Rooting your Android device *or in other words* Take complete control over your Android device

Ok so what does Root mean?

It means breaking in to the system of your android device, and accessing the system files.

It’s just like when you install windows, and your windows folder is locked, and you have to unlock it by simply pressing “show system files” (happened in windows XP).
Root will grant you Superuser permission, that's like Administrator in Windows.

Why should you do this? 

Because you can then modify your device in any imaginable way. Custom ROMs, custom startup animations, unlock the CPU for overclocking, overvolting and undervolting, run apps that need extra control over your system, and many more.

What are the risks of rooting your phone? 

Well the warranty will be voided. This is in case you mess your phone up and can’t reinstall the firmware that came with the phone.

If you reinstall the original firmware, root access will be gone so you will be safe.

Other than that, no risks at all. It is very simple to root your phone.

OFC there is the risk of seriously bricking your device, but this only happens if you try to flash a new rom or do some serious modding with your android device, and you won’t follow the steps from the tutorial (don’t worry bricking won't happen from root alone).

So Root = complete control over your android device!

Once you have a rooted phone, you may install a custom rom (firmware) for extra performance and features (trust me, the performance gain is big). Why would you do this? Because some phones are limited to android 2.1 or 2.2 and are not getting 2.3 or 4.0 updates (well not oficially, aka. Not from the developer), so people use custom firmwares.

My X10 mini pro was a single touch phone, untill I rooted it. Now it supports dual touch without any problems. Also speed has increased becaue I overclocked the CPU (no harm to the CPU if you keep it in safe zone, aka. +10-20% overclock) and increased the SD card cache (it will have faster read and write speed).

You can enable USB on the go on some phones, wifi tethering, firewalls, startup filters and many more.

Also you will see a lot of usefull apps on tha market that say “root required”.

So do I recommend root?

HELL YES!

Go for it, root your device. It is easy, and you will have a lot of benefits.

Just type root and your phone model in to google search, and you will find a lot of tutorials (I rooted my Sony Ericsson with Flashtool, with the click of a button, but if you have other model, then Flashtool won't work for you, so you need another software).

Recycle Wallpaper

 

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

The wallpaper of the day. I hope you guys like it too, this is my current desktop wallpaper. Also take a look at this fine piece of stand up comedy by George Carlin regarding recycling and saving the planet.
The video can be found Here. :)
Enjoy.

Tasker – Artificial Intelligence for your Android device

This has to be one of the best apps for android. I strongly recommend this application for all android devices. What does it do? It is an application that performs tasks/actions based on contexts (time, date, event, location, application).

For example: automatically turn GPS on, data traffic on, and max brightness when you launch Google Maps or any navigation app. Once you exit that prticular app, it turns the GPS and other things you set to turn on, off. And the best thing is, it doesn’t drain the battery.

 

Very handy little app. So far I only use 3 tasks: the first one is the Google Maps setup (GPS and all the things I need for navigation turned ON), the second one is for brightness level when phone is running low on battery (It turns the brightness to 25% when battery drops below 10%), and the third one is for night mode (flight mode from 01:00 untill 08:00, and brightness down to 10% so it won't burn my eyes if I wake up at night and look at the time).

Here is a list with SOME of the things you can do with this app:

- passcode-lock sensitive applications (e.g. for child safety)

- change phone settings by

* application: long screen timeout in a book reader

* time: screen brightness lower in the evening

* location: ringer volume high at the office, turn off ke yguard at home

- wake up with a random song from your music collection

- Text-to-speech; read out loud: incoming SMS/ phone number, WiFi/Bluetooth status, when it's time for an appointment, when the battery is low etc etc (Android OS 1.6+ only)

- launch a music application when your music SD card is inserted, otherwise a file browser

- start the day with a particular application showing

- change all your home icons and wallpaper every day, or in particular locations

- turn the phone upside down to return to the home screen, tilt 90 degrees to the left and back to toggle speakerphone during a call

- remap camera etc buttons to other applications, or show a menu of applications and/or actions

- make a regular backup of a file on the SD card

- extend the use of the media button on your headset: take a picture from a distance or go to the previous media track with a long press

- record call times and destinations to the SD card

- show a popup when an SMS arrives from a particular phone number

- setup a birthday SMS to be sent months before it happens so you don't forget

- during the night, turn on airplane mode to conserve battery/reduce radiation, but turn it off every 15 minutes to check for SMS/voicemail.

