Hasta La Gadget!

Now that spring has begun, it’s time to get your camera gear in order. Here are some how-to tips to get your digital camera ready for spring.

The FCC wants to put new rules in place ensuring access to the web is, like justice, blind to where a person is coming from and indifferent to where on the web he is going to. Verizon’s first reaction to these new directives was to publicly decry them as overreaching, and its second was to file a lawsuit, one that was swiftly echoed by MetroPCS. Only problem with their plans? The rules haven’t yet been published in the Federal Register, which renders the legal challenges from the two eager mobile carriers “incurably” premature. Such was the determination of the US Court of Appeals, which refused to make a substantive ruling and just threw the cases out due to the technicality. Verizon isn’t discouraged, however, and promises to bide its time until all the dominoes have fallen into place before launching another legal attack. Hey, whatever keeps those lawyers in their fancy suits.

Verizon and MetroPCS objections to FCC net neutrality rules dismissed in case of premature litigation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More than 29 years after the introduction of the original iconic home computer, a new iteration of the company is putting out an all-new version of the C64, updated, of course, for 2011.

Originally posted at Geek Gestalt

According to Nikon Rumors, the D5000’s replacement is scheduled to be announced tonight.

Max "Bunny" Sparber (left) and Coco Mault (right) are the Ultramods, who just recorded an album entirely on an iPad 2 using GarageBand. Photo courtesy of Max Sparber

Apple’s GarageBand app for iPad makes music creation so simple that a band produced an entire album with it in just two weeks.

The Ultramods, an independent punk duo, recently released its album Underwear Party. The band composed and recorded everything in the GarageBand iPad app including vocals, virtual lead guitar, bass guitar and drums.

For the drum beats, The Ultramods used GarageBand’s SmartDrum instrument, which enables you to compose a simple drum loop in a few seconds, without any knowledge of using a professional drum machine.

“I see [the GarageBand app] as an everything-combined-into-one package,” said Max “Bunny” Sparber, The Ultramods’ lead singer. “Both new musicians and professional musicians are going to be very surprised with what they can do with it.”

First released in 2004, Apple’s GarageBand is a simplified audio tool designed to make music production accessible to everyday customers, without the need for expensive professional hardware. 

Last month, Apple’s Steve Jobs introduced the iPad 2 with a new version of GarageBand remade for the iPad’s touchscreen interface. It’s one of several apps aimed at making the iPad 2 into a tool for creativity, not just for media consumption.

Some might say that GarageBand for iPad furthers Apple’s vision of making music creation accessible for the masses. Starting at $500, the iPad is more affordable than a Mac, and the $5 GarageBand app doesn’t require additional external instruments or hardware for recording music. All the necessary tools are available inside the app.

The GarageBand app packs a virtual keyboard, lead guitar, bass guitar and drum, and up to eight tracks of layered instruments can be recorded to create a song. GarageBand also includes “Smart” instruments that automatically generate drum loops and guitar or piano chords so that even people without musical training can pick up an iPad and create a song.

Sparber said he was excited about the dramatically lowered cost of music production thanks to the iPad and GarageBand. Furthermore, there are no additional costs to upload and sell an album on the internet, Sparber said.

“Making an album even a year ago costs thousands of dollars,” Sparber said. “This is a huge transformation. It’s part of the ongoing democratization where the tools have become inexpensive, and that’s a very exciting prospect.”

The Ultramods are selling their album for $10, and the band provided a free MP3 track for Wired.com readers to sample.

See Also:

• Garage Band: Apogee’s Jam Connects Your Guitar to Your iPad …
• GarageBand Kicks Out the Jams
• GarageBand.com Leaves Door Open

From TheLoop