Long Live Play !

A PlayStation freak myself, im really enjoying their creative ads recently!! Especially the ones showing during Champions League capitalising on us gamers as the players! just Love it!! 

We are seeing a major switch from product centric advertising to consumer centric  advertising; brands have started shifting to emotional communication startegies. The play on consumer emotions is a tricky field, brands are now putting themselves in the consumer's shoes and peeping through their eyes. The are talking consumer of their products and not brand to consumer anymore!! 

It is now "This is What We Are 4 You " rather than "Buy Us!" 

This new one carries an even bigger WOW effect!!! just watch and enjoy!! 

@Alexi13

Digital Ambiguity

Well im not a fan of magic, nor much impressed by it, but this just was magical on a another level, more of intriguing!

Marco's work and the story behind it, offers a new perspective to magic. The integration of one of the most influential inventions turns the magic show into eye candy!!


What do you think!?







@Alexi13

Italian Beauty

Last weekend i had the chance to test drive an Italian Devil, the 2010 Aprilia RSV4-R superbike.

The bike is a monster! 


Let's start with the edgy in your face i wana race all day design of the bike! the super narrow rear seat giving it a rocket forward feel, the triple headlight design fitting so well without cluttering the front, the sleek low race like window screen (doesn't provide much wind cover though). The bike's ivory white is it's only color in the UAE market, setting it aside from the Racing rocket big sister RSV4 Factory's gorgeous red and black colour theme!

Design and ergonomics wise, the bike is tiny, barely shorter than the Yamaha R6! this is mainly because of the genius compact V4 engine design, allowing for less space than Japanese inline engines. The seat is quite thin and hard, providing some comfort for short stints, but a numb ass is in waiting for long rides; the seat sits pretty high actually compared to other bikes at 33.3 inches from the ground. Being a tall rider, the footpeg position is quite challenging cuz of the compact design of the bike, but you get used to it. The handlebars are quite well positioned for a racing feel and you tend to dip more to the front compared to other bikes, similar to the Ducati 1198S i tried a while back (Review here).


The bike's compact design and light weight (almost as light as the Yamaha R1) gives it a light feel on the road with a very surprising ease in the side-to-side action. The low center of gravity and perfect balance gives you a boost of confidence in riding the bike hard!

The instrument cluster is very straight forward with a compact round tachometer and the classic Aprilia orange backlight LCD with a full range of rider info, even has a bike stand engaged light! unfortunately it does not have a fuel gauge which is a downer for such a thirsty bike, but has the low fuel light. i really like the orange fork touch and the side key position for better HDD display. im not a fan though of the cylinder shaped brake fuel canister, i prefer the squarish ones!

As far as the ride goes, MAMAMIA! 
The bike is a revving rocket! 
First off, the low rpm range of the bike is quite satisfactory, very smooth and not as nervous as you would expect, this is mainly due to the great engine design, with the pistons being perfectly calibrated at any rpm range.
The main grunt of the bike however comes at around 7,500rpm, with a huge umph! contrary to the full power you get at blast off from the jap bikes! that at least kept me from controlling wheelies every time i launch the bike at a green light :p 
You do notice however a tiny flat line when you reach the 10,000rpm mark, but it quickly kicks back into action! the bike is sensational on the road and mainly due to it having the same engine as the RSV4 Factory model, a 998cc with 180hp between your legs, the ride by wire technology, having the engine electronically control the fuel injection system to provide the right amount of fuel depending on gear selected, exhaust configuration, speed, braking power and etc... 
another great feature on the bike is the racing slipper clutch it has, making the shifting between all  gears as nimble as popping and un-popping a pen! it gives you a feel of having an electronically managed rev prediction system! 
I find it quite hard though to find the Neutral gear, it proved to require a super feather like touch :( 
The nicest feature i must say on the bike is the mode selection is has: Track, Sport and Road.
With the Track mode giving full power to all 6 gears, the Sport mode limits the full power to the first three gears, making it perfect for city riding and finally the Road mode actually reduces the power to 140hp instead of the full stable of 180hp, proving essential for any rainy conditions or "safe" riding :p
The braking power is a marvel as well, with the standard Brembo brakes on both front and rear wheel, though it does not provide you with much accurate feel, making it hard to reach the sought after limit of wheel lock; but gives you more confidence in late breaking into corners knowing you can rely on racing grade brakes! 
The ride on the bike was very smooth compared to the Ducati 1198S which had more of a stiffer suspension package, ideal for a race track; the Aprilia's suspension system provide by Showa front suspension and Sachs on the rear, both fully adjustable. the ride proves super comfy and well composed from corner exit, with a heavier hand on the gas on exit ;) 


