tag comes simple because you won't spend a fortune for these games. Many indie developers create functional products that are awarded for their creativity because they don't go through a marketing screening that can influence the final product.

Indie is also those who create mods to perfect games that are already an establishment. Take for  instance Half Life 2 with its mod community that crafted many original products like the Minerva, a successful modifications still played today.