“Netherlands and Architecture” The new Dutch five euro commemorative coins (Collectors’ coins) by Stani Michiels

Designer’s inspiration
The Architecture five-euro coin was designed by artist Stani Michiels (b. 1973). The design on the obverse of the coin pays tribute to the history of Dutch architecture, with the portrait of Queen Beatrix being distinctively constructed using the names of important architects from Dutch history. The artist used the internet as a popularity-meter to determine the names’ order of appearance.

The reverse of the Architecture five-euro coin draws attention to the striking fact that many Dutch architects have also included publishing books on architecture in their professional activities. To illustrate this phenomenon, recent books on architecture rise up from the sides of the coin like buildings. Through their careful placement they combine to outline the Netherlands, while birds’ silhouettes suggest the capitals of all the provinces.

How to make : http://pythonide.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-make-money-with-free-software.html

The new Dark Fire from Gibson combines the classic Les Paul form with brand new function. Tone meets innovation in this incredible marriage of Chameleon Tone Technology and second generation Robot Guitar Technology.

The original Robot Guitar took the guitar world by storm when it was first introduced in December ‘07, but the new Dark Fire from Gibson is simply the most advanced guitar system ever developed. In fact, many of the technological advances on the Dark Fire were virtually inconceivable just a few years ago.

The new Dark Fire is an upgrade in every respect. The powerhead tuners, the tuning brain, the battery functions, and even the unprecedented sonic capabilities of a fully digital guitar and Chameleon Tone Technology.

Imagine the ability to change your guitar’s tone to better match your environment. Everything is here to give you a new, stunning level of tonal and functional freedom that allows you the uninhibited release of your creative potential.

Tone meets innovation in this incredible marriage of Chameleon Tone Technology and second generation Robot Guitar technology.

Chameleon Tone Technology.

The original Robot Guitar took the guitar world by storm when it was first introduced in December ‘07, but the new Dark Fire from Gibson is simply the most advanced guitar system ever developed. In fact, many of the technological advances on the Dark Fire were virtually inconceivable just a few years ago. The new Dark Fire is a virtual upgrade in every respect. The powerhead tuners, the tuning brain, the battery functions, and even the unprecedented sonic capabilities of a fully digital guitar and Chameleon Tone Technology. Imagine the ability to change your guitar’s tone to better match your environment. Everything is here to give you a new, stunning level of tonal and functional freedom that allows you the uninhibited release of your creative potential.

500 Tunings from a Single Battery Charge.

The Dark Fire’s battery system and power circuit have also been significantly improved to last nearly twice as long, even with the guitar’s enhanced performance. You can now expect nearly 500 tunings from a single charge. As an added plus, you can also play the Dark Fire while the battery system is being charged.

Source : Gibson

Hello, Thailand

Welcome to the official Apple Online Store. Experience the wide world of Apple at the Apple Store Thailand. Shop for Apple computers, compare iPod and iPhone models, and discover Apple and third-party accessories, software, and much more.

Grand Opening Celebration

Commemorate our grand opening with a free limited-edition Apple T-shirt. Simply purchase a new Mac or iPod by November 24, 2008, and we’ll send you this exclusive shirt for free.*Hurry — T-shirt supplies are limited.

http://store.apple.com/th/

Pepsi, New Bottles and New Logo “digital and social media influencers” The concept is  “The brand’s blue and red globe trademark will become a series of “smiles,” with the central white band arcing at different angles depending on the product.” Like it or Not?

Pepsi-Cola is a carbonated beverage that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo. It is sold in stores, restaurants and from vending machines. The drink was first made in the 1890s by pharmacist Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North Carolina. The brand was trademarked on June 16, 1903. There have been many Pepsi variants produced over the years since 1903, including Diet Pepsi, Crystal Pepsi, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Samba, Pepsi Blue, Pepsi Gold, Pepsi Holiday Spice, Pepsi Jazz, Pepsi X (available in Finland and Brazil), Pepsi Next (available in Japan and South Korea), Pepsi Raw, Pepsi Retro in Mexico, Pepsi One, Pepsi Ice Cucumber and Pepsi White in Japan.

In October 2008, it was announced that Pepsi would be redesigning their logo and re-branding many of their products. Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max will use all lower-case fonts for name brands, Mountain Dew will be renamed “Mtn Dew,” and Diet Pepsi Max will be re-branded as Pepsi Max. The brand’s blue and red globe trademark will become a series of “smiles,” with the central white band arcing at different angles depending on the product.

