Japanese Viral Video That’s Simply Too Irresistible…
Sections: Design Jul 25th, 2007 4 Comments
…to not plaster on Bridger.us. It was created for a Japanese clothing brand. continued →
Archive for July 2007
The Darjeeling Limited trailer
Sections: Film Jul 25th, 2007 No Comments
Wes Anderson’s new film due out early next year.
A Day at the Nürburgring Nordschleife
Sections: Auto, Photography Jul 24th, 2007 No Comments
Some photos from my recent trip to the automotive “Mecca” that is the ‘Ring.
Summer Music Reviews
Sections: Music Reviews Jul 23rd, 2007 4 Comments
From excellent to not so excellent:
Spoon / Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga / 4.5
Arcade Fire / Neon Bible / 4.25
Wolfmother / Wolfmother / 4.25
Blitzen Trapper / Wild Mountain Nation / 4.0
Digitalism / Idealism / 4.0
Tapes and Tapes / Loon / 3.75
Of Montreal / Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? / 3.75
Blumfeld / L’Etat Et Moi / 3.75
Datarock / Datarock / 3.75
Spoon / Gimmie Some Fiction (2005) / 3.75
Chromeo / She’s In Control / 3.25
The Fratellis / Costello Music / 3.25
White Stripes / Icky Thump / 3.0
The Knife / Silent Shout / 3.0
5 - classic / 4 - excellent / 3 - good / 2 - mediocre / 1 - not worth rating
The New Yorker on Why People Buy Big but Want Small
Sections: Auto, Environment Jul 22nd, 2007 No Comments
An excerpt from Fuel for Thought:
People believe that bigger and heavier cars are safer in a crash (forgetting that, often, bigger cars are also more likely to crash). And people like the fact that driving a higher-horsepower car makes you look better at the stoplight. So our desires as individuals to protect ourselves and to outclass our neighbors encourage us to buy bigger and bigger vehicles with more and more horsepower. And the market doesn’t create counter-incentives that would push us in a responsible direction, since someone who drives a Hummer doesn’t suffer the effects of pollution and global warming any more than someone driving a Prius does, and isn’t charged more for the extra environmental damage.
[ Fuel for Thought ] The New Yorker
Photographing The New MCS
Sections: Auto, Site News Jul 19th, 2007 4 Comments
You can see a few more photos below:
[ The 2007 Cooper S In Photos ] Flickr
NY Times on Feature Creep
Sections: Auto, Gadgets Jul 16th, 2007 2 Comments
Long an issues with car enthusiasts, the NYT covers feature creep and how it effects everything from mobile phones to sporty cars. You’ll find yourself nodding your head in agreement throughout. Here’s an excerpt:
Their grief is not just nostalgia. Drivers who miss the subcompact Japanese cars of yesteryear, and runners who yearn for the discontinued New Balance 855 running shoe with an anti-pronating roll bar, are victims of “feature creep,” said Jon Linkov, a managing editor at Consumer Reports. This phenomenon, generated by market forces, media hype and twitchy retailers, creates a cycle in which products are constantly improved even if they don’t need to be.
Best Automotive Camouflage Ever
Sections: Auto Jul 10th, 2007 4 Comments
Was Audi thinking that this wouldn’t be noticeable?
NYT Reviews the Ferrari F430
Sections: Auto Review Jul 3rd, 2007 No Comments
How can you not love this:
One habit I got into with the F430 was digging deep into the throttle and then pulling back for an upshift a few thousand r.p.m. short of the redline. This seems to trick the engine computer into dumping loads of fuel into the intake ports in anticipation of a run to 8,500 r.p.m., because when the F1 transmission clicks off the shift, it’s accompanied by a rifle-shot report, a supersonic whip-crack from the exhaust that prompts you to look in the mirror to see if the car behind you is engulfed in a contrail of flame. That never got old, frankly.
[ Machine Is a Dream. Wait Is a Nightmare. ] New York Times
iPhone 48 Hour Review
Sections: Gadgets Jul 2nd, 2007 13 Comments
The iPhone combines two huge interests of mine, mobile technology and Apple computers. This is the device I’ve been waiting for since I bought my first mobile phone and in a sense the piece of technology I’ve wanted since the dawn of the internet. And since it’s January introduction, it’s also the most anticipated gadget of all time. Yet somehow it lives up to the impossible hype. My experience with the device has been phenomenal thus car. The exterior design, the features and most of all the interface are truly game-changing in every sense of the phrase.
But getting the iPhone wasn’t easy at first. The ATT store I was at sold out with the 25 person in line… I was 27. You can imagine how the other 200 felt behind me. Luckily my wife was standing in line simultaneously at the Apple store. In fact as I learned the ATT store was sold out, she was buying two 8GB iPhones… one with my name on it. So I certainly can’t complain.
Activation took at most two minutes. It was incredibly quick and amazingly painless.
Using the device is addicting. You simply don’t want to put it down. The feel, the texture, the weight - everything adds up to this presence that’s hard to let go of. It’s truly unlike any other device I’ve ever owned.
However it’s not the physical presence that makes the iPhone so successful. It’s the interface that is truly revolutionary. What Apple has done with the iPhone and Multi-touch is bring a high-concept interface to the common man in a broadly used device. Analogies are difficult but the best I’ve heard is the introduction of the graphical user interface, the mouse and the Macintosh computer. However I think the iPhone and multi-touch signals an even more revolutionary change in the way we interact with computers.
But let’s not get too high level. There are still some issues I have with the phone. While each of these are rumored to be addressed in the near future with software updates, they’re were mentioning anyway:
- No MMS (can’t send or receive an image other than using email)
- No video capture (even though the camera module technically supports it)
- No visible file system
- Crippled Bluetooth - no over the air syncing, transferring files, or remote control functionality
- No auto-focus on the camera
- No true RSS reader
- No games
- No MP3/AAC ring-tone support (not even for non-DRM files)
- No 3rd Party Apps
- No Bluetooth/Modem tethering with computers
- No 3G
- No GPS
Most of the above I’m giving up in swapping my SonyEricsson W810 for the iPhone. Yet I could almost care less. The exceptional user experience and added features make up for these omissions in spades. And if the rumors are true, most if not all of my qualms (perhaps all but the last three) will be dealt with in the coming months.
If you haven’t had some time yet to pay with the iPhone and you’re interested in technology (and frankly the future), you owe it to yourself to march down to the Apple store. The iPhone is the future. It’s the moving sidewalk and flying car in the palm of your hands. And it’s only $500.
Of course you’ll want the $600 8GB if you can find one :)
