Thursday, January 31, 2008

Paris - Take A Chance On Romance (with Nicklas Stenemo)

"Life is for singles"

I am amazed that it took me almost four months to realize that this duet existed. As all of my regular readers know, I'm an enormous fan of Nicklas Stenemo and The Mo, which is the band he used to front. Imagine my glee when I discovered that there was a new song featuring his vocals, and then imagine that times ten when I listened to the track and found that it is a gorgeous pop song. Although the production is a bit lacking (a fact that annoyed me at first but I now find endearing), the melody--especially in the verses--is completely on point. It's got a fantastic throwback vibe to it and Nicklas and Annika sound perfect together.

Paris - Take A Chance On Romance (With Nicklas Stenemo) (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album here)

PORCAO


I visited the Brazilian restaurant,
Porcao, (NY) for lunch. I had an absolutely delicious steak (actually two medium sized steaks on the plate), with a help-yourself, small bowl of cilantro steak sauce, that was excellent, and a perfectly cooked fried banana on the side.

They have a beautiful looking, extensive salad bar.

Unfortunately, I'd had two eggs for breakfast (and two steaks for lunch), so I had to pass up a Brazilian egg-yolk custard for dessert; the chocolate cupcake was good and very pretty, but not quite as special as the rest of the meal.

The restaurant is spacious and elegant. I didn't try it this time, but they feature the "Rodizio," an all-you-can-eat, wide selection of meats brought on skewers from the kitchen and chosen and sliced at your table. Their special drink menu, including my favorite, Caipirinha, was too much for a lunch, but I'm going back for one at dinner, soon.

MercadoLibre.com [Cómo funciona]


En el siguiente video usted podrá ilustrarse cómo hacer negocios a través de MercadoLibre.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Spleen United - Suburbia

"You remember how it feels to fall apart"

Danish synthpop band Spleen United recently released their new album, Neanderthal. I'm not 100% sure of it as an entire album, but the opening few tracks are all brilliant. My Tribe, the lead single, miraculously missed out of my countdown of 2007 singles and I'm annoyed about that, because it is freaking amazing. Unfortunately it was just one of those songs that took until 2008 to hit me. Anyways, I'm not posting that track because it should be pretty easy to find and buy. Instead, I'm posting Suburbia, the lead track on the new album and a great, high energy electro song. This is the kind of material that the band excels at. After you've downloaded this, make sure to seek out My Tribe. You won't be disappointed.

Spleen United - Suburbia (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album here)

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

La "computadora humana" bate nuevo récord mundial



El colombiano Jaime García se ha retado a sí mismo y ha batido otro récord mundial, al lograr decir de memoria más de 150.000 decimales del número Pi ante los alumnos de la Facultad de Matemáticas de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

El número Pi, ese número interminable que queda reducido a la cifra de 3,1416 por la mayoría de los estudiantes para hacer sus problemas de matemáticas, puede llegar a superar las 150.000 cifras, pero esto no es lo sorprendente, lo singular es que haya alguien capaz de calcular sobre la marcha todos esos decimales.

Si alguien puede hacerlo, ese es Jaime García, conocido como "la computadora humana", que ha afrontado retos tan singulares como averiguar la raíz decimotercera de un número de 100 dígitos en 0,15 segundos, o el cálculo de 1 millón de años del calendario Gregoriano.

Hazañas como esta le han hecho formar parte del libro de récords Guinness en cinco ocasiones y ahora aspira a ser incluido una vez más.

Para conseguir este nuevo récord García se ha empleado a fondo. Según contó a Efe, durante los últimos meses ha llegado a entrenar "hasta 14 horas al día", aunque lleva "almacenando" en su cabeza el número pi cerca de 15 años.

"Empecé poco a poco, todos los días me aprendía 100 o 150 números", y así hasta el día de hoy. Las matrículas de los vehículos, las guías telefónicas y cualquier otro objeto que contenga números son las "pesas" con las que ejercita su mente.

También otro de sus retos, el de memorizar un número de 200 dígitos de un sólo vistazo -que fue capaz de repetir de izquierda a derecha y de derecha a izquierda-, le han sido útil para el de hoy.

Brasil prohíbe videojuego Counter Strike por estimular violencia



La justicia federal prohibió en Brasil la venta de los videojuegos Counter Strike y EverQuest por considerar que estimulan la violencia, informaron autoridades del estado de Goiás (centro).

Esos juegos "traen permanentes estímulos a la subversión del orden social, atentando contra el estado democrático y de derecho y contra la seguridad pública, por lo que se impone su prohibición y retirada del mercado", dijo el juez Carlos Alberto Simoes en el fallo divulgado en internet.

Son "nocivos para la salud de sus consumidores" porque refuerzan "actitudes agresivas", añadió según el sitio web de la Superintendencia de Protección los Derechos del Consumidor (Procon) de Goiás.

En el Counter Strike, uno de los videojuegos de acción más populares en las competencias online, hay que combatir a terroristas, rescatar o proteger rehenes, desactivar bomas, escoltar o asesinar a personalidades, con armas que van desde granadas y pistolas Glock a fusiles AK-47 o bombas.

Según la Procon, circula una versión adaptada a Brasil que reproduce la guerra entre policías y narcotraficantes de favelas de Rio de Janeiro.

De su lado, el EverQuest (EQ, 1999) es un juego de rol con escenarios fantásticos donde se lucha contra monstruos y enemigos utilizando magia y armas diversas para conseguir tesoros y puntos al estilo del célebre "Dragones y Mazmorras".

Por cada canción legal descargada de Internet se bajan 20 ilegales



La Federación Internacional de Productores Fonográficos (IFPI) anunció hoy que el negocio de la música digital creció un 40 por ciento en 2007, aunque denunció que por cada canción descargada de forma legal se adquirieron 20 de manera ilícita.

El Informe de Música Digital 2008, hecho público hoy por la IFPI señala que es China el país del mundo con mayor porcentaje de usuarios -el 99 por ciento- que realizan descargas ilegales de forma regular, mientras que en Europa es España el que encabeza la lista, con un 35 por ciento.

En 2007, la venta de música en Internet y a través de canales móviles alcanzó los 2.895 millones de dólares, lo que supone el 15 por ciento del negocio discográfico, que en 2006 era del 11 por ciento y era inexistente en 2003.

El año pasado se realizaron 1.700 millones de descargas de canciones de forma legal -la forma más popular de adquirir música por Internet-, un 53 por ciento más que en el año anterior.

Frente a esta cifra se intercambiaron decenas de miles de millones de archivos ilegales. Así, la IFPI señala que en Europa España y Holanda son, por este orden, los países donde se efectúan más descargas ilegales, con un 35 y un 28 por ciento, respectivamente, de usuarios de la red que lo hacen regularmente.

Pero el país con un mayor porcentaje de tráfico ilícito de música es China, país con tantos usuarios de banda ancha como Estados Unidos y donde las descargas ilegales superan el 99 por ciento, frente a un mercado legal de apenas 50 millones de euros -un uno por ciento del mercado global-.

La venta de música digital es el segundo negocio que más ingresos recibe de su comercialización -el 15 por ciento de la totalidad del negocio y el 30 por ciento en Estados Unidos-, mientras que en los periódicos y el cine sólo suponen el 7 y el 3 por ciento.

La Federación pretende que los proveedores de servicios de Internet controlen la música sin licencia desconectando a los

clientes que reincidan en las descargas ilegales y utilizando filtros para detectar los sitios web que las permitan.

En este sentido, la Federación elogió el plan de lucha contra la piratería adoptado por el presidente francés, Nicolás Sarkozy, y los impulsos dados en Reino Unido, Suecia y Bélgica.

En la actualidad hay, según la IPFI, más de 500 proveedores legales de música en Internet que ofrecen unos seis millones de canciones, una cifra cuatro veces mayor a la música comercializada en las tiendas físicas.

Implantan una mano biónica por primera vez en España



Una mano biónica que permite la movilidad individual de los dedos y tiene apariencia humana ha sido implantada por primera vez en España a un paciente, un hombre de 47 años, quien destacó hoy la seguridad que le proporciona la nueva prótesis a la hora de agarrar objetos.

En una demostración ante medios de comunicación en una clínica ortopédica, el paciente, Lorenzo Gil Valía, mostró las diferencias entre su prótesis antigua y la nueva mano, que funciona a través de dos sensores que reciben el movimiento muscular del brazo.

