The popular Japanese phone strap retailer StrapyaNext started accepting pre-orders in Japan and US for one of the the coolest cell phone accessories around aka Street Fighter Joystick Cellphone Straps. These limited edition tiny Joy joysticks comes in four in four different versions- Ryu, Ken, Dhalsim, and Chun Li versions, play Street Fighter IV voice clips in response to the correct button command. I am a huge fan of the street fighter series and still play the original and also street fighter 4 with my buddies now and then. Only 1,000  each of these limited edition Joystick will be made making it a must have collectors item. These bad boys will be sold at the Ikebukuro Tokyu Hands shop, and at the Tokyo Game Show, for ¥1,260 ($13). Its a bad news for me though I can’t get my hands on these one. These tiny joysticks can play Street Fighter IV voice clips in response to the correct button command. For example, if you input down, right, and punch on the Ryu Real Voice Action Cell Phone Strap, it will play “Hadouken!” as shown in the clip below.

[source joystiq]

The Mini Cooper undoubtedly one of the most loved and largest selling small cars of all times.  It has been one of the largest selling BMW’s made popular by movies like Borne Identity and the Italian Job and the popular TV series Mr. Bean. The little car has its own fan following and continues to build a cult. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Mini Cooper the 50th Anniversary Mini Cooper USB Flash Drive will be introduced. The flash drive will be manufactured by a company named ZEROBASIC (Licensed by BMW AG and BMH). This sleek Mini Cooper USB Flash Drive 1-4GB (with working wheels) works like any other drive and can stores all your important documents or data. The USB plug is concealed in the trunk of the car and can be released by a switch on the underside similar to other flash drives. However the its trademark feature is of the drive is when its is plugged into your computer the headlights turn on, a signature touch reminiscent of any Official BMW accessories. It comes in 8 different colour options, like the standard Red and Red with White striped model, standard green and striped green, standard white and white with black stripes, standard black and black with white stripes. The Mini Cooper USB Flash Drive will be available at your nearest Mini dealership for nearly $10.

specification

USB 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 2.0 compliance support, plug and play
- Transferring rate up to 480Mbit per second
- 10 years data retention
- Minimum system requirements: Windows ME, 98, 98SE, 2000, XP, Vista, Mac OS 10+
- 1GB, 2GB and 4GB

for more details refer to manufacturers homepage.

[via everythingusb]

1. Danny Carey- Without doubt one of the best drummers around. With an amazing sense of odd time signatures and a knack of utilizing the entire drum kit in every song. His ability to play jazz grooves on rock songs is the key behind his odd time signatures. He has been playing with the band Tool for over a decade.

Danny Carey uses a custom Sonor kit made from his old Paiste cymbals. He uses Paiste Signature series cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Evans drum heads and Simmon SDX pads.

2. Jo Jo Mayer- One of the great independent Jazz drummers today. He is known for playing programmed jungle drum n bass music on the drum kit. He has mastered the Moellor technique and has developed his own style upon it and it is called “reverse engineering”, taken from the computer term.

Jo Jo Mayer uses Sonor Drums and Sabian cymbals. He has a collaboration with Sabian and has produced his own line of cymbals called Fierce cymbals.

3. John Blackwell- John Blackwell is a contemporary R&B and funk drummer. He has played as a drummer for artists such as Prince and Justin Timberlake. John studied music from Berklee School of Music in Boston.

John uses Tama Drums and Zildjian cymbals and sticks. He earlier use to use Sabian cymbals and Vater sticks.

4. Dennis Chambers- A legendary jazz-fusion and funk drummer who has played with musicians such as Santana, Mike Stern, John Scofield etc. He is known for playing “in the pocket”. His hallmark is the ability to be groove oriented despite playing with technically.

Dennis Chambers uses Pearl Drums and Zildjian cymbals.

5. Dave Weckl- Dave Weckl is one of the most highly acclaimed jazz drummers of today. He has worked with artists such as Paul Simon, Madonna, Michel Camilo etc. Known best for his work with the band Chick Corea Elektric Band. Dave took up the job of releasing many instructional videos and books.

Dave uses Yamaha drums, Sabian cymbals and Vic Firth sticks. He works will all three companies for new product designs. He came up with products such as Sabian’s HHX Evolution and HHX Legacy cymbal line.

• My Sassy Girl(2001)- I’ve been seeing this movie on and on and on, and i never get tired of it. I went online and did some research on it and it seems to be quite a popular movie. An all time favorite too. It’s based on a true story, and has been a great hit in South Korea. It’s a story about a college student, Gyeon- woo, who just isn’t doing too well in his love life until he comes across this girl, who is never named throughout the movie.

Gyewon is on the way back home and at the train station, he sees this drunk girl standing precariously at the edge at the platform as the train was coming. He manages to save her at the right moment. Throughout the journey, he can’t help but get amused by watching her swaying. Though he’s a little attracted to her, he’s disgusted ’cause she was drunk.

Now why i like ‘My Sassy Girl’ so much? It’s because of the unpredictability of the movie, the way the two of them acted was so touching, yet funny. There are only two main characters, and they managed to make it as funny and as adorably heartwarming as possible. Definitely a must see.

• The Classic(2003): Now, this movie,’ The Classic’, is made using a series of flashbacks, telling the parallel love stories of a mother and her daughter. The movie starts in the present time, where the daughter is cleaning up the house and she comes across a box of letters and a few photos that belonged to her mother. The story then flows into the past from a picture of a boy. The movie switches between the present and the past, showing both the love stories side by side.

It has a unique mix of humor, love, jealousy and friendship. The music for the movie is also quite heart warming, and at certain points, quite tears wrenching. Another must see.

