Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Al Gore is a Savage

Here is a clip, from a U.S. House subcommittee hearing, of Al Gore angrily condescending Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) after being questioned about his ties with a venture capital firm that stands to benefit from proposed climate change legislation.



Gore’s behavior toward Blackburn, and her behavior toward him, serve as a microcosm of the struggle occurring between the ‘climate change’ cabal vs. Americans who simply want to know the truth about the ‘science’ of global warming, and those who stand to profit, both financially and by amassing substantial political power, through its acceptance.

Congresswoman Blackburn is courteous, sincere and honest in her questioning. Alternatively, Mr. Gore is rude (even to the point of sneering and laughing at her heartfelt concern), derisive, and defensive in his answers.

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Saturday, April 25, 2009

Syracuse's Own: Barbosa and The Don



My boys Cam and Don, respectively known as Barbosa and The Don, made a music video for their song "Typical SU Weekend." Cam makes music on GarangeBand in his free time and has really improved since first semester. More props to Cam on the editing, which was all done on iMovie. But definitely pay attention to the scene where Don is eating the burrito; we did not tell him to act depressed or look solemly out the window- that's apparently how he eats when he's by himself... which is hilarious. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video...

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

New Los Freestyle


With most artists, I would definitely say that this was written down and memorized, but with Los you can never tell. Like I said before, and Los says in this video, he is no long with Bad Boy Records, which I'm happy about because Diddy has a habit of putting artist's careers on the backburner (have you even heard of Day 26?). Los also gave props to another of my favorite emerging artists, Drake, whose album, Thank Me Later, is slated to drop late 2009 or early 2010 so look out for that in the near future.

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Unluckiest Guy Ever?

Milton Boneta, a 61 year old Philadelphia resident, was killed in his motorized wheelchair when a SEPTA bus hit him as he was making a left turn across Eight Street and Girard Avenue. In a tragic twist of fate, police said, Boneta lost a leg in September when a SEPTA bus hit him near the same location. "That's why he was in a wheelchair," said Sgt. Lawrence Ritchie of the Accident Investigation Division. Getting fatally struck by a bus is terrible in and of itself. But getting killed by a bus, in a wheelchair that you were confined after getting it by another bus, is monumentally miserable.

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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Throwback


I came across this old De La Soul video today as I was looking for new music on YouTube. Not only is this a De La Soul classic, but it's definitely one of the trippiest music videos ever. If you have enough patience, watch the whole thing. Cameos inlude Remy Ma and Dave Chappelle.

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Interesting..


There is no end to people’s creativity when it comes to Twitter, but this seems to be in a a category of its own. Randy Sarafan has modified his office chair with technology that will detect when he farts and then rank it according to methane density. It then transmits this information through his Twitter account to all his followers (which has amassed to 200 as of about a week ago).

The setup is surprisingly simple and there is even an online guide so you can create your own. It involves, a natural gas sensor does the sniffing; an Arduino (an open-source electronics platform) does the thinking; an XBee wireless module does the communicating; Twitter does the sharing. It’s a feat, to be sure.

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Government Incompetancy

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration recently postponed its crucial program to rejuvenate quarter-century-old Trident missile warheads because no one can remember how to make a key component of the weapons (codenamed "Fogbank"), according to a March 2nd report of the Government Accountability Office. The GAO found that, despite concern over the bombs' safety and reliability, NNSA count not replicate the manufacturing process because all knowledgeable personnel have left the agency or no written records were kept. Just terrible..

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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Real Life Big Brother


A pair of bills introduced in the U.S. Senate would grant the White House sweeping new powers to access private online data, regulate the cybersecurity industry, and even shut down Internet traffic during a declared "cyber emergency." Senate bills No. 773 and 778, introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat from West Virginia, are both part of what's being called the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which would create a new Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor, reportable directly to the President and charged with defending the country from cyber attack. Essentially, the President would have the power to unilaterally turn off the Internet.

A working draft of the legislation by an Internet privacy group also spells out plans to grant the Secretary of Commerce access to all privately owned information networks deemed to be critical to the nation's infrastructure "without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access." Privacy advocates and Internet experts have been quick to sound the alarm over the act's broadly drawn government powers. "The cybersecurity threat is real," says Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, which obtained the draft of S.773, "but such a drastic federal intervention in private communications technology and networks could harm both security and privacy."

My main concern with this bill, aside from the obvious, is its working copy does not define what a cybersecurity emergency is. Apparently, it leaves that question to the discretion of the President, which is a gross over-extension of executive authority. If this bill is signed into law, I will lose all faith in humanity.

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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Brand New Los

Below is a new track off Los' new mixtape, Welcome to Swaggsville, which, according to his myspace, is "coming soon." The song is called "It's Your Birthday" over The-Dream's "Rockin' That" beat.

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Funk Doc Is Still RAW


Here is Redman's freestyle for Radio Planet TV. Blackout! 2, Method Man & Redman's most recent work since 1999, is slated for release April 28th. It should be good- "How High" and "Da Rockwilder" were classics.

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If you can't decide between the soy macchiato or the green tea frappuccino, then you have...

