Category Archives: News

Kid Cudi updates the name of his next album

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At his latest show in Milaukee rapper Kid Cudi announced the “official” name of his sophomore collaborative album: Cudder and The Revolution of the Evolution.  I say “official” because Cudi is known for announcing an album title and changing it around a couple times before it releases.  His first album was originally called “Man on the Moon: The Guardians” and was changed to Man on the Moon: The End of Day.  We’ve know for quite some time that his next album was going to be titled “Cudder,” but now he has gone head and added “The Revolution of the Evolution” to it.  I can see this latest iteration potentially finalizing into “Cudder: The Revolution of Evolution” but we shall wait and see.  Looking forward to it.

[Via DatNewCudi]

Kanye West’s VH1 Storytellers album out now

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Sure, the world doesn’t really like Kanye West right now.  No matter what you may think about him he is still a very talented musician and deserves a listen.  A while back West performed on VH1 a bunch of his latest songs from 808s & Heartbreak as well as some of his classics.  It really was a great show.  If you’re a fan of West and his music or if you happend to miss the performance you can now purchase Storytellers on DVD.  The package includes over 70 minutes of performance footage, with three songs that were not televised (“Street Lights,” “Paranoid,” and “Homecoming”), and a Q&A session with West.  It also comes with an audio CD that includes all nine live tracks.

[Via KanyeBlog]

Nintendo: The next DS will support motion control, better graphics; Netflix is coming to Wii

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In a recent interview Nintendo President Satoru Iwata splilled the beans on what to expect from the successor of the Nintendo DS: “[It will have] highly detailed graphics…And it will be necessary to have a sensor with the ability to read the movements of people playing.”  How interesting, Mr. Iwata.  I can see an advanced accelerometer placed inside a new DS-like portable gaming device that will allow for motion control in Nintendo and third party games.  As for the “highly detailed graphics,” this comment adds sparks to the fire about an NVIDIA Tegra chip being incorporated in the next DS.

In other Nintendo news, it was just announced that the Nintendo Wii will join the Xbox 360 and PS3 and finally support the Netflix service.  Like the PS3, the Wii will require users to place an “instant-streaming” disc into the console in order to stream movies and TV shows.  Obviously the Wii will not support HD content since its lowly graphics card can only handle 480p resolution.  And per usual, there will be no additional fee to watch Netflix on top of Netflix’s monthly fees.  If you’ve got a Wii and a Netflix subscription, head on over to Netflix to order your very own instant-streaming disc today.  What are you waiting for?

[Via Engadget, here & here]

Google announces Nexus One, Android finds its soulmate

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After a flurry of rumors and leaks, Google has finally stepped into the light and shared with the world the Nexus One “superphone,” a collaborative device with HTC.  Let’s jump straight to the facts, shall we?

The Nexus One sports a 3.7-inch AMOLED display (480×800), 1GHz Snapdragon processor, compass, GPS, accelerometer, light and proximity sensors, stereo Bluetooth, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an LED light source under the trackball for notifications.  It also comes with two mics (one on the bottom, the other on the back) for noise cancellation purposes.  It packs a 1400mAH battery that promises 5 hours of 3G browsing and 7 hours of 3G talk time.  When you order the device you have the option to engrave a custom two-line message on the back, just like Apple lets you do with the iPod classic, touch, and iPhone.

For now, the Nexus One is teamed with T-Mobile and sells for $179 with a new two year contract.  You also have the option to purchase it unlockedfor $529.  It will work on AT&T but without their 3G service because it only supports T-Mobile’s 3G in the US.  It is available today for purchase straight from Google.  Big news is that it’s coming to Verizon Wireless (and Vodafone) this spring.

Obviously the Nexus One runs Google’ Android mobile OS.  What’s so special about it is that it’s the first phone to run version 2.1, a much more polished version of Android 2.0.  2.1 includes live wallpapers, home screen panels, 3D photo galleries, Voice-enabled text fields, and a zippier and more handsome experience.  Unfortunately like the Droid, the Nexus One software does not include multitouch, though it definitely could handle it.  On a different note, Google promises that a future update will allow users to save apps on external storage devices like SD cards.

So what’s the verdict?  After having read many reviews it looks like the Google-HTC Nexus One is the phone to get if you’re all about Android.  It is not an iPhone killer, and Google is quick to point out that that is not the phone’s intention.  Google supports a large ecosystem of different phones, and they welcome the heavy competition the iPhone brings to the table.  So, if you are all for the Android OS, I’d take the Droid on VZ or the Nexus One on T-Mobile.  Of course you could always wait for the latter to make its way to VZ this spring, can’t you?