- setup a vacation SMS message, with different messages for different callers

- launch a music application when headphones are connected

And many many more. You just have to mess around a bit with this app to get the hang of it. Also if you have any questions you can post on the developer’s site (http://tasker.dinglisch.net/index.html -> go to forum) and they will reply shortly (tested and confirmed).

There are virtually endless possibilities of things you can do with Tasker. The only limitation is your imagination. Tasker can do to your device what minecraft does to gaming. It seems a bit complicated at first, but once you master it, it will change the way you use your smartphone.

The price is 6.50$, but trust me, it is worth every single penny. Instead of using sms schedulers, location and time based profile switchers, call and SMS reminders, etc. just get this app. 

This is one app to rule them all. :)

Rain Wallpaper

 

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

Here is today's wallpaper: Rain. IMO rainy days are relaxing - there is nothing more I enjoy than sitting in a warm room, and watching the rain. A friend of mine linked me a cool site, so if you also enjoy watching rain, visit rainymood.
Go to the site above, turn on your speakers, sit back and relax.

How to Wrap Earbuds

We all had this problem. We put the earbuds in our pocket, then when we get them out we find this:

Every single time I got them out of my pocked my earbuds were tangled, no matter how nicely I wrapped them in a circle. To solve the problem you need to wrap them like in the following video:

OFC for extra protection you may buy yourself a plastic case, or an earbud wrapper like this one:

 

Just remember, never bend the wire where it goes into the earbud, or above where it plugs into your player (the 3.5 jack).

SystemPanel - Heavenly manna for Android phones

This is one of the best apps I have on my phone.

SystemPanel is a monitoring application, that monitors CPU usage, RAM, battery, etc. This is 100x better than a Task Killer (and it also works as a manual task killer - you can see live how much CPU is the app using and used over time, and another bunch of useful things).

You can solve your battery life problems with this app, by enabling the background monitoring service to record long-term CPU usage by individual apps. This way you can see what happens to your lovely Android device overnight, and delete the applications that go wild (sometimes you go to sleep with 100% battery and wake up with 80% or less.. this happens because some apps are badly optimized and for no reason start to eat CPU).

Now with systempanel you can see how intensively your CPU was working at night. (Mine is below 2%)

Ok so let me teach you how to use this app.

 

This is the start screen. You can disable the system monitor from the settings (the bar with the Pie chart of the CPU, RAM and storage).

Ok, so under that system monitor are the apps that are running. And before each app icon there is a bar that shows how much CPU is the app using at that moment (live monitor).

You can also hold your finger on a running process and select End task to kill it.

To set this app up for monitoring, you need to go to settings, and then check the "Monitoring enabled" option.

Now you need to leave it like that over for a minimum of 2 hours. (you can close the app as it will run in the background and will use approximately one minute of CPU / battery time PER DAY of operation - so this means very very little power)

The app will only run in the background if the monitoring is enabled!

Now I will teach you how to check the History.

 

On the start screen bring up the menu, and select "Monitor". Once there, you will see a live view of what your device is doing now, Battery state, and even battery temperature.

Now press "History".

Before I start to explain what is what, press the "1 Day" button and change it to "2 Hours". This means you will only see what happened in the last 2 hours. (you can change it back to 1 day or even 2 days if you like, but 2 Hours gives you a better view of whats going on)

Here you will see 3 categories. Battery, Device usage and CPU. The battery will show you when was the last time you charged your phone (the green bar under the time stamps) and how long was it left in the charger.

Device usage: no comment here, it shows how intensively did you use your device and at what time. When you unlock your phone and navigate it's usually 50%-75%. Gaming is about 100%, and so on.

CPU Activity: this shows you how hard your CPU was working. Overnight you need to have it under 3%. It is related to Device Usage, so whenever you have high device usage, you will have higher CPU activity under it.

Now press the "Plot" and select "Top Apps". This will show you a list of the apps that used your CPU.