Hasta ahora, el paciente ha llevado una prótesis mioeléctrica cuya única posibilidad de movimiento era de pinza, pero ahora técnicos ortoprotésicos han cambiado su mano izquierda por la mano biónica en unos pocos minutos, con lo que ha mostrado la facilidad con que se lleva a cabo el implante ya que se sujeta al brazo mediante un sistema de presión.

Según el técnico que trata a este paciente, Leopoldo Fernández, la prótesis permite una fácil adaptación para los pacientes con implantes de tipo mioeléctrico ya que su funcionamiento está basado en impulsos musculares en ambos modelos.

Fernández destacó la mejora de la calidad de vida que supone la nueva mano para los pacientes que han perdido una extremidad superior en accidente o de la que carecen desde el nacimiento, y que permite un movimiento hasta ahora imposible, la rotación del pulgar.

La mano biónica puede implantarse a un gran número de pacientes aunque no en todos los casos, como en aquellos en los que falta prácticamente todo el brazo debido a que no se podría conseguir una sujeción óptima.

Además de las ventajas de movilidad, la mano incorpora una mejora de la calidad estética, ya que está cubierta por un guante que imita el color, textura y características generales de la piel del paciente.

Lego celebra medio siglo de sus bloques de plástico interconectables



El fabricante danés Lego celebra hoy el medio siglo de existencia de sus populares bloques de plástico interconectables, un juguete con el que la compañía calcula se divertirán este año unos 400 millones de niños y del que se fabricarán unos 19.000 millones de piezas en 2008.


Sus piezas más simples, sus figuras humanas con brazos articulados y sus trenes o naves especiales se han convertido en un referente en el mundo de los juguetes y un ejemplo para los educadores de cómo incentivar la creatividad de los niños.


La historia de Lego nace ligada a la figura de Ole Kirk Kristiansen, un carpintero de Billund, en el centro de Jutlandia,

que se pasó a la juguetería inspirado por las versiones en miniatura que de sus muebles empezó a hacer a finales de la década de 1920 para ahorrar costos.


Kristiansen fundó en 1932 Lego, del danés "leg godt" ("juega bien"), aunque en latín significa "yo armo" o "yo junto", una coincidencia que el carpintero ignoraba.


Sus primeros juguetes eran inicialmente de madera, material que abandonó por el plástico cuando su uso se generalizó, pese a las reticencias de vendedores y consumidores.


Lego comenzó a fabricar sus conocidos bloques en 1949, pero no fue hasta 1958 cuando fue desarrollado el diseño actual de las piezas para facilitar su encaje, independientemente de su tipo.


A lo largo de las cuatro siguiente décadas, Lego fue creciendo de forma ininterrumpida y ampliando su gama de productos hasta convertirse en uno de los principales fabricantes jugueteros del mundo, un imperio que incluía también los famosos parques temáticos Legoland en varios países.


Pero la aparición de los videojuegos, su fracasado salto a ese mercado y la competencia de otros fabricantes colocaron a principios del siglo XXI a la compañía danesa en una situación difícil, con pérdidas millonarias.


Lego, que sigue siendo propiedad de la familia Kristiansen, tomó medidas drásticas como la venta de sus parques, el traslado de parte de su producción a la República Checa y Hungría y la reducción en una cuarta parte de su plantilla, con las que logró frenar la caída y recuperar pérdidas.


Incluso ha mejorado sus expectativas de beneficios para 2007 de 550 a 900 millones de coronas danesas (de 74 a 121 millones de euros).


La firma danesa, considerada la quinta juguetera mundial, ha abandonado además experimentos para centrarse en el producto que le ha dado la popularidad, los bloques de plástico, a los que el conocido buscador de Internet Google homenajea hoy escribiendo su nombre en piezas interconectables.

Green Peace destaca labor medioambiental de Toshiba


Toshiba en América Latina anunció la obtención de la sexta posición en el más reciente ranking publicado por Green Peace “Guide to Greener Electronics”, el cual evalúa a las 18 principales corporaciones fabricantes de equipos electrónicos en cuanto a iniciativas de reciclaje y utilización de sustancias tóxicas.

Con un puntaje de siete en una escala de 10, Toshiba logró ubicarse entre los fabricantes que destacaron por una política más agresiva de apoyo a la conservación del medio ambiente, obteniendo igual puntuación que Fujitsu-Siemens (7) y LGE (7), y superando a otros gigantes como Nintendo (0), Philips (2), (Microsoft (2.7), Sharp (4.7), Motorola (5), Panasonic (5), Acer (5.7), Apple (6), HP (6.7) y Nokia (6.7). Los primeros lugares del ranking quedaron reservados para Sony Ericsson (7.7), Samsung (7.7) y Sony (7.3).



Los equipos electrónicos de Toshiba se fabrican actualmente en estricto apego a las disposiciones ambientales puestas en vigencia por la Unión Europea a mediados del 2006 (RoHS Restricciones de Desechos Peligrosos), las cuales procuran reducir el uso de substancias peligrosas utilizadas en la fabricación de equipos electrónicos y eléctricos, consideradas de alto riesgo para el medio ambiente y la vida humana. El RoHs prohíbe el ingreso al mercado comunitario a equipos con concentraciones superiores a las definidos para las siguientes substancias: - Plomo (0.1%), Mercurio (0.1%), Cadmio (0.01%), Cromo hexavalente (0.1%), Bifenilos polibrominados (PBB) (0.1%) y Éteres de difenilo polibromado (PBDE) (0.1%). Las portátiles de Toshiba no solo respetan sino que superan estas concentraciones.

Asimismo, según su plan de Responsabilidad Social y de Protección Medio Ambiental, Toshiba prevé de cara al 2010 una reducción de un 25% de las emisiones de CO2 en sus procesos de fabricación y de un 35% en otros gases que contribuyen al efecto invernadero. Se ha propuesto reducir además en un 25% las emisiones de CO2 en sus procesos logísticos, procurando con ello elevar su nivel de eficiencia y recurrir al uso de vehículos de transporte menos contaminantes.

Para esa misma fecha, Toshiba tiene previsto lograr un incremento del 160% en productos reciclados, reduciendo de esta forma el ratio de basura que genera su actividad y maximizando el aprovechamiento de recursos reutilizables en sus nuevos procesos de manufactura.

Logitech lanza parlantes de última generación

Con el fin de acercar el mejor sonido surrond para la PC a los usuarios de la ciudad de Lima, Logitech exhibirá los parlantes X-530 en las tiendas de la galería Compuplaza, lugar donde se encuentra lo mejor en cuanto a novedades tecnológicas se refiere.


Durante febrero y marzo próximos, el público usuario que concurra a estas galerías, podrá probar este fabuloso equipo y solicitarlo a un precio sugerido de S/210.00 inc. IGV., con el que podrá disfrutar de un sonido totalmente envolvente, nítido y consistente en juegos, películas y música.
Cabe mencionar que el equipo X-530 integra satélites con doble como FDD2™, entregando 70 Watts RMS totales. Su moderno subwoofer, con el que cuentan las X-530, se ajusta automáticamente para producir sonidos graves sin distorsión al producir más movimiento de aire y así obtener un sonido más profundo.
Adicionalmente, los cinco parlantes satélite de montaje giratorio para pared, usan la tecnología FDD2™ patentada por Logitech para eliminar las irregularidades que crean los diseños de dos transductores convencionales con lo cual da como resultado un campo de sonido claro, uniforme y equilibrado, sin las irregularidades e inconsistencias de otras bocinas satélite de dos transductores.

La reina Isabel II se engancha al Nintendo Wii

Hace dos años, la reina Isabel II de Inglaterra le comentó a Bill Gates, fundador de Microsoft, que nunca había utilizado una computadora. Pero en los dos años siguientes, la monarca de 80 años ya se puso al día en cuestiones tecnológicas.
Ahora no solo sabe navegar por Internet y mandar correos electrónicos, sino que, gracias a sus nietos, ha aprendido a utilizar YouTube, tiene un teléfono celular y usa un iPod que le regaló el príncipe Guillermo, hijo de Carlos y heredero a la corona británica. Pero según informa el diario "El País" de España, ahora ha quedado enganchada con el Wii, la consola de Nintendo que es la sensación del momento porque no necesita de un manual de instrucciones para comenzar a utilizarlo. La reina fue introducida a Wii por su nieto Guillermo, a quien su novia Kate Middleton le regaló la consola. Aunque es difícil imaginarse a Isabel II jugando tenis o golf con un control inalámbrico en la mano, de ser cierta la noticia, la estrategia de Nintendo de que el Wii está dirigido a un público de todas las edades, incluyendo la tercera edad, ha sido efectiva.

