posted on 08.10.09 World 3.0

This video is a great synthesis of where we have been and where we are going with new media and the way it is reshaping the way we live our daily lives.


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posted on 07.05.09 Auto-Tune 101: From Cher to Kanye

Decided to take a bite from the knowledge tree today and stumbled across an intriguing story from Time Magazine by Josh Tyrangiel about Auto-Tune, the musical tool everyone loves to hate.  Interestingly enough, it turns out almost anything you buy from iTunes these days has some level of autotuning added during post production.  Miley Cirus, the secret is out, we know you can’t really sing that good.  Same goes for you Kanye, we heard you on SNL, you best just stick to rhyming and leave the singing to Drake.

Listen to the short podcast here, it’s well worth it.


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posted on 05.03.09 Screwed In Houston

This is one of our favorite documentaries by one of the most trusted news reporters of our time, Trace Crutchfield of Vice Magazine. In part one of five of the ‘Screwed in Houston’ show, Trace heads to Houston to get acquainted with the chopped and screwed scene and put a little lean in his cup. Be sure to visit the VBS.tv site to see the other four installments, and his contributions to the Vice Guide To Travel Series: Rio, Rio For Partiers, and The High City. And for further examination, be sure to check his show on The Current called UnConventionally Yours, where he dug deep into two of our stomping grounds, Denver and Minneapolis, to spotlight the Democratic and Republican National Conventions of last summer and to find the pulse of these two great cities. Enjoy.


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posted on 24.02.09 Bailout Rule #1: Screw the Big 3, Get a Smarter 3

We recently reconnected with our old friend Miles Wheeler from CU while travelling through Seattle and got the low down on a sweet project he has been working on for some time now. He is the Aerodynamics Engineer for Aptera Motors, a California based three wheeled car designer and manufacturer.

Let’s be honest, it looks a bit wild, maybe too wild. Or is it? On further examination of its features and mind-boggling efficiency, this could just be the perfect commuter car, especially if you live somewhere it doesn’t snow. The most basic principle they are using to their advantage that no other production vehicle has embraced is being aerodynamic. They boldly state that most cars exert 50% of their energy pushing air out of the way…50%…that’s a lot of wasted energy. With the 2e they have all but eliminated this problem. The 2e is 100% battery powered, and when plugged in to your wall socket only costs $.50 to recharge after driving 100 miles, has a range of 120 miles per charge, and gets an equivalent 300 mpg! Holy monkey testicles, this sounds unreal, but its true. And at only $28,000, the math is painfully easy to justify jumping in one ASAP.

OK, so you still don’t think you are ready to be that forward thinking, you’d rather wait for the Chevy Volt cause its bigger and faster (well, bigger yes, but the 2e goes 90mph, not bad.) I mean, where am I gonna put my golf clubs, skateboard, snowboard, surfboard, sub-woofer, groceries and the always problematic dead hooker. There cant possibly be a place for all that in a three wheeled electric car that looks like a submarine? Oh, but there is.

How about a place for my iPhone?

OK, but you cant tell me that it has Lamborghini doors, that would just be too good to be true…

Oh yeah, and if that wasn’t enough, the solar panels on the roof run the climate control system. I cant even find the right expletive to describe my befuddlery, this car kicks ass!

So, go to the website, get learned on what Aptera is all about, tell your friends, and get on the waiting list cause this is gonna be the hottest bohemian hipster accessory of a lifetime.

Download the 2e Brochure


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posted on 02.01.09 Ross Kemp on Gangs


ROSS KEMP ON GANGS: NEW ZEALAND 1 OF 3
Uploaded by Top-Notch11

If there’s two things we love at BDN it’s British actors and the thug life.  Combine the two and you have Ross Kemp on Gangs.  Here’s one from the real dirty south….


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posted on 16.12.08 Is This Really The Future Of Music?

Well, that’s how they are advertising a new media format dubbed slotMusic and I have to say it does have some potential, or at least some good ideas. Besides having the entire album in high quality 320kbs MP3 format, the remaining space on a 1GB slotMusic card (really just a microSD card with a slotMusic stamp on it) which fits in a variety of devices from cell phones to computers also stores exclusive videos, album art, lyrics and leaves room for other content possibilities including midi files, remix loops and even karaoke files. The slotMusic albums retail at $14.99 and a basic player from SanDisk only costs $20! So, if you are looking for an inexpensive solution to your iPod shuffle wants, just get the player and a cheap microSD card, fill er up and start lapping the park. I’m not a psychic (like Dan) but I don’t see this “new” format bringing the slumping music industry back to its glory days, but it sure could help and is showing that artists and labels have stopped whining about sales and are truly working to find ways to sell their art in new ways while giving more to the fans. I would expect to see more creative formats to start popping up, the real question being which will be the most successful.


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posted on 14.12.08 Get Your Green On

If you are into geeking out and watching discovery channel or heady documentaries like we are here at BDN, then do yourself a favor and head over to the website for the PBS series  : the economies of being environmentally conscious and drop a knowledge bomb on yourself. You can stream many of the episodes highlighting the future of sustainable design in alternative energy from wind farms to building green skyscrapers in Manhatten.


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