Optimus Maximus

Hey! Look! A Keyboard... A Keyboard for 1564 USD!!!

Every key of the Optimus Maximus keyboard is a stand-alone display showing the function it is currently associated with.

- Click to see some photos of the product.
- If you're interested, this is a 3 key version: Optimus Mini Three
- Optimus Upralvator
- And this is just a mug...

These are all designs by Arthemy Lebedev

The All Harp Tribute to Metallica: Harptallica

After Apocalyptica, Fade To Bluegrass and Rodrigo y Gabriela; here is a brand new tribute... The All Harp Tribute to Metallica: Harptallica

Harptallica began in early 2006 when Ashley Toman, a grad student at the Eastman School of Music, decided to arrange one Metallica song, "Fade to Black," for two harps. Somehow this turned into 10 Metallica Songs and a CD which they recorded in November, 2006. The CD, titled "Harptallica," will contain songs from "Ride the Lightning," "Master of Puppets," "...And Justice for All," and "Metallica."

Ikea Hacker: ikea hacks and mods, fabs and flops

I found this website today: Ikea Hacker

"i like tinkering with ikea stuff and i know many other people who do too. whatever they may be - a funked up karlanda sofa, an ingenious idea for your pax wardrobe, a creative twist on your kitchen countertop, or even advice on how to finally stop flimsy forby stools from wobbling..."

Check it out; there are some neat ideas... ;)

Ballet Ruffles Some Feathers

You almost expect controversy in the political arena, heated rivalries in sports, and dismay when a public figure falls from grace. But there are certain things that you can always count on, things that make you feel comfortable. Take the arts, for instance.

Ballet appeals to a certain type of audience. However, in Bismarck, the Northern Plains Ballet has moved out of its comfort zone in an effort to attract a new audience. Yet it`s that bold change that`s making some people feel a bit uncomfortable.

The upcoming ballet Mozart to Metallica will showcase several choreographers using dancers from the Northern Plains Ballet, but the poster to promote the show is raising some eyebrows.

- Read the whole article by Sarah Williams
- Here is the poster

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Forget every other acoustic guitar duo you've ever heard. Mexico's Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero up the ante with an album that owes as much to Metallica as it does to Paco De Lucia and Al Di Meola. It's a hard-driving, high decibel, rutting and strutting cathartic melange of metal, jazz, Mexican, Spanish and Gypsy musics. It's also gloriously melodic, and it makes you feel mighty chipper.

Sanchez and Quintero are survivors of Mexico City's early-1990s metal scene, where they combined studies at the music conservatoire with playing in bands inspired by Megadeth and Metallica. Together with the fuck-you attitude to rules and regimes which shines through Rodrigo y Gabriela, this got them thrown out of the college, and towards the end of the decade they decided to take time out on the European busking circuit.

The excerpt above is from Chris May of All About Jazz Thanks to him I just discoverd Rodrigo y Gabriela. They are a great couple and their self titled album rocks.

Stairway To Heaven is excellent, but it's bettered by the other cover here, a seven-and-a-half minute version of Metallica's Orion, a masterpiece of majestic, posturing swagger. The originals are packed with riffs and ostinatos too, alternating with intricate, single-note, counterpoint passages—but hard-rock dynamics rule pretty much throughout. Produced by John Leckie (Baaba Maal but also The Verve, Stone Roses, Muse and Radiohead), the disc has the raw, unmediated feel of a live set.

- Their official web site

(And don't foget to search YouTube for Rodrigo y Gabriela ;)

Entrepreneurship & Ortakoy

I found this blog recently it's abou entrepreneurship; the last post is about Ortakoy, a district of Istanbul... I liked the post:

On this globally warmed sunday, I was in Ortakoy with two friends and we went to the HouseCafe. It was so crowded and full of bodies and personalities, albeit in the new fasionable street smart clothes, that i could not stay. We went to the traditional tea gardens by the dock instead to enjoy the beautiful weather more casually. We asked the patron if they served menemen and receiving a positive answer, we sat down at a table three rows behind the street. So far so good. Then came the waiter.

How To Make a Manual Westy Tent

This was an old question amongst Vw Camper Bus owners... Here is a DIY manual about how to do it... :)
Thanks to Insel...

Manual Westy Tent (pdf)

(And by the way check this beauty at eBay... If I was in US I'd buy this one without even thinking)

Metallica Featured On 'We All Love Ennio Morricone'

I had mentioned that Metallica will be on 'We All Love Ennio Morricone' Album... Since 1983 Metallica starts their gigs with Morricone's "Ecstacy of Gold" (from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) This time Metallica really covered Ecstacy of Gold.

- Read the whole article in here...
- Here is the album cover...
- And you can listen the Ecstacy cover here...

Metallica's Master of Puppets named most influential metal album

Metallica's classic 1986 record Master of Puppets has been selected as the most influential heavy metal album of all time by pop culture web site IGN Music. The editors explained their choice by saying that the band's third effort "built upon and perfected everything they had experimented with prior. It's the album where all the pieces come together in glorious cohesion and it's the album that finally woke the general public up to the power and the glory that Metallica was born to spread." Two other Metallica discs also made the Top 10, more than any other act.

You can read it all...

Kidman car crash footage

Nicole Kidman was yesterday taken to hospital after her car crashed into a pole at about 75km/h while shooting her latest film.

Doctors said her seatbelt probably saved her from serious injury when the Jaguar she was driving in a scene for the science fiction thriller The Invasion went out of control.

Go read the story and watch the video...

Top 100 Fonts

Here is the top 10:

1-Helvetica
2-Garamond
3-Frutiger
4-Bodoni
5-Futura
6-Times
7-Akzidenz Grotesk
8-Officina
9-Gill Sans
10-Univers

Here is the whole link...

2007 Oscar preview: honorary academy award for Ennio Morricone

Forget about this year's actual nominees for best film score: Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel; Thomas Newman for The Good German; Philip Glass for Notes On A Scandal; Javier Navarrete for Pan's Labyrinth; and Alexandre Desplat for The Queen.

These are all worthy composers, but like I said, forget about 'em. Because this set of pikers can't hold a baton-shaped candle to the guy receiving this year's honorary Oscar.

Read it all: A fistful of statue By John P. Meyer

And breaking news: Sony Classical announced the release of a tribute recording called We All Love Ennio Morricone, to feature selections orchestrated by Morricone himself, along with interpretations of his work by such artists as Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Andrea Bocelli, Metallica, Roger Waters and Yo-Yo Ma.

Trivium — call 'em retro; call 'em heavy metallica

If you loved '80s-era Metallica, you'll love these guys.

Led by a talented 21-year-old songwriter, evolving thrash rockers Trivium is promoting an acclaimed new 13-song album, "The Crusade."

Some hail it as metal's salvation.

The Sun (London) calls the disc "a near flawless collection of songs."

The Village Voice called them "ferociously talented players," but damned them for the Metallica obsession: "Trivium wanna be Metallica so bad you're almost embarrassed for them, like you've walked in on frontman Matt Heafy air-guitaring to 'Ride the Lightning' in his bedroom. At the same time, you have to wonder why they've set the bar so low for themselves."

Heafy doesn't buy it, but maintains a "what, me worry?" attitude about it.

Read it all at MySA.com, by Hector Saldaña

Voivod Bassist, Jason Newsted Injured

As they gear up for the November 21st release of their highly anticipated debut and the New Year’s Eve launch of their much-buzzed-about national tour, Rock Star Supernova have suffered a major setback with the loss of all-star bassist Jason Newsted.

The current Voivod, former Metallica member is scheduled for immediate surgery to repair a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and bicep tear in the right. Newsted suffered the injuries while trying to catch a 90-lb bass head that had fallen from atop his amp. The surgery will be followed by a lengthy rehab assignment that could leave him sidelined for up to nine months.

Read it all...

