View engaging conference lectures, interesting how to discussions, and high quality freelance advice via video here on FreelanceSwitch. This week we look at Insight Design Conference-Quite Strong by Design Collective Quite Strong . In this video two members from the group, Jennifer Sisson and Jana Kinsman, share tips and and ideas on self promotion in the design industry. Insight Design Conference-Quite… Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : Freelance Switch Discovery Date : 26/11/2011 15:00 Number of articles : 2
“I Need Nothing” is a clever music video for the song “Doughnut” by Parenthetical Girls in which the song’s lyrics are illustrated on a succession of 200 custom album covers. The concept for the video is by Portuguese music label Cãoceito, it was shot by Moopie Videos, and premiered at the EXD’11 Design Festival in Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : Laughing Squid Discovery Date : 20/10/2011 15:22 Number of articles : 2
A planned Jay, DMX and Ja Rule supergroup was halted due to a quiet feud, Gotti reveals on ‘RapFix Live.’ By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway Irv Gotti Photo: Natasha Chandel/ MTV News In the late 1990s, there were few rappers bigger than Jay-Z , DMX and Ja Rule . Separately, each artist crafted a catalog of hits, toured the country and sold millions of records. Now, imagine a supergroup comprised of the three. Well, that was Irv Gotti’s vision, but the three alpha males only recorded a handful of songs and just couldn’t get it together. “Jay and X did not like each other at all. And it was always competitive,” Irv revealed when he appeared on Wednesday’s “RapFix Live.” DMX has recently voiced his disdain for Hov , but in the late 1990s, it appeared that the two were on a unified front. They frequently collaborated and even toured together, but according to Gotti, things weren’t always as they seemed. It all stemmed from an early battle, circa 1994, between Hov and the Dog , years before any one of them broke through. Though DMX was used to winning most of his battles decisively, nearly every account of the showdown revealed that it ended in a tie. “X hated Jay because it was the one battle that he said it wasn’t absolutely sure in everyone’s mind that he won,” Irv said. The quiet feud even spilled onto collaborative records. In 1995, Jigga, X and Ja Rule all appeared on Queens, New York, rapper Mic Geronimo’s “Time to Build” track. By the time Hov got to the studio, DMX had already laid down the song’s closing verse — a top honor for any rapper. “Jay goes, ‘OK, he’s closing the record? Yo, you think he’s better than me?’ ” Gotti recalled Hovito asking. Gotti remembers Jay feeling slighted, and in retaliation, he aimed his verse — which he wrote on the spot in 10 minutes with no pen or pad, directly at DMX. There were key lines in Jigga’s verse that Irv believes were direct references to the original battle between the two titans: “F— what you n—as kickin’ on the mic/ Chicken like you don’t know what an ass whippin’ feels like.” “His whole verse, he’s sh–tin’ on my man,” Irv said of the “Empire State of Mind” MC’s bars. “Now, X got problems with me.” DMX and Jay-Z continued to collaborate, and alongside Ja Rule, they recorded “Mudergram” in 1998 and “It’s Murder” a year later, but nothing else as a trio. “With those three guys, I felt very special,” Irv said. “Here it is, in hindsight, three guys that were really at the top of their game at one time or another, and they all my friends.” Imagine that. Do you wish Jay, X and Ja had recorded a full album together? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos ‘RapFix Live’ With Method Man And Irv Gotti Related Artists Jay-Z DMX Irv Gotti
‘Geeks always felt empowered with new technology … but he was able to bring that experience to everyone,’ one tech blogger tells MTV News. By Gil Kaufman Steve Jobs Photo: Getty Images For tech bloggers and digital gearheads, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was Yoda, Gandalf, Dumbledore and the ultimate dungeon master rolled into one. The tech guru, who died at age 56 on Wednesday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, didn’t just make cool gadgets; he visioneered elegant, sculpture-like machines that made computing fun, exciting and effortless. Remember Steve Jobs’ many innovations by flipping through this photo gallery. “Steve Jobs was the first person who was able to turn computers and computing into an emotional experience for everyone,” said David Pescovitz, co-editor of BoingBoing and research director for the Institute for the Future. Pescovitz, who began a lifelong love affair with all things Apple more than 30 years ago in the basement of his Cincinnati home, where he would write rudimentary code on an Apple IIc, said the two crucial things Jobs did were to empower the individual with technology and create a new kind of technology experience. “Geeks always felt empowered with computers and new technology and it was always an