Top 5 Gadgets for Males This Christmas

Top 5 Gifts for Males this Christmas

1. Harmony 1000 Remote
This remote will put the 7 remotes you currently have on your coffee table in a drawer somewhere. It controls up to 15 devices with a 3.5” color LCD Touch screen. It can also use Remote Frequency to deliver powerful, complete control of your home-entertainment system, including components hidden behind cabinets. Programming is done through the computer; all you need are the model numbers of your components.

2. The Microsoft XBOX 360 ChatPad

This device retails for less than $30 and is one of the most seamless product add-ons I have ever used. Once you snap this keyboard onto your controller you would never think it was an add-on. The backlit keyboard works great and makes inviting and chatting to friends a snap. This gadget is highly recommended if your male gift-getter has an Xbox360.


3. A new cell phone: The iPhone or LG Voyager

Everybody loves a new cell phone. So how about one of these hot new phones for Christmas? If you have service with Cingular then look into consolidating a few of his gadgets like his camera, phone, and mp3 player into one with the iPhone. (Pictured on the right) Verizon’s answer to the iPhone is the new LG Voyager (pictured left)—a touch screen front that flips open to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard.



4. TiVo Subscription








If he enjoys certain shows, but has to work or take you out to dinner when they are on then a TiVo subscription is a great present. You can get the box from $100 for a standard Dual Tuner unit or $300 for a High Definition Tivo. There is a monthly service fee, but they have been reduced for new customers until February. You can even prepay for a year and save some money. All he has to do is tell the TiVo what shows he wants it to record and the TiVo will actually record similar shows that he may enjoy as suggestions. Shows may also be transferred to a laptop so that he can watch them on business trips.

5.The Art of Shaving: Perfect Shave KitSince he has to shave everyday why not turn his morning routine into an easier more enjoyable experience? The Art of Shaving is a business in New York where straight razor shaves are given all day long. They have assembled their products on their website for singular purchases, but have combined what they call “The 4 Elements of the Perfect Shave” into this one kit. It comes with a pre-shave oil, shaving cream, a badger hair brush, and after shave lotion. All he needs is the razor. They have a full kit and a sample kit for $40… need an extra little gift? Try the sample kit. I’ve used it and it truly is the best shave I have ever had.


Harmony 1000 photo courtesy of: Logitech.com
Xbox360 Chatpad photo courtesy of: Xboxn.com
LG Voyager photo courtesy of: us.lge.com
iPhone photo courtesy of: computershopper.com
Tivo photo courtesy of: krunker.com
Art of Shaving Kit photo courtesy of: theartofshaving.com

Kanye West

Image source: IMDB


Kanye West is one of the greatest rap stars and producers in the 21st century. He is a part of one of the best labels around, Roc-a-Fella, owned by rapper Jay-Z. His latest album Graduation sold 860, 000 copies in the first week of its release. Overcoming adversity and a number of struggles, West continues to strive for excellence in all of his endeavors.

West incorporates the use of technology to help promote his albums and in his videos. He has a page on myspace.com where individuals can go and view singles, videos, and upcoming tour events. He also has his own website, http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/, which guides the individual to information about his fan club, blogs, videos, music, and his store in a timely manner. Some of his music videos from his latest album have incorporated animation throughout them. Does West overuse technology? Is the use of technology helpful now that most individuals are savvy in the area of technology?

Some individuals believe in the traditional ways of promoting your ideas. However, young adults and teenagers believe that the use of technology is a great way to promote the product that you are selling. Most individuals are on the internet for a number of hours buying items from the internet instead of in stores or by phone. This way they have everything that they need at their fingertips.

In a conversation with some teenagers, many of them stated that Kanye West has some good songs on his latest album. When asked how they viewed the content of his album, many of them answered through Myspace.com. Myspace is a popular website, where many artists can be located. The students surveyed listened to the songs before they bought the album. Dashawn Henry, a senior at Scott’s Branch High School, says that this is a good idea because it helps you determine if you want to purchase the album based upon what you hear in advance. Videos are also posted there so you are able to view it over and over to see the new style he has added or how much he has improved from videos in the past.

