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Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

6 Oct

On Wednesday October 5, 2011, the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, passed away. A visit to apple.com (I don’t do that too often) displays simply, Steve Jobs 1955-2011. By the time you will read this the media will be filled with stories and headlines about his death, but also about his life. And with good reason, while Steve Jobs was just a man, he was a man who changed the world.

It is no secret that I personally dislike apple products, and have periodically bashed them ever since the iPod came out. However while I may not of liked his products, the man and the company founded under Steve Jobs has played an important role in shaping our world.

One must give credit to Steve Jobs for keeping his vision of technology that can do more than just merely crunch numbers, for a technology that is not just functional, but technology that is fun. Steve Jobs brought products to the marketplace that billions of people use around the world. He was another example of American ingenuity, bringing value added technology to the world, and his name will most definitely be listed with the likes of Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. He has kept competitors on their toes for decades, and will no doubt continue to do so even after he is gone. So while you may not have joined the apple craze, you must pay a little respect to a man who gave us so much. Thanks Steve Jobs.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. –Steve Jobs

More Great Car Ads

10 Apr

Automakers produce some of the most innovative and enjoyable advertisements in the industry. Whether its making us feel good about life, our car, or anything inbetween, these ads all portray a lifestyle. It’s that lifestyle you associate with, look up to, and want, not necessarily the car itself. It’s with that little trick that marketing agencies around the world target us. Our brains by default connect the shortest path to a destination, we think that maybe if we buy this car, we can have that lifestyle. Even if we know that is not the case, we like to think that owning that car could help propel us on the path to achieving our dreams. This is a very difficult urge to supress, but one must take advertisements with a grain of salt.  Either way, if you can maintain your ability to make good decisions, you should be able to enjoy the ads nonetheless. Below is a sample of some more favorites of mine.

Tsunami Aftermath Photos Rolling In

11 Mar

With aftershocks still rumbling off the coast of Japan. It is only now that more accurate information is coming in. With the earthquake occurring in the late afternoon Friday in Japan, it is still less than 24 hours since it all began. Much of the initial disaster relief was carried out long into the night in Japan, and now as morning arrives, photos and data are emerging. Here are the latest highlights:

-Casualties are surpassing the 1000 death mark.

-Evacuations continue around the The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which has crews struggling to cool down the reactor.

-Hawaii appears to be relatively unscathed by the tsunami.

-The first waves have already hit the west coast of North America, some damage is being reported in areas in Oregon and Northern California.

-Subway/Transit systems are down in Tokyo, stranding millions.

-Narita International and other Tokyo Airports remain closed.

-The U.S, China, United Nations, and European Union have already spoken up offering relief and support along with other countries.

-Twitter is reporting that up to 1000 tweets per minute were streaming from Tokyo alone.

-The earthquake was thousands of times larger than the earthquake in New Zealand recently.

-Early warning systems were activated minutes before the tremor, and before the tsunami hit Japan.

Powerful images are also surfacing. The following are courtesy of National Geographic, Time and CNN.

There is also growing galleries of images at Time Magazine, National Geographic, CNN, and the BBC.

Infected Area: Monsters

8 Feb

On the discussion board today is a film I saw last night. The film I saw was Monsters. It’s safe to say that I had no previous knowledge or expectations about this film before I saw it. I had pretty much only heard of the name, and was told it was a low-budget film from a friend.

One thing I love about low-budget films is that the film makers don’t  possess the funds necessary to create large action sequences or incredible CG. This forces the filmmakers to focus on the story, the characters, their relationships, and ultimately be creative to draw in their audiences.

Monsters is no exception, the film follows Andrew; a photo journalist as he is forced to put aside his assignment and help the daughter of his boss Samantha get back to the United States from Central America. The catch is that 6 years ago, a space probe returning to earth with samples thought to prove the existence of alien life crashed into Central America. And ever since then, the ‘monsters’ have been multiplying, pushing the limits of the Mexican and American governments capability to contain them.

