Simple the best Media Player their is.  Easy to use.  Pretty much plays any format you can find.  What more could you ask for.  Their words…

VLC media player – the cross-platform media player and streaming server

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, …) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.  VLC media player.

How many times have you been annoyed at how slow your Microsoft apps are and how useless and bloated all the features are.  Sometimes life just needs to be more simple… which is what makes Neo Office so great.  Pretty much everything you need from Microsoft but 5x faster and for free!!  Their words…

NeoOffice is a full-featured set of office applications (including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, and database programs) for Mac OS X. Based on the OpenOffice.org office suite, NeoOffice has integrated dozens of native Mac features and can import, edit, and exchange files with other popular office programs such as Microsoft Office.  NeoOffice Home

Pathfinder delivers on the idea of the Finder re-invented.  As the #1 thing you use on your computer, it has really been the leased progressed over the year.  Pathfinder take your work to a whole different level with all kinds of crazy and insightful tools.  Their words…

The Finder, reinvented

Path Finder is an award-winning file browser and management application for Mac OS X. If you’ve ever wished Apple’s Finder just did *feature X* or *Y*, Path Finder may be what you’ve been looking for.

Designed from the ground up to for speed and extensive system integration, Path Finder is a standalone application that leverages what you already know about working with your files.  Path Finder 5 by Cocoatech

Absoluately the best application for Mac people who have to have their icons THEIR way.  Themed, random – whatever.  Customize your machine pretty much anyway you like.  Their words…

Customize icons.  Change the Leopard icons you can’t… and more.

Panic – CandyBar 3

A pretty cool way to look at photos, videos and more on the web.  If only they could make it server side native so you didn’t have to have the application to use it.  Very Matrix like…  Their words…

Transform your browser into a lightning fast, cinematic way to discover the Web.  Cooliris

Excellent application that I use to keep track of all the random bits and bobs of information that I come across… on my macbook, my iPhone, from webpages, pics, files and text blurbs. Amazing.  Their words…

Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere.  Evernote.

I just upgraded to Mac Leopard and it’s pretty cool… but scary enough, the best day was when they upgraded Candy Bar from Panic which is an application that allows you to change and modify your icons, tools bars, etc. For the creative director in all of us. Well after hours of thought and meticulousness, my MacBook is totally upgraded – and almost unusable to those who don’t follow my thought pattern. Check it out…

Tony and SooYeon’s new Video Phone by Samsung. Me and EJ (upper right window) are talking with DongYeon adn SooYeon (bigger left window) – CRAZY!!

A beautiful Sunday afternoon and i headed to Big Site in Odaiba for the 2007 Winter Wonder Festival. I was put onto it by some of the designers that have done great work for Nike like Oka at Medicom toys and Yas who did White Dunk. The event is targeted toward independent and garage modelers, so you get to see a lot of interesting one of a kind models and toys. What i learned was that if you’re a model/toy supplier, it’s just plastic so the range of your product is that of your imagination. This was my first introduction to some of the true Japan Otaku culture and it was a blast. People come in droves – 10′s of thousands and some in costume to pay homage to their favorite characters. Come on my journey…

Their were your typical toys – one of my favorite fighting robots

I also found some quality and kind of edgy looking figures

They even had some funny (and freaky) toys like this pencil sharpener

Down the next aisle, things got a little more interesting… Sold Out?!?!!

And at one point, things just got a little crazy.
I know they’re just figures but damn!!! Some imagination here.

at many times it was a madhouse with photographers and fans trying to push and edge their way in to see their favorite design or art piece… but in typical japanese fashion, much of the group conducted their business in an orderly fashion. This is the line of photographers and fans waiting to snap their shot and be on their way.

and after weeding through much of the crap, i finally found him – GODZILLA!! the man of japan, the master of disaster. I have ton more pictures of him that i won’t bore you with but he made the whole trip worth it. It was definitely an interesting excursion and i can’t wait for the Summer show in August!!

For more pictures from people who had the patience to wait in line, go here.. For more on the people and the CosPlay (constume play), check out Akihabara News. enjoy!!