Updates Coming Soon... I Promise

In the meantime, check out these trailers for movies that definitely won't suck:

REPO MEN


KICK-ASS

Check Out-- The Original Blueprints of the Eiffel Tower

At the Eiffel Tower's official web site, you can check out scans of the original blueprints created by Gustave Eiffel in preparation for the 1889 World's Fair. The famous tower in Paris was the source of much controversy (many thought its skeletal design ruined the classical cityscape) and remained the tallest structure in the world until the Chrysler Building in 1930.

[Link: BoingBoing]

OWNED-- Texas DA Blasts Your Indiscretions All Over Twitter

District Attorney Brett Ligon in Montgomery County, Texas will soon be using his Twitter account to name and shame drunk drivers in his area.  *insert Texas joke here*  But seriously, this guy is awesome. 

Unlike the (Texas born) warden from The Longest Yard, this guy actually has a sense of humor.  He already tweets about legal events—sometimes seriously and sometimes facetiously—so this new program will just be expanding on that habit.  Honestly, check his Twitter out.. he's hilarious:

[Link: Gizmodo]

Stem Cells Give Blind Man His Sight Again

Here's an inspirational story just in time for the holidays- a 38-year-old man has regained vision in his blind eye thanks to a new stem cell therapy.
Here's how it works:

First, the team took a tiny sample of stem cells from his healthy eye's cornea. This millimeter square of cells was placed on a amniotic membrane, which was placed inside a liquid made from his blood, glucose, insulin, and hydrocortisone. The cells will grow in that solution until taking all over the membrane, which then is used to replace the damaged cornea.

The result: He completely gained eyesight after only eight weeks of the operation.

It's important to remember that this procedure is not the cure for blindness, but it's certainly a leap forward.  The implications of stem cell use are extraordinary and this story is a testament to its scientific value.  It's equally important to remember that embryonic stem cell research is not illegal.  Appropriating federal funds for research is illegal, so private investors (pharmaceutical conglormerates) must foot the bill.  NBD.


[Link: Gizmodo]

Winter Break = The Blog is Back

***NEW MUSIC***

New leak off Neako's upcoming project, Junk Food.  This one over a classic Biggavel beat.

Stream It:



Download It:

DOWNLOAD: Neako- Ready to Go (usershare)



Visuals for the Mr. Hudson assisted "Young Forever" off BP3.  Dope song, dope video.

U-N-I deserves their own "Artists to Watch" profile, but they've been around for a couple years.  Born from the ashes of gangsta rap in Inglewood CA, Y-O and Thurzday are spearheading LA's indie hip hop resurgence.  They have a very groovy and melodic sound; using angelic strings, electro bounce, and Nintendo 64 scores to create lively and progressive beats.

Y-O just dropped the first leak off their upcoming album, A Love Supreme 2.0.  A physical release of A Love Supreme (with revamped tracks, 5 bonus songs and a new playlist) hitting stores and iTunes on February 23rd.  Go to their MySpace for some more free music.

Download/Stream it:

U-N-I- Supreme (usershare)

Finals Week = Blog Hiatus

For most of this weekend, I've been trapped in the library... kind of like Tom Hanks in The Terminal.  Although instead of seeking political asylum, I've been studying for ALL FIVE OF MY FUCKING FINALS.  As I sit at my computer typing this, my hygiene is, at best, questionable; I'm on the brink of insanity; and Friday seems eons away. 

So in conclusion, I will not be posting until this weekend... blame it on the Syracuse University Registrars Office.

Music Video Madness-- Drug Dealer Girl x Shame

Visuals for Mr. Posner's single off A Matter of Time.  A+ for Rosa Acosta as the drug dealer girl. 



Another video of Wiz smokin' weed... with about as much production value as a porn film.  This one off Flight School, which dropped earlier this year.  The only reason this is getting a post is because the song is dope.  If you get bored, just watch the "Drug Dealer Girl" video again.

Bad Science-- Vodka Pills

In a moment of identity crisis, caught between his commitment to the Hippocratic Oath and his (presumable) desire to control the population, Evgeny Moskalev developed a means of turning alcohol into pill form.

Moskalev is a professor at the Saint Petersburg Technological University and his new technique can solidify any kind of alcohol, including whiskey, cognac, wine, and beer.  Moskalev believes this will be a beneficial* for people who want to calculate exactly how much alcohol they've consumed.

