sequence

Some things are just better left as eccentric indulgences. A plastic, nightstand version of Stephen Hawking's Chronophage' Corpus Clock wouldn't have the same meaning as the original (I'd still buy one, of course). Likewise, a plastic, toy Star Wars lightsaber isn't in the same league as a hand-tooled replica.

At an original asking price of $1,200, 2008'sTenori-On music sequencer definitely falls into the "eccentric indulgence" category. But if you're a self-described electronic music nerd (why yes, I am), the sequencer's hand-brushed magnesium body, unique portability, and performance-oriented design, made the cost justifiable.

Not content with Tenori-On sales trickling out MIDI-worshiping electronic music producers, Yamaha set out to create a less expensive plastic model, lacking a few bells and whistles. The end result is the Tenori-On "O," a $699 take on the original dressed in white plastic and an orange LED grid.

As someone who's had the pleasure of spending a few days with both versions of the Tenori-On, I have to say that the "O" doesn't hold the same appeal to me as the original. In cutting corners to produce a low-cost (relatively speaking) Tenori-On, Yamaha also cut out a little of the instrument's soul. … Read more

CLC bio's Sequence Viewer is a free tool for basic bioinformatics analysis. It offers many of the features and capabilities of the publisher's high-end science software, such as the ability to perform many bioinformatics analyses, including interactive restriction site analysis, creating and editing alignments, phylogenetics, integrated GenBank searches, and advanced DNA to protein translation. It also carries over the premium utilities' sophisticated data management and exporting capabilities as well as compatibility with a wide range of platforms and file formats. It offers a continuously evolving lab-grade application in a compact, easy-to-use format that can access many integrated research … Read more

My dad used to say technology is advancing so quickly that, by the time a product reaches market, it is already obsolete. Moreover, if you wait just a little longer, you can pay a lot less. The sequencing of the human genome takes the advancement of technology, and its fast reduction in cost, to an entirely new level.

The Human Genome Project, which officially completed the mind-boggling achievement of sequencing Jim Watson's genome in 2006, carried the equally mind-boggling price tag of $3 billion. If I may be so bold as to use that word thrice in one paragraph, … Read more

As a musician, one of my favorite moments of 2008 was the chance to meet Yu Nishibori and his musical invention, the Tenori-On. Coming across like a futuristic cross between a drum machine and a game of Tetris, the Tenori-On music sequencer is one of those truly odd and beautiful devices that seems too cool to be real. Even the Museum of Modern Art saw fit to pick one up--one of only five instruments in its 4,000 item collection.

The problem was, it was just too expensive. You really needed to have a fetish for Japanese electronic music sequencers … Read more

Home schoolers, high school tutors, and students needing additional mathematics study will find this many-featured app a handy addition to their toolbox. It provides assistance for grasping two-dimensional function graphs with animation, analyzing functions, understanding analytic geometry, solid geometry, and more.

Math Studio launches a three-paned interface similar to the familiar e-mail client design: the upper-left vertical pane is a graph manager, the lower-left pane is a result editor, and the large pane on the right is a plotting area for displaying graphs. However, the cluster of icons in the three toolbars aligned along the interface's top may intimidate … Read more

If you know how to use a CD player, you will be a master at using GhostMouse, a tiny program that lets you record and play back a series of mouse movements, including right clicks and drag-and-drop actions. You may, however, ask yourself when or where you could put your recorded clicks to work.

Using GhostMouse's compact, three-button interface, you can record a script to replay a set of actions. Unlike other programs designed to record and replicate user actions, this one is limited to mouse-related tasks. More robust programs will handle typed text and other keyboard actions. Still, … Read more

For all you electronic music fans and lovers of all things blinky, my review of the Yamaha Tenori-On music sequencer is ready for your consideration. The final ruling in a nutshell: the Tenori-On is an awesome tool for performing electronic musicians, but too pricey for nonmusicians and too limited for studio music production.

What a long, strange tease its been since we first caught wind of the mythical Tenori-On music sequencer back in 2005. Now, here we are at the end: you've seen the photo gallery, the unboxing video, my interview with Yu Nishibori, the requisite comparison to the Monome, … Read more

OK, I have to admit I've been somewhat selfish with Yamaha's Tenori-On music sequencer ever since it arrived at my desk a few weeks back. Can you blame me, really? The thing meets all my requirements for gadget coveting--it's shiny, futuristic, noisy, and expensive.

I still have a few drum machines at home I want to connect the Tenori-On to before finishing up my full review. In the meantime, I suppose I can share some of the shots we took of the Tenori-On in our CNET photo studio. View the Yamaha Tenori-On photo gallery.

Splice Music, a Flash-based online sequencing tool, opened to the broad Internet public about a year ago. It's free, although registration is required, and filled with thousands of sound samples and remixable songs, all licensed under various Creative Commons licenses, meaning that they're available for you to recombine. It's a fun place to start for old-school analog musicians who've never played with a sequencing program before. (And who don't have a Mac with Garage Band preinstalled.)

Remixing other users' songs is one way to learn how the tool works, but if you're like me … Read more