[Via Engadget & Gizmodo]

Waving Goodbye to 2009

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Yeah, it’s totally lame that we can’t all use Google’s comprehensive social cohesion service called Wave yet.  Whirled Interactive were lucky enough to snag an invite and made the most of it by creating these very inventive year in review.  It emphasizes a ton of Wave’s built-in features in a quick manner, highlighting many of this year’s top stories along the way.  As much as I enjoy this, it’s still a glaring reminder that some people are enjoying Google Wave while I sit here and impatiently wait.  (FYI the music is “Fader” by The Temper Trap.)

The decade according to 9-year-olds

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This video features a bunch of children who were all born in the year 2000.  Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Kobe Bryant, and George Lopez are the biggest celebrities.  Britney Spears has lost her touch, simply known to the kids as “the girl who cut her hair bald.”  They all started using computers, iPods, cell phones, and portable gaming devices at very young ages.  They never heard of Napster and the file-sharing saga.  The sound of dial-up is foreign to them; they associate it with phone answering machines, not computers.  They have a grasp on what it means to be green, though they aren’t too educated about the global warming phenomena.  (Al Gore, get on that!)  They share a keen understanding that Barack Obama is black.  Biggest news story?  When MJ died (not 9/11?).  On the 9/11 subject they all seem to remember what happened that day, what a terrorist is, and the pains of living during wartime.  Interestingly, immediately after discussing terrorism and wartime the interviewer asks the children to share their biggest fears and their answers remind us all that they are in fact a group of 9-year-olds.

Interviewer Allison Louie-Garcia has created sound clip time capsule with this short but poignant session with 9-year-old children.  It’s humorous to hear that they can’t put their finger on the sound of dial-up.  I’m glad I was born when I was.  Every now and then I ask my grandparents what it was like growing up and how fascinated they were with the transition from black and white to color TV and living through the introduction of computers and MP3 players.  I always used to complain that they saw so much and was able to live through many technological advancements.  I would think to myself “where do we go from here?”  This sound byte reminds me that I have lived through plenty of breakthroughs and I am convinced the next few decades will bring many more exciting advancements.  Flying cars, flying cars!

[Via Gizmodo]

It happens once in a blue moon–tonight!

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“It’s simply the occurrence of two full moons in one month,” says retired high school science teacher Bob Hartley.  Simple, yet so rare and beautiful.  A “blue moon” appears approximately every two and a half years; and only once in every 20 years it appears on New Year’s Eve.  When you’re out and about welcoming the New Year, be sure to look up at the sky and catch this month’s “extra moon” because it won’t appear again for a while.  Keep in mind that while some blue moons may glimmer a bluish hue due to dense particles, most of them unfortunately do not.  The name refers to the unusual pattern of its occurrence.

[Via HomerTribune; Gizmodo; Wiki]

Complex.com names Man on the Moon: TEOD ‘Best Album of 2009’

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Aw yeah.  Complex.com has placed Kid Cudi’s debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day at the #1 spot on their top 25 best album of ’09 list.

Hip-hop’s lonely stoner threw the “debut rap album” blueprint out the window with his bold opening statement, a somber trip into the mind of Scott Mescudi. With producers Emile, Plain Pat, and Ratatat driving most of the music, Man On The Moon shows a remarkably fully-formed sound—dark, melodic, spacious—a feat that most unfocused artists strive for their entire career. Mixing the easy thump of hip-hop with the relentlessly introspective sensibility of indie rock, Cudi pushed the boundaries of both worlds, perfectly capturing 2009’s unapologetically creative spirit.

I wholeheartedly agree.  MOTM: TEOD was most definitely the best album of the year.  Congrats, Cudder.  Looking forward to what you have in store for 2010.

[Via DatNewCudi]

Avatar success results in record numbers, “The Bootleg”

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Avatar is a good movie and a breakthrough in 3D cinema.  We know that.  But how did it fare in the box office?  By the numbers it made (so far)…

  • $77 million on opening weekend
  • $75 million during Christmas weekend
  • $250.4 million in its first twelve days of release (that’s #6 fastest all-time and #1 non-sequel all-time)
  • $726,612,776 (worldwide) in its first twelve days of release
  • $39 million from 249 IMAX screens in just 10 days
  • #3 spot in the Box Office Mojo chart of the biggest Tuesday box-office earnings ever
  • Total gross: Domestic: $268,886,074 (36.1%) + Foreign: $476,192,825 (63.9%) = Worldwide: $745,078,899 (as of today, 12/31)
  • The Hot Blog speculates that “there is a very real chance that the film will break $1 billion worldwide before it’s fourth weekend starts. If not, it seems pretty sure to happen in that fourth weekend.”

Sounds like Cameron and crew will make bank off this massively successful movie.  And do they deserve it.  Avatar was in many aspects an experimental film for James Cameron and he took a big risk in making it.  (It cost around $500 million to make.)  It all paid off, so to speak; critics praised it, movie-goers flocked to it, and the 3D and IMAX integration successfully added to the immersive experience.  Job well done all around.