A deliberate attempt to control adequacy

I. Mission Control

ten
We start counting down the ways from ten
That we control every little thing around us
It controls us, no doubt, and we lie to ourselves
The remote becomes the comfort blanket
nine
when we see that the only comfort we can seek lies
in infomercials and blog spots
there is no way that we can ever clean them,
even if we add one to the other.
Billy Mays could sell a mac to a pc
and a windows to a linux.
eight
Running at optimum capacity
systems that run smooth. Fans and glass
replacing the wind and water
nothing natural. nothing natural
we see nothing outside of our monitors
and unfortunately for us, we are stuck thinking inside the box
seven
we speed up now. upon the monitor’s unblinking gaze we
see how the might and fury of flat-backed
hooligans, those internet ruffians deliver unto us the
true feel of love. Nothing ever sold so well as a
promise of complete happiness and bliss amongst peers.
Counting down. Ignition.
six
a silence. a silence.
and then, Crescendo! the hall fills with
the rising sound of sentient life! Fingers upon keys
The Brass Flares! The Woodwinds Whine!
The Strings swell and fill the hall with the indomitable and resolute
promise of violence and the digital hereafter!
five
sweat does drip and drip and rip and dip
all upon your face
when staring at your plasma screen,
on eBay buying lingerie and lace
to fill your house with trinkets and codswallop
and useless inane and asinine
front end-loaders and sour cream (but just a dollop)
but why stop there? Why stop there indeed?
We need more and more and more
Or how else will we plant the seed?
four
the spiral effect of dive-bombing doves and
pigeons know how to make your head grow
around that which you cannot live without
contemporary man has no need for the past; all he needs is to stand on the shoulders of those before him. Make him man. Make him god.
Those contributions, those technological contributions, those gadgets and gizmos
And new age mythos
Those letters from doctor Spock, hand free from needless spanking
It becomes clearer and clearer who gets the banking
rolls by using this automation and money back guarantees
(don’t worry; soon we’ll all be 100% human free!)
three
we wind ourselves down and up like a watch
whose function we have yet to figure out
who needs a calendar, stopwatch, laser pointer,
remote, garage opener, can opener, can recycler, nuclear fusion reactor,
decompression chamber, and automatic juicer in their watch?
Well, I suppose the juicer would be nice.
The degrees of separation are as various as our degrees
of killing ourselves with kindness.
two
This is our digital age. Our digital revolution
I had a gigapet when I was a child. When it came time to put it down
all that was required was that I put it down. Sometimes it’s easiest to pick
up a child’s toys in the morning.
meander to the desk. click. click. click. click. click. click.
this site makes me grumpy. So grumpy
but this one makes me happy. So happy
and this one makes me sleepy. So sleepy
and this one makes me dopey. So dopey
and this one makes me bashful. So bashful
and this one makes me sneezy. So sneezy
hmm, these symptoms certainly will send me to the doctor.
right Doc?
one
spiraling in a web, halcyon red and blues and whites and greens
it is so easy to find Lolcats and movie quotations, but what about
it is so easy to find ourselves wrapped in our technological bundle.
Do you sync?
Everything should sync.
In this world of digital mechanics
and analog components it is good to know
that when it comes to sync or swim, we can finally let ourselves sync.
One. By. One.


II. The Sheer Audacity

creak one leaky eye open on a Sunday morning
only to have a head full of throb and an ear
full of static
the music is too loud, I want to scream
the music is too loud
turning over into a puddle (was that there last night?)
a puddle not involving a girl with a pixie-cut and a man with a sweater-vest
the music is too loud
but wait…there is no music. Where does the infernal racket come from?
the television is on, but…where is the sound?
the computer is flashing, but…where is the sound?
Stumbling to the mirror it is easy to see that throughout the night you have been attached
to your source of pain.
two thin white cords spill from your ears
and in between them a small pillbox. Medicine, they say. Medicine.
One for the doctor and one for the patient
One for the soldier in the camp where he’s stationed
One for the sailor, on rolling seas
One for the pastor, ill at his ease
A jerk. A hard yank. Silence. Silence.
now the song that was playing over and over is launched into
digital orbit surrounding your bed
in one ear and out the other?
not in this lifetime, said the voice in your head.
Not for all of the tea in china, or on the hearts of those who implore
nor on the blackest of smiles lying on Poe’s Plutonian Shore
pull your boxers up, boyo
there’s much to be done today.
Put those hoses back to your ears and rest assured that you will encounter
things that will test your moral fiber and defibrillate your self-esteem
but the thin white noose hanging around your neck assures you
that the comradery and violence circling the outskirts of your own universe
will never be able to silence the decibels screaming inside your own head


