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Levi van Veluw’s photo series are self-portraits, drawn and photographed by himself: a one-man-process. His works constitute elemental transfers; modifying the face as object; combining it with other stylistic elements to create a third visual object of great visual impact. [via Like Cool]
Del The Funky Homosapien was on the Late Late show performing his single, Working It.
Eleventh Hour, Del’s fifth solo album, was released March 11, 2008. The album sold over 5,000 copies in it’s first week.
Deltron Event II will also be coming out later this year. He is a member of the super group Deltron. The Hieroglyphics will also be releasing “At The Helm” later this year.
A young Charles Kunta Kinte Bowens Williams was an active kid. So active that his mother would often tell him he was hyperactive. Rather than describing himself has “hyper,” Charles would call it “hyphy.” Little did he know, his new word would later define a movement in hip-hop culture.
Now, the Bay Area native is known as rapper Keak Da Sneak, renowned for his unique rap style, recognizable voice and as a forefather of the “Hyphy movement,” a style of music and dance primarily associated with Bay Area hip-hop culture, where the music is distinguished by gritty, pounding rhythms (it is what crunk music is to the South). “To me, hyphy is energy,” Keak describes in his distinctive raspy voice. “It’s turning negative energy into a positive energy. It’s a way to express yourself without hurting someone. It just became popular, but we’ve been saying it in the Bay Area for years. It’s the way we live, and to us, it’s more of a ritual than a movement. The South gets crunk, and the Bay Area is hyphy.”
Although he may have coined the word “hyphy,” Keak doesn’t let it get to his head. His bumpy road to success has made him modest. “I went through a lot of bad record deals,” he describes. “I put all my energy into staying focused to keep going, always telling myself never to give up and quit.”
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First generation warbots deployed in Iraq recalled after a wave of disobedience against their human operators
Just a few weeks back there was a spirited debate over the ethics of deploying war robots in Iraq. The machine gun carrying remote-controlled killing machines, TALON SWORDS robots, produced by the Army, were among the various robotic soldiers being experimentally deployed in Iraq.
Their deployment lead a major anti-landmine nonprofit organization to campaign against the deployment of the machines. The protests were fueled by a discussion with a leading roboticist, Chris Elliot, who proposed that increasingly intelligent robots might be capable of committing war crimes.
However at the Robotic Business conference in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Kevin Fahey, the Army’s Program Executive Officer for Ground Forces, was all smiles citing the robot’s terrific success. He stated during his key note address, “When you do things like this, it makes a difference. It allows marines to go home to their families.”
Fahey pointed to the ramp up from 162 robots in Iraq and Afghanistan deployed in 2004 to 5,000 robots deployed in 2007, as evidence of their success. Even better, he said, this year the Army would further ramp up to 6,000 deployed robots. Most of these robots were used in bomb-detection and reconnaissance missions.
However, a limited, but increasing, number of the deployed robots were designed for tactical assault with lethal weaponry. While human controlled, these robots provoke unique ethical debates. Fahey was enthusiastic about their deployment, mentioning the tank-like Gladiator robots, armed with lethal and non-lethal weaponry, which he expected to be deployed next year.
Fortuitously, Fahey warned, that if there was an accident, the program could be suspended for 10 years or more. He stated, “You’ve got to do it right.”
Hot on the tails of his speech, it was revealed on Thursday that the Army will recall the controversial TALON SWORDS robots, with the possibility of pulling the plug on the armed robot deployment program.
Why the sudden withdraw? It turns out the insurgent-slayer decided to attempt a rebellion against its human masters. The Army reported that the robot apparently took a liking to point its barrel at friendlies, stating, “the gun started moving when it was not intended to move.”
None other than Fahey himself, who a few days ago was lauded the robotic warriors, was left with much chagrin to announce the recall. While Fahey said that no inappropriate shots had been fired, and no casualties, Fahey stated sadly that the robot’s control failure might be the end of the program. Says Fahey, “Once you’ve done something that’s really bad, it can take 10 or 20 years to try it again.”
Surely in the meantime these developments will trigger plenty of heated debate about whether it is wise to deploy increasingly sophisticated robots onto future battlefields, especially autonomous ones. The key question, despite all the testing and development effort possible, is it truly possible to entirely rule out the chance of the robot turning on its human controllers? [via DailyTech]
He’s a backpack rapper with a penchant for flashy items and a knack for forgetting A Tribe Called Quest lyrics at the wrong time.
But Lupe Fiasco’s recent single, “Hip-Hop Saved My Life,” is as endearing a record as any MC could put together. The song is from his sophomore set, The Cool.
And he’s dedicated it not to one, but two of the game’s finest: Bun B and Slim Thug.
“With ‘Hip-Hop Saved My Life,’ I attempted to make ‘Kick, Push,’ but for rappers,” he explained to MTV Base. “To give a real basic play-by-play of the life of a rapper before he makes it — if he ever makes it, because you can get stuck in that and be trying to make it for the rest of your life.”
57 to be exact. He talks to interviewer Mikey Fresh about working with Dr. Dre and promises a new Saigon video within a month with the album soon after.
The touring art exhibition Brave Art Show is set to kick off its latest leg in Whistler this Friday as it offers a chance to showcase an eclectic mix of some of the world’s creative talents and artists. The event marked by live installations and original art work, will also include merchandise and prints for sale. A quick glance includes a ton of talents which will definitely provide a great experience. For more information on the April 11th to April 18th event taking place in Whistler, British Columbia, check the flyer or Dose.
ndustrial designer Johnatan Côté of Morelli Designers is proposing a complete redesign of the T-Rex trike. Besides the Ruff Ryders, who buys these? The biggest change is the removal of the roof, which consisted of little more than a couple of tubes in the first place, but added vital roll-over protection and structural fortitude to the vehicle. Coupled with a more dynamic, modern design, the updated T-Rex proposal also incorporates more storage space, doing away with the optional saddle-bags on the current model while increasing much-needed capacity for things like crash helmets and groceries. [via DubDaily]
The problem with most iPhone cases is that, by and large, they have to keep the screen clear so you can use it. A touchscreen isn’t much good with something blocking it, after all. But that’s not the case with the Ivyskin Xylo T2: it’s got a hard shell on the iPhone touch panel that you can use the touchscreen right through.
It’s not clear what kind of magic technology is used here, but you really can’t go wrong if you’re looking to protect your precious, precious iPhone and don’t want to spend more than $35 in the process. Check out the product page if you are interested. [via Dvice]
Kettering University mechanical engineering student Will Foster built the 1:2 scale tank using plywood, a three-cycle diesel engine, and a bunch of other random crap. It has a top speed of 20 MPH and can shoot paintballs, golf balls, and empty Red Bull cans out of its air cannon. Will estimates it’s got about $2,000 worth of parts in it, but says he’s spent over $10,000 due to the trial-and-error nature of its construction. Let’s see, what else? Oh yeah, it’s got a sweet “420″ painted on the turret in red. Will, you funny little stoner you — so crafty. Seriously though, I commend you on your ability to finish a project while smoking the chronic. Did I say chronic? I meant schwag (and maybe the occasional beaster). Still, good job.
Video of Will and the tank after the jump, along with a link to the longer article.
Kettering University student Will Foster builds fully operational half-size Panzer tank Thanks to Brandon, who doesn’t need a plywood tank because he drives a platinum monster truck, for the tip. [via Geekologie]