Intel presenta 16 procesadores de nueva generación

Intel Corporation dio a conocer 16 productos, incluyendo los primeros procesadores de 45 nanometros (nm) de la compañía para computadoras portátiles basadas en la tecnología de procesamiento Intel Centrino.

Todos estos nuevos chips incluyen la nueva fórmula de transistores y el proceso de manufactura de 45 nm de la compañía que elevan la velocidad de una PC, reducen los requisitos de energía, ahorran vida de la batería, ayudan al medio ambiente y vienen en paquetes más compactos para ofrecer diseños de computadoras más a la moda y compactas. Con la presentación de los nuevos procesadores, Intel ofrecerá un total de 32 procesadores para PCs de escritorio, laptops y servidores basados en estas innovaciones líderes de la industria.

La compañía destacó también la forma en que aprovechará sus adelantos en transistores y en manufactura para dar origen a una nueva categoría de dispositivos de formato compacto, de bajo consumo de energía y de alto rendimiento que le ofrecen acceso de banda ancha a Internet “en su bolsillo”. Los procesadores son hasta 25% más pequeños que versiones anteriores, de modo que los fabricantes de computadoras pueden crear nuevos diseños estilizados para los consumidores, que van desde PCs de escritorio todo en uno estilizadas hasta notebooks de menor tamaño.

Entre los 16 nuevos productos, 12 están diseñados para nuevas laptops y PCs de escritorio y cuatro para servidores. Todos ellos están libres de plomo1 y, a partir de este año, estarán libres de halógeno2, lo que hará que los procesadores sean más ecológicos.

“Los nuevos productos que anunciamos hoy proporcionan a consumidores y a empresas el beneficio de laptops más estilizadas y de más alto rendimiento y PCs más poderosas y a la moda que cumplen con los requisitos de los aficionados más exigentes a los juegos, entusiastas de la alta definición y casi cualquier otra demanda del consumidor”, dijo Mooly Eden, vicepresidente y gerente general del Grupo de Plataformas Móviles de Intel. “Y más adelante en este año, Intel comenzará a ofrecer Internet móvil con dispositivos habilitados para Internet mucho más compactos, ligeros y poderosos que finalmente cabrán en el bolsillo”.

Intel ha agregado también nuevas capacidades de video y gráficas con Intel HD Boost que incluye extensiones Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 4 (SSE4) para acelerar las cargas de trabajo, incluida la codificación de video para alta definición y manipulación de fotografías. Intel utilizará también esta base de tecnología móvil y rendimiento con consumo eficiente de energía para hacer posible una amplia variedad de diseños de PCs de escritorio estilizadas más pequeñas, con menos calentamiento y más silenciosas. Estas computadoras, incluida la categoría “todo en uno” cada vez más popular, ofrecen el rendimiento para procesar diversos medios digitales y el software más reciente de manera simultánea, además de video de alta definición mejorado y una reproducción más uniforme empleando la tecnología Intel Clear Video Technology.

Asimismo, Intel continúa trabajando de cerca con compañías de telecomunicaciones de todo el mundo para implementar redes WiMAX móviles. Estas redes ayudarán a entregar verdaderas experiencias de Internet móvil de alta velocidad a diversos dispositivos digitales en este mismo año.

Compañías japonesas se unen para desarrollar mejores pantallas LCD

Las compañías niponas de electrodomésticos como Panasonic, Hitachi y Canon han decidido unirse para desarrollar las pantallas planas LCD con una tecnología más eficiente que permitan avanzar con mayor rapidez en otras tecnologías relacionadas.
Este acuerdo no solo es atribuido a los televisores sino a todos los productos que incluyan esta tecnología y los que usarán en el futuro como los celulares, cámaras digitales y equipos médicos.
Esta unión tiene como objetivo seguir liderando los mercados y dar respuesta a las demandas de los usuarios que cada día son mayores en cuestión de producción y distribución de estas pantallas de calidad a un menor precio.

Google intentara crear el primer televisor de internet

Google trabaja junto con Panasonic en el desarrollo de un aparato que podría convertirse en el embrión de la televisión del futuro.Los aparatos desarrollados por los socios permitirán acceder directamente a videos del sitio web YouTube (que pertenece a Google) y ver álbumes de la página de fotografías Picassa, otro patrimonio del buscador. Los televisores podrían estar a la venta a partir de marzo.

Windows ya no es propiedad exclusiva de Bill Gates


Una pequeña empresa de gafas del sureste de China se ha impuesto en un pleito con el gigante estadounidense de software Microsoft, lo que le permitirá vender en China gafas con la marca Windows, según informó hoy la prensa estatal.

Cinco años después de iniciada la disputa, la Administración Estatal de Industria y Comercio ha dado la razón a la empresa china, fundada en 2001 y que primero figuró en el registro de marcas con su nombre mandarín «Shichuang» («Ventana») pero a partir de ahora también podrá usar su versión inglesa, informó la agencia Xinhua. Además, en virtud de la decisión tomada por las autoridades, la empresa presidida por Bill Gates no podría, en un caso hipotético y poco probable, intentar vender gafas u otros productos de óptica con el nombre de Windows.


La empresa china, con sede en la ciudad de Ningbo (provincia de Zhejiang), solicitó al Buró de Marcas estatal permiso para producir y vender gafas con el nombre de Windows hacia el año 2003, y poco después recibió una comunicación de Microsoft pidiéndole que se abstuviera de ello. La circular, firmada por abogados de Microsoft en Hong Kong, argumentaba que unas gafas Windows "perjudicarían los derechos de marca" del gigante del software.


La representante legal de la firma china, Wang Ping, respondió a Microsoft que al tratarse de sectores comercialmente distintos, no habría tal perjuicio, por lo que apeló ante el Buró de Marcas, que cinco años después falló a su favor. La victoria de la firma china, que muchos en China creían poço probable, es "un hecho muy significativo para las marcas" de ciudades como Ningbo, uno de los principales puertos comerciales e industriales de China, según señalaron representantes empresariales de esa localidad.

Uso de Celulares Aumenta el Congestionamiento Vehicular

Debido a que esos conductores están distraídos y su capacidad de reacción es más lenta.
Eso dice un estudio realizado por la Universidad de Utah (Estados Unidos).Este asegura que esas personas, así utilicen el manos libres, pueden reducir los tiempos de desplazamiento de los otros conductores entre 5 y 10 por ciento.


El estudio, citado por The Wall Street Journal, asegura que los conductores que conversan por teléfono desde el carro tienden a manejar 3,2 kilómetros por hora más despacio que los demás.
Adicionalmente, estas personas suelen ubicarse detrás de los autos que van más despacio, sin cambiar de carril, y así contribuyen a quitarle fluidez al tránsito vehicular.
David Strayer, profesor de sicología de la Universidad de Utah, quien dirigió el estudio, le dijo a The Wall Street Journal que la disminución en la capacidad de reacción de las personas que hablan por teléfono en el carro se puede comparar con la de gente que, legalmente, se puede considerar ebria.

En promedio, a los conductores que usan el celular les toma 3 por ciento más que a los demás la conducción en rutas muy congestionadas, y 2 por ciento más en tráfico medio. Y como cerca del 10 por ciento de los conductores suele estar hablando por teléfono, el impacto en el tránsito en general es grande, según Strayer.
Para llegar a estas conclusiones, el estudio analizó las reacciones de tres docenas de personas en simuladores de autos.

Robot dirigido por cerebro de mono aporta esperanza a discapacitados


Científicos japoneses y estadounidenses abrieron una posible vía para que los discapacitados físicos puedan desplazarse, al concebir un robot humanoide, cuyas dos piernas son activadas a distancia por el cerebro de un mono en movimiento, situado a miles de kilómetros de la máquina.

Esta proeza, que alía la robótica con la neurociencia, fue anunciada este miércoles por la Agencia de la Ciencia y de las Tecnologías nipona y la Universidad Duke de Estados Unidos.

"Hemos logrado transmitir desde Estados Unidos a Japón los datos registrados en el cerebro de un mono gracias a la detección de sus influjos nerviosos que se ocupan del movimiento de las piernas", explicaron los investigadores.

A través de estas señales, "hemos conseguido controlar las piernas del robot en tiempo real, de forma que caminó de la misma forma que el mono", agregaron.

