Hasta La Gadget!

These days, music and technology are inexorably linked — from creation and recording, to distribution and discovery, it’s hard to imagine a song reaching our ears that hasn’t made its way through some electronic filter. Being the huge music nerds we are, we figured we’d use our April episode to explore the state of the music industry in 2013 and the roles technology has played in its successes and failings. This month, we start things off with a visit to Santa Cruz, where UCSC professor emeritus David Cope has spent decades developing classical music composing computer programs, work he began after one particularly bad bout with writer’s block. We also stop by Seattle’s Experience Music Project, where we speak to curator Jacob McMurray about the role technology has created in building a better music museum.

Next up, we’ve got a trio of interviews with artists who are using technology to very different ends in the creation and distribution of their music. John Vanderslice is the founder and proprietor of San Francisco’s Tiny Telephone, one of the last remaining analog-only recording studios in a world increasingly dominated by Pro Tools. He’s also a successful musician in his own right, who recently opted to eschew the traditional record label model for the release of his two new Kickstarter-backed albums. Hip-hop producer and emcee Black Milk, meanwhile, has taken to recording and producing recordings in his Dallas apartment. We discuss his crate digging, love of analog tools and the role of YouTube and Shazam in his production. And we meet up with indie electronic music Dan Deacon outside of LA’s Natural History Museum to talk about his live rig and innovative iPhone app.

What about radio stations, you ask? We pay a visit to Jersey City’s WFMU and Santa Monica’s KCRW, two of the most prominent freeform stations in a space dominated Clear Channels and internet and satellite radio, to discuss the importance of human curation and embracing the same technology that has spelled the end of so many of their peers. We’ve also got interviews with Seattle’s Sub Pop Records, music criticism site Pitchfork and California record store Amoeba, plus trips to music app developer Smule, internet radio pioneer Pandora and the legendary Moog factory. All that plus another installment of “John Roderick: Famous Prognosticator” and art by cartoonist Jim Rugg.

Oh, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you that today is the last day to vote for us in the Webby Awards! In the meantime, check out the full show, after the break.

Filed under: HD, Mobile, Alt

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Nobody enjoys losing their precious documents, photos or other files, yet it’s easy for all of that crucial data to just magically disappear at the most inopportune moments. ioSafe has been hard at work offering rugged NAS solutions to keep your information safe and sound, and it’s now offering a diskless N2 system (valued at $600) to a lucky reader! This is a huge grab — no pun intended — so do your due diligence in entering this week’s giveaway. Good luck!

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Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile, Alt

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Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

The natural world offers up some ingenious biology that is only possible through many, many years of evolution. Other ideas, well, they come about through good old-fashioned brain power. We’ve got examples of both in this edition. Naturally. This is alt-week.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Thermal imaging cameras are highly useful tools for military and law enforcement types, letting them see humans inside buildings or land a helicopter in the fog. High-definition models are too heavy for servicemen to tote, however, so DARPA and a private partner have built a 1,280 x 720 LIWR (long-wave infrared) imager with pixels a mere five microns in diameter. That’s smaller than infrared light’s wavelength, allowing for a slighter device without giving up any resolution or sensitivity while costing much less, to boot. Researchers say that three functional prototypes have performed as well as much larger models, allowing them to see through a simulated dust storm, among other tests. If DARPA ever lets such goodies fall into civvy hands, count us in — you can never have too much security.

Filed under: Cameras, Science, Alt

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Via: Gizmag

Source: DARPA

Historically, whenever man or beast’s been bombarded with massive amounts of radiation the results have either been gruesome or wholly fantastical (see: any superhero origin story). But recent research out of Japan indicates that a barrage of electrons could actually help scientists revolutionize microbiology and, more excitingly, space travel. The experiment, conducted by a team from the Hamamatsu University of Medicine, found that the larvae of fruit flies hit with this electron rush were able to withstand an electron microscope’s hostile vacuum unharmed and even grew to be healthy adults. The results weren’t so rosy for the untreated group which, understandably, suffered a grislier fate: death by dehydration. The magic, it turns out, is in that subatomic spray, as the group treated with an electron shower benefited from a polymerizing effect or, more plainly, a bonding of molecules just above the skin’s surface that yielded a tough, protective nano-layer measuring between 50- to 100-billionths of a meter thick. Finesse that technique some and it’s easy to why one NASA scientist thinks this could lead to the creation of a super-thin “space shield… that could protect against dehydration and radiation.”

The process is still far from foolproof, however, seeing as how an increase in the microscope’s resolution requires an equal boost in radiation — all of which is fatal to the insects. So, in order to go deeper and get a more close-up view of the larvae’s internals, the team’s currently exploring new methods of fabricating these “nano-suits” using an array of chemicals. If you’re wondering just how far-off we are from practical human application, then consider this: the amount of radiation required to form the bonded layer is akin to “sunbathing naked on the top of Everest under a hole in the ozone.” Which is to say, keep dreaming. And get Jeff Goldblum on the phone while you’re at it… we have a promising idea for a Return of the Fly sequel.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: Wired

Source: ScienceNOW