If you don’t know the CMJ music marathon takes place in NYC over the course of a week, at a number of different venues all around the city. Its not exclusive to hip hop music, but rather provides a showcase to new and upcoming artists from all genres. This years CMJ just recently passed, if you didn’t make it out to any of the shows, don’t fret, you can still get you hand on the Official CMJ mixtape. This mixtape however is entirely hip hop, mixed by Boston’s own DJ Statik Selektah & DJ Dutchmaster. Statik even has a go at rhyming on too, but don’t worry it’s not all Statik, the mix features the likes of Snoop Dogg, Skyzoo, Termanology, Royce, Drake, M.O.P., Consequence, Sean Price, Fashawn, Jadakiss, Fabulous + more

click here to download

1. “The Best” Statik feat. Reks, Termanology, JFK & Kali (produced by Statik Selektah)
2. “Crazy” M.O.P. feat Termanology (produced by Statik Selektah)
3. “Dinner Time” Royce Da 5′9 feat. Busta Rhymes (produced by Q Tones)
4. “Take Me To NY” Jadakiss (produced by Street Heat)
5. “The More I Get” Consequence feat. Rick Ross (produced by Statik Selektah & Consequence)
6. “Jaded” Statik Selektah feat. Joe Scudda, Truck North & Diz Giban (produced by Statik Selektah)
7. “Fear” Drake (produced by DJ Khalil)
8. “Never Let Go” Fabulous (produced by DJ Khalil)
9. “Journey” Cormega (produced by Large Professor)
10. “Protocol” Snoop Dogg (produced by Nottz)
11. “Oasis” A.G. & O.C. (produced by Statik Selektah) Dj Dutchmaster Mix…
12. “Intro: Dj Dutchmaster” Bekay & Donny Goines (produced by M-Phazes)
13. “Return Of The Real” Skyzoo (produced by Just Blaze)
14. “Foundation” M.O.P. (produced by M-Phazes)
15. “Little Young” Ace & Edo (produced by M-Phazes)
16. “Move Back” Sha Stimuli (produced by Just Blaze)
17. “Figure Four” Sean Price (produced by Blick)
18. “Life As A Shorty” Fashawn (produced by Exile)
19. “Bold And Arrogant” Emilio Rojas (produced by M-Phazes)
20. “New Money” Royce Da 5′9 (produced by Street Runner)
21. “Play By Play” One Dae feat. Evidence (produced by JBL the Titan)
22. “Bloodsport” Bekay (produced by Shuko)
23. “I Ain’t Trippin” El Da Sensei feat. Ghettosocks & Timbuktu (produced by The Returners)
24. “Trust No One” J The S (produced by DJ Ings)

We finally finished the carrying cases for Optikerne in Copenhagen. They orered 4 of the custom aluminium boxes. All of them featured our trademark crocodile and black leather band.

A close up of the engraved crocodile

A closeup of the crockodile engraved in the top.

The engraved crocodiles are actually designs for a sculpture by Royce Milaskey. 4 of them were cast in bronze in Hungray in 2004. They stand on marble bases about 2 meters high and feature either a blown glass lamp or propane flame. They can now be found in Sun Valley Idaho.

Rolls Royce could have an electric version of its Phantom super-luxury car on the road by the end of 2010 stated an inside company source to Autocar.

In a way, it doesn’t really matter to the global market if only a few number of these cars are produced. It’s not going to make a difference for the environment seeing as climate change is billions of tons of carbon!

But if you look at it in another way, it’s a good thing. It makes electric cars even more aspirational.  Rolls Royce definitely appeals to a different social group. Even though most people will never be able to afford a Rolls Royce “Phantom”, they are paying attention to the technology. Before people are going to buy a certain product they like to be confident in it’s ability to function. Hybrid cars went through that process. At first, most people were totally puzzled, but now they’re totally normal.

Opening a box of Royce' Pure Chocolate Mild Bitter and Extra Bitter...

I CAN put on the persona of a brooding melancholy young man like it’s nobody’s business.  I mean, next to Edward Norton.

And when I brood, I guess I tend to end up grumpy, cranky even.  I don’t intend to and I guess I’m oblivious to it because it took the Harryboy to point it out and snap me out of it: “Bakit parang ang sungit mo yata lately?”  (Why does it seem that you’re cranky lately?)

I realize that brooding’s a bitch.  And it travels through underwater fiber optics.  Sorry, Harryboy.

Anyway, for an instant shot of happiness – cheerfulness that bubbles to the surface, optional – I finally decided to open the box of Royce’ Pure Chocolate Mild Bitter & Extra Bitter that has been sitting in the fridge for a while now.  Open…  and finish it in one sitting!  My gosh, that was a lot of brooding that needed to be turned around!

