Tape

Why does analog sound better than digital?

Music was forever changed in 1983. Up to that year we had lived in a digital-audio-free world, where musicians and the music industry flourished in a state of pure analog bliss. Vast numbers of people actually listened to music--without doing anything else--on a regular basis.

An analog recording corresponds the variations in air pressure of the original sound. A digital recording is a series of numbers that correspond to the sound's continuous variations, but the numbers have to be reconverted to analog signals before they can be listened to. No wonder analog and digital sound so different from each … Read more

EMC doubles-down on the mainframe

I'll bet that, until November 10, you'd never heard of a company called Bus-Tech. Now that EMC has made Bus-Tech yet another acquisition target, you're wondering why. In a statement Wednesday, Frank Slootman, president of EMC's Backup Recovery Systems division, positioned Bus-Tech in mainframe backup and recovery: "The addition of Bus-Tech will enable us to deliver a suite of next-generation mainframe backup products that are highly differentiated in terms of performance, integration and supportability."

Since its founding in 1987, Bus-Tech has occupied a place in mainframe channel protocol conversion--a relatively small niche. Now Bus-Tech … Read more

Here it is: The official BOL baby-making mix tape

OK, everyone. We heard your suggestions for the best mix-tape songs, we pored over your mix-tape tales--the hilarious and the heart-breaking--and we chose one lucky winner to receive the very special iPod Shuffle, featuring our hand-picked selections. There are mix-tape classics, outrageously cheesy ballads, hopefully a few surprises, and some truly great songs. Oh, and baby-making jams. Brian Tong made sure of that.

Now, to the winning entry. Tim from New York sent in this mix-tape tale of woe (which I edited for spelling because, you know, that's just how I am):

Just thought I'd let you guys … Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 3: Android iPhone 4 killer and Android viruses (podcast)

Motorola has big plans for its iPhone 4 killer, including a 2Ghz processor. Norton Security is out to defend against Android viruses, but do they exist? What's the deal with the Droid 2, the Droid X, and the HTC Aria? Join Justin Eckhouse along with guest hosts Bonnie Cha and Wilson Tang for a special Android Atlas Weekly from New York.

EPISODE 3

Stories

Sprint Overstates Early EVO 4G Sales

Motorola Droid for Verizon gets a price drop

Droid 2, Droid X prepped for summer launches… Read more

It all adds up

Judy's TenKey is a three-in-one desktop calculator that has some interesting extras. It can be a standard full-function calculator, an adding machine, or a scientific calculator. A scrolling tape shows you just where you are in a running tally of calculations and automatically recalculates totals when you change something; multiple undos extricate you when you change something you shouldn't have. You can customize the look, add sound, and more.

An optional demo walks new users through the many features and settings Judy's TenKey offers. It starts by explaining how to hide the onscreen number pad, since most … Read more

The 404 Podcast 524: Where you should avoid racist polar bears

On today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast, the guys share the mics with longtime friend Clayton Morris of "Fox and Friends" and co-host of the Grizzly Bear Egg Cafe.

Anyone who listens to our show on a regular basis knows that very little preparation goes into each episode, but we always have a great time with Clayton, and today we spend the first half of the show talking about Jeff's appearance on NPR's All Things Considered, where he spent some time speaking with host Robert Siegel about his concerns over racism in multiplayer video games. After Wilson spends some time drooling over Siegel's baritone radio voice, Clayton tell us about his humble beginnings in the broadcasting industry and even does a few spot-on impersonations of New York's local television anchors.

After the break, Clayton tells us about his brief but educational sojourn into the armpit of the Internet that is Chat Roulette. Acting as the illegitimate child of Omegle and Skype, the site uses your Webcam to pair you up in a video chat room with a stranger on the Internet.

Clayton and the three of us attempt to describe the most common shared experience on CR: what might seem like a completely innocent Web site used to create new friendships across the world quickly falls flat on its face as you're faced with the worst the Web has to offer. Racism, misogyny, nudity, and pornography are just a few of the scenes you'll witness, so enter at your own peril, and don't forget to breathe...it's just a Web site.

