1980s

Microsoft’s Fashion Statement — In a move that somehow seems simultaneously inevitable and unneccesary, Microsoft has released a line of T-shirts–which, of course, it’s calling Softwear. They feature 1980s-era graphics with the old-school Microsoft logo which nobody has given any thought to in the past 15 years, were designed in collaboration with rapper Common, and show up in stores [...]... [Tags: 1980s, collaboration, fashion statement, microsoft, microsoft logo]

The Keys to a Happier Life — This is Ron Knights’s submission for the HP Magic Giveaway. Feel free to leave comments for this article as you see fit - your feedback is certainly welcomed! If you’d like to submit your own how-to, what-is, or top-five list, you can send it to me. Views and opinions of this writer are not necessarily my own: I’d like to begin this essay by saying that I’m not currently an expert on the issue, nor am I a classic example of success. But I have achieved the goal at times, and plan to be there again. Life is so much... [Tags: 1980s, depression, fitness staff, friendliness, grocery shopping]

There is quite a bit of sturm und drang about TechMeme's decision to stop relying purely on its secret algorithm sauce and hire a human editor to help make sure more relevant news tops the popular technology news site. Founder Gabe Rivera said today in a blog post: "Only an algorithm would feature news about Anna Nicole Smith's hospitalization after she's already been declared dead, as our automated celeb news site WeSmirch did last year." Point taken, but not accepted by uber tech blogger, TechCrunch's Mike Arrington, who argues that a human interloper may improve the site but will... [Tags: 1980s, algorithm, anna nicole smith, beats, blogger]

Ex-WorldCom Chief Ebbers Seeks Clemency From Bush — Imprisoned former WorldCom Inc chief Bernard Ebbers has joined the list of high-profile corporate defendants petitioning for clemency in the final days of President George W. Bush's term in office. Ebbers, convicted of orchestrating an $11 billion accounting fraud, joins former publishing mogul Conrad Black and 1980s-era financier Michael Milken in seeking clemency.... [Tags: 1980s, accounting fraud, bernard ebbers, clemency, conrad black]

Why This Famous Raider Is Scooping Up Debt [Voices] — By Lawrence C. Strauss, Contributing Writer, Barron’s What a difference two decades makes. In the 1980s, Carl Icahn loomed large as a corporate raider, in the mold of the Gordon Gekko character in the movie Wall Street. Icahn made a lot of money but was vilified for what some considered a slash-and-burn approach to taking over companies. Twenty years later, Icahn has morphed into a shareholder activist and rails against what he considers to be incompetence among senior executives and on boards. “They call me raider. They call me an activist,” says Icahn, who, at 72, shows no sign of... [Tags: 1980s, barron, carl icahn, corporate governance, corporate raider]

Celebrity Art — Is nothing sacred? Linda Yablonsky asks:... how often does a work sell on the strength of an artist’s personality alone? “Most collectors are unaffected by artists’ personalities,” says [Mary] Boone. “They only care about the art.” But Donald Baechler has observed just the opposite. Through his friendship with such collectors of his art as Yoko Ono, Baechler has been bumping up against celebrity ever since his paintings of dripping ice-cream cones and long-stemmed roses hit the market in the early 1980s. “I met George Condo then, and it seemed to me people were taken with him before they were with... [Tags: 1980s, art critic, celebrity art, donald baechler, friendship]

Alternative Fuel Crops Will Kill You [Day Of The Triffids] — A remake of British flick Day of the Triffids promises to restore the monster plant genre to its rightful place after the upset of The Happening. The new Triffids, a 3-hour BBC miniseries, has a few interesting twists on the original book, as well as the early-1980s BBC version of the tale about a meteor shower that blinds nearly everyone in the world. Being blind, of course, leaves everybody vulnerable to large, flesh eating plants. While the 1950s novel hints that the plants may be some kind of Soviet experiment, the subsequent BBC series makes it clear they're GMO... [Tags: 1950s, 1980s, 60s, alternative fuel, bbc]

Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade: Rick Astley performs his own Rickroll — The ultimate Rickroll or the death knell of a internet fad that has long ceased to amuse? Rick Astley was the surprise star of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York emerging from the back of a float to sing his 1980s hit Never Gonna Give You Up.... [Tags: 1980s, death knell, fad, macy s thanksgiving day parade, rick astley]

Chris Mendoza x Ray-Ban Wayfarers — by Ariston Anderson Until Barnstormer Chris Mendoza teamed up with Ray-Ban to custom paint 100 pairs of Wayfarers in his inimitable style, nothing would've torn me away from my trusty black ones. Chris's personal history with the brand dates back to his childhood when he'd see them on his father, who played for the Nicaragua national football team. The senior Mendoza, a close friend of Pele, defined hip for the young artist with his Wayfarers. And nothing much has changed. The $250 version that Chris came up with pays tribute to 1980s graffiti, is available in red, black and white... [Tags: 1980s, 5pm, ariston, barnstormer, gift of sight]