emotional experience for them, but he was able to bring that experience to everyone.” Jobs, a notoriously detail-oriented taskmaster, demanded perfection from the legion of Apple employees who worked to create such landmark devices as the Macintosh computer, iPod, iPad and iPhone. Determined to break out of the bland, gray boxes produced by his rivals, Jobs brought that heart-touching experience to the masses by seamlessly weaving together technology, design elegance and engineering into devices Pescovitz said you wanted to “hold, touch and experience.” There were other MP3 players before the launch of the iPod in 2001, but John Gruber, an Apple enthusiast and founder of the technology blog Daring Fireball , said Jobs’ insight was making music personal again . “Your favorite music — all of it, with you everywhere you go,” he said of the devices that have become the standard-bearer for portable music storage. It’s easy to forget now thanks to the ubiquity of iTunes and the more than 10 billion songs sold since the store opened in 2003, but Eric Garland, CEO of leading online media metrix company Big Champagne , said for a time, the Apple boss was spurned by the major record labels. “It’s funny now to think of the notion of 99 cent downloads or paid downloads as an utterly noncontroversial one, but it’s hard to remember just how contrarian this play was eight or nine years ago,” Garland said. At a time when Garland was facing intense pressure from the record industry to stop seemingly “legitimizing and encouraging” music downloading (both legal and non) by measuring download numbers, he said Jobs seemed to be his only kindred spirit. “The most powerful people in the industry said, ‘This [downloading] has to stop and go away,’ and they intended to keep litigating it until people stopped downloading on the Internet.” While Garland admitted that he didn’t have the clout Jobs did in arguing that the genie was out of the bottle already, he recalls hearing from one executive after that music boss had been paid a personal visit by Jobs during the initial iTunes pitch. “He said to me, ‘Hey, you may be right,’ ” Garland said. ” ‘Steve Jobs was showing us this thing, and we think it’s the future of the business.’ And that was iTunes. Looking back, Jobs saw that this was not just the future of the music industry but, as has now been demonstrated, the future of all media and, in fact, connectivity among netizens.”Though the labels initially said no, Jobs persevered and Garland said that when people wonder how Apple was able to convince the labels to do a 180 on their position, the answer is simple. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was the strength of Steve’s passion, persuasive gifts, persistence and personality that managed to change hearts and minds,” he said. President Obama, Nicki Minaj, Bill Gates and more remember Steve Jobs. Jobs’ unwillingness to compromise or settle until the design met his level of taste made the Apple CEO unique, but Gruber said it was his ability to give each of his new devices a unique purpose that really set Jobs apart from his peers. “Think about the dramatic shift from the personal computer being this beige thing on your desktop that you wanted to hide to something people treated as an objet d’art, that they admired like they would a finely designed chair or an Eames recliner,” Pescovitz added. “The reason the iPod did so well was because it was a product that told its own story. It beckoned to you to want to engage with it and interact with it. That came from the design and simplicity of it and the very idea that it would dramatically change your relationship to music.” Steve Jobs’ impact went way beyond computers. Check out his innovations in the film industry. And while the science fiction-like idea of having every song you ever owned in your pocket was forward-thinking enough, Pescovitz said a counterintuitive move Jobs made shortly after introducing the iPod made us rethink how we interact with our music all over again. “When he released the first iPod Shuffle [in 2005], people thought, ‘How could I use this without a screen?’ The point was to shuffle. You could fill it with several thousand songs and continually be surprised by the next song you heard.” The concept of putting your music on shuffle now is another part of our modern digital lexicon that Jobs almost singlehandedly invented, creating yet another new relationship between people and their music collections. And, with the recent addition of the iCloud to the Apple universe, Pescovitz said Jobs made the crucial leap that cybernauts have been waiting for since the Internet became a daily part of our lives. “The cloud plays against this notion that cyberspace is a place you go to through your laptop,” he said. “Cyberspace is overlay on top of existing reality. Media can and should be everywhere all the time. The kind of emotional experience that you’re able to achieve sitting at a desk or in front of your home stereo can now be achieved wherever you are. It drastically changes your relationship to media and the world.” Steve Jobs changed the world, but how did he change you? Tell us on Facebook. Related Photos The Steve Jobs Legacy
