I have decided to start a new section called 'Sweet Soul' as I felt like I wasn't showing soul music the love it deserves. So to open we have a tune by Jose Feliciano. Jose Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer and guitarist. He was left permanently blind at birth due to congenital glaucoma, nevertheless he over came the effects of the impairment and went on to achieve critical acclaim around the world having many hit singles through out his long career. This tune is a cover version of the Mamas & Papas classic 'California Dreamin'' taken from his 1968 album 'Feliciano!' which features a selection of cover versions of classic 1960's hits. This is in my opinion one of the best versions ever made, he takes it to a completely different level. Also watch out for his cover version of Stevie Wonder's 'Golden lady' another unbelievable rendition. Click to listen:


Jose Feliciano - Official Web Site
Jose Feliciano - Golden Lady (Live on Soul Train)

Hard drive looking pretty jam packed? Can't figure out what file types are taking up the space? WinDirStat can help solve all your problems. WinDirStat is a program that helps you to visualize the data distribution of different files and folders on your drive(s). Takeing a moment to analyze your drive, It then breaks down every file and folder on the computer. It even color codes different files so you can see which types are clustered together. Highlighting a folder in the file hierarchy list will outline the contents of that folder in the visual area. Expand that folder and highlight individual files and watch them be located within the file group. It is very useful particularly when trying to clean your drive of file types that are taking up large amounts of space. You can download it free (all windows versions) here:

WinDirStat - Download/Info Page

(Via UMPCPortal)

In celebration of their 5th anniversary Oxford based sneaker store 'Ryouki' has collaborated on these tasty little numbers knows as the Double Negative. Created in the stores own colours they seem to be ticking all the boxes: mesh toe box, reflective 3m side panels and a speckled midsole. They are in fact a variation on another Lacoste model the Missouri 85 and also include a hidden personal message from store owner Ryan Barr. However with a very limited run of only 100 worldwide, they are sure to be snapped up quickly. They are scheduled for release in October exclusively through www.ryouki.com. Click the link for more pics and info:

Ryouki - Sneaker Boutique

Tiny old dears, giant new born babies, enormous dismembered heads and naked old men. While this may sound like the backdrop to some twisted new wave horror flick it is in fact a list of some of the subject matter used by Australian hyper realist sculptor Ron Mueck in some of his work. The first and only time I saw Mueck's work in the flesh was at the Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 1997. The sculpture on display was a small 3ft model of his father naked. Although this all sounds a bit sinister it was one of the most unbelievable things I've ever seen. At first I actually mistook it for a real 3ft old boy lying lifeless stretched out on the floor, I was on the verge of alerting security until I looked closer and realised it was actually part of the exhibition. Even after closer inspection it was still hard to tell it wasn't real as every hair and pore on the face could be seen close up. Click the link for more pictures, links and info:

Of course I was simply baring witness to the culmination of many years graft. Mueck's early career was in fact as a model maker and puppeteer for children's television and films, notably the film Labyrinth for which he also contributed the voice of Ludo, and the Jim Henson series The Storyteller. Mueck moved on to establish his own company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry. Although highly detailed, these props were usually designed to be photographed from one specific angle hiding the mess of construction seen from the other side. Mueck increasingly wanted to produce realistic sculptures which looked perfect from all angles.

In 1996 Mueck transitioned to fine art, collaborating with his mother-in-law, Paulo Rego, to produce small figures as part of a tableau she was showing at the Hayward Gallery, Rego introduced him to Charles Saatchi who was immediately impressed and started to collect and commission work. This led to the piece which made Mueck's name, Dead Dad, being included in the Sensation show at the Royal Academy the following year. Dead Dad (mentioned above) is a rather haunting silicone and mixed media sculpture of the corpse of Mueck's father reduced to about two thirds of its natural scale. It is the only work of Mueck's that uses his own hair for the finished product. Click the links for photos and more:

Ron Mueck - Pantalicious Write Up
Ron Mueck - Wikipedia

What is this you might ask. A new iPhone? a cheap Chinese clone? well the answer to this question is not as clear cut as you may think. After Apple dropped the iPhone bomb shell in January of 2007 mobile phone manufacturers around the world have been struggling to respond to the huge hype created by Apples marketing machine and the massive game changing effect that the 'Jesus phone' has had on the industry. Even powerhouses like Samsung and Nokia have taken to whacking extra mega pixels on their phone cameras and bumping the GB's of memory in their devices to try and combat the lure of Apples silky smooth interface.

