It’s that time of the year when my banged up Sony Ericsson looks like it needs an overhaul. Well, I usually swop phones like once every 2-3 years unlike most other peeps and only if I see something passable. Which is usually a Sony Ericsson cos I can’t use Japan only phones and Blackberries and iPhones are overpriced and way too ubiquitous. So I willingly choose to struggle with slow as crap OSes and whatever other problems my phones tend to have.
I’ve always been a Sony fan ever since Walkmen came out, it’s like the one branch of techy Jap mecha style design I actually like. Good thing they’ve decided to launch a whole slew of new, sleek phones. The Aino is compatible with the PS3, able to run media off it as well as act as a remote on/off switch. Not much point and I haven’t got a PS3 but I might be able to screw a friend over or something. The Satio is the top end entertainment phone but I really don’t need all the extra megapixels and etc. The X2 is the next level Xperia smartphone which I like cos it’s got the full qwerty keyboard. I’ve been spoiled by my current phone that also has one. There’s also a few other new ones but they don’t really interest me aesthetically but suffice to say, there’s another walkman/youth type phone and a next next level smartphone.
The Aino comes with a dock and looks like sex, but it’s a slider. Which is not really me. I’ll have to feel it in person and hopefully there’s no ugly exposed screws and they paid some attention to what it looks like opened up,
The Satio looks good too, especially the 3 wavy buttons on the bottom/right depending on your orientation. But I’m not keen to splash 1k on extra functions I don’t need. Why don’t people make phones that just call and message anyway?
The X2 though, with it’s full keyboard side slider design makes me a hypocrite cos I really don’t need a smartphone right now but I’d love a phone with a full keyboard.
In summary, I’d like Naoto Fukasawa to work with Sony Ericsson and make me a cubey type, tactile little clamshell phone with no camera, no extraneous functionality beyond the classic concept of a mobile phone. See Nokia 8250/Startac etc. Hmm maybe I should just get an old phone.
I want a cool camera that is smallish and shoots good. I’ve narrowed things down to 2. The first is the gold standard for prosumer compacts, the Panasonic LX-3. The second is its latest challenger, the Canon S90. Bear in mind the former is over a year old. The latter came out in August this year.
Looks wise, the S90 wins for me. Clean, cute, simple, old schoolish and smaller. The LX-3 though, you can attach the Ricoh LC 1 lens cover and suddenly, it becomes super awesome. Check out the video!
Performance wise, they’re both prosumer compacts. Both come with exceptionally bright and fast lenses that go down to f2.0. The LX-3 comes with a super wide angle, 24mm lens. Which makes it very unique. The S90 though, has greater range, 28-105mm compared to 24-60mm on the LX-3. The S90’s sensor is slightly smaller than the LX-3’s but I’ll assume the difference is negligible for my purposes. Apparently, the S90 reduces more noise but loses detail whilst the LX-3 is noisier but more detailed. Macro mode wise, which is the main reason why I would want a new camera, the LX-3 wins hands down with its 1cm macro focusing. That’s just insane. The S90 is 5cm in comparison. The S90 comes with 3.8x optical versus the LX-3’s 2.5x zoom. But I don’t think it really bothers me. I want to shoot up close, not from faraway and then zoom in.
The only reason why I think the Canon would be good is because it also comes with a control ring. In fact, it’s got 2 control rings, one customizable to whatever you want. Kinda like a DSLR, which you can set to make it change various functions, from aperture to focus to ISO etc. Pretty nifty, even if it smells like a gimmick.
I’m still leaning towards the LX-3. Price wise, at the moment, they’re pretty similar. I reckon the LX-3 would cost me a little bit less after I fix a Ricoh LC1 on it and ultimately, it seems more like the camera that I want for my purposes, even if I think the Canon looks much better. It’s also got a hot shoe and you can get a super wide macro lens for it. Which seems to have made my mind up I guess. God, am I actually sacrificing form for function? Well, I suppose I could get the Leica D-Lux 4, which is basically slightly improved over the LX-3, just in a much sleeker and sexier body. It also fits the Ricoh thingy! HAHAHA, best of both worlds! Pity, it’s about $400 more than the other 2!
