360 DEGREES Weblog

If you really want your dork friends to feel Home, try these doormat’s from UnCommonGoods.

The deadline for the Best Job in the World may have passed weeks ago, but those looking for a contest-based change of career needn’t fear: a new one was just announced that promises the chance to become an airplane pilot.

Malaysian airline AirAsia recently launched the “So You Wanna Be a Pilot?” contest, by which it’s offering 10 people the chance to become a pilot. No experience or training is necessary; all contestants must do is submit a blog entry between 1 April and 15 May explaining why they deserve the opportunity. They must also meet a set of minimum requirements, such as being aged 18 to 28, having a good command of both English and Bahasa Malaysia, and having a minimum height of 163 cm. Ten winners will be selected, entitling them to attend the first round of selection for AirAsia’s new pilot intake program and spend a day with a select group of pilots at AirAsia Academy. A place in the pilot training program is not guaranteed, but applicants will have a chance to dig further into the profession and maybe even have a go at computer pilot simulation series. “The road after this is yours and yours alone,” the site explains. “We will pave the way but you have to do the running till the end.”

Whereas the Best Job in the World was designed to focus attention on the Great Barrier Reef Islands, AirAsia’s program is more of a fresh twist on the traditional recruitment process. And if that twist can work for hiring new pilots, what’s to say it couldn’t be used—with varying degrees of modification—to find your next blogger, marketing manager or sysadmin?

Thanks Springwise

Christophe Claret just released the new limited edition of 63 pieces DualTow watch. Each piece is customizable by the buyer. Meaning you can have it in a series of colors and materials, which comes with spending probably around $300,000 or more on the watch. To customize the watch, you enter the DualTow Configurator on the website and select from the options (it is fun, do check it out). There are a few interesting complications in this highly unique watch. First, a few facts about the timepiece itself. The watch is 42.75mm wide by 48.2mm tall. The lugs move to wrap around your wrist, while large sapphire crystals cover the front and rear of the watch, while smaller crystals provide for side view into the movement. The dial of the watch is skeletonized, with cut jewels (that match other trim colors of the watch) around the periphery of the dial. The case is available in white or rose gold, platinum, or PVD coated titanium.

The manually wound movement is an ultra complex tourbillon with mono-pusher chronograph consisting of 582 parts alone, and with 73 jewels. The tourbillon rests in the lower part of the dial, while the planetary gear based 12 hour chronograph resides in the top portion of the case. The planetary gear used for the chronograph is similar to a column wheel. Then there is the “DualTow” portion of the watch used to tell the time. It is really much like a “5 minute clock” in the sense that the time is digitally displayed to the nearest five minutes. The minute and hours are placed on two rubber belts (in many color options) that are pulled by the movement. It is a clever concept for such a watch. The person wearing it probably has no need for the precision of ‘to the minute’ accuracy – but if they do, they can always use the chronograph. One little touch I like is that the arms used to hold up the time windows that go over the belt are angled in the fashion that the hands in almost every watch ad are placed – which is for and optimal symmetrical look and a sense of uplifting optimism.

Some of the world’s most beautiful yachts are having a tough time selling right now. Mariu is a stunning 163-foot yacht that has berths for 12 guests that was originally built for Giorgio Armani and has an interior done in Armani’s sleek minimalist style. The yacht was built by Codecasa in 2003 and was available for charter for a time. The yacht is for sale with Large Yacht Solutions and Malcolm MacLean reports that she has had a price reduction from €23.8 million to €19.95 million. Check out the yacht website here and have a look at it’s stunning interior.

This is a big year for both famed British auto marque Aston Martin and one of our favorite brands, classic London-based men’s clothing company Hackett, official partner of the GT1 works Aston Martin Racing team. In June Aston Martin aims to win this year’s Le Mans race outright, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of racing legend Carroll Shelby’s stunning overall victory at Le Mans in an Aston Martin DBR1, with its incredible new LMP1 racecars. Hackett provides official Aston Martin Racing Team clothing and sells a range of licensed apparel and accessories, including the super-stylish Hackett Aston Martin Racing Moto Plan biker style jacket (above) for £300.00, bearing the number 59 for Shelby’s 1959 victory.

