maine

Complaints on Facebook get mall Santa fired

If you thought that Santa was immune from social media's self-righteous stare, then you must still believe he's real.

This has been conclusively proved at the Maine Mall in Portland, where Santa didn't seem to be having a great day.

Well, if you've got snotty, self-centered kids crawling all over you, shrieking like circus parakeets, wouldn't you get your baggy pants in a twist occasionally?

As the Daily Dot has it, this Santa (yes, there really are more than one) might have taken the "n" out of the middle and placed it at … Read more

iMainGo XP: Big, portable sound for your iPad 2

The iMainGo XP delivers big sound on the go for your iPad. With a clever design and relatively easy setup, the iMainGo XP is a great accessory for enjoying entertainment on vacations, picnics in the park, or even adding sound to portable business presentations.

The good

Using Portable Sound Laboratory's sx149 digital music amplifier and four 38mm titanium-coned neodymium high-output speakers pumping out 10 total channel watts, the iMainGo XP's sound is perhaps surprisingly big and vibrant. It is easy to fill any space in the house, your hotel room, or a good radius at the park.

The … Read more

Cities and states consider cell phone radiation laws

Editors' note: This story was originally published June 2. It has been updated with new information.

Though the science on the possible health effects of cell phone radiation is far from conclusive, several state and local governments are proposing legislation to address public concerns. And though no law has been implemented yet, it's clear the issue isn't going away.

How we got here Maine largely led the way in early 2010 with a bill that would have required warning labels that cell phones may cause brain cancer. That legislation later died in a Maine House of Representatives committee, … Read more

Apple releases MainStage update, suggests 10.6.8 imminent

Apple has released an update to its MainStage software, which is a component of its Logic Studio package that brings studio tracks and effects to a live performance, mimicking the controls on common musical instruments. Not only is the update relevant to musicians and Logic users, but it claims the operating system requirements are for OS X 10.6.8 or later, suggesting an imminent release of the next version of Snow Leopard.

The update addresses a number of bugs with the program, including the following:

Fixes an issue where presets for Audio Unit plugins were incorrectly displayed. Addresses an … Read more

Deep offshore wind sized up

Deep offshore wind could produce energy for 8-10 cents per kilowatt within 10 years, according to a report released today from the University of Maine and DeepCWind.org.

The extensive 557-page report (PDF) represents a collaboration between the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine, and the James W. Sewall Company, but was funded with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The report includes input from several members of DeepCWind.org, a consortium of companies, manufacturers, environmentalist groups, and academic institutions related to the offshore wind industry.

More interesting than how inexpensive … Read more

Full steam ahead for record-challenging streamliner

Steam-powered engines have been around for about 300 years, but they've never been known for amazing speeds. Now, a company in Florida and a streamliner designer from Tennessee are building a steam-powered streamliner vehicle.

Cyclone Power Technologies today announced it is working to "complete installation of the engine, gearbox, and fiberglass body" of the Cyclone-Williams LSR streamliner--a steam-powered car that could set a new land speed record.

More traditional land speed record-breaking streamliner vehicles, such as Poteet & Main's Speed Demon, can reach speeds of more than 450 mph, with 1045 hp and 672 pound-feet of … Read more

Apple issues security, raw, and MainStage updates

Along with yesterday's release of OS X 10.6.5, Apple issued a few other updates for currently supported software. These include a security update for OS X 10.5 "Leopard," an update to the MainStage music production application, and a digital raw compatibility update.

Security Update 2010-007 "Leopard Client" (240.74MB)

This update is a patch for OS X 10.5, which incorporates the same security updates that were addressed in the OS X 10.6.5 update. Apple's description of the update is the standard one that it "improves security," … Read more

iMainGo X: An all-in-one speaker case for iPods

Anyone who has ever shopped for an iPod speaker knows that there is no shortage of models from which to choose; options range from giant party speakers in the form of old-school ghetto blasters to tiny units about the size--and shape--of a goose egg. Indeed, you can even find portable device cases with speakers built right in.

Portable Sound Laboratories started cranking out its original iMainGo speaker case back in 2007 and followed it up about a year and a half later with the impressive--and cheap--iMainGo 2. Since reviewing that unit, I've been eagerly awaiting the next offering from the company. It arrived not long ago in the form of the iMainGo X, which offers more features--and a noticeably higher price tag--than its sibling.

In fact, the X isn't a replacement for the iMainGo 2 but an addition to the line. While not entirely unwelcome, the iMainGo X is tougher to recommend at its current price of $69.95, since you get the same volume boost, audio quality, and case enclosure as the 2. However, there are a smattering of useful extras that some users might find compelling enough to warrant the $30 jump in price.… Read more

Heard any great movies lately?

Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" is, for my money, the greatest (anti-) war film ever made. It also broke new ground in film sound mixing, and the newly remastered three-disc version, "Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure" sounds substantially better on Blu-ray than it did on the previous "Apocalypse Now Redux" DVD.

The 1080p transfers were supervised by the director, and the new Blu-ray is the first disc release in the original wide-screen theatrical aspect ratio (2.35:1). The "Full Disclosure" set also includes "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," a feature-length documentary (with optional audio commentary from Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola) that was originally released in 1991.

I'm not going to review the Blu-ray's video quality, other than to say it looks great. The DTS Master Audio sound is truly exceptional; I directly compared it with my "Apocalypse Now Redux" DVD that was remastered in 2006 in Dolby Digital sound.

The first thing I noticed about the Blu-ray's surround mix was that it was bigger and more expansive than the DVD's. The film's sound mixer/designer, Walter Murch, produced a remarkably layered landscape. The jungle scenes are populated with a vast array of insects and birds, the sound of wind is sometimes subtly mixed with a vocal chorus, and the far away rumble of bombs exploding will test your subwoofer's stamina. Returning to the DVD's duller and muddled soundtrack was a big letdown.

The "Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure" set is jam-packed with nine hours of extras, but two short featurettes, "The Birth of 5.1 Sound" and "The Final Mix" were the standout attractions for me. The "Apocalypse Now" sound mix was so complex the engineers were required to work 12-hour days from November 1978 to August 1979 (that's about three times longer than it takes to mix the average big budget feature film). "Apocalypse Now" was the first film with stereo surround channels, which is one of the reasons it sounds so much better than other films of the 1970s or 1980s. … Read more