Selected by davidelmore

• Most Topular Stories

• Understanding the role of micro-copy in a brand's content strategy

  Holy Kaw!

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:58 am

  When it comes to planning your brand's content strategy, pay special attention to the micro-copy -- wording on a website's interface such as "submit" or call-to-action links, according to Amy Thibodeau, a content strategist for Facebook. Thibodeau explains the social site's reasoning for choosing the "Like" button and breaks down three steps that other strategists can use to ensure that their copy works in harmony with the rest of the website. Full story at SmartBlog on Social Media by SmartBrief. More SmartBrief stories. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• DEQX advances the art of speaker correction

  The Audiophiliac

  Steve Guttenberg

  8 Feb 2012 | 7:36 am

  DEQX room and speaker correction processors can transform the sound of very good hi-fi and home theater systems, and make them great.

• (The Real) Three Way Mic Shootout

  Church Audio Blog

  1 Feb 2012 | 10:11 am

  So, as promised I have the three way shootout of the three way shootout between the Sennheiser HSP 4, Countryman E6 and I threw a wireless SM58 in there because it's a microphone that all of us audio guys are familiar with in it's frequency response. I apologize for the less than perfect video quality Part of the reason is that I'm not that great at finding the right settings for video file compression to get it look good while still keeping a smaller file size. Though it sounds like there's some slight high frequency detail lost, this is the typical setup for our video encoding to web for…

• AED Rent Adopts JBL VTX VT25 Line Array Loudspeakers

  Mix

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:06 pm

  HARMAN’s JBL Professional announces that Belgium-based AV rental system provider AED Rent has signed on as the first adopter of JBL’s next-generation VTX V25 line array loudspeaker and as a Strategic Partner in the VTX Network. AED Rent is known throughout Europe as a market leader and a total system provider, making the company an ideal candidate to help introduce the VTX Series to the industry.

• Radio: Windows Phone 8, Android

  RoughlyDrafted Magazine

  danieleran

  4 Feb 2012 | 10:46 pm

  Gene Steinberg of the Tech Night Owl invited me to talk about Windows Phone 8 and Android. Also on the show are Peter Cohen and Jim Dalrymple of The Loop and Rich Sloan of StartUp Nation You can tune into the live broadcast stream Saturday night from 7:00 to 10:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM to 1:00 [...]

• 

  Holy Kaw!

• Understanding the role of micro-copy in a brand's content strategy

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:58 am

  When it comes to planning your brand's content strategy, pay special attention to the micro-copy -- wording on a website's interface such as "submit" or call-to-action links, according to Amy Thibodeau, a content strategist for Facebook. Thibodeau explains the social site's reasoning for choosing the "Like" button and breaks down three steps that other strategists can use to ensure that their copy works in harmony with the rest of the website. Full story at SmartBlog on Social Media by SmartBrief. More SmartBrief stories. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Pizza Hut's proposal package

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:36 am

  Love and pepperoni: the perfect delicious match. Pizza Hut wants to help you pop the question to your main squeeze with the $10,010 Ultimate Valentine’s Day Proposal in a Box. The package includes limo service to a local Pizza Hut location, a professional photographer and videographer, fireworks display, flowers, ruby engagement ring, and, most deliciously, a Pizza Hut $10 Dinner Box. Domino's, your move. Full story at Eater. Love is pizza. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Uncertain choices light up ‘explorer’ brains

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:19 am

  People who consistently select for uncertainty may harness the computational power of a specific brain region. Some people—”explorers”—choose to grapple with uncertainty head on. It’s a strategy of maximizing rewards by discovering whether as yet unexplored options might yield better returns. While some might stick with the usual, “explorers” might order the special in a restaurant because they aren’t sure they’ll like it. Prior to the Brown University study, there was no consensus that a precise area of the prefrontal cortex, in this case…

• Valentine's Day rebooted as Generosity Day [video]

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:05 am

  Out with the chocolate, roses, and edible underwear, in with spreading kindness. The big hearts at Causes.com have set out on a mission to rebrand Valentine's Day as Generosity Day and it starts with you pledging to share the love on February 14th. The Generosity Day pledge: Just say YES. This February 14th, let's reboot Valentine's Day as Generosity Day. Practice saying YES to every request for help and by being generous. I pledge to spend February 14th saying YES to all requests for help. Say "yes" to generosity at Causes.com. Spread the love by doing something good. Permalink | Leave a…

• How coffee changed America [infographic]

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:57 am

  Full-size version at Lumin Consulting. Delicious coffee. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• 

  The Audiophiliac

• DEQX advances the art of speaker correction

  Steve Guttenberg

  8 Feb 2012 | 7:36 am

  DEQX room and speaker correction processors can transform the sound of very good hi-fi and home theater systems, and make them great.

• Will Monster's new in-ear headphone dazzle audiophiles?

  Steve Guttenberg

  5 Feb 2012 | 7:45 am

  Monster may have gone too far with the bling factor, but its new Earth Wind & Fire Gratitude in-ear headphones sound sweet.

• RCA's 'video LP' format, doomed from the start?

  Steve Guttenberg

  4 Feb 2012 | 7:36 am

  From 1981 to 1984 RCA marketed the CED VideoDisc system. It never had a chance.

• It's a boom box. It's a vintage suitcase. No, it's a BoomCase

  Steve Guttenberg

  1 Feb 2012 | 7:36 am

  Sacramento, Calif.-based artist Dominic Odbert makes fabulous-looking portable speaker systems out of old suitcases. Each BoomCase is a one-of-a-kind creation.

• Emotiva's astonishing desktop speaker

  Steve Guttenberg

  29 Jan 2012 | 7:45 am

  The Emotiva Pro airmotiv 4 may be the 'baby' in the line, but it's the best sounding desktop in its price class.

• 

  Church Audio Blog

• (The Real) Three Way Mic Shootout

  1 Feb 2012 | 10:11 am

  So, as promised I have the three way shootout of the three way shootout between the Sennheiser HSP 4, Countryman E6 and I threw a wireless SM58 in there because it's a microphone that all of us audio guys are familiar with in it's frequency response. I apologize for the less than perfect video quality Part of the reason is that I'm not that great at finding the right settings for video file compression to get it look good while still keeping a smaller file size. Though it sounds like there's some slight high frequency detail lost, this is the typical setup for our video encoding to web for…

• Three Way Mic Shootout

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:24 am

  I set up a three way demo of the microphones between the Sennheiser HSP 4, the Countryman E6, and a wireless SM58 beta. One of the mics gets jealous. Watch the video to find out what happens.

• Headroom, Feedback, & the Keebler Elves Part 2

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:35 pm

  The quest for better sound for our pastor has me landed on two product demos. The first one is the Sennheiser HSP2. However the HSP2 wasn't available for demo, but I got the HSP4, which is the cardioid version. The reason I chose this is that it uses the MKE Platinum capsule, and we have an MKE clip on lavalier microphone that we used to use and it sound very good. Then we moved to the E6. There are several benefits of a headworn mic over a shirt lavalier. As the pastor looks down to read his notes or a Bible passage, the lavalier will pick up a more direct detailed sound because he is…

• Headroom, Feedback, & the Keebler Elves

  13 Jan 2012 | 9:55 am

  The last time I blogged it was 2011. Christmas is a big reason for it. Getting engaged was another. One of the solutions I have been looking for is something that would help suppress feedback on our pastor's microphone. He loves to engage with the audience and so he stands on the edge of the stage. We're always wondering when he's actually going to fall off. And catch it on camera. To post to YouTube. And then re-tweet. Exactly fifteen feet above his head is the PA and when he turns his head in just the right angle you will hear the beginning whispers and groans of feedback. He's wearing…

• Great Drum Tones: The Cymbals

  2 Dec 2011 | 10:46 am

  Continuing my series on getting drum tones I want to talk about cymbals today. Many live sound engineers will not understand this problem, with the exception of working in small clubs or in churches where the stage volume of musicians can be an issue. Of the progenitors of stage noisiness, the drums are king. In many churches its such an issue that drum isolation booths from companies like Clearsonic or Perdue Acoustics have become the staple item. I know of some churches that build a complete “drum condo.” It’s a fully enclosed room on the stage, with a door and you can stand…

• 

  Mix

• AED Rent Adopts JBL VTX VT25 Line Array Loudspeakers

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:06 pm

  HARMAN’s JBL Professional announces that Belgium-based AV rental system provider AED Rent has signed on as the first adopter of JBL’s next-generation VTX V25 line array loudspeaker and as a Strategic Partner in the VTX Network. AED Rent is known throughout Europe as a market leader and a total system provider, making the company an ideal candidate to help introduce the VTX Series to the industry.