Bill Gates, will.i.am, Ellen DeGeneres also remember the late Apple co-founder. By James Dinh Steve Jobs Photo: Getty Images Shortly after Apple announced Wednesday (October 5) that co-founder Steve Jobs had died , celebrities of all kinds — including the president himself — are paying tribute and mourning the loss of the technology giant. “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators — brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it,” President Obama said in a statement. “By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. … The world has lost a visionary.” Nicki Minaj took to Twitter to remember that visionary. “An innovator. Contributed so much to this generation & beyond. RIP Steve Jobs,” the Young Money MC wrote shortly after the announcement. Steve Jobs almost singlehandedly brought the music industry into the future — here’s how. Jobs’ longtime rival in the digital race, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, released a heartfelt statement after Apple’s announcement: “I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. … Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.” The Black Eyed Peas’ will i am urged : “i hope the youth chooses to be like steve jobs…we need more innovators.” Remember Steve Jobs’ many innovations by flipping through this photo gallery. Ryan Seacrest offered his remembrance with a quote from the businessman himself, writing , ” ‘Have the courage to follow ur heart & intuition. They already know what u truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.’ – Steve Jobs.” Ellen DeGeneres learned of the news shortly after wrapping up her talk show. “I just finished my show and I heard the news about Steve Jobs,” the comedian tweeted . “He was an amazing man with an incredible vision. He changed the world.” Pharrell Williams referred to Jobs as “our modern day Leonardo da Vinci” on Twitter . “From Apple to Pixar, what a great life lived. He will be missed.” Tyra Banks used one of Apple’s many revolutionary products to mourn the news, tweeting , “As I type on my iPhone, tears spring2 my eyes4an amazingMan I never met. His genius has touched us all. Steve Jobs, you will b/with us 4ever.” The Roots’ ?uestlove remembered Jobs as more than just the Apple co-founder: “Adopted. DropOut. FontLover. LSDlover. Dreamer. Innovator. Fired from his own Apple 1ce. Pixarlogist. 338 PATENTS! philanthropist. #JOBS.” Steve Jobs changed the world, but how did he change you ? Tell Us on Facebook. Related Photos The Steve Jobs Legacy
Late Apple co-founder almost singlehandedly brought music industry into the future. By Gil Kaufman Steve Jobs Photo: Justin Sullivan/ Getty Images Few people can legitimately claim to have changed the course of history. Apple’s Steve Jobs is one of those people. The pied piper of the digital revolution and co-founder of Apple Inc., started in his parents’ garage in the mid-1970s, died Wednesday at the age of 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. If Jobs had only co-founded Apple — the technology company with the highest valuation on earth at the moment and the one that taught the world to use a mouse, touch a screen to make a phone call and store a lifetime of music on a pocket-size device — that would be enough. But Jobs did much more than that. He changed the course of history with a series of science-fiction-like leaps that left his competitors in the dust, scratching their heads at how they went from having him in their rearview mirror to sprinting just to stay 10 steps behind him. Tell us how Steve Jobs changed your life. There had been any number of MP3 players on the market in the years before Jobs unveiled the iPod in 2001. But none had the signature elegance and ease of use that Jobs brought to his version of the portable digital-music device. From the iconic rotating wheel, simple scrolling menus and clean design of the first iPod, to later iterations such as the miniature Shuffle and the finger-swiping iPod Touch, Jobs pushed his design team to ever-greater heights of innovation. Like Kleenex, iPod became the shorthand for an MP3 player, a badge of honor that people wore proudly, signified by the 2001-style white earbuds that became ubiquitous on college campuses and subway trains and in gyms. As the devices got more complex on the inside, like a technological Willy Wonka, Jobs made sure that they got simpler and more elegant on the outside, always counting on intuition to win out over bells and whistles. And while iPods soon became the category killer when it came to MP3 players, it was Jobs’ next brainstorm that took a slumping music industry beset by illegal downloading woes and plummeting album sales and gave it the first ray of hope in years. The launch of the iTunes Store in 2003 took the traditional music-industry model and turned it