June 6, 2011
Chiclets is a brand of candy coated chewing gum made by Cadbury Adams. The colors of chiclets are: yellow, green, orange, red, white, and pink. The product’s name is derived from Nahuatl word tziktli, in English chicle, the substance from which chewing gum was traditionally made. The original flavor was peppermint but many flavors have been added and discontinued over the decades since the introduction in 1906.
In some countries the term ‘Chiclet’, ‘Chic’ or ‘Chicla’ is often used to refer to any brand and/or type of chewing gum. In Spain, Peru, and many other Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries, as a result of the brand’s popularity the term ‘Chicle’ is used in every-day language to refer to chewing gum, this ias particular in Mexico as the Nahuatl term derives from there. Furthermore, in Iran any type of chewing gum is referred to as ‘Adams’. The gum is the biggest gum brand in the Middle East, especially in Egypt where it has a huge market share. In South America, and Thailand, Chiclets is also produced, but the brand has been extended to include various formats like bubble gum and stick gum.
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June 6, 2011
A chiclet keyboard or island-style keyboard is a computer keyboard built with an array of small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like erasers or ‘Chiclets,’ a brand of chewing gum manufactured in the shape of small squares with rounded corners. Most often the tops of the keys are hard, but sometimes they were made of the same material as the rubber dome itself. For example, the keys on Sinclair ZX Spectrum computers were ‘rubber dome key’ which were sometimes described as ‘dead flesh,’ while the American version of the Timex Sinclair 2068 was described as having ‘chiclet keys.’
Chiclet keyboards are characterized by having each key surrounded (and held in place) by a perforated plate, so there is a space between the keys.
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June 6, 2011
The multiplane camera is a special motion picture camera used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another. This creates a three-dimensional effect, although not actually stereoscopic.
Various parts of the artwork layers are left transparent, to allow other layers to be seen behind them. The movements are calculated and photographed frame-by-frame, with the result being an illusion of depth by having several layers of artwork moving at different speeds – the further away from the camera, the slower the speed. The multiplane effect is sometimes referred to as a parallax process.
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June 6, 2011
‘On Melancholy Hill‘ is the third single from British alternative group Gorillaz’ third studio album, ‘Plastic Beach.’ The song was originally written by Damon Albarn during the production time for his other super group project: ‘The Good The Bad and The Queen.’ The single was released in 2010. The music video (directed by Tank Girl co-creator Jaime Hewlett) was released shortly thereafter.
Band member Murdoc Niccals stated the following about ‘On Melancholy Hill, ‘it’s that feeling, that place, that you get in your soul sometimes, like someone’s let your tires down. It’s nice to break up the album with something a little lighter. It’s good to have something that’s a genuine pop moment on every album. And this is one of those.’
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June 6, 2011
The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the album by an unnamed British alternative rock supergroup, made up of Damon Albarn, The Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Simon Tong of The Verve, and Tony Allen, the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti’s band Africa 70. The album released in 2007.
Albarn has stated in several interviews that the band itself is unnamed, and that ‘The Good, The Bad & The Queen’ is simply the name of the album only. It is stated that the record is, in a sense, a concept album, as its songs are all themed around modern life in London. As of 2011, the band has not released any new material, though Simon Tong and Paul Simonon both made appearances on Damon Albarn’s next project, the third Gorillaz album ‘Plastic Beach.’
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June 6, 2011
Andre Romelle Young (b. 1965), primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, and record executive. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records, also having produced albums for and overseeing the careers of many rappers signed to those record labels, such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.
Dr. Dre began his career in music as a member of the World Class Wreckin’ Cru and he later found fame with the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Mc Ren, and DJ Yella which popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life. His 1992 solo debut, ‘The Chronic,’ released under Death Row Records, led him to become one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993. In 1996, he left Death Row to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. Under that label he produced and released a solo album titled ‘2001’ in 1999.
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June 6, 2011
Fade to Black is a 2004 documentary about the career of US rapper Jay-Z. Filmed around the time of ‘The Black Album,’ the movie also features many other famous names in hip hop music. This live concert at Madison Square Garden was meant to be Jay-Z’s final performance, as he announced his intentions to retire from the industry.
Fade to Black runs through some of the major parts of Jay-Z’s Madison Square Garden performance while cutting to Jay-Z and his exploits and showing the viewers where his inspiration comes from.