Here you can see that System Process is the most consuming app (it is normal). That consumption is shown based on "8 hours" interval, aka. the top consuming apps that ran in the last 8 hours.
In other words, if you played a game at 12:00, and is now 15:00 the game will not show up if the interval is "2 Hours". Setting it to "8 Hours" will make the game and whatever you did before 12:00 show up. You can click on an app to see a detailed chart of how much CPU did the particular app use.
Ex. from the picture: System Processes was running 22m14s in the last 8 hours. Music was running for 1m3s in the past 8hours. (the % is average consumption).

Happened to me that I went to bed with 100% battery and woke up with 60%. I didnt know what was draining my battery. So I left systempanel overnight, and the next morning I checked the history, and saw that the weather app used a lot of CPU power. So I uninstalled it and battery drain was back to normal.
It is really simple to use and way better than a Task Killer, and as I already told you, you can use it to kill apps that do not respond (instead of killing every running process...).
CPU is the real battery and performance killer. So do not use a Task Killer, use this app instead. It is way better, and can also serve as a task killer when needed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments. I will be happy to reply.

Musical Notation Wallpaper

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE WALLPAPER ---> HERE

Since I talked about music on the previous post, here is a wallpaper that goes with it (not with the song, but with music itself), some old musical notes.
The earliest form of musical notation was found in a cuneiform tablet, and was created in about 2000 B.C. (found in Iraq). The notations that we are using today are different from that. We now use the ones that originated with European classical music.
Hope you guys like it.

Crazy Town - Butterfly

Real music, from 2001. I remember I used to listen to this every day on MTV (and back then MTV was normal, no stupid shows, only pure music, all genres). I really don't know what happened to the music industry today, but all the songs I hear on the radio are almost the same. WTF happened?? Where is the real music? And I wont even start about tunes from the 80s and 90s... (will leave that for another day :) )
Every artist turned their back on us, turned their back to true music, and are pursuing money instead.
I really don't know why are they doing this, since music is one of the best things we have. Music can bring us together, unite us.
Is this world really dying? Is there really no originality left?
Anyways, listen to this, and remember that this was a big hit then.

Afro Samurai Wallpaper

 DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE WALLPAPER ---> HERE

Who is Afro Samurai? A guy who witnessed his father - the owner of the No. 1 headband - being killed by the hands of a gunslinger named Justice - owner of the No. 2 headband - while he was a child.
As an adult, Afro sets off to avenge his father's death and kill Justice.
Very cool anime mini series with lots of blood, soul music, hip-hop made by the RZA, and the cool voice of Samuel L. Jackson (as Afro).
If you are into anime, you will like this one :)

Android phones and Task Killers *or in other words* Why are Task Killers bad for your phone

Everyone is nuts with these task killers. First thing you find on every forum is "install a task killer to get better performance and free RAM".

The question is, do task killers really improve your phone's speed and improve battery life?

The answer is NO. Why? Because Android works different than Windows. Do you think that the engineers where morons and released an OS with RAM flaw? Trust me, the OS is very optimized, and whenever android needs more memory, it auto shuts down processes that are not being used.

Android tends to keep apps in memory for faster re-launch, but these apps do not use any resource, so they will not drain your battery.

The more free memory you have on an android phone, "the worse". Why? because android restarts processes. So think about it. You get a Task Killer, and kill an app. The OS restarts that app with time, and the task killer kills it again. Basically this means that it uses up MORE battery. Kill, restart, kill, restart, and so on. Also some apps are not made to be force closed (thats what task killers do..). You may even end up with the app not working properly anymore.

When I got my phone I installed a Task Killer. After I understood how android works, I uninstalled it, and surprise: same battery life and same performance...

The real problem is CPU usage. Sometimes an app goes rogue, and starts to eat a lot of CPU, thus the battery drain. So keep away from task killers, because the more free memory you have, the longer it takes the apps to launch (less free memory = loaded apps = fast app start). You may end up with alarm clock and other apps you don't want killed being killed by the TK, if you won't set it up properly.

Don't forget, Android is made to auto kill tasks when it runs low on memory. The CPU is what's causing the lagg and slowdowns (and Task Killers do not monitor CPU usage...)

I will explain how to get extra standby time out of your phone and what apps to install soon.