This a superbike straight from the race track, a super competitor to the extreme BMW 1000RR and the Ducati 1198S and Desmosedici even!


Pros:
Great power
Track ready bike
Easy to control
Harmonious exhaust
Edgy look


Cons:
Mirrors are tiny and prove useless with shaking a high speeds
Uncomfortable seat
Gas guzzler
Cramped position


Finally, if you are looking for one of those bikes that come every now and then to shake every bike's cage and make you drool over, the RSV4 R is the bike to have for its lower price that the competition, the perfect composure and handling, on and off the track, and the chance to own a beautiful masterpiece of engineering! 


@Alexi13


My buttermint of the day

TEDxDubai - Ideas Worth Spreadin'

TEDxDubai was held on Saturday 4th December in Dubai, with a collection of speakers sharing their ideas,,

Just a bit of history on TED, it stands for Technology Entertainment and Design, in short it is a conference where speakers are given an 18 min window to share their ideas under an umbrella of "ideas worth spreading", to leverage on the power of ideas to change the world.

TEDx is a program that enables schools, universities, businesses or individuals to have a TED-like experience by themselves hosting, organizing and designing the event.

This year's TEDxDubai in its 2nd edition built on further on last year's success, i'll be sharing my experience at the events and highlighting the points that i saw positive and the areas where work is needed...

The event registration was done by filling a form online and being selected for the event, then receiving a digital barcode as a confirmation! A green approach to a paperless registration and entrance, very well done indeed, i do hope to see this being picked up by others soon, makes it so easy, and avoids losing your ticket ;)

The goodie bag was differently thought of as well, it was a specially designed scarf for TEDxDubai, tied to form a loose handbag, with a note pad inside, indeed a nice touch, and was worn differently by the attendees, some held it as a bag, others as scarfs, others as a headband, i tied it to my backpack :p ... 

The wristband also was designed differently, with a clip on mechanism, and made of cloth instead of those annoying rubber or plastic ones which you must rip off after an event,, this was a nice keepsake, as well as your key to get into the after party at ARMANI/privee later in the evening.

This year's event was titled REBOOT, and as per the TEDxDubai blog (http://tedxdubai.com/blog/tedxdubai-2010-reboot/), it revolved around

The list of speakers consisted of the following: (Read More) 

Hot Torch!

hello helllo my geeky friends!! 


my blackberry bold 9700 gave me a hard time last week and decided to die out with resetting with the slightest of movements, and all resuscitation attempts came with no avail :( 


well, too bad for him!! he got replaced muuuuhahahaha ,, by this magnificent marvel from BlackBerry


The Torch 9800 !! 

And what a phone!!! 


this sums it up for the techys http://crackberry.com/blackberry-torch-9800-features-and-specifications


and my take on it? 


the OS 6 is pretty well built, very fast, no more hangs, ready for the fast fingers and heavy multitasking. the touch screen has done away with the click screen of the storm and has even included the same browser software used by Android and Apple's IOS,,, yes yes, multi touch screen and superb web browsing ability!! 


i loved the design, so sleek, barellllyyyy bigger than the bold 9700, by 0.1 inch! nothing!! i was anxiously waiting for Blackberry to release a phone with a full physical keyboard coupled to a touch screen, and voila, they did it so well!!  it is even being referred to as the best blackberry to date :D 


i did not however like the battery casing's rubbery feel and design, but hey thts the secondary task of phone covers, cover the imperfections haha..


Finally, a must have phone for users wanting a touchscreen and not wanting to let go of the physical QWERTY keyboard :) 




@Alexi13


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