III. The Old Man and the C:

what do we save? Where do the little little things in our lives
that we save to aesthetic memory go when we sleep?
children have the greatest knowledge of when to click and when to save
but their memories are short. shorter than their little legs and little fingers that
pry into the deep
recesses of the widest web. Social webs with little spiders crawling
and sprawling across your screen. The children keep
tabs open and browsers full of the things that most keep their attention.
But what does
grab and
nab and
poke and
pull
the attention of the little spiders, on the shores of the C:
eventually crashing the waves upon their little feet

Search and rescue bars for the children lost to
the generations between. Gen X? no. Gen Y? no.
Do they get into the surf, the digital surf, and find out fatefully the undertow?
Where do these children go when those waves come crashing on their feet?

A lot of candid paragraphs can be written, through the impersonal and lackluster
Films on the web, but where do these children go? Where do they, where do they go?
In a world where wireless supplants dial-up, the span
of time that it takes to grasp the children’s attention and run with it, run far away
until the only question left to ask is “where did they go? Where, where did they go?”
they compose their songs and play and cast their pods into the sea
the sea. the sea.
where did they go? Where, where did they go?

Cell Phones

http://www.letsgodigital.org/images/artikelen/695/cell_phones.jpg

Technology is everywhere. It affects every aspect of our lives. Through television, iPods, CD players, MP3s, G.P.S., land-line telephones, and computers, we are in the middle of a technological revolution. One of the most popular pieces of technology is the cell phone. It seems like everyone on Earth has one. Cellular phones first become popular in the early 90s. Originally they were called car phones, because that is what they were designed for. I remember that my aunt had one that fit in a bag, such as a video camera would, and you would take it off the hook like a land line. It had a chord attached to the bag, and an antenna on your car that was key for its use. These car phones were then developed to where they were able to be mounted on the dashboard. Then, you were able to carry them out of the car, but they were huge. Phones now can fit it your back pocket, but these phones were very large. Towards the middle of the 90s, flip phones began to take over. They were still the same size, but now as you flipped it closed, it would end the call. This was revolutionary to cell phone owners at the time.
As time went by, phones seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, but their capability was steadily increasing. When I got into middle school, many of my peers were getting phones. A company, Cricket, had began to offer a plan where you could get a standard phone with call waiting and caller ID, free local calls, and a charger for a very low price. This, to parents, seemed like a good opportunity. With many children of this age being involved in extracurricular activities, the parents would maintain contact with their children. When the company took off, they started making phones that had covers that could be changed and customized. This was so neat to everyone, because your phone could now be personalized to your liking. Soon you could even change the antenna to where it would blink or be of a different color. This was the coolest thing in the world.
Over the years, technology has continued to advance and cell phones have become a necessity in everyone’s lives. There are many more companies that offer wireless service. Many of the larger companies, such as Verizon, Cingular (now AT&T), Sprint, and Nextel are constantly competing for your business. Cell phones are so advanced now. They have turned into mini computers. Anything that you can possiblly think of, you are now able to do on a cell phone.
Ten years ago you could simply see who was calling and receive two calls at once. Now you can do so much more. You can now personalize your phone with ring tones, “ring backs” (which the caller hears as the phone is ringing), pictures, and even voice recordings, which give you the ability to call someone just by saying their name. The internet is accessible through every phone, along with the capability to have conference calls and text messaging. There are games offered on phones as a demo, where you are able to sample certain games within certain levels. Cell phone technology has gotten a little crazy!
The newest bit of technology is the iPhone. This technology was developed by Apple and is offered only through AT&T. The iPOD, which is also a huge revolution in technology now, has been combined with a top-of-the-line cell phone that can make and receive calls, while storing and playing tons of music. This just goes to show how magnificent cell phones have become.
As time goes on, and this revolution continues, people have begun to get rid of their land lines, and are just using their cell phones instead. With society becoming as fast paced as it is, people are inconvenienced by using the phone at their house. Most phone plans now offer free long distance, text messaging packages, and every other amenity that one could think of.
It is crazy to think how a small phone can hold so much technology. What would Ben Franklin or even Alexander Graham Bell think if they could hold a cell phone? Science has come so far, and cell phones are one of the greatest examples of mankind’s accomplishments. Just like our great grandparents with the automobile and our grandparents with the television, my generation will probably be the last generation to remember what the world was like before the “cell phone era”. Now, although I think that the technology within a cell phone is a bit ridiculous, I have a cell phone with text messaging, customized ring tones and pictures, call waiting, caller ID, games, the internet, and so much more. It is practically glued to my head during the day. Although I could live without my cell phone, why would I want to?

