Free Design Vector Selamat Hari Raya

Assalammualaikum...Selamat berpuasa kepada muslimin dan muslimat..dengan musim perayaan ini mesti anda semua tercari-cari design yang berkaitan dan bermotifkan hari rayakan,dan semestinya vector khat 'Selamat Hari Raya'

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Movies You Gotta Watch: "Big"

In the age of big-CGI it's sometimes hard to remember that fantasy doesn't need to be about special effects or an epic quest series that consumes eight hours of screen time before it's done-- if you're lucky. Sometimes it's nice to remember when a simple, sweet story was all you needed. I'm at that strange age when the movies I grew up with are not quite old enough to be classics but they're old enough that the next generation might not know what I'm referring to when I mention the title. And, honestly, it's taken me awhile to appreciate how good movies were when I was younger. I'm sure there's a certain amount of nostalgia involved, but there are some movies that hold up no matter how much time passes between viewings.

In 1988 a 32-year-old Tom Hanks hit it big-- literally-- with his portrayal of Josh Baskin in the Ron Howard fantasy Big. The movie opens with a twelve-year-old Josh (David Moscow) living a fairly idyllic suburban life in New Jersey where he plays stick-ball and hangs out with his best friend Billy Kopecki (Jared Rushton). But a momentary humiliation has Josh wishing he wasn't a kid anymore and after inserting a quarter into a fortune telling machine called Zoltar Speaks, he wishes he was big.

When Josh wakes up the following morning he finds himself in the body of a grown man (Hanks). He naively rushes up to his mother and tries to explain what happened, but like anyone logically would, she freaks out and assumes her son has been kidnapped. Fortunately Josh is able to convince his best friend Billy that he is who he says he is and the boys try to come up with a plan to return Josh to normal.

After renting a cheap apartment in New York Josh is able to get a job in data entry at MacMillan Toys. It isn't long before Josh's adolescent enthusiasm brings him to the attention of the owner of the company (Robert Loggia). In an especially cute scene the two play chopsticks on the life-sized FAO Schwartz piano keyboard the movie made famous and Josh gets the dream job of every twelve-year-old kid in the world-- toy tester.

Unwittingly thrust into the world of corporate back-stabbing without the years of life-experience of most adults, Josh still manages to charm his way through the job with the forthrightness that is characteristic of his real age. His rapid success at the job catches the eye of a ladder-climbing co-worker named Susan (Elizabeth Perkins). But like his boss, Susan is soon taken with Josh and begins to fall in love with Josh and his unaffected way of looking at things. Josh soon finds himself caught between two worlds as he still hangs out with Billy while they try to track down a Zoltar game to undo the wish and trying to keep up with the adult obligations that come with a job, a rent payment and a girlfriend.

"Big" is one of those movies that never hits a false note or feels too long. I hadn't watched the movie in years, but found myself immediately taken again with its easy charm. Tom Hanks was already the kind of actor that inhabits the character he portrays and you never feel like you're watching him act like a twelve-year-old boy in an adult's body-- you see the boy trying to figure out how to navigate a world he isn't ready for. The performances throughout the film are first rate, with "Big" being the breakout role for Elizabeth Perkins-- best known these days as Celia in "Weeds"-- who makes a wonderful transformation from jaded to vulnerable. But "Big" is rightfully Hanks' movie and it's a pleasure to go back and remember why audiences were so taken with him.

I admit it's kind of fun to enter into the time warp of an 80's movie and see the two-dimensional computer animation that kids today would find positively laughable, but those moments are rare and never overly date the film or take you too far out of the story (my ten-year-old daughter thought it was funny to see the technology we limped along with in those days). In the end "Big" proves that it really is the story that counts. The fantasy elements are there, but there are no big set pieces, action sequences or special effects. The whimsy comes from remembering a simpler time and the excruciating awkwardness of making the transition from child to adult. If you haven't seen it-- you should. And if you haven't watched it in awhile-- it's a great story to revisit.

Book Review: Servant of a Dark God by John Brown

Young Talen lives in a world where the days of a person’s life can be harvested, bought, and stolen. Only the great Divines, who rule every land, and the human soul-eaters, dark ones who steal from man and beast and become twisted by their polluted draws, know the secrets of this power. This land’s Divine has gone missing and soul-eaters are found among Talen’s people.