Also what app to use instead of an automatic task killer. So stay tuned :D

Mountains Wallpaper

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE WALLPAPER ---> HERE.

I change wallpapers every day :) (there are times when I keep it there for 3-4 days, even a week, but I like to customize and have a dynamic desktop).
So take this HD picture, and use it as your windows / android / mac wallpaper. :3
Sometimes I use this for relaxing. Open a nice picture, put on a nice tune and lay down in the bed or relax on the chair and imagine being there...
Hope you like it (if not, stay tuned, I am 100% sure that I will post one soon that you will like :D )

Choosing an Android phone that suits your needs

The truth is, there is no "best android phone". I have encountered a vast range of android phones, and I couldn't say that "wow this is the BEST phone ever".

It's the OS optimization that makes a difference. For ex. I played with a samsung Galaxy S, and my mini pro was faster in the menu, much smoother. But when it came to gaming, the 2x faster CPU and amount of RAM crushed my mini :)

There are a few basic things to look up before you buy a phone.

Before choosing the phone you want to buy, you should make a list (in your head) of what will you be using it for. For ex. I own a Sony Ericsson X10 mini pro. It's small, and it has a good camera and a qwerty keyboard.

I use it for music and a lot of messaging, so it is perfect for me. Small and powerful.

If you will be using it for phonecalls only, than you shouldn't invest in camera or looks, but look for the phone with the biggest battery capacity. But who will buy an android phone and use it ONLY to call people?

The most important is the operating system, aka. the Android version.

Android 1.6 was terrible (IMO) and it is outdated. So look for a phone that has at least Android 2.1.

Every version has something new to it. For ex android 2.2 is the minimum that supports APP2SD (an application that lets you move games and apps from the phone memory to the SD card). In 2.1 I have to manage with 200MB of storage, with no ability to move the installed apps to my SD card. So if I can't install a lot of apps. Ofcourse there are workarounds, but that involves rooting your android phone (will explain what rooting is later).

So the higher the android OS on it (higher android version) the better. Every new OS version improves phone performance, RAM usage, battery drain, and so on.

The apps that you can install on your phone are also limited to android version. For ex there are a lot of apps that can be installed only on 2.2 and newer android versions (because 2.2 enables a lot of new functions that 2.1 lacked).

So try to look for a device that has 2.3 running on it.

Faster CPU is not equal with better performance. So do not invest in a powerful dual core CPU, because current Android versions don't use the 2 cores properly. This will hopefully be fixed in Android 4 aka. Ice Cream Sandwich (every android version is named after something sweet :) ).

But there is always good news, if you really want to be the boss, and want a super fast dual core phone, buy it. It will come with android 2.3.4 but you will have the chance to upgrade it to Android 4.0 soon. And the good news is that: even if your phone will not get Android 4 from the developer, you can install it later from your own PC (these are called vanilla ROMs, and are modded by fans, and not developers).

1GHz CPU is enough for games and even HD movie playback.

RAM capacity: Look for a phone with a good amount of RAM. Almost all the new phones come with 512MB, and that should do it. Android works differently than other operating systems. It keeps the running apps in the RAM, and even some of the closed ones (for quick access). More RAM = smoother phone.

Camera performance: higher megapixels DOES NOT mean a better picture! It only means a bigger picture. Nothing more to say here. And all the newer Android phones have OK camera with 720p video recording.

Go for a phone with 5MP+ camera and Auto Focus. (that way you will be able to tell who is who on a picture)

Design: well I have nothing to add here, because everyone has different tastes.

I really like the design of the Sony Ericsson ARC.

The UI is pretty much the same in every Android phone, and you can customize it to fit your needs. Don't like the stock menu and launcher? Download an app and you can set whatever icons and menu you want. That's what I like about Android, you can customize it to the max.

Well that's all that is important about chosing an android phone, because the rest (bluetooth, accessories, connectivity, etc.) is almost the same in every phone, every phone has microSD slot, standard microUSB charger, Bluetooth, and even WiFi (I didn't mention wifi, but I strongly recommend to buy a phone that has it). Also this "help" was written in a short time, and at midnight, so it may be flawed, but I will keep posting Android help, and I promise it will be much more organized :)

Phoenix Wallpaper

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE WALLPAPER (HD): ---> Original Size

My current desktop wallpaper. Seems like some people had problems "finding" the download link (yet I always linked under the original picture), and clicked on the blogger preview instead, and downloaded a resized wallpaper (that wasn't wide HD at all, but resized to 1600x1000). Blogger seems to resize the wallpaper so do not save the picture from the preview, but save from the link "Original Size".