Photos From Golden Orange Film Festival

This week I am in Antalya to watch 43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival & 2nd Eurasia Film Festival. The official web site of the festival is: English, Turkish...

Although I am posting some of the photos I took in fikirbaz.com, I uploaded more to a Flickr Set that you can view from this link... Enjoy, more will be added soon ;)

Learn How To Make Beard With Photoshop

If you haven't already, you will at some point in your design career be forced to composite hair or fur into a project. The specific reason isn't important. But how are you going to do it? Use a plugin? Not any of the ones I've seen. Copy and paste hair from another image? Too much of a pain, what with the complex masking and color matching. So what will you do, paint the hair follicle by follicle? Absolutely. But it isn't anywhere near as time-consuming as it sounds. With the tools available in the Photoshop 7 Paint Engine, you can generate hair and fur with as much detail as you like in almost no time at all.

Click to read the whole article...

1st Turkish Juggling Convention

I am planning to go to Sundance - Tekirova, Antalya Turkey in October. Between 5-8th of October there will be 1st Turkish Juggling Convention in Sundance / Antalya. Although I got nothing to do with juggling I am planning to take photos, swim & camp. Yep, we will be going there with my Type 2. ;)

- Turkish Juggling Convention
- Sundance Camp

Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)

I was looking for some info on Multi-Level Marketing this afternoon. (I saw the term on a "about us" page in a networking site; they were saying, "no multi-level marketing, no spam blah blah blah...) Anyway, there are lots of sources about MLM; here are some descriptions and articles...

Once upon a time, multi-level marketing was a legitimate business which provided a way for small companies to get their unique products to consumers in small towns and rural areas which had no access to these products. At this time, the products sold themselves, and the multi-level aspect was a way of giving a small reward to those who had worked hard to build the organization. But the focus was always on the product.
Click to read it all

And this is from Wikipedia:
In a typical multi-level marketing or network marketing arrangement, individuals associate with a parent company as an independent contractor and are compensated based on their sales of products or service, as well as the sales achieved by those they bring into the business.

In a legitimate MLM company, commissions are earned only on sales of the company's products. No money may be earned from recruiting alone ("sign-up fees"). Some less legitimate companies produce revenues primarily by attracting new participants or selling them marketing services, as opposed to selling actual products. One must analyze the compensation plan to determine whether participants are paid from actual sales to customers and not from new-recruit bonuses or business support sales.
Click to read it all

Metallica songs turned into lullabies

The song "Enter Sandman" will take on a whole new meaning on August 29th when Lullaby Renditions of Metallica hits the streets. The CD features "dreamy" renditions of Metallica staples such as "Battery" and "Master of Puppets," complete with glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron, harps, bells and more instruments you're not likely to hear on an actual Metallica album. A press release promised that "the music that set the standard for aggressive, concussion-inducing rock will soon be lulling infants to sleep,"...

You should click here to read the whole story...

The Popularity Dialer

Have you ever been in a situation where you wished your cell phone would ring? Maybe you wanted to look extra important or popular on that hot date. Or maybe you just needed an excuse to escape from an unpleasant meeting.

With "The Popularity Dialer", you can plan ahead. Via a web interface, you can choose to have your phone called at a particular time (or several times). At the elected time, your phone will be dialed and you will hear a prerecorded message that's one half of a conversation. Thus, you will be prompted to have a fake conversation and will easily fool those around you.

Metallica Among Biggest Wusses Says Blender

METALLICA has made Blender magazine's list of the "The 25 Biggest Wusses … Ever!" The list, which was published in the magazine's July 200 issue, "salutes the most awesomely wimpy musicians of all time." In the short write-up explaining METALLICA's inclusion on the list, the Blender editors state, "The haircuts were lame and the anti-Napster crusade lamer, but neither prepared fans for the soppy bitchfest that was 'Some Kind of Monster': The once-throttling metalheads dropped $40K a month on a touchy-feely life coach in a Cosby sweater who played master to METALLICA's puppets. Lars and James bicker and weep throughout, but neither has the decency to just go ahead and slug the other. Wussiest moment: Lars's ego is crushed by his gnomish father who, upon hearing a new song, sagely advises, 'I would delete that.'"

Source: MetalUnderground.Com

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence

I am not a football fan, i didn't watch any of yhe world cup 2006 games... Anyway, of course I watch the news... I think how you view the whole thing depends largely on your national perspective... Check out these links ;)

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence:
Part 1
Part 2

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence

I am not a football fan, i didn't watch any of yhe world cup 2006 games... Anyway, of course I watch the news... I think how you view the whole thing depends largely on your national perspective... Check out these links ;)

Zidane headbutt outrage: new video evidence:
Part 1
Part 2

10 things to do on the last day of your career

(This article's from BBC News Magazine, by Sean Coughlan, and there are reader suggestions as well, highly recommended ;)

France's football hero Zinedine Zidane ended his glorious career in spectacular style - getting a red card for headbutting an opponent in the World Cup final. How are you meant to leave the office in a way that won't be forgotten? Here are some ideas...

1. Use your leaving speech to deliver a verbal Zidane-style headbutt. Affairs, expenses scams, inflated bonuses, wigs, how the place has gone to the dogs. Feel the room get colder than an eskimo's beer fridge as you give them your wit and wisdom.

2. Leave a challenge for your successor. When President Bush's staff took over the White House they complained that the Ws were missing from the computer keyboards (as in George W Bush) and that an office had been renamed Office of Strategerie.

3. If David Beckham can cry when he's leaving his job (as England captain) then so can I. Don't. Bad move. Nothing is going to fill an office with more horror than the prospect of Jeff from accounts showing emotion. It's not what open plan is about.

4. Leaving speech II. Talk at interminable length about your own glittering career - that time you really showed them who was boss over the faulty photocopier - and deliver rambling anecdotes about characters who left years ago. Just keep talking, it's your last day. What are they going to do? Sack you? You've listened to them for long enough. Look, I can just keep going...

5. Hand your identity dog tag to the craziest frother in the shopping centre and tell them where they can get free coffee and meet lots of new and hospitable friends.

Read the all 10 suggestions and more...

Detox clinic set for video game addicts

An addiction center is opening Europe's first detox clinic for video game addicts, offering in-house treatment for people who can't leave their joysticks alone.

Video games may look innocent, but they can be as addictive as gambling or drugs - and just as hard to kick, says Keith Bakker, director of Amsterdam-based Smith & Jones Addiction Consultants.

Bakker already has treated 20 video game addicts, aged 13 to 30, since January. Some show withdrawal symptoms, such as shaking and sweating, when they look at a computer console.

His detox program begins in July. It will run four to eight weeks, and will include therapy sessions, wilderness excursions, healthy lifestyle workshops and possibly medication.

To read to whole article you click to go to AP

Metallica Debut New Song In Germany

Metallica debuted a new song on June 6, 2006 in Germany, as part of their “Escape From The Studio ’06” tour. The untitled song, dubbed “The New Song” by front man James Hetfield, has been posted online at three known locations... You can visit blogcritic.com to learn these locations. (Recommended, as I could download the whole show, whole etlist)

Metallica are also playing the whole Master of Puppets album in the right order in this tour as it's the 20th Anniversary of the abum.

Cell phone saves immigrants lost in Arizona

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A group of stranded illegal immigrants facing death in the parched Arizona desert saved themselves by using a cell phone to call rescue services, the U.S. Border Patrol said.

The group of eight Mexicans got lost in the desert southeast of Tacna, Arizona, and called for help early on Wednesday after their guides abandoned them during a two-day trek across the border from Mexico.

Disoriented and without food or water, they used a cell phone to dial 911. Rescuers dispatched helicopters and located the group shortly before dawn, the Yuma Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement.

President George W. Bush visited Yuma on Tuesday as part of a tour to drum up support for an immigration overhaul that seeks to give millions of illegal immigrants a pathway to U.S. citizenship and tighten security on the Mexico border.

