Out For a Few Days

We had plans at the end of the month to take the kids on a weekend trip before school starts, but somehow things got shuffled around and we'll be leaving this weekend. Oh darn, that means I'll be out of town while we have 106° weather here, how will I ever survive? I should be back by Tuesday. Have a great weekend everyone!

MiCoffee, coffee maker concept with pressure sensitive pad

If want to drink coffee must do? If, answer like to be simple reply that, make come to drink. Already if, crave both of coffee and tea, Must do? The though likes this to can solution by….

Combining the servings of coffee, tea and hot cocoa in a single appliance, the designer has presented a personal brewing station that allows users to customize the size of their beverage from 6oz, 8oz, 10oz or 12oz, so there is no waste of water.

The "MiCoffee" is the coffee maker concept includes a pressure sensitive pad to know when a mug is under the spout, so the automatic setting does not go off without a container to catch it. Designed to be pours straight into your favorite mug, the coffee maker presents an organic shape with sweeping curves and interlaced pieces to match the decor of contemporary apartments. Placing the coffee, tea, cocoa and water into the cylinder on the back part, the coffee maker also integrates customizable clock and timer settings, simple 3-button interface and hidden cord compartment. Featuring a sleek and compact design, the MiCoffee just measures 10 x 10 x 5″ (HLW) in dimension.

Designer: Carlos Marquez

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Movie Review: "Inception"

There really isn't a better way to usher in your 40th birthday than to helm a film that is receiving almost universal acclaim, and that is precisely the enviable position Christopher Nolan finds himself in after the release of the elaborately realized Inception. Few writer/directors have the goodwill Nolan can claim, but after delivering quality blockbusters like "The Dark Knight" and well regarded small budget films like "Memento," Nolan has absolutely earned bragging rights as one of the best in the business, and "Inception" is sure to add to his golden-boy shine, even if it doesn't, quite, hold up as his best effort.


Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an "extractor", a person who specializes in entering another person's dreams and retrieving highly classified information. As the film opens we're immediately thrust into the middle of one of Dom's intrigues as he attempts to ferret out a secret embedded in the mind of the mysterious Saito (Ken Watanabe). Unbeknownst to Dom, Saito isn't the pawn in Dom's game; he's really auditioning Dom and his team to determine if they can take their skills to the next level and implant an idea into someone's subconscious (hence the name "Inception") rather than take information out. Dom initially balks at taking the job, but mysterious circumstances have put Dom on the run from the law and it's ultimately Saito's offer to clear his name, and reunite him with his children, that motivates Dom to accept.

Like any other caper film (and "Inception" is a caper film at heart) there has to be a team and Dom's team consists of Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the "point man," Eames (Tom Hardy) the "forger" (who can forge counterfeit identities within dreams) and Ariadne (Ellen Page), the "architect" who creates the dreamscapes the team operates in.

"Inception" is an almost excruciatingly complex film based on a fairly simple premise. Like "The Matrix," the film trades on our natural preoccupation with the boundaries between reality and our subconscious-- so comparisons between the two movies are inevitable. But "Inception" is a far more intimate movie than "The Matrix," despite its lavish landscapes, because it is essentially the story of Dom and his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard), and a shadowy secret that hovers over the two of them.

As Dom and his team plan for the job, the movie really ramps-up the complexity of the plot. We understand from the beginning that part of the methods Dom uses to extract information involves a "dream within a dream" strategy-- which means convincing the mark that they are no longer dreaming, having "woken" from their dream state, and leaving them ripe for manipulation. But implanting an idea is much more difficult and requires the team to go further down into the dream state, layer upon layer, but that also exposes them to more danger. Adding to the risk is Dom's wife, who seems to be lurking on the fringes and sabotaging everything he does.

