Uncommon video of a MiG-29 firing an outer-pylon R-73 missile at a Hermes 450 UAV belonging to Georgia … doesn’t end well for the drone.
Georgia-Russia Tension Escalates Over Downed Drone – NYT, April 22 2008
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Not even close to being gadget-related, but here’s a list of the world’s best restaurants, thanks to San Pellegrino and their site World’s 50 Best Restaurants. At the top of their list, which makes it the best restaurant in the world, is El Bulli in Spain.
50best’s comments about el Bulli include such superlatives as “dazzling dishes “, “astonishing inventions” and “results … that surprise, provoke, engage your sense of humour and taste divine” … mostly thanks to chef Ferran Adrià. Expect to pay about €250 ea.
Rounding out the top 5 are:
2. The Fat Duck (UK)
3. Pierre Gagnaire (FR)
4. Mugaritz (ES)
5. The French Laundry (CA)
Richard Vines who is London food critic for Bloomberg News, had a look at the W50B list & proceeded to splash a bit of cold water on it. While Vines appreciated the conception, presentation and quality of the top two restaurants, saying the “food was superb at both”, he is also unironically dismissive of the cusine calling it unalloyed and presumptive experimental theater. Vines also decries the lack of Asian representation on the top 50 list seemingly attributing it to Eurocentrism – while that’s partly true, most of the reason can be found in the practice of undervaluing the disharmony of ironic comedy and overvaluing the idea of idealising idealism.
Is El Bulli Really the World’s Best Restaurant? – Bloomberg, April 22 2008
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iF, the International Forum Design recently awarded one of their 2008 concept awards in the category of Architecture & Public Spaces to Hanyoung Lee for his Virtual Wall Traffic Light. The Virtual Wall uses lasers to project virtual pedestrians across an intersection to supplement the traffic light.
List of winners for the iF concept award 2008 for category: 05 Architecture & public spaces – iF Design
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Encyclopaedia Britannica seems to be in trouble. Customers are curiously reluctant to spend $1395 on the print edition of the encyclopedia, disinclined to pay $70/year for web access and even averse to parting with $49.95 for the Britannica Deluxe Edition 2007 DVD.
It appears that knowledge-seekers lean towards the $37.50 Encarta DVD, or, to an even larger extent, the $0 Wikipedia. Internet audience measurer Comcast says that Britannica Online is being out-visited by Wikipedia by a factor of 184:1.
But now the venerable EB is fighting back (kind of). They are launching Britannica Webshare, which is intended to provide more-or-less free access to Britannica content online for ‘Web publishers’ … registration is here.
Some say that Britannica Webshare is a step in the right direction but EB will eventually have to adopt the ‘free’ business model. Others agree saying “Start Writing the Eulogies for Print Encyclopedias” and suggest that specialist-compiled repositories such as the Encyclopedia of Life and Citizendium will become more common in the future.
Encyclopedia Britannica Now Free For Bloggers – Tech Crunch, April 18 2008
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Nielsen ranks the most sought-after luxury brands in the fashion world:
1: Gucci
2: Chanel (=)
2: Calvin Klein
4: Louis Vuitton
5: Christian Dior
6: Versace
7: Giorgio Armani
8: Ralph Lauren
9: Prada
10: Yves Saint Laurent
[...not a bad list, but it's missing Hermes and possibly Burberry].
Many of these rag dealers have of course branched out into gadgets & consumer electronics, eg the recently announced ‘ Armani Samsung LCD TV ‘. And then there’s the Prada Phone, and the Gucci i-gucci LCD watch.
Despite the fact that LG managed to sell 800,000 Prada phones in 1 year, we’re predicting trend failure. The rag trade risks damaging their image because trends in consumer electronics change more frequently than trends in fashion.
…case in point, here’s a pic of Giorgio hustling his new Armani-Samsung LCD TV with its natural wood frame…
Gucci reigns as the Most Coveted luxury brand in the world – Nielsen, February 27 2008 via Forbes
GameSpot reports that Grand Theft Auto IV is on its way to stores and will be released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 29. In the first week, GTA4 is expected to sell 6 million copies and generate $400 million for the Rockstar Games division of Take-Two Interactive.
…and in related news, R* sociologists have completed their assessment of GTAIV hero Niko Bellic, and now attribute his penchant for gratuitous violence to poor impulse control, lack of gov’t funding for Ritalin and the unfortunate subliminal influence of having a name that transliterates to ‘victory of the warlike’ … see “bellicose“.
Grand Theft Auto IV golden, already in transit – GameSpot, Apr 17 2008
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Year Over Year game industry sales in the U.S. were up 57%, with Nintendo continuing to dominate in both hardware and sales. The best selling game console was the Wii with 721,000 units and top game was Super Smash Bros. Brawl with an astonishing 2.7M copies sold.
Nintendo & Wii depend on casual gamers, with their preference for simplicity and interactive accessories. Things like ski-jumping and jogging via Wii Fit, and doubles tennis with a sibling thx to the Wii Remote are compelling for families.
And it’s probably going to get worse, i.e. better for Nintendo. The demographic for the forthcoming Mario Kart Wii with its Wii Wheel accessory and the 12-player Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is likely to be better funded than that for Grand Theft Auto IV.
Nintendo’s Wii Keeps Lead in U.S Game Console Sales – Bloomberg, April 17 2008
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The University of Cambridge is to be commended for collecting and organizing and publishing the nearly-complete works of Charles Darwin & making them available online & for free.
CRD = an outside-the-box thinker, for sure.
The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online
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The Rocket Racing League finally seems to be taking off. Originally inspired by the fictional Star Wars pod racers, and after about two-and-a-half years of work, the 1st Exhibition Race of the Rocket Racing League will take place August 1-2 2008 in Oshkosh, Wisconson. The X-Racer, as the plane is called, is a single-pilot craft with 1,500 pound of thrust and a top speed in excess of 280 knots.
The race planes will be powered by 2 engine types. The XCOR engine uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants, whereas the Armadillo engine uses alcohol instead of kerosene. These things are not mouth-breathers, carry their own oxidizer and so can only aloft for about 14 minutes: 4 minutes powered + 10 gliding, before landing to refuel.
The RRL sez they expect 700,000 people to be in attendance Aug 1-2 … sounds optimistic.
Rocket Racing League Announces First Exhibition Race – press release, April 14 2008
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Sony’s annoying, er innovating, Rolly robotic music player is now available in black. And the small flapping arms come in red, blue or silver. Can’t stop progress.
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