This is a short entry that I feel compelled to comment on. This is one of the most surreal videos in political history. Dirty-lyric Reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee showed up to support republican presidential candidate John McCain at an Central Arizona High School. Does McCain really know what the lyrics to the song “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee are really about? OK.. how can anyone not laugh their ass off, or at least sit there in disbelief as Daddy Yankee goes around kissing all the high school girls while McCain sits there probably having one of the most awkward white man moments in history. It is ridiculous that McCain is really trying to win votes by having Daddy Yankee support him. Latin mothers who do understand his lyrics should be upset. Oh, and not to mention Daddy Yankee claims that McCain has always “fought for immigrant rights”? Daddy Yankee, please do your research first. I pose the question, who are these people anyway?
My dirty secret is that I use a Blackberry, yet I attended the iPhoneDevCamp. This is because I love iPhone apps. I believe iPhone app developers are defining and creating the future standards and expectations for portable hand-held device functionality. I love technology regardless of the platform. I will get an iPhone when it allows you to record video, that is my hold up.
My entire goal was to arrive by 2:00 pm for the unveiling of the applications built by teams of developers who in most cases met the day before for the first time. Many great applications were developed, each presentation was a few minutes long. You can read about it all from Andrew Mager who was there live blogging the event both days.
My personal highlight was performing 10 push ups during Jon Bardin’s demo of his Push-Up Counter app. I get an applause at the end which was actually for the application but it might have all helped because Jon’s app ended up winning a category. I’d like to think that my “interactive” demo influenced the judges decision.
Other highlights: I had a very pleasant time hanging out cross-legged on the floor of a side room with most of the Medialets team. They built an ad-network for native iPhone applications. Their blog is a sensational read I believe. They sponsored the huge amounts of beer for the event, this Marin Brewing Co. Peach Beer was amazing. It was also great to briefly hang with 15 year old blogger/entrepreneur Daniel Brusilovsky who launched Teens In Tech on the following Monday morning.Video is courtesy of Andrew Mager.
@Techcrunch Meet up 08 - “Internet Famous” Julia Allison signs her first Aug 08 issue of Wired Magazine in which she is the cover girl. Her die hard fan, Andrew Mager, was the first and only one to request an autograph that night. She was happy. The cool part of the story is I decided to go at the last minute. I hit up Andrew Mager who was set on going to meet Julia in person and get his copy of Wired autographed. Upon arriving and waiting outside the entrance for a cue, Michael Arrington himself walks by and waves us to follow him in. Thank you Michael
Julia Allison was the featured cover story on Wired Magazine’s Aug 08 issue - “Internet Famous” they called her. Mager had been Twittering about her earlier and it became more special when Allison revealed it was the first Wired cover shes ever signed. This prompted me to whip out the Canon TX1 and start shooting video. The party was extra exciting for me thanks to Kabbodle’s lovely Community Manager Kristi Herwarth who crowned me with a pink feather boa. Lots of fun specially when meeting Chamillionaire and McHammer and of course Julia Allison
In this video my friend Noah came over and showed me his latest DIY project. He installed an in-line Hydrogen-On-Demand system into his Jeep Cherokee. It apparently increases his miles per gallon and claims that he is spending less time at the pump, effectively saving money. After some anticipated curiosity on my part, he finally came over and showed me his hydrogen cell contraption. Upon first glance I thought “nice science fair project” but when the engine started and the reaction occurred - “watch out Flux Capacitor.” I take no responsibility for this information and I am not claiming it is correct. I am only relating to you what my friend Noah was up to.
Saturday night 5/3/2008, I was pulled out to Oakland to see Dj Harvey instead of my usual round to the monthly Kontrol party. I can not be more glad at the turn of events. I witnessed the best underground Disco set I have ever seen in my life and I have seen great ones from Andre Hachett and Maurice Fulton. Although I like Disco for its wide spectrum of funky styles I usually get a little tired of it after a half hour - the vocals drive me a little nuts. This night however changed my opinion of Disco but it’s also because Harvey has a rare deep and underground vintage disco track arsenal that only him and a few dj’s on the planet own.
I saw Harvey once before in 2000 but I didn’t like it. On this night however, the stars were aligned and he came down with the phenomenal disco force that only a well strapped dj veteran like him can. Let’s have a reality check here. Dj Harvey is old school - I don’t know his true age but you can read his Wikipedia entry and get an idea of how far his dj career goes - He is no spring chicken - he is more like the wise owl - check out his greying beard. As a dj for 14 years myself, I was impressed by every selection he made. I recognized 2 songs all night - 4 hours.
Description: Funk-Rock with a Disco kiss on it. A deep blend of washed out guitars, funky-tribally drums rhythms, wet high hats, psychedelic drone strings, far away sounds, dance friendly rock and just the right amount of Vocals. It is one of the most eclectic sounds I have ever heard yet, under the umbrella of Disco.
The show was small, it was one of those events that drew true disco music lovers - only those who knew were there, about 100 strong which Harvey kept dancing for 5 hours straight. I myself got lucky and met a great dancer on that dance floor. We danced till sweaty - two and a half hours straight before we finally took a water break What a lucky guy her boyfriend must be - he was not there. Too bad for him, on that night Harvey made her and I connect body moves to the underground Disco Beat Check out his site and learn more about Harvey: http://www.harveysarcasticdisco.com/
Thanks to organizations like the National Snow and Ice Data Center we are able get images like these. That still probably wont get you to sell your car and start consuming less. We will just have to learn the hard way.
According the the NSIDA in an article released on March 25th 2008, a 5,282 square mile ice shelf has begun to collapse. The catalyst for this reaction was the initial collapse of a 41 x 2.5 mile smaller ice shelf named Wilkins that started disintegrating into the sea. Check out the animation here.
It is hard to tell what the impact of this ice shelf melting will be in the next coming months. The last huge ice shelf break happened in January 2002 when a region named “Larsen B”, the size of Rhode Island, started to break away and completely melt within 30 days. Wilkins is roughly the size of Northern Ireland.
In the same days as the press release mentioned, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered a speech to the Environmental Committee.
“Now there’s enough evidence to show that there is accelerated melting of some of these large bodies of ice; west Antarctic ice-sheet, the Greenland ice-sheet…I think we need some coordinated actions that would put a price on carbon”
I do not mean to be a pessimist, but I still do not think anyone is listening even when the guy who is delivering the news looks at you like this:
