Found on Flickr: retention

retention, originally uploaded by brookeshaden.

Cool stuff!

Main square in Bethlehem

Main square in Bethlehem, originally uploaded by Jacob W..

Here’s another shot from my Bethlehem series. I miss this place so much…!

Found on Flickr: Wasp queen

Wasp queen series #2, originally uploaded by Lord V.

I really like this one… the macro is an amazing thing to play with and this guys does it pretty well. By the way: I had no idea that even small animals (and insects?) like this are so perfect and symmetrical (look at the forehead for example!).

Frozen

Frozen, originally uploaded by Jacob W..

Another shot from Petra.

Minority Report goes real

The biggest GUI evolution ever since 1984 (you know, the Apple, the mouse, the graphics, etc [although technically it was Xerox who invented the mouse, but seriously - who remembers that?]). 

This video shows of something that reminds me of Tom Cruise’s Minority Report.

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler.

(Shit, embedding doesn’t work obviously but just check out the link.)

New theme design

So I’ve changed the theme for my blog again. Also it’s time to test out a new feature: poll. Let me know what you think by answering!

My hits and shits of 2008

The year’s coming to an end, so it’s time to start summing it up, right? Let’s start with my favorite albums!

Good ones

4. The Roots – Rising Down

Overall a good CD, pleasant listing. Shows that new hip-hop doesn’t have to be sung using auto tune. 

 

Snoop Dogg's Ego Trippin' cover art

 

3. Snoop Dogg – Ego Trippin’

Let’s face it: Snoop is exactly what I try to stay away from – mainstream. And let’s face it: I still like this record a lot! Press Play is a great opener.

2. O.S.T.R. – Ja tu tylko sprzatąm

Contemporary, kinda ol’ school but still modern hip-hop, that’s still staying away from what’s trendy these days (auto tune, anyone?). Love it, especially Introgliceryna’s second part!

 

1. Coldplay – Viva la Vida

This one was difficult. Sure, Viva la Vida is a great post brit-pop record, but in my opinion not as good as the debut Parachutes a couple of years ago. Still, the track with the same title as the album is amazing and can for sure be compared to my all-time Coldplay favorite track, Don’t Panic.

Coldplay's Viva La Vida cover art

 

 

Not-so-good ones

 

Okay, that’s the good-stuff list. How about the other side? Here are my biggest disappointments of the year…

 

 

3. Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak

Kanye's new record

 

Recently released and played in my iPod with huge anticipation. And what? Well… not much. Let’s hope this an artistic experiment, a side album, a spin-off from Kanye’s ideas, a test… Please Mr. West, turn off the auto tune and go back to rapping’, cause you do it well. More than well on 2006’s Graduation! I’m not saying the album is bad – if it’d have been anyone else, it would be good. But with Kanye’s rap talent… singing R’nB ballades is a waste of time. 

 

2. The Kooks – Konk

Gonk! Konk! It can be played, but you hardly notice the music. How could this happen after such an amazing debut with Inside In / Inside Out (2006)?

 

1. John Legend – Evolver

Finally, the biggest disappointment of the year. Seriously John, what happened? Get Lifted (2004) was amazing, Once Again (2006) was good, though I got tired of it sooner than with Get Lifted. This truly continues the backdown spiral of Legend’s. I’m afraid of the next record which statistically should arrive in 2010. Damn…

 

There’s one more album worth mentioning, namely Dig You Soul by Oasis. Recently released (November 2008), it is for sure the most Beatlesque record of the year. I haven’t been listing to it a lot, but I do like it for its sound and many references to the Fab Four. Still, Be Here Now (1997) is in my opinion the best Oasis record ever. 

 

So these are my biggest favorites and biggest disappointments of the year, in a retrospective opinion. But the statitics say something else. The most listined album during the whole year is… Veronica Maggio’s Och Vinnaren Är! Seriously, I have no idea how this could happen!

How about you?

Alright, that’s my opinion. Which are your favorites or most hated records of the year? Don’t hold back!

No net

Hi folks!

Recently my access to the Cloud has been limited, lots of downtimes when I’m in the hotel. On the other hand I’m not staying in Sharm a lot – there’s been a couple of trips to Jerusalem every week. High season I guess. It feels good knowing that soon I’m going back to Europe and will no longer depend on unstable Egyptian Internet connection. Out for now, bye!

News for November 18th

I got back from the beach, had my lunch and now it’s time for the after-noon tea. I still don’t like the hotels, but I must admit it’s very comfortable to live here. And it makes me lazy, which is probably a bad thing. 

So here are my readings for today. I started off by reading about the repressions of freedom of speech in today’s Russia. Recently a journalist has been seriously injured for his criticism of some of the Moscow’s bosses and politicians. When I read that, a slide show on the same page led me to these great photos of wrestling Pakistanis. Obviously wrestling is their national sport and they’ve been doing it for over thousand years. Now a little no tech news. RED is soon releasing a new digital video cam aimed at the professional market with its… 261 mega-pixel resolution! Should be enough for a while, I think. But you shouldn’t make stupid comments when it comes to technology, like that one famous quote of Bill Gates about “640K ought to be enough for anybody” (for those who don’t get it: we’re talking about 640 kilobytes, 0,6 megabyte, okay?). Yeah funny, except he never said that – he says now. Something else he said is this:

“To create a new standard, it takes something that’s not just a little bit different; it takes something that’s really new and really captures people’s imagination — and the Macintosh, of all the machines I’ve ever seen, is the only one that meets that standard.” – Bill Gates, at a conference on the Macintosh (1984) Quicktime clip at osdata.com (1.1 MB)

And this one is as much true today as it was in 1984. Amazing foreseeing there, Bill! One last tech thing is this cool app for the Mac which is made for writing long texts, such as books or research thesis. It seems like it has everything to organize the text and even the references (crucial when writing a thesis). Check out the Scrivener. 

Of course I couldn’t stay away from Wikipedia today either. I read on some of the Pan-Slavic topics and found something interesting: have you heard about the Czech Corridor? According to Wiki, there was a proposal which “would have carved out an area of land to connect Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.” And thus connecting the Western and Eastern Slavs with the brothers in the South, just as it was before Hungarians invaded the central Europe in the 9th century! Comments on this one folks?

My portfolio’s available!

Sorry about this long break. Now I’m back again and first thing’s first: I decided to make my portfolio available. You can find the link in the main menu, or use this one. 

So we’re in the middle of november, time’s running really fast now and Christmas is approaching soon. I’ve been keeping myself busy guiding tours in Jerusalem and visiting the beach in Sharm in my spare time. Weather is beautiful and reminds of normal summer in Poland (or a really good one in Sweden, if you rather think that way). Israel on the other hand got colder, with temperatures around 15-20, so I’m finally making use of the jackets I brought with me to Egypt. 

On the other hand I wish I was in Halmstad right now, at least for a while. Two reasons: 1) there’s finally an Apple reseller in town, and 2) Max’ famous Frisco Cheese ‘n Bacon hamburger – only available in Sweden.

Today I’m off to Jerusalem, and when I’m back Tuesday I’m looking forward to seeing my dad who’s coming to Sharm for a week. That’s it for now!