A disc of Royce' Pure Chocolate 80% Mild Bitter

Now with a disc of the 90% Extra Bitter

These velvety smooth discs... were all soon gone.

The box contains discs of velvety smooth chocolate that are 80% and 90% pure cocoa.  Expectedly, the 80% chocolate was really mildy bitter, with just a touch of sweetness.  But it was the 90% chocolate that was unexpectedly pleasing.  Yes, it was bitter.  But as I chewed on, I got a shot of an almost cognac-like flavor that played in my mouth, coating my tongue.  It was such a tease.

With a box of chocolates, I realized that our expectations may sometimes sell us short.  I expected to enjoy the mildly bitter, but not the extra bitter one.  What could’ve been a fleeting moment of eating turned out to be a lesson that the expected sometimes pales in comparison to the unexpected.

The unexpected is what changes our lives.  Very much like the first text message I got yesterday morning.

Copyright © 2009 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

According to a report published by Autocar, BMW will give the green light to a project that will see a super-luxury version of  its Mini Cooper created by Rolls-Royce.

The report confirms news posted by CarAdvice back in June, and says that at least one prototype has already hit the road with the project likely to be revealed to the public by mid next year.

Following a trend that started in the 1960s, the super-luxury Mini will adhere closely to the same formula with an interior-only revision deemed worthy of the Rolls-Royce name.

We made it! Gravity Jones presents InfeRed’s brand new mixtape No Turn On Red. Pick your favorite file site to download from below the artwork…

InfeRed – No Turn On Red links: megaupload | rapidshare | sendspace | zshare | mediafire | limelinx | filefactory

Gravity Jones presents InfeRed’s 2009 mixtape “No Turn On Red.” MLKjr said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets, even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.” Tony ‘InfeRed’ Graves feels his path is leading him to record and perform honest music. If it’s true that your soul should speak truest and loudest through your actions, midwest rapper InfeRed’s soul preaches through every line. In the vein of some of Hip-Hop’s most candid and ground breaking artists, Red works with a passion and dedication to his lyrics and each message they encompass. He is often likened to Jay-Z, Common, Royce Da 5′9, Elzhi, and, more recently, Wale. Download the mixtape, analyze the lyrics, scrutinize the songs, love it and hate it. Peace and much love.

Also, check it out, rate it, comment on it at datpiff.

Please spread it like wildfire!! Feel free to copy any of the links, artwork, music, burn it onto cds, whatever…just get it out there!! Electric grass roots style…
Also, please let us know what you think…
and while you’re at it check the official video for the single
The Higher:

Peace, and much love!!!

Tracklist and link after the jump.

01.Styles P, Jadakiss and Jr. Reid – Invasion
02.Styles P, Noreaga and Uncle Murda – Pablo Doe
03.Nas feat. Dwayne Collins – Like Me
04.Royce 5′9 – Heat To The Streets
05.Busta Rhymes – Where My Money
06.Dead Prez, Styles P and Movado – Gangster Gangsta
07.Fabolous, Akon and Fat Joe – Im So Fly
08.Nas – Cops Keep Firing
09.M.O.P. feat. Styles P – Bangtime
10.Noreaga – High Speed Shootout
11.38 Special, Fever and Dwayne Collins – Streets Raised Me
12.Royce 5′9 – Been Shot Down
13.Jadakiss – Cant Stop Me (Remix)
14.Clipse feat. Jonny Polygon – Rainy Days
15.Dead Prez feat. Bun B – Grind
16.Nas – Election Night
17.Jay Z – Sweet (Remix)
18.Jonny Polygon – There Goes Jonny
19.Amanda Diva – Heartstrings
20.Adele feat. Jonny Polygon – Melt My Heart(Remix)
21.Solange feat. Wale – Fuck The Industry (Remix)

Download

Spotted at rapradar.com

Michael E. Porter defines a Strategic Group as ‘the group of firms in an industry following the same or a similar strategy along the strategic dimensions.’  This essentially means that a Strategic Group, within an industry, is a group of firms that operate in a similar fashion in terms of their respective Specialization and Vertical Integration. If we take the example of the Passenger Car Industry, a group of firms are characterized by broad product lines, heavy advertising, medium integration, extensive distribution, mass-market appeal and widely-available service, lets call this Group A, while another group of companies would be characterized as extremely narrow product lines, minimal, often no advertising, high integration, selective distribution and service and superior performance, lets call this Group B. The firms that fall in Group A, internationally, are to the likes of Hyundai, Ford, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Fiat, Toyota, Renault etc., while firms like Ferrari, Bugatti, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Maybach etc, belong to the latter group. Then there exists a group in between wherein performance meets mass-market appeal. This, Group C, would consist of firms like BMW, Audi, Daimler-Benz (Mercedes), Porsche, Alfa-Romeo, Nissan etc., which are a match between performance and luxury, and wide-appeal through narrow product lines. Another group of manufacturers, say Group D, such as Proton, Tata Motors, Maruti-Suzuki, Daihatsu, Mahindra & Mahindra, etc. exists which has most characteristics of the first group, barring an international appeal, meaning that manufacturers like these are broadly limited to their home countries and a few other countries, with product lines which are neither narrow nor broad, but have extensive distribution channels, at least in their home countries.  Firms in Group B are highly vertically integrated primarily because of the focus on quality in their products, which is essentially why most products from these firms are hand-built with in-house manufacturing of components unlike other groups where most, and in some cases, all components are purchased, ranging from the Chassis to the Design, and Automobiles are just assembled in the plants.