La técnica se basa en convertir las informaciones emitidas por el animal en instrucciones comprensibles para el robot.

Con estos resultados, el grupo científico estima que se ha hecho "un gran paso" para la fabricación de prótesis neuronales que permitirían a los discapacitados físicos recuperar sus capacidades motrices.
Royworld - Elasticity

"You're just a rubber band boy"

There is so much good poppy rock music out there in the UK right now. I guess The Feeling get most of the credit, but they better watch their backs because a newer band like Royworld might just come up and snatch their crown. From the few tracks up at their myspace (including their amazing new single Man In The Machine), I think it's safe to say that these guys are going to produce one hell of an album (out sometime in June, apparently). They've been nice enough to offer us Elasticity to tide us over until the single and album releases, and I've been listening to it like crazy over the past few days. It's rare when I can look at a band's list of influences on their myspace and know immediately that I'm going to love them, but Royworld was definitely one of those situations.

Royworld - Elasticity (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Listen to more here)

Los grandes beneficios de los trabajadores de Google

A qué trabajador no le gustaría tener los beneficios que tienen los de la empresa Google. Según me entero son tan interesantes que las empresas latinas deben seguir el ejemplo, ya que a la larga sería una inversión rentable.

Realmente así deberían ivertir todas las empresas en el bienestar de sus empleados, pero no es así, lamentablemente.

En la actualidad Google es una de las empresas americanas que ofrece a sus trabajadores los siguientes servicios personales:
- La comida gourmet gratuita.
- El gimnasio, abierto las 24 horas.
- Las clases de yoga.
- El médico.
- El nutricionista.
- El servicio de masajes.
- El entrenador personal.
- La piscina.
- El spa.
- El autobús express biodiesel de alta tecnología y equipado con wi-fi.
- La guardería para los hijos.
- La tintorería.
- La lavandería.

El objetivo de esta empresa tecnológica es atraer a los trabajadores más capacitados en un entorno altamente competitivo. Mostrarles que son valorados y conseguir que sean Googlers. Asegurar que se queden mucho tiempo en la oficina. Aumentar la productividad.

En resumen: “crear un entorno agradable para atraer y retener a los empleados y para que la gente sienta que pertenece a ese ambiente, pero también quieren incrementar la productividad.”

Navegador Firefox crece en Europa

La compañía francesa de medición en la red XiTI ha dado a conocer el informe sobre el uso del navegador libre Firefox en Europa. Los resultados muestran una nueva subida del número de usuarios de este programa. Su cuota de mercado alcanza ya el 28% entre los internautas europeos.

El uso de Firefox ha aumentado 5 puntos entre diciembre de 2006 y diciembre de 2007. Tras una progresión experimentada de marzo a junio de 2007, el porcentaje del navegador libre se estabilizó hasta septiembre.

El navegador de la fundación Mozilla registró incluso un descenso en octubre para recuperarse en el último mes de 2007, con una subida de o,7 puntos porcentuales.

Además, entre noviembre y diciembre de 2007, el uso de Mozilla Firefox progresa en el 90% de los países europeos estudiados, estando Finlandia (45,4%) siempre a la cabeza. En España lo usa el 21,5% de los internautas, según Xiti. El líder sigue siendo Internet Explorer, de Microsoft, que ha perdido cuota de mercado en casi todo el mundo desde la aparición del programa de Mozilla.

Monday, January 28, 2008

A Cult Called Karrianna - Hold On

"I don't wanna sit down"

I am super excited about this band. I ran across their myspace site a week or two ago and was beyond happy that they offered stuff there for free download because I knew after one listen that I would need to hear these songs many more times than once. A Cult Called Karrianna (or ACCK, as their page labels them), may look a bit like an eighties hair band, but they play hard edged, at times even industrial, synth pop with brilliant melodies. At first I was just going to post Hold On today, which is my favorite track (with verses straight from heaven), but then I realized that I had to post all of the songs because each is amazing in its own way. Faith In Line has one hell of a chorus, and Ruin and Curse are both hard edged, stabbing dance tracks. I cannot wait for a full album because it could easily be in my top ten at the end of the year. I have officially joined the cult!

ACCK - Hold On (zshare)
ACCK - Faith In Line (zshare)
ACCK - Ruin (zshare)
ACCK - Curse (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Listen to more here)

SAG AWARDS 2008

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
'No Country for Old Men' --WINNER

'3:10 to Yuma'
'American Gangster'
'Hairspray'
'Into the Wild'

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis, 'There Will Be Blood' --WINNER
George Clooney, 'Michael Clayton'
Ryan Gosling, 'Lars and the Real Girl'
Emile Hirsch, 'Into the Wild'
Viggo Mortensen, 'Eastern Promises'

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Julie Christie, 'Away From Her' --WINNER
Cate Blanchett, 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age'
Marion Cotillard, 'La Vie en Rose'
Angelina Jolie, 'A Mighty Heart'
Ellen Page, 'Juno'

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Javier Bardem, 'No Country for Old Men' --WINNER

Casey Affleck, 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'
Hal Holbrook, 'Into the Wild'
Tommy Lee Jones, 'No Country For Old Men'
Tom Wilkinson, 'Michael Clayton'

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Ruby Dee, 'American Gangster' --WINNER

Cate Blanchett, 'I'm Not There'
Catherine Keener, 'Into the Wild'
Amy Ryan, 'Gone Baby Gone'
Tilda Swinton, 'Michael Clayton'

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
'The Bourne Ultimatum' --WINNER

'300'
'I Am Legend'
'The Kingdom'
'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'

TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
James Gandolfini, 'The Sopranos' --WINNER

Michael C. Hall, 'Dexter'
Jon Hamm, 'Mad Men'
Hugh Laurie, 'House'
James Spader, 'Boston Legal'

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Edie Falco, 'The Sopranos' --WINNER

Glenn Close, 'Damages'
Sally Field, 'Brothers & Sisters'
Holly Hunter, 'Saving Grace'
Kyra Sedgwick, 'The Closer'

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin,'30 Rock' --WINNER

Steve Carell, 'The Office'
Ricky Gervais, 'Extras'
Jeremy Piven, 'Entourage'
Tony Shalhoub, 'Monk'

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Tina Fey, '30 Rock' --WINNER

Christina Applegate, 'Samantha Who?'
America Ferrera, 'Ugly Betty'
Mary-Louise Parker, 'Weeds'
Vanessa Williams, 'Ugly Betty'

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
'The Sopranos' --WINNER

'Mad Men'
'Boston Legal'
'The Closer'
'Grey's Anatomy'


Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
'The Office' --WINNER

'30 Rock'
'Desperate Housewives'
'Entourage'
'Ugly Betty'

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Kevin Kline, 'As You Like It' --WINNER

Michael Keaton, 'The Company'
Oliver Platt, 'The Bronx is Burning'
Sam Shepard, 'Ruffian'
John Turturro, 'The Bronx is Burning'

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Queen Latifah, 'Life Support' --WINNER

Ellen Burstyn, 'Mitch Albom's For One More Day'
Debra Messing, 'The Starter Wife'
Anna Paquin, 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee'
Gena Rowlands, 'What if God Were the Sun?'
Vanessa Redgrave, 'The Fever'

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
'24' --WINNER

'Heroes'
'Lost'
'Rome'
'The Unit'

Sunday, January 27, 2008

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Release Date: January 22, 2008
Label: Sony




It seems to me that much of North American alternative music of late has been Arcade Fire-ized. Blame it on a lack of imagination, I guess. One group makes it huge and everybody jumps on the bandwagon. I, for one, am somewhat sick of it and thus approach new alternative pop with a healthy dose of skepticism.

I had a heard a lot about MGMT before listening to their debut record. I knew they made oddball pop music and what little I had heard from them, unsurprisingly, sounded a bit like Arcade Fire. It was with great relief, then, when I discovered that the band’s full length debut Oracular Spectacular borrows more from 70’s glam and progressive rock (with even a hint of disco) than current trends. Indeed, the entire album is a kaleidoscope of nearly dissonant sounds that at first came off as more of a compilation than a proper release. It is in this diversity, this junkyard grab bag, that MGMT find their own voice, one that looks both backward and forward at once. This is no more apparent than on the opening track, Time To Pretend. A glorious, drug-soaked lament, it certainly builds like a classic Arcade Fire track, but add to that a glam stomp and keyboard riff and you’ve got something entirely different and completely essential.