Turn your USB drive into an HD media player. Store your HD content on a USB drive. Plug the drive in and play HD movies, digital music and family photos on your TV. It’s as easy as 1-2-3

File Formats Supported

• Music - MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital, AIF/AIFF, MKA
• Photo - JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG
• Video -MPEG1/2/4, WMV9, AVI (MPEG4, Xvid, AVC), H.264, MKV, MOV (MPEG4, H.264)
• Playlist - PLS, M3U, WPL
• Subtitle -SRT (UTF-8)

Combined with a My Passport portable drive (sold separately), this player is the most convenient way to play HD movies or user-generated videos, listen to high-quality digital music and show high-resolution slideshows of your family photos on your TV. Also works with popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices.

Ideal For
Hassle-free playback of HD movies, home videos, digital music, and photos on your TV.

System Requirements

• My Passport portable hard drive or other USB storage device with supported video or audio content stored on it.
• Standard or high definition television with HDMI or composite video connections

Package Contents

• HD Media Player
• Stand for My Passport portable drive
• Compact remote with batteries
• Media converter software (Windows only)
• Composite AV cable
• AC adapter
• Quick Install Guide

O-Larn with his new Daphne Blue and Fiesta Red signature Stratocaster models. Photos by Vipusana Thakthan

Thai rocker O-Larn is delighted that his signature Squier Stratocaster® guitar model will become available this November in a limited run of his two favorite vintage Fender® finishes, Daphne Blue and Fiesta Red.

You never know—sometimes these things just hinge on a conversation. When U.S. Squier boss Chris Gill visited O-Larn in Bangkok, Thailand, in June 2008, wouldn’t you just know that the conversation soon turned to both gentlemen’s appreciation of vintage Fender guitar colors.

O-Larn was interested in new colors for his signature model, and mentioned that Fiesta Red and Daphne Blue in particular were two vintage hues that inspire fond memories and really take him back to the early days when he first started playing. He also noted that it’d be great for Thai guitarists to be able to own affordable Squier guitars in authentic vintage Fender colors.

That was that. A few weeks later, he happily received two samples of his signature Stratocaster model in Fiesta Red and Daphne Blue. A limited run of models in both vintage colors will become available in Thailand starting in November 2008.

O-Larn said he is excited to see his guitar model in the two new finishes and noted that both colors were “really right.”

One of Thailand’s most popular and influential rock musicians, O-Larn launched his career in the early 1980s. With his band, the O-Larn Project, he grew in skill and popularity in the nation’s music scene, earning more widespread regional success in Southeast Asia as Thailand gradually opened more to Western culture. He endorsed Squier in Southeast Asia for several years, and Squier introduced the O-Larn Stratocaster model in 2006 as its first “regional” signature model.

The guitar, co-designed by O-Larn, features a Squier Standard Stratocaster design with high-output single-coil pickups, a soft V-shaped neck and no onboard tone control. Before the November 2008 introduction of the Daphne Blue and Fiesta Red models, the guitar was available in Sunburst, Black, White and Natural finishes.

source : http://www.squierguitars.com/news/index.php?display_article=110

Apple 24-inch LED Cinema Display. It doesn’t just expand the screen of your new MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air. With a built-in iSight camera, mic, and speakers, it expands your whole experience.

A display of forward thinking.

The LED Cinema Display is the ultimate accessory for the ultimate notebook, featuring advanced LED technology and a gorgeous glass screen that stretches from edge to edge.

Every desk should be so lucky.

Amazing from all sides, the LED Cinema Display has a superthin profile that makes for an exceptionally streamlined workspace. Learn more
Side view of LED Cinema Display.

Integrated power with easy connection.

Inside the incredibly slim profile of the LED Cinema Display is an internal power adapter that lets you charge your MacBook using the display’s MagSafe connector. Learn more

Built-in iSight camera, mic, and speakers.

Be seen and heard with the neatly integrated iSight camera and microphone. And enjoy your music and videos with the built-in speaker system.

24-inch (viewable) LED-backlit thin film transistor (TFT) active-matrix liquid crystal display

• Supported resolutions:
  • 1920 by 1200 pixels
  • 1280 by 800 pixels
  • 1024 by 640 pixels
• Display colors (maximum): 16.7 million
• Viewing angle: 178° horizontal; 178° vertical
• Brightness (typical): 330 cd/m2
• Contrast ratio (typical): 1000:1
• Response time (typical): 14 ms

Price : $899

Pro Tools 8 the most advanced audio creation and production software, featuring a gorgeous new interface; dozens of new plug-ins; five new virtual instruments; exciting new scoring, MIDI, editing, and mixing capabilities; deeper controller integration; improved ease of installation and use; and enhanced performance. With Pro Tools 8, you get the most comprehensive music and sound creation features and functionality, and the proven, dedicated platform for world-class audio production — all in a single application. Pro Tools 8 is coming soon for Pro Tools|HD®, Pro Tools LE®, and Pro Tools M-Powered™ systems, so get ready — you’ll never work with audio the same way again.

