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...Is there still an avant-garde? A burning question which many people want to try and figure out an answer to is whether or not there is still an avant-garde that still exists today. There are numerous arguments in which attempt to clarify whether or not this is apparent in today's art or not. Avant-garde in French means advanced guard, front guard or vanguard. Many people often use the term to refer to either works or people that are navel or experimental, particularly in reference to art, culture, aswell as politics. A huge part of avant-garde is that of the Russian avant-garde which took place in the early part of the 20th century. The purpose of avant-garde is to push the boundaries of what is to be expected as the norm within definitions of art, culture and reality. An avant-garde mentality believes things arise from only... Read review

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Advantages: Updated information whenever you want it
Disadvantages: It (used to) take a lot of memory - until v4

...Now, I've got two hats on here. HAT NUMBER ONE: THE DEVELOPER I've developed a few AvantGo channels, the public one being the Media UK AvantGo channel - which takes our forum system and makes it available for you to read messages from our forums on the tube. Let me tell you - it's dead easy to write stuff for it. Really, dead easy. And it might be worth mentioning that AvantGo are looking at selling advertising on your handheld channel, too, so that it even earns money. The documentation's brilliant - the support team very helpful - and I think they're fab. HAT NUMBER TWO: THE USER AvantGo uses most of my little Palm V's memory. I love it to bits. On there at the moment, since you asked, are: Media Guardian New Media Age The Onion Wired News ...and two I've fiddled myself... a tube travel information page (which is very... Read review

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Advantages: Your news quickly, customisable, space-conscious, portable content
Disadvantages: Can't read fancier web sites, but who cares...

...I've been using AvantGo for a few weeks now, and boy I'm sold! This is almost worth owning a Palm/Handspring device for on its own! What AvantGo does is let you subscribe to certain specially-formatted 'channels'. Channels could be the equivalents of existing web sites re-done for PDA viewing, or specifically made for the PDA. Up-to-date content is collected and saved onto your PDA when you synch as frequently or infrequently as you request (customisable for each channel). At the same time, it automatically discards old pages, so using the least space possible. You can then read the info at your leisure, in the bath, in bed, on the train... But what's so fantastic is the range of stuff you can get... Okay, there's news from Guardian, media Guardian, Ananova, ZDNet, VNUnet. I've also saved down maps to help me locate hotels in other... Read review

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Advantages: Style, quality feel, admiring glances, 7 seater option
Disadvantages: Expensive dealer network

...I am now on my second A6 Avant 1.8T so I guess you could say that speaks for itself, but company car policy dictates I drive an Audi. I bought the first one in Germany and imported it and was treated like traitor by Audi (UK). Unfortunately, I had plenty of dealings with them as the car filled up with water inside every time it rained. This in turn found its way into the electrics and all sorts of problems ensued. It took nearly two years to get fixed and in the end I had to drive it back to where I bought it....in Germany. Thanks again Audi UK. I have just taken delivery of a UK spec'd and delivered A6 Avant 1.8T SE that has an unusual extra. 7 seats. I also own an Espace, but I needed something a bit nippier to transport the kids around. No luggage space with the kiddies seats in the boot, but I'm used to that. You can take the last... Read review

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Advantages: Well built, comfortable
Disadvantages: Struggles when loaded

...I have recently completed 6 months running of an Audi Avant 1.8SE and certainly found it a very pleasant car to drive. Everything is very solid, it all works very well and looks good. I love the A4 Avant external view and with the alloy wheels and metallic paint it looks even better. Inside its all a bit grey and I'm not sure whether I would still love it quite so much after say 5 years. The engine is fine in everyday usage, its a bit noisy when pressed but cruises beautifully and returns reasonable economy even when pushed hard. I completed over 2500 miles across Germany to Prague and was consistently running at 100mph plus; overall I got 28mpg which considering it was loaded with 5 adults and a fair bit of luggage was very pleasing. However this brings me to my only serious drawback; the engine is fine when there is 2 people aboard... Read review

