Friday, August 17, 2012

Spike Lee's "Red Hook Summer" trailer


Shia LaBeouf prefers the indie route

Shia LaBeouf regrets Spielberg dig, slams studio system
Pamela McClintock
The Hollywood Reporter
"Transformers" star Shia LaBeouf isn't just walking away from the Hollywood studio system that raised him -- he's bolting. "I'm done," says the 26-year-old actor, who is devoting his career to indie film and soon starts shooting Lars von Trier's "Nymphomaniac." "There's no room for being a visionary in the studio system. It literally cannot exist," he says. "You give Terrence Malick a movie like 'Transformers,' and he's f-----. There's no way for him to exist in that world."
Refreshingly candid and abundantly energetic, LaBeouf was a driving force in getting "Lawless" made. The indie film opens in the U.S. over Labor Day weekend, just as LaBeouf goes to the Venice Film Festival for the world premiere of "The Company You Keep," directed by Robert Redford. "Company" and LaBeouf's "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman," now in postproduction, were financed by L.A.-based Voltage Pictures. "These dudes are a miracle," he says. "They give you the money, and they trust you -- [unlike the studios, which] give you the money, then get on a plane and come to the set and stick a finger up your a--and chase you around for five months."
LaBeouf's trip to Cannes in May for "Lawless" was a symbolic turning point, marking his transformation from blockbuster poster boy to indie star. It also was poignant. He'd been to the festival twice before, for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," neither of which went over well. The actor "deeply regrets" his negative comments about "Indiana Jones," revealing they ruptured his relationship with Steven Spielberg. "He told me there's a time to be a human being and have an opinion, and there's a time to sell cars," he recalls. "It brought me freedom, but it also killed my spirits because this was a dude I looked up to like a sensei." This time, Cannes was a different experience. Says LaBeouf: "I fought for 'Lawless.' I didn't jump onto anyone else's coattail and ride their wave."
LaBeouf starts shooting "Nymphomaniac" after Venice. Von Trier intends to release two cuts, one much more sexually explicit. As to why LaBeouf took the job: "Because he's dangerous. He scares me. And I'm only going to work now when I'm terrified."

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Instagram's new geo-tag feature


The good: Instagram is an excellent way to turn mundane images into cool-looking photos you can share with friends. The new maps feature means people can easily browse all your geotagged shots.
The bad: Photo Map features default to showing all your geotagged shots, which could be dangerous under some circumstances.
The bottom line: If you like taking retro-looking shots and sharing them, Instagram is tough to beat. With the new mapping features, your pictures will have a longer browsing lifespan.

Instagram (iPhone|Android) is a popular photo enhancement app that requires only a couple of touches to produce retro-looking images and then share them with friends and other Instagram members. And with new mapping features in version 3.0, you now have a whole new way to browse images by location. But what's really special about the Instagram phemenon is how users have used the app to create a story about their everyday lives through stylized photos.
You start by signing up with Instagram with an e-mail address, username, and password. From there you can configure Instagram to autopost to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare, and Posterous, or just choose to share images from within the app or via e-mail. You can also turn any of these options on or off if you don't want to share your shots with everyone.
Once you're connected, you'll be able to snap a photo wherever you are, move and scale the image, add an effect with a touch of your finger, and then touch Done to share your photographic moment with the world. The app comes with several free custom-designed filters that can give your image various retro effects, a grainy black-and-white look, or even adjustable tilt-shift options. When you're satisfied with the look, you can add a caption along with geotagging, then share it right away.
Even with just the features mentioned, this free app would already be easy to recommend, but a couple of added features make it even better. Once signed up with Instagram, you can follow other Instagram users on the Feed page, which shows recent images taken by you and your friends. Here you can comment and "like" photos and Facebook integration means you can also "like" it on Facebook. Switch tabs to look at a Popular list that shows all the most popular Instagram images from all users. You can search for tags and users in the recently added Explore section. You also can look at a News tab, which shows the latest actions by your connected friends (liked, commented, or otherwise), so you can see what your friends are currently looking at. These features make Instagram an app you might look at every day, just to see what your friends are up to.

Browse your Instagram photos by location (pictures)

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In version 3.0, Instagram now has mapping capabilities. Once you update, the app will automatically gather all your past Instagram photos where you activated geotagging and put them on a map so you and your followers can browse by location. When you first launch the update, there's a banner across the top of the app that directs you to review your geotagged images. The app defaults to showing all geotagged images (once you have given the OK), but you can select or deselect images if you don't want certain locations to show on the map. With the new features, people will have a Photo Map button in their profile pages that you can touch to show a map of all their images.
I can't stress enough that it is very important to go through your images and make your selections. Sometimes you won't want to post location information (like where you live) to the public. Parents of kids who use Instagram would be wise to make sure their kids do not geotag their photos for the same reasons. With that said, this interface change makes it so your images don't disappear down the endless feed and gives people a much easier way to see all the images you have created.
Overall, Instagram is an excellent way to take retro-looking shots and share them with anyone. The popularity of the app gives you tons of content to browse and offers the possibility that your images will be seen by a very large amount of people. With the added mapping features, anyone who wants to take part in the Instagram phenomenon now has a new way to browse and show their images to a large audience.
Written by: Jason Parker, www.cnet.com

Jay-Z and Duracell Powermat

He may have Blue Ivy and BeyoncĂ© back home, but rapper Jay-Z still finds time to go out on the town. At least that's what we're led to believe from his new commercial for the battery-charging Duracell Powermat.

Of course, the Powermat spokesperson and investor still makes sure to field his wife's calls while he's away, leading to the awkward exchange with someone who mistakes Jay-Z's phone for his own. 
Judging by the commercial, everyone in the city who doesn't own one of these Powermats has phones running on 5-percent battery life (and listens to Jay-Z's three-year-old "Run This Town" in clubs). 



Article written by Michael Izzo, Business Insider www.businessinsider.com

Sunday, August 12, 2012

"Adorn" by Miguel

Please come out and support this awesome mentoring program.  PY&B mentoring program are having their second annual adult kickball tournament in Bridgeport, CT at Beardsley Park.  There will be food and music all day.   If you would like your team to play or are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact pybmentoring@gmail.com.  Also visit www.pybs.org for more info on this wonderful youth program.  Peace.

DJ Brown Boi of Soul Exchange mixes some new r&b heat for ya!

Download DJ Brown Boi's latest r&b mix.  It is full of laid back r&b grooves and 2-step jams. So download it for free and share it with everyone.  Peace.

Love and Hip Hop Atlanta spoof by Broken Equipment