Elsewhere, the band expertly hints at stabs of Bowie (Weekend Wars), the Bee Gees (Electric Feel) and vintage Sparks (the chorus of The Youth). The second half of the album is a bit more experimental and displays the guys’ obvious affinity for prog rock. These tracks at times stray from the perfect pop of the first half in favor of a fanciful, more evasive edge. Still, this is a very minor complaint and even the most murky tracks become quite wonderful after a few close listens. All in all, I think it’s safe to say that Oracular Spectacular is 2008's first great album. A-

Key Tracks: Time To Pretend, Kids, Weekend Wars

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Sample

Friday, January 25, 2008

Chester French - The Jimmy Choo's

"She needs Jimmy Choo's"

Despite the somewhat misleading name, Chester French is not a solo artist. In fact, it is a band composed of two Harvard grads, neither of which is named Chester. And, regardless of the whole name thing, their music is amazing. Tipped by many to be the next big thing in American pop (and signed to Pharrell Williams' Startrack label -whether that be a good or bad thing-), I have no doubt that these guys could be huge over here. And, unlike most mainstream US bands, I actually wouldn't mind if that happened. Their music, a mixture of old-school rock, electro and hip hop is utterly charming. Jimmy Choo's isn't my absolute favorite song by them, but it's the only one I could find an mp3 of. There's plenty more at their myspace, though.

Chester French - The Jimmy Choo's (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Listen to more here)

Heath Ledger: Tenía un futuro prometedor como jugador de Hockey sobre césped.


Ledger nació en Perth (Australia), descendiente de familias escocesas e irlandesas. Su nombre viene de la novela de Emily Brontë, Cumbres Borrascosas.


Fue el único varón de 4 hermanos. Sus padres se divorciaron cuando él tenía 10 años. Vivió en el oeste australiano hasta cumplir los 16, cuando abandonó la escuela a un año de graduarse, mudándose a Sydney con su mejor amigo, Trevor DiCarlo, persiguiendo una carrera como actor.
Ledger tuvo su primera oportunidad en la serie estadounidense Roar.


Tenía un futuro prometedor como jugador de Hockey sobre césped. También asistía a clases de teatro.


Heath Ledger falleció el 22 de enero de 2008. Ese día, la masajista de Ledger llegó a su apartamento. Al ver que nadie abría la puerta, acudió al ama de llaves del edificio ubicado en el barrio neoyorquino de SoHo. A las 15:26 horas (20:26 GTM), ambas mujeres ingresaron en la residencia y encontraron el cuerpo de Heath tirado en el piso, desnudo y rodeado de pastillas.


Las primeras teorías indicaban que su muerte se debió a una sobredosis de drogas o a un suicidio, pero esta última opción fue desmentida por el padre de Heath, Kim Ledger, quien aseguró que el deceso fue accidental. El cuerpo de Ledger será enterrado en Perth, su ciudad natal.


Heath Ledger murió antes de estrenarse la película The Dark Knight (de la saga Batman), donde interpretó al villano Joker. También dejó inconcluso el filme The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, al cual le faltaban sólo seis semanas para finalizar su grabación. El actor que reemplazará a Heath en las últimas escenas de la película será Johnny Depp.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Pop Noir - Don't Fool Yourself

"You know there's something coming but you still ignore the sound"

I've got an amazing song for you today from an unsigned group that's off to a real promising start. Don't Fool Yourself could have been a hit for INXS in their heyday. It's funky, simple, and very addictive. The guys are technically from Manchester, but they've lived in California long enough to qualify for my American music week. Back to the song, though. I don't use this word often (because I feel lame even typing it, let alone saying it), but if I were to describe the track in one word, it would be "groovy." Well, groovy and cool. There's just cool dripping off every beat here. And that chorus? It'll get stuck in your head immediately.

Pop Noir - Don't Fool Yourself (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! No album yet, but be on the lookout!)

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Boogaloo Stu - Enough About You... Let's Talk About Me
Release Date: January 21, 2008



One look at Boogaloo Stu’s crazy outfits (coupled with that stage name) and you know that his music is going to be amazing or totally suck. Luckily, it doesn’t totally suck… in fact, it leans much more toward the former.

He’s certainly studied his glam icons well. The tracks on Enough About You... borrow heavily from past trailblazers. He’s got the simple, hypnotic stomp of T-Rex, the decadent melodies of Roxy Music and, well, the wardrobe of the Scissor Sisters. It works beautifully most of the time, though (along with most releases) the album is not without the occasional clunker. The most brilliant songs are undoubtedly the singles, the laid-back breezy Just Want You To Know and the thumping, beautiful Magnetic Heart. Both absolute triumphs. Long Time Coming and The Jet Age also come close to perfection, each succeeding because of their instantly catchy, well-written melodies. The rest range from okay to pretty good, though I’d imagine they’d please any glam fan. The sound throughout is remarkably consistent, which makes for an album that ends up being a little more than the sum of its parts.

Whether Boogaloo Stu will remain a club performer or break out into bigger and better things all depends on the right single at the right time. Luckily, I think he’s got at least three with this release. Now it’s just up to the people to get behind him. B

Key Tracks: Magnetic Heart, Just Want You To Know, Long Time Coming

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Sample
Tigercity - Dark Water

"Heart of a fallen lover"

Remember last year's Under The Influence Of Giants? That disco and 70's pop flavored American group? Well, they're not back yet, but Tigercity seem to be intent on filling their void until they come back. I have XOLondon's fantastic blog to thank for discovering this band, who have released one EP so far. I hope an album is coming soon, because these guys show definite promise. Ultra catchy, smooth pop melodies mingle with unabashed disco beats to glorious effect. The entire EP is fantastic, but I decided to post Dark Water today, one of the rockier tracks. It's got an instantly catchy melody and some wicked funk guitar.

Tigercity - Dark Water (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the EP here)

Monday, January 21, 2008

MGMT - Kids

"Control yourself, take only what you need from it"

This week on the blog I'm going to do something that I honestly never thought possible. Each track this week comes from a new American group. That's right... American. Could 2008 be the first year in a long time where American music is actually sort of, dare I say it, good? We'll see.
Today, though, I'm starting with a duo that have released the first great album of 2008. They're called MGMT ("Management") and I posted a track by them a few months ago (their best song, Time To Pretend). The album is a kaliedoscope of different experimental pop styles, from Bowie to Arcade Fire to everything in between. Kids is the big dance track on the album and is one of the more instantly catchy ones the guys have recorded. Hopefully I'll have a real album review up soon, but for now know that it comes out tomorrow in the States and is definitely worth checking out.

MGMT - Kids (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album here)

Sunday, January 20, 2008

My Review of Angel's 6x03: "After The Fall Part 3"


Written by Brian Lynch
Artwork by Franco Urru

Angel: “Demons from the primordium age, however, even those that had their powers reduced by, let’s say, mutari generators … they don’t seem to be affected.”

It’s vampire versus super bitch as Illyria promised to dismember Angel at the end of “After The Fall Part 2” and the God isn’t one to make empty threats. Angel gets his ass tossed into the kitchen and while he’s busy musing about Illyria still having enough strength to finish him off, things get somewhat confusing.

One minute they’re duking it out in the kitchen, the next we’re flashing back to Angelus having his own violent encounter with the deranged woman in a barn. Then it flashes back to the present kitchen fight. What the hell is going on here? Angel puts it down to a time slip but why is it only occurring during his fight with Illyria.

Illyria doesn’t seem particularly concerned about this though. Nope she’s much too happy to decimate Angel and there’s no amount of reasoning from him that’ll put her off. What the hell is this bitch’s problem? She’s caused more damage in her time than Angel sending LA to hell so shouldn’t she a bit more understanding as such?

There’s a great moment when Angel gets in a single punch to Illyria, followed by the opportunity to stab her. Now I’m not a big Illyria fan so anyone doing physical harm to her (except Spike) is fine by me. What’s even more interesting is the fact that Angel is able to stab through her armour.

Being in hell has changed people and demons. Wesley’s a ghost, Gunn’s a vampire, vampires no longer view daylight as a problem and werewolves are going crazy with the duality of day and night. The only ones seemingly unaffected is Gwen.

Of course getting stabbed doesn’t slow Illyria doing, although it’s safe to say that getting a blade in her side did hurt a little. The other thing is that Angel is still determined to find out whether or not Illyria murdered the Lord of Westwood. Illyria being her usual annoying self just rants cryptically before pinning Angel to the wall with knives in his hands.