• Shure Named As One of Nation's 'Best and Brightest Companies To Work For'

  8 Feb 2012 | 11:23 am

  The National Association for Business Resources (NABR) has named Shure as one of the country’s 2011 Best and Brightest Companies To Work For. The award honors companies that recognize their Associates as their greatest asset.

• Review: Etta James 'Heart & Soul: A Retrospective' (Universal)

  7 Feb 2012 | 1:32 pm

  Etta James Retrospective CD Reviewed by Mix Contributing Editor Barbara Schultz

• EastWest Releases Quantum Leap Solo Violin

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:45 pm

  EastWest announces the Quantum Leap Solo Violin virtual orchestral instrument ($99), with sound and character ideally suited for film and classical work. Produced by Nick Phoenix, Quantum Leap Solo Violin is a virtuoso solo violin recorded at Remote Control Productions, a film score facility in Santa Monica, Calif., run by veteran film composer Hans Zimmer and home to the scores of many of today's top films.

• HARMAN’s Lexicon Now Offering Individual Plug-Ins from PCM Native Effects, PCM Native Reverb Bundles

  7 Feb 2012 | 11:46 am

  HARMAN’s Lexicon announces the availability of the individual plug-ins from its popular PCM Native Effects and PCM Native Reverb Bundles. A total of 14 plug-ins will be available including Pitch Shift, MultiVoice Pitch, Chorus, Resonant Chords, Random Delay, Dual Delay, Stringbox, Vintage Plate, Plate, Hall, Room, Random Hall, Concert Hall and Chamber.

• 

  RoughlyDrafted Magazine

• Radio: Windows Phone 8, Android

  danieleran

  4 Feb 2012 | 10:46 pm

  Gene Steinberg of the Tech Night Owl invited me to talk about Windows Phone 8 and Android. Also on the show are Peter Cohen and Jim Dalrymple of The Loop and Rich Sloan of StartUp Nation You can tune into the live broadcast stream Saturday night from 7:00 to 10:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM to 1:00 [...]

• Video: Weekend Tech Review: Macworld Week 4 2012

  danieleran

  29 Jan 2012 | 12:49 am

  Here’s a video recap of the top tech stories involving Apple for the fourth week of 2012, including a look at Apple’s earnings, Macworld, product news, the week’s business stories, and upcoming events. You can also follow us on Twitter: @appleinsider and @DanielEran.

• Video: Weekend Tech Review: iBooks Event Week 3 2012

  danieleran

  22 Jan 2012 | 12:29 pm

  Daniel Eran Dilger Here’s a video recap of the top tech stories involving Apple for the third week of 2012, including a look at Apple’s iBooks Event, product news, the week’s business stories, and upcoming events. You can also follow us on Twitter: @appleinsider and @DanielEran. Weekend Tech Review: iBooks Author Week 3 Jan 2012 – YouTube

• Radio: CES 2012 and the tech industry

  danieleran

  20 Jan 2012 | 3:46 pm

  Gene Steinberg of the Tech Night Owl invited me to talk about CES 2012 and efforts by Intel, AMD, ARM, Apple, and Google. Also on the show are Kirk McElhearn of Macworld and Rob Pegoraro of USAToday. You can tune into the live broadcast stream Saturday night from 7:00 to 10:00 PM Pacific, 10:00 PM to [...]

• Shit Tech Guys Say

  danieleran

  17 Jan 2012 | 11:38 pm

  Daniel Eran Dilger Shit tech guys say

• 

  Macworld

• Study: Android phones don't age well compared to iPhones

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:30 am

  The bottom line: If you own an iPhone for 18 months and decide to resell it, you will get more money for it than any other comparable Android or BlackBerry smartphone.

• Nerf Lazer Tag comes to iPhone, iPod touch

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:00 am

  Hasbro realized that iPhone owners won’t want to put down their devices to play Nerf Lazer Tag. So the company is now combining iOS devices with the game.

• iPad 3 launch event rumored for March

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:50 am

  Reports on AllThingsD and The Loop suggest that Apple may be planning to launch the iPad 3 at a March event, which Dan Moren thinks lines up pretty well with the pattern to date.

• Samsung wins against Apple, Galaxy Tab 10.1N still on sale

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:30 am

  The changes Samsung Electronics has made to the Galaxy Tab 10.1N are enough to no longer infringe on Apple's intellectual property rights, a judge has ruled.

• Hackers attack Foxconn for the laughs

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am

  Hackers claimed to have stolen internal data from Apple supplier Foxconn and leaked the information online, apparently as prank and not in response to media reports of poor working conditions at the electronics manufacturer's factories as had been reported earlier.

• 

  MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - Front Page

• Amazon Hits Apple with New 'Three Kindles for the Price of an iPad' Commercial

  Eric Slivka

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:42 am

  With its prominent position in the smartphone and tablet markets, it's no surprise that Apple is a popular target in its competitors advertising as they seek to differentiate themselves from Apple even as they ride on the popularity of the company's brand and products. Samsung has been one of the most prominent users of this tactic lately with its series of ads showing Apple fans waiting in line for the next new product launch only to be wowed by the latest Samsung product being used by a passerby. Back in 2010, Amazon took on the iPad with a Kindle ad touting its E Ink capabilities that…

• High-Resolution Sharp Display Reportedly for iPad 3 Surfaces

  Eric Slivka

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:08 am

  The flurry of iPad 3 part leaks continues today following yesterday's interior photo of the rear shell and some follow-up photos of the exterior of the shell and the Smart Cover magnets. Among the most prominent additions today are new photos of what may be the iPad 3's display. Japanese blog Macotakara points to a posting by repair firm iLab Factory showing a 9.7-inch LCD panel from Sharp that is said to be a 2048x1536 high-resolution display set for inclusion in the iPad 3. The panel shows three ribbon cables connecting the display to its circuit board, in line with a previously-leaked…

• Steve Jobs' 1991 FBI File Released, Reveals Consideration for Presidential Appointment

  Eric Slivka

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:33 am

  As noted by Gawker, the FBI has just released a 1991 background check on Steve Jobs. The 191-page document was undertaken as Jobs was being considered for a presidential appointment to the President's Export Council by George H. W. Bush. The file was released following a Freedom of Information Act request filed through the open government site MuckRock. Beyond basic biographical information, the report makes reference to comments from a number of Jobs' acquaintances who were interviewed to help build a picture of his background. Gawker notes that the report contains an unusually high number…

• Apple to Introduce iPad 3 in First Week of March

  Eric Slivka

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:01 am

  AllThingsD, which has an accurate track record in revealing Apple's new product media events, is reporting that Apple will hold an event to launch the iPad 3 in the first week of March.Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to debut the successor to the iPad 2, and will do so at one of its trademark special events. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple’s preferred location for big announcements like these. No word yet on a street date for the iPad 3 (assuming that’s what it’s called), though my guess is…

• Photo of the Back of an iPad 3 Rear Shell, Smart Cover Magnets

  Arnold Kim

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:44 pm

  Apparently, iPad 3 enclosures are easy to come by these days. Earlier today, Repair Labs posted a photo of the interior the iPad 3 rear shell. They concluded that there were some minor changes that suggested a larger battery and redesigned logic board. Tonight, Apple.pro posts an image of the back of the same shell, showing it to look quite simliar to the current iPad 2 backing, though the camera appears closer to the edge. There's no markings on the enclosure, however. No "iPad" or serial number markings. The site also claims to have a photo of the Smart Cover magnets, suggesting the iPad 3…

• 

  MacFixIt

• Fix home button delays on iOS devices

  Topher Kessler

  8 Feb 2012 | 5:42 pm

  If the home button on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch is unresponsive, calibrating it could help.

• EFI updates extend Lion Internet recovery to more Macs

  Topher Kessler

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:44 am

  Apple has released new EFI firmware updates to in part bring the Lion Internet recovery option to more 2010-model Macs.

• Apple knowledgebase Web pages not loading in Safari

  Topher Kessler

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:55 pm

  Apple's knowledgebase articles have not been loading properly for some Safari users.

• Boot argument options in OS X

  Topher Kessler

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:14 pm

  The OS X boot arguments are useful for troubleshooting problems with system startup and how the system behaves when running.

• Purge the OS X disk cache to analyze memory usage

  Topher Kessler

  7 Feb 2012 | 11:01 am

  The disk cache in OS X can sometimes use a fair amount of the system's RAM, and clearing it can help you figure out how much RAM your applications and system processes are using.