In order to return to America, the couple has to travel through ‘the infected zone’, an area off-limits to humans and is meant to contain the monsters. As they do so, they develop an interesting relationship, as Andrews cynical yet realistic point of view combines with Samantha’s soft-spoken gentle nature. The characters are easily likable, and you can’t help but hope they succeed in their journey to the border.

Scifi monster movie buffs might be disappointed with the very little actual monster contact. The best relation I can think of is that of Cloverfield, in which you saw very little of the monsters themselves. But the similarities stop at that, as Monsters is far superior in quality to that of Cloverfield.

So for a movie that was created with 2 people, filmed entirely on locations, and utilized local people as characters in the movie, this was a spectacular film. Check it out.

Electric and Compacts: They Are Here

1 Nov

So maybe you’ve noticed them on the streets already, or maybe your city has been plastered with billboards of them, there’s no denying, a new era of the automobile has arrived. Who ever believes that all North Americans drive hummers and other excessively large SUV’s is still living that 2002 generalisation. It was hardly true then, and its definitely not true now, its 2010! Let it go.

North American society is ready for the change, then again, it always was. Because after all, nobody wants to intentionally damage the environment, they just never had the opportunity for change. It is evident the worlds auto manufacturers have built it, and yes the people, they are coming.

It appears that things are fast changing, the streets are filled with the likes of Juke’s, Cubes, and Mini’s. And the CRZ’s, Leaf’s, Cruze’s, and Volt’s are on the way. It’s true, insanely small engine, hybrid, diesel, or full electric cars are fast replacing the fleets of models that ruled the streets before. And they’ve come with a variety of entertaining media campaigns!

 

The Art of Tilt-Shift

12 Oct

Tilt shift is a method of photography which can provide a new aspect to traditional photography that was previously imposibble. One of the most common effects that tilt-shift photography can accomplish, is the effect of miniatures. By altering the focus of an image you can present a very real subject with a miniature effect. This can be done either with the hardware itself, or through a method which is becoming more and more common today and that is done digitally in post production. I presented a video previously on the blog which had this effect, and it spurred me to elaborate more on the subject.

If you are unfamiliar with tilt-shift photography, the basic principle is that you can alter the plane of focus of the lens through phyiscally tilting or shifting a specially designed lens. Whichever method a photographer or artist chooses to create these effects, the results are truly amazing. And with that, I am including a couple of my favorite tilt-shift videos.

Home

7 Oct

I just finished watching a documentary called ‘Home’. It’s a film about our home, not the roof over your head but the planet you live in, earth. I sat in my dark living room learning about our planets extraordinary beginnings, and its progression through its own life. Then came humans, you and I, and as the music and images build tension, you start to lose faith in the role of mankind. The film paints a gloomy picture of the effects of humans on the planet, and it builds up to a climax where you think the film couldn’t get any more depressing. But luckily there is a turning point in this film, as the good things that mankind has done, and can do are outlined, leaving you with a spark of hope in a dreary mind.

Here is some of the good and the bad, according to the film:

Over 50% of the grain traded around the world is used as livestock feed or biofuels.

13 million hectares of forest disappear every year.

100L of water produces 1kg of potatoes, 4000L produces 1kg of rice, 13000L produced 1kg of beef.

Since 1950, fishing catches have increased from 18 million to 100 million metric tonnes per year.

The average global temperature in the last 15 years is the highest on record.

1 in 10 rivers in the world no longer reach their delta’s for months at a time due to heavy irrigation.

95% of soybeans produced in Brazil are used to feed livestock and poultry in Europe and Asia.

3/4 of the varieties of crop developed through mankind’s history have been wiped out.

Antarctica has immense natural resources which no country can use for themselves.

2% of the worlds territorial waters are protected, not much, but thats 2 times more than 10 years ago.

13% of the continents of the world are covered in natural parks.

South Korea restored 65% of its depleted forests through reforestation.

The U.S, China, India, Germany and Spain are the biggest investors in renewable energy.