Interestingly, the Strategic Groups, as mentioned, also have a lot in common with market shares of these firms. While Group A firms tend to enjoy a high market share with their products with mass-market appeal internationally, Group B, on the other end of the spectrum, has firms with products of very limited appeal, primarily because of the exorbitant price tags. Group C firms have much smaller market shares than that of Group A, and have a middle-of-the-road appeal in terms of luxury and performance and price. Group D, on the other hand, consists of firms with large market shares in only a few markets, most commonly in the country they originate from. It is also interesting to understand the ownership patterns of firms across various Strategic Groups. Broadly, the largest Global players enjoy a presence, through one or more of their brands, in at least three of the four strategic groups. For example, Volkswagen Group has a presence in Group A with its Volkswagen brand, in Group B with Bugatti & Bentley, in Group C with Audi & Porsche, and in Group D with Skoda & SEAT. Similarly, Fiat Group has a presence in the three groups with Fiat in Group A, Ferrari in Group B and Alfa-Romeo in Group C. The benefits are primarily in the form of platform sharing and in effect, cost saving because of reduced Research & Development costs, Market Power and the sharing of critical components.

Industry Rivalry

Rivalry within a Strategic Group is likely to be more in industries where there is a great difference between product lines of firms, especially in terms of pricing. In the Automobile Industry, the rivalry among the firms within a Group is far greater than the inter-group rivalry, as opposed to an industry where the substitutes are very close and are available in plenty. The inter-group rivalry is at a far lower level internationally because of the scale and appeal of products of firms from different groups. On the customers’ part, there can be a shift from one group to another, especially when upgrading to a more expensive automobile, the firms effectively compete for customers in different market segments on their parts. For example, Ford does not compete with Ferrari, but it does, in some segments, with BMW, Audi & Mercedes. This is because Ford’s more expensive and less mass-market range of cars are in similar segments with BMW’s lesser expensive, more mass-market cars. So a Ford Focus would compete with a BMW 1-Series and not a BMW 7-Series as the target customers for both are poles apart. Similarly, firms from Group D can often compete with firms from Group A on a regional level, which is why we see Maruti-Suzuki competing with Ford, Fiat & Chevrolet because their target customers in the Indian market are broadly similar, but differ in the global context.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Different strategic groups enjoy different degreed of bargaining power of suppliers. In Strategic Groups where firms are primarily assemblers, the bargaining power of suppliers tends to be low primarily because of the scale of production of these firms. Often firms that operate in the mass-market enjoy market power because of their market share. This allows them to leverage their position to bargain with suppliers and have components customized for their use than that of other players. For example, Denso is a key supplier of Toyota to such an extent that Denso follows Toyota to whichever market Toyota enters. The bargaining power of Toyota over Denso is fairly high because of standardization of components and faster product development times across the industry because of which Toyota has the advantage of purchasing similar components from Bosch or Delphi. But because Denso is so dependent on Toyota for its revenues, it has to operate in a manner which suits Toyota, hence effectively lowering possibilities of serving another client. The existence of multiple-suppliers allows firms to pick and choose from a bouquet of firms and attain the lowest possible costs, keeping in mind the specification of the components in concern. In other strategic groups such as Group B, the bargaining power of suppliers is fairly high because of the focus on quality of the product. Most firms in Group B product most components of their cars and outsource only a few. The few components that they outsource come from specialist suppliers. The switching costs may not be very high, but the costs of customization of products to suit the manufacturer is very high because of the nature of the product.