• 

  Daring Fireball

• John Paczkowski: Apple to Announce iPad 3 First Week in March

  John Gruber

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:14 am

  John Paczkowski: Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to debut the successor to the iPad 2, and will do so at one of its trademark special events. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple’s preferred location for big announcements like these.  ★ 

• Guilt by Dissociation

  John Gruber

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:49 am

  Chuck Jordan: It was never just about getting a name wrong. It’s that even when you take Blue’s backpedalling at face value, it’s still offensively dismissive of women in tech. […] Correcting and dismissing Blue’s posts was never about Men vs. Women. It’s about accuracy vs. inaccuracy, good writing vs. bad writing, journalism vs. whatever the hell it is she’s doing, and misogyny vs. respect. Nicely said.  ★ 

• Fountain: Plain-Text Markup Format for Screenwriting

  John Gruber

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:40 pm

  What Markdown is for web content, Fountain is for screenplays. Looks great. See more in the announcements from co-creators Stu Maschwitz and John August. (Writes August, “Good ideas sometimes sit around for a while.” True.)  ★ 

• Tweetbot for iPad

  John Gruber

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:24 pm

  My favorite iPhone Twitter client is now available for the iPad too. I’ve been using it for a few weeks and it’s just terrific. I love it.  ★ 

• How iTunes Match Works for Copyright Holders

  John Gruber

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:22 pm

  Jeff Price got his first iTunes Match royalty check, and he’s happy: A person has a song on her computer hard drive. She clicks on the song and plays it. No one is getting paid. The same person pays iTunes $25 for iMatch. She now clicks on the same song and plays it through her iMatch service. Copyright holders get paid. Same action, same song, one makes money for the copyright holder, and one does not. This is found money that the copyright holders would never have gotten otherwise. I wasn’t really sure before how artists would get paid for iTunes Match.  ★ 

• 

  MacOSXHints.com

• Growl Notification from Mail.app with Sender Photos

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:30 am

  You can use an AppleScript to send a notification to Growl whenever new messages arrive in Mail.app. The script also includes the image of the sender from your Address Book as the icon of the Growl notification. Works in Snow Leopard and Lion. I adapted a script written originally by Hunter Ford. I added the ability to include the image of the sender from the Address Book (if it exists). Britney F. helped me solve a couple of bugs -- Many thanks! First you have to be using Mail.app and the latest version of Growl. You can download the script from here and place in your /Library/Scripts folder…

• Using S/MIME on iOS Devices

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:30 am

  I've recently written a blog post on using S/MIME with iOS devices. I've found that settings things up isn't entirely straight-forward so I've documented what I needed to do to make it work. The article explains how to set up your iPhone or iPad to send and receive encrypted emails via S/MIME. The prerequisite is an S/MIME certificate from a certificate authority. Some CAs provide them free for personal use. The procedure is not very complicated even though the description may look lengthy due to the many screenshots. The biggest hurdle is to pick the correct file format when exporting your…

• 10.7: Update to a workaround for a Boot Camp x64 installation issue

  8 Feb 2012 | 7:30 am

  Yesterday I finally got around to dual-booting my MacBook, with a nice fresh copy of Windows 7. Everything was great, except for a laggy download of the Windows Support Software. So, earlier today, I got around to installing the drivers. It turns out, my old MacBook didn't support BootCampx64. I then did a quick search on how to fix this issue. I came up with a number of answers, but this is an answer aimed at people who were in my situation which is: I could not right click on the BootCampx64.msi file, because of the missing drivers. Or if I could right click, then changing the properties of…

• Airport Utility 6.0

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:30 am

  Airport Utility 6.0 was released a few days ago. You may want to keep both 5.6 and 6.0 versions. I used Pacifist, and manually reinstalled the 5.6 version side by side. Lots of missing features in the new utility. No way to tweak wireless options for Mode, Frequency, Multicast Rate or Transmit Power, and such a tiny window for port mapping list. An elegant interface, but at a price. For a thorough review and pointers to stand alone updates, read here. [crarko adds: Consider this a public service announcement. It also appears that AirPort Utility 6.0 only functions with the 802.11(n)…

• 10.7: See Exposé view of an app in the background

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:30 am

  This is a feature that allows you to see the Exposé of an app that is in the background. You'll need a Trackpad. In OS X 10.7, the four-finger swipe down toggles app Exposé for the app in the foreground. Except if you place the cursor on the icon of a running app in the Dock, in which case the four-finger down swipe toggles the app exposé of THAT app, not the application that is in the foreground. If you swipe down again without selecting a window from the Exposé view, you are taken back to the app you were in before toggling Exposé. [crarko adds: I'd love to test this, but my Lion…

• 

  AppleInsider

• Apple now worth more than Google and Microsoft combined

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:12 am

  Apple's stock soared to new heights on Thursday, pushing the company's market capitalization to $456 billion, a number that is greater than the values of rivals Google and Microsoft combined.

• Apple exploring 3D frame-of-reference iOS interface based on eye, light location

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:54 am

  Apple has shown interest in creating a unique user interface for iOS, allowing new features like dynamic shadows based on the angle of light hitting an iPhone screen.

• Apple said to hold 'iPad 3' event first week in March

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:40 am

  Apple will reportedly hold a media event the first week in March in San Francisco to unveil its third-generation iPad, which is expected to go on sale soon after it is unveiled.

• Pictured Sharp LCD panel claimed to be Retina Display for Apple's 'iPad 3'

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:05 am

  Another leaked component photo shows an LCD panel manufactured by Sharp that is claimed to be a 9.7-inch Retina Display for Apple's anticipated third-generation iPad.

• Leaked photo allegedly shows outside back cover of Apple's next iPad

  8 Feb 2012 | 11:40 pm

  On the heels of an earlier purported leak of the back panel of the third-generation iPad, new leaked photos have emerged showing an external view of the back panel of the rumored device, as well as magnets for an "iPad 3" Smart Cover.

• 

  MacUser

• Paul McCartney to play live on iTunes and Apple TV

  Kenny Hemphill

  8 Feb 2012 | 8:52 am

  In the first event of its kind, Paul McCartney will promote his new album, Kisses on the Bottom, by playing a concert which will be streamed live on iTunes. You’ll have to stay up late, or get up early to watch it however, as the event takes place in LA and starts at 7pm PST (3am GMT). The concert will also be available directly on the Apple TV, the first live event of any kind to be streamed to Apple’s set-top box. In recent years, Apple has streamed its iTunes Festival events on iTunes, but these were only available on a Mac or PC using iTunes or on an iOS device through a…

• Latest Issue: Volume 28 No 3

  Adam Banks

  6 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am

  iBooks Author is a brand new and completely free Mac app that lets you create your own multimedia books for the iPad. Just before we went to press, we had the chance to explore its features for the first time, and we’ve put together a full tour for you in MacUser Vol 28 No 3, on sale now. See how you can set up a book and insert your own text and pictures in minutes; the slick interactive elements you can add using tools within the app; the limitation that for some users will prove iBooks’ fatal flaw; and the steps you need to complete before you can sell your iBooks. Last month,…

• Motorola wins ban on push email on Apple devices in Germany

  Kenny Hemphill

  3 Feb 2012 | 8:18 am

  Motorola has won a permanent injunction in Germany against push email services in Apple’s iCloud and MobileMe. When Motorola enforces the judgement, Apple will have to remove push email from the iPhone and iPad in Germany. Although the injunction is permanent, it can be appealed and it’s likely that Apple will do just that. According to patent expert Florian Mueller ‘Motorola can seek its enforcement anytime now if it posts a 100 million euro bond, but if an appeals court overturns the ruling, Motorola will be liable for premature enforcement of an improperly-granted…

• Browett won’t bring Dixons to Apple says Tim Cook

  Kenny Hemphill

  1 Feb 2012 | 8:54 am

  Apple’s decision to recruit Dixons CEO, John Browett as its international retail chief caused more than a few raised eyebrows on this side of the Atlantic. The philosophy and sales strategy of PC World and Currys could scarcely be more different to Apple’s, and anyone who remembers the failed ‘store within in a store’ partnership between the two companies in the late nineties still shudders at the thought of trying to get accurate information on Apple products from Dixons’ sales staff. My favourite story was told by a MacUser reader who wrote to us to say that he…

• NYT admonished by workers’ rights group over Apple China story

  Kenny Hemphill

  30 Jan 2012 | 2:15 pm

  The New York Times has been criticised by an organisation which promotes the rights of workers over a story it ran last week which contained devastating accounts of the treatment of employees at factories in China where Apple products are made. BSR, a group which promotes corporate responsibility and the rights of workers was unhappy with the way it was portrayed in the Times article. In a letter to the Times, BSR President and CEO, Aron Cramer, wrote ‘The narrative you present is an inaccurate picture of the work we have done with Apple, of the role Apple played in the worker hotline…

