MacBook Air – Hit or Miss?

I’ve been thinking about this new laptop and I dunno if it’s what the industry needs right now…

Who is Apple’s target market? Let’s start with students, this definitely not for them! Compared with the Macbook, this one has no CD drive (most widely used hard media in school), wired connection deficient (Only one USB port and no ethernet), slower processor and its $300 more! How about the prosumers, again not for them! For most of the same reasons as students.

I mean if they are trying to break into the Ultra Mobile PC market this missed by about 6 or 7 inches. Size matters in that department, not only thickness and weight, length and width too. I really thought with Apple’s knack in UI, they could have fixed many of todays UMPC shortcomings! Maybe that’s the iPhone already but what is this one for? Some rich writer who just has to have the latest and greatest?

My Verdict is: This is an air ball of a  MISS!

What do you think? Look at it here.

Saul Williams: The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tartust

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor just posted the following on his blog:

Big news today!

As many of you know, I’ve been working closely with Saul Williams on his new record. We’ve spent many hours together in hotel rooms, busses, backstages and studios around the world working on something we knew was great. This is the most involved I’ve been with any project outside NIN since Antichrist Superstar, and I’ve been impatiently waiting for the chance for you to hear it.

Well… guess what?
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! has arrived!
After my own recent dealings with record labels we decided to release it directly to you. Head over to www.niggytardust.com for all the details. Register now and you can download the record November 1st.
Working on this project was a real pleasure. Saul was interested in breaking boundaries / crossing genres / defying expectations and we learned a great deal from one another in the process. When asked about the sound of the record, I’ve had to resort to “… I really don’t know HOW to describe it.” That’s a good thing more than ever these days.

A word on the way we’ve chosen to release this.
There are obvious similarities in how Radiohead just released their new record and the way we’ve chosen to. After thinking about this way too much, I feel we’ve improved upon their idea in a few profound ways that benefit you, the consumer. You obviously will be the judge of this in the end. One thing that IS very different in our situation is that Saul’s not the household name (yet!) that Radiohead is, and that means we need your support on this more than ever. If you like what you hear, spread the word.

I hope you enjoy the music,

TR

For Nine Inch Nails / Saul Williams / Hip Hop fans alike (not to mention music fans), this is GREAT, long-awaited news.

Keeping Abreast of the Buzz in the Biz: My Not-So-Secret Weapons Revealed

Many of these sites have been mentioned on this blog, or even exist in the sidebar, but they are worth repeating. If you want or need to know more about global internet trends, then there are a few fun ways to put your finger on the pulse.

VIDEO:
What are people watching? What are people linking to? What are people talking about? Two sites do a very good job of covering this from two different perspectives. ViralVideoChart measures links, Videmeter measures views.
ViralVideoChart.com
Vidmeter.com

SEARCH:
People look for things that interest them. They have a specific intent in mind when they type words into a search engine. This stuff is gold, and both Yahoo and Google have interesting pages to track trends and cultural shifts.
Yahoo! Buzz
Google Zeitgeist

BLOGS:
Blogging makes the internet world turn. It is word-of-mouth in a rocketship. Knowing what people are talking about is the key to understanding them and what they really want. These sites are worth their weight in wit.
WTF [Where’s The Fire] by Technorati
BuzzFeed

We only feature movies, music, fashion, ideas, technology, and culture that are on the rise and worth your time. – BuzzFeed

ONLINE ADVERTISING:
There are a million ad blogs, but the best aggregation I have come accross for one stop shop-talk is the Ad Feed.
TheAdFeed.com

There. Now you know a few of my more obvious secret weapons. I’m going to have to dig a bit deeper next time…

1992: Introducing A Revolutionary Computer Network Called ‘Internet’

The electronic scream means you’re connected to anywhere— to anyone riding the same internet circuit— from Turkey, Greenland, Peru, Nova Scotia… – CBC Prime Time News

(RED) Herring

Yes yes, the celebrity hugging forces of (RED) are trying to besmirch a perfectly good colour. But I couldn’t help send in a piece for the World AIDS Day 24 hour Dazed Digital broadcast. They are accepting video, stills and stuff. If guys like Rankin and Helena Christensen, among others, can send in a self-promoting piece of flotsam, why can’t you? The above is my poor effort.

Go here. Get famous.

And by the way, Dazed Digital looks pretty good and is worth a visit anyways.

Seth Fisher RIP

One of my all-time favourite comic book artists (and as a huuuge comic nerd, that’s a big statement) died last night –  Seth Fisher, a truly truly truly original visionnary of the medium. While not an established superstar of the medium (although I’m sure he would have been), he was deinfately a personal fave. The artist on such memorable books as Green Lantern: Willworld , Vertigo Pop! Tokyo, Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big In Japan, and the video game Myst III, I just nominated him two nights ago for the Eisner awards (comic books’ equivalent of the Oscars) as best penciller for his recent work on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight.
Anyone who didn’t experience cracking open that Green Lantern: Willworld hardcover for the first time and getting blown away doesn’t know what a talent they missed.

Check out Seth’s website…
Flowering Nose

*sniff*

Proportional Representation of the News

Newsmap turns the ordinary Google News site into a beautiful visual representation of how much press any given story is receiving. Sections (such as National or Entertainment) are colour coded. There are tabs to view the news in different countries, and to make comparisons of coverage. All in all, this is a stunning way to scan the headlines and to absorb media trends. Well worth visiting often.