Its times like this even I’ve forgotten how much of a quick mover Illyria but then the time slip dilemma is back again. This time round we’ve got Puppet Angel wondering why Fred is dressed so strangely and then a futuristic version of Angel wondering whether or not there’s something of Fred remaining inside Illyria.

I would love for this to be an actual hint or sign that Fred is destined to return. Seeing as this arc has acted as if Cordelia never existed, I really hope that in a few issues time, Illyria is gone and Fred is restored. Fred is a lot more interesting to watch than Illyria any day of the week The fact that Illyria is acting highly strung could also be a good sign that she’s not destined to last much longer.

Spike doing probably the only decent thing in this comic tries to persuade Illyria to refrain from killing Angel. Of course Illyria’s too eager to behead Angel and with Spike’s crappy persuasion skills, it’s up to the dragon to ensure Illyria isn’t successful in her latest slaughter.

Much as I’d like to know why Illyria is so determined to off Angel that dragon’s arrival couldn’t have came at a better time. Illyria being as gloriously arrogant as her pet ignores Spike’s warning that she’s out of her depth and decides to take on the beastie. Dumb God, doesn’t she listen to anyone?

The dragon responds to Illyria’s defiance by scorching her. It’s a good for Illyria that she is a God or else her ass really would’ve been barbequed at that moment in time. It’s almost a pity we didn’t another “maybe there’s a part of Fred inside of Illyria” hint during that moment.

Instead Illyria just goads the beast into continuing the fight and then tries to straddle him even though she’s the size of a fly compared to the dragon. Is it wrong that I want the dragon to kick Illyria’s ass? Maybe but at least dragon isn’t a Spike devotee and that earns it some respect in my book.

I know I’m being hard on Spike but that’s mainly because I’ve become sick and tired of the writers always trying to validate him and having him be a thorn in Angel’s side only re-enforces my sympathy for Angel that bit more. Spike’s decent to help Angel up but yells at his minions who offer to help Angel. Surely Spike should be able to put his pettiness aside in this battle.

I’m not exactly sure why Spike was so worried in being found but thanks to Illyria and the dragon’s airborne battle, they’re more or less screwed. Blaming Angel seems a tad unfair. It’s not like he had a choice when it came to confronting Spike and Illyria.

Battles aside, the Illyria/Dragon one is every bit as fun to watch as the Faith/Gargoyles in “No Future For You Part 2”. The dragon even gets the chance to try and eat Illyria up much to her fear. Yes Illyria showed some fear as she was being swallowed. It’s almost too bad that she’s such an unpleasant taste that the dragon has to spit her out.

Illyria’s penchant for stupidity doesn’t stop there. Any other powerful God smart enough to escape being dragon food would either have the sense to quit while they’re ahead or to at least go away and regroup. Illyria clearly not blessed with the sense of awareness annoys Spike with wanting weapons. Just give it up, Illyria. This dragon could kill you, which would not be a bad thing.

It’s good that Illyria’s erratic behaviour hasn’t gone unnoticed. Angel berates Spike about his destructive influence on the God and he’s got every right to but it’s Connor who rallies to Spike and Illyria’s defence when he claims that they had nothing to do with Lord Westwood’s demise. I’m begging you Angel writers; please don’t have Spike use Connor as a means of scoring points against Angel.

It does seem that Spike and Connor are working together however. As Illyria continues to get her ass kicked by the dragon, Connor explains that Spike has been rescuing people and sending at least half of them to Connor, Nina and Gwen. Connor then explains that Spike has been saving so many people and they’re running out of space.

It explains the hoards of scantily clad women around Spike’s place but Spike easily loses points when he starts rubbing it in Angel’s face. Angel doesn’t take it well and leaves with the dragon, despite Illyria still wanting to fight. Damn, does that girl have no other hobbies?

At least Connor isn’t against Angel in all of this. He did try to explain why he was working with Spike and he does go after Angel to see if he’s all right. It’s moments like that make all the more glad that Connor is in this arc. He’s the only person that Angel can fully trust right about now and I hope it stays that way too. Plus it would be nice to see Connor kick Spike’s ass if he acts too smug.

Then again that’s not much of a consolation to Angel. He doesn’t like the idea of Connor and Spike having a friendly rapport and his guilt about putting Connor in danger is nicely touched on without going overboard. Even better is that instead of sitting around and brooding, Angel decides to do something about his actions.

Pairing up with Wesley (who tries to warn him about the Lords), Angel decides to pay Burges a home visit. Here we get an eclectic bunch of demons all ruling certain parts but hardly any of them remotely interested in avenging the death of Burges’ bratty offspring. Hey they’ve got their parts of LA, why the hell should they care?

Even more fun is Angel and Wesley interrupting the little meeting. Better still Wesley doesn’t try to stifle Angel’s parade as our handsome hero dares to not only challenge Burges but also the entire demon lords of LA in his attempt to regain order. I don’t know about Angel but that to me, definitely is not baby steps. Funnily enough Wesley then points out the bad odds.

Angel might be all for getting rid of Burges and every other rotten demon from the hell he’s sent everyone to but given that aside from Connor/Nina/Gwen, Angel is pretty short on allies. Wesley physically can’t do a damn thing and Spike, Illyria and Gunn aren’t exactly that eager to help Angel out either. Perhaps he has bitten more off than he can chew so to speak.

Not that it matter because there’s a bigger shock when Angel lets slip that he’s no longer a vampire. Does that mean that Angel is now human? Going on all the three issues so far, Angel hasn’t vamped out when he’s been assaulted and Illyria did some mega damage to him this week.

Being human should be a good thing for Angel but just like the fates of Gunn and Wesley, it’s more than likely going to be played to his disadvantage. He might want to start banding his team pretty fast or else Burges will have a victory on his hands.

Also in “After The Fall Part 3”

I’ve started buying the variant covers since last issue. I just liked the Illyria grabbing Angel’s throat one for some reason.

Angelus (re Illyria): “What is wrong with this woman? Who is the woman? Where am I?”

Illyria didn’t seem to recognise the various stages of Angel. Angel was also shown as a baby too.

Angel: “We need to talk.”
Illyria: “If I separate your pieces and hurl them into different directions you will not return.”
Angel: “Granted -”

Angel: “Do you think I want to fight you Illyria? I just want answers, so – wow.”
Illyria: “I want you away.”

The artwork for Illyria is slightly better than it has been for characters like Nina and Gwen. Less porn star looks anyway.

Spike: “What I was merely making sure you were free of hell lice is what it … missing the point here … let him go.”
Illyria: “If he’s gone we move forward.”

Angel (re imminent Illyria/dragon fight): “Illyria I have a feeling what I’m about to see we could sell tickets to.”

There’s a preview to Joe Hill’s “Locke and Key” in this issue. It looks interesting.

Illyria: “First strike little dragon and go.”

Spider (re Angel): “Should I tend to his wounds?”
Spike: “You do and you’re out of the Top Twelve. Answer me, Angel.”

I’m impressed that Illyria didn’t even show scorch marks especially given that Hamilton was able to make her bleed in “Power Play”.

Spike (to Angel): “Great. Fountain of blood is gone. When Fred Sonja is done, I want you to take that thing and get out.”

Illyria: “Loud vampire! Fetch me my arms! All of them!”
Spike: “A bit busy here psycho.”

This is the first issue with a letter page. Most of the comments on Season Six are more positive than my own thoughts had been.

Angel (to the dragon): “Stop playing, we’re leaving.”
Illyria: “I’m not yet sated.”
Angel: “Join the club.”

Connor (to Angel): “I drove here. The dragon kinda indicated that it wanted me to ride on his back but I thought that would be weird.”

The shark demon from Buffy’s “Tabula Rasa” is the Lord of Santa Monica. Other lords are from Burbank, Compton, Downtown LA, Weho, Century City and Sherman Oaks.

Wesley: “It will, you know – Burge is right. It will absolutely be a slaughter.”
Angel: “We’ll think of something. We’re the kings of last minute saves. Except for that one time. When I sent everyone to hell.”

Angel (to himself): “Another thing about hell, doesn’t alter a vampire’s healing faculties, so a vamp can still mend quickly. Which, of course, would mean so much more if I still were a vampire.”

Next issue is out in mid-February and apparently this arc is a five parter according to the letter page.