Ok this isn’t a collabo album between a retired basketball player and Danger Mouse. No folks, Magic Mouse is Apple’s latest product, a multi touch surface mouse that hopefully does away with the problems of the old one, the fact that the side panels were oversensitive and the scroll wheel died after like 3 months. It ain’t that pricey either. Plus it’s wireless and they apparently upgraded the laser tracking. Plus you can use the multi touch functions you’ve come to love on your iPod touch, iPhone, Macbooks… No clue about how ergonomic or how accurate the clicks are though.
One thing I love about food is all the awesome gadgets and stuff you get to use. Whilst I am still dreaming of working in a commercial kitchen that uses thermomixes, immersion circulators and centrifuges, I also love the old world stuff, like the slicer below by Berkel. It’s a vintage one you operate by hand that’s been restored by some dude in Italy. The company was the one that made the first ever meat slicer back at the turn of the century, which revolutionised the way butchers worked. It also gave rise to the popularity of fine sliced dry cured meats like prosciutto and jamon.
Would you rather breathe your chocolate than eat it? Le Whif is a new product that involves an aerosol spray that puts about 50mg of choc powder in your mouth each time you use it. It comes in 4 flavors, including mint, raspberry, mango and just chocolate. Because the entire amount is so small, you consume a negligible amount of calories. So its basically a device that lets you taste chocolate without having to eat it.
I suppose that this is like nicotine patches for chocolate addicted dieters. Only, most people I know who like chocolate disregard the “sinful” nature of the food and wholly engorge themselves upon the decadence before them, be they Snickers or Varlhona.
The main criticism I have for it is that it removes the soul out of the whole process of eating. Instead of making it a process where nourishment is derived from consumption, it becomes a fallacy. Trading flavor for an empty stomach.
Not to mention the fact that you only utilise your tastebuds in the exercise, removing the need for gustatory action or textural delights from eating real chocolate, which is like hello? the best thing evar?
However, it is an interesting point of view, one that suggests the lightest possible way to enjoy flavor, without actually eating much. You lose almost all texture and feel but you taste something. Which is great if you are inquiring as to the flavor. Not necessarily the overall experience. What if you could turn this into a sort of flavor sampler thingamajig? Like for flashy restaurants where customers get bamboozled when they see a jumble of French terms on menus.
Filed under: Comedy, Fashion, Film, Gadgets, Graphics, Music | Tags: wes anderson
If you can’t tell, I’ve been utilizing Singapore’s high speed internet quite a bit recently, since I’ve also been down with the cold from eating too much heaty durian. Anyway, enough of confessions.
I like Wes Anderson. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is one of those typically offbeat films that’s right up my alley. It stars Bill Murray in the lead role as Steve Zissou, who’s probably based on Jacques Cousteau. He’s the captain of a ship that makes film documentaries of their adventures, which involve many fantastical sea creatures and mysteries of the deep blue. At the start of the film, he’s depressed because his best friend and first mate, Esteban, gets eaten by the elusive Jaguar Shark. His recent work has also been panned by the media and critics and he’s in a bit of a life crisis.
A man who claims to be his son, Owen Wilson’s Ned Plimpton character, manages to reignite Zissou’s drive somewhat and he is determined to find the creature that ate his friend. He rallies his crew, which includes his wife and the brains behind Team Zissou, Angelica Huston’s Eleanor, Seu Jorge more or less playing himself as Pele, Willem Dafoe’s Klaus, who sees Zissou as a father, Cate Blanchett’s pregnant reporter hottie as well as a token Indian guy, a token Japanese guy, a token Russian guy, a token Italian guy and a token script girl who’s usually topless. Jeff Goldblum plays Zissou’s nemesis, Alaistair Hennessey and there’s also a producer with lovely octogonal glasses, a “Bond Company Stooge”, a bunch of interns on the ship and Filipino pirates to complete the large-ish cast.