*This is ridiculous.  At least traditional vodka's bitter ethyl taste deters most idiots people from drinking it like water.  I can already imagine the slew of new drinking games that will spawn from these pills.  One will be "Robert Downey Jr."  It's simple- swallow the most alcohol pills at the party and then, assuming your heart rate doesn't flatline, you get crowned, "Robert Downey Jr."

This is almost as dumb as Asteroid Lassos

Props to Jordan "Dp Skeets" for the story.

Artists to Watch-- Willie the Kid + Salma Hayek Flow (Video)

A dope tribute to a beautiful woman...

Anyway, Willie the Kid is an up and comer from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He started rapping at an early age after his brother, LA the Darkman, inked a deal with the Wu Tang clan.  Since graduating from Clark Atlanta University, Willie has been heavy on the mixtape scene trying to garner a following and "return to quality," which he believes begins with artists being able to express their own voices.

Personally, I enjoy some of Willie's music.  He's a true writer; a storyteller with a punchline heavy flow whose vivid descriptions allow for both an entertaining and soothing listening experience.  Willie is currently operating under DJ Drama's Aphilliates Music Group (AMG) and released his latest mixtape, The OutKast, 3 days ago.  Nothin' but Outkast beats:

DOWNLOAD: Willie the Kid- The OutKast (rapidshare)

Snoop Dogg on Conan O'Brien

I don't know what's better- the interview or Snoop's cameo in that ridiculous German commercial.  Anyway, Malice in Wonderland is in stores (and on BitTorrent) now!

The Wheelie Bin Urinal

Rejoice, your streets will no longer run yellow with sodium-rich urine.  The Wheelie Bun Urinal concept is the clever solution to the perpetual problem of public micturition.  It's a urinal disguised as a trashcan with a gaping orifice for your penis!  (probably to compensate for the user's lack of cognitive abilities). 

In all seriousness, this is pretty ingenious.  If I'm drunk and apt to pee in the middle of the street, I'll have no problem mounting the Wheelie Bin Urinal.  Although, during the day, it is a little unsettling walking past giant receptacles of piss on the sidewalk...

*shrugs* they're probably cleaner than the hallway bathrooms in my dormitory where bile is literally eroding the porcelain toilet seats.   Ewwwwwwww

[Link: Gizmodo]

Michael Bay's Victoria's Secret Commercial

Victoria's Secret has got the ladies.  Michael Bay has the cars, helicopters, and explosions.  A match made in heaven?

KiD CuDi - Pursuit of Happiness (Video)

Visuals for the Ratatat & MGMT assisted track off Cudder's Man on the Moon: The End of Day.  Cameos from Drake & Consequence.  For those of you who don't know good music (pun!), Consequence is the one cheesin' with his goofy, dolphin teeth (about 1:00 in). 

Arm Wrestling + MMA = XARM

Ahh, senseless violence.  It's a primordial component of the human condition that is always (d)evolving.  Just look at the grisly nature of UFC, it's now a legitimate sport whose pay-per-view bouts are shown in 33 different countries worldwide.  So, where do we go from there?

XARM, for better or for worse, could be the future of combat sports.  It "combines the intimate distance of arm wrestling with the strikes, holds and general disregard for personal well-being of mixed martial arts."  The result is, in a word, nuts.

In fact,  XARM is partnering with Piranha Entertainment, a digital content development company, to design a mobile video platform.  The prevailing thought being that since the fight is so in-your-face (across a 3 foot table), it would be perfect short-form entertainment for your Blackberry or iPod.

The irony is almost too much; streaming our regression back to Cro-magnonism on perhaps our most coveted digital innovation- the portable media player.  Go humans!

In a typical bout, the combatants, who come from a variety of martial arts backgrounds, are tethered to a table to compete in three, one-minute rounds. A winner is determined by clean KO, TKO or decision, in which judges award up to 10 points in three distinct areas of performance: effective aggressiveness (scoring clean strikes), arm wrestling pins and table generalship (who controls the bout).

Watch the madness in this video below (in glorious HD, of course):




[Link: ESPN]

Eminem- Drop the Bomb on Em (prod. Dr. Dre)

Another leak off Relapse: Refill.  Dr. Dre on the beat.

