(Credit:
Ecofriend)
For those not IT-savvy enough to build and upgrade their own PCs, what happens is that once the machine becomes impossibly obsolete, the owner will buy a new desktop and ditch the old one. Meanwhile, before buying a new computer, the user is essentially stuck with the same old components unless he can get someone to upgrade the hardware for him.
Hong Kong industrial designer Jocko Chan has a better idea. He created a PC design for Dell that uses no screws at all, making disassembly and upgrades a breeze. Part of his LOOP concept sees the consumer renting the internal hardware (for a fee), and engineers regularly upgrading the internal components for a fee and recycling those that are obsolete. Keeping the same chassis and just changing the essential parts cuts down on waste as well.
It's still a pipe dream at this point, but we must say that even if the LOOP doesn't take off, the PC design is droolworthy enough that we hope Dell will at least adopt this unique chassis in the future.
(Credit:
Ecofriend)
(Source: Crave Asia via Ecofriend)
(Credit:
Nokia)
Headset makers probably aren't hurting for business these days, at least in California and Washington state. But even without the new laws, Nokia may have found another market.
Its "Wireless Loopset" is a device designed to hang around the neck that basically turns a t-coil-equipped hearing aid into a Bluetooth headset. In addition to providing the wireless connection, the Loopset includes such features as vibrating alerts and single-button dialing, according to Gearlog, and willl also work with cochlear implants.
While looped around the neck, the device greatly reduces the chance of interference because of its close proximity to the hearing aid. Nokia expects the Loopset to ship next year, selling for about $315.
Last night, I started a professional audio production program at the University of Washington Extension. There are about 40 students in the class. A half dozen or so are like me--in our 30s or older, with full-time careers outside the music industry, but with a longtime interest in recording and a lot of experience writing and playing music.
(Credit:
FL Studio)
But most are full-time students, or between college and graduate school, and are expecting to make a career in the music industry. Some of these kids are frighteningly single-minded--there's an 18-year-old who's been messing around with recording software since he was 9 and claims to be competent on drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards. Nearly all of them have created and recorded many hours of their own music, usually playing all the instruments. Several of them expect to start their own record labels, on which they'll release music by friends and artists they like. Their level of excitement is remarkable to me, given all the doom and gloom about collapsing record sales and the death of the big label system.
But most interesting to me: what software do they use? One guy recorded everything in Garage Band, but the program that kept coming up again and again was Fruity Loops (recently renamed FL Studio).
Nearly everybody who used it prefaced it with some sort of apology--"I know it's not considered a real recording program"--and our instructor didn't mention it among his recommendations of low-cost entry-level software (he's a huge fan of Cubase3 SE for multitrack mixing, even as he acknowledges that Pro Tools is the industry standard for recording). Nonetheless, Fruity Loops seems to be the standard for budding musicians--just like kids used to buy a Strat and a cheap Peavey amp, and maybe a Tascam 4-track tape recorder, now they buy a laptop, MIDI keyboard, and cheap sequencing software.
Two great tastes that taste great together.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze / CNET)Last month I wrote about the release of Korg's mini, battery-powered version of their Kaoss Pad audio effects processor. Well, I finally got my hands on one, and I'm happy to report it is every bit as cool as I had hoped. To refresh your memory, the Korg Mini Kaoss Pad is a palm-sized, battery-powered effects processor that lets you warp and remix any stereo line signal. My full review (with video) of the Mini Kaoss Pad posted on CNET this week, but it didn't have any audio samples to let you hear what it can do. I'm working on updating the review with audio, but in the meantime, as a Crave exclusive, here's some recordings I made at my desk using the Mini Kaoss Pad to effect a dry drum loop playing from my iPod.
The drum loop with no effects (MP3)
The drum loop run through the Mini Kaoss Pad's "Smooth Delay" (MP3)
The drum loop run through the Mini Kaoss Pad's "Vinyl Looper" (MP3)
The drum loop run through the Mini Kaoss Pad's "Looper/Flanger" [watch your ears!] (MP3)
Granted, these are three of the more extreme effects out of the 100 available, but they illustrate the idea behind the appropriately named Kaoss Pad--that is, interactive audio mayhem. Definitely not for everyone, but the sonic sadists out there should love this thing.
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