Arizona is the principal route for mostly Mexican migrants seeking a new life in the United States. Last year more than 260 died trekking north over the desert, where summer temperatures reach highs of around 120 degrees F (49 C).

This year, the Border Patrol has stepped up flights over the scorching, cactus-strewn wastes in a bid to save more lives. So far agents have rescued 309 migrants in the Yuma area since October 1, up from 203 in the same period a year earlier.

"This summer we are not going to be caught off guard ... we are definitely better prepared," said Richard Hays, the Border Patrol's spokesman in Yuma.

The number of recorded migrant deaths in the desert state has dropped to 107 in the eight months since October from 124 in the same period a year earlier, Border Patrol figures show.

The Review

Yep... You're right, it's been a while again. I had promised to write a review about Queen Its Kinda Magic... I was really busy... Anyway...

The show was really great. It was more than I expected. The venue was not appropiate enough for a rock show (with comfortable seats) But the frontman Craig Pesco invited everybody to stand up (in recent learned Australlian accented Turkish) and the response was quick... There was lots of middle aged fans in audience but the enthusiasm was worth seeing. After a while as some people was tired of cheering, clapping and singing they intended to sit but after second they realized that they would never be able to see anything sitting down... So... Both the show and the audience was great.

The band was cool. Frontman Craig "Freddie Mercury Pesco is a real showman and a great singer. Although he had put on some weight his performance was great. Sometimes when you closed your eyes you really could hear Freddie Mercury singing.

The band performed lots of Queen classics (but Show Must Go On) That can be said that they covered all the songs perfectly but I think we should say they "played" the songs perfectly as they didn't cover them but played them as the way Queen used to play.

Anyway, it was a great night, great show, great music, great Freddie, great Queen, great tribute... (Don't miss it if they play somewhere around you...)

Be Careful With What You Drink

Hungary workers get shock at bottom of rum barrel

I read the articele at Reuters web site: Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine website reported.

The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.

For More Oddly Enough Articles

Turkish Director Atif Yilmaz Dies At 80

One of the biggest Turkish movie directors, Atif Yilmaz Batibeki died at his house tonight. He had directed more than 110 films. You can find a detailed filmoraphy in IMDB. As far as I know he was suffering of cancer for the last days of his life.

- More info about him at IMDB
- Sinema.com
- Atif Yilmaz @ Klaket.com
- Atif Yilmaz @ Vikipedi

Philips Shaves You Everywhere

This is one of the funniest product websites I've ever seen. Introducing the Philips Norelco Bodygroom, you can find answers to some really importand questions in life:
- Women prefer well-groomed man, right?
- Does body hair lead to body odor?
- What do you think of using scissors, tweezers or wax to remove your body hour?

Go watch & interact with Shave Everywhere...

Optics To Help You See Thru Clothes

Kaya Special Optics, Inc., having specialized in manufacturing special optical devices for the past 30 years, would like to take this opportunity to introduce a newly developed product called the "Infrared See-Through Filter PF". The PF is a special optical device that helps to visually penetrate an object's surface in order to view whatever lies below. The PF makes it possible for you to see images that are normally invisible to the human eye. It sounds like science-fiction but it isn't; this fantastic new product has been developed using the most highly advanced optical technologies available. From here on in, we would like to show you the amazing results of the PF. Armed with sufficient knowledge, you will be able to experience the real power of the PF for yourself.

- You can read more about it at Kaya Optics
- How "See-Through" Works?
- Some experiments (it seems like it works)

Film critics getting left in the dark

Advance movie screenings for critics take place in darkened rooms several times a week. Their locations are generally closed to the public - it's probably easier to infiltrate a Freemason initiation ceremony. And reviews are embargoed by film studios until opening day.

The prescreenings are part of a symbiotic relationship between writers and studios that has lasted for almost a century. By showing its latest fare to reviewers, the industry stands to benefit from publicity, especially if critics offer the sort of kudos that can be blurbed for TV and print ads. For critics, the previews are essential if their critiques are to coincide with a film's opening.

Lately, though, that relationship has been fraying. This year, more and more films have been withheld from the press prior to opening day...

You can read the whole article by Stephen Humphries in Christian Science Monitor.

Magician David Copperfield robbed after show...

...According to the police report, this is what happened next: The Malibu pulled up behind the group, and two of the four young men in the car came out holding handguns. One ordered Daly to "give me what you have." Daly handed over $400 from her pockets. Riley, meanwhile, allegedly stuck a gun in Volmut's face and asked for her purse, and she, too, gave it up. In it were 200 euros, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a Razr cellphone.

Copperfield told Page Two he pulled out all of his pockets for Riley to see he had nothing, even though he had a cellphone, passport and wallet stuffed in them....
"Call it reverse pickpocketing," Copperfield said.

You can read it all at PalmBeachPost.com...

On An Island

by David Gilmour

Remember that night
White steps in the moonlight
They walked here too
Through empty playground, this ghosts' town
Children again, on rusting swings getting higher
Sharing a dream, on an island, it felt right

We lay side by side
'tween the moon and the tide
Mapping the stars for awhile

Let the night surround you
We're halfway to the stars
Ebb and flow
Let it go
Feel her warmth beside you

Remember that night
The warmth and the laughter
Candles burned
Though the church was deserted
At dawn we went down through empty streets to the harbour
Dreamers may leave, but they're here ever after

Let the night surround you
We're halfway to the stars
Ebb and Flow
Let it go
Feel her warmth beside you

On An Island - David Gilmour

On An Island was released in march 2006. For some time now I liste to nothing else but On An Island. And I am happy to recommend ypu the whole album.

Although I lile Pink Floyd a lot it can't be said that I am a particular David Gilmour fan... Till now. The album; "On An Island" sounds & feels like Pink Floyd a lot. And yep; great music. It's been a while since I liked an album this much.

Pink Floyd keyboardist, Richard Wright, is on there, as is Guy Pratt (who has played bass with Pink Floyd on two world tours, as well as contributing much in the studio). The amazing Jools Holland lends a hand (or two) on piano. David Crosby and Graham Nash show up on the title track and Robert Wyatt makes a contribution as well. Orchestrations are provided by the renowned Polish composer, Zbigniew Preisner. The album is produced by David Gilmour, Chris Thomas and Phil Manzanera (who have worked with David and Pink Floyd extensively since Dark Side Of The Moon).

- Check David Gilmour's Official Web Site, I liked it a lot
- On An Island @ Amazon
- On An Island @ Ideefixe (tr)

What Does DHL Mean?

Last night I wondered what DHL stands for; and here is the answer: The company was founded in 1969 by Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom, and Robert Lynn; the initials of the founders' last names form the company name.

If you'd like more info about DHL, you can check wikipedia... I just learned some numbers about DHL:

Number of Employees: around 285,000
Number of Offices: around 6,500
Number of Hubs, Warehouses & Terminals: more than 450
Number of Gateways: 240
Number of Aircraft: 420
Number of Vehicles: 76,200
Number of Countries & Territories: more than 220
Shipments per Year: more than 1.5 billion
Destinations Covered: 120,000+

Dominoes

I have a brand new set of dominoes. But the problem is I don't know how to play them. So, I googled about it and found lots of sites, lots of different type og games, dominoe sets, etc.

Here is a brief history:

Dominoes are the descendants of dice sticks and dice. Although possibly used as a method of divination, fortune telling and certainly for gambling there is no doubt that dominoes have developed and evolved as a popular form of entertainment in which all players, regardless of literacy skills, can enjoy exciting games of chance and skill. Believed to originate from early Chinese tile games in 12th and 13th centuries, dominoes their more identifiable form of the game as we know now it was first recorded in 14th century China. The game appears to have reached western civilization when it first became popular in the courts of Mediterranean Europe trading nations in the 1700’s. Its popularity then spread though the rest of Europe in the 18th century and the game became known by the French word referring to a black and white hood often worn by catholic priests in cold weather, “Domino”.