However the iPhone has not been without it's critics. Common complaints have included: Chaining to itunes/network carriers, pricey contracts, poor audio/video format support, crippled bluetooth, no cut and paste, no video recording, poor quality camera and no removable battery to name a few. Hackers the world over have even taken it upon themselves to try and break the chains from apples restricted platform. But what if there was another contender, a rogue pretender with intentions of unleashing a device that may just do everything the iPhone can and more....... Click the link for the rest.

This is where a small Chinese company by the name of Meizu step in. While the name Meizu may be unfamiliar to many in the West, the company has been quietly churning out well recieved MP3/4 media players over the last few years. Although frowned upon by some for their 'Apple inspired ' aesthetics, Meizu is certainly not just another Chinese ipod clone manufacturer. In fact their 'M6 Mini Player' has received favourable reviews from many large tech websites and magazines including Cnet.com and has been accredited with having some of the best sound quality in the industry (often attributed to their use of an audio chip manufactured by a Scottish electronics company by the name of Wolfson, who provided the sound chips for the first few incarnations of the ipod). Meizu also secured a deal with flash memory giant Dane-Elec who now distribute their players throughout Europe and the US.


After almost 2 years, a whole host of different heavily iPhone inspired renderings and mock ups, numerous forum posts and promises from Meizu's CEO not to mention a raft of tech show no shows and missed release dates, it does however seem that this mysterious device may actually see the light of day after all.

Nevertheless the road has been fraught with controversy. Many believe that this phone is just another in a long line of shameless iPhone clones and knock off's too emerge from China which simply attempts to mimic the look and feel of Apples reveered device with no original thought or innovation taking place at all. However at the same time a whole other school of thought has emerged that is pinning it's hopes on this device being the media communications powerhouse that the iPhone had the potential to be but......with no restrictions, no locks and no Apple making the rules. Large tech blogs such as Engadget have even added fuel to the the fire by posting tid bits of information on the M8's progress sparking debates between the pro Apple lobbyists and the Meizu fan boys which have at times even descended into US vs China copyright law face offs and racial slagging matches.

So the question remains what distinguishes this jumped up pretender from any other phone that has tried to steal some of Apples almost infallible glow. The answer is in the components. Now while the copycats of China's Multi billion dollar fakes industry attempt daily to copy the iPhone or infact any phone produced by the large manufacturers, as you would expect 10 times out of 10 they use cheap components, have horrendous build quality, terrible software, dodgy logos and comical phrases written on them like 'Super Apple Mp4 player'. In my opinion Meizu's M8 can certainly not be classed in this category.

The M8's main processing unit is a Samsung/ARM (6410) processor. This processor is from the exact same family of processors that is used in the iPhone except...the one Meizu will be using will be faster, clocking in at around 667 or 800Mhz it is still unclear (the iPhone clock speed is said to be around 624Mhz). It will also use Samsung nand flash memory, the same type used in the iPhone and many high end flash memory based electronic devices. It is also rumoured to include a Wolfson Audio chip, which is said to produce superior sound quality than the processing unit found in the iPhone. The M8 will also include a 3.4 inch 720x480 resolution capacitive touch screen again trumping the iPhones 480x320 resolution touchscreen (although it is o.1 inch smaller). Not to mention the fact that Meizu will also include their own flavour of Apples famous 'Multi-touch' technology which allows for multiple finger inputs on the device enabling features like photo 'pinching' etc. Like the iPhone it will also incorporate an accelerometer for changing screen orientation automatically. But unlike the iPhone it will also come with support for a whole host of Audio and Video formats (AVI, H.264, MP3, OGG, FLAC to name a few) and will be capable of decoding video up to full DVD resolution, (720x480) which I believe to be a first for any mobile phone on the planet.

