James Bond

For forty-seven years James Bond has been idolized by millions of young boys all over the world. The James Bond series is about an British spy named James Bond 007, this character works for an organization known as MI6. Through out the series Bond hunts down and kills the evil villians that try to take over the world. You might have noticed that I said that he kills the bad guys, that is because James Bond has a license to kill. Not only does he save the world he gets all of the women he desires simply due to his impeccable charm. He gets all that plus all these amazing gadgets that are capable of doing anything imaginable. The film series is based off the books written by Ian Fleming about a secrete organization known as MI6 and agent James Bond, code name 007. The first Bond film was started in 1961 and was called Dr. No and stared Sean Connery as James Bond. The film had a budget of one million dollars and took in 59.6 million dollars at the box office, if you take that and add in inflation the film would have had a budget of 8.4 million and would have had a total box office gross of 419.3 million dollars. Needless to say the film was a smash hit and left the viewers wanting more, and more they got. From '61 to '67 Connery had stared in five Bond films and the series was off and running. In 1969 George Lazenby was the new James Bond staring in On Her Majesty's Secrete Service. Lazenby only lasted for one Bond film and they brought back Sean Connery in 1971 for one more film, Diamonds Are Forever. After Diamonds Roger Moore staring in a total of seven Bond films lasting from 1973-1985. After Moore Timothy Dalton took over the role of James Bond and only stared in two Bond films. After the two films that Dalton appeared in there seemed to be an end to James Bond, until 1995 when Pierce Brosnan got the role and burst on the seen with GoldenEye. Brosnan stared in a total of four Bond films. After Brosnan's last Bond film, Die Another Day, the present Bond actor, Daniel Craig, took over in 2006 staring in Casino Royale. Casino Royale was the first James Bond book written by Ian Fleming and told the beginning to the Bond story. It had never been put into film before and they decided that it was time to tell the tale of how Bond came to be. After Casino Royale Craig went on to star in the sequel to Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace made in 2008. Since Quantum Of Solace there have been no other Bond films out for the large gathering that they have gained. However there is one in the making and its release date has been set for sometime in 2011.

Music Piracy

The record industry is claiming to have lost a lot of money, when in all actuality they have lost less than one percent. Now the recording company is complaining when they make millions each year with or without piracy. In a recent study the RIAA’s (Record Industry Association of America) statistics showed that they were lying about their figures. Their numbers were published, but they then took those numbers they provided and said that they never existed. In a recent interview they didn’t comment about anything on that subject, which just raises more questions about what they are really after. Have you ever photocopied pages from reference books or song sheets for churches and choirs for use without permission from copyright holders? It is the same infringement as illegal Internet downloading, but why don’t they come after you for that? Ever cross your mind? Being able to download music from the Internet can expose you to other artist that you can support in different ways such as purchasing a ticket to see that artist or artists perform live. Usually the money you spend for a concert ticket adds up to the music you haven’t bought. The most important thing to me as a musician myself is getting my music out there.

There are some possible solutions. The major record companies should take the music business to the masses, which means allowing the downloading of an unlimited number of songs for a reasonable monthly fee which would encourage everyone to become paying customers rather than pirates. Another possible solution would be to lower prices of CD’s from $15-$20 to anywhere from $5-$15.

The Fender Stratocaster

The Fender Stratocaster has been the symbol of rock 'n roll ever since it was introduced in 1954. It, along with the Gibson Les Paul, are the most duplicated guitars on the market today. Not only is it a symbol powerful enough to be copied by several guitar manufacturers but its design has transcended from a musical instrument to be recognized as a classic industrial designs of all time, the guitar has such a magnificent design that it has exhibited at major museums all over the world. When it was first released it was only offered in a two tone sunburst, but in 1960 it started to be offered in a mass of different colors. Originally, the neck of the fret board of the guitar was a single slab of rosewood, but in 1695 when Fender was bought out by CBS they changed the way the fretboard was assembled to the neck by making it rounded. They rounded the neck they would use less money in making the fret board. Some famous guitar players that have used the Stratocaster as their main guitar are: David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, and most notably Jimi Hendrix. Over the years there have been various model variations to the Stratocaster. Most notably is the Fender VG Stratocaster which is able to make itself sound like five different guitars plus this guitar is able to make itself sound like it is in different tunings with a turn of a knob. This is the future of guitars, guitars that can do anything with the turn of a knob or a flip of a switch.