"Inception" is actually a really, really hard movie to review because it takes awhile to process the movie and decide how much you like it. At least that's how it is for me. It's generally well cast and Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent, as always, and plays Dom to perfection. The only surprise as far as I was concerned was how much I liked Joseph Gordon-Levitt-- I expect this movie will springboard him very well into a solid movie career as he has an excellent presence for the big screen. Ellen Page is serviceable, though not especially compelling, while Tom Hardy is likable and charismatic enough to make you wish he had a larger role. Marion Cotiallard is lovely and tortured while Michael Caine is barely present. I've read some reviews that say there isn't much chemistry between the characters, but I'd say it isn't a matter of charisma so much as opportunity. There is very little real time spent between the characters, as the movie belongs so much to Dom, and the characters of Arthur and Eames are little more than archtypes. We know a tiny bit more about Ariadne, but only on the most superficial level.

And it's the lack of characterizations that keep "Inception" from moving from a very good film to an exceptional one. Nolan spends so much time on the intricacies of the dream world, and how it can be manipulated, that the characters fall by the wayside. Perhaps it's okay that we're only invested in Dom's story, but there often is a feel of unrealized potential that hovers on the fringes that left me feeling slightly dissatisfied. I also think that the movie bogs down a bit in the middle because of the heavy focus on describing the technique needed for the job as opposed to the subtle moments that define the characters.

There has also been a fair amount of buzz over the "twist" at the ending of the movie, but I found that none of the revelations were really that unexpected. It never had the kind of "whoa" moment that I had hoped for, though the audience is basically given the choice at the end to interpret events in their own way-- which makes plot points I previously thought implausible to actually make perfect sense if viewed in a certain way.

The beauty of "Inception" is that it's one of those movies you'll want to watch a few times so that you can see if your initial impressions were correct, and you'll probably walk away with a different opinion each time. The more I think about it, the more I am impressed with Nolan's craftsmanship. Despite a few nit-picky observations, "Inception" does deliver on multiple levels with a good balance of action, complexity and mystery. I wouldn't quite rank it as high as "The Dark Knight" on my list of favorite films, but it it doesn't do any damage to Nolan's reputation as a filmmaker of unusual talent.

"Red" Movie Trailer

Eco Ball, MP3 player can charge By Solar Energy

We know you love in the song and like to listen to the music are the heart and soul, and you never forget your MP3 player along with your favorite portable speaker set wherever you go. But, it not good is sure, when you take a trip or camp in the forest then to haven' the no power source? Batteries? Which, think be possible difficult

The Eco Ball is a sustainable portable sound system concept that can charge itself from the solar energy anywhere you go and provide seamless music with distinct and high quality sound. Moreover, the stylish appearance and intelligent construction along with the ease of carrying the speaker with the help of the carry belt have made it an indispensable part of music lover’s life. When not in use, the bright colored, round speaker remains attached with the shoulder strap to ensure ultimate carrying convenience. When it’s time to enjoy music, it can be divided into two parts to get true surround sound.

Designer: Pedro Gomes

If you liked this MP3, you would also be interested in:
www.tuvie.com

Review: The New Avengers & The Transformers

I’ve heard nothing but bad things about this series, from reviews that have blasted every aspect of it (concept to execution) and yet there was something compelling about it to me. I’ve loved the Transformers for a long time, it was one of my favorite toys (and probably the last toy line I was really into as a kid), and I’ve been a fan of Marvel comics for a long time. This seemed like the equivalent of a summer movie blockbuster – maybe not all that intelligent, but certainly it should be entertaining.

And I’m here to tell you it is exactly that. Don’t listen to all the negative press about this series – no, it’s not the greatest Avengers or Transformers story I’ve ever read – but let’s be clear here; we’re talking about superheroes and sentient robots from outer space. Is there any particular reason these two franchises can’t get along? In fact there isn’t – and Ms Marvel makes a point of noting that during her cosmic travels she’s encountered worlds devastated as described by the Autobots (when talking about what the Decepticons will do to Earth should they not be stopped) – but I’m getting ahead of myself here.

The Avengers have gone to Doctor Doom’s country of Latveria because it has recently increased hostilities with neighboring country Symkaria – in what will likely lead to outright war. The Avengers are looking to prevent that, though Captain America notes that the planes he sees flying bombing missions into Symkaria don’t look like the type Doom’s country employs (to the eagle eyed reader, they do look to be the familiar shapes of Decepticons). The Avengers find a dome shaped base, and Doctor Doom who seems as surprised as they are to find it in his country. As they try to break in, they are met by the Decepticons, who take Spider-man because his irradiated blood carries a unique energy signature that they can harness into Energon which will give them additional powers beyond what they are normally capable of.