completely on its head. Remember Steve Jobs’ many innovations by flipping through this photo gallery. For generations, a handful of major record labels had a lock on the distribution of music. They paid to have albums pressed, sent them to stores and dictated the prices. But after making a deal with Jobs to have their music appear on this new virtual platform, the labels quickly learned that they were now partners in their own game with a man whose vision for their business didn’t always mesh with their own. Until just a few years ago, Jobs held firm that downloads on his store should be priced at 99 cents each, beating back efforts by the labels to offer more pricing tiers. There was something about that round-looking number that seemed to appeal to him — and to the millions who gladly plunked down a dollar to get their daily fix. In the interim, the iTunes Store become the #1 destination for legal music downloading, holding between 70 and 80 percent of the market and consistently beating back efforts by retail giants and computer rivals to grab some of the digital gold. Piracy was (and still is) rampant, but enough people had been convinced by the ease of use and smart interface of the store to turn to the light side of the force and pay for that Black Eyed Peas hit or that Beatles classic. President Obama, Nicki Minaj, Bill Gates and more remember Steve Jobs. As of February 2010, the iTunes Store had sold 10 billion songs while revolutionizing the way every new generation buys, interacts with and experiences music. Yes, some claim the store has created a world of musical grazers, fans who pick and choose the hot hits one or two at a time over buying entire albums. But it has also trained a constantly wired generation to legally download music on their iPads, iPhones and a myriad of other devices, providing a rare bright spot for a music industry that has seen record sales, and profits, cut in half since a 1999 peak of $14.6 billion. With the recent introduction of the iCloud, Jobs did it again, waving his wand and giving his adoring minions the ability to access their music anywhere in the world. Think back to when MP3 players held 100 songs just over a decade ago. Now imagine having thousands, tens of thousands, potentially millions of songs at your fingertips from your backyard to the rainy jungles of Brazil and the mountaintops of Nepal. We may not have those jetpacks we were promised, but Steve Jobs did his best to ensure that, at least when it came to music (and movies and apps and games), the future was now. Steve Jobs changed the world, but how did he change you ? Tell Us on Facebook. Related Photos The Steve Jobs Legacy
Hello Beautiful! Welcome to Strand Therapy! brought to you by Your Partner In “Natural” Style — Design Essentials Natural . Strand Therapy is your one-stop-shop for all things natural! If you are currently transitioning, not sure what styles are best for your hair type, or if you need help maintaining your kinky curly tresses (or straightening them) then this is the place for you! To kick things off, we’re proud to present our “ Top 10 Must-Haves to Rock Your Natural Hair on a Budget. ” Whether you are newly natural or a seasoned natural going through transitions, here are some great tips to keep your curls and coils coiffed and sexy while on a shoestring budget: Make your own leave-in conditioner with a spray bottle , conditioner , and water . Use apple cider vinegar as a final rinse to break down the harsh chemicals present in the water. Don’t forget about hair oil! (Oils moisturize the scalp, provide nutrients to the hair, and promote hair growth). Consider making your own deep conditioners by mixing household nourishing ingredients (honey, apple cider, bananas, vinegar, eggs, avocado, and mayonnaise) Plastic caps are great for deep conditioning. Once applied to the head, it locks in the moisture and provides heat. It’s also another great alternative to using a hooded hair dryer when secured around the head with a hot towel. Use a Flaxseed Styling Gel as it promotes hair growth, leaves hair feeling soft, moisturized, shiny, and healthy. Use a Sulfate free shampoo and conditioner. Stay away from baking soda as it can strip the hair of moisture. (Sulfate-free shampoos reduce hair irritation, hair loss, color fading, and frizziness). Essential Styling tools should include: bobby pins, satin scarf, tail comb, blow dryer, diffuser, butterfly clips and rubber row brush. Indulge in essential oils. There are so many to choose from! Lavender oils calm and soothe the scalp. Basil stimulates hair growth. Tea Tree decreases scalp dryness. Click here to learn more about essential oils and their benefits. Patience is very important when learning to style and maintain your hair. It’s important to allocate time to style your hair and stick to a regimen. It will pay off!. To learn more about Design Essentials® Natural and to win free natural hair care products, be sure to visit us at www.designessentials.com . You may also “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter ( @designessntials ). We recently participated in the Fall 2011 World Natural Hair Show in Atlanta, GA and provided great natural maintenance and styling tips for professionals and consumers, not to mention provided some awesome giveaways! If you missed the fun, check out our online slideshow from the event. We were also joined by Mae Tapp of NaturalChica.com who hosted our on-site natural giveaways ( Thanks, Mae!). Don’t forget to send your hair questions to strandtherapy@gmail.com ! Bye, Beautiful! Why Can’t Black Women Do Their Own Hair Anymore? Top 3 Best Leave-In Conditioners For Natural Hair [REVIEW]