The MacBook Pro

The new MacBook Pros that Apple has developed are the most “eco friendly” laptops that are available on the market today. The whole idea behind this development was that when people went to get a new laptop most of the time they would just throw the old one away. With the new MacBook Pros if you ever decide to get rid of it, it is completely recyclable.

Here is what Apple had to say about the toxins used in their new laptops: Apple has worked hard to eliminate many of the toxins that are a common part of notebook manufacturing. Take, for example, the mercury used in CCFL backlights and the arsenic contained in the glass of traditional LCD displays. Apple engineers removed both by choosing mercury-free LED technology and arsenic-free glass. They also removed brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from circuit boards, internal cables, connectors, insulators, shock mounts, adhesives, and more. Apple has removed these toxins from all new MacBook Pro notebooks, and we’ve done the same for the new MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac mini; Apple LED Cinema Display; and the iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and iPhone 3G.

They also said the following about the recyclability of their new laptops: MacBook Pro notebooks use a precision unibody enclosure that is formed from a single piece of solid, recyclable aluminum, replacing dozens of parts. The display is made of recyclable glass. Both materials are very desirable to recyclers, which means the raw materials used in the new MacBook Pro can be reused in other products.

These are the currently the best laptops for the environment and Apple keeps pushing the boundaries of eco friendly products.

The Motorola Droid

The Motorola Droid is possibly the most advanced smart phone out there, at the moment. The phone comes with a five megapixel camera, that is the best camera currently available on a cell phone, and sports a 3.7" display and a full slide out keyboard. I went to Wikipedia to see what it had to say about the Droid, and it said that the name is licensed to Verizon from Lucasfilm because the term "droid" was created by George Lucas for the Star Wars films. In approximately four days an event will happen at Times Square in New York. During this event anyone can call 888-376-4336 and the people at Times Square will be able to use the voice recognition software that comes with the Droid. The phone also features the dual mic technology that reduces the amount of interference in the calls made and makes them crisper. However with all technology this phone will be outdated in the not too distant future by something that will be the best digital camera, cell phone and portable computer all in one.

The Gibson Les Paul.

The Gibson Les Paul is a guitar that has stood the test of time. From the time it was released in 1952 to now, and there is no end in sight for the Les Paul. The Les Paul has been the main guitar of many great guitar players, such as: Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton. And that is not even close to a full list of people who use the Les Paul, the list goes on forever. When the idea for the Les Paul came about Gibson originally denied; but when Fender came out with the Stratocaster Gibson did not have a solid body guitar to match it. So with a bit of tweaking to the design, the Les Paul made its debut in 1952. After its release the guitar became the voice of rock 'n roll, and 57 years later it is still the choice guitar of countless guitar players. Recently Gibson manufactured a ground breaking Les Paul design called The Robot Guitar. This guitar is capable of tuning itself it can also put the guitar into different preset tunings and is programable so that you can put your own custom tunings in its memory as well. I can see the future of this guitar going beyond tuning itself and end up just playing itself for you.

Digital Candy

Digital Candy is kind of funny to me. With this you can bite into, chew up, and spit out your mouse, gameboy, keyboard, etc. It’s the situation where your mouse stops working and you have no idea why. Rather than finding out what the problem is your first response is to throw it across the room and remain pissed off that it didn’t work. With this you can take a mouse and rip it to shreds and chew it up and spit it out; now you are a little calmer and don’t have to go out and buy a new mouse.

I sort of like this but it would be better if they had life-sized candy devices so it would look like you were actually eating a mouse or a keyboard. That would be hilarious to walk up to one of your friends pretending to use your iPhone then get mad at it and take a huge bite out of it. Then your friend give you a look of shock that you were actually able to bite into your iPhone.