Breakin’ It Down, the You Asked For it Edition
I’ve done a number (4 I think) of these Breakin’ it Down articles, and I’ve consistently been harangued for one thing (though granted, less and less): I keep picking on “nice” bands and “nice” songs. Of course, when a person picks on a nice song, it must mean they listen only to evil […]

I’ve done a number (4 I think) of these Breakin’ it Down articles, and I’ve consistently been harangued for one thing (though granted, less and less): I keep picking on “nice” bands and “nice” songs.

Of course, when a person picks on a nice song, it must mean they listen only to evil songs according to internet logic. But, the fact it makes me sad when the music on the stations I listen to is horrible, horrible quality; regardless of family-friendliness.

Plus it would hardly do to break apart a very obscene song for a clean humor site, now would it?

But, I do recognize variety as the spice of life, and decided that I would break down a Mainstream Song just for you! So I cranked up that old “radio” and hit the “seek” button and decided I would break to bits the first random song to hit “my ears.

It was “Carry on My Wayward Son” and I don’t know what kind of evil soulless witch you think I am, but needless to say, I hit “seek” again to find something more breakable. It’ll be a clever day with Paris Hilton when I raise my hand against art.

Anyway! I listened through about five hours of commercials and was just about to give up on my will to live when a song came on! Aha!

3-and-a-half soul-beatingly dreadful minutes later, and I was forced to ask myself a very difficult question. Did I just listen to an entire song…a rap song no less…about dang lip gloss?

“Lip Gloss.” By…oh jeez…”Lil’ Mama”

Its poppin (4)

They say my lip gloss is cool
My lip gloss be poppin
I’m standing at my locker
and all the boys keep stoppin

Well…it starts out…vivaciously. No music, just a strong rhythm and a bunch of lyrics. About…lip gloss.

Mac Mac, Loreal yep cause I’m worth it
Love the way I puts it on so perfect
Wipe the corners of my mouth so I work it
When I walk down the hallway they cant say nothin
Oh oh oh my lips so luscious
The way I spice it up with the Mac Mac brushes
Loreal got them most watermelon crushes
That’s probably the reason all these boys got crushes

Can’t say nothin. Rhyming crushes with crushes. At one point she rhymes “virtue” with “universal.” Got them most watermelon. What you know bout me. It be poppin’. It is not popping. It is be poppin’.

Okay, okay. I’m stopping.

I’m stopping! NO!

There is NO REASON why anybody should have a hard time figuring out why I don’t do these kinds of songs. Lip gloss? This whole song is about why LIP GLOSS made this girl popular. LIP GLOSS.

LIP GLOSS PEOPLE LIP GLOSS.

Why do I even feel the need to say this is stupid garbage? Why? It should be inherently obvious! And I’m not going to do it! Just…listening to that song made me want to swallow razor wire, and I’ll be darned if I let my blood pressure rise any more by thinking about it. There are other verses, find them for yourselves. If you can’t figure out why this song is unfetteredly terrible and make your OWN witty jokes about the real reason the boyz prolly keep on jockin and chasin after school, then my pointing it out here really would not make any difference.

It’s a lip gloss commercial, people. A L’oreal lipgloss commercial. Why does this girl make money. It’s the saddest story in the world.

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SRK and Irrfan Khan come together for Billo Barber
No, the two hot Khans dont share the same hairstylist. We are talking about upcoming movie produced by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment, which will have Irrfan Khan playing the main protagonist. SRK is collaborating with ace director Priyadarshan for a comedy flick titled, ‘ Billo Barber’. Unlike all SRK produced movie, Billo Barber will have SRK […]

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A village on the ice
Antarctic Village by Orta Studio is a symbol of the plight of those struggling to transverse borders and to gain the freedom of movement necessary to escape political and social conflict.

Dotted along the ice, the tents formed a settlement reminiscent of the images of refugee camps we see so often reported about on our television screens and newspapers. Physically the installation Antarctic Village is emblematic of Ortas’ body of work, composed of what could be termed modular architecture and reflecting qualities of nomadic shelters and campsites. More on Orta’s web site.

Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure
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Meizu’s M8 gets more UI tweaks for its music player

Filed under: Cellphones

Now, we know the official story on the CeBIT Meizu shutdown was related to MP3 codec licensing, and not the M8’s iPhone-like UI. Still, it does seem strangely fortuitous that more pictures of the phone’s interface have just appeared that seem to showcase a move away from Apple’s familiar look. The Chinese site CNMO has new shots of the device’s music player, which now appears to incorporate song info, EQ display, lyrics, and volume / tracking controls all on one screen. The pictures also show a couple of different music browsing options, both in landscape and portrait mode. Is this a signal that the company is putting some distance between the M8 and the iPhone? Only time will tell.

Update: Some commenters here and on the MeizuMe forums are claiming that these renderings are fake / fan art. So it might not be healthy to get too excited about the above screenshots.

[Via PMP Today]

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Wanna get an old new-mac?

Me with my PowerBook G4, on the road from San Francisco to San Diego

Being a big fan of Tim Mott’s concept of guided fantasies with the need of rigorous user testing for designing user interfaces, I find Apple computers being all about user’s needs.

