Hasta La Gadget!

Philip Sossou, you’re doing our school proud.

The senior at the prestigious Boston Latin School has garnered tremendous praise for his gift to the Class of 2016: hand-drawn portraits of each of his 411 classmates, all displayed throughout the corridors of the cherished and controversy-plagued school.

This gesture was more than just a display of Sossou’s tremendous artistic talent: as the Boston Globe notes, it was an attempt to diminish the divisions at Boston Latin, which is currently under federal investigation after reports of rampant racism at the iconic institution:

“Our class has been kind of divided,” said Sossou, an 18-year-old. “Having these pictures helps us to embrace our diversity.”

Latin School has been mired in negative news after allegations of racism surfaced, with students of color complaining that administrators were slow to respond to the use of racial epithets at the school.

The drawings — taped above the school’s purple lockers, near doorways, and along the hallway — aim to change a negative narrative around Sossou’s beloved school, he said.

The portraits — gleaned from Facebook posts and shots from Sossou’s smartphone — show seniors in their element, and came as a bolt out of the blue to most of them. One student is cuddling a cat, another flashed a peace sign, nearly everyone had a smile.

“I was trying to show everyone in a positive light,” Sossou said…

Sossou — bound for Bunker Hill Community College this fall and later, he hopes, the University of Massachusetts Amherst to study computer science — said that when he began the project, he just wanted to get better with charcoal.

“But after that, the whole thing became altruistic,” he said.

Soon, he had drawn 50 portraits and then 100, then 200. He worked when he could, taking extended breaks only twice since early February before finishing up last week.

“There were times that I wanted to stop,” he said. “I thought they probably are not going to appreciate this because we are so divided.”

Thank goodness he didn’t stop. While art cannot end racism–heck, the election of an African-American president couldn’t accomplish that lofty goal, contrary to the
dishonest arguments of syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker–it can certainly help to soften the hard lines that divide us. It takes courage to try to heal the racial wounds that cover the body of Boston Latin–and this young man is as courageous as he is talented.

As a 1995 graduate of Boston Latin, I’ve been horrified by the reports of a deteriorating racial climate at the school. Those who opposed the the mid-1990s legal effort to eliminate policies intended to foster diversity at Boston Latin warned that if those policies were struck down by the federal courts, black and Hispanic students who made it into Boston Latin after the elimination of those policies would find themselves under siege. This has now happened, and I can only imagine the amount of racial hostility Sossou faced during his years at the school. Clearly, he has overcome it–but it was an obstacle that never should have been placed in his way to begin with.

I can’t help noting that the individual who spearheaded the legal effort to eliminate diversity policies at Boston Latin noted years ago that the actual plaintiff in the first of the two cases that led to Boston Latin’s current racial strife–the individual’s own daughter–felt very strongly that merit, not race, should be the deciding factor in admissions to the school, and that “If I won the race, I should get the medal.”

Two decades later, it’s clear that Philip Sossou has won his race, having faced obstacles the plaintiff in that case couldn’t even imagine. He deserves a medal too. A medal of honor.

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Once you’ve used a product for a while, you notice little things that you would personally want to change to improve it. This is why there are so, so many different products available for just about everything you could think of. When it comes time to buy a new set of headphones, you not only have to decide how much you’re willing to spend, but what sort of functionality you’re looking for. Do you want over-the-ear, ear hooks, ear buds, something tiny, something HUGE? If you like working out and need something that will accommodate all the time you spend in the gym sweating it up, but can also function for everyday use, you might want to look into the Aircom A3 Headphones.

There are 4 versions of this product available, ranging in price from $29.99-59.99, named the A1, A3, A5, and JM Stereo Headphones. The A1 is for everyday music lovers, while the A3, the pair we’re looking at today, have a better seals and fitting options for those who like to be active. The A5 has wood components for better sound, and the JM are stereo, take on aspects from the A3, and are a bit flashier.

Look:

The cable is a matte rubber casing to help prevent tangling, and measures about 4.5 feet long. The top two feet of the cable separate off to lead to the left and right ear buds. Beneath the point of separation is a metal band with Aircom written in white on the side. On the left line, there’s an in-line microphone with an on/off switch for answering or ending calls and pausing or playing music. Just above this on both sides are the drivers which are encased in plastic with a silver band of metal around its center. Leading to the ear buds are air-filled hollow tubes which let the sound travel up to the ear buds. The buds are primarily plastic, except for the backing which is metal with the diamond-shaped Aircom logo on the back.

What it does:

The big selling point of these headphones are the hollow tubes with the speakers not being in the actual earbud as the space it travels through will give you more of a “live” sound. Not only does this mean you can sweat up a storm, but also that you can submerse the ear buds in a cleaning solution to get all of that disgusting wax out after a run. Don’t lie, we’ve all almost had a candle in there at some point. The backs of the buds are magnetic, and will click together so you can wear them around your neck when you need your ear holes to be open.

Performance:

These headphones are meant for those with an active lifestyle, and don’t want the hum of the world around them to get in the way of their hulk session. Since I was using these with the intent of reviewing them, I tried my best to get them to knock out while exercising, but to no avail. I used the smallest of their ear bud sizing options, and was happy to find that they not only had options for the bud, but for the ring seal as well. Thankfully it wasn’t an absolute nightmare to change them out too.

Since I personally don’t like to hang my headphone cables around my neck, the magnetic feature wasn’t useful in the intended way for me. However, it provided me mindless entertainment clicking and unclicking them together because I take joy in the small things in life. The other big pull for these headphones was the air tube, and while the quality of the music came through just fine, they brought on an unexpected surprise sound-wise.

I scared myself silly a time or two by touching the air tube at random, since that’s where the sound is coming through, any bump or brush against them came through a bit louder than I was expecting, much like a stethoscope. Since I sometimes fiddle with my cables when sitting at my desk, I also found that pressing the tube cuts off the sound (hi-ho logic). The air tubes actually made wrapping them a bit strange as well due to the change in cable size and the speakers being in a different place, but it wasn’t an impossible task, just less visually satisfying. None of these are complaints, it’s more of letting you know that these are things that will happen. The sound was quite “roomy”, as I believe that’s the best way I can describe it. While the bass could’ve given a bit more in my opinion, it’s not a deal breaker.

Conclusion:

They do their job, and they do it well. There were a few new aspects for me with the air tubes, but after the first few uses I didn’t notice them anymore. They’re priced at $49.99, and it’s not unwarranted for the quality both in build and sound. The fact that you can also wash the earbuds after use is a huge plus in my book. Just make sure to give them a little time to dry out after you wash them or you will definitely be surprised by a gush of water in your ear.

Available for purchase on Aircom
[ Review – Aircom A3 Headphones copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]