media

San Franciso MoMA Explores "How Wine Became Modern"

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Wine's journey in the US, from its validation at the Judgment of Paris to its current celebration in film, design, and travel, is charted in a new exhibition, "How Wine Became Modern," at San Francisco's MoMA.

Running through April 17, 2011, the show examines the attendant culture that sprung up around wine, during the past 30 years, as its popularity skyrocketed. This includes everything from wine's influence on art and design, its effect on architecture, and the mainstream acceptance of concepts like provenance and terroir. Viewers are lead through a series of rooms, beginning with a photo-mural of the 1976 Judgment tasting, by New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and on through exhibits of soil samples (to explain terroir), wine bottle labels, and glassware. There's also a survey of significant wine-related architecture around with the world, with projects from marquee names like Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava and Herzog & de Meuron.

The culmination of "How Wine Became Modern" is a "smell wall," where seven flasks of actual liquid provide an education in nosing and the shifting culture of wine terminology.

Tags: architecture, design, exhibitions, How Wine Became Modern, Judgment of Paris, media, museums, san francisco, SFMOMA, wine

The Bling Media Player -- Making a statement...

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

"Bling" is right! Complete with artificial jewels running up and down the sides, with a shiny chain and skull, there's definitely some glitz happening here -- although I'll let you decide if it's the good kind or the bad. Surprisingly, though, this decked-out little media player has some nice features on the inside, including a bigger than expected memory, a built-in microphone, and an FM tuner with recording.

And for only $200 the magic can be yours, although it's certainly not for the shy or the insecure! (Or the refined, or the classical...)

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Tags: bling, bling media player, BlingMediaPlayer, electronics, gadget, gadgets, media, media player, MediaPlayer, mp3, music

Sun Visor Theater

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets, Luxury Cars & Autos

Technically, the driver of a moving vehicle isn't supposed to be watching anything but the road, but if you already have little LCD screens installed in your SUV, it's hard to resist the temptation when you're sitting in gridlocked traffic. With the Sun Visor Theater, a multimedia center that replaces the passenger's sun visor in the car, the driver can easily see movies from behind the wheel.

Ok, we're only kidding about watching movies when you're sitting in traffic, no matter how tempting it might be. But the idea of such a compact and well-concealed media station in the car is an interesting one -- especially since this one is packed with features. It can play DVDs, CDs and Mp3s and has a TV receiver build in to it. On top of that, there is a USB port for your laptop. The 7" inch LCD gives great picture quality and has touchscreen capability, although there is also a remote control for convenience. Price: $300.

[via gizmodo]

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Tags: car, cars, dvd, gadget, media, sun visor, theather

Kapsel Media Center PC

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

It's white, it's cute, it's agreeably compact and looks like a Mac but it is actually the Kapsel Media Center PC and runs Windows Media Center Edition. The tiny ceramic shelled PC can be hung on a wall and positioned either horizontally or vertically on a table. It will use the Intel Viiv platform and is designed facilitate use of online music and video services, TV viewing and recording and in general is designed to be a living room computer to work in conjunction with your plasma TV to watch video in high def, rent movies and watch TV over the internet. The Kapsel comes with a remote control and remote keyboard. t was supposed to launch in March and I haven't been able to unearth a price on this one.

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Tags: computer, gadget, kapsel, media, media center, pc, shopping

Alu Media Wall

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

Out of wall space? Can't be bothered to call an electrician to hook up your new plasma screen TV? The Alu Media Wall eliminates both of those problems. It is a cast aluminum wall with a brushed silver finish that has all the wiring needed to hook up a plasma TV - and it can support TVs that are up to 47-inches and 185-lbs. The unit has two shelves that extend outward from the wall. The upper shelf, in the brushed aluminum, can double as a coffee table, but the lower glass shelf is best used for holding media equipment, like a TiVo, DVD player or stereo. Price: $1,258.20.