Groove in a iPod Car

It's like driving in your iPod but with more capabilities! This newly designed car dubbed the Audi O was inspired by the iPod. It is a sporty four-seat hatchback with a killer audio system. With Internet connectivity to download music to a built-in 650 GB hard drive and bluetooth connectivity, you and your friends can create your own pumping club. If that's not enough. Then check out the pullout rear door that has a DJ set with mixing decks. The decks can be detached from the car for use.

You must be wondering a couple things; like what it runs on, the cost and who designed it. (You may be wanting more information but this is all I can provide you with. Sorry.) I can't tell you how much it costs because it has not been created for sale...(YET) but I can tell you that it would be a fuel efficient diesel/electric hybrid engine. (Vroom!!! I'm sold!). This is th dream car for thr younger generations. No wonder it was designed by Ondrej Jirec, a design student from the Czech Republic studying in Cali.

What they need to do is add a GPS system, voice activation, DVD player, heated seats and other luxury features. With all these added in, Steve Jobs will be first in line to get a new set of wheels.
Another idea is to be able to hook up your gaming system to the car. (I would never date a guy because of his car until this car is created. I may make an exception.)

Designer: Ondrej Jirec [ Via: Diseno Art & Yanko Design]

Virgin Mobile Fest Greens Technologic

I did not get a chance to blog at all this past weekend due to the Virgin Mobile Festival that I worked at.

I thought I would share some of the things that worked and some things that didn't work.

The festival wanted to focus on being green and eco-friendly. At the same time, they want to increase brand awareness by associating themselves with many non-profit organization and music. I felt they did a fairly good job at this but they lacked in some areas. For example, they did not train or inform their event staff of everything that was happening. (I found this out when I was passing out free sunscreen. This woman (an event goer) thanked me and mentioned that she wished she had known there was free sunscreen earlier. This was due to the fact that a 15yr old staff member told her there was no sunscreen to be found throughout the concert venue and another staff member told her there was NO FIRST AID! When has there ever been a music festival with NO FIRST AID!) They did not clarify what type of trash was designated for the different recycling bins. The initiative to recycle at the event was not prominent and the music line-up was poorly done. (They spelled Kanye West's name as "KAYNE" West. How does that happen!?!? As well as all the best bands were playing at the same time and at opposite sides).

There are many ways they could have fixed these problems but it was only their third year holding this music festival. I should say some things they did right.

The use of eco-friendly technologies such as recharging your phone, camera or Ipod via bike was very convenient. They had a Dell Dome where people could make their own buttons, T-shirts and use computers to sign up for Buzzd (a new social networking service like Twitter and Yelp.)

Real quick rant on Buzzd: It is described as a "location-sensitive entertainment
listings service with branded editorial and real-time user generated content on
the mobile device.'Your city, in real-time,' buzzd allows consumers to know
what's happening at any venue right now, rate events, and connect with friends
and people in the area." I can see how this could beat Yelp but they really need
to keep pushing it. They need to get more publicity if they want to beat their
competitors. When I heard about the service I automatically thought it was another social network trying to make it big. It did not strike me as a "OMG! THIS IS SOO COOL!" It needs to offer more to users.

On that note, let me finish what I was saying before this post gets to long. They had a spiffy VIP areas that gave free drinks and had actually beds to sleep on outside. They had a Recharge Dome for people to check out the new Kyocera Special Edition Virgin Mobile Festival "Wild Card" mobile (texting from this phone made my hand cramp up) which they could use to make phone calls, send a text message to the concert stage screens or ride a bike and recharge their phone. They had a Refresh Dome for people to cool off and they had a recycling program where people could get stuff for collecting empty bottles and cans.

There were more positive and negatives that I could list about the music festival but I don't want to drag on. They should have integrated the idea of charging your phone by dancing . . . Maybe I'll make a list and send it to Richard Branson.