Now that we discussed how to download the wallpaper, let's take a look at what a Phoenix is:

The Phoenix is a mythical firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Persian, Greek, Arabian, Chinese, Egyptian and Indian people. It's said that it lives 500-1000 year, near the end of which it builds itself a nest that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. Pretty cool, ei? :D

Alborosie - Kingston Town (Radical Guru DUB remix)

What happens when you mix a good song (reggae) with dubstep (the clean and nice wubububub kind of dub)? Magic :D
Found this song while I was looking for a particular reggae tune. I was skeptic at first, then when the drop came, I couldn't close the window, and hit replay about 4-5 times.
The original version of this song (reggae) is also great, but this dub remix took it to a new level. Pity there are no more songs like this around (or even if there are, I haven't found them yet).
Listen to this song in 360p (the 480p sounds worse lol)

Parkour Fail

Definition of parkour: "Parkour is a method of movement focused on moving around obstacles with speed and efficiency" ...Well, he almost nailed it. :) he had the speed, but I can't say the same about efficiency. Half man, half machine..

Drops like a rock -> huuuge bang -> falls down -> gets up -> walks away like a boss :D

Playing with Fire

Cool party trick.

How to do this: you need a water barrel, then you need to pour some alcohol in it. Coat the inside with the alcohol (shake the jar, etc.) then empty the barrel (throw out the remaining alcohol from it). Now light the top of the jar and profit! :)

Also another cool video showing a "fire tornado" :

AC-130 Angel Flares

For the people who don't know whate flares are, they are a countermeasure to counter enemy heat seeking missiles. The flares have to be as hot or hotter than the engine exhaust. That way the heat seeking missile will hit the flares and not the plane.
This clip contains an AC-130 that is deploying flares in the shape of an Angel (thus the name).

Scary Snowman Knocked Out

What happens when you dress up as a scary snowman, and try to scare people on the Jersey shore? Watch the video and you will find out XD

The Super Slow Motion is the funniest!    1 hit, 2 down XD              BAM! Fatality!   

Ford HD Wallpaper

Wallpaper of the day: modded Ford Focus.

As far as I know, this is a digital photo, crated in photoshop. I had to study it really hard to see it (was looking for a little more info about this car, and found this picture in the virtual tuning section of a site).
Talk about skills in photoshop + virtual tuning.
IMO amazing picure.

Original Size

Beethoven - Für Elise (Dubstep Remix)

Found this awesome tune yesterday. The creator of this fine piece of music is fredzo123 (or Fredzo on facebook).
It has some earth shaking bass (still using my headphones, my speakers are still dead..), I had to edit the EQ a bit because the pressure it generated was huge lol.
I love classical music, and I also love (some) dubstep, so this is perfect for me :D

Set to 720p and you will feel it too (that is if your speakers can handle the low freqencies).

Purple Sky Wallpaper

Today's wallpaper: Purple Sky. I'm not really into digital art (meaning digitally created pictures), but I like this one. It looks so simple and cool. It's my current phone wallpaper.
I hope you guys like it too.

Original Size

Ember Waves Dubstep Remix - Look At Me Now

I wanted to post a DnB song today, was thinking about the Qemists, so I entered the text into youtube search. From there somehow I got to Mt Eden, then to some "noname artists" (no offense, some where good, but not great), and then I came across this sick tune. Pity my speakers are still dead (no blown caps or other electrical components, so this leaves the transformer... will check that tomorrow) so all I have are my Sennheiser HD 555 headphones, but they do the job quite well. I just had to mess a bit with the EQ, since it was set to "speaker mode" - the MX5021 had direct control over Bass and Treble so I left an almost flat EQ. Pumped up the 30-60-125Hz with about 6dB and it was my ears where breakdancing :D
Back to the tune, I have never head about Ember Waves, but from now on I will keep a lookout for upcoming songs from them (they make dubstep remixes).
Set to 720p and enjoy!