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Prosthetic Eye?



Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence said recently that he would install a prosthetic eye with a camera and a wireless transmitter into the sock from which one of his eyes had been removed as the result of a childhood accident. He hopes to control the prosthetic eye in the same way that his muscles control his good eye; to record what his eyes see, and his first project will be a documentary on people's attitudes about privacy in an "Orwellian society." (Remember 1984). Spence says, "The best way to make a connection (with an interviewee) is through eye contact," he said. "When you bring in a camera, people change."

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Interesting Sneaker Concept


The Nike (Burger) Air Max 90, commissioned by Nike for design by Ole Hemmendorff and 7 other creative minds, is a shoe which might prove to be the strangest footwear ever created. Hemmendorff claims that the shoe is designed with hamburger because the meat is “the most powerful, must durable and most delicious material known to man." The Nike Burger sneakers will be on display at Sneakers ‘N’ Stuff in Stockholm for the next two months.

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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Alternative Energy




The National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is working on creating a laser which can compress and heat a single fuel capsule to more than 180 million degrees in order to trigger a thermonuclear reaction. Essentially, they’re building a Death Star Laser (pictured above, below). The idea is to create a kind of miniature sun on earth that would supply “limitless, safe, and carbon free energy.” The reaction will be accomplished by superheating the outside of a fuel capsule containing about one millionth of a pound of deuterium and tritium. This will cause the interior of the capsule to compress while the exterior explodes much like a star does. The biggest challenge? Containing the reaction as 180 million degrees will melt just about any known substance here on earth. This could either be one of the most significant accomplishments in recent history or the absolute worst idea ever. This kind of sounds like Doc Ock 's sustained fusion experiment from Spiderman 2 (pictured above), which almost destroyed NYC. I just hope that next year, when ignition tests are scheduled to commence, the planet will not be destroyed because there will be no Spiderman to swoop in and save the day.

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Friday, April 10, 2009

New MF DOOM Album

Posted below is a track off of MF DOOM's new album, Born Like This. Born Like This includes some sick production from J Dilla, Madlib, and Jake One. If you're not familiar with MF DOOM, his eccentric style of hip hop is a bit of an acquired taste. With an abundant use of polysyllabic rhymes and bizarre metaphors, DOOM combines complex syntax with phrasing to create a rhyme flow that is both exhausting and entertaining. If you like this song, you can check out more of his music on his myspace. I was really excited for this album, as it was DOOM's most recent work since 2004's Mad Villainy.

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Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Macbook Wheel!

Posted below is a promotional video for the fictional "Macbook Wheel," created by Comedy Central's parody newspaper, The Onion, which pokes fun at Apple's nebulous advertising and lofty consumer items. Even as a Mac user, I have to admit that this parody is not only funny, but also justified. Apple does have a rather peculiar approach to advertising. For most of its history, Apple has devoted its marketing resources toward the most indirect forms of persuasion. Seldom do Macintosh ads promote the tangible advantages of owning an Mac, but rather drape their products in veiled images of John Lennon or more recently, in short, content free, vignettes of smiling "Switchers." The "Make the Switch" campaign really only tells the public that there are some people out there who bought a Macintosh and are happy that they did. The reasons for their happiness are far less important than the simple recognition that switching is a wonderful experience. With that said, though, I love my Mac and hope you enjoy the video.

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Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Strange...


Jerry Jalava, a computer hacker from Finland, lost half his left ring finger in a motorcycle accident and decided to replace the digit with a prosthetic USB flash drive. As shown in the photo, he now has a rubber half finger with the USB drive at the end. Even from a solely logistical standpoint, this makes no sense. After he plugs his finger into the USB port, he is forced to type with one hand...

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Monday, April 6, 2009

Terminator Salvation

Slated to premiere on May 21st of this year, here's the trailer for Terminator Salvation; the fourth installment in the Terminator series:

Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, and without Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie focuses on John Connor; the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind. Notable cast members include Christian Bale as John Connor and Common as Barnes, a resistance soldier as well as John's right hand man.

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Saturday, April 4, 2009

Special Request

Los' 1st Mixtape- G5 Certified Fly
Download it HERE

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Thursday, April 2, 2009

New KiD CuDi Mixtape


KiD CuDi fansite DatNewCuDi.com has just released a new mixtape with 13 tracks of leaked KiD CuDi from 2009. It includes live freestyles & accapellas, remixed hits, and some of CuDi’s latest music all released sometime this year. Download it free here!

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Los

Posted below is up and coming Baltimore rapper, Los, and his version of Wiz Khalifa's "Say Yeah" and also his "Shoot Me Down Freestyle" over the Wayne beat. Los, as of recently, was signed to Diddy's Bad Boy Records, but due to a conflict of business interests, Los dropped Bad Boy and just recently dropped his new mixtape, "G5.2 The Defintion of Fly," which can be downloaded here. Los gained notoriety for his murder of Wayne's "A Milli" beat, which I consider to be the best of all Milli remixes. It can be found here on YouTube. He raps over alot of Wayne's beat, as well as other artists', and if you like his music you can sample more on his myspace.




Dont Shoot Me Down - Los

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