• 

  The Official Google Blog

• Going gothic with bestselling author Anne Rice

  A Googler

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:00 am

  Bestselling Southern American author Anne Rice is coming to Google headquarters to discuss her latest book, The Wolf Gift, on Friday, February 24 at 10am PT. One of the most popular authors of contemporary fiction, Rice has bewitched readers with her vampire chronicles, tales of the Mayfair Witches and other metaphysical gothic fiction for more than thirty years. Submit your question online between now and Feb 23 at midnight PT, and it could be asked during the Interview with the Vampire—we mean, the interview with Anne Rice. To watch the live broadcast, tune in to the Authors@Google…

• Introducing Chrome for Android

  A Googler

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:40 am

  In 2008, we launched Google Chrome to help make the web better. We’re excited that millions of people around the world use Chrome as their primary browser and we want to keep improving that experience. Today, we're introducing Chrome for Android Beta, which brings many of the things you’ve come to love about Chrome to your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone or tablet. Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign-in and sync so you can take your personalized web browsing experience with you wherever you go,…

• What’s your X? Amplifying technology moonshots

  A Googler

  6 Feb 2012 | 6:10 pm

  Last week, we ran an experiment. We hosted a gathering, called “Solve for X,” for experienced entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists from around the world. The event focused on proposing and discussing technological solutions to some of the world’s greatest problems. Discussions began last week with this small event, and now we invite others to join the conversation on our website and our Google +page. The Solve for X gathering, which we co-hosted with Eric Schmidt, is a place to celebrate a concept we champion internally and that we believe will inspire many others: technology…

• Supporting U.S. student veterans with a new scholarship

  A Googler

  6 Feb 2012 | 3:03 pm

  The newest addition to the Google scholarships family is the Google Student Veterans of America (SVA) Scholarship. We’re partnering with the nonprofit Student Veterans of America (SVA) to support their mission of providing veterans with the resources, support and advocacy they need to succeed in higher education and throughout their careers. The Google SVA Scholarship is available to student veterans who are pursuing degrees in computer science and related fields in the U.S. for the 2012-2013 academic year. In addition to the financial award, recipients will be invited to attend the annual…

• Super Bowl XLVI: Mobile, Manning and Madonna

  A Googler

  6 Feb 2012 | 6:35 am

  Now that the final Super Bowl touchdown has been scored, the dip bowl wiped clean and the last of the chicken wings devoured, we’re taking a look at some game-day search trends to see what football fans were searching for this year. As the Giants and Patriots battled it out on the field yesterday, U.S. viewers multi-tasked, watching the game on television and also going online more than ever before, turning to their smartphones and tablets to look up players, halftime show performers and their favorite Super Bowl commercials. In fact, around 41% of searches related to [Super Bowl ads] that…

• 

  Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider

• Cliff Mautner on the Nikon D800

  Brad Moore

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:02 pm

  What a few days. It’s amazing how much interest a little piece of metal can produce. As a proud member of the team at Kelby Training, I wanted to share my experience with the D800. This project has been going on for many months. i was approached by my good friends at K&L in Tokyo- Nikon’s agency for decades- and was blown away that they asked me to participate with this project. My job was well defined: Use the D800 in a way that utilizes and highlights the latest features the D800 offers in real world wedding conditions that I’d face week in and week out. Simple, right?

• It’s Free Stuff Thursday!

  Brad Moore

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:01 pm

  Photoshop World DC – 9 Days Left for Early Bird Registration! Photoshop World Washington DC is quickly approaching, and there are only 9 days left to save $100 on registration! Head on over to PhotoshopWorld.com to sign up, get hotel info, see the full schedule of classes from instructors like Jay Maisel, Joel Grimes, Lindsay Adler, Glyn Dewis, and a ton of other incredible people! And, there are only a few spots left in some of the pre-conference workshops like Lightpainting 101 with Dave Black, On Location DSLR Workshop with Rich Harrington, Real World Concert Photography with Alan…

• It’s Guest Blog Wednesday featuring Jake Peterson!

  Brad Moore

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:37 pm

  Making History Come to LifeTen months ago I was attending Photoshop World in Orlando, FL. It was the second time I had been to Photoshop World, but after the blast of Vegas the previous September there was no way I was going to miss the one that Spring. One morning in the instructors’ lounge Jay Maisel, someone who I knew of but had never met, was sitting at a table. I introduced myself and we started to talk. Afterward Jay went up to my Dad and said, “You have failed as a parent if you let your kid go into photography as a career.” He smiled and my Dad just laughed;…

• Jumping the gun on the Nikon D800

  Scott Kelby

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:46 am

  Since my post last night here on Google+ (http://www.scottgplus.com), and here on my blog earlier today, I’ve seen a lot of comments flowing in pro and con about this camera, and I just want to say a quick few things about the comments I’ve been reading thus far:(1) The D800 was apparently created for a very specific type of photographer  There is no law that every camera introduced by a camera company has to be designed to fit your personal needs. If you read that it has 36.3 megapixels and you’re like “36.3 megapixels is overkill!!!” then obviously this…

• Nikon Announces The D800 And Baby Does It Look Sweet!!!!

  Scott Kelby

  6 Feb 2012 | 9:33 pm

  36.3 megapixels (wow!) with a full frame sensor. Full HD video with stereo sound (yay) built in HDR (sweet) and it looks like its aimed at the commercial, wedding and landscape markets (photographers who shoot medium format digital backs. I mean who used to shoot digital backs). ;-)I haven’t seen one, held one, etc., but it sounds amazing and I want one. Bad!!!! (And yes, sometimes you need 36.3 megapixels). Two words: Whoo Hoo!Read the full scoop at Nikon USA: http://bit.ly/wVaU77

• 

  TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends

• Winter Solstice Photo Series - Mary Mattingly Captures the First and Last Lights of the Shortest Day (TrendHunter.com)

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:40 am

  (TrendHunter.com) Few artists have the dedication Mary Mattingly has used to to create a photo series spanning decades with no foreseeable end. That's exactly what she did with ‘First Light/Last Light,' which is a collection...

• The End of Evolutionary Pressure - Dr. Michio Kaku Suggests That Humans Have Stopped Evolving (TrendHunter.com)

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:29 am

  (TrendHunter.com) Theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku suggests that humankind has stopped evolving, abolishing a multitude of common stereotypes expressed in popular culture imagery that includes books and films. Proving...

• Musical Fitting Rooms - Listen to What you Wear When StarHub Music Store Merges Tunes with Style (TrendHunter.com)

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:19 am

  (TrendHunter.com) For so many young, fashion corresponds with music, and iTunes competitor StarHub Music Store has found a way to combine the two artistic mediums. In Singapore, when you pick up a piece of clothing, a radio...

• Luminescent Lifestyle Kicks - The Atmos x Reebok 25th Anniversary Workout Sneaker Glows in the Dark (TrendHunter.com)

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:08 am

  (TrendHunter.com) Very few liefstyle sneakers are as crisp and cool as the Atmos x Reebok Workout sneaker, which was made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the iconic shoe. The recent collaboration, resulting in the...

• Electroshock Therapy Cures - Sherwin Nuland Talks About Battling Mental Illness (TrendHunter.com)

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:58 am

  (TrendHunter.com) In this scientific, yet highly personal and moving keynote from author and surgeon Sherwin Nuland, he gives an overview of the history of electroshock therapy and shows how it has been used in the past...

• 

  Graphic Design Blog - An Ultimate Resource for Graphic Designers

• SocialDon – FREE Comparison of Facebook Analytics!

  Charlie B. Johnson

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:33 pm

    Each day, more and more companies are registering themselves on Facebook to increase their online market presence. This is because Facebook is the most used social media site in the world (Ranked 2nd by Alexa in their global website rankings).   Did You Know? –› 43% of the Facebook users Like, or are fans of, at least one brand on Facebook. –› The average U.S. Facebook user “Likes” an average of 14 companies/brands. –› 40% users Like a company’s page to receive discounts and promotions. –› 33% users Like a company’s page to…

• 25 Amazing Not-Photoshopped Pictures – See it to believe it!

  Charlie B. Johnson

  6 Feb 2012 | 2:42 am

  Photoshop manipulation is an art practiced by a lot of artists and designers. It is even used in creating print advertisements for major brands and for designing other promotional props. Every now and then, we witness several pictures on the internet that are altered or manipulated using Adobe Photoshop. But there are some pictures that baffle us into thinking they must be manipulated, even though they are not photoshopped at all. Do you know the real secret involved in these pictures that claim not to be photoshopped? Well the answer is really simple…forced perspective. In the field…

• GDB Comment Contest Results Announced – Congratulations Winners!

