17 inch Macbook Pro January 2009

The new January 2009 17 inch MacBook Pro, 6.6 pounds, under an inch thick, features a lightweight aluminum unibody, and up to 8 amazing hours of battery life. The curved illuminated keys are fitted to your fingers, and the trackpad is also the button—entirely clickable, with pinch, scroll and swipe, and configurable by you! 

320GB hard drive standard, optional solid state drive, up to 8 gigs of memory, processor up to 2.93 GHz. Glossy screen, matte optional, USB2, firewire, built-in camera, DVD read-writer, ethernet, wireless, all the standard things.  

HD-video-ready, sensationally improved color gamut—60% better, hotter contrast, game and video-production level Nvidia processor, glass display, More software than you will ever use, including the updated iLIfe 09, also has the extremely cool magnetic powercord standard, and greener than ever.

Steampunk Computer Keyboard Mod

If you’ve ever doubted the value of obsession, check out this website:

http://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard.shtml

Steampunk computer keyboard mod by steampunkworkshop.com

This page features a detailed description of how to make a steampunk computer keyboard mod, with amazing results.  If you care to delve deeper, there are links to steampunk guitar mods, etching, headphones, even a car and motorbike.

The Kaossilator is hot and it’s here

Now you can get the new Korg Kaossilator pocket synth for less than $200.

KORG KO1 KAOSSILATOR Pocket Sized Synthesizer

Rockout!

Are we Hypermiling yet?

Unsurprisingly, given the recent spike in gasoline prices, as well as concern over environmental damage, interest in Hypermiling has also spiked. Hypermiling means getting the best fuel efficiency, preferably above the EPA average, for your vehicle.

Everyday drivers can do it by modifying driving behaviors– accelerate more slowly, slow naturally before braking, and find the car’s best cruising speeds.

Of course, there are handy gadgets to help you here. These two connect to the onboard computer in newer cars.

ScanGauge helps you monitor such things as your best MPG speeds in realtime. Just don’t get so caught up you forget to watch the road.
ScanGauge II 3-in-1 Compact Multifunction Vehicle Computer with Customizable Display

DashDyno SPD is a more expensive and useful onboard monitor.
Auterra A-501 DashDyno SPD ProPack – Scan Tool, Performance Meter, and Data Logger

You can also change how you maintain and modify your vehicle, such as changing tires, keeping them at the right pressure and alignment, and using the proper type of fuel.

Hypermiling has also become a major recreational event, especially among hybrid car owners.

As usual, wikipedia knows a lot, and will be quite happy to tell you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiling

Exploring the Antarctic with a Horror Writer

The adventure has started. This summer (winter at the south pole) a team of scientists and one children’s author, Nancy Etchemendy, will sail on the National Science Foundation’s icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer and study the marine biology of the area.

To follow the action, check out the blog for adults:
http://etchemendy.com/rmmblog/

And the blog for kids:
http:/etchemendy.com/unblog/

And find what dwells in the cold at the bottom of the world.

Phoenix has landed!

And is reporting back! After months of travel, and “seven minutes of terror” during the landing, Phoenix has arrived, deployed its solar panels, is looking around, and sending back pictures.

To see images from NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander, go here:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/index.html

The fun way to learn more about Garageband

Whether you are just starting or have already made music in Garageband, this book, GarageBand 2: The Missing Manual, by the irrepressible David Pogue, will be fun and funny and useful. Even though it is several years old, all the basics are still pertinent even if you have the very latest version of the Garageband software.

GarageBand 2: The Missing Manual

This experienced writer and musician not only teaches you the basics as well as tips and trick about Apple’s Garageband, he also talks about music theory, and making computer music in general.

Read it, and you’ll see why he’s now showing up in major print media and on TV.

The Theremin–Obscure? Or Underground?

While most people have never heard of a theremin (but most have heard it played) it certainly has its fans.

Here’s one group:

Lots of fun information and links.

Amazing Computer Music Magazine

Computer Music: the Complete Guide for Mac and PC, is a great monthly magazine published in the UK, with clear tutorials, reviews of music equipment and software, and articles about the many aspects of making, sharing, and selling music, even a page on music theory. It also features interviews with band members and producers, focusing on how they work and the gear they use.

Computer Music : the Complete Guide for Mac and PC

But maybe the greatest thing about this magazine is the digital material that comes on the included DVD. Each month it contains samples, tutorials, reader-submitted music, videos, and free and demo software. Eagerly awaited each month, enjoy as much as you can use.

The Theramin

The theremin may have been the first electronic instrument, and provides some of the most famous science fiction sounds, including the intro to the original Star Trek series. Unfortunately, it was not, as most people assume, used to play the “woohoo” beginning for the song “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys–that was a related instrument.

It’s the instrument you never touch–just move your hands in the fields, and it plays its spooky sounds. Another classic, Moog, makes and sells theramins. Moog credits his early experiments building theremins as a teenager for giving him the skills to create his famous Moog synthesizer.

Moog Theremin

Learn to play the theremin well, and you too can be on the Ed Sullivan Show