harmon

Recycled Orchestra turns garbage into beautiful music

Cateura, in the Santa Ana neighborhood of Paraguay's capital Asuncion, is a slum. The residents live on a massive landfill, picking through the refuse for items to recycle and sell. A place where a violin would be worth more than a house, is, perhaps, the last place you'd expect to find an orchestra.

But that changed the day that garbage collector (now luthier) Nicolas "Cola" Gomez picked up the shell of what looked to him like a violin.

He took it to Favio Chavez, who was working on a recycling program and had opened up a music school for local kids, and together, they started creating musical instruments: violins and cellos from oil drums, flutes from water pipes and spoons, guitars from packing crates. … Read more

Harman launches JBL wireless AirPlay speaker

Another AirPlay-compatible device has hit store shelves.

Harman's JBL On-Air Wireless AirPlay Speaker Dock, which launched today, allows users to play music from their iTunes library or iOS-based devices over their wireless network. The device's screen displays album artwork and song information to let users know what's on at any given time. In addition, the speaker features a iPod/iPhone dock to let users charge their devices or play music when they can't stream content via AirPlay. The device also offers an FM radio tuner.

Apple's AirPlay service allows for video, music, and photos to be streamed over a wireless network to compatible devices. However, the JBL speaker joins a relatively small number of products that actually work with Apple's AirPlay service, including the Apple TV, Denon AV receivers, and the Klipsch Gallery Series, among others.… Read more

Mercedes-Benz E550 Coupe is brawny, brainy

The 2010 Mercedes-Benz E550 Coupe makes a good first impression with its athletic good looks and eager, sporty V-8 engine. Even its seven-speed automatic transmission doesn't disappoint. The coupe possess a dual nature, made possible by a sport button that sharpens up its performance when necessary.

While a sculpted body is great, the E550 Coupe follows up with brains to go with its brawn in the form of a smart COMAND-based tech package featuring Bluetooth hands free with a smart voice command system, a hard-drive-based navigation system that actually utilizes its traffic data, and an audiophile-quality premium Harmon Kardon … Read more

Microsoft's premature patent proposal

In a corporate blog post this week, Microsoft Vice President Horacio Gutierrez promoted the idea of a "harmonized, global patent system," in which all the nations adopt common standards for processing and approving patent applications.

Properly done, patents approved in one country could become enforceable in other countries, as is the case with copyrights under the terms of the Berne Convention.

I really have no problem with harmonization if it is properly done, but I think it would be tremendously difficult to achieve good results. The reality of patent protection is radically different from that of copyrights because … Read more