Ok, so that was a bit of a stretch, but again – superheroes, talking machines – let’s go with it here. The heroes (who by this point are in-fighting incessantly, almost to the point that I was thinking this was the reason people were turned off by this series) retreat, though begrudgingly – and find the Autobots arriving to help. The Autobots explain that the Decepticons have usurped one of Doom’s devices and used it to make an aggression ray of sorts – one that’s affecting all the humans in the vicinity (making sense of the in-fighting of the Avengers, as well as the rising tensions between these countries) as a cover up so that they can harvest the fuel of our world and leave it a husk when they’re done (this is where Ms Marvel mentions she’s seen this happen before).

The Autobots and Avengers then work together to invade the dome and defeat the Decepticons, in grand spectacular fashion. We have Iron Man coming in wearing a Transformer sized armor, Spider-Man webslinging around Megatron the way he’s shown on the cover of the original Marvel Transformers #3 (but didn’t actually occur in that issue) Optimus Prime giving the beat-down to Megatron, and lots of other fun moments. Yes, there are strange out-of-character moments (I think Captain America is singing the Star Spangled Banner as he heads into battle at one point, which just didn’t seem right – but I’ll chalk it up to the lingering effects of the aggression ray), but by and large both the art and the story really impressed me for what this book is. These robots from space fit in as well in the Marvel universe as any other cosmic threat (and are treated as just another one of the many that exist), frankly it can even coexist with the already established appearance of Spider-man (though that’s long been written out of his history) in the Transformers – because there’s really no reference to him having never seen them before. And though never followed up on in any other comics that I know of, the ending certainly set up the possibility for a follow up Avengers/Transformers series.

But ultimately, if you’re a fan of either series, this is the kind of series that was made to be easy to pick up and read for anyone. I’m a fairly casual fan at this point, having not followed Transformers in comics for since their Marvel days and only reading Avengers since it’s New incarnation - but that’s more than enough to follow what’s going on here. This is exactly as advertised, a big dumb action film – so get out the popcorn and have fun reading it, and don’t worry too much about if it makes sense or not – remember, superheroes and giant talking robots.

242nd BATMAN & ROBIN

"Blue Bee" Touchscreen Interface Concept

The size of the mobile screen defines user experience. Larger the screen better the experience. However, it is hard to come across full touchscreen mobile phones with zero hard buttons and almost all the functions shifted to touchpad.

The "Blue Bee" is very slim smartphone concept at design get very interesting handset interface. Which, you can see, the UI looks a bit like the Windows Mobile 6.5 interface and it requires a large touchscreen to operate and there’s no need for any physical button, at all

An interesting idea is placing a touchpad at the back of the phone's body; touchpad would extend the display to almost the entire body of the handset and provide more screen space and means of interaction. The touch panel on the side behind is operable as shown in the last image included in the article.

It's very easy to operate and it'll allow moving in menus, reaching the Home menu and selecting content. Overall, the dialer, music interface and much of the UI looks very neat and user-friendly

Designer: Kingyo

If you liked this mobile, you would also be interested in:
www.concept-phones.com

Giveaway! "Labyrinth" by Kat Richardson

Courtesy of Penguin Books I have a copy of "Labyrinth" by Kat Richardson up for grabs on my giveaway page. Be sure to CHECK IT OUT

"Filterbrella" an umbrella picks the water adds a bottle

The rainy season changes to come to again, many people think it is the refreshment, someone tell distress and don't like the soaked. But, there is the designer who stare the falling rain comes out imaginary that happily, change the view point in the falling rain to the advantage in designing umbrella

The "Filterbrella" collects and filters the rainwater for drinking purpose. The "Umbrella Recollector", as they hail it, features a cone shaped fabric to collect rainwater, which you can pour into the water bottles after appropriate purification through built-in filter. Moreover, you can adjust the knob to screw bigger bottles and store drinking water for future use.