1988 Porsche 924 S [Down On The Street] — Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. It's Porsche Day today, and we're getting our very first 924. So far we've seen one 356, a few 912s, a bunch of 911s, some 914s, a couple of 928s, and a pair of 944s (plus a faux Speedster), so it's about damn time I found one of these. They were still making the 924 in 1988? Yes, the 944 hadn't totally pushed its cheaper sibling aside as the 1980s drew to a close, though 1988... [Tags: 1980s, 924s, 928s, 944s, alameda california]

Nice Price Or Crack Pipe: The $25,000 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z? [Nice Price Or Crack Pipe] — Yesterday, 68% of voters felt that $129,900 was too much to pay for a 4-year-old lemon-law-buyback Maybach 57, which is doing pretty well according to the harsh standards set by Nice Price Or Crack Pipe. Today we'll be considering a super-low-mileage, near-showroom-condition Dodge Daytona… but we're not talking about the kind of Daytona with the big wing and U-joint-bustin' V8. No, we mean the K-car-based Daytona Turbo Z, which is pretty much the concentrated essence of 1980s style. It's got lots of plastic body parts. It's got the word "Turbo" printed in multiple locations. It's got 142 factory horsepower, and... [Tags: 1980s, body parts, capitalization, car seller, car worth]

GMTV's Ben Shepherd to host ITV's The Krypton Factor — ITV has confirmed that GMTV presenter Ben Shepherd is to front revamped 1980s gameshow The Krypton Factor. By Leigh Holmwood... [Tags: 1980s, gmtv, holmwood, itv, krypton factor]

Turkey Shoot — TECH BUZZ: A Thanksgiving variation of the popular 1980s Nintendo game Duck Hunter. Try to shoot as many turkeys as you can. The level of difficulty is control by how many glasses of Sherry you've drunk. It's like a 2.0 version of Duck Hunter, only with Turkeys and Sherry. What's your high score? Contribute: Add an image, link, video or comment » The Best Links: Play Turkey Shoot!... [Tags: 1980s, best links, buzz, duck hunter, glasses]

RJ Eskow: Is the Crisis Your Fault? or, Epochal Events On the Easy Credit Plan — Josh Marshall links to a piece by Fareed Zakaria which begins this way:Some of us--especially those under 60--have always wondered what it would be like to live through the kind of epochal event one reads about in books. Well, this is it. We're now living history, suffering one of the greatest financial panics of all time.I'm under 60 and I don't understand the age reference.  What happened during the ten years between 1948 and 1958 (for example) that's more historic than the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam war, the 1968 uprisings, the fall of the Soviet Empire, the invention of... [Tags: 1980s, bad habits, better tv, cuban missile crisis, epochal]

The US Economy Is Shrinking, But It Isn't Alone — Today the revised gross domestic product report came out, and it showed that the United States economy shrank by 0.5 percent in the third quarter. How does this compare to other countries? A lot of big economies are contracting. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development today predicted "the most serious recession since the early 1980s." Here are just some of the developed countries that have been declared to be in a recession and/or whose G.D.P.'s shrank in the third quarter: Japan, Eurozone, Italy, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland and Iceland.... [Tags: 1980s, developed countries, economic cooperation, eurozone, germany]

OECD Sees Worst Recession Since 1980s — The financial crisis will likely push the world's developed countries into their worst recession since the early 1980s, said the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.... [Tags: 1980s, economic cooperation, financial crisis, oecd, organization for economic cooperation and development]

Race Bigotry Falling In Britain, Study Finds — Racial prejudice in Britain has been declining sharply in Britain since the 1980s thanks to the greater tolerance of younger generations, according to a new study. The research finds that social contact with black or Asian Britons is becoming increasingly unremarkable to white people in their 20s and 30s.... [Tags: 1980s, bigotry, britons, generations, racial prejudice]

1980s-style pin clock for unrepentant yuppies, cenobites — Remember Pin Art, the classic 1980s executive toy that invariably depicted a handprint or the side of someone's face? Now they make a clock that displays the time in similar fashion. It has 3,000 pins, requires D-cell batteries, and costs a still $70. You Can Hear a Pin Clock [Uncommon Goods]... [Tags: 1980s, cell batteries, executive toy, fashion, handprint]

Yubz Talk Mobile: Possibly the biggest telephone receiver for cell phones ever — I am not really sure if anyone needs this but Tokyo-based design company Powershovel is selling a very special kind of telephone receiver [JP], you know, the ones you can only see in old movies. The devices, probably last used in the free world in the 1980s, are called Yubz and can be connected to most Japanese handsets. In fact, in the online shop [JP], Powershovel even claims the earpieces can be used with all existing cell phones except for Nokia and Motorola models. The receivers cost $65 each and are available in black, yellow, pink, red, white and... [Tags: 1980s, cell phones, earpieces, handsets, japan]