Revolution and Complacency

“Caroline, it’s your night to do the dishes!”
Helen’s black pump heels clicked across the tile floor as she cleared the table after dinner. Caroline sauntered in and took plates out of her mother’s hands.
“I e-mailed my application to Penn State today,” Caroline stated, smiling.
“That’s great, sweetie. Do you have to send them a hard copy too, or is the e-mail the only thing they need?”
“Just the e-mail.”
“Wow, that’s different. I never imagined we’d be sending everything over the internet. Next we’ll be making cell phone payments over the internet,” Helen said sarcastically.
Caroline looked at her, confused and smiled wryly.
“Mom, you can already do that.”
Car headlights beamed through the window of the house as the two finished the dishes.

********************************

Helen stepped out of her VW Bug and onto the concrete sidewalk of Valley Hill High School. She waved at two girls across the parking lot. A Beatles song blared from a Mustang across the lot. Let it be, let it be. She stepped into the brightly lit hallway of the school and into her classroom.
“Are you coming to the rally at Penn State today?” A blonde girl next to Helen asked.
“Of course!” she replied. “I got another letter from James yesterday, he’s even encouraging me to rally. Ever since he got drafted and went over there, he’s been sending me letters about how he can’t wait to come home. He says it’s worse over there than we think.”
“I can’t even imagine,” the blonde replied.
The bell rang as Helen took out her notebook and wrote the date on the top of her paper – “September 15, 1970.”
“I’ll see you at 5,” the blonde whispered, as the teacher started that day’s lecture.

**********************************

Helen and James stayed up to watch the news after the girls had gone to sleep. Same old, same old, Helen thought. Clinton and Lewinsky. Lame.
“So our girl’s going to Penn State,” James exclaimed proudly, pulling Helen away from the obviously boring newscast. “Your alma mater.”
“We don’t know that yet. Don’t jinx it.”
“She’ll get in. As long as they don’t find out her mother was one of the protestors on the campus all the time when I was in Vietnam.” James said, laughing.
“Very funny,” Helen replied sarcastically.

*********************************

At 4:45, Helen pulled up to the campus of Penn State and grabbed her “No war. Know peace” sign from the back of her tiny car. A rather large group of students were already assembled by the steps of the main auditorium, alongside about ten armed policemen and a couple men in uniforms who looked like National Guardsmen. As Helen approached the steps of the building with her sign, she spotted the blonde haired girl from English.
“Hey Helen!” she exclaimed. “Join in!”
They two held their signs up and began chanting along with the other young protestors.
“Tell us what we’re fighting for!” a student yelled.
“Bring home my father,” another student shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Helen remembered the letter she had gotten from James the day before, and she swelled with emotion: anger, righteousness, and utter sadness.

***********************************

“Turn it back to MTV,” Brittney said, grabbing the remote out of her older sister’s hand.
The latest NSYNC video appeared on the giant screen.
“Don’t you two get tired of all the boy bands?” Helen commented, walking into the den.
“Oh mom, you just don’t understand. We only watch them because they’re hot,” Brittney explained.
Helen sat down and took the remote, changing it to the local 6:00 news.
“MOM!” Caroline whined.
“You two really need to learn to care about something other than hot boys and cars. When I was in high school, all we watched was the news because we actually cared what was going on in the world.”
“Yeah and you guys didn’t even have MTV,” Brittney replied sarcastically.
“We care, mom. Really, we do.”
Both girls sauntered out of the den and into their rooms.

**************************************

Helen got home after the rally and got out a pen and a piece of paper.

