New technology in 2008

2008 is shaping up to be a year of big changes. From the astronomical gas prices to the presidental race involving both a african american and a woman as front runners. But beyond all that 2008 has been a year with amazing technological advancements.
One of the biggest jaw dropping items is the new MacBook Air by apple. This revolutionary computer is only half a inch thin, yet packs the power of normal laptops. Apple didn't stop with this lap top, they also introduced the fan favortite Iphone. This phone allows people to pack everything they need in their daily life into one sleek portable touch screen phone. Manny other phone manufactors have also made steps forward in '08. Now new phones are starting to pop out with 5 mega pixel cameras and huge internal hard drives to hold all of contents of your life weither it be music, movies, or picutres. But high tech gadgets arn't the only thing getting a upgrade in '08. New hybrid cars are begining to pop up from all diffrent manufacutres. Mercedes has introduced their new smart car with a microscopic 3 cylinder, 1.0 liter engine that puts out a meer 70 hp but can get 40 miles per gallon which is somthing that is needed in todays day and age with gas prices to soon to hit $5 dollars a gallon. Nissan on the other hand is going big not small by reincarnating the fabled skyline in 2008. This car is a dream for both racing entusiest and casual drivers alike. The massive 3.8L V6 enegine produces around 450 hp pushing the car from 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds. This car is aiming to bring big names like porsche. lamborgini, and ferrari to their knees. With performance up to par and in some cases better then these competitors the car is still anywhere from half to a forth cheaper then the rest.

Is it the shoes?

Is it the shoes? This is spike lee's famous line from Air Jordan commercials cicra the early 90's. But in today's day and age there is a select group of people growing by the day that call them selfs "Sneaker Heads". Some people maybe be thinking what exactly is that? The concepts stems from the birth of hiphop in NYC with people wearing all color addidas with fat laces and a kango to match. They began amassing massive collections of sneakers and it became sort a addction which somewhat led to the invention of this word. But like all great things, being a sneaker head has changed. Its no longer only about owning the same shoes in every color. It now has become a quest of sorts. To get that shoe you just need to have. In that rare color that only came out in this one store. A true sneaker head doesn't want the shoe he can get at the local mall. He wants the shoe that only he will have, and some of these shoes are fecthing prices of upwards of 150 dollars on release with resale prices sky rocketting only minutes after release. Many are even willing to deal with rain, sleet, hail or snow. Nothing can hold some back from that one last shoe that will complete their collection. Take for example the fabled "Tiffany SB's". Sneaker heads where lined up outside of skateshops for days in anticipations of the release of the shoe. It retailed with a msrp of $65 dollars. Minutes after people had their hands on them they were going to $1,000 dollars. This case is not rare either. This is a all too common now in miami and in every densely populated urban city. Sneaker heads like to stand out from the norm with bright colors that catch your attencion and a outfit to match in a style that only a fellow sneaker head can truly appriciate. To get some of these rare shoes many kids are skipping school to go buy, just in hopes to be the only one at school or the mall with them. The demand for these shoes has become so great it had popped up into pop culture with celebritys and has even created a $9 billion dollar a year industry for counterfit shoes. Websites are appering all over the internet offering priceless and limted edition shoes for next to nothing. But many consumers are being fooled out of their money being made to believe the shoes infact are authentic. I can guarrentee that some of the people reading this article own fake shoes and may not even know it due to lack of knowledge. The culture of sneaker heads has gotten so much attencion there is now events for sneaker heads to gather kind of like the old nerdy comic book conventions, there is also clothing brands, and stores dedicated and tailoring to sneaker heads. To many the addiction for the shoes is a million times worse the then addcition of a drug addict to his drug of choice. So just remember in the words of the great Chuck D of Public Enemy (the group Flavor Flav was in) "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back."

Vandalism or Art?

As defined by webster's dicitonary graffiti is the unlawful destruction of property by means of defacing with paint or any other substance which can leave a mark. But this is just what society wants us to believe. In my opinion graffiti is one of the greatest art form to ever exist in the history of humanity. It started as simply writing a simple nickname of a few short letters and the area you were from. But like all things in life it continued to grown and evolve. Soon teens with great artistic talent began adding charcaters and backgrounds to these simple nicknames tagged on street walls. Despite police forces attempting to stop them in their tracks it was of no use. These street artist began spray painting whole subway cars from top to bottom not only expressing their artist vision but also expressing political and social views. Society and politians have thought us to look down on graffiti and to think that it harms us but a lot of the people doing it are actually just making things even more beauitful and making their surrounding colorful instead of plain and bland. When asked why they do it many simply say because the art runs through their veins. In today's day and age graffiti has gone from simple letters and numbers on street walls and subway cars to artist murals spanning store fronts, billboards and even into commercial america on things such as t-shirts to packaging for items. So before you stop to judge teens for tagging on the wall of a back alley think that are simply expressing them selfs in a artistic manner.

Lack of talented artist? SIKE!

I walked into F.Y.E just a few days ago and I was reassured about a fact that I already knew. That is the fact that quality music no longer outsells gimmicky music. What exactly do I mean? I'm talking about the fact that most people only listen to songs like Two step by DJ Unk or Crank Dat _____ by one of the millions of people to put their spin on the song and dance made popular by Soulja Boy. These artist are raking in millions from concerts album sales according to Nilson soundscan, and sold out concerts. Meanwhile artist like Lupe Fiasco have CD's sitting on store shelves. Why is this? Maybe because nowadays to get on the radio you need some stupid gimmick or dance. Take a listen to Lupe Fiasco and you will find your self lost in space because the only thing on your mind the trance that his lyrics put you into. With each and every listen you are to likely find new meaning to his lyrics. At this point you might think I'm just being a fanboy, but go on Google and research the new generation of conscious rappers which include artist such as Kidz In the Hall, Kanye West, Pharrell, Common and many others. Kidz In the Hall is made up of Naledge and Double-O both of which are graduates from the University of Pennsylvania. They address things like current political issues, and injustices of our society over with smooth rhymes and even smoother beats. Take a listen to them you just might hear something you like. Of all the people reading this I'm sure all of you have heard at least one hit single from Kanye West. But why not go deeper then just singles? Listen to album in it's entierty. Kanye has as many songs with deep meaning as he does club songs. He has covered issues from the problems of blood diamonds to losing a family member. So before the next time you get ready to walk it out in your head while listening to your ipod stop and think about that fact that maybe there is better music out there but your just not giving it a chance.