Watermelon

I studied this fruit - and I found out that it's not even a fruit, but a vegetable. :D (related to pumpkins and cucumbers)
Watermelon is an ideal health food, because it doesn’t contain any fat or cholesterol. Also it is high in fiber and vitamins A & C. Also it is 92% water.
In Japan, you'll find cube-shaped watermelons: they are grown in special cubic containers and their price is usually at least twice that of a normal watermelon. It tastes the same, but it is easier to store in the fridge.
When you buy a watermellon, you should look for a healthy symmetrical one, with no bruises and scars. Also it should be firm and heavy (after all, it's ~92% water). And last but not least, turn the watermelon over untill you see a creamy yellowish spot; that is the spot where the watermellon sat on the ground while it soaked up the sun. Check for that spot and if it's greenish, that watermelon was picked too soon.

And now, a nice HD wallpaper for you guys :)

Original Size

Sad day...

Today my old Altec Lansing MX5021 speaker system died on me. When I powered on the PC, I also turned on the speakers. Entered windows, started to browse the internet a bit, then a light boom from the subwoofer, and the lights from the remote faded... I wasn't listening to anything, it was idleing. Anyways, I opened up the subwoofer to see if there is a capacitor that blew, or any other electrical component leaking (some parts burn and leak). But couldn't find anything. So I gave it to my dad, and he will take it to his friend tomorrow (some engineer in electronics, so I hope he can fix the circuit board - if that is the problem).

I really don't want to throw these puppies out, because they are very good PC speakers. I had Logitech X-230, X-530, and even Z-5500, nothing came close to the sound quality of the MX5021. Ofc Logitech speakers had more bass, but hey, you can have all the bass in the world and no mids and highs, that will sound like cr@p. I am not saying that the MX5021 lacked bass, for me the ammount and quality of the Altec Lansing's bass was enough. It was tighter that the Logitec bass, and still hit low.
Amazing speakers. Not to mention it had wireless remote :D (it's very good when you are in bed, all tucked in, and relize you could use some more volume ... happened to me 10000x...).
So if my dad's friend will not be able to fix it, I guess it will be time to move on. There are no decent PC speakers ot there anymore, so this time I will go with the Logitech Z-2300. Maybe I will use the dead MX5021's two speakers and replace the Z-2300 ones. Problem is the AL are 20-25W RMS @ 6ohms, and the Logitech speakers are 40W RMS @ 8ohms.. But I think it will be ok if I wont cranck the volume up to 50%++. You would have to be mad to do that with the Z-2300 subwoofer. XD
Why Z-2300? because they are 2nd in line at best PC speakers, and I don't want to spend a lot of cash on some Yamaha speakers + an Amp (at least not yet).

So now I wait...

Elemental

Today I will only post a wallpaper, because I feel very sick. I have caught a flu and my nose is running + I cough a lot. And now I also feel that I'm coming down with a light fever. Also an interesting fact about fever - always wondered why do fevers occur at night, so I studied a bit and came up with this:

"Fever, which is caused by some of the same internal chemicals that promote airway inflammation, and is also one of the body's defenses against attacking microbes, also tends to rise as night falls. Like normal body temperature, which is lowest in the morning and highest toward evening, most fevers peak near the end of the day."

Well, enjoy the wallpaper, and stay healthy :)

Original Size (uploaded to mediafire because imageshack was down)

Moses trolling

Highway

What happens when you have a long shutter speed? You can create pictures that look like this. A friend of mine from work always asks me how to shoot good pictures. I really like pictures, and had a ton of self made weird pictures before my HDD burned down. I am reconsidering to pay the 100$ to recover the data, but now I have other priorities. Anyway, back to photography. I am really a novice, but I know a few things about the basics, and I am willing to buy a nice DSLR camera soon.
So use a long shutter speed (exposure time) and a tripod (otherwise you get a big blur and nothing more) to take some cool pictures of higways. This way the car's tail lights will look like laser light in the nigh.
Credits for this picture go to an unknown artist...

Original Size

The Elephant Man

Plot: A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous facade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity.