I recently repaired my old Power Book G4 to give it to my grand ma, who had almost no computer experience. After testing with her different platforms, she prefers working with a trackpad than a usual mouse. She loves the drag and drop and prefers it to the open/close menu. In sum, the mac interface and the macbook pro seems perfect for her. Teaching her using my old mac was so nice combining my knowledge in usability to the love for my grand ma. Now she is on Skype regularly and I can talk and chat with her!

Apple iMac G4

You can get Apple parts for old computers online. DV Warehouse is an avid reseller of used mac. It proposes a wide range of Macintosh computers and individual parts. They have pretty good deals, have a lot of Apple parts, and also nostalgic pieces such as the Apple iMac G4 or the iMac G3. The Apple community needs this kind of single source for used Mac and used Macintosh computers parts. So you can start designing, repairing and hacking old macs!

The Apple iMac G3

I could not find the Apple I, Apple’s first product! “Sold as an assembled circuit board, it lacked basic features such as a keyboard, monitor, and case.”

Apple 1 with an added keyboard and a wooden case. Photo taken by rebelpilot

Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure
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Happy Persian New Year!

Filed under: Celebrations, Holidays, New Year’s

Today is the vernal equinox, or the first official day of spring. A lot of people are happy to see the first day of spring, but it’s especially important for the people of Iran, or Persians. For them it’s the first day of the celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Nowruz has many traditions, including lighting fires and banging pots to beat out the unlucky last day of the year, but most importantly they set the table. There is a symbolic setting on the table, with a special cloth called the sofreh-ye haft-sinn (the setting of seven dishes) consisting of seven lucky and symbolic foods each beginning with the Persian letter sinn. The lucky foods include spouts, apples, the fruit of the wild olive, garlic, sumac berries, and vinegar.

There are several traditional dishes served at a Nowruz party. They all have their symbolic meanings about life and rebirth, health and luck among others. One dish is samanu, a wheat sprout pudding representing rebirth. There is also baklava, chickpea cookies and candied almonds to symbolize prosperity.

All of the food mentioned here sounded great. This is the first year I had heard about Nowruz, but I always like finding out about other cultures. I love finding out about food from other cultures, and finding out about Nowruz has really gotten me excited about Persian food. How about you?

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NYC cab drivers lobby for right to use cellphones on duty

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

About this time last year, the cab drivers of New York City were taking a stand against GPS installations. This year, they’ve taken to the streets of downtown Manhattan in order to rally for the right to use cellphones while on duty. For those unaware, NYC cabbies are currently disallowed from using hands-free apparatuses while on the clock, and those in the profession are arguing that having one would enable them to feel safer and more connected to the outside world. Unfortunately, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission doesn’t seem ready to budge, as it reportedly replied to the lobbying by stating that “cellphone abuse has resulted in many instances of drivers leaving their passengers feeling improperly served and downright unsafe.” What’s a cab driver got to do to get his / her Snake on, huh?

[Via textually]

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Gibson fires Guitar Hero lawsuit at Wal-Mart, other retailers

Filed under: Gaming

Last we checked we actually weren’t in the Twilight Zone, but quite frankly, the bigwigs at Gibson just might be. Seemingly out of nowhere, the famed guitar manufacturer sparked up a lawsuit against Activision claiming that Guitar Hero titles violate one of its patents. Now the company appears to be on the warpath, suing Wal-Mart, Target, GameStop, Amazon, Toys ‘R’ Us and Kmart in an attempt to get the game off of store shelves. Reportedly, Gibson took “this action reluctantly, but is required to protect its intellectual property.” For the retailers that did comment, they chimed in only to say “we aren’t commenting,” and judging by the looks of things, the games are still widely available — for now.

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Need some ideas on what to drink with your Easter chocolates?

Filed under: Wine, Beer, Chocolate, Cocktails, Newspapers, Easter

Are you going to have chocolate, lots and lots of delicious chocolate, on Easter? Not everyone does, and that’s ok. But if you are, what are you planning on drinking with it? Obviously the kids won’t be indulging, but I say what’s wrong with an Easter cocktail.

The only problem with that is sometimes its hard to pair chocolate with beverages other than wine. Wine does generally go superbly with most chocolates, but you’d be surprised to find out that beer can be a great pairing as well. Maybe a nice brandy with that chocolate bunny might be nice. You’d probably have to play around with pairings, but I suggest you do that before Easter Sunday. However, here is something that might help. This article on pairing chocolate with different beverages offers a short list of sure fire matches.

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Food Porn Daily: Jumbo eggs

Filed under: Food Porn Daily, Eggs, Easter

Ah, pastel tinged egg salads and deviled eggs, how freakish and lovely they are! As you may know, we are thick in the middle of Easter egg dyeing season and so I thought I’d post a fun, vibrant and appealing image of how one person chose to present her eggs a couple of years ago. I didn’t actually think that I would be dyeing eggs this year, but I got an email just yesterday afternoon from some friends, inviting us over on Sunday afternoon to have dinner and tint some hardboiled eggs. I’m really looking forward to it!

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