After two underwhelming issues, “After The Fall Part 3” finally does what the others should’ve and ups the tension. The time slips, hints of Fred being there (possibly) and Angel’s revelation gives this arc the kick up the arse it needs. Less Spike worshipping would be welcome of course.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Daggers - Magazine

"She lives her life through the pages of a magazine"

Every once and awhile, I'll run across a band and think to myself, how in the hell did I not hear about these guys before? And, why aren't they being covered in any of the blogs? Last time it happened that band was the brilliant Superfamily. This time, it's Daggers. Formally known as Bureau (right choice in changing the name, btw), they have a song out called Money that is absolutely freaking perfect. It's just one of those songs that captured me from beginning to end on the very first listen. Perfect sound, perfect chorus, just perfect. I really can't oversell this thing, you're just going to have to listen to it. I'm not going to post that track here today because you can buy it (and listen to it on their myspace), but I will post the b-side, which is fantastic in its own right. These guys sound like Duran Duran or Human League, but I actually think they could be better than both, depending on how things go. Just listen to Money and tell me I'm wrong.

Daggers - Magazine (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy Money -and you gotta- here or on emusic/itunes)

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Kaka - The Hotspurs


"The less we know the faster we are gonna go"

While I wait (increasingly impatiently) for Nicko Stenemo's debut release, I've got that other guy from the Mo (keyboardist Richard Karlsson, now going under the somewhat dubious name of Kaka) readying his debut. Luckily, from what I've heard so far, it sounds like it's going to be quite good. He just released his second single from the project, the brilliant Hotspurs, for free download on myspace, and I'm glad to finally be able to offer it on here (I've been in love with it since the end of last summer). It's a fast, inventive pop song that is insanely catchy, as I've come to expect from the Mo guys. This guy's got a real interesting sound, for sure. The album is out on January 30th but they'll be a full album listening party on myspace starting the 23rd.

Kaka - The Hotspurs (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the first single here)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Now Here This - I Don't Know

"I don't know how far this love will go"

I know so little about this band, yet I'm really enjoying the four track EP that they've released. I think (from what I can tell at least) that they're from Germany, but their exact location isn't particularly important. Their music is a complete throwback to the 80's when bands like Toto and Genesis ruled the airwaves. It's definitely that cheesy soft rock sound, complete with ubiquitous string sections and faux dance pop beats. The whole EP is fantastic, but I Don't Know is probably the standout (though gorgeous ballad This Storm comes close). I just can't believe people are still making this kind of music!

Now Here This - I Don't Know (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the EP here or on emusic!)

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Speaker Bite Me - Teach Me Tiger

"Hold me, tiger"

Staying in Denmark today, I've got an "experimental pop" band. Experimental, in the case of this song at least, does not mean inaccesible. Teach Me Tiger is completely catchy from the first vocals, and gets even better after it explodes at around the 1:20 mark. The band are signed to Morningside Records, home of Oh No Ono, one of my favorite "experimental pop" bands of the region, which bodes well for these guys. They offer two other songs and a remix for free download on myspace so make sure to check it out. They're a band worth watching, for sure.

Speaker Bite Me - Teach Me Tiger (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Download more here!)

Monday, January 14, 2008

Turboweekend - Multiple Voices

"Look out, look in... do you see what I see?"

Denmark seems to be getting an early start as the country to beat this year when it comes to music. Turboweekend are yet another fantastic dance rock group from the area. More importantly, they are majorly funky, at least on this track from their debut album. It's not one of the singles, but I bet it will be soon. It's the best track I've heard and extremely catchy from the very first listen. If you like this I'd also recommend checking out their singles Into You and Wash Out, which have a bit of a different (more subdued) sound, but are just as funky and fantastic.

Turboweekend - Multiple Voices (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album here or on itunes!)

Yeah, I am still listening to that Data album...



I am indeed stricken with Data fever as I've completely fallen under the spell of Opera Electronica. For those that may have yet to be converted by Friday's post, I now offer the album's title track, a gorgeous classical/electronic hybrid that sounds more than a bit like Abba at their most experimental. For those who like Bohemian Rhapsody (okay, all of us, then), you'll love this track!

Data - Opera Electronica

Sunday, January 13, 2008

My Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer's 8x10: "Anywhere But Here"

Written by Joss Whedon
Artwork by Cliff Richards

Sephrilian (to Buffy/Willow): “The end, of course. Of the struggle, of the Hellmouths … the final triumph of the base humans over the demons. It’s your life’s goal achieved, Slayer. The death of magic.”

The format of this season seems to be a four part serial with standalones sandwiched between in order to give some breathing space. This standalone of sorts fails on that objective as the Twilight continues to steamroll ahead.

When the opening panels in this issue are of Buffy relaxing on a beach and being hit on Daniel Craig (I would tap that, too), you know you’re in the land of dreams or fantasies and suffice to say we are here. After all, Buffy fantasising about hot actors is much better dangling off a flying Willow.

You heard right there. Buffy and Willow are flying to get some more information on Twilight and they amuse themselves with a game of ‘anywhere but here’. Fun idea and Willow poking fun at Buffy’s fantasy is a light way of easing readers into the story. It’s also to see a friend moment between the two of them as well. It’s also good for Willow that they’ve found their location as Buffy’s fear of being is on the increase.

Speaking of friendly moments, Xander decides to do something for Dawn. Seeing as the girl has been criticised for her recent lack of hygiene, it’s only fair that Xander got some of the witches to make some of Dawn’s clothing extra large like herself. It’s even funnier when Xander falls into the suitcase as a grateful Dawn opens up to get some fresh clothing.

With the greatness coming in, we get to see what turns Willow on (ski lodges and Tina Fey, I never would’ve guessed) but what’s more intriguing is the issue of Kennedy. In “The Long Way Home Part 3”, we learned that she died mystically, came back to life and that her and Willow are on a break.

In this issue Buffy realised that Kennedy was still significant and was quick to ask Willow about her. I love that Buffy admitted to thinking Kennedy was bratty. Kennedy is in a way but also in the kind that doesn’t wreck my head too much. Willow clearly doesn’t want to discuss it with Buffy and uses the fact that they’ve arrived at their location to change the subject.

The location in question seems to be a forest with a cottage and a woman named Robin, who obviously has been expecting them. Willow then piques Buffy’s suspicions by one minute telling her that she doesn’t know Robin and then changing her statement when Robin acknowledges. The phrase ‘timey wimey’ springs to me. Either that or Willow is up to something less good.

Anyways the main gist seems to be geared towards Buffy and Willow entering that cottage and meeting with a demon called Sephrilian, who’s in something of a cantankerous mood. A pissed off demon – big whoop. Thank God there’s the reveal about him being able to go through realities. Even more interesting though is a concept of a Minder, which is the role that Robin plays.

Like Slayers, Minders have no choice in the matter and if we’re going by Buffy’s deduction, they contain unstable realities. Buffy’s dismissive attitude about Robin being one is nicely countered by Willow. See slayers are not the only ones who shoulder a heavy burden and what not. Buffy should know that by now.

Once we’re inside and enduring the staircase that never, there’s a chance for more Buffy and Willow interaction. Bitching about Faith is never cool but Willow talking French and calling Buffy “cutie” is amusing. It’s also nice to see that Buffy’s fear of the dark from Issue Two has resurfaced again. Also Willow promising to have Buffy’s back is nice.

With Buffy and Willow heading towards the dark, Xander finds himself swimming through Dawn’s frilly attire. Dawn praising Xander for his efforts is great but not as cool as her teasing him for panicking. Yes, Xander I get that Dawn is a woman now. Then there’s the picture of Kenny.

Since “The Long Way Home Part 1”, everyone has wanted to know why Dawn became a giant. Over the last few weeks some people thought it might have been Kenny’s fault beside her transformation and I hoped that sex wasn’t involved. Well I was wrong on both accounts unfortunately.

It seems that Dawn was silly enough to sleep with Kenny’s roommate Nick. Like Buffy, it turns out that Dawn also has a penchant for bad boys and Nick is one of those wankers who people mistake for being deep. Anyways he popped Dawn’s cherry (presumably) and Kenny used magic to turn her into a giant.

It’s amazing that even now sex can still be bad on this show even in comic form. Dawn cheating on her boyfriend was bad but couldn’t Kenny have just dumped her and move on? At least we finally know how she became a giant. The only other question is when the spell is going to be reversed. Having Dawn as a giant has kept her out of the action so far.