EPISODE 524 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Apple pushes iTunes for Valentine's Day (podcast)

For decades people have been making mix tapes for their love interests. There was a time when that meant gathering up all your favorite CDs or vinyl albums to make a tape, but now it's easy to create a playlist in iTunes or any other music player.

This Valentine's Day, Apple is making it even easier. The company has a section on iTunes where you can purchase albums or collections of love songs for setting that special mood.

In a recorded interview, Alex Luke, Apple's director of programming and label relations, explains how you can give the … Read more

Duct tape use 4,526: Repair plane after bear destroys it

Any geek worth his (or her) weight in salt will tell you that one of the most necessary tools for ad hoc repairs is duct tape. In fact, the one thing geeks don't use it for is to tape ducts. I've known people who have used duct tape to mount a hard drive, weather-proof a camera, build a cantenna, make ice skates, and affix a flash defuser for a camera.

But nothing my super-nerd friends have done compares with the story that comes to us via forums of ArmyParatrooper.org, where user lz_NorthPole shares this tale from the Alaskan wilderness.

A fisherman chartered a small plane to fly into the Alaskan backcountry for some fishing. The fisherman unwisely left fresh bait in the plane, which attracted a bear--this being bear country and all--and the animal then tore the airplane apart. The image you see above is the trashed plane.

But the charter pilot supposedly was a bad-ass. And like a bad-ass he wouldn't just let a bear get away with tearing up his airplane. No, this bad-ass--who must be a geek--called another pilot to ferry in new tires, sheet plastic, and three cases of duct tape.

lz_NorthPole claims the pilot applied the materials, flew the thing home, and arrived safely. I fervently hope he is not playing an early April Fools' joke, because this is the best use of duct tape I've seen in a long time.

What you see above is the before. The "after" shot is after the jump. Take a look and tell us: do you think this story (and plane) flies? … Read more

Sonic fabric neckties are actually playable

The music may be horrible, but if you rub a tape head over these ties you can actually hear jumbled sound collages recorded from the NYC metro system. This is possible because the ties are 50 percent audio cassette tape.

If you have $90 to spend on one of the ties, and you are willing to sacrifice an old Walkman for the project, you can make this a fixture of your formal wardrobe. Of course, walking around with a broken Walkman asking every one to rub you with it is not recommended.

This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.

Newly remastered Bob Dylan CDs

"All I can do is be me, whoever that is."--Bob Dylan

That's the thing about Mr. D, he never stands still. He's always evolving and these four newly remastered CDs, "New Morning," "Before the Flood," "The Basement Tapes," and "Dylan and the Dead," are proof of that.

I'll tell you upfront I've always had a thing for "New Morning," and I was bummed when it wasn't part of the 2003 SACD release collection. Sony put out 15 titles in one big chunk, and they were pretty amazing.

These four new titles were last remastered 20 years ago, so I had my hopes up. The new ones come in Digipak cases (matching the look of the SACD versions) with new photos, but no new liner notes or bonus tracks.

OK, now that I finally have a newly tweaked "New Morning," was it worth the wait? Released in 1970, "New Morning" kicked off the second phase of his long career. There's no big hits, but it's one of Dylan's most consistent albums, not a weak tune in there.

The sound is very warm and natural, and Dylan's vocals sound like he's in the room with you. The new CD sounds so close to the sound of my original LP it's scary. It's interesting, I can hear the analog master tape's hiss more clearly on the CD (it's not obtrusive, but it's there) than the LP (the LP's surface noise obscures the tape hiss). "New Morning" is one of Dylan's forgotten gems.

"Before the Flood" is a live, two-disc album, originally released in 1974. Dylan's vocal style was always changing, and he sounds completely different here. The songs tempos are much faster than the studio versions, and Dylan's almost screaming the lyrics. He's backed up by The Band, and they're terrific. They get to do a nice set of their own tunes. Sound quality is average for a live 1970s set. … Read more