- Rules for Dominoes
- DominoRules.com (great domino source)
- Lots of different domino games
- Domino Links
- Domino-Games.com
- Game Cabinet: Dominoes

Google's New Interface

It is not officially released but Google made some minimal changes to its search results interface... (I guess this isthe beginning of 3 column at google) Now the have sarch categories at the left hand column and the sponsored links on the right.

Anyway; to learn more about the changes or enable your browser to reflect changes please visit: Arstechnica.com

Rock world pays tribute to Metallica for special CD

EIGHT OF rock's hottest bands have contributed to a special re-recording of Metallica's 'Master Of Puppets' in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the classic album's release.

'Remastered', which features exclusive recordings by Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium, Fightstar, Machine Head, Funeral For A Friend, Chimaira, Mastodon and Mendeed - will be given away free with Kerrang! issue 1102, which goes on sale April 5!

Click Here To Order Your Copy (I Just did)
To read more about the tribute album and the bands...

Kerrang!'s 'Remastered' features the following tracklisting:

Machine Head - 'Battery'
Trivium- 'Master Of Puppets'
Mendeed - 'The Thing That Should Not Be'
Bullet For My Valentine - 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)'
Chimaira - 'Disposable Heroes'
Fightstar - 'Leper Messiah'
Mastodon - 'Orion'
Funeral For A Friend - 'Damage, Inc.'.

Interested in Steve Jobs' Outfit?

After a busy February, here is March. I hope to post much more in March. So, afterall it is spring time (I hope)

Now, anybody can dress exectly the same as Steve Jobs... All you have to do is clicking to Steve’s Outfit, The Definitive Wardrobe Source, but we warn you; it'll cost 458 USDs.

Funny idea, funny site... :) Stevesoutfit.com

Surf Guitar from Fender & Intel

Fed up posing in front of the mirror strumming a tennis racket? Still searching in vain for the lost chord? Help is on hand for all aspiring rock gods thanks to Fender and Intel, who’ve teamed up to create a concept guitar that explores the possibilities and redefines the term ‘music on the move’ – an internet-enabled super guitar. Beginning with the iconic FENDER Telecaster - made famous by legends from Bruce Springsteen to Franz Ferdinand – the ‘surf guitar’ is the world’s first to allow you to download and playback your favourite riffs from the internet without touching the strings, so you can sound like Bo Diddley while doing diddly-squat. Yes folks, if this concept ever makes production, you’ll be able to play, record, email and surf the web from the comfort of your six-string

You can read the whole article or see other photos of Surf Guitar... Don't hesitate to click... :)

Starbucks may fill coffee cups, iPods

Customers at Starbucks may soon be able to say "I'll take a Double Mocha Latte and fill up my iPod."
The ubiquitous coffee chain already sells music CDs with its coffees but soon may offer on-the-fly MP3 downloads.

"A lot of our customers are asking for device fill-up, and going forward we'll do that," said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, at the Midem music industry conference in Cannes.

The chain hasn't yet set a date for moving into music player downloads and is still talking to various companies about the technology, Lombard said.

(I read this at NYDailyNews...)

Beer Pouring Robots

Aside from stocking and cooling up to six cans of beer and two mugs, upon the press of a button, the machine will open up a can, and pour in into the mug with a perfect head every time.

I do think that six cans won't be enough but isn't it handy? :)) Thanks to OhGizmo!

(If you live in Japan however, you should know that Asahi is running a promotion where they’ll be giving away 5,000 fully stocked refrigerator robots.)

Pluck

Pluck's award-winning free RSS Reader for Internet Explorer, Firefox or the web delivers your favorite news and blog postings all in one place.

Tag, comment and rate web pages on Shadows. Share links and participate in discussions on your favorite topics.

I used to read web sites by browsing them in their unique design. That's not because I don't like RSS or feeds but I just like to see theb design and all that stuff. But these days -may be as of I am so busy- I started to prefer reading feeds, in fact scan reading feeds) I tried some applications, soma web sites but at the very moment Pluck is the one I liked most. That's it.

Dunk Mugs

In fact the picture tells it all. Dunk mugs are double purpose coffe mugs that can store some cookies as well. With a mug of hot coffee you can also have warm cookies.

Don't be afraid to drop the cookes. Dunk Mugs are for both right handed and left handed people. Just choose which one you want. Designed by Dominic Skinner, available colors are: White, black. mint, sky blue and lilac. You can get one from the MochaHome, it is aprox. 25 USDs.

Google Cache Ruled Fair Use

A district court in Nevada has ruled that the Google Cache is a fair use.

Blake Field, an author and attorney, brought the copyright infringement lawsuit against Google after the search engine automatically copied and cached a story he posted on his website. The district court found that Mr. Field “attempted to manufacture a claim for copyright infringement against Google in hopes of making money from Google’s standard [caching] practice.” Google responded that its Google Cache feature, which allows Google users to link to an archival copy of websites indexed by Google, does not violate copyright law.

Read it all...

Absolut gets into spirit of name play with new ads

After 25 years and 1,500 versions of print ads built around the shape of its bottle, Absolut vodka is shelving the campaign that made it famous.

Absolut will spend $20 million on a new effort that starts today and includes its first TV ads as the brand battles slower growth and tougher competition for vodkas.

"We're introducing the brand to a new generation of vodka drinkers," says Tim Murphy, brand director. "Those in their late-20s have come of age in a noisy, chaotic, cluttered vodka category."

- To read the whole article in USA Today
- A small photogallery of Absolut ads

The World's 12 Best New Buildings

1. Best Civic Building:
Scottish Parliament Building (Holyrood)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Architect: Enric Miralles (EMBT/RMJM)

2. Best Museums:
de Young Museum, San Francisco
and Walker Arts Center Expansion, Minneapolis
Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

3. Best Tower:
Agbar Tower
Barcelona
Architect: Jean Nouvel

4. Best Factory:
BMW Central Plant
Leipzig, Germany
Architect: Zaha Hadid

5. Best Government Offices:
Caltrans District 7 Headquarters
Los Anegeles
Architect: Thom Mayne / Morphosis

6. Best Expansion:
High Museum of Art
Atlanta
Architect: Renzo Piano

7. Best Multi-Purpose Arts Building:
Shaw Center for the Arts
Baton Rouge, La.
Architect: Schwartz/Silver Architects

8. Best Memorial:
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Berlin
Architect: Peter Eisenman

9. Best Housing:
Sanchinarro Mirador
Madrid
Architect: MVRDV

10. Best House:
Art Collectors' Residence
Toronto
Architect: Hariri Pontarini Architects

11. Best Hospital:
General Hospital of Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real, Spain
Architect: Ángel Fernández Alba

12. Best Convention Center:
Milan Trade Fair
Milan, Italy
Architect: Massimiliano Fuksas

Read the whole article with details...

CryptoExpert 2006 Lite

On the fly encryption system for use at home

CryptoExpert creates encrypted virtual disks and these disks are visible as usual disks with drive letters (for example, G:, H:, Z:, i.e. with any drive letter that is not used by other system devices). The data stored on a CryptoExpert disk is stored in the container file. A container is a file, so it is possible to backup a container, move or copy it to other disk (CD-ROM or network, for instance) and continue to access your encrypted data using CryptoExpert. Any free drive letter (or choosen letter) in the system may be used to mount and to open an encrypted file-container for access. When the virtual disk is opened, you can read and write data as if it were a conventional removable disk. You can do anything with a CryptoExpert virtual drive that you can do with a normal hard drive; only that with CryptoExpert, the encrypted volumes require password authentication before the files become accessible.

Go get more info...

Family feud threatens to sink Cousteau’s legacy

IN an obscure corner of the old trawler harbour of La Rochelle, hidden from view by the building-site that was once the city’s fish-market and forgotten by all but a devoted few, lie the rotting remains of one of the most famous ships of the 20th century.
Heavy-duty rubber straps have been bound round the stern to stop it breaking apart and the front is covered by a white tarpaulin. A large sign warns the curious against coming aboard. Understandably, because the handrails are splitting and the metal floors have rusted through to a thin veneer.