This charming Knock Clock was made by three Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design students for a 48-hour design project. When you knock on the top of this minimalistic wooden box, it knocks back the time of day (to the nearest quarter hour). It even has a basic alarm function, which—naturally—is set by knocking as well. [via Adafruit] Broadcasting platform : Vimeo Source : MAKE: Blog Discovery Date : 03/09/2011 11:17 Number of articles : 2
Kanye West and Jay-Z could have spent up to $150,000 trashing the $350,000 car for the video. By Gil Kaufman Photo: Roc-A-Fella How much swag do Kanye West and Jay-Z have? Enough to trash a $350,000 Maybach in their “Otis” video and laugh about it. The conspicuous-consumption-loving clip is a lesson in the dynamics of hip-hop power, with two of the biggest names in the game flexing their muscle by taking one of the world’s most expensive luxury cars and essentially turning it into a torn-up plaything that’s probably not even street legal, according to Myles Kovacs, president and co-founder of DUB magazine . “It’s a great gimmick and it looks ‘Mad Max’-ish. … They’re clearly rich enough that they can take something most people could never dream of owning and tear it up,” Kovacs said of the dismantling of the car that takes place in the clip. Experts dissected the meaning of “Otis” and the Maybach for us. What starts out as a mint vehicle is quickly stripped down in the Spike Jonze-directed clip. With the glass roof tossed to the side, the doors ripped off and welded to the back, the front grill removed and stuck on the tail end and fender walls created out of sheet metal, Kovacs said the actual work done on the car was minimal, but the damage was maximum. “If it’s just for show or to make a movie car, it’s pretty simple,” he said. “You’re just trashing the car, bolting on fake bumpers, pushing the wheels out, removing doors, cutting the roof off and adding flame throwers on the exhaust. But these guys are crazy to spend money to ruin a car like that.” The Maybach is on display at the Watch the Throne pop-up store, and MTV News was on the scene. While ‘Ye and Jigga are clearly having a blast driving the chopped and screwed ‘Bach in “Otis,” Kovacs said at this point the frame of the car is probably buckling and it’s folding up “like a taco,” because it appears that the center roof supports have been taken out. He originally guessed that a job like this might cost $150,000 and take two to three weeks if you were aiming to have the car be street-legal and reinforce the frame. Making it just safe enough for the video would set you back $100,000 or so. But if all they did was cut the doors and roof out and do some welding here and there, the right tech could do that in a week. Add another for painting and the right shop could get the job done for $20,000 or so. “The thing is, the value of that car is nothing now, you couldn’t drive it on the street,” he said. “It would start malfunctioning big time.” That’s something to consider for anyone thinking about taking the car off their hands. The last frame of the video declares, “The vehicle used in this video will be offered up for auction. Proceeds will be donated towards the East African drought disaster.” Their heart is in the right place, even if their grill isn’t. Related Videos JAY Z and Kanye West: “Otis” Playlist Related Artists Jay-Z Kanye West
MTV News gathers a group of tastemakers to break down the clip, which features a mutilated Maybach, fireworks and a huge American flag. By Rob Markman Jay-Z and Kanye West (file) Photo: Johnny Nunez/ WireImage Who knew destroying a Maybach could be so fun? In Jay-Z and Kanye West ‘s new Spike Jonze-directed video for “Otis,” the Throne give the luxury vehicle the chop-shop treatment and then do doughnuts with reckless abandon. “Have you ever seen Jay-Z look that young or that happy?” Jeff Rosenthal from the sketch-comedy group It’s the Real said when MTV News gathered a group of tastemakers to preview the “Otis” video, which premiered Thursday on MTV. “I like that it definitely has that Spike Jonze look. I like that they totally make a Batmobile out of a Maybach,” his brother and comedy partner Eric added. “They do have a lot of fun, which is awesome.” Read what some hip-hop DJs had to say about “Otis” as an unconventional single. Model Tahiry Jos
