Iconic 1960s IBM Wall Clock Gets Resurrected [Video]

IBM's standard-issue wall clock was ubiquitous on the walls of schools and offices throughout much of the 20th century. It's a perfect example of everyday design that goes unnoticed yet is imprinted in our cultural memory bank. More »

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Sleeping Beauty: A Disney Theme in a Sex-Work Story [Movie Night]

In Sleeping Beauty (2011), Lucy is a university student, paying her way through college by way of paid clinical trials, part-time office work and a waitressing job. She in large part supports her mother, an alcoholic with a psychic hotline. She needs more money, always. She's particularly not shy. She likes sex. More »

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Snapguide Becomes First iOS App With Pinterest Integration

Snapguide today rolled out an update to its iPhone application that lets users share the "how-to" guides built on the app directly to Pinterest. App updates aren't always big deals, but this one is: It means that Snapguide is the first iOS app with Pinterest integration built-in. A Pinterest API has been highly anticipated for months, and this is the first real public glimpse of how iOS apps tied to Pinterest could look once the platform is made accessible on a wider scale (some Android apps have hacked out Pinterest integrations, such as the one made by Kodak, but the iOS market is a different beast.)

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Things You Never Thought Would Happen: Wu-Tang?s Raekwon Makes ?Google That? Rap Video

"She told me that she Googled my name up /?Shootings, robberies and big coke came up". These are lyrics from "Google That", a vulgar, violent new rap song from NORE Styles P, and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon immortalizing the search engine. In it, the rappers brag about how their crimes and jail time are so famous you can find them on the Internet.

Most tech companies probably wouldn't mind being mentioned in pop culture, but probably not like this.?Rap enthusiast Ben Horowitz might love it, though. Here's the video and full lyrics.

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Alesis Q25

Many MIDI controllers these days come with plenty of knobs and sliders. But the Alesis Q25 ($179.99 list) harkens back to a different era, one of simplicity of design?except updated for today's laptop and iPad-driven music studios. The Q25 ?is a 25-note, velocity-sensitive MIDI keyboard with a built-in USB interface. It promises accurate MIDI control, portability, and not much else. As long as your needs are modest, it's a solid controller at a bargain price.

Design, Controls, and Connections
The Q25 measures 19 by 7.25 by 2.38 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.6 pounds. It's made entirely of black matte plastic, with non-weighted synthesizer keys in white and black, and slightly tapered, rounded edges that lend the Q25 a feeling of solidity and comfort when transporting it. The controls really are simple: To the left of the 25-key key bed are old-style, plastic pitch bend and modulation wheels. The pitch bend has a center detent and returns to the center as soon as you lift your finger, while the modulation wheel has no detent and no spring-loaded return; it stays in position wherever you leave it.

Above the two wheels are Octave Down, MIDI/Select, and Octave Up buttons. Finally, there's a data entry slider that feels a little cheap and scratchy when moved in its recessed vertical slot. There are no other programmable knobs, sliders, pads, or transport controls?this should be obvious at a glance, but controllers like the M-Audio Oxygen 25 ($149.95 list) trade a little extra depth and a higher street price (more on that later) for much more in the way of MIDI control.

Alesis throws in a USB cable and a Quick Start guide, and also bundles a DVD copy of Ableton Live Lite Alesis edition, which gets you started recording and sequencing music. The Q25 is class-compliant, so you don't need to install a driver on the PC or Mac; just plug it in and start playing. There's no aftertouch, though. The Q25 works fine with an iPad as long as you buy the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit , which comes with two adapters, one of which mates a dock connector to a USB port. Unfortunately, the Q25 doesn't work with the IK Multimedia iRig MIDI , since that interface works with a MIDI cable only, and therefore requires some kind of external power for the controller; the Q25 doesn't come with a power adapter in the box.

Testing and Conclusions
I had no problem playing and recording MIDI data in Apple Logic Pro 9, Steinberg Cubase 6.5, and Cakewalk SONAR X1 using the Q25. The Octave Down and Octave Up buttons made it easy to jump around in the keyboard range, depending on the sound I wanted, and the velocity sensitivity was well tuned and felt natural to my fingers. Playing the keys resulted in no untoward vibrations or rattles, and the Q25 stayed put on my desk, thanks to its well-positioned rubber feet. One glitch: I noticed that after several weeks of testing, the lower B key began to rattle a tiny bit internally, although the rest of the key bed remained rattle-free.

You probably wouldn't want to knock the Q25 around in the back of a van on an extended live tour, at least without a (very) well-padded case of some kind. But as a small desktop controller, or as one you could throw in a bag and bring to a hotel or a friend's house, the Q25 does the job with aplomb. And at a street price hovering in the $70 range, it's tough to find something like it that's this inexpensive. The M-Audio Oxygen 25, now on its third generation, tends to cost $90 to $100 on the street, despite its lower list price. The Oxygen 25 offers much more in the way of real-time controls, thanks to its array of knobs, sliders, and transport buttons. The Oxygen 25 is also slightly thinner than the Q25, although it's deeper, and requires more of that crucial space between your desktop PC keyboard and monitor.

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Buckeyes to fire 500 trillion watt laser May 15th in a short, cheap burst

High-energy laser fusion experiments evoke extreme numbers -- not only in power but also in greenbacks. Sure, the current champ at the National Ignition facility in Livermore, CA can pump out a 411 trillion watt pulse, but at what price? A taxpayer-busting $200,000 per shot, with a $4 billion original construction cost. Compared to that, the new Ohio State University's 500 trillion watt model seems bargain-basement, built with a mere $6 million grant from the US Department of Energy. Admittedly, that paltry sum get you a much shorter burst, lasting 20 picoseconds compared to the NIF's several nanoseconds. But with the ability to fire 100 or more times per day, instead of just once like it's pricier kin, Ohio State will be able to assist the NIF with their fusion experiments, while also carrying on its own science, like simulating star formation. And money aside, the possibility of unlimited fusion-powered energy is always a noble goal, no?

Buckeyes to fire 500 trillion watt laser May 15th in a short, cheap burst originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steam for Linux is coming, and after waiting epochs what's a few more months?

It's been a long-running saga as to when Linux users will finally see some native gaming action on Steam, but according to Phoronix that happy day will likely arrive within "months." Valve has been busily hiring Linux OpenGL boffins, including people recommended by Phoronix's founder, Michael Larabel, who certainly seems to be on the inside track. His photo above offers some proof of progress: it shows Left 4 Dead 2 running natively on Ubuntu 11.10 with AMD Catalysts drivers. Why has it taken so long since news of a Linux client was first floated (and officially denied) back in 2010? Larabel attributes it to Valve's "flat management structure" that allows its developers to work on what they want. (And you still question the importance of hierarchy?)

Steam for Linux is coming, and after waiting epochs what's a few more months? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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