We get to see their adventures, which seem like a blend of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea with a mockumentary style. There’s the cutaway side view of the boat, where you get introduced to the various partitions. One particular scene is quite memorable as you see Zissou and Ned walking through the whole ship, which includes a “science lab”, a recording studio and a spa. Oh there’s also 2 homing dolphins that accompany the ship plus a helicopter and have I mentioned they have their own private island with a killer whale?
Much like The Darjeeling Limited, The Life Aquatic is filled with tons of minutely detailed, unique to the film stuff. These manage to help create a very vivid picture of a world with imaginary places, filled with color and character. Its a romantic idea of the old world time of exploration and adventure, before cold hard science eliminated the idea of magic and fantasy and kids really believed in Santa Claus.
Standard issue on the boat, the Adidas Zissou edition Rom, which was part of a failed internet campaign to get Adidas to reproduce it. Plz excuse shitty lace job.
I loved the costumes and the identity design for the film. Zissou’s insignia was a big Z in baby blue over a white background, with 2 smaller Zs at the top left and bottom right. They also wear similar baby blue tracksuits and red beanies as well as sweaters with a Z stitched in white. Its like a tacky sort of Scandinavian Navy/Star Trek uniform concept. Even Zissou’s nemesis, Hennessey, had a white and gray H logo amidst a psuedo gay concept seeing as his ship is full of boys with swept back blonde hair wearing shorts.
The music is superb, with work from Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh mingling with Sigur Ros (perfect match for that scene) and Seu Jorge’s Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs.
I think the film is one that definitely appeals to the boys. Its chock full of boy concepts like deep sea adventures and cool gadgets and funky uniforms and harpoons and glocks and shit. Missed/repressed childhood x missing patriarchal connections status. Quirky for sure, and makes you wish life really was like that. Pure escapism at its mocking best.
Brian Eno has a music generation app for the iPhone called Bloom, which basically allows you to listen to or create some ambient style music if you’re so inclined.
A similar program is Electroplankton, by Toshio Iwai, which I gleaned off the previous viddy’s comments. This one is for the Nintendo DS and introduces a more varied interface with interesting sandbox style results.
This smackingly patriotic piece is basically a testament to the wonderful country of S 2 da G. Where else do you get freakin’ express customs counters where you scan your passport with an IR then roll a thumbprint scan to double confirm your identity against your passport. Takes all of 5 seconds. Locals only. Suck it.
Ok. This is quite cool. A documentary on industrial design with appearances by Chris Bangle, The Bouroullec Brothers, IDEO, Naoto Fukasawa, Jonathan Ive, Hella Jongerius, Marc Newson, Dieter Rams (omg!), Karim Rashid and plenty more. Including yourself in the credits roll if you fork over $500 to help support the thing. Made by the guy who did THAT Helvetica documentary, if you recall from ‘07 by Gary Hustwit. Objectified is all about design and the people behind it and the processes behind it. If the earlier film is anything to go by, I’m sure the music will be awesome.
The trailer for this already looks super dope. I hope it goes a long way to demystifying the false idea that design is just some flashy packaging crap or fancy colors. Ok, maybe some product designers are still all about pure form and style but the stuff they design still contain certain emotive aspects that transcend simply aesthetics. Still, I don’t really expect the general public to ever catch the film but I’m sure bits of it will feed around. So gonna geek out staring at form blocks and foam and pencils and markers and shit.
Ps. If you peep the Objectified logo, its by Build and its composed of some iconic objects, like the Panton Chair or the iPod scroll wheel. You can kop dat on a $20 AA t-shirt. Tres chic~!
As you may know, Mac doesn’t even bother labelling their computers as laptops anymore. From their perspective, its more of a desktop replacement that also happens to be portable, a notebook computer. From the users perspective, its too damn hot of a beast to be placed on the lap.
Even when placed on a table, my Macbook Pro gets seriously warm to the touch, not scorching mind but warm enough. I’m not unduly worried but also understand the importance maintaining a cool system has on performance.
The solution? To get Bluelounge’s Cool Feet which is basically 4 suction cups you attach to the bottom of your computer, effectively propping it up for marginally better ergonomics and immensely improved air flow where it matters. Its also pretty cute to boot.