First time I heard about this movie was 6-7 years ago. I was in high scool, and we where talking in the classroom about some movies. So one of my friends mentioned the elephant man. I was like WTF is the elephant man? So he started to explain. OFC I wasn't really interested in the movie, but I looked it up on IMDb, and was shocked that it got a 8+ score.

So I rented it. Man was I impressed by this movie. I was a little skeptic at the beginning, but as the movie played on, it left me with an open mouth.

People can be very brutal, just like animals. But they are worse. because people can think and reconsider before they do something but animals can't (they kill for food, humans kill because of greed).

It's the story of a man, who was borned with a deformed body. John Merrick was his name. And like all deformed people, he was used in the Freak Show (at a circus). His owner brutally beats him, and John gets to the hospital, where a kind doctor cares for him, and tries to be friend with him.

At first, the doctor is using him for his medical studies, and thinks (and he really hopes) that John Merrick is an idiot, a vegetable. But soon he discovers that behind the horribly deformed body, there is an intelligent and sensible man.

The movie looks a little boring untill John starts to talk, but after that it becomes interesting.

And the most terrbile thing is, this is a true story. John Merrick really existed, and was called the "elephant man" because of his mutation (and in this case mutation is not cool, so don't think X-men).

The tragic story of a 21 year old boy, who is called an elephant man... Who can never feel true love, and will always be considered a freak..

Ofcourse this movie is not for people who expect action and shooting + explosions, but for people who can imagine what is it like to be in the body of the "elephant man". And if you have that power, that imagionation, then you will enjoy this movie as much as I did.

It's a movie from 1980, so it has flaws, but it's a great movie, and really touches you. Proves that people without laws would be animals. Still it won 8 oscars, and another 20 nominations.

My Rating: 8/10

Ray Ban sunglasses

These are not my sunglasses, but they look really cool. Large lenses offer good protection against light.
These are known as "Aviator-style" glasses (introduced in 1936 by Ray-Ban) and where made for U.S. military aviators (hence the name). So these babies are popular since 1960, and they still look good today.
Enjoy this HD wallpaper. (full size in the link below)

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Chase & Status Feat Plan B - Pieces

Massive tune from Chase & Status (it's from 2009, but who cares - good songs will be good even in the year 3009). The video is a little hard to watch (for some people) as it contains a pretty hard breakup - And I really think this is the worst breakup ever! Still, enjoy this super drum and bass song, and watch the video for extra adrenaline and anger.

"You don't care about me anymore
That's why you, you wanna break my heart
Into pieces on the floor"

The old times

"A research project led by a Western Carolina University psychology professor indicates that jokes about blondes and women drivers are not just harmless fun and games; instead, exposure to sexist humor can lead to toleration of hostile feelings and discrimination against women."

I really don't know what to say about this... I find this picture very funny, but not harmful. I mean I wouldn't be offended if it would be the inverse of the situation.
But that's just me...
Still, I LOLd hard on the picture below.

Pan's Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno - Spanish title)

Plot: In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.

Like I said it before, Guillermo del Toro is obsessed with dark fairy tale creatures.

This movie is no exception, it is another dark fairy tale. But this one is a real masterpiece when it comes to dark fairy tales. Brutal and hearth touching movie, with beautiful acting and scenery. Directing is also very good.

The year is 1944, spanish civil war rages.. It all starts with a pregnant woman and her daughter moving away from the city, to an isolated house in the woods. The mother had to marry an army Captain out of interest - her husband died, and she had to marry because the captain could offer her safety and money. The young daughter (Ofelia) hates his new "father"..

One day she enters a labyrinth, and meets and old faun, and he tells her she is a princess, and must prove her royalty by performing 3 tasks, each harder than the one before.

A dark masterpiece... that is definetly not for children (there are some really brutal parts in the movie).

There is a huge contrast between the good Ofelia and the brutal captain Vidal. But somehow I understand the captain, I undestand that he must be bad and brutal, because his father was a great leader, and he must live up to his name..

Young Ofelia (12yo) carries the whole movie on her shoulders, and she really manages, and acts like a pro.

Everything is in perfect harmony... the acting, the landscape, the effects, and the music. It's nothing like Narnia, IMO it's way better (and Narnia was for kids... this is not for kids, but a fairy tale for adults).