For the intrepid visitor who ignores the advice there is more desolation to come. Inside, where once rang out the cries of hardy crewmen and a thousand instruments whirred, there are now blackened timbers, gaping emptiness and the drip of discoloured rainwater.

This is the pitiful carcass of the legendary Calypso, the former Royal Navy minesweeper that for nearly half a century plied the oceans with the French undersea adventurer Jacques Cousteau, taking a starring role in his celebrated films and television programmes.

Nine years after the commander’s death, the ship has fallen victim to a bitter family feud and its chances of a new life as a museum or research centre – let alone taking to the sea again – appear to be receding into the depths.

Click to read it all.

Hey Joe

Today at around 07.00 am I started the with Hey Joe in my car. It felt great. Strictly recommended; right now ;)

Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix
Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Alright. I'm goin down to shoot my old lady,
you know I caught her messin' 'round with another man.
Yeah,! I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady,
you know I caught her messin' 'round with another man.
Huh! And that ain't too cool.

Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down,
you shot her down.
Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot you old lady down,
you shot her down to the ground. Yeah!

Yes, I did, I shot her,
you know I caught her messin' 'round,
messin' 'round town.
Uh, yes I did, I shot her
you know I caught my old lady messin' 'round town.
And I gave her the gun and I shot her!

Alright
(Ah! Hey Joe)
Shoot her one more time again, baby!
(Oo)
Yeah.
(Hey Joe!)
Ah, dig it!
(Hey)
Ah! Ah!
(Joe where you gonna go?)
Oh, alright.

[3rd verse]
Hey Joe, said now,
(Hey)
uh, where you gonna run to now, where you gonna run to?
Yeah.
(where you gonna go?)
Hey Joe, I said,
(Hey)
where you goin' to run
to now, where you, where you gonna go?
(Joe!)
Well, dig it!
I'm goin' way down south, way down south,
(Hey)
way down south to Mexico way! Alright!
(Joe)
I'm goin' way down south,
(Hey, Joe)
way down where I can be free!
(where you gonna...)
Ain't no one gonna find me babe!
(...go?)
Ain't no hangman gonna,
(Hey, Joe)
he ain't gonna put a rope around me!
(Joe where you gonna..)
You better belive it right now!
(...go?)
I gotta go now!
Hey, hey, hey Joe,
(Hey Joe)
you better run on down!
(where you gonna...)
Goodbye everybody. Ow!
(...go?)
Hey, hey Joe, what'd I say,
(Hey.......................Joe)
run on down.
(where you gonna go?)

Gmail Has RSS Feeds Now...

View your favorite RSS feeds right in Gmail as “Clips” along the top of your Gmail screen. Display clips from blogs, news sites and other online sources. Pick from the latest headlines, random popular feeds, or add any RSS/Atom feed you want.

Also, Gmail just started automatically detecting addresses and tracking numbers, and displays useful information for them alongside your messages. With a single click, you can get directions to that address your friend sent you, or find out when the new book you ordered will arrive. Pretty handy!

Enjoy!

Fresh Mirror Projects

It's been a long time since I last submitted new photos to Mirror Project. Last week I submited two pieces at last... Here are they:

- A Scared Look To The Pot Smoker
- Birthday Cake

To see all my mirror projects: Click Here!

A comment to an entry

You know that I closed comments because of spam. Comments sent via e-mail is of course welcome but in fact noone sends any comments with e-mail. Noone but one... :)
So here it is:

"over my dead body" or "when hell freezes over" is what steve jobs used
to say about windows. but lately, he's "changing his tune" pitching
itunes to windows users and even incorporating bad "intel" (i m
referring to 'intelligence')...

this is to comment on your latest post "tingo, nakkele and other
wonders"
(by Metin in California - TalkTurkey)

Tingo, nakkele and other wonders

(By Georgina Pattinson, BBC News)

English is a rich and innovative language. But you can't help feeling we're missing out.

Of course, the English language has borrowed words for centuries. Khaki and croissant are cases in point.

After this article BBC compiled some of the unusual word that readers submitted; you cand finde them all in here: 20 of your unusual words. Here are some of my favourites...

9. "My favourite is the Spanish for handcuffs...'esposas'...mi esposa means 'my wife'. So 'mi esposa, mis esposas' means 'my wife, my handcuffs'."
Ben, Bristol, UK

11. "There are a few more interesting German words such as 'handschuhschneeballwerfer', which means somebody, who wears gloves to throw snow balls. It is used in general for all cowards."
Bernie, Duesseldorf

14. "The Fuegians (from Tierra del Fuego) have a succinct word - 'mamihlapinatapai' and it means 'two people looking at each other each hoping the other will do what both desire but neither is willing to do'."
Zephyrus, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Movable Type Turned 4

As some of you had noticed, I am using Movable Type as Fikirbaz.com's blogging / content management tool for more than two years. (Although I uprgaede it one or twice, it's been a while... I guess I am too lazy to upgrade my MT in a regular basis...) Anyway, I do love to update my sites using Movable Type, and tho lots of new tools are online since the blogging became enormously popular for the last 2 years, I strongly recommend Movable Type.

Happy Birthday Movable Type!

First Portable Computer

Released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation, the Osborne 1 is considered to be the first true portable computer - it closes-up for protection, and has a carrying handle. It even has an optional battery pack, so it doesn't have to plugged into the 110VAC outlet for power.

While quite revolutionary, the Osborne does have its limitations. For example, the screen is only 5" (diagonal) in size, and can't display more than 52 characters per line of text. To compensate, you can actually scroll the screen display back and forth with the cursor keys to show lines of text up to 128 characters wide... You can learn more about Osborne 1...

On the other hand people at IBM ara working on a portable storage device containing the software stack. Is is called SoulPad and the three-layer SoulPad software stack enables a paradigm of mobile computing where a user can suspend his computing environment on one PC and resume it on another PC that he may have never seen before. The PC boots an auto-configuring operating system from the SoulPad, starts a virtual machine monitor, and resumes a suspended virtual machine that has the user's entire personal computing environment, which includes the user's files, user's operating system, installed applications, desktop configuration as well as all running applications and open windows.

Attila İlhan

Attila İlhan’ı kaybettikÜnlü şair ve yazar Atilla İlhan gece saatlerinde evinde hayatını kaybetti. Atilla İlhan’ın yarın İstanbul’da toprağa verilmesi planlanıyor.(Tamamını okumak için: ntvmsnbc.com )

- Attila İlhan @ WikiPedia

- Attila İlhan (15.6.1925 - 10.10.2005) in English: Istanbul Gate of Felicity from `Suite in the Ottoman Mode'

agaclar sonbahara hazirlaniyor
bu sehir o eski Istanbul mudur
karanlikta bulutlar parcalaniyor
sokak lambalari birden yaniyor
kaldirimlarda yagmur kokusu
ben sana mecburum sen yoksun
Ben Sana Mecburum'dan...

Third Stone From The Sun

Oh strange beautiful grass of green
with your majestic silken scenes
Your mysterious mountains
I wish to see closer
May I land my kinky machine

Although your world wonders me
with your majestic superior cackling hen
Your people I do not understand
So to you I wish to put an end
And you'll never hear surf music again

(From the Jimi Hendrix album: Are You Experienced - 1967

A Not-To-Do List

(This is an anonymous e-mail that I got today; I am sure this list might be your inner voice sometimes)

Today is the day you start your project. Wake up. Make your coffee. Sit down. Get to work. Now, it should be that simple. Wake up and get to work. But there are many distractions. Mental and otherwise.

So this is NOT a to-do list. This is a not-to-do list. You don't need to check anything off, because these are things YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO.