Other features and technologies on board include a USB 2.0 host port for plugging in peripherals and hard drives etc. A removable 1200mah battery, a 3.2mp camera, 128mb (1st 8gb version)/256mb of ram (second 16gb version), Opera's latest mobile web browser (9.5), cut and paste, TV-out, Line-out, unrestricted Bluetooth 2.0 & Wifi 802.11b/g. It will also be completely unlocked and available off line for use on any carrier (although initially only in China). It will also be able to be used as a storage solution and not require syncing software and the SDK (software development kit) will be made publicly available after it's release too.

The interface itself will be built on top of Microsoft's latest windows embedded operating system, Win CE 6.0 which is targeted to enterprise specific tools such as industrial controllers and consumer electronics. Not to be confused with Microsoft's current Mobile operating system Windows Mobile 6.1 (which places far more restrictions upon it's programming) Win CE 6.0 will actually form the basis for Microsoft's next generation of Mobile operating system Windows Mobile 7 which it is said will be heavily graphics driven and gesture/touch orientated. The use of Windows CE 6.0 is also also another 1st I believe for any phone available (in the west anyway).

The Graphical User interface has also been part designed by respected Chinese design house Eico who have recently worked with Chinese computer giant Lenovo (formerly IBM) on their latest 'Ideapad' range of internet devices. The best thing about the whole package though is that it is that the 8GB entry level unit will cost below £200! with the 16GB looking version said to come in around the £220 mark. Unfortunately the initial release will not include 3G but it is said that a 3G model will follow in due course.

Now while this all sounds very promising on paper, almost to good to be true, there are certainly no guarantees as to when we will see this device or crucially...how well it will perform in the real world. Meizu are said to be currently negotiating a mobile phone license with the Chinese government and are hoping to release sometime in October or November. However Meizu's track record when it comes to sticking to release dates is not exactly steller and I personally would not expect it to be as polished as an Apple device on it's initial release either. Bare in mind also that initially it will only be available in China so importing will really be the only option for those looking to get their hands on one.

Here is the only video available of the device in action, it shows Meizu's CEO J.Wong using a prototype (that it not softcore porn on the screen btw it is a famous Japenese pin up). iClone or iPhone killer the M8 has already made it's mark and stirred up considerable controversy despite it's illusiveness. But with a domestic market of over 1 billion people and a legion of foreign fans itching to get their grubby mits on one...one thing is for sure...they are definitely gonna shift a few units. Take a look at the device in action and judge for yourself...


Please visit the international Meizu fan Forums for more news and info:

Meizu Me - Meizu Fan Site

Whats the point of having a blog if you can't shamelessly plug your night right? Anyway this ones for all the London Kats...On September 13th 'Bustin Loose! Productions' will be hosting their 1st Birthday Bash. This will be a very special show as it will be taking place at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, one of the most unique live music venues in London. With a spanking new sound system, an extensive menu of classic American diner food and a late license until 3am this is bound to be one of the best shows to date. In addition, on the night 4 bowling lanes will be reserved exclusively for bookings from Bustin Loose! family and will be allocated on a 1st come 1st serve basis, so be sure to arrive early to avoid any disappointment. Expect a blinding selection of live music and DJ's dropping the finest soul, funk, hiphop, reggae, breaks, beats & bangers. Click the flyer for more info or visit the Myspace Page (Below). This ones gonna be sick!!!!!!

Bustin Loose! Productions - MySpace

With the multitude of audio and video formats floating around chances are you are bound to come across a certain file type now and then which isn't supported by your ipod, media/dvd player etc. Either that or you may just want the file in a different format or a smaller more compressed version. If this is the case then look no further as Media Coder will cater to all your needs. Media Coder is a audio/video batch transcoder for windows. Supporting almost every digital audio/video format known to man, Media coder allows you to easily transcode one audio or video format to another. All the settings are completely customisable too, so any file size/compression ratio, resolution, bit rate etc is possible. You can also transcode multiple files at once. There are many programs that perform similar functions, but this one has to be one of the best I have come across. Being open source it is also free, so click the link to check it out.

Media Coder - Download Page