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June 6, 2011
The Show is a 1995 documentary film about hip hop music. It was directed by Brian Robbins and featured interviews with some of hip hop’s biggest names. Def Jam founder Russell Simmons stars in and narrates the film. The documentary chronicles a diverse group of performers preparing to give a major concert at Philadelphia’s Armory.
Interspersed amongst the preparations are interviews with rappers past and present, looks at their personal lives, and commentary on their significance and upon the music. Featured acts and performers include, Slick Rick, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Afrika Bambaataa, Biggie Smalls, Kurtis Blow, Sean Combs, and Method Man.
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June 6, 2011
Audiosurf is a 2008 puzzle/rhythm hybrid game created by Invisible Handlebar, a personal company created by Dylan Fitterer. Its track-like stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races across several lanes collecting colored blocks that appear in sync with the music. The music used in the game is chosen from the user’s own library, from almost any DRM-free format, as well as stamdard CDs. Upon completing the track, the score is uploaded to the score server together with the track length and form, any feats achieved, and the character used including the ironmode option if this was enabled. Scores are stored per song title, allowing people to compete. The uploaded length and track form make it possible to detect mislabelled or variant versions of songs in the score browser.
Audiosurf synchronizes the environment, traffic patterns and scenery with the events in the current song. Each music file imported to the game by the user is first analyzed by the game engine, and an ASH file (containing the dynamics of the sounds and how the track and blocks are arranged) associated to the music is created and saved (typically around 30 kilobytes). This helps speed up the loading time of future replays of the same sound file. The game loads the environment from the ASH files, with the track’s elevation, surface and layout reflected in the dynamics of the music being played. For example, if a player were to choose to play a very soft and mellow song, the track would be uphill, very slow, relaxing and rich in cool colors. If a player were to choose a very intense and loud song, the track would be downhill, sped up, thick with traffic and lit up with hot colors.
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June 6, 2011
A unisex toilet is a public restroom or toilet that is available for use by either the male or female gender. Sex-separated public toilets are a source of difficulty for some people. For example, people with children of the opposite sex must choose between bringing the child into a toilet not designated for the child’s gender, or entering a toilet not designated for one’s own. Men caring for babies often find that only the women’s washroom has been fitted with a change table. People with disabilities who need assistance to use the restroom have an additional problem if their helper is the opposite sex.
Some public places (such as facilities targeted to the transgender or LGBT communities, and a few universities and offices) provide individual washrooms that are not gender-specified, specifically in order to respond to the concerns of gender-variant people; but this remains very rare and often controversial. Various courts have ruled on whether transgender people have the right to use the washroom of their gender of identification.
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June 6, 2011
Topfreedom is a cultural and political movement seeking to advance gender equality by the recognition of the right of women and girls to be topless in public on the same basis that men and boys are permitted to be barechested. In addition, topfreedom advocates seek recognition of the right of nursing mothers to openly breastfeed in public, and of women to sun bathe topless.
The Topfree Equal Rights Association (TERA) also assists women in Canada who have been charged for being topless, while GoTopless organizes demonstrations in the United States to protest against the legal and public attitude to the inequality. In Sweden, Bara Bröst is active in advancing topfreedom, as is Topless Front in Denmark.
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June 6, 2011
B of the Bang was a sculpture designed by Thomas Heatherwick, in Manchester, England, located next to the City of Manchester Stadium at Sportcity. It was dismantled in 2009 because of structural problems. It was taller and leaned at a greater angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The sculpture took its name from a quotation of British sprinter Linford Christie, in which he said that he started his races not merely at the ‘bang’ of the starting pistol, but at ‘the B of the Bang.’ The artwork had been nicknamed ‘KerPlunk’ by the locals after the popular children’s game from the 1970s.
The sculpture was made from the same weathering steel (also known as Cor-Ten) as the ‘Angel of the North’ sculpture, which gradually develops a tightly adhering oxide layer as it is exposed to the elements. This layer inhibits further corrosion by reducing its permeability to water. As part of the design, the spikes swayed slightly in the wind in order to withstand gusts in excess of 100 mph (160 km/h). At the time of construction a time capsule was placed in one of the spikes of the sculpture, containing children’s poems and paintings, due to be opened circa 2300. The location of the time capsule after dismantling is currently unknown.
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