Bargaining Power of Buyers

Bargaining power of buyers varies from group to group. Groups where mass-market players exist with minimal product differentiation have to deal with high bargaining power of buyers while groups with highly differentiated products enjoy low bargaining power of buyers. Strategic Group A, where firms are mass-market players with low product differentiation in most cases, have to deal with very high bargaining power of customers, primarily because of the availability of a plethora of options both from the same firm as well as from constituents of the Strategic Group. The bargaining power of buyers is slightly lower for Group C firms than that of Group A, because each Group C firm has a brand identity which is peculiar to that firm alone while others are close to achieving similar results, but are not widely known for the same. For example, BMWs are identified with their handling and performance, while Mercedes cars are identified as the more luxurious of the two. While customers pick between one of the brands, they have an agenda in mind while purchasing cars from this particular group. A customer who would like more performance than luxury is likely to go for one brand over the other, but at the same time, the customer also enjoys the presence of multiple players and can shift from one brand to another because the products are so close to each other in terms of specifications, features, luxury and performance. Firms in Group B enjoy low bargaining power of buyers, primarily because they have highly differentiated products with varied features and specifications. The products are normally either extremely high on luxury, or on performance. While all products in this strategic group are far more luxurious and better in performance than those in the other groups, they tend to have an inclination towards one side of the spectrum. While Rolls Royce cars are the epitome of luxury on wheels, Ferrari’s are the best performers of the lot, which is not to say Rolls Royce is archaic in terms of performance and Ferrari in luxury. The customers here have a clear-cut demand which can only normally be filled by one of the brands, which essentially goes to say that the bargaining power of buyers is low for Strategic Group B firms.

Threat of Substitutes

Substitutes to passenger cars are broadly based on the price points of the vehicles. While at the lower-end of the spectrum, substitutes are public transport and 2-wheelers, the higher-end of the spectrum only has air-travel as a substitute, which is only applicable for inter-city travel. Group A and Group D face the threat of substitutes such as 2-wheelers and public transport because of their price points. For example, the Tata Nano faces threat of substitutes by Motorbikes in India, especially for unmarried individuals, married without children and empty-nesters. The other threat to lower-end cars is Public Transport, primarily because of the limited spending capacity of the target customers of these products. Firms in Strategic Group B only face threat from substitutes such as Helicopters and Airplanes, the latter primarily for inter-city travel and the former for intra-city travel. The threat is low because of the scarcity of helipads in most parts of the world.

Threat of New Entrants

Threat of new entrants is low across the industry at a global level primarily because of the capital requirements for setting up of production facilities and distribution channels. The threat is low on a global level, but at a local level, threat in parts of the world is high. For example, in India, the threat of new entrants is at a medium level because of the absence of multiple global players. When these players decide to enter India, they can, and are willing to, spend Millions of dollars in setting up infrastructure to support their products. This is aided by a huge potential market for products of these firms, which are primarily members of Group A. Establishing of brands is also a very difficult task, especially for firms looking to enter Group B or Group C. Most firms in these groups have been present in the market for decades and have established their brands over years and years of existence and can hence charge a huge price tag for their offerings.

Reference:
Competitive Strategy, Michael E. Porter

New image in the colorless cars photography contest

…
Rolls Royce photography picture

2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe-742148 c 1024×768 wallpaper picture of 2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe-742148 c 1024×768
to view full size click 2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe-742148 C 1024X768 wallpaper ( 2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe-742148 C 1024X768 wallpaper )

2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe-716740 c 1024×768 image wallpaper of 2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe-716740 c 1024×768
to view full size click 2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe-716740 C 1024X768 image ( 2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe-716740 C 1024X768 image )

2009-rolls-royce-phantom-coupe c 1280×960 picture image of 2009-rolls-royce-phantom-coupe c 1280×960
to view full size click 2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe C 1280X960 picture ( 2009-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Coupe C 1280X960 picture )

2009-project-kahn-rolls-royce-phantom-drophead-2 c 1024×768 picture wallpaper of 2009-project-kahn-rolls-royce-phantom-drophead-2 c 1024×768
to view full size click 2009-Project-Kahn-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Drophead-2 C 1024X768 picture ( 2009-Project-Kahn-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Drophead-2 C 1024X768 picture )

2009-project-kahn-rolls-royce-phantom-drophead c 1024×768 photo image of 2009-project-kahn-rolls-royce-phantom-drophead c 1024×768
to view full size click 2009-Project-Kahn-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Drophead C 1024X768 photo ( 2009-Project-Kahn-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Drophead C 1024X768 photo )

2009-project-kahn-rolls-royce-phantom-2 c 1280×960 wallpaper picture of 2009-project-kahn-rolls-royce-phantom-2 c 1280×960
to view full size click 2009-Project-Kahn-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-2 C 1280X960 wallpaper ( 2009-Project-Kahn-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-2 C 1280X960 wallpaper )

2009-project-kahn-rolls-royce-phantom c 1280×960 image wallpaper of 2009-project-kahn-rolls-royce-phantom c 1280×960
to view full size click 2009-Project-Kahn-Rolls-Royce-Phantom C 1280X960 image ( 2009-Project-Kahn-Rolls-Royce-Phantom C 1280X960 image )