KEEPING UP

If get asked about who the father of personal computers is, most of people may probably name Conrad Zuse, or Bill Gates and his early mentor Ed Roberts. Well if we focus on the word "personal", they could be wrong.

Yesterday Jack Tramiel, The Polish-born American businessman best known for founding Commodore International passed away at the age of 83, and he's probably the one who we should point our finger at. His life is an extraordinary example of initiative, commitment and work ethic.

After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 his family was transported by German occupiers to the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, where he worked in a garment factory. When the ghettos were liquidated his family was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

In November 1947, Tramiel emigrated to the United States. He soon joined the U.S. Army, where he learned how to repair office equipment, including typewriters.

In 1955, Tramiel signed a deal with a Czechoslovak company to assemble and sell their typewriters in North America. However, as Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact, they could not be imported directly into the U.S., so Tramiel set up Commodore Business Machines in Toronto. Tramiel wanted a military-style name for his company, but names like Admiral and General were already taken, so he settled on the Commodore name.

When Commodore released its first calculators, combining an LED display from Bowmar and an integrated circuit from Texas Instruments it found a ready market, but one day their lead designer, Chuck Peddle, told Tramiel that calculators were a dead end and computers were the future, so he was told to build one to prove the point.

Peddle responded with the Commodore PET, based on his company's MOS Technology 6502 processor. It was nothing but an instant success.

As prices dropped and the market matured, the monochrome (green text on black screen) PET was at a disadvantage in the market when compared to machines like the Apple II and Atari 800, which offered color graphics, and could be hooked to a television as an inexpensive display. Commodore responded with the VIC-20, the first personal computer to sell one million units, and then with the Commodore 64, which with several million units sold would go on to be the best-selling home computer of all time. It was during this time period that Tramiel coined the famous phrase, "We need to build computers for the masses, not the classes."

Thank you Jack.

ROCK LOBSTER

The social campains in Spain are taken quite seriously, and the ironic billboards made by Barcelona advertising agency JWT proofs it. The retro style of Daniel Gonzalez' illustrations makes quite a stinging contrast with such a contemporary issue as drugs smuggling.

LET'S PLAY !

Everybody knows that the the Android Market is a joke compared to the Apple App Store. Today Google Play is out, and the things may change drastically very soon. Its the the new integrated destination for apps, books, movies, and music that replaces the old platform. Sync between devices will be automatic, developpers will be more in control of the publishing process and users will be happier.

For the launch of the new platform a lot of sweet stuff has been discondted to 0.49€. Candies like World of Goo, SoundHound, SwiftKey X, Dead Space, Sprinkle, N.O.V.A. 2, Shadowgun, Paper Camera and many more.

SUPER COMMERCIALS

A very magic sunday is ahead as the Super Bowl XLVI is approaching. Ny Giants vs ..uhmm.. some kids from New England. Got beers. Got snacks. Got my my bet set up.

Every year i'm so exited about it that i'm also loving everything that comes with it, and especially those hilarious commecials they broadcast just before the event.

Do you remeber those from last year? No? Well it's never too late.

MELTED

Extremely eye catching. Extremely sad. We really hope that this stunning campaign by Ogilvycould help to raise public environmental awareness.

Act now against climate change. Visit Greenpeace.org.tr

via: Adsoftheworld

EARGASM

Afrobeat at his best or pop commercial fakeness? Fela Kuti or Kanye West?

Millions of people freaks out for the Mtv's VMAs. For the real music lovers out there, we suggest to go for the MMAs, the Mozambique Music Awards.

If art was a human being, music would be the orgasm.

Some songs get stuck in the head, while others are stuck in the blood.

Life without music would be less noisy, less cluttered and less interesting.

CONSPIRACY ASSEMBLE

Tamiya is one of those brands that defenitely made our life better. Now they're making our day with this brilliant "put it together" compaign made by Ogivly & Mather Board. The construction kits embody some of the most popular conspiracy theories, like the moon landing, the secrets of Area 51 and the death of culture icons such as Jfk, Marilyn Monroe and the King of Rock.

via adsoftheworld

NO PICKLES

Instead of producing ten different pointless promos japanese jeans company Edwin choosed to promote his last collection with an enchanting Easy Rider style short. Hail to the Internet... once again.

The bike theme is partly due to the culture for customisation on the streets of the brand's home city - Tokyo - and simply down to the feelings one experiences riding a motorcycle with friends. A sense of freedom, and of sharing with others the same need for flight and independence. Customisation of ones own motorcycle parallels breaking in ones own denims, unique in spirit.

The true spirit of Edwin Jeans is created by the person living in them, making everyday count with yesterdays memories etched into the rich indigo fabric, in the knowledge that tomorrow’s good times are still to be created.

Custom bykes from Blitz Motorcycles France, custom Motorcycle Song by Arlo Guthrie.

LEGENDARY STICKS

Russian company Stoyn came up some crazy ice creams you don't want to bite. They're modeled after pop culture icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Donald Duck, Super Mario and Ernesto Che Guevara. That's the fanciest way to refresh your throat in a colorful and probably delicious fashion, featuring some uncovetional combos of flavors such as cranberry & vodka, mate & rum or blueberry & licorice.