  Charlie B. Johnson

  3 Feb 2012 | 3:13 am

  Hey guys…the much anticipated results of the comment contest on GDB are finally out. I’m sure you all must be ecstatic to know who the winners are. But before I reveal the name of the 3 lucky winners, let us take a brief recap of the entire event. We started this contest on 24th January 2012 with an aim to increase useful discussions and gain healthy feedback about our blog. The contest ends today on 3rd February 2012. In this short span of time, we received over 200 valuable comments from our loyal readers. The 3 Lucky Winners: It was a close competition as several participants…

• Meeting Graphic Design Clients for the First Time – Prepare Yourself!

  Charlie B. Johnson

  31 Jan 2012 | 2:54 am

      I remember my first client meeting…even though it was quite long time back, but the whole episode is still a distinct memory. Not because it was my very first client meeting, but the anxiety and nervousness that besieged me was unforgettable. Trembling hands, shaky knees and sweaty forehead…altogether it was a nerve-racking experience. I am sure most of the newbie graphic designers face the same situation in their first meet-up with clients. However, this was just a onetime incident for me because with time I grew stronger in confidence after each client meeting.

• 25 Tricky Optical Illusion Pictures – Find the Hidden Figures!

  Charlie B. Johnson

  27 Jan 2012 | 3:56 am

    We all have heard the proverbial phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words”. But what I am about to showcase today needs a new expression…“A picture in worth a thousand pictures.” Yes folks, I’m talking about visual images that show pictures within a picture. Also known as optical illusions, this technique tests the human mind to figure out odd and bizarre things that differ from objective reality. This concept is greatly employed by graphic designers in creating hidden logos and other graphic artworks with hidden concepts. Recall the Apple logo…

• 

  Infinite Loop

• Etc: TED Talks are now available as free downloads via iTunes U, collected and arranged by topics such as design, science, and religion.

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:16 am

  TED Talks are now available as free downloads via iTunes U, collected and arranged by topics such as design, science, and religion. Read More: iTunes U Read the comments on this post

• First week of March fingered for iPad 3 announcement

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:50 am

  There have been many rumors about the launch of Apple's next-gen iPad, but the first substantial bit of info comes courtesy of All Things D. According to sources speaking to the publication, the iPad 3 will be introduced at an event in San Francisco during the first week of March—the same week the iPad 2 was announced in 2011. Rumors have been all over the map as for what the iPad 3's specs might be. It has been generally accepted at this point that it will come with a higher-resolution "retina" display, but others have pointed to upgraded cameras, a slightly thicker body, a quad-core…

• Ding dong, the white MacBook is dead—for real this time

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:20 pm

  The white plastic MacBook is officially dead for good after Apple notified resellers that it will no longer be available to educational institutions. The 13" machine was essentially killed off for most of the public last July, but the budget laptop continued to be available to schools for the last six months. Now, however, the machine has officially been EOL'd (End of Lifed), bringing the old iBook legacy to an end once and for all. As noted by MacRumors, Apple informed resellers of the product EOL on Wednesday, saying they had ended the educational distribution channel for the machine. It's…

• Paul McCartney concert stream will test the waters on live Apple TV viewership

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:20 pm

  Apple may indeed be using the Apple TV to test the live broadcasting waters, as evidenced by its recent decision to stream former Beatle Paul McCartney's live performance this Thursday. The company "announced" via a banner on iTunes that the stream would take place at 7pm PST on February 9 both on iTunes (for Mac and PC) as well as the Apple TV—the first livestream of its kind for Apple's set-top box. This isn't the first time Apple has streamed live (usually music-related) content via iTunes, but it will be the highest-profile and the first available to Apple TV users. The company is…

• Apple hoping to secure standardized royalties for 3G wireless patents

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:35 pm

  Apple is attempting to stop the use of "standards essential" patents on 3G technology as legal bludgeons against smartphone competitors. To make its case, the company has gone directly to the standards body behind 3G wireless networking, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In a letter to ETSI dated last November (but only recently uncovered by the Wall Street Journal) Apple suggested that patents offered as part of wireless networking standards should be governed by standardized royalty rates and barred from being used as the basis for legal injunctions. As…

• 

  Top news for Digg Apple Newsroom

• Google Drive Cloud Storage Near Ready

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 4:41 am

  Google is said to be close to launching its own cloud-storage service that is set to compete with Dropbox. The tip-off was offered to the Wall Street Journal, which says that it has talked to ‘people familiar with the matter.’ The long-rumored service dubbed 'Drive'

• Tablets equipped to challenge iPad’s authority in 2012

  Digg

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:16 pm

  With amazing figures to show for iPad's sales, do other tablets stand a chance against Apple's deftly fueled onslaught?

• 7 Things You Didn't Know About Steve Jobs From the Guy Who Designed the Original Mac

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:26 am

  You may not know him, but that guy on the right is one of the most influential industrial designers in history, Apple's first Jonny Ive. He designed the original Apple Macintosh, a model that influenced generations to come and defined the all-in-one personal computer.

• The best iPhone tethering apps (and one to avoid)

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:34 am

  Wireless carriers have us right where they want us. When there are only four significant national providers in the US, there’s only so much competition for our business. So when they all band together (even if only in mindset) and decide on a “new rule,” customers are forced to play along.

• Read all 191 pages of Steve Jobs’ FBI file

  Digg

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:10 am

  The FBI has released its full dossier on Steve Jobs. Jobs, who passed away just last October after a prolonged battle with cancer, is best known for his role as Apple's enigmatic co-founder. How...

• 

  MacDailyNews

• Analyst: New Sprint subsidies could move Apple iPhone units

  MacDailyNews

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:33 am

  BTIG Research analyst Walter Piecyk sees Apple selling more iPhones as carriers reduce...

• Hackers hit Apple supplier Foxconn, leak usernames and passwords

  MacDailyNews

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:01 am

  Foxconn, the gargantuan Chinese manufacturing backend for much of the tech industry...

• Finally, a good reason to dump Quicken and use a Mac money app you can love

  MacDailyNews

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:30 am

  Intuit's on-again, off-again commitment to the Mac means...

• Chutzpah: Google wants 2.25% of every iPhone sale

  MacDailyNews

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:16 am

  It's not enough that Google borrowed the phone's look and feel to make Android?

• Apple’s iTV is ‘a gigantic iPad’ with Siri: Canadian telecoms companies reveal details of prototype

  MacDailyNews

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:59 am

  Canadian telecoms company Rogers and Bell already has Apple's hotly anticipated iTV device

• 

  Cult of Mac

• iOSOpenDev Is A “Shortcut” For Cydia Devs, But Is That A Good Thing? [Interview]

  Alex Heath

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:10 am

  The jailbreak community is full of talented developers and innovative ideas that have kept Apple on its toes for the past several years. The time and effort that goes into creating a quality tweak is often unappreciated by the average jailbreaker. A free tool called iOSOpenDev was recently released for developers. Those with basic programming knowledge can use Xcode templates for creating jailbreak-style apps and tweaks that can be easily published to Cydia, the jailbreak version of the App Store. While iOSOpenDev is attempting to make it easier for developers to code tweaks, apps and…

• The Dangers Lurking for Business In The Cloud

  Ryan Faas

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:58 am

    Today BYOD and the consumerization of IT aren’t just buzzwords on the horizon, they’re fact of business life and have begun transforming the workplace for millions of professionals. Many solutions exist to deal with managing user-owned mobile devices and integrating them to varying degrees with corporate resources and shared data – something that the explosion of cloud products is helping to drive. Many enterprise cloud solutions (public and private) exist to meet these demands while ensuring data management and security. Unfortauntely, cloud solutions aren’t…

• Google Promises To Honor Motorola’s Licencing Standards After Acquisition (This Includes Fees Imposed On Apple)

  Cult of Android

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:10 am

  Google has sent letters out to various standards organizations, including the IEEE, promising to honor MMI’s patent licensing policies after it completes its planned acquisition of the company. This includes honoring MMI’s maximum go-forward per-unit royalty rate of 2.25%. This is the same rate MMI is asking Apple to pay in order to lift the injunction on the iPhone and iPad 3G passed down in Germany. Apple has rejected this offer and is fighting it, claiming it’s unfair and contrary to the principles of FRAND licensing commitments. No matter the outcome of the…

• Apple Under Fire As Hackers Steal Money From iTunes Accounts?