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Advantages: The Internet in your handheld for FREE!
Disadvantages: none

...Get news, sports, movie listings, maps, stock quotes, weather and much more on your handheld device or Web-enabled phone. For the last year I have been using AvantGo.com to download all this and more to my handheld; it is easy to set up, and it is FREE! The idea is simple. Log on to avantgo.com and register. Select the UK site for UK specific content and then choose which channels you want to be downloaded to your Palm OS handheld. Each channel has a description, and lets you know the maximum memory it will use on your Palm. When you HotSync your Palm, the content is downloaded in a couple of minutes so that you can read it offline wherever you are. Your chosen channels can be deselected at any time from the handheld or online, and new channels can be added from the AvantGo website. I have to admit that I do not always read... Read review

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Advantages: Plenty of content, easy to install, quick syncing process
Disadvantages: drawbacks of having to read it on a Palm...

...... Not me, I just AvantGo! I had always wondered if AvantGo was going to just be a passing fad, having originally signed up to the service in August 2000, when it was the closest you could get to 'net content on your Palm - and amazingly over two years a go it still has a stranglehold, and one that doesn't look like it will be surrendered in a hurry or without a struggle. AvantGo is a free mobile web clippings service, or at least it is a freeware piece of software giving you access to content from various providers, some of which in turn do charge subscription fees, although there is a lot of free content. I "rediscovered" AvantGo recently as a useful solution to a personal need. In October I started work on the translation team of a company who send content to various companies and provide a press monitoring service, for names like... Read review

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Advantages: The best looking estate car on the market
Disadvantages: hard suspension

...I am on my second A6 Avant 1.9 TDI SE... The first one did 135,000 miles without much of a fuss. It was an '99 one, so only 110 BHP, i.e. not particularly quick but you just forget that when you look at it from the outside or sit inside (and it was returning 53 MPG). The Audi aluminium paint completely stands out from other silver cars, and the shape of the A6 Avant is in my view the absolute pinnacle of all estates. Inside the trim was 'royal blue', with velvet seats, blue dashboard, champagne aluminium inserts etc. It just feels special. And the always-illuminated red backlit dials are just beautiful and relaxing, don't know why they abandonned that on the new ones. Now I have a '03 one in crystal blue, with a blue interior (i.e. dashboard and seats), new 130 BHP engine (5 speed gearbox), and it is a very different car. It has about... Read review

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Advantages: Wonderful Avante-Garde music/film
Disadvantages: Not to the liking of everyone

...Decasia by Michael Gordon might not be everybody's cup of tea. It is, after all, what might be described as a quintessential piece of avant-garde music. Decasia is a piece of highly original music that was especially composed to provide backing for an avant-garde movie by film maker Bill Morrison. Indeed, without seeing the supporting movie, I fear that the listener to Decasia would miss out. On the DVD release there is a special interview with both Michael Gordon and Bill Morrison. The interview is fascinating as it is clear that Gordon had really enjoyed himself when he was writing the music and when it is performed! The film is made up from old nitrate film stock that is slowly decaying as the chemicals used to fix it degrades. Decasia debuted in Basle, Switzerland in 2002 with a 50 piece orchestra made up of members... Read review

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Advantages: Original, powerful, ground-breaking album
Disadvantages: Not "immediate" if you need your music to be catchy

..."Oceanic" is about as appropriate a name as one could possibly think of for this album by avant-garde post-metal band Isis, from 2002. Think of the breadth and power of the ocean, the depth and mystery of the water, and Isis have- perhaps unwittingly, perhaps not- given this album a name that sums up their sound pretty much perfectly. What makes this piece of work particularly interesting is that it captures the band at a time which forms a bridge between their earlier, more "hardcore" phase, and their later, even more polished and avant-garde direction. They had by this point evolved from being a heavier-than-anything (and quite shouty) metalcore band, into an outfit that were no longer afraid to evolve and show progressive, experimental touches to their music. Many of these tracks are by no mans short. "Weight", for example, is over... Read review

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