• Windstruck(2004): This movie is about a female police officer, Kyung- jin Yeo, who is from the Seoul Police Department. The movie slowly starts with her chasing a purse thief. But at the end of the chase, she captures Myung-woo Go, a physics teacher at an all girls school, who was actually chasing after the thief. Later on, she is then given the job to patrol a dangerous district, where she almost tries to single-handedly take down two dangerous rival gangs. They kinda helped when the two gangs start firing at each other. The first half of the film, told from Myung-woo’s point of view, shows the couple’s growing attraction and love for each other, which ends with a trip to the countryside where Myung-woo tells Kyung-jin that if he were to ever to die, he wanted to come back to earth as the wind.

The movie, then takes a turn into the fantasy genre in its second half, when Myung-woo is accidentally shot and killed by another officer, although the situation is such that Kyung-jin thinks that it was her shot that killed him. Kyung-jin falls into a suicidal depression over his death and attempts to kill herself several times, finally almost succeeding when she throws herself off a building, only to be saved when a giant balloon floats under her. Finally, it winds up like in the American film, Ghost with Myung-woo and Kyung-jin communicating and sharing one final gesture of love before he moves on to the afterlife.

• My Tutor Friend(2003): My Tutor Friend is a movie about Kim Ji-Hoon and Choi Su-Wan both 21 years old and studying at the university. Su-Wan is in her second year at university while Ji-Hoon is still in the process of repeating his third year of high school. Su-Wan’s mother works in their family business, selling fried chicken. To help out, Su-Wan earns money by tutoring other children, but often gets fired after hitting the students .Her mother has a rich friend with a son in need of a tutor. The friend, Kim Ji-Hoon’s mother, wants a tutor that will make her son study so that he can pass his exams. This salary is able to pay for an entire semester (half of a school year) of Su-Wan’s college education. Ji-Hoon is always able to attract the girls and draw attention through his love of fighting.

As a child, Ji-Hoon was sent to America to study abroad. Due to this decision of his parents, the relationship between Ji-Hoon and his parents is strained. Ji-Hoon’s Father, Kim Bong-Man threatens to send him back to the USA if he continues to get into trouble with fighting and bad grades. To avoid being sent back to America, Ji-Hoon needs to get at least a 50% on the upcoming mid-term exams. The only problem is that his usual average mark was much lower than that. Will he make it? It’s comedy from beginning to end and it’s definitely a movie worth watching.

• 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant(2004): This movie is hilarious. Trust me, I’ve seen this over and over and it never fails to crack me up. It’s about a high school student, Ha-Young, who after dumping her boyfriend just before their 100 day anniversary, meets a college guy named Hyung-Joon when she accidentally kicks a can that hits him in the face and causes him to scratch his Lexus. He demands her to pay him $3000 on the spot. She escapes(so fast, she’s literally a blur…well…sort of)leaving her wallet behind.Soon, Hyung-Joon stalks her, demanding money to pay for his car. Since she is a poor high school student, Hyung-Joon writes up a “Enslavement Agreement” for Ha-Young in order to pay for the damage to his car. Ha-Young is thrown into a horrible, nightmarish slave life for 100 days, cleaning his house, running his errands, doing his homework and cleaning his car.By accident she finds out that the damage to Hyung-Joon’s car only costs $10! She then takes her revenge. However, before she knows it Hyung-Joon shows up at her house as her new tutor! He once again takes advantage of her, but soon Ha-Young finds herself falling head over heels for Hyung-Joon. But what happens when he drops out of her life just when she needs him most?

Well, this is my list of my personal favorite movies, which i would seriously suggest watching. Each movie that i have just listed out are unique in it’s own way, each with it’s own twists and turns, a huge amount of laughter and lastly, a bit of tears. Watch and have fun!!

When the world banking business failed miserably, it sent the world into the midst of an economic crisis. It all began when banks decided to give massive land loans on low interest rates. When the debtors could not write off the mortgage they decided to pull money out from the stock markets and that’s when the problem started. Now we are facing a world filled with expenses with a tight wallet. The crisis will eventually blow over someday but till then, there are ways in which we can be cost effective and save money. Here are five simple things to save money during the crisis.

1. When Possible, avoid you’re car- Try using you’re car less when you can, even though the gas prices are reducing. You can save alot of money on gas and because the car won’t be used as much your can save on maintenance. Walk to nearby places or cycle there or use public transport. It’s not as hard as it sounds, you will get used to it.

2. Cut entertainment expenses- You can save alot of money just by cutting your entertainment expenses. Instead of going out for a movie once a week try borrowing DVD’s from friends or read a book. Avoid going to expensive restaurants or generally eating out. Home cooked meals are more economical and at the same time healthier. Staying at home with family or friends can be equally fun.

3. Save on electricity- Avoid using lights in the daytime when possible. If you want to read a book and the natural lighting of the room is not efficient then you can go out to the balcony (provided the weather is good). When appliances are turned off but unplugged then they still drain electricity. Turn off things such as T.Vs, computer screens, microwaves, mobile chargers etc while not in use. Switch to CFL light bulbs, they are more economical than normal bulbs.

4. Be a smart shopper- If for the time being you can stop buying major labels then do it. Brands such as D&G, Christian Dior, Chanel etc may be high fashion but they are also high priced. Go for normal brands or use what you already have. While shopping at the supermarket look out for value packs or family packs, its not much of a saving but its a start.

5. Rent out a room- This is more on how to make some extra money. If you live in a big house then an extra room can always be rented to someone. Educate you’re self on renting so that you don’t give a room to a criminal or a con man. Do a proper credit and background check before giving out the room. If you don’t feel safe of confident enough to do it yourself then consult a property agent.

I think these few tips will help you out during these testing times. Happy Bargaining.