  Killian Bell

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am

  Hackers have once again turned to cracking iTunes accounts to obtain a ton of content paid content and leave you with the bill. Once inside your account, these thieves will steal your store credit and gift cards, and make purchases with your credit card and Paypal information. But is Apple doing enough to stop them? iTunes users have taken to Apple’s Support Communities to report that their accounts have been used to fund fraudulent purchases that they did not authorize. Over 1,080 people have reported their experiences at the time of writing this post. Elcarmean writes: The exact same…

• Want To Sell Your Next Phone? It’s Not Worth It Unless It’s An iPhone

  Ryan Faas

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:32 am

    Your brand new car starts losing value the second you drive it off the dealer’s lot – that an old (and very true) addage. Like a new, a new piece of technology begins to lose value or depreciate as soon as you leave the store. With cars and with major tech purchases like a new iMac, this isn’t an immediate source of pain or dismay since you’ll be using them for at least a few years. When it comes to smartphones and other mobile devices like our iPhones and iPads, depreceiation and loss of dollar value is equally true. The big difference is that most of us…

• 

  Mac Tricks And Tips

• Customise Default Message Fields In Mail

  admin

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:41 am

  Hey, I use Mail a lot, as a result I like to customise it to work the way I want to. Today’s tip will show you how to customise the fields in the new message window. Although the images shown are the Snow Leopard version of Mail, I assume there is a similar method available in Lion. The tip will allow you to change the BCC and CC fields as well as a couple of other fields when you compose a new message. To change around the fields, open up a new message window, either by pressing Command + N or go to File > New Message. Then click the small button in the bottom left as shown in the…

• Photostyler – Adjust, Play and Modify Your Photos

  admin

  8 Feb 2012 | 5:39 am

  Hey With numerous digital cameras attached to most electronic devices and the ability to share those images over the world wide web, making those images unique and different can be a difficult experience. Applying that vintage, distressed or Polaroid look can be a little difficult. However, today’s app, Photostyler takes the problem out of adjusting images and makes it fun in the process. The outputted result aren’t to bad either. Once your download and install the app, you will be presented with a blank canvas ready to modify and change your image. When you load an image you will…

• Loop / Repeat Terminal Commands

  admin

  6 Feb 2012 | 7:42 am

  Hey I want to extend your Terminal knowledge today by introducing a simple loop command. This is useful if you want to repeat or loop a Terminal command indefinitely. This is a simple bash script that has a variety of uses. The script is a simple one line command that needs very little adjusting on your part. The first step is to open up Terminal. Then copy and paste, or type, the following into the Terminal prompt. bash -c 'while [ 0 ]; do date;done' This will activate a bash script, and will repeat the listed command indefinitely, press Control + C to stop the loop. Replace the word date,…

• Stress Test Your Mac and CPU

  admin

  4 Feb 2012 | 6:49 am

  Hey When you have a new or old Mac, every so often you will want to stress test your Mac to see if it has any problems or it can handle the heat. There are a variety of different ways in which you can do this, however one of the simplest ways is to use Terminal. This guide will show you how to set your CPU running at max speed, which you can tailor to the number of CPU’s cores you have. Then its just a matter of watching the results in Activity Monitor, watch for stability issues and see the temperature of your Mac rise. The first step is to open Activity Monitor located in Applications…

• Create CSS Sprites With A Simple App

  admin

  3 Feb 2012 | 7:10 am

  Hey Today I am going to review an application which will be of interest to any one who has anything to do with web development, particularly CSS and HTML. One of the best ways to speed up the loading of a website is to put every image used in the CSS file into one large image. This means when your website loads, it doesn’t have to ask for many small images. It only asks for one large image (called a sprite) this improves loading times. For the new users generating a CSS sprite, where there is one large image that contains all of the images you are going to use can be difficult, if not…

• 

  Computer Audiophile

• Introducing CA Scrobbles

  The Computer Audiophile

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:24 pm

  Scrobble /ˈskrɒbəl/ Verb (third-person singular simple present scrobbles, present participle scrobbling, simple past and past participle scrobbled) To publish one's music-listening habits via software, as counted events when songs or albums are played, to selected internet services in order to track them over time, out of curiosity and/or to make them visible to others. (Source: Wiktionary) June 16, 2011 the Album of the Evening forum topic was started on CA. This topic encourages readers to share what they are listening to each evening. Over 1200 replies and hundreds of new music…

• AURALiC ARK MX+ DAC Review

  The Computer Audiophile

  2 Feb 2012 | 10:06 pm

  The AURALiC ARK MX+ digital to analog converter is a well engineered, uniquely constructed, and very good sounding DAC. Right out of the box it's visually and physically evident the ARK MX+ was built to a very high standard. This 12 lbs. DAC made of iron, nickel, and silicon looks and feels like it was built to military specifications. Internally the AURALiC ARK MX+ houses some unique design elements including the main attraction AURALiC Sanctuary Audio Processor. This multi-core ARM9 processor and the ARK MX+ unique ActiveUSB™ asynchronous USB interface is a combination not found in any…

• Sonata Music Server Review

  Kathy Geisler

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:38 pm

  My first impression is that I could be convinced to listen to music with the Sonata Music Server software. Just imagine… A vast selection of music presented in the easiest to locate method. Your tastes catered to with a simple touch. In this case a Dell ST2220T Multi-touch monitor. It doesn't hurt to have the Arcam asynchronous USB rDAC, Stax SR-007 headphones and matching headphone amplifier which add that je ne sais quoi -- over the rainbow quality to the entire experience. Clearly, Digibit has positioned Sonata as the sommelier of music servers. The downside is that all of this is just a…

• Introducing New CA Contributor Kathy Geisler

  The Computer Audiophile

  23 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  After four years of writing every review and in-depth article on Computer Audiophile it’s time to add some diversity to these pages. I’m very happy to introduce new CA contributor Kathy Geisler. Kathy will bring a refreshing and creative perspective to Computer Audiophile. She has vast experience as a producer with a passion for classical music and an ear for good sound quality. read more

• CES 2012 Show Notes

  The Computer Audiophile

  15 Jan 2012 | 8:34 pm

  Wireless was everywhere. Music servers were everywhere. DACs were everywhere. CES 2012 was good for computer audiophiles and those looking to take the next step in high performance audio playback in the home. New Xeo wireless powered speakers from Dynaudio were among several wireless and/or powered speakers at the show. Audioengine showed its engineering prowess with its D2 wireless DAC at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Music servers from Weiss, Bladelius, and Merging Technologies showed much promise and the usual suspects from Apple running OS X and Microsoft Windows 7 were literally…

• 

  Meyer Sound Stories

• It's 2012—Time for Intelligible Audio in Public Spaces

  31 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am

  Welcome to a world where you can clearly hear your flight announcement without having to sift through distortion and ambient noise; where a soundtrack becomes part of an immersive museum experience and not a distraction; where you can indulge in your favorite jazz music at a local lounge just as you were in a studio.

• Meyer Sound Expande la Línea de Productos de Bajo Voltaje con Tres Nuevos Altavoces (con video)

  26 Jan 2012 | 3:52 pm

  La línea de soluciones de audio de bajo voltaje autoamaplificadas ha crecido con la integración de tres nuevos altavoces de 48 volts con alimentación eléctrica DC que ofrecen el mismo desempeño ejemplar que sus contrapartes con alimentación eléctrica AC. Estos sistemas abren el camino hacia un extenso rango de instalaciones de bajo voltaje que exijan una excepcional claridad de audio, mayor nivel de presión sonora y un potente impacto de bajos:

• Meyer Sound Expands Low-Voltage Product Line with Three New Loudspeakers (with Video)

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:52 pm

  Meyer Sound's line of self-powered, low-voltage audio solutions has grown with the addition of three new 48-volt, DC-powered loudspeakers that offer the same exemplary performance as their AC-powered counterparts. These systems open the way to a broadened range of low-voltage installations that demand exceptional audio clarity, higher SPL, and powerful bass impact.

• KPMG Denmark Installs Meyer Sound Low-Voltage System; Integrates Sonic Clarity into Architecture

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:47 pm

  The Danish arm of KPMG, a worldwide accounting and consulting firm, makes a bold statement through its new 33,000-square-meter headquarters building in Copenhagen designed by architects 3XN. As part of the building architecture characterized by three interlocking polygons, KPMG's auditorium features a virtually invisible system of Meyer Sound MM-4XP miniature self-powered loudspeakers to ensure intelligibility for company presentations.

• Meyer Sound Joins Association of Sound Designers in the UK

  25 Jan 2012 | 3:47 pm

  Meyer Sound of Berkeley, Calif., has become a Corporate Member of the Association of Sound Designers (ASD), an organization established in 2011 to serve the broad interests of theatrical sound designers in the United Kingdom.