Xander provides some decent support for Dawn. Seeing as they have a very sibling like rapport, he doesn’t berate for her poor choice in men. It is funny that he likens her actions to being clichéd, which they are. It’s also curious that Dawn doesn’t know about every guy Buffy has slept with either.

Speaking of not knowing things, Buffy is still pushing the Kennedy issue again. She tries to tell that she likes Kennedy (which I do believe) and even wants Willow to be comfortable with Kennedy around her. Willow is still having none of it and once again, there’s a demonic distraction. Also Buffy goes from being supportive to suspicious of Willow in no short time.

The demon on the other hand manages to scare the shit out of Buffy and Willow before making his presence known and felt. He’s affronted by their presence in his domain and also accuses them of being liars. Buffy pointing out that they haven’t said anything doesn’t help matters.

That being said I don’t care about the affronted demon, all I care about are answers and this guy seems willing to provide them with more questions. Twilight mentioned to that suit in “No Future For You Part 4” that he wanted to end magic and this demon more or less states the same thing.

I’m not sure why Sephrilian is revelling in the concept. If Twilight is looking to end magic, then that could be disadvantageous even for a reality flitting demon like Sephrilian. It’s also noteworthy that Buffy’s life time goal as a slayer could end up being a major disaster for Willow. Willow wasn’t best pleased when she heard that revelation was she?

Sephrilian, almost deliberately cause a divide between Buffy and Willow then shows them at their least likeable moments. On one hand, you’ve got Buffy and a ton of slayer robbing a Swiss bank and on the other, there’s Willow all naked with demon in her search for knowledge.

Willow is quick to judge Buffy’s bank robbing antics and she raises valid points all round. Voll bitched about slayers becoming corrupted and doing what pleased them and we saw it here. Buffy’s crime wasn’t that victimless and if she takes actions like this, then some of her charges are going to take a darker turn.

That being said Willow is no angel as Buffy looked shocked at her bad. Does everyone on this show need to bonk demons? What secrets was Willow looking for and more importantly, what the hell is going in that place?

The next thing we see is a vision of a bruised Buffy betrayed by someone close before Robin comes and goes in a flash. Willow acts twitchy when Buffy wonders if it’s her who’ll betray Buffy. The fact that Willow says she won’t betray her any more than she has speak volumes.

Remember twice in this issue that Willow was acting cagey about Kennedy? In our last reveal, we see Willow and Kennedy argue and then Willow reveal that the reason why she doesn’t want Buffy and Kennedy to interact is in case, Kennedy dies. Somehow Willow has now thought that Buffy’s resurrection caused Tara’s death. The hurt both Buffy and Willow exhibit during that would’ve been powerful had this been a televised episode of the series.

Sephrilian finishes his rant by criticising human emotions before him and Buffy lock into another battle. Its fun that Willow uses her magic to help Buffy slay the beastie but it also causes the field to blow up and almost kills the two of them in the process. Then again, it’s not like Buffy and Willow had a choice in the matter and Robin was able to contain it as well.

The last moments add some complicated poignancy. You’ve got Robin sympathising with Buffy and Willow but you’ve got both Slayer and Wicca unable to face each other as they go their separate ways. Damn and just when some fun was being had too.

Also in “Anywhere But Here”

There are two covers for this issue. I have Jo Chen’s with Buffy and Willow but the variant cover with the girls and Robin is pretty gorgeous as well.

Willow: “Come on! We’re flying!”
Buffy: “You’re flying. I’m dangling.”

This is the second issue where we’ve had the cover image appear in the comic, what with Buffy and Willow flying.

Dawn: “Uh, Xander?”
Xander (mumbled): “I don’t love you anymore.”

Willow: “Sephrilian walks between worlds. Reality tends to buckle around those guys.”
Buffy: “It’s bigger on the inside.”
Willow: “That’s my guess.”

The winner Jerrod Balzer wrote a touching letter about his wife Robin, who is the character in this issue.

Buffy (re Robin): “I thought you hadn’t met.”
Willow: “We do later on.”
Buffy: “And I’m just gonna ride with that.”

Buffy: “If things get dicey, then I get slay-ey. But that’s not what we came for.”
Willow: “We’re just here to talk.”
Robin: “There’s a chance you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

Buffy also fantasised about Christian Bale from both Little Women and Reign Of Fire. Also a guy that I wouldn’t mind tapping.

Willow: “Ah, esprit d’escolier.”
Buffy: “Willow! What’s happening? I can’t understand you! It’s getting inside us.”
Willow: “It’s French, cutie. You really are afraid of the dark, aren’t you?”

Xander: “Frilly … frilly! Lord of hosts, I’m in the frilly.”
Dawn: “Relax, tiny; it’s a camisole.”

Does anyone think that Kenny’s friend looked a little bit like Andrew? No, seriously take a look at that picture.

Sephrilian: “You reek of lies.”
Buffy: “We haven’t, unnh even said anything yet!”

Dawn (to Xander): “It’s not that simple. I lied to Willow. I didn’t sleep with Kenny. I slept with his roommate.”

Please tell me Kenny did something to punish Nick as well. Also can Joss please explain what a Thricewise is at some point?

Sephrilian (to Buffy/Willow): “Lies, delusions, gross simplifications …these are what make mankind. No fault in it; your brains could not contain the horrible beauty of total awareness. You run from it, as from a predator. You escape. Even from each other. Take a look.”

Buffy: “Will, I don’t think I wanna be here anymore!”
Willow: “I don’t think we are.”

The demon woman Willow made out with had white hair, a snake like tail and green skin. The forest background was a nice touch.

Demon (to Willow): “Are all my secrets laid bare now? Have you found what you needed? Or shall I show you more?”
Buffy (reacting to what she has seen): “Wow you’re bad is way better than mine.”

Dawn (re Nick):“Bass. Vocals. I’m a Satan.”
Xander: “Dawnie stop! You hereby guilty of being a cliché and that’s it. You ever see the first guy Buffy slept with in college?”
Dawn: “Riley.”
Xander: “Oh how she wishes.”

What was inside the cracked red egg shell in Sephrilian’s lair?

Buffy: “Is it you? Is that why we’re both in this?”
Willow: “No. I won’t betray you. Any more than I have.”

Kennedy (to Willow): “You know I’d die for you … oh wait, I did! Admittedly it was mystical and kind of mellow but, headline: death! And I didn’t say a word about your six month mystical walkabout.”

That yellow top on Kennedy looked pretty nasty. It’s not something you’d think she would wear on the series.

Robin: “I’m sorry if I projected a remnant in there. It went when the field closed down. But I imagine that it wasn’t something fun.”
Buffy: “It was demons. Playing games.”

Chronology: No mention of a time distance since “No Future For You Part 4”.

This was fun in some ways and confusing as heck in a lot of others. “Anywhere But Here” continued to build up the Twilight mystery but how many divides in the Scooby faction must we deal with? Buffy already is on the outs with Giles and now it looks like her and Willow could go their separate ways too.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Data - Cuckooland

"We're going into cuckooland"

I usually don't post older music, but every once and awhile something will come along (usually very randomly) that demands to be spread to you great readers. I stumbled upon an 80's German band called Data this week (for those of you who may know Sailor -of "Glass of Champagne" fame- this band sprung out of its ashes) and listened to their first album. It was one of those things that just sparked immediately. It's an incredible, long lost gem. The band is synthpop, definitely, but has so many elements of my favorite groups and genres in it... even a touch of Abba in the poppy melodies and harmonies. Every song is a winner, and since the album (fittingly called Opera Electronica) is out of print, I have no qualms about posting a link where you can download the whole thing. For starters, though, check out Cuckooland, a brilliant single and the opening track. It is so freaking catchy. Also, I recommend watching this suitably (and hilariously) dramatic video to another one of their singles, Fallout. Let me know what you guys think of this band. I am officially obsessed.

Data - Cuckooland (zshare)

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Tokio - National Radio

"We gonna be on national radio"

We'll stay in Denmark today, since that seems to be where a lot of the action is happening right now. Tokio are one of my favorite unsigned bands out today and I'm hoping that they'll wind up being a big force in 2008. They've got everything going for them, the tunes, the image, the sound. And, quite nicely, they've allowed all of their songs to be downloaded for free off of their myspace. Grab them while you can, folks! The band recently posted three new songs, National Radio being my favorite (though they're all of pretty much the same quality). If you like bright, colorful pop music you need to get on board with these guys.

Tokio - National Radio (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Download more here!)