Despite being a heavy Mac user I’m thrilled to see MS newest projects. My main search engine is still Google but I really enjoy Bing. The search results give me more angles to explore and graphically is simply looks better. Too bad the SERP’s are not up to par with Google’s.

This morning I was blown away by the Microsoft Courier. It just looks amazing! I totally can see me using one of these in the process of designing websites! The courier is an electronic sketchbook with endless possibilities. I don’t think it’s fair to compare the Courier with the iPad but I’m leaning more towards the Courier.

One of the guys I’m following on Twitter is @Jason_Pollock. He’s a Filmmaker, Writer, and Activist. On June 3rd he got the news that his movie ‘The Youngest Candidate‘ will see it’s world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival in Westwood village. So if you’re in the neighborhood go check out the movie!

Movie Synopsis

‘The Youngest Candidate’ is a feature length documentary film directed by Jason Pollock. It is produced by David Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, in partnership with Oscar winner Lawrence Bender (producer of ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, etc..) and Balance Vector Productions.

It follows the story of 4 teens that ran for public office in America. Funny, inspiring, poignant, and ultimately uplifting, ‘The Youngest Candidate’ is not just a film about running for office. It is the coming of age story of four idealistic young adults who dared to confront the corrupt political systems in America. Through their journey these young candidates learn about fair play, leadership development, racism in politics, the importance of family, and many other lessons that they will carry with them throughout their lives. In the face of great adversity, these four young adults braved all the odds to make it to Election Day to show that regardless of the outcome, it didn’t matter… It’s all about how you play the game.

Once upon a time, in a land of sputtering dial-up connections, websites took ages to load. Folks yearned for the 100% mark. But as soon as that figure arrived, the beloved (or bemoaned) preloader disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. Until now.

Pretty Loaded is an archive of preloaders that preload other preloaders… which in turn reveal yet more preloaders. Copy that? It’s a tribute to a vanishing art form amid a constantly changing digital landscape.

The infinite loader is being put together with help from friends across the interactive community. Pretty Loaded is created and curated by Big Spaceship.

(via Witold Riedel)

One of my favorite blogs/newssite is the Boston Globe’s the Big Picture.

With its vibrant oversized photographs and minimalist design, the Boston Globe’s The Big Picture weblog launched on June 1 to instant global acclaim. It’s designed, programmed, and written by Alan Taylor, an old-school web programmer and blogger, in his spare time while working on community features at Boston.com.

Read the interview with Alan Taylor, creator of the Big Picture. Pretty neat stuff…

If you ever watched an episode of So You Think You Can Dance? you know what I’m talking about. Apperantly a lot of people like her. She was even profiled by the LA Times but she annoys the hell out of me! Woman, just SHUT UP! I can’t stand her voice, her smile, her looks or her laugh and let me get this straight: if I ever see the hot tamale train, I’m the one throwing Mary Murphy in front of it. Seriously…

But in the blue corner we have Mia Michaels. I think she’s the only reason I watch the show. Her choreography is simply amazing. The contemporary pieces always get my attention and even back in the Netherlands the choreography of NDT I and NDT II always caught my eye.

The Mia Michaels 2008 Reel:

More Mia Michaels videos on youtube.

Pause from Aaron Sjogren on Vimeo.

Coldplay’s new single, ‘Violet Hill’, will be available as a free download exclusively from Coldplay.com for one week starting tomorrow, Tuesday April 29th, at 12.15pm UK time. This is a full week ahead of the single’s conventional paid-for digital release, on Tuesday May 6th.

Then, on Wednesday May 7th, there will be a free limited edition 7-inch vinyl of ‘Violet Hill’ on the cover of NME magazine, backed by the exclusive B-side, ‘A Spell A Rebel Yell’.

Free gigs in London and New York
Also tomorrow, Coldplay.com will announce preliminary details of two free shows which the band will play in June, one at London’s Brixton Academy and the other at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Full details of how to win tickets to both will be revealed on Coldplay.com in the next few weeks.

Album release details
Coldplay’s fourth album, ‘Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends’ is out in June. The release dates are as follows:

UK – June 12
USA & Canada – June 17
Japan – June 11
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Ireland – June 13
Australia/NZ – June 14
ROW – June 16

Last weekend A. and me went to the City to celebrate my birthday. We stayed at hotel Fusion in downtown San Francisco. The thing I love about the City s that you will discover new things every time you visit. As A. always says: Never a Dull Moment, and it’s true. Even though the weather wasn’t cooperating well we still had a great time. Yesterday I decided to put my photo page up again. I only uploaded 13 pictures since I only want to show my quality pictures (cough, cough). Let me know what you think!

Another reason for putting up the gallery page is that I want to pick up the camera more often. With the recent discovery of Vimeo it got me inspired to take more pictures. Eventually I want to start making videos but that’s something for the future.

Nine more benches are added to Santa Rosa Bench project! This will bring the total to 51 benches. I found at least 6 more benches but I still need to take a picture of them so I can add them to the slideshow. I was pleasant surprised whenI got an email this week from the new Executive Director of ArtStart, Lise Carlson. She had great news: ArtStart will be making new benches this summer! I really love the work that ArtStart is doing for the city of Santa Rosa. They are not only involved with the art benches but several artists made some pretty cool murals throughout Santa Rosa.

For those who are visiting Santa Rosa and want to see the benches up close and personal I uploaded the benches to a Google webalbum including a map of where to find these benches! Just follow this link: Santa Rosa Art Benches. Not all benches are visible yet but I’m working on it…

For those not familiar with ArtStart:

Artstart is an award-winning, privately incorporated 501(c)3 non-profit educational arts organization serving all of Sonoma County. Our mission is to provide mentoring and a stimulating work experience for talented art Apprentices, while creating inspiring public art for the community.

Young artists compete for Apprentice artist positions through a juried process. Selected Apprentice artists work under the mentoring guidance of professional artists who serve as powerful role models and help the Apprentice experience art as a realistic profession. Artstart alumni also have opportunities to mentor younger Apprentice artists.

Artstart is financed by public funds, grants, private donations, and commissions. We also receive generous sponsorship and help from the City of Santa Rosa’s Recreation and Parks Department.

I might as well post the ArtStart 2008 Summer Program:

Mar 1 – Apr 15: Application Portfolio Submissions
April 15: Application Portfolio Deadline
June 8: Art House Welcome Party
June 16: Summer Program Begins
July 18: Summer Program Ends
July 19: Closing Reception and Project Party 5-7 pm

2008 Artstart Events Calendar

March 25: Spaghetti Western Fundraiser at Monroe Hall
Sept: Annual Art and Chair Auction