Designer: Argentine design studio Synopsis

If you liked this product design, you would also be interested in:
www.thedesignblog.org

Green Lantern Movie Pictures

Here below the first official pictures of the upcoming Green Lantern movie:
(Click on a picture to enlarge it.)
Looks like Hector Hammond does have an important role in the Green Lantern movie.

Previous pictures from the movie set of the Green Lantern:
(Click on a picture to enlarge it.)
A few concept art of the Green Lantern movie have leaked online:
(Click on a picture to enlarge it.)
Those pictures of Green Lantern look promising, impatient to watch the movie!
:)

Shaping the Adult

I loved fairy tales as a kid; couldn't get enough of them. Like most little girls I was somewhat drawn to princess stories, though I never wanted to be a princess. I simply think that I was looking for my own gender to connect to, and princesses were what you found most of the time.

But mostly I was a sucker for the animation. I didn't say I was deep. To this day the one that stands out the most in my memory is "The White Cat" from Dean's A Book of Fairy Tales. I poured over that book and studied every illustration from "Beauty and the Beast" to "The Frog Princess;" those images are an indelible part of my childhood.

I know that book had a huge impact on my grown-up interest in fantasy, though there's always a 'chicken-and-the-egg' kind of question that always swirls around my head when I stop and think about my taste in entertainment as an adult. Was I naturally drawn to fantasy or did I develop an interest just because it was there?

I didn't grow up in a touchy-feely family. I had three older brothers who liked to play the politically incorrect game of "smear the queer" (we don't use that word anymore-- promise) and taught me how to form my fist to throw a proper punch so I'd have a fighting chance when the fists started flying-- as they will in a house full of testosterone. The TV was generally tuned to "The Dukes of Hazzard" or old Bruce Lee movies. It's probably not a coincidence that I don't tend to pick up Oprah Book Club selections.

But somehow the the fairy tale books found their way to my room. We also moved a lot-- almost every year. And libraries were my refuge. I remember reading Madeleine L' Engle and C. S. Lewis in grade school and discovering Piers Anthony and Terry Brooks right around the time I was entering high school.

And "Battlestar Galactica" and "Buck Rodgers." Oh, the Saturday afternoons I spent in front of the TV captivated by those shows. This was, of course, prior to the cartoon channel and gave me an opportunity to see that science fiction was pretty darned cool, even when the main characters are wearing spandex.

Our taste in entertainment says a lot about our personality. My brothers don't like the same things I do even though we grew up in the same house. It's safe to say they think I'm weird. But there's no doubt their male sensibilities rubbed off on me. I'd rather watch a shoot 'em up movie over a romantic comedy any day.

But I find I'm at an interesting place as an adult. It seems that my generation now owns Hollywood and I'm wondering how much my taste is me and how much just seeped into my brain by osmosis.

Look at the evidence. "Battlestar Galactica" has already had a very successful run as a remake-- and it was gooood. "The Karate Kid" faired well at the box office this year while "Clash of the Titans" quietly slipped under the radar. Less successful entries to the remake bonanza from my childhood have included "The Dukes of Hazzard," "The A-Team," "Charlie's Angels," and "The Bionic Woman." And "Tron Legacy" will bring another 80's movie to the screen once again later on this year. But wait! There's more! "Footloose," "Red Dawn" and "Conan the Barbarian" are already in various stages of development. And I bet I'm forgetting a few other movies to add to the list.

I should have made this post about how there are absolutely no new ideas in Hollywood.

But it's interesting to look back at this list of movies. It is a pretty good representation of my taste in cinematic entertainment-- scary and shallow I know, but this is what the filmmakers responsible for this list are banking on. I can tell myself that those fairy tale books shaped me, but what if I really owe it all to "Short Circuit?" (yeah- this one is on the remake list too)

Did I really have a say in what I ended up liking? Would I be looking forward to "Eat, Pray, Love" if I had sisters? Would I (shudder) be really, really into "Twilight?" Or was my taste determined by early exposure to "Thundarr the Barbarian?"

Who knows? But I guess it doesn't really matter. I can't change who I am and I kind of like marching to my own drummer-- especially if the drums are being played by a zombie...

(Too many viewings of "Thriller" might be responsible for this random thought)