The story of Len Bias is perhaps one of the most tragic in all of college and professional basketball history. Described by many as one of the greatest players to ever hit the college basketball scene, and with skills on the court that rivaled (if not surpassed) those of his ACC Conference-mate Michael Jordan, he never quite got the chance to shine on a professional level. Sadly, less than 48 hours after he was chosen by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA draft, Len died of an apparent drug overdose in his University of Maryland dorm room.

In the upcoming documentary, “Len Bias”, director Kirk Fraser explores the rise and untimely death of one of the greatest ballers that history has known. Check out the film’s site here. Peep some of Len’s hardwood hightlights after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

I certainly don’t think so. Everybody knows that all the cool kids left Super NES in the dust, and transitioned from Classic NES directly to Genesis—the console that truly changed the game for my generation.

CNET blogger Don Reisinger seems to think otherwise. He recently rounded up his old gaming consoles (NES, Genesis, SNES, 3DO, 32X, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Playstation 1 and 2 and the Nintendo 64) and set them up for a head to head match up. In the end, the Super NES emerged victoriously. The reason:

Perhaps even more than the games or the hardware, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System did everything you would expect from a follow-up to a wildly popular video game console. In essence, the NES was the building block of American gaming in the ’80s and the SNES was first console to be drastically different (and better) than its predecessor.

Beyond that, the SNES was popular well into the 32-bit era of gaming and stood its ground against the Playstation even though the latter was released almost five years later. And although it didn’t quite sell nearly as many units as the NES, games like Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country, Street Fighter II, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and even Mortal Kombat made it a must-buy for gamers all over the world.

Peep the entire article, complete with NES, Genesis and Playstation match ups, here.

[Crave via The Digital Home]

Gnarls Barkley goes 60’s Psych Rock with this new tracked entitled “Run”. As bizarre as it may sound to some, I’m actually feelin this. See what you guys think:

[via Mission Freak]

In her new video for the single “Honey”, Erykah Badu shows love to local mom and pop record stores (establishments that are rapidly disappearing), and does one hell of a job at reinterpreting a number of classic album and magazine covers (see how many you can recognize). This might just be the first dope video to hit the scene in ’08. Her album “New Amerykah” hits stores Feb. 26th…peep the cover art by Emek after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, The Washington Post launched “The Root”—an online magazine geared towards African American readers. Founded by writer and Harvard professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Post Co. Chairman Donald E. Graham, The Root looks to follow in the footsteps of Slate Magazine (an online magazine founded by Microsoft, and later bought by The Post in 2004), however, featuring news and commentary from a black perspective.

The Root is a daily online magazine that provides thought-provoking commentary on today’s news from a variety of black perspectives. The site also hosts an interactive genealogical section to trace one’s ancestry through AfricanDNA.com, a DNA testing site co-founded by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who is also The Root’s Editor-In-Chief. The Root aims to be an unprecedented departure from traditional American journalism, raising the profile of black voices in mainstream media and engaging anyone interested in black culture around the world.

Post Launches Site With African American Focus

Is Jonathan Ive (Apple’s Senior VP of Industrial Design) simply paying homage to famed industrial designer Dieter Rams, or are his designs for Apple blatant rip-offs of Rams’ work?
Personally, I’d like to think that it’s the former; however, I’m quite sure that Apple/Mac haters think otherwise. Either way, we should all know by now that no idea (or design, in this case) under the sun is absolutely original. None, nada, zilch. Even Apple, one of the most forward thinking companies in the game right now, has to draw its inspiration from outside sources.
Take a look at this post from Gizmodo that explores the issue a bit further. They also include a gallery of Dieter Rams’ work from the 1960s; see if you can spot any details that Apple products have employed in recent years.

[via Gizmodo]

Rudy Gay, of the Memphis Grizzlies, is counting on a bit of crowd participation to win this year’s NBA Slam Dunk Competition. He’s asking fans to upload their “sickest” dunk ideas to YouTube, and on the night of the event (Feb. 16th), he plans to incorporate the winning submission into his dunk routine.

Sounds like a great idea, although there seems to be no mention of a prize for the winner (what’s good with that?). Hopefully this allows Rudy to bring some much needed excitement and originality back to the competition.

Have you ever thought about taking a commercial flight to space? If so, here’s a look at what you’ll be traveling in if you fly with Virgin Galactic. Yesterday, Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, officially unveiled designs of the spacecraft that will be used during the company’s space tourism missions. The craft, which is actually comprised of two separate bodies–and sort of resembles some crazy Photoshop creation– must still undergo some degree of testing and construction, but is still expected to take its first flight as early as 2009. If you’ve got $200,000 to burn, and you’d like to be apart of history, you can book a flight here.

[via PSFK]

In what is promised to be the first of a long string of monthly, multi-genre spanning mixes, the good folks of Flwrpt have blessed us with “Boogiesco”. As the title may suggest, it’s a mix of made up entirely of Boogie and Disco tracks—with quite a few rare gems thrown into the selection. It’s quite nice…check it out!

The New York Times takes a look at two high cost, highly sought after coffee machines brewers making their way into the industry. If you’re a slave to the bean, as I know many of you are, then you might want have a look at this. Brewing the perfect cup of coffee is truly a science it seems.

WITH its brass-trimmed halogen heating elements, glass globes and bamboo paddles, the new contraption that is to begin making coffee this week at the Blue Bottle Café here looks like a machine from a Jules Verne novel, a 19th-century vision of the future.

Called a siphon bar, it was imported from Japan at a total cost of more than $20,000. The cafe has the only halogen-powered model in the United States, and getting it here required years of elliptical discussions with its importer, Jay Egami of the Ueshima Coffee Company.

A siphon pot has two stacked glass globes, and works a little like a macchinetta, that stove-top gadget wrongly called an espresso maker by generations of graduate students. As water vapor forces water into the upper globe the coffee grounds are stirred by hand with a bamboo paddle. (In Japan, siphon coffee masters carve their own paddles to fit the shape of their palms.)

Peep: At Last, a $20,000 Cup of Coffee