Update: Avatar hits $1 billion in seventeen days, reaching that milestone faster than any other movie in history.  Right now it remains the third largest grossing movie, behind Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and Cameron’s other hit Titanic.

Then there’s this: “Free Love Forum takes you behind the scenes of the revolutionary new bootleg of the revolutionary new movie.”  Please sit back and enjoy this comedy mockumentary of “Avatar: The Bootleg.”

[Via TheHotBlog; BoxOfficeMojo; Slashfilm; AC; Collider; TechCrunch; The Inquirer]

Patrick Stewart is granted knighthood, adds Sir before his “captain” title

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Patrick Stewart, best known for his portrayal as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, is receiving the highest honor of knighthood in his home country of Britain by Queen Elizabeth II.  At 69 years old, the Yorkshire native wholly deserves this award because of his talent and influence in the arts, most specifically in television, film, and theatre.  Congratulations, soon-to-be Sir Patrick Stewart.  Let’s celebrate with two Capt. Jean-Luc Picard videos: First, the famous TNG episode 15 edit, “That Jean-Luc Picard.”  Second, “The Picard Dance Song.”  Have fun trying to get this out of your head!  It’s posted after the break.

[Via CNN; Gizmodo]

Continue reading Patrick Stewart is granted knighthood, adds Sir before his “captain” title →

Glee’s HI-larious Jane Lynch joins The Cleveland Show

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Glee‘s we-love-to-hate-villian-in-a-jumpsuit Jane Lynch joins The Cleveland Show as “Roberta’s brusque, no-nonsense new teacher Ms. Eck.”  EW’s Ausiello sat down for a short quip with Lynch and she discussed her excitement for the part:

Are you a fan of Family Guy?
JANE LYNCH: I love Family Guy. I am also appalled and shocked by Family Guy. And I am proud to say that several children in my family under the age of 10 get it and love it, too.

How is Ms. Eck similar to Sue Sylvester?
LYNCH: They both lack filters and say whatever awful thing comes into their mind. In-the-head-and-out-the-mouth syndrome.

And how are they different?
LYNCH: Ms. Eck lacks Sue’s icy Nordic aggression.

Your first reaction upon viewing yourself in ‘toon form?
LYNCH: Ms. Eck may have the largest, most disproportionate butt in cartoon history.

Tune in January 10 (FOX, 8:30PM) to see Jane Lynch get animated by Seth McFarlane.  This should be good.

[Via EW; TVSquad]

New logos for Nick & AOL

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Nick

I reported back in late July that Nickelodeon’s “splat” logo was about to undergo a transformation, and now it’s time to follow up.  After much deliberation, the creative team at Nick decided go with what you see above (right).  Obviously the focal point of the new logo is the stretched “i” that resembles a kid.  Cyma Zarghami, president of Nick and MTV Networks’ Kids and Family Group: “We wanted to clean it [the logo] up and allow Nick to be the stamp on all of these channels.  In asking ourselves if everything could live under the splat, we decided that the splat was dated.  It just couldn’t be done in a streamlined way.”  To celebrate Nick’s 30th anniversary, the new logo was unveiled this past fall and is now in full force.  Rest in peace, splat; you will never be forgotten.  Peek after the break for all the new streamlined Nick logos including those for Nick Jr., TeenNick, NickToons, and Nick@Nite.

AOL Logo, Before and After

From “AOL” to “Aol.” America Online has gone through its paces over the years.  First it was everyone’s portal to the Internet during the dial-up days.  Then they merged with Time Warner and became the butt of many jokes since it lost its dominance due to high speed Internet the introduction of the sole Internet browser as the main portal to the other side.  On December 10, AOL detached itself from Time Warner, thus ending a short-lived and unsuccessful merger, and decided to enter the next decade with a whole new identity.  Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL: “Our new identity is uniquely dynamic. Our business is focused on creating world-class experiences for consumers and AOL is centered on creative and talented people — employees, partners, and advertisers. We have a clear strategy that we are passionate about and we plan on standing behind the AOL brand as we take the company into the next decade.”  Sure AOL lost its steam as computer users began to realize they didn’t need it any longer as a source for email and browsing; but it is still relevant today.  AOL owns a bunch of content and their plan for the next decade is to push this content harder.  Besides maintaining the unpopular AOL software, they also continually update AOL Instant Messenger (still used by many as a communication service) and they own popular blogs like Engadget and TMZ.  As a reinvigorated content-driven organization free from the shackles of Time Warner, Aol. enters 2010 with fresh vision and slightly different logo for a new generation.

[Via UnderConsideration, here & here]

Continue reading New logos for Nick & AOL →