Do not check your email.
Do not go to nytimes.com.
Do not decide to organize your cd rack.
Do not turn on the television.
Do not clip your nails.
Do not stare at your bald spot in the mirror and begin to calculate how
much time your hair has left.
Do not start catching up on the DVDs that have arrived from Netflix.
Do not update your Netflix queue.
Do not Google all your Exes.
Do not Google yourself.
Do not dust the house.
Do not sweep the floors.
Do not take out the trash.
Do not get sucked into the argument when your significant other starts screaming about the fact that you drank the last of the milk and even though you said you would get more you didn't. Just apologize, apologize, and then apologize again.
(But don't be tempted to apologize "for being such a horrible person" – that is a sign that you are getting drawn into a bigger dust-up. Stay on target with your apology, explain that you have serious work to do, and get back to your project.)

Do not decide to make yourself an elaborate lunch.
Do not take a nap.
Do not change the cat litter.
Do not decide to figure out the calorie count of your recent meals.
Do not pay your bills.
Do not balance your checkbook.
Do not freak out that you have no money.
Do not go into the bathroom and give your Academy Award acceptance speech.
Do not put on Prince and party like it's 1999. (Well, okay, maybe ONCE, just to get you fired up about your project.) Do not start going through your closet.
Do not decide to floss.
Do not organize your spice rack.
Do not update your address book.
Do not make a list of things to do.
Do not watch Oprah.
Do not listen to NPR.
Do not start to think you don't have what it takes to actually do your project.
Do not read any further on this post – caught you! Stop reading now and get to work on your project.
Do not check what time the movie is playing later.
Do not decide to send an angry email to that annoying friend who recently pissed you off.
Do not play with the cats.
Do not clip your nose hairs.
Do not start trying to organize a dinner party.
Do not start wondering if that mole that seems a little bigger than the last time you checked it might be skin cancer.
Do not start going through all the papers on your desk.
Do not make a list of all the things you have to get done at work.
Do not start thinking you are never going to finish.
Do not make a quick run to the grocery store.
Do not search for gray hairs.
Do not start fantasizing about sex.
Do not decide to make a call to your significant other to tell him or her that you don't think you've been getting any, and that you better damn well get some tonight (you know, because that one works every time).
Do not go to IMDB to see who that actor was in that movie you saw the other night. Or what that girl from that show from way back when is doing now.
Do not start perusing your own bookshelves.
Do not organize your computer files.
Do not clean out your inbox.
Do not click into the online gossip sites.
Do not pick your nose.
Do not start reading old letters from old flames.
Do not crack open a beer.
Do not pluck your eyebrows.
Do not to give yourself a facial.
Do not start going through your photos.
Do not return your phone calls.
Do not start reading your old journal entries.
Do not start thinking about how your project is lame.
Do not scrub the tub.
Do not clean the toilet.
Do not open a bottle of wine.
Do not start wading through all the magazines you subscribe to but never read.
Do not decide to start a screenplay (unless, of course, that is your project).
Do not post to your blog.
Do not pull the ATM receipts out of your wallet and start entering withdrawals into your checkbook.
Do not get up and keep getting yourself a glass of water.
Do not refill the ice trays.
Do not do the dishes.
Do not start picking off the wax on your candle holders.
Do not start worrying about all the time you've already wasted.

There are a million more things that could be on this list, but remember, it's not a to-do list, so it doesn't matter if something is missing -- you are NOT supposed to be doing these things. Just get to work on your project.

Weather in Istanbul Today

I woke up around 5 am. today; it was lightly raining with a lot of lightning. Around 6.30 while I was driving work it was heavy shower. At the very monet (07.59) the rain has stopped...

Anyway; this is not the main subject, this was just the entrance. I downloaded Konfabulator a couple of weeks ago; at first I was just testing cos' I believe that this kind of desktop applications really slown doen the PC bur I still didn't uninstall it... I think I kinda like it... The screenshot on the left hand is forum Konfabulator; there are lots of different widgets to download. (Even some Turkish ones) Anyway, enjoy!

James J. Braddock - Cinderella Man

It's been a while since I last wrote anything about movies in here. (And well yes I couldn't update my "watched" list on the right hand... Anyway, I keep on watching anyway. Last night I watched Ron Howard's Cinderella man with great performances of Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti.

Then when I searched I found James J. Braddock's official web site, surprisingly I found the web site satisfactory with the story of the man and lots of original photos of Braddock and his family. (So check out his gallery to see if Crowe and Zelweger are right choices for the cast ;)

In the middle of the Great Depression, when an America in the grips of a devastating economic downturn was nearly brought to its knees, there came along a most unlikely hero who had crowds cheering on their feet-as he proved just how hard a man would fight to win a second chance for his family and himself.

Here are some related links:
- Of course RottenTomatoes (with 83/100)
- Official Web Site of the Movie
- Official Web Site of James J. Braddock

Google Blog Search

Find blogs on your favorite topics

Google does that again! (And again and again and again...) So, here is Blog Search, here is Google... Go try it; enjoy ;)

Kokomo

(by Beach Boys)

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go
Jamaica

Off the Florida Keys
There's a place called Kokomo
That's where you wanna go to get away from it all

Bodies in the sand
Tropical drink melting in your hand
We'll be falling in love
To the rhythm of a steel drum band
Down in Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go

Ooo I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We'll get there fast
And then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go
Way down to Kokomo

To Martinique, that Monserrat mystique

We'll put out to sea
And we'll perfect our chemistry
By and by we'll defy a little bit of gravity

Afternoon delight
Cocktails and moonlit nights
That dreamy look in your eye
Give me a tropical contact high
Way down in Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go

Ooo I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We'll get there fast
And then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go
Way down to Kokomo

Port Au Prince I wanna catch a glimpse

Everybody knows
A little place like Kokomo
Now if you wanna go
And get away from it all
Go down to Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go

Ooo I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We'll get there fast
And then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go
Way down to Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go

Ooo I wanna take you down to Kokomo

Ajax - What is it?

"Google Suggest and Google Maps are two examples of a new approach to web applications that we at Adaptive Path have been calling Ajax. The name is shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript + XML, and it represents a fundamental shift in what’s possible on the Web."

Recently I hear alot about Ajax; so when I searched about it I found a couple of articles and a detailed wikipedia entry about it. Both Jesse James Garrett's article and ajax entry at wikipedia is quite satisfying about the topic. They both also have lots of links to related articles; examples, applications and all that stuff... I guess Ajax will be very popular in a short period of time... (Be aware ;)

- Ajax: A new approach to web applications
- Ajax at Wikipedia

Close Relationships

Yesterday I made a search about "Close Relationships". As a matter of fact, it is a lesson in psychology... I found some articles, some papers and books about the topic:

- Here is some resource fron University of Iowa; Psychology 140/143/190/208: Close Relationships
- A pdf about "minding"
- Close Relationships Research: A Resource for Couples and Family Therapists from the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.
- Understanding Close Relationships
- Attachment Theory and Close Relationships
- Your Personality: Learn more about your personality, relationships, attachment style, and abilities.

F1 Istanbul Grand Prix

At the weekend there was first Grand Prix in Istanbul. With a grand opening of Istanbul Park; 14th race of the 2005 F1 championship was held in Istanbul. Raikkönnen, Alonso and Montoya were on the podium to get the first evet winner cups of Istanbul Grand Prix. [Well, and the important thing is; the Istanbul Grand Prix Cup was designed by my "little" brother... :)] (Here is an article about it in a national newspaper - yes of course in Turkish)

Google Talk

Talk and IM with your friends for free

They say talk is cheap. Google thinks it should be free. Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free–anytime, anywhere in the world. Google Talk offers you:

Choice, Qualtiy and Convenience! Enjoy!

Discovery Landed Safely

8:12 a.m. - Touchdown! Discovery is rolling out on runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base!

I watched the landing on CNN International... She landed safely and the 14 day (risky) trip is over.