The Clans muster a massive hunt, and Talen finds himself a target. Thinking his struggle is against both soul-eaters and their hunters, Talen actually has far larger problems. A being of awesome power has arisen, one whose diet consists of the days of man. Her Mothers once ranched human subjects like cattle. She has emerged to take back what is rightfully hers. Trapped in a web of lies and ancient secrets, Talen must struggle to identify his true enemy before the Mother finds the one whom she will transform into the lord of the human harvest.

In a nutshell, Servant of a Dark God is both new and old. I was not unfamiliar with the tropes, the situations, the characters. However, there is a certain sense of fresh wonder, an uncharted perimeter, which I as a reader long for, while experiencing a pleasurable déjà vu. Servant of a Dark God surprises with well controlled simplicity over prose and plot. Brown discards the need for mystery and relies on misunderstandings to create conflict and build tension. It’s why I am unwilling to discuss the plot. I feel I will mention too many spoilers. Precisely why, I’ll be reviewing this in a roundabout way.

Servant of a Dark God opens in a small village, newly occupied by the Mokadian Empire, but the novel stays at the same location, proving that epic fantasy doesn’t require an epic quest for a complex, action-packed plot. Here Brown builds upon mounting racial hatred between the Mokadians and the Koramites [the conquerors and the conquered, respectively], which then escalates to witch hunts. The Koramites are not defenseless and make plans to overthrow the empire’s regime over the colony. In the mean time however an independent master plan is set in motion and with all these elements I was never bored.

Brown’s narrative is simple, yet strong and individual out for every single character POV. What’s commendable here is Brown’s decision to leave blind spots in the story, often pivotal moments, which are skipped only to be revealed through someone else’s narrative. It’s smart, because it spikes the adrenaline [kept me reading] and because it eliminates repetition, in case other characters need to be brought up to speed. Speaking of narratives makes it unavoidable to say a few things about the cast. Here, I’m afraid I’ll speak in generalizations, since I didn’t find any of his characters lacking realism. All come with strengths and weaknesses. I also think that a work, in which I can’t side with any of the main protagonists, because each has a valid set of reasons to act the way they do, speaks for itself.

Servant of a Dark God has managed to avoid the Chosen One routine by smacking residential smart-ass Talen in the middle of an uprising and a secret resistance, which is a far more likely scenario given that the Koramites’ oppression. Kudos also goes to the solid amount of daily routines, which add depth to the world and the societies inhabiting it. This way I didn’t get the all too intimate been-there-read-that feeling.

Last, but not least, the worldbuilding is surprisingly simple in theory. The concept of the fire, body and soul lacks intricacy as say some complex magic systems, but offers a wide range of applications and interpretations. It’s also very interesting how the clergy reminds me of the Catholic Church. There are many ranks. The clergymen behave as if they are part of the ruling cast and well, heresy is widely used as an excuse to murder people. The soul-eaters are not the monsters the clergy has scared people with, but an alternative to how the magic is used. To be honest, the planned revolution reminds me of the reformation in the English Church, but that may very well be an aftertaste from watching The Tudors.

All in all, I think this is a well-plotted and structured debut, which holds the attention. I’m not a wild fan of the minimalist prose, but Servant of a Dark God makes good use of humor, action, intrigue, mischief and trust issues.

LG Eagle Phone, the imagination follows a Flying Eagle

Be possible with designing mobile phone imagination at design copy a flying of eagle. The designer has totaled up idea from duel screen just like that of Nintendo DS and present come out be LG Eagle Phone

LG Eagle Phone is concept phone that design are superbly touch sensitive. When the phones are flipped out, it looks like an eagle with wide wings spread out open. However, appearance of the phone is equally stylish when it is folded on. These dual multi-touch screens give users unparallel gaming experience while playing various dynamic games.

Beside, the outer surface also features control buttons that enables the user to operate the phone without even flipping it.

Designer: Eugene Kim



If you liked this mobile, you would also be interested in:
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251st WONDER WOMAN

"Kazaguruma" Wind Force Futuristic car

You know? Change environment problem in the future get into trouble big and In order to reduce environmental load, we need to start thinking how to take advantage of natural energy which freely available around us.