• 

  Audio Federation Blog

• CES 2012 - Oracle Audio, Induction Dynamics, WBT

  Mike

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:24 pm

  Oracle Audio gear driving Induction Dynamics S1.8T loudspeakers Oracle Audio’s Delphi MK VI turntable Oracle Audio’s Delphi MK VI turntable Oracle Audio’s Delphi MK VI turntable closeup of Oracle cartridge Oracle Audio’s Delphi MK VI turntable Oracle Audio Si 1000 integrated amplifier Apparently a power supply for something Apparently a power supply for something Oracle Audio DAC 1000 Oracle Audio CD 2000 MkII CD player Oracle Audio CD 2000 MkII CD player Oracle Audio CD 2000 MkII CD player Oracle Audio CD 2000 MkII CD player On static display: Oracle Audio’s…

• CES 2012 - Eventus Audio, Audia Flight

  Mike

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:58 pm

  Eventus was showing their speakers on Audia Flight electronics in this room. I thought this room, after listening to it for only a very short while, had good potential to be interesting. There was depth and subtleties to the music here but without artifice or artificiality. Lacking some color, but I really didn’t stay long - just noticed the build quality of the speakers and listened a tiny bit. The Eventus ‘Nebula’ louspeaker The Eventus ‘Nebula’ loudspeaker and Nordost Odin cables Audia Flight Strumento No. 4 amplifier on Music Tools amp stand Audia…

• CES 2012 - Audio Power Labs

  Mike

  7 Feb 2012 | 7:43 pm

  This room featured the new Audio Power Labs 50TNT 50 watt amp on the Von Schweikert VR-5 Anniversary speakers. Hedging their bets? They had 3 separate digital sources [musical fidelity, EERAtentation, and Aurender] and two preamps [Audio Research and Fostex attenuator]. It is my guess that they appear to be using the Aurender running into the Musical Fidelity running as a DAC into the Audio Research pre. I liked the sound here. It was dynamic up and down the frequency spectrum, the speakers were well-controlled [not exceptionally so, but at a show where almost no speakers are well-controlled,…

• CES 2012 - Wadax, Echole cables, Stillpoints

  Mike

  6 Feb 2012 | 9:39 pm

  Wadax is building their product line around their digital expertise, putting it in their speakers and using it in their phono preamp [as I understand it]. They were very excited about Mike Fremer throwing out his phono stage and preamp and using their PRE 1 instead [I have not been keeping up with Stereophile either before CES or after, so do not know the scoop - but I think sometimes Mike does things that do not makes sense from the point of view of a typical audiophile who wants their system to sound its best. This may be one of those times - or maybe not]. They were silly enough to ask me…

• CES 2012 - Krell

  Mike

  6 Feb 2012 | 9:13 pm

  The room featured Krell speakers on a Krell amp with a Krell front end. The Krell ‘Modulari Primo Reference’ monitor speaker The Krell ‘Modulari Primo Reference’ monitor speaker The Krell ‘Modulari Primo Reference’ monitor speaker The Krell ‘Modulari Primo Reference’ monitor speaker rear binding posts The Krell ‘Mostro Reference’ subwoofer The Krell ‘Phantom’ preamplifier and Krell ‘Cipher’ CD / SACD player The Krell ‘Evolution 707 3D Reference’ preamp and surround sound processor

• 

  AVguide blogs

• First Listen: HiFiMAN HE-400 Value-Priced Planar Magnetic Headphone

  Chris Martens

  26 Jan 2012 | 7:44 am

  Channels:  The Absolute Sound The Perfect Vision Hifi+ CyberListener Blog Section:  The Playback Editors’ Blog Background GEC only:  not read more

• Headphones, Earphones & Personal Audio at CES 2012, Part 4

  Chris Martens

  25 Jan 2012 | 2:55 pm

  Channels:  The Absolute Sound The Perfect Vision Hifi+ CyberListener Blog Section:  The Playback Editors’ Blog This is Part 4 of a four-part Playback report and new headphone, earphone, and personal audio products seen at CES 2012. This section of the report covers products from: Skullcandy, SMS Audio, Stax, Urbanears/Zounds, Velodyne, V-MODA, Waterfall, WESC, Westone, and Woo Audio. GEC only:  not read more

• Headphones, Earphones & Personal Audio at CES 2012, Part 3

  Chris Martens

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:27 am

  Channels:  The Absolute Sound The Perfect Vision Hifi+ CyberListener Blog Section:  The Playback Editors’ Blog This is Part 3 of a four-part Playback report and new headphone, earphone, and personal audio products seen at CES 2012. This section of the report covers products from: NuForce, Paradigm Shift, Phiaton, Polk Audio, PSB, Scansonic, and Sennheiser. Please check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4. GEC only:  not read more

• Headphones, Earphones & Personal Audio at CES 2012, Part 2

  Chris Martens

  24 Jan 2012 | 12:32 pm

  Channels:  The Absolute Sound The Perfect Vision Hifi+ CyberListener Blog Section:  The Playback Editors’ Blog This is Part 2 of a four-part Playback report and new headphone, earphone, and personal audio products seen at CES 2012. This section of the report covers products from: Cambridge Audio, Cardas, Definitive Technology, Dynaudio, Etymotic Research, Focal, HiFiMAN, Klipsch, and Monster. GEC only:  not read more

• Headphones, Earphones & Personal Audio at CES 2012, Part 1

  Chris Martens

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:18 pm

  Channels:  The Absolute Sound The Perfect Vision Hifi+ CyberListener Blog Section:  The Playback Editors’ Blog This is Part 1 of a four-part Playback report and new headphone, earphone, and personal audio products seen at CES 2012. This section of the report covers products from: ACS Custom, AKG, Alpha Design Labs/Furutech, Altec, Audeo/Phonak, Audioengine, Audio-Technica, Audioquest, and Beyerdynamic. GEC only:  not read more

• 

  RecordingHacks.com

• Audio-Technica ATM610a

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:50 pm

  ATM610a is an updated version of Audio-Technica's ATM610. Both are hypercardioid stage vocal microphones made with Neodymium magnets. The ATM610a features an upgraded capsule shockmount and a multi-stage windscreen.The differences between the ATM610 and ATM610a include:The 610a has an improved internal shockmount, which reduces handling noiseThe 610a is 10g lighterThe 610a has 3dB better rejection at 180° (although the polar patterns are otherwise nearly identical).The frequency response differs slightly; the 610a is flat from 100–300Hz, whereas the ATM610 had a small boost in this…

• Audio-Technica ATM610

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:37 pm

  The Audio-Technica ATM610 is a hypercardioid dynamic handheld microphone designed for live vocal use. When still in production, it was the premier handheld vocal mic in Audio-Technica's Artist Series lineup. (It was replaced in 2012 by the ATM610a.)The mic's hypercardioid polar pattern can help reduce feedback problems in environments where monitors or other instruments are behind the microphone. Note, however, that the mic's polar pattern becomes less directional at high frequencies; the mic is 15dB more sensitive at its null points (±135°) above 5kHz than at 1kHz.According to…

• Audio-Technica ATM510

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pm

  ATM510 is a handheld cardioid dynamic designed for live vocal use.The mic uses a neodymium magnet which allows for a smaller, more powerful capsule with less weight. The mic is lighter than the Shure SM-58, Beta 58A and most other similar handheld dynamics.The frequency response is reportedly tailored to produce smooth, natural vocals; however, as of this writing, According to Audio-Technica, internal shockmounting of the capsule greatly reduces handling noise. A multi-stage windscreen controls popping and sibilance.The mic body and grille are all metal. The XLR connector is gold plated.The…

• Sennheiser Electronics Corporation e 905

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  The Sennheiser e 905 is a short body dynamic microphone designed primarily for drum use.The e905 features all-metal construction with integrated stand mount and a hum compensating coil. The capsule is shock-mounted to reduce mechanical noise. According to Sennheiser, the mic produces a fast attack and can handle high sound pressure levels. The published frequency curve shows a rolloff at 100Hz, and an upper mid boost from 5 to 15kHz, peaking at +6dB at 5500Hz.Sennheiser received a TEC Award for their e-series drum mics in 2005.Tags:dynamicend-addresshumbucking-coilThis profile of the…

• MXL R150

  5 Feb 2012 | 9:43 pm

  MXL R150 is a low cost side-address ribbon microphone with figure-8 polar pattern.The frequency curve shows a low-mid boost and a high rolloff starting around 10kHz.The R150 ships with microfiber polishing cloth and MXL-56 elastic shockmount.Tags:side-addressribbontransformer-coupledpassive-ribbonRelated microphones:MXL R144 - The R144 and R150 are MXL’s low-cost ribbon microphones.This profile of the MXL R150 is part of the microphone database and search engine at RecordingHacks.com. All content is ©2012 matthew mcglynn.