Download it:

DOWNLOAD: Eminem- Drop the Bomb on Em (usershare)

Stream it:

Asteroid Lassos (The dumbest, most ridiculous idea ever)

Back in mid-October, I wrote about an asteroid that just missed Earth and, by extension, nearly wiped us from existence.  I still think I'm the only one who thought that was a big deal after reading the Air Force defense plan...

Simply put, we'll use a weighted lasso to alter the asteroid's path (by changing its center of mass and subsequently its trajectory), thus avoiding a potential Armageddon.  The "plan" involves about 60,000 miles of cord, a multi-billion pound weight, and anywhere between 10-50 years of preparation.

Awesome.  Considering there are about 7 million other monolithic objects in the near-Earth space, most of which could destroy our planet, we just don't have the luxury of a 50 year advance warning.  Or a way of sending anywhere near that much weight into space in the first place.  Or even an idea of how to tie a cord around an asteroid. 

Honestly, this is just stupid.  Like Ayn Rand stoopid.  We're better off having Bruce Willis and Steve Buscemi drill a giant hole and fill it with nukes. 

[Link: Gizmodo]

Corey Gunz- Cannon (Video)

I'm not the biggest Corey Gunz fan, but Pulp Fiction is my favorite movie so his Tarantino-inspired video (directed by John Colombo) gets a post.  This track, "Cannon," is off Cory's Heir to the Throne mixtape.

*dead* at the Busch League acting.

Awesome Military Technology-- Stealth Wingsuits

If learning to become a one-man killing machine wasn't awesome enough, Special Forces soldiers will soon be gliding through the sky at 60 mph in those badass wingsuits pictured above.  Oh yeah, and they'll be invisible to radar.

A group of German companies with expertise in parachute systems have joined forces to create the Gryphon Next Generation Parachute System. Designed for high altitude jumps, the Gryphon has a 6-foot wingspan and a glide ratio of 5:1, meaning that a solider can glide up to 30 miles in the air—60 if they go ahead with plans to add a small engine...

There's one major problem-- landing.  Skydivers and daredevils using similar technology must deploy a traditional parachute in order to return to Earth in one piece, BUT in order to get the most out of the stealth capability, it would be necessary to develop a way for soldiers to return safely to the ground using the wings alone.

Seriously, though, how sweet does that look?  I'm a little skeptical of the stealthiness since the bulky rendering looks like it would have the radar signature of a 50 gallon drum... *shrugs*  Plus, if these suits did have engines, then people would literally get shot with heat seeking missiles... Just some food for thought.

[Link: Gizmodo]

Eminem- Elevator & Buffalo Bill (Relapse: Refill Leaks)

Here are the first* leaks off Em's bonus re-release, Relapse: Refill: 

Elevator
DOWNLOAD: Eminem- Elevator (usershare)


Buffalo Bill
DOWNLOAD: Eminem- Buffalo Bill (usershare)



*Technically there's been "Forever" and "Taking My Ball," but "Forever" is played out and "Taking My Ball" is rejected DJ Hero garbage.

Ron Artest Used to Drink Hennessy during Halftime (Seriously)

Wait..... really???

*shrugs* I already knew he was nuts.

XV- Now Jump

New self-produced track from XV.  According to him, this may or may not be on his upcoming project, Look What I Can Do:

"Here’s a brand new record, kind of speaking on the mindstate I’m going in with my new project, “Look What I Can Do”. I’m actually about 75% done with the project already and this was probably the first or second song recorded for it. Nothing has for sure made the tracklist, so until then…just feast on this for now."

Download it:

DOWNLOAD: XV- Now Jump (usershare)

Awesome Military Technology-- The Iron Curtain

DARPA, the creators of the original Internet, call their new Active Protection System, "The Iron Curtain."  The system mounts on top of a Humvee and takes out any rockets shot in its direction.  Simply put-- Effinsweet.

It uses radar, optical sensors and some other secret elements to detect projectiles. It then destroys them right before impact, creating an explosion but one that is much less harmful to the vehicle.

Think it's too good to be true?  Check it out in action:


[Link: Gizmodo]

Neako - Popeyes Freestyle

I unleashed Neako's latest tape on Mixtape Mondays Vol. 2, and it looks like he's back at it.  As previously stated, Neako produces a lot of his own music, but for his upcoming project, Junk Food, he's gonna be flowin' over all classic hip hop instrumentals.  Below is the first leak off Junk Food, in which Neako goes in over the Clipse beat, "Popular Demand."