Live Landing Coverage

NASA's Mission Control in Houston has given the crew of Discovery the "go" to begin the deorbit burn and land at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. During the burn, a backward-flying Discovery fires its engines to slow the ship. The loss of energy causes the vehicle to fall below the speed needed to orbit and starts the descent.

Here you can follow the Landing minute by minute. (Don't forget to refresh the page every few minutes.

Note: It is 14.26 here in Turkey at the moment; that means it is 7.26 at California... ;)

7:20 a.m. (EDT) - Part of Discovery's reaction control system, the rear steering jets control the orbiter during the early part of descent. As the orbiter transitions from spacecraft to aircraft, those jets are phased out as air pressure builds, and the orbiter's aerosurfaces become active.

7:12 a.m. - Over the next 30 minutes, Discovery will free-fall until it reaches Entry Interface, about 75 miles over the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Current altitude is 220 statute miles. Post burn procedures are in work. Touchdown is one hour away.

Obituary: Ibrahim Ferrer

Despite a career spanning decades, Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer rose to world fame late in life, as part of the Buena Vista Social Club project.
A master of the traditional son and bolero styles, Ferrer began singing professionally at the age of 14 and was a member of several well-known groups.

But it was joining Buena Vista in the 1990s that took him from a retirement shining shoes to international renown.

He died, aged 78, after returning ill from a month-long tour of Europe.

Ferrer was born in 1927 in the south-eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, an area known for its musical tradition.

- To read it all at BBC News, please click...
- If you'd prefer CNN; don't hesitate to click...
- Ibrahim Ferrer at Wikipedia

Go, Customize Google

You can make a Google homepage that has news feeds; blog feeds, weather; top stories; daily quotes etc. And you can customize this very page by drag&drop. Just cool. All you need is a Google id. You can even add your bookmarks on your customized homepage. (If I work enough I believed that I can read all my popular blogs through my Google homepage. ;)

(And by the way; http://www.fikirbaz.com/index.rss is where you can have fikirbaz.com default rss feed. Enjoy ;)

You can also browse Google Labs for new google applications...

Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Claire Deschanel was born on January 17, 1980 in Los Angeles, California to Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel. As a bright blue-eyed-brunette, Zooey had an older sister named Emily (also a fellow actress) and spent much of her time on film sets and on location watching her father work and even settling on whatever exotic location. Ever since she was very young, Zooey was inspired to be an actress even to her parent's concern about what she wanted to do. Knowing that her parents did not want her to become an actress at an early age, she lived a pretty normal life, but still thrives to be an actress when she grows up and also spends some of her time at film sets wishing that she can be an actress soon.

Like most of the people I remember her from Cameron Crowe's Oscar-winning film, Almost Famous, which she fills the screen with those bright eyes of hers and tells her on-screen younger brother, "Someday, you'll be cool." Last night I watched her at The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Trillian and after a little search I also figured out that she also acted in Good Girl; an independent film that Jennifer Aniston was the leading actress. Anyway; I have piled a buch of links about Zooey Deschanel; enjoy...

- Zooey Deschanel @ IMDB
- Absolutely Zooey Deschanel
- Zooey in a blog called AntiPopper mentioned with Mel C
- An autograph o a cool photo
- "Zooey Keeps Life Reel" by Kevin Williamson @Calgary Sun
- Nature of Zooey Deschanel (cool photos)

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews of the movies mentioned ;)
- Almost Famous
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Good Girl

Fade To Black

Life it seems, will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free

Things are not what they used to be
Missing one inside of me
Deathly lost, this can’t be real
Cannot stand this hell I feel
Emptiness is filling me
To the point of agony
Growing darkness taking dawn
I was me, but now he’s gone

No one but me can save myself, but it’s too late
Now I can’t think, think why I should even try

Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death greets me warm, now I will just say good-bye

Over 100 Quick and Easy Healthy Foods

"Sometimes cooking takes a lot of time in our life, but we got some good news for you. The World’s Healthiest Foods has an excellent list of healthy foods which need less than 30 minutes of preparation and cooking times. There are categories of receipts like Breakfast, Salad Entrees, Soups, Fish, Chicken and Turkey, Lean Meat, Vegetarian Entrees, Side Salad/Dressings, Side Vegetables, and Desserts. You don’t even need to think what to cook tonight!"

Over 100 Quick and Easy Healthy Foods

iPOD Flea

This is funny... For iPod owners/iPod lovers it may be even funnier. Highly recommended... Great parody!

Click to watch...

40 Things That Only Happen In Movies

11. Any police officer about to retire from the force will more often than not die on their last day (especially if their family have planned a party). (Caveat: Detectives can only solve a case after they have been suspended from duty).

17. If you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts, your opponents will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around you in a threatening manner until you have defeated their predecessor.

26. Prostitutes always look like Julia Roberts or Jamie Lee Curtis. They have expensive clothes and nice apartments but no pimps. They are friendly with the shopkeepers in their neighbourhood who don't mind at all what the girl does for a living.

27. A single match is usually sufficient to light up a room the size of a football stadium.

29. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at once (it's called Stallone's Law).

To read them all...

Eloisa to Abelard

(by Alexander Pope)

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"

(Please click here to read the whole poem by Alexander Pope)

Black Horse & The Cherry Tree

(by K.T. Tunstall)

My heart knows me better than I know myself
So I'm gonna let it do all the talking
I came across a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree

I felt a little fear upon my back
I said don't look back just keep on walking
But the big black horse said look this way
he said 'hey lady will you marry me?'

But I said no....no,....no.....no no no
I said no....no you're not the one for me
But I said no....no....no.....no no no
I said no....no You're not the one for me

My heart hit a problem in the early hours
So I stopped it dead for a beat or two
But I cut some cord and I shouldn't have done it
And it won't forgive me after all these years

So I sent to a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree
But it won't come back coz it's oh so happy
And now I've got a hole for the world to see

It said no no
You're not the one for me
But I said no no
You're not the one for me

Big black horse and the cherry tree
I can't quite get there coz my heart forsaken me

(Click here for chords and guitar tabs...)

Are Computers Female or Male?

A language instructor was explaining to her class that French nouns,
unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as
masculine or feminine.

Things like 'chalk' or 'pencil,' she described, would have a gender
association although in English these words were neutral. Puzzled,
one student raised his hand and asked, "What gender is a computer?"

The teacher wasn't certain which it was,and so divided the class into
two groups and asked them to decide if a computer should be masculine
or feminine. One group was comprised of the women in the class, and
the other, of men. Both groups were asked to give four reasons for
their recommendation.

The group of women concluded that computers should be referred to in
masculine gender because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve your problems, but half the
time they ARE the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited
a little longer, you could have had a better model.

The men, on the other hand, decided that computers should definitely
be referred to in the feminine gender because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers
is incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for
later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
spending half your paycheck on accessories.

Tv TurnOff Week ( Adbusters )

TV Turnoff Week is no ordinary social ritual. The goal is simple: to shake up routines and get people questioning the role of TV in their lives.

Sure, it’s a statement against dead-end couch culture. But it's also about cleaning up the mental environment. Like our oceans and air, our shared mindscape is littered with pollutants -- distorted news, manipulative ads, violence and top-down culture.

Go, check Adbusters.org !

Weinstein Brothers are leaving Miramax

Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein have agreed to step down as co-chief executives of the Disney-owned film production unit after 25 years.

The brothers - behind hits such as Chicago - will leave in September, but will continue to make films for Disney through new company
The Weinstein Co.

If you wanna read the whole article...

They might have named company Weinstein Bros. :)) The odd thing about their future plans is; they are leaving Miramax because they can't get on well with Disney; but with their new company, they will go on working with Disney... (I guess they will be more powerfull against Disney if they own the company...)

An Ever-Shorter Leap From Theater to DVD

(By Jen Chaney, Special to The Washington Post, Sunday, March 13, 2005)

"I'll wait for the DVD."