Come to see Kazaguruma, a futuristic car that uses wind as its power. These industrial designers thought that electric vehicle indeed reduce the amount of CO2 but at the same time by generating electric, it will produce CO2.

So, they decided to focus on natural energy, wind force, and dynamic lift. In order to make Kazaguruma works, they have designed a mechanism similar to a rotor ship. Wind force and Magnus effect create whirlwind at the back that makes this vehicle to move.

Designer: Ippei Iwahara, Naoki Kato, and Keisuke Fukunaga

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

Superstitions-- When Truth is Stranger, and More Horrifying, Than Fiction

Have you ever had those moments of strange coincidence? When you wonder if you're meant to notice something?

I had a moment like that this week.

My son is in Cub Scouts because he saw the flyers handed out at school and liked the idea of shooting bows and arrows like he saw the boys doing in the pictures. Last Wednesday they had the soapbox derby and the boys got to drive these really cool cars down the street and try to get the trophy for the fastest time. All the parents showed up, all of us in our fold-up chairs in the 113 degree heat, hoping for the sun to go down early.

I don't always go to the Cub Scout events since it's become kind of a father-and-son thing in our household, but the soapbox derby sounded like fun (though I agreed to go before the forecast said it was going to be soooo hot) and I enjoyed meeting some of the moms I hadn't run into before. We all sat down and chatted about our kids and stopped intermittently to videotape our kids steering off the road and onto the neighbor's lawns before getting back to the conversation. And as I was talking to one of the moms it dawned on me that she was unusually pale. Not strange looking, just pale. And then I realized that she had white eyebrows-- not blonde, but white. After taking a closer look (surreptitiously I hope) I realized she was albino. I thought it was funny that I didn't realize it right away, but she didn't look how I suspect most of us imagined an albino would look when we're kids. She's a pretty women who just appears fair skinned and light haired at first glance. After the initial realization I kind of just mentally shrugged and forgot about it.

But then the following day I'm flipping through the channels on the TV when I come a across a 20/20 special about the Tanzanian Albinos and was pretty much stopped in my tracks.

It's easy to think, when we live in our air-conditioned homes in close proximity to the shopping mall, that the world is a civilized place that isn't prone to dangerous superstitions. Oh sure, we might walk around a ladder or cringe over a broken mirror, but most of us who live in the developed world don't hold to the old superstitions that point the finger at a neighbor and call them out as a witch when something goes wrong. So it's hard to believe that these things do occur in other parts of the world in this day and age-- but they do.

In Tanzania people are being murdered because they're albino.

I had never heard this story before, though apparently it has been going on for a few years. While albinism is a mild curiosity in the U.S., thanks to our varied culture, it is a condition that stands out far more in African society for obvious reasons. From what I've read it is something that stigmatize whole families-- which is bad enough-- but far worse is the superstitious culture that has taken root in Africa. According to the 20/20 story, and some articles I've found online, witch doctors are still well regarded as healers in Africa, though it appears they are little more than snake-oil salesmen; and dangerous ones at that. And the current snake-oil they are selling are potions made from the body parts of albinos that are believed to increase the health and wealth of the person who takes it. Over 50 albinos have been killed in the last three years because of myths these witch doctors are peddling and many others have been maimed.

Those of us who love fantasy often play with the idea of superstitions and frequently incorporate them into our own stories. I've read many, many books built on old folk tales about witchcraft and vampires (and who here hasn't?) but it's jarring to see something like this. The modern world I live in often celebrates the unusual and recently we have seen the rise of beautiful women like Diandra Forrest and Connie Chiu who have used their unusual and ethereal looks to their advantage. Despite how difficult it must have been growing up being defined as different than everyone else, they didn't (as far as I know) grow up in a world that would have killed them for their white skin.

This story kind of smacked me in the face because I couldn't have thought up something more strange and more horrifying if I tried. It's exactly the kind of thing that I would put in a book thinking that it was outside the realm of what we would consider normal-- and thankfully most of us live in a world where that is still true. But it makes you think doesn't it? I've always known that the human experience is a vast place, that most ideas I come up with are certainly not unique. But I always hope that the horror stories we dream up are beyond the scope of the uglier things we find in the real world. Sadly, I'm often proven they're not.