Stunning New Look and Interactivity Sporting a sleek new look, Pro Tools 8 is as easy on the eyes as it is to use. read more All of the Pro Tools functionality you know and love is still in place but with some subtle enhancements, double the inserts per channel, more customizability, and easier access to editing options than ever before. Customize the toolbar to show only your favorite tools, and rearrange them the way you want. Tile or cascade your window arrangement. Change the color of your channel strips, tracks, regions, groups, and markers to any hue. Navigate through sessions quickly using the Universe view. And with the QuickStart dialog, you can jump right into an existing session, quickly create a new session from scratch, or start from one of the new session templates. Watch video.

A Well-Stocked Studio Pro Tools 8 comes fully packed with a huge, comprehensive collection of music creation and sound processing plug-ins, giving you a well-stocked studio right out of the box. read more Create and play music with groundbreaking new virtual instruments, including the Mini Grand piano, Boom drum machine, DB-33 tonewheel organ, and Vacuum and Xpand!2™ synths. Dial-up awesome guitar tone with Eleven™ Free and SansAmp®. Play DJ with Torq® LE. Add character to tracks with 20 new AIR effects. Make music with nearly 8 GB of high-quality loops. And with dozens of professional sound processing plug-ins and tools at your disposal — including nine new additions worth over $1,300 (USD) on their own — you can fix, enhance, and polish your mixes with ease.

More Tracks Than Ever Got Pro Tools LE or Pro Tools M-Powered? Get ready to create even larger mixes than ever. read more Pro Tools 8 expands the power of your current hardware interface, allowing you to work with up to 48 mono or stereo audio tracks. Add Music Production Toolkit 2 (for serious musicians and music producers) or DV Toolkit™ 2 (for complete post production, Pro Tools LE only) and you can create huge mixes, with up to 64 mono or stereo audio tracks. And with the new Complete Production Toolkit (Pro Tools LE only), which combines both toolkits, you can work with up to 128 audio tracks AND get 7.1 surround mixing capabilities, making it easier than ever to collaborate with Pro Tools|HD users.

Score Your Music The new Score Editor lets you view, edit, arrange, and print MIDI data as music notation. read more Whether you want to compose music using the notation tools, or transcribe recorded, imported, drawn (with the Pencil tool), or step entered MIDI data into notation, the Score Editor features everything you need and nothing you don’t. Write parts on a single staff (choose treble, bass, alto, or tenor clef) or grand staff. Place and edit notes, and edit the meter and key signature at whim. Add chord symbols (Dm7, G, and so on) and chord diagrams (for guitarists) to sessions. Transcribe MIDI parts in real time. Print out a score in its entirety or print only certain instrumental parts. You can even export sessions as Sibelius (.sib) files for further finessing in Sibelius. Watch video.

Complete MIDI Production If you use virtual instruments and MIDI, Pro Tools 8 features a comprehensive array of new MIDI tools. read more Gain extensive MIDI editing power through MIDI Editor windows, which can display MIDI and automation data for Instrument, MIDI, and Auxiliary Input tracks. Work with new features that let you separate, consolidate, and mute MIDI notes; scrub and shuttle through parts; view superimposed MIDI and Instrument tracks for easier arrangement editing; color code MIDI notes by track, type, or velocity; audition velocity changes; and play MIDI notes when tabbing. Edit MIDI automation and continuous controller (CC) data through multiple Automation and Controller lanes. Even watch your musical handiwork scroll by in real time during playback. Watch video.

Transpose with Elastic Pitch As a complement to Pro Tools software’s powerful Elastic Time tempo and time manipulating tool, Pro Tools 8 introduces Elastic Pitch, which allows you to effortlessly manipulate or correct the pitch of any audio region in real time, right inside the Edit window. read more Easily transpose an entire audio region in semitones — up or down up to four octaves — without affecting its timing or tempo. Fix a less than perfect vocal performance by altering the pitch of individual notes in cent intervals. Or create cool sound effects by linking pitch changes with time compression/expansion using the Varispeed algorithm. Watch video.