[picture via Mobilecrunch]

Religion hits Guitar Hero

I was wondering when this would happen. Digital Praise, Inc. has created "Guitar Praise," a inspirational PC (or Mac) guitar game. The game is VERY similar to Guitar Hero but it features 52 inspirational Christian hits from artists like tobyMac,Newsboys, Petra, 12 Stones, Plumb, Thousand Foot Krutch, Relient K, and more. The game can be one player or two player and the object of the game is "matching the notes to the fret buttons on the guitar controller." (Very similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band). There are four levels of difficulty and:

"New songs, in sets of five, are unlocked along the way to keep the player's
interest. By tilting the guitar, players can activate spinner bonuses; as they
increase their skills they can earn new onscreen"guitars" with richer sounds and
different effects."

In other words, this is EXACTLY like Guitar Hero but for Christians. The big difference is you are using a computer for the game and not a gaming system like Wii, PlayStation or XBox. I like the idea but I'd rather it be offered on a gaming system. If the company was smart then they would team up with Harmonix. They would be able to get more publicity for the product and gain more interest from the public. There is a huge niche market for religion affiliated products. Too bad it won't come out in stores until September 25, 2008 and will cost about $100.

The future is unlimited as to what this product could become! What I really think is that it's a great idea that needs to be built upon.

What could happen next with this product?!? Anyone could become a praise team! Who needs church choirs when you have Guitar Praise?!?! Will the be a Praise Rock Band?!?! The next generation of churches will be led by Praise Rockers known for their top scores and gnarly looking digi rockers! (digi rockers is my new definition of the digital people created in Rock band). What does thou think?

Updating Ipods cause frustration

I usually don't wait until late in the day to post my blogs. I feel I need to explain what has happened that has occupied my entire morning.

NEVER UPDATE YOUR IPOD!

With that being said, my reasoning is that ITunes erases all your music on your Ipod once you update it. I have a 16GB Ipod Touch which is my musical companion. I take it with me everywhere (except into water for obvious reasons). I primarily need it to work out (because without music I can't get pumped up to "feel the burn.")

What happened is, I updated my Ipod Touch from 1.1.3 to the new 1.1.4. Afterwards, all my music was gone from my Ipod + I lost space. The bar at the bottom showed "other"(the orange colored part) to be taking up about 10GB of my storage.

I spent countless hours looking online to find out if anyone knew what was wrong. I couldn't find out anything but I did find someone who had a similar problem. He suggested to go to Setting>Reset on the Ipod. Then hook it up to ITunes and hit Restore. After I completed this, I had a fixed Ipod which now had to be loaded with music. Putting music on my Ipod can take A LOT of time. This is what I have spent all morning doing. If anyone has an Ipod then I warn you to be careful about updating the thing. I don't know how many times I wanted to scream at my musical companion and throw it against the wall. The problem was that I have a soft spot for the little gadget. Regardless of the torture and time consumption it causes, I can't let go of it. If you notice the majority of people have this addiction to Apple products. Look around and you'll notice 95% of the society has an Ipod. Even the elderly have come to accepting the little ear controlling gadget.

You may have to wait until tomorrow for something more interesting or until my Ipod has stopped luring me into it's shiny smooth screen.

Dreams Come True

Whoever said dreams don't come true must have lied to me. My one dream was to someday see Eve 6 in concert. When the band broke up in 2004, I was very disenhearted. Then when word went out that two of the three had re-united to become Sugi-Tap; I nearly jumped with glee. The only problem was they were only playing in CA. I have been trying to figure out a way I could see them perform within my budget. BUT WAIT!! Then the unexpected happened! In October the band got a new guitarist and are now known as Eve 6. The band has formed and will be playing in Townson, Maryland on March 25th. I have already bought my tickets and if anyone wants to join me, let me know.
Here's their famous song most people know:


other songs that I favor are: "Open Road Song," "Inside Out," "Promise" and "Think Twice."