Although the dialogue and text may be a little rough around the edges, the imagery is stunning, and the message is important and clear. We must change.

 

The Beauty of Time Lapse

29 Sep

I was recently introduced to 2 videos from 2 friends, and I thought they were so good that I was obligated to share them. One video documents Hong Kong, and was shown to me by a friend there, the other is of Mexico City, and was shown to me by a friend who is from there as well. They both deal alot with time lapse, which is quickly becoming a favorite technique of mine, and these works only further inspire me. I think they are well put together, much props to the creators who took so much time to do them, check them out below!

Both are on Vimeo, so check them out here: Hong Kong, Mexico City.

iPhone 4: Worth Pitching a Tent For?

24 Jun

At 07:00 Thursday June 24, 2010 the new Apple iPhone 4 will be released in the United States, exciting apple fans across the globe. And as with any new release, such as the iPad and the iPhone 3GS etc, there are those hardcore fans that have been lining up outside apple stores across the US. According to this article on CNN, the first was a Dallas man who pitched his tent outside an apple store over a week ago already. If you take a spin down 5th avenue in New York tonight, you’ll probably see the line-up beginning to swell already as that 7am release time creeps closer and closer.

But I have to wonder, is it really worth it lining up for yet another hyped up release of an apple product? Lets look at 5 new features with the iPhone 4.

1.First up, the new iPhone 4 is boasting its new multi-tasking capabilities, now you can run up to 7 app services at the same time. But other smart phones such as the Droid have had unlimited multi-tasking capabilities for a long time already, old news…

2.The iphone 4 has the standard camera on the back, but now also a front facing camera as well for ‘FaceTime’ video calling. Yeah that’s cool, but my Nokia X6 has had that feature long before Apple thought about it. Its technology dating back to 2004.

3.Increased battery life is a new thing for apples latest phone. You would think that as Apple releases more and more versions of the same product, that things such as weight would be decreasing. But that’s not the case, the iPhone 4 weighs more than both previous version of the iPhone. A larger battery is attributed for this, which is a good thing, as the 3GS had one of the shortest battery lives of all smartphones.

4. Optics have been greatly improved and apple is claiming the new version has a display that ‘exceeds what’s perceivable by the human eye’. Maybe, but Apple has been lagging behind other smart phone display quality such as the AMOLED and TFT screens that Android phones like the HTC Evo4 have been using already.

5. The iphone 4 has moved the simcard slot to the right spine, but has switched to micro-simcard format. No longer will standard simcards be able to be used with the new phone. While this may not be a big deal to many. For myself, I value the compatibility a standard simcard format has when travelling etc.

I know I am a notorious Apple critic, but I do think the iPhone 4 is a great phone, just not worth the usual apple hype that goes along with it. Apple has been neck deep in lawsuits over patent infringement with multiple other phone companies over the past couple years, which only makes apples revolutionary claims even more questionable. Apple always does a great job at selling a decently ordinary product at an inflated price, and I’m sure they will continue to do this with the new iPhone 4. I mean what other company can make people call in sick for work, so they can run into a store first thing in the morning, high-fiving people, laughing and smiling as they purchase a mediocre product at steep price. Apple can. So if you feel this apparent breakthrough phone is worth sleeping in a tent on a cold hard sidewalk for a week, then by all means, go ahead, but I wont be there joining you!

The Most Interesting Man in the World

31 May

He once challenged his own reflection to a staring contest. On the fourth day… he won. He is the most interesing man in the world.

In my opinion, Dos Equis has come up with one of the most entertaining and effective marketing campaigns in recent years. They feature the most interesting man in the world, sharing with us true facts about his life. He is the epidomy of the word ‘man’, he is everything we want to be, but cant be. He does everything we want to do, he is what every man wants to be. He’s like Chuck Norris, but better. He does things we cannot do, he says things we cannot say, and his advice is unparalleled. So this is my tribute to the most interesting man in the world. Even if we are unable to be like him, we can at least drink Dos Equis.

Stay thirsty my friends.

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