So give this movie a try. It's a great movie, I really loved it, and I highly recommend it.

I rate this 9/10.

Corvette Engine

Yesterday you got a Corvette wallpaper, today: the heart of a Corvette... This puppy can produce 430bhp @ ~6000RPM. Pretty cool.
Still, I prefere the Nissan Skyline over any other car. :)

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Inhaler feat. Burns - Something About You

Another DnB song from UKF. It's not the dirty kind of DnB, but the kind I like. Enjoy

Daft Punk Around the World - Live

This is the best mix from the duo IMO. I really don't need to comment on this song, as there is nothing to say about it. Listen to it and decide if it's epic or not.
"Without music, life would be a mistake" - Friedrich Nietzsche

Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling - 2009

I remember when I fist saw this video I was ROTFL. These people are very crazy LOL. And what a GREAT game this is... break your leg, arms, neck but win the chance to cut the cheese (as the winner - the first one down (or last one alive lol) - gets the prize: chance to cut the cheese they followed downhill).
Ofc they spend half a year in the hospital, but who cares. They won the cheese!
Everyone is having fun: People running down the hill like idiots (some of them with the speed of light lol) to catch a cheese... , quarterbacks taking them down at the bottom... , the paramedics  that are standing by (betting on what comes next: broken neck, back, leg)... , and OFC us, the people who watch this.
What can I say? ...England... :D   <3

Black Corvette

Changed the M3 wallpaper to this bad boy :) Black + some red always looks nice on a car. Always dreamed of having a Corvette, but as I grew up, I started to realize it will never happen :) Even if I could afford one, I couldn't "feed" the beast, as gas (fuel) price in Romania is high..

So back to my little (O8o)====(\X/)====(o8O)    (<----- Golf 4 front grill + headlights). But I'm still happy with it, cruising around town and listening to music.

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Don't be afraid of the Dark

Plot: A young girl sent to live with her father and his new girlfriend discovers creatures in her new home who want to claim her as one of their own.

Again another movie I was looking forward to. Yet it didn't impress me.

Guillermo del Toro also wrote and made Pan's Labyrinth, and that really was something (but in this production - Don't be afraid of the dark - he was only the writer)! Will do a review about it tomorrow, because that movie is worth watching.

Now back to "Don't be afraid of the Dark"

The story goes like this: a little girl is passed from her mother to her dad. The father is working on restoring an old house with his new girlfriend. Ofc there are some trouble at the beginning, the girl (Sally) has problems with her dad's girlfriend (she doesn't like her, etc.). After they discover a hidden basement, the story starts to spice up a bit, as Sally is hearing voices from the old basement's fireplace. Soon some rat sized gollum-like creatures are running through the house, and are after Sally. They are whispering that they want to be friends, and want to play, so she is excited about that. But soon it turns out that those things want more from her... They are "fallen" tooth fairies.

Sally tries to warn everyone when she finds out that those creatures want to destroy her family and take her away. But noone believes her...

Guillermo del Toro seems to be fascinated by creatures of fairy tales, but he gives them a dark twist.

This movie is labeled as Horror, but it's not scary at all. It's rather disturbing if you can imagine what the caracters are going through. Like I said, this is a dark fairy tale (just like Pan's Labyrinth).

Final words: average movie from a good/great writer, with mediocre directing. But it's enjoyable.

It still is way better than any other crap Hollywood is making today.

So give it a shot. Maybe you will like it.

I rate this 6/10.

Green BMW M3

Currently I'm using this wallpaper. I don't have a favorite color, but I prefere this kind of green a little bit more than the rest of the rainbow. Combined with the only BMW model I like made it an instant wallpaper for me LOL.

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Mt Eden - Beautiful Lies

Yesterday I was searching for some new ringtones, and came across this beautiful song. It has beautiful vocals and earthpounding bass. Shame that I only found this in 2011, since it was posted in 2009. But that happens.. This is not B-Complex's Beautiful Lies, but a totally different song.
So enjoy this great song, and again: If you know more songs like this, post them in the comment. I really like vocal + DnB/Dub/Electro.
Set the music video to 720p and enjoy this relaxing masterpiece.