James, thank you so much for your letters. I miss you so much. I hope you are
doing okay over there. I think about you every day. I just got back from a
protest at Penn State, so I had to write you and tell you about it. It was
empowering. For the first time in a long time I feel like I’m actually doing
something with my life. Hundreds of people showed up. Every protest that I go to
reminds me of you. I’m protesting for you but I’m also protesting for me and for
my right as a person to know why we’re in this war. I just don’t understand it.
I don’t get why we’re even in Vietnam. I don’t get why there was a draft. I
don’t understand violence and I don’t understand war. I hope they send you home
soon. I miss you more and more every day and pray that you come home soon. Love, Helen

James walked through the giant oak front door of the house. Brittney and Caroline were glued to the television once again.
“Hi, Dad,” they both said monotonously.
“Hi girls. Geez, do you two ever do homework?” James said.
“Did it,” Caroline replied, her gaze never shifting from the T.V.
“Don’t have any,” Brittney said, equally as zombie-like as her sister.
“What about the newspaper? Do you read that ever?”
“Only for the movie listings,” Caroline shot back. “Why read the newspaper when you can get on the internet?”
“Right. I always forget about that.”
“Did you know that our President just got impeached?”
“Dad, be quiet, I can’t hear the T.V.”

***************************************

Helen couldn’t sleep that night. Nightmares of James being in Vietnam kept replaying over and over again every time she closed her eyes. She sat up, as awake as ever and began writing in her diary.

I can’t stop thinking about James being drafted. I know how brave he is, but I
can’t help but worry anyway. Who knows what might happen to him over there. I
went to an anti-war protest today and it was amazing. I’m so glad that there is
so much activism from people my age. It’s almost like the entire outcome of our
country rests on us. I feel like we’re really making a difference, and I’m
excited to see the outcome.

Increase in Technology leads to an Increase in Accessibility: Music

Music is an influential sector of entertainment. Yeah books, movies, and sports have influences on its participants, but these other forms are not as scrutinized by society. Some of these forms are limited to other parts of the world. I’m pretty sure that music is censored in many areas as well, but for the most part it’s not. The advancement of technology has a direct effect on the accessibility of different forms of media, such as music, films, and such. Music is being scrutinized more because it’s more accessible now; but one genre of music more so than others. Hip Hop is the only music genre that’s being blamed for society’s problems.

Why are we using Hip Hop as a scapegoat? Hip Hop is a cultural genre of music that first made its appearance in 1970, New York. It was the block parties in New York that gave hip hop its first “air-time”. Back then it was an instrumental provided by a DJ and someone rapping over the track. This genre was a mix of the African music and the African American music; it was hip and funky at its debut. It made a lasting impression on its listeners because it was wholesome music; a great beat with a positive message. Today’s hip hop is nothing like it was when it appeared on the scene. Hip hop, today, seems to be more about nice clothes, flashy cars, and sex with beautiful women. And it’s because of the more suggestive lyrics that, the genre is constantly under a microscope. I feel that critics have a problem with it because it is widely heard and easily accessible. There are parental advisories on albums containing explicit lyrical content, but with peer to peer sharing children underage can still gain access to it. It’s the younger audience that can’t discern between the music and reality. That’s our main problem.

What’s a possible solution to this problem? Well first let’s agree that hip hop, the producers, the artists, and the record labels are not the only people who are responsible. Parents, communities, bootleggers, and various peer sharing sites are to blame as well. Hip Hop is music just as any other genre of music. Some of it can be superficial and vague; providing false representations of reality, but we have to take the good and the bad. There’s some good music produced from this genre; the music that portrays what really happens in our streets. Is censoring hip hop the solution? No. To censor hip hop would be to censor a cultural; a reality that is real to many people. To censor it would say that it’s not important or ceases to exist. We also need to recognize that there is more to our culture than our music produced. We need to recognize that some music produced is strictly for entertainment reasons. There are many books and movies that entertain us without providing some advice to better ourselves as human beings. To censor one of form of expression would only be justified by censoring all. AND THAT’S NOT HAPPENING. The solution is to have everyone recognize how they’re contributing to the problem, and become a part of solution. We have the parental advisories and there need to be tighter restrictions on these peer sharing sites. Parents need to take active roles in controlling what their children are exposed to. We are not going to stop children from hearing the music, but we can limit their exposure in different ways. At the rate in which technology is advancing, it’s important for people to be aware that music, and other media forms, will become more accessible.

My Ipod Silent

With my Ipod silent
I can listen- to conversations around me,
Surrounding nature, but
Most importantly myself
I can hear myself
My mind, my body, my soul
So easily we shut out the most important voice
Our own voice
We fill our mind, fill our calendars, fill our time
With all outside things
Leaving no time for self
I need that conversation with myself
To inform me on what I need
And not on what the world needs
To cleanse my soul of
The pollution placed in it
To sort the different feelings
To listen to me
So today I walk to class…with my Ipod on silent