Download it:

DOWNLOAD: Neako- Popular Demand (Popeyes) Freestyle

Stream it:




Neako's manager, Jabari, actually emailed me after I wrote my review of Neako's mixtape, The Rubix Cube: Blue Edition and thanked me for the positive feedback.  I know I'm gloating, but Your Favorite Blogger's Favorite Blog is a relatively small operation.  It's nice to know we're (Dave and I) getting some love!  Check out what he wrote:

Experimental Therapies for Cancer Metastasis

One of the biggest issues with extremely aggressive cancers is the emergence of CTCs (circulating tumor cells) that spread cancerous tissue to surrounding organs. During rapid unregulated cell division, cancer cells often lose or receive different marking tags - usually small glycoproteins - that allow them to communicate their location and functionality to their surrounding environment. Therefore, without correct recognition, they are expelled into circulatory regions and distributed throughout the body spreading the tumor. This phenomenon is one of the primary reasons for recurring symptoms in survivors of initial cancer treatment.

Researchers Ekaterin Galanzha and Vladimir P. Zharov working out of the University of Arkansas have developed a magnetic marker that attaches to breast cancer CTCs and can be used to get early detection results for malignant tumors and, more importantly, to corral affected cells in a single location. From there, these cells can be directly removed or irradiated depending on the conditions.



The implications for this technology are encouraging at minimum. Although this technology cannot kill the cancer itself, it slows its progression and can be used as a preventive post-chemotherapy treatment. In fact, the results so far show a 10-fold reduction in CTCs which apparently is enough to cause a complete end to metastasis in distant organs.

However, there is a hitch. These magnetic markers are distinct for each cancer. As such, redesign will be necessary to apply this method to other tumors. Additionally, many worry that toxicity will be an issue in humans despite successful treatments in mice. But, I'm all for positive thinking.

*Edit* Full Paper can be found here. here. *Edit*

By the way, in case you were wondering where this post came from. I'm a new author and will be contributing once or twice a week - mostly medical technology since its my passion and how I legitimize paying the outrageous tuition at Emory University. At least, it's easier to explain than tuition for these guys.

(Brand New) KiD CuDi - Cudderisback Freestyle

Even though he never left, Cudderisback...?  Whatever, I'm always down for some new KiD CuDi.  Props to DatNewCuDI for the leak.  For you inquiring minds, the original beat is "Ottoman" by Vampire Weekend.

Download it:

DOWNLOAD: KiD CuDI- Cudderisback Freestyle (mediafire)

Stream it:

Shocking Condom Ads

Here's the dilemma:

"It takes a lot to get teenagers’ minds off sex at the best of times – and in the bedroom it’s next to impossible. So it’s little wonder that one charity is turning to the most shocking of shock tactics to remind young people to use condoms."

To remedy this, AIDES, a French NGO, has created a series of posters depicting a couple making love – in which one partner is, unusually, the scariest thing imaginable. 

In this one, a woman is, well, getting cunnilingus from a massive spider:

In another, a man is caught in flagrante balls deep with a scorpion the size of a grizzly bear, its poison sting inches from his back. The idea is to suggest that no matter how attractive your partner may be, they could have a STD bug of their own – one that could kill you as easily as any spider bite:

[Link: PinewoodDesign]

Japanese Fluorescent Lamp Fighting (Graphic)

Saw this shitshow on Gizmodo, had to post it.  Japanese Fluorescent Lamp fighting (???) might be the dumbest sport* in history.  I wonder if those lamps are mercury free.  If they aren't, hopefully these idiots haven't been around long enough to procreate.  Although the action shot above is pretty sweet...

*It's ostensibly a sport, but actually just two fat guys pounding each other with neon-rods until they’re both soaked in blood.

Chip Tha Ripper – The Cleveland Show (Mixtape)

Here it is, folks.  Cleveland emcee, Chip Tha Ripper's latest mixtape The Cleveland Show finally dropped.  Personally, I didn't really listen to Chip until about a month ago when tracks from this tape started leaking, but I think he's pretty dope.  The Cleveland Show is brought to you by Mick Boogie and Terry Urban... Here's the tracklist:
 

DOWNLOAD: Chip Tha Ripper- The Cleveland Show (mediafire)