built

WAM: A sound recording school for women and girls

The Women's Audio Mission is a San Francisco based, nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of women in music production and recording arts. WAM provides hands-on training, experience, career counseling and job placement for women and girls.

I spoke with WAM's founder and executive director, Terri Winston, by phone earlier this week. Before she started WAM seven years ago, she was a college professor and developed the recording arts degree program at City College of San Francisco. Ms. Winston is also an electrical engineer, musician, recording engineer, and record producer.

Steve Guttenberg: Is it fair to describe WAM as a school?

Terri Winston: Yes, but it's small and it doesn't look like a school; more like a studio. The classes are small, with between seven and fifteen students. WAM has 350 to 400 students a year, and we try to funnel them into two- and four-year programs.

SG: Can local musicians and bands record at WAM?

TW: Yes, we offer no- and low-cost recording services for independent artists. We did a band called Built For the Sea that was on Live 105, and we're currently working on other projects.

SG: I truly admire WAM's goals, but recording studios are closing left and right. It's not a growth industry; why train a new generation of engineers? More and more bands are recording themselves, aren't they? … Read more

The 404 Podcast 471: Where we work for No. 2

It's National Toilet Day today, and Justin isn't here to celebrate. Fortunately, we more than make it up with dozens upon dozens of fecal jokes. Mark Licea of The Green Show joins the show today to talk tech and...lingerie?

Admittedly, we here at The 404 celebrate National Toilet Day at least three times a day, but we're glad to see that people across the planet are starting to recognize the importance of the porcelain throne. It may sound a bit unusual for us to be so beholden to the toilet, but most New Yorkers can sympathize. After all, most of us here have to deal with a mixed bag of ethnic food and $20 dollar fees to use a public restroom.

In nonpoop news, we talk about a Warner Bros. program to let DVD owners upgrade their discs to Blu-ray versions. The program is called DVD2Blu. This only applies to Warner Bros. films, and viewers must pay a fee of $8 to $10 per disc. We think this is a great idea. Wilson is especially keen on not having to pay $30 for each disc in his "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" collections.

Also, Jeff has a follow up to our video game censorship series. He interviewed Major Nelson of Microsoft to talk about racism, misogyny, and homophobia in online gaming. Check it out. A keen chat room listener though points out the irony of talking about derogatory words when players are shooting people in the head.

If you're worried about your cheating wife or girlfriend, a Brazilian line of lingerie from LindeLucy that comes with a built-in GPS tracking device. Now, the device is not exactly subtle, but for the paranoid ones out there, this might be the trick to keep your lady in line--or get her mad at you, again. Trust, after all, is the bond that holds all relationships together.

Finally, we get to some voice mails and viewer feedback about cool moms that play video games before their children do and an early review of "2012." Wilson is disappointed with the fact that the film won't be available in IMAX. He just wants to watch the world burn. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew remember the movie magic of the first "Jurassic Park" movie. The t. rex at the end: Priceless.

Send in your feedback and callbacks to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Or call us! We are after all an audio podcast too! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Thanks again!

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Electrolux built-in suite gains a wine cooler

Just because you're committed enough to your current house to install built-in appliances doesn't mean you have to be committed enough to convert your basement into a wine cellar. Available as a part of AEG-Electrolux's extensive line of built-in units is this stainless steel model SW988205L wine cooler.

The unit blends with other AEG-Electrolux stainless steel built-ins, giving you a beautiful six shelves of column storage for up to 36 bottles of wine. It's designed to keep your wine at an appropriate storage temperature, boasting a set of childproof temperature controls and an air circulation system … Read more

The Pre's Strength and Build - Part 2

In answer to a question on my previous post, yes, two of the Pre's falls resulted in scuffs on the corners. Guess that's what happens when a smooth, shiny object collides with concrete... Sigh.

In keeping with a review of the Pre's hardware durability, I wanted to touch on the little USB port cover. This baby fits in there tight, almost too tight. There are days when I'm not sure I'll get it open... Once it is pulled out I feel like it's going to stay on, unlike other phones I've had where … Read more

Pleased With the Pre's Strength and Build - Part 1

It's day twenty-seven of our relationship. The Pre and I are getting along just swimmingly and I fall in love a little more each day...

I'm not the super geeky girl who can tell you how to install homebrew apps or hack your camera's default settings, but I've been around electronics long enough to tell you, the Palm Pre is one rockin' hot gadget.

I've been very impressed with the quality and sturdiness of the Pre. I'd originally looked at purchasing the Centro but was advised against it. Too many people told me it … Read more

Keep cool with this heat resistant oven mitt

"You know what we need to get you for Mother's Day?" my almost-10-year-old asked me last night. Off the top of my head, I could think of at least 47 things that I need--want--from a full-time housekeeper to a MacBook Pro, or, heck, even an iPhone. But my daughter had something else in mind. "An oven mitt," she said.

I will admit that my first response was disappointment. An oven mitt? Really? But my daughter did have a point--I have decreased sensitivity in my extremities, so by the time I react to heat, I've … Read more

McAfee makes SanDisk's thumb drive picky about data

I recently blogged about people in Japan getting new Eee Box PCs that came with a virus on their hard drives. Now, the opposite: a new thumb drive that comes with antivirus software.

SanDisk, a maker of USB flash drives, and security giant McAfee, teamed up Tuesday to announce the SanDisk Cruzer Enterprise. The USB thumb drive comes with antimalware protection from McAfee built in.

SanDisk's Cruzer Enterprise USB flash drives have been known for being thumb drives with mandatory security for corporate users. Now, in addition to preventing data leaks by utilizing advanced hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption and … Read more

iTunes update for Windows Vista addresses BSOD

Apple on Friday issued an update for iTunes 8 that specifically addresses problems experienced by Windows Vista users, and issued general recommendations for Windows XP and Vista users experiencing sync issues with iPhone and iPod touch devices.

Since its release earlier in the week, iTunes 8 has bedeviled some Windows Vista users with the so-called blue screen of death, or BSOD, and other issues. Speculation has focused on an incompatibility with USB devices, such as Webcams and printers.

In a support post, Apple recommends that Windows Vista users experiencing difficulty should uninstall iTunes 8 and, after rebooting the computer, reinstall … Read more

MP3 Insider 112: Headphones with style

Donald and Jasmine discuss two pairs of headphones that are anything but boring. Also this week: Find out how to be a nuisance on public transportation and get hints about the top 10 MP3 players for less than $100. Listen now: Download today's podcast

Episode 112

New iPods September 9!

Monster Beats by Dr. Dre headphones

Phiaton MS 400 Moderna Series headphones

Hercules DJ Console RMX

Disturb the peace with speaker-sporting MP3 players

Top 10 MP3 players for less than $100

E-MAIL

Q: Hi guys,

Love the show. My hard drive crashed recently, and while I try to back … Read more

New coffee machine a java junkie's best friend

I recently saw a Miele built-in coffee machine in action. If you love coffee, it was a thing to behold and further proof that we, as a species, have evolved.

OK, maybe that's a slight overstatement, but this beautiful Jetsons-esque machine is a tribute to the lazy coffee snob.

Just stand back with your mug and this machine does the work for you--grinding your beans from course to fine (you pick the amount of beans you'd like per cup.) Then the system automatically adds the water, brews, and completes the task by steaming milk to top off your … Read more