Hackett, founded in 1979, is a classic British clothing and accessories brand which “caters for the head to toe needs of men of all ages who wish to dress stylishly and to whom quality is more important than the vagaries of fashion.” The brand takes its inspiration from the traditions of British dress without being old fashioned and as such its products are “evolutionary rather than revolutionary.” As founder Jeremy Hackett says, “our clothes wear in not out”. In addition to a total of 29 shops across the UK, Spain and France, Hackett is now represented in 15 European countries, Hong Kong and Dubai.
The Le Mans race “epitomizes the true values of racing; endurance mixed with the thrill of speed and a certain savoir faire,” Hackett notes. The two Aston Martin Racing LMP1 cars vying for victory this year will sport the iconic Gulf colors of light blue and orange, colors with a fine tradition at Le Mans as well as being immortalized by Steve McQueen in the famous film Le Mans. In addition to Aston Martin, Hackett also sponsors the London Rowing Club and the British Army Polo Team.

Jeremy Hackett is also known as “Mr. Classic,” the title of his regular column for the London Independent on Sunday, which airs his witty, incisive views and observations on fashion and style. In 2007 he published a compilation of his columns accompanied by lavishly photographed style tableaux. Mr. Classic the book is a must-have for any man who takes sartorial matters seriously. As the publishers describe it, Hackett “takes us on a Grand Tour of an appealing world of Bentleys and polo, bicycles and picnics, bow ties and Sussex Spaniels, top hats and bespoke luggage.”

There is that inner voice lead by the prevailing opinion that advises to save up for black days – Of course, that’s definitely the most uneconomical strategy these days. The smart man invests in the future, and Tesla’s recently unveiled Model S confidently heralds the next generation of all electric vehicles, and maybe someday the future of automobiles. The Model S is a refined luxury sedan with serious futuristic design lines that further aim to maximize usability through maximizing interior volume. The car’s smooth sloping roof line and clear visual impact goes further to the interior that seriously convinces with a 17-inch touchscreen control panel smoothly arranged besides a futuristic full-digital dashboard in contrast to classic vegetable tanned Italian leather linings. Touted the future, the Model S features the QuickCharge ability allowing to rapidly recharge the battery pack that fully loaded runs up to 300 miles with some serious performance facts – a zero to 60 sprint in 5.6 seconds, and a top speed of 120mph. $ 50.000

We could probably all use some financial advice these days, which is why we’re reading the simple process offered up in I Will Teach You To Be Rich ($8). Written by Ramit Sethi, who also runs an excellent accompanying blog, this 266-page next-generation financial handbook will get you on your way to better money management and wealth-building through basic, easy-to-follow tips.

The Gansevoort Hotel brand is opening its first island resort officially next month: Gansevoort Turks & Caicos. The hotel is located along the western section of Grace Bay Beach on Providenciales. Gansevoort Turks & Caicos is a 91-room property built around the 7,000 square foot infinity-edge swimming pool which has “lounging islands” for daytime sunbathing or romantic nighttime candlelit canoodling.

The resort has a fitness center, Bagatelle restaurant and beach lounge and the Exhale spa. Packages start at $295 per night but for big spenders you can opt for the high roller package which includes a three-bedroom penthouse stay, daily continental breakfast, catamaran excursion, day of golf, two 60 min massages at Exhale Spa, a bottle of Dom Perignon and chocolate covered strawberries upon arrival and two monogrammed Gansevoort TC bathrobes starting at $2,500 per night.

Landing a day earlier than predicted, Skype’s official iPhone client will show its green ‘n’ white face in the App Store tomorrow. Free Skype-to-Skype calls, SkypeOut support, pretty interface integration (they went with the iPhone aesthetic over the Skype desktop aesthetic) and instant messaging to other users. You can even snap a profile picture from within the app. The app will also support 2G iPod Touches with external mics.

First unveiled in Geneva and New York on March 3, 1969, TAG Heuer’s iconic Monaco chronograph caught the watchmaking world by storm. The chronograph was worn by the cinema legend Steve McQueen in the racing feature “Le Mans” and after that, it became an icon of sporting glamour. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic chronograph, TAG Heuer will be reissuing in June the Monaco chronograph as a limited edition timepiece. The new 2009 collection of the chronograph will come fitted with a TAG Heuer “Calibre 12″ automatic movement. Taking inspiration from the original design, the limited edition chronograph will feature a sapphire crystal glass and a glossy case back. Other features include a dark blue alligator strap and stylish silver and blue dial with red hands. Moreover, it bears the original Heuer logo, which is bordered on the dial by two silver counters at 3 and 9 o’clock.