It's the discriminating moviegoer's mantra, one repeated every time we can't muster the motivation to catch the latest Hollywood offering in theaters. But in many cases that waiting game has changed, as movies make the leap from silver screen to small screen faster than ever before.

These days the turnaround time from cineplex to DVD is 4 1/2 months, on average, with movies becoming available for rental and sale on the same day. A few recent films made the trip in fewer than 90 days. (Five years ago, the typical Hollywood flick didn't show up on home video for at least six months.) It's no secret that movie studios, which generally earn more money from home video than box office returns, are eager to capitalize on DVD dollars as soon as they can.

Judith McCourt, director of market research for the trade publication Home Media Retailing, says even blockbusters now arrive on home video more quickly, noting that the release-date window for $100 million-plus earners has shrunk by 12 percent compared with 2004.

Studios benefit from the quick turnaround, notes a recent article in Home Media Retailing, because consumers still have those movies on their minds and the marketing and advertising for home video releases can ride the coattails of the theatrical campaigns.

That's why "The Incredibles," which debuted in theaters Nov. 5, lands on DVD this Tuesday (and not long after winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature). And why another Oscar winner, "Ray," sang its way onto DVD on Feb. 1, a little more than three months after its Oct. 29 theatrical opening.

Box office flops often turn around even faster. Jennifer Garner's comic book adventure "Elektra," which has earned a paltry $24.2 million in theaters since its Jan. 15 opening, hopes to rebound with a quick April 5 DVD release. And "Fat Albert," which had its theatrical release Christmas Day, will be available to rent or buy March 22, just five days before Easter.

Sometimes the stepped-up timing has to do with outside factors.

"Not only do we compete with new releases for DVD street dates, we're competing with big-event TV programming like 'Seinfeld' and big reissues like 'Star Wars,' " says Ben Feingold, president of Sony Home Entertainment, which last year released more films on DVD more quickly than any other studio, according to Home Media Retailing. Movies also don't stay in theaters as long as they used to, say, even a decade ago, which means they are more likely to show up sooner at a Blockbuster or Best Buy, Feingold adds. "If films are no longer in theaters, then it's probably not a bad idea to have them available for people to buy while they're still relatively fresh in people's minds," he says. "Then again, it's really about the best date."

That's why "Ray" arrived on DVD in time to take advantage of awards-season hype even though the Ray Charles biopic was still showing in hundreds of theaters nationwide. Similarly, a flood of "Ray's" fellow nominees will saturate the market in coming weeks -- among them "Being Julia" (March 22); "Closer" and "Vera Drake" (March 29); "Sideways" (April 5); and "Hotel Rwanda" (April 12) -- in an attempt to capitalize on the final echoes of Academy Awards buzz.

"Anything that puts and keeps the film in the public consciousness is a business factor," confirms Steve Feldstein, senior vice president of Fox Home Entertainment, the studio behind "Sideways," "Elektra" and "Fat Albert."

Universal's "Friday Night Lights" showed up on DVD Jan. 18, a little more than three months after its theatrical debut, which just happened to coincide with the run-up to the Super Bowl. And "Surviving Christmas" -- a lump of comedic coal starring Ben Affleck -- distinguished itself as 2004's fastest DVD debut, appearing Dec. 21, just 60 days after bombing in theaters, to take advantage of holiday cheer-goggling consumers. So does this mean we can expect to see "Spider-Man 3" on DVD the day after it opens? Probably not. Feingold says the industry is unlikely to churn out releases much faster than it already does.

In other words, the wait isn't over just yet.

Fikirbaz Having A Massage

Well; click here to see fikirbaz having a massage... (Bad bad joke!)

But I wish I could... Anyone knows a good one to recommend?

Bunny Suicides

Think you are a bunny and you wanna kill yourself. How many different ways can you imagine? 1? 2? 3? 50?

Here you can find bunny suicides...More than 80 i guess... So, start looking at them when you have some spare time... And if you're boss is around don't. Because they are really funny and you sure will start laughing aout loud... Enjoy!

Wanna play a part in South Park?

With South Park Studio V.2, you can create your own South Park characters. You can easily modify characters and create whatever you have in your mind. There is only one big problem; it is really fun and as it may easily turn into a bad habit. You might start work on you characters in the morning and work on your new generation cartmans till midnight. You will start making funny characters of your colleagues, family, friends, celebrities and here you are: You can not stop.

Anyway; here is the link; enjoy. (I will soon post some of the characters I made ;)

Gmail as an Hard Drive

Wanna use your Gmail account as an hard drive? Wouldn't that be really convenient if you're a guy who forgets his memory stick at home or at work or at anywhere?

With a little application (called Gmail Drive) you can make your gmail account appear in "my computer" as an hard drive. So you can drag & drop any files... Cool..

You can find this and lots more at GmailTools.com... Enjoy!

How Many Names Hath God?

No matter when we say the word God, whether in church or in vain, couldn’t we all use a couple synonyms for the all-mighty one? Michael Rottman examines the many possibilities, e.g., Abraham, or Clapton.

You can read it in The Morning News

Purple Rain

(by Prince)

I never meant 2 cause u any sorrow
I never meant 2 cause u any pain
I only wanted 2 one time see u laughing
I only wanted 2 see u laughing in the purple rain

Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain

I only wanted 2 see u bathing in the purple rain

I never wanted 2 be your weekend lover
I only wanted 2 be some kind of friend
Baby I could never steal u from another
It's such a shame our friendship had 2 end

Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain

I only wanted 2 see u underneath the purple rain

Honey I know, I know, I know times are changing
It's time we all reach out 4 something new
That means u 2
U say u want a leader
But u can't seem 2 make up your mind
I think u better close it
And let me guide u 2 the purple rain

Purple rain Purple rain
Purple rain Purple rain

If you know what I'm singing about up here
C'mon raise your hand

Purple rain Purple rain

I only want 2 see u, only want 2 see u
In the purple rain

Some Kind Of Monster

With voyeuristic intensity, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster explores the intricate connections that are created, nurtured, and challenged between members of a long-lasting band. That this intimate odyssey of group therapy and self-discovery involves Metallica--the most successful heavy metal group of all time--is just one reason this film is so uniquely fascinating. Having proven their documentary skills with Brother's Keeper and Paradise Lost (which included Metallica in its soundtrack), filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky spent two years with Metallica as the band survived the defection of long-time bassist Jason Newsted, struggled to record St. Anger, and recruited $40,000-per-month "performance enhancement coach" Phil Towle to counsel members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett as they confronted alcoholism, creative obstacles, and themselves in an effort to determine the viability of Metallica's future. With sincere hope, honest discussion, and the hiring of new bassist Robert Trujillo, Metallica battle their personal and professional demons, showing the vulnerable side of a business that thrives on raging testosterone. The effort pays off for everyone involved, especially the fans: Like the ultimate backstage pass, Some Kind of Monster is a healing journey into the hard-beating heart of rock & roll. --Jeff Shannon / Amazon.com --

Here are some articles about the film:
- Dailynews.com: In therapy with the members of Metallica
- SeattlePi: Metallica doc strips down monsters of rock to egomaniacal pussycats
- WaffleMovies.com: This documentary tears open Metallica for everyone to see the dirty laundry, and it works because there is something oddly compelling about watching legendary heavy metal, hard rock tough guys go to therapy and talk about their feelings.
- Orlando Weekly: METAL FATIGUE By Steve Schneider
- RollingStone: Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
- WashingtonPost: Heavy and Human
- USA Today: Softer side of rockers emerges in 'Metallica'

And of course RottenTomatoes ( They gave 85/100 )
(Please let me remind you that OrionTurk is the Official Turkish Local Chapter of Official Metallica Fan Club - MetClub. )

Email productivity tips

These tips might really be helpful. If you complain that you can not focus on your job during daytime/office hours and if you have a slight suspicion of that might be because of e-mails, then