MOCCASIN LOVER

The Always entertaining Nowness platform brought us The Shoe, a little masterpiece of photoghrapy and music directed by André Saraiva. The French cultural provocateur collaborated with luxury footwear brand J.M. Weston for his debut as director, in which actor Leo Fitzpatrick plays a guileless thief whose material weaknesses trigger karmic repercussions. “The shoe thing was a reference to when I was a kid in the 80s; people used to steal expensive cool loafers,” Saraiva explains. “In America they used to steal your Air Jordans; in France they would steal J.M. Westons”.

For the soundtrack, Kitsuné chief Gildas Loaëc curated an indie setlist featuring The Virgins, Is Tropical and Vandaveer, among others.

EVOLUTION ON THE GO

Using cutting edge 3D Projection Vodafone brings you The Evolution of Mobile.

This is the first small-scale projection mapping installation using a hand-held camera. From the Motorola brick through to the first text message and colour screen to GPS and Android. The question is, what's next?

SKATE FOCUSED

Skaters and snowboarders see the world in their own unique way, constantly thinking about how this or that urban structure may be used.

This solid campain produced by Melboune's agency Ogilvy for Evolve Skateboards, with three crazy upside down shots by photographer Dave Tacon (an atrium, a ballroom and a carpark) makes us understand how things may change if we change our mindset.

LET THE SHIPHUNT BEGIN

Here's the challenge: how good are you at scanning the oceanic depths of Google Earth in search for sunken ship?

At first, i though this was an annoying sort of interactive promotion Sony made for the new Vaio serie. Well, actually that's Project Shiphunt is. But it's also much more than this. If you're not too used to Google Earth, or if you never gave it a try, this is the right moment to install the plugin on your browsers and experience the amazing sansation of holding the world in your hand.

REACH FOR THE STARS

The Startech is here again. One of the most unforgivable shoe worn by Nba supertstars in the mid 80's is back in production after 22 years.

To realise how some people could freak out about it, just think about this: last year Converse did a collaboration with Sak, and japanese master craftsman Ryusaku Hiruma designed an immaculate pack of Converse Star Tech hightops, their premium leather construction, fetching $600 for the mere 64 pairs of each colorway, and they went sold out in seconds. Sometimes retro fashion going mainstream is a good thing. You can now have them in the three colors shown underneath directly from Converse.

HAVE A MEGA BREAK

All right, I know this is nothing compared to the Epic Meal Time protein bar, but it's still seven kilos of a snack, and the handmade wrapper really makes it shine.
If anybody could make a Butterfinger like this, please contact me immediately.

If you just cant' get enough of that fancy breakbeat, its the self remix of Explode by The Cardigans, relesed in the Erease/Rewind maxi single back in 1998.

AUSTRALIAN FOIE GRAS

The street ads made by Sidney's George Patterson Y&R for the upcoming australian French Film Festival are rough and chic at the same time. Isn't that so damn frenchy?

The Alliance Française French Film Festival (AFFFF) is the main French cultural event in Australia and is one of the most important film events in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. The festival continues to grow from strength to strength, encapsulating a growing international interest in French cinema. French cinema has an appeal that reaches far beyond France’s local community. As one of Australia’s only national film events it has great appeal to national media and sponsors. It is the largest foreign film festival in Australia.

BURNING FLAVOUR

Disponibile già dal 6 Dicembre, l'Angry Whopper, o "Whopper Furioso" nei paesi latino americani, è un esperienza sensoriale da non perdere.

Questa ennesima versione del iconico Whopper ha al suo interno una sostanziosa dose di crispy onions, le cipolline croccanti tipiche dello Steakhouse Burger, formaggio pepper jack, bacon, pomodoro, lattuga, maionese, salsa Angry e peperoncini jalapeno, gli stessi dell'infuocato Texican Whopper recensito qualche mese fa.

Ma a differenza del Texican, questo Angry Whopper è molto ma molto meno piccante, tanto che molti consumatori si sono lamentati della millantata piccantezza del prodotto.

Personalmente l'ho trovato squisito proprio per questo, il livello calibrato di piccante non azzera gli altri gusti ma resta li dietro, esaltandoli.

Un consiglio da amico: non prendetelo doppio, perde la freschezza che gli dà il giusto rapporto tra carne e verdure. Prendetene due.

CATCHING PAUL

Chris Paul, insieme a altri due o tre mutanti, è presumibilmente il giocatore di più rapido dell'NBA, quindi del mondo.

Il signor Jumpman, che se non ricordo male dovrebbe chiamarsi Michael Jordan, ha dunque pensato di celebrare la sua inumana dote con una serie di mini spot altrettanto veloci.

Attenzione a non sbattere le palpebre.

ADULT LEGO

Da piccolo detestavo i Lego, e preferivo di gran lunga passare le mie giornate in compagnia del signor Commodore e della signora Atari.

Ora invece, chissà perché, amo qualunque cosa sia fatta con i mattoncini, che ironicamente ricordano proprio quell'estetica tipica degli albori dei videogames.

Dannato subconscio.

via bitrebels.com

THRILL MECHANICS

Un brand come Audi, che attraverso i decenni si è affermato grazie a livelli qualitativi d'eccellenza, non avrebbere alcun bisogno di pubblicità.
Ma si sà come sono fatti i tedeschi... e dunque ecco l'accattivante campagna realizzata dalla DDB di Madrid per promuovere la nuova RS4. Praticamente un piercing al cervello.

via Adsneeze.com