Comp Tracks to Perfection Creating flawless performances is easier than ever. read more Pro Tools 8 features new track compositing workflows, enabling you to quickly and easily piece together the best possible version of a performance from multiple recording passes. Simply loop record multiple takes on an Audio track, view and audition the takes in Playlist view, select the best parts from the track’s alternate playlists, and copy them to the main playlist with a single click. You can also rate regions on a scale of 1 – 5 to help identify which takes you like the most when compositing playlists. Watch video.

New Editing and Mixing Capabilities Pro Tools 8 equips your system with even more editing and mixing capabilities. read more Lock regions to the timeline to prevent them from being inadvertently moved or edited. Use the Automation and Controller lanes to view and edit track automation (such as volume, pan, and plug-in automation) and MIDI CC data (such as velocity, pitchbend, and modulation) without changing track views. And with 10 inserts to play with per track, you can now use more plug-ins than ever before.

Expanded Pro Tools|HD Features Pro Tools HD 8 extends the extensive capabilities of Digidesign’s Pro Tools|HD audio hardware with the new Satellite Link option, which allows you to control up to five Pro Tools|HD systems as one. read more For the ultimate in post-production efficiency, the new Video Satellite and Video Satellite LE options bring Avid® and QuickTime HD/SD video playback to Pro Tools in high definition, without sacrificing your audio track counts or processing power. Pro Tools 8 also delivers major enhancements to ICON users, bringing new functionality to the Soft Keys, adding a local assign mode, introducing I/O view, and letting D-Command® and D-Command® ES users expand their console to 40 faders.

Expanded Hardware Control Pro Tools 8 deepens its ICON console, Digidesign control surface, and M-Audio® controller integration, enabling you to map plug-in parameter controls to almost any encoder on your controller, and access each track’s 10 inserts. With ICON, Pro Tools 8 brings new and improved functionality to the Soft Keys; adds a local assign mode for assigning Inserts, Sends, Inputs, and Outputs; introduces I/O view; and lets you expand a D-Command® or D-Command® ES console to 40 faders with an additional Fader Module.

More Great New Features Pro Tools 8 is chock full of many other amazing new features that’ll help you become more efficient, inspire your creativity, and provide more flexibility for your workflow needs. Here’s what you can experience when Pro Tools 8 hits the streets: Check for Updates feature keeps Pro Tools and your plug-ins up to date Windows Vista (32-bit Business or Ultimate) support on Pro Tools|HD QuickTime HD support on Mac OS X-based systems Enhanced session open and close times on Pro Tools|HD Supports files up to 4 GB in size, letting you work with longer files with higher sample rates http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?navid=399&langid=100&itemid=35068

Rovio Mobile Webcam Robot enables you to

• Interact with your family, wherever they are
• Check up on your office and speak with colleagues
• Roam around your home to check on pets, etc.
• Visit elderly relatives

Technical Specifications

• Rechargeable NiMH battery pack included
• 1 x charging dock with built-in TrueTrack beacon
• 3 x wheel motors
• 3 x omni-directional wheels
• 1 x camera motor
• 1 x VGA CMOS sensor
• LED illumination
• 1 x speaker
• 1 x built-in microphone
• USB connectivity
• WiFi connectivity (802.11b and 802.11g)

System Requirements

• Device running one of the following browsers*: Internet Explorer 6 or higher, Mozilla Firefox 1.5 or higher, Safari 3.0 or higher, Internet Explorer Mobile, or Opera Mobile
• USB connectivity
• Wireless access point (WAP) device (for example, a wireless router)
• High-speed Internet connection
• Microphone, to enable two-way audio

* Internet Explorer 6 or higher is required for two-way audio feature

$299

http://www.meetrovio.com/

Rockbox is an open source firmware replacement for a growing number of digital audio players. It has been in development since 2001 and receives new features, tweaks and fixes every day to provide you with the best possible music listening experience. Rockbox aims to be considerably more functional and efficient than your device’s stock firmware while remaining easy to use and customizable. We believe that you should never need to go through a series of menus for an action you perform frequently. We also believe that you should be able to configure almost anything about Rockbox you could want, pertaining to functionality. It is written by users, for users.

Another top priority of Rockbox is audio playback quality. Rockbox, for most models, includes a wider range of sound settings than that device’s original firmware. A lot of work has been put into making Rockbox sound the best it can, and improvements are constantly being made. All models have access to a large number of plugins, including many games, applications, and graphical demos.

You can load different configurations quickly for different purposes (e.g. a large font for in your car, different sound settings for at home). You can even customize your While Playing Screen to display only and exactly what you want to see when your music is playing. In addition, Rockbox features a wide range of languages, and all supported models also have the ability to talk to you - menus can be voiced and filenames spelled out or spoken.

http://www.rockbox.org/