mixing

After using Newser on the iPhone, one of my all-time favorite apps, for years, I have found it hard to rely on RSS feeds on my Mac with their text-heavy design and truncated headlines. With MixTab, free in the Mac App Store, I get a quickly loading app that delivers my news, complete with engaging graphics.

Launch MixTab and you'll be asked to create an account. After providing an e-mail and password, MixTab opens with seven default topics. You can delete any topic that doesn't interest you by clicking on the Edit Tabs button at the top and … Read more

Popscene: Track 2 is an updated release of "lone wolf" developer MDickie's music industry sim. Like the original, your 3D characters build a musical act and then manage its rise to fame and fortune--if you're good enough, that is. Along the way, you'll also have to deal with the many personal and career issues that beset music industry big shots, including unreasonable bosses, crazy fans, and even a scandal or two. The competition is tougher, too, with six record labels repping more than 100 acts, and all of them vying for a top spot on … Read more

The ancient browser wars have nothing on the current competition for top honors. Firefox has responded to stiff challenges with a variety of changes and upgrades, but here's the thing about changes: Not everyone likes them. While no one's calling for a performance downgrade, those users who prefer a more classic look can indulge their retro (or retrogrouch) impulse with Nautipolis for Firefox. This free theme for Mozilla Firefox uses high-quality icons from art.gnome.org to give the Firefox interface a sleek, retro-inspired look without sacrificing up-to-date rendering and features. Nautipolis also supports a wide range of … Read more

Nokia plans to add a little rhythm to its Lumia line of Windows Phone handsets.

Nokia's partner Echo Nest today unveiled the Nokia Music app. It includes the Nokia MixRadio service, which acts like Pandora, as well as additional features such as an MP3 music store and concert recommendations. It will first be preloaded on the Lumia 800.

With the smartphone manufacturers struggling to find ways to set themselves apart, many of them are turning to media as one way to shine. HTC, for instance, purchased a majority stake in Beats to get access to the company's trademark … Read more

The growing evening chill has many a person's fancy turning to the slopes. But as you're picturing yourself shredding a glorious mountainside, you might also be remembering how annoying it is controlling your tunes with fat gloves.

The Mix Master Glove from snowboard maker Burton aims to keep you from fumbling around in your pockets to control the music player on your iPod or iPhone. The glove sports a removable wireless remote. A wireless receiver plugs into your iPod or iPhone. The remote lets you change tracks, adjust volume, and hit play or pause. Check out the video below. (Is that really what shredders listen to these days?)… Read more

Mixxx is a free, open-source DJ mixing console that turns your digital music collection into the source for a full range of mixing, programming, and effects for recording or live presentation. While all you need is a PC or laptop to use Mixxx, it can also control two turntables, even analog turntables, with special time-synched media. By using Mixxx's Vinyl Control with one of several time-synched records, you can control your digital music just like your analog records. Mixxx enables scratching, hot cues, looping, and other effects, in addition to its core mixing and equalization features.

Mixxx's stylish … Read more

We admit that hearing the term "meta-analysis" always leads us to imagine Groucho saying, "I never met a nalysis I didn't like," but the technique of combining the results of several studies to achieve a more accurate overview of the subject is nothing funny to statisticians. MIX 2.0 Lite is a free add-on for Microsoft Excel that performs professional-level meta-analyses from Excel's ribbon. It offers more than 20 built-in datasets taken from published methods, plus a data wizard that cites book and page number for users who want to look it up themselves. … Read more

Check out these keycap sculptures made by South African visual artist and cultural activist Maurice Mbikayi. Trained in graphic design and visual communication at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in France, Mbikayi's unique mixed-media collages and the keycap skulls represent the artist's thoughts on the impact of technology on Africa and the Earth's dependence on natural resources.

Mbikayi sourced the keycaps from piles of discarded technological remnants left around the streets of South Africa and are used in his works to question their original destination and intent.

Click through the break for more pictures of Maurice Mbikayi's works of art.… Read more

Most of today's music on CD, LP, or download is compressed to sound loud all the time. The engineers, producers, and record labels are afraid not to make music sound as loud as possible.

Dynamic range compression isn't new, it's been used by recording, mixing, and mastering engineers for decades. A little bit of compression is fine, but the unnatural onslaught of dynamically compressed sound obliterates musical nuance, delicacy, and emotional power. Compression's loud-all-the-time nature sucks the life out of music. The overuse of compression has become known as the Loudness War.

Before we go any … Read more