• 

  SH Forums - Audio Hardware

• Cable Dressing

  MichaelPemulis

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:41 am

  I searched and couldn't find a dedicated thread to this, thought it was worth it to consolidate information. I have read up on cable dressing and have found some basics: 1. Don't run the power cords next to reference cables. 2. If the cables have to cross, do it at 90 deg angles. 3. If you are bunching cables together, make infinity signs. 4. Some people swear by keeping the cables completely off the ground. So all that is well and good. How do you go about doing this? I am particularly interested in hearing about cheap DIY approaches (rather than having racks that have hollow pieces which…

• voltage meters on my 300b tube amp question

  inperson

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:01 am

  I have this new tube amp, a single ended 300B. I uses the following tubes Two, 300B tubes One, 5U4 Two, OA3 and Two 6SJ7 or 5693 The problem is the voltage meters. They never seem to be consistent or balanced. If you look at the picture today the meters voltage is 40 and the other is 50. But yesterday they were both perfect at 50. Sometimes they are balanced and sometimes they are not. These are not biasing meters, just showing the voltage (I guess going into the 300b tubes?) There are some pots behind the 300B tubes for adjustment but they are hum pots. The amp is self biasing. Of course I…

• Is thicker speaker wire better?

  goodiesguy

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:14 pm

  Earlier today i had to fix one of the wires going to one of my speakers, and was wondering if thicker wire would be better for the speakers, as the stuff i'm using is very thin (small back stuff. It came on the end of most stereo speakers). My dad in his shed used some very thick red wire to hook up speakers to a car stereo to use, and it worked fine. It looked like this, but both strips were red (it has bits for + and - on it etc.. so can identify): Would this stuff be better than the thin stuff i'm currently using? I'm trying to get my stuff up to date more. And just want an audiophiles…

• I'm now a Flac fanboy

  goodiesguy

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:08 pm

  I've just recently started to re-rip my collection to flac, and i'm amazed how much better they sound than 320kbps mp3. I am listening to Track 12 from Motown Chartbusters Vol 1 and it sounds so crisp and rich, and clean. It doesn't have the saturated sound that the mp3 had. Is there really an audible difference or am i just going insane?

• Speaker advice for a noob.

  Lord Summerisle

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:21 pm

  Just thought I'd ask here for some advice, I'm planning on putting together a half decent system this year. I'm starting my search with the speakers and will go on from there. 90% of my listening is rock music and I'll be running the TV through these speakers as well. I don't know if there's a certain brand or type of speaker that is better suited for rock/heavier music which is why I'm asking for some advice. These will be floor standing speakers. My budget will be around $2000. Thanks.

• 

  AUDIO SOUND - Google News

• Player audio offers unique perspective to Super Bowl XLVI - NFL News

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:25 am

  Player audio offers unique perspective to Super Bowl XLVINFL NewsSome of the audio on NFL Network's Super Bowl edition of "Sound FX" -- especially with benefit of knowing how the game plays out -- is fascinating. There's Brady's discussing his first-quarter safety with offensive coordinator Brian O'Brien, and more »

• Paul McCartney Latest To Take Center Stage For Harman's JBL Brand, In Grammys - Forbes

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:02 am

  ForbesPaul McCartney Latest To Take Center Stage For Harman's JBL Brand, In GrammysForbesPaul McCartney is the latest celebrity to join the ranks of those featured in Harman International Industries' audio, stereo and digital brands in an ad campaign. McCartney will appear in ads for Harman's JBL brand during Sunday night's Grammy Awards.Harman Teams with Sir Paul McCartney on JBL "Hear the Truth" CampaignMarketWatch (press release)McCartney To Star In JBL Grammy Ad, CampaignTwiceall 9 news articles »

• Audio Post Moves: Sound Designer Eric Hoffman Back to audioEngine - SonicScoop

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:39 am

  SonicScoopAudio Post Moves: Sound Designer Eric Hoffman Back to audioEngineSonicScoopThe major audio post house audioEngine announced that multifaceted sound designer Eric Hoffman has rejoined their team, and will be based out of their NYC facility. Sound designer and mixer Eric Hoffman has returned to audioEngine.

• Prism Sound's loudness test suite allows broadcasters to deliver compliant audio - Broadcast Engineering

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:17 am

  Prism Sound's loudness test suite allows broadcasters to deliver compliant audioBroadcast EngineeringWith the CALM Act now law in the US and compliance soon to be mandatory, Prism Sound is using the NAB 2012 platform to highlight the importance of loudness meter verification by showing a new application for its award-winning dScope Series III audio

• How to Be an Audiophile on the Cheap - Lifehacker

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:08 am

  How to Be an Audiophile on the CheapLifehackerYou love music, but even if you consider yourself a true audiophile, the cost of high-end sound can be, frankly, a little absurd. We talked with a handful of audio experts to find out how to get audiophile-calibre sound without emptying your savings

• 

  Seth's Blog

• Inaccurate labels and why we need them (and need to improve them)

  Seth Godin

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:46 am

  If I tell you, "I'm going to the baseball game," it seems as though you're likely to understand what I mean. Of course, you won't. When George Will goes to a baseball game, it's a religious experience. Me, I don't even like baseball. Or maybe it's my nephew's ball game (the playoffs), or maybe going to the game causes me to miss an important event, and on and on. We label the experience with just two words, and two words can't possibly capture the emotions and circumstance surrounding an event. The same thing is true with brands. If I tell you that a new business was funded by USV, that might…

• How do they know you're not a flake?

  Seth Godin

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:43 am

  Before your link gets clicked or your proposal gets read, a busy person is going to triage it to find out if it's even worth glancing at. Since everyone is now connected, the new permeability has created a deluge of noise, and just about everyone worth contacting is taking defensive measures. Do I know this person? Did someone I trust send them over? Where does she work? (Ideo? the FDA? The New York Times?) Has she won an award? Is she famous? Are there typos and is the design sloppy? Are they pestering me? Do I already follow this person online? Does music play when I visit the website? Will…

• Horizontal marketing isn't a new idea

  Seth Godin

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:09 am

  But it is the new reality for just about every organization. Vertical marketing means the marketer (the one with money) is in charge. Vertical marketing starts at the top and involves running ads, sending out direct mail and pushing hype through the media. Your money, your plans, your control. It might not work, but generally the worst outcome is that you will be ignored and need to spend more money. Horizonal marketing, on the other hand, means creating a remarkable product and story and setting it up to spread from person to person. It's out of your control, because all the interactions are…

• Who is your customer?

  Seth Godin

  6 Feb 2012 | 2:26 am

  Rule one: You can build a business on the foundation of great customer service. Rule two: The only way to do great customer service is to treat different customers differently. The question: Who is your customer? It's not obvious. Zappos is a classic customer service company, and their customer is the person who buys the shoes. Nike, on the other hand, doesn't care very much at all about the people who buy the shoes, or even the retailers. They care about the athletes (often famous) that wear the shoes, sometimes for money. They name buildings after these athletes, court them, erect…

• In search of a timid trapeze artist

  Seth Godin

  5 Feb 2012 | 2:01 am

  Good luck with that, there aren't any. If you hesitate when leaping from rope to another, you're not going to last very long. And this is at the heart of what makes innovation work in organizations, why industries die, and how painful it is to try to maintain the status quo while also participating in a revolution. Gather up as much speed as you can, find a path and let go. You can't get to the next rope if you're still holding on to this one.

• 

  Fast Company

• Fast Talk: How This Bartender Is Rebooting The Condom

  David Zax

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:41 am

  Meet Richard Pessall, a 20-year-old British entrepreneur who wants to take the condom where no man has gone before (no, not space).Richard Pessall, 20, lives and works as bartender in Shropshire, England. He spent nine years living in the United States, but when he ran out of money to pay for college in North Carolina, he was unable to renew his visa and was forced to return to the U.K. He’s decided to make his fortune before attempting to return stateside. His big idea? Reboot the condom. Forplay, the condom company he's been bootstrapping with his barman’s earnings, has grown to a staff…

• The Google Wallet Hack Is Not The End Of The World (Or Even NFC) As We Know It

  Kit Eaton

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:32 am

  Stay calm and carry on, people: It's way too soon to say that NFC should stand for Now Fatally Corrupted. Yes, Google's breakthrough NFC payments app Wallet is being mentioned all over the news thanks to a flaw--it's vulnerable to a hack that gives nefarious types access to your secure PIN number. But don't believe any doomsayers or fearmongering that you may encounter on this matter; it's not as evil as it seems and, believe it or not, it's actually a sign that the future of wireless mobile payments is probably more secure than your current credit card. As reported over at the blog of…

• Inside INTERPOL's New Cybercrime Innovation Center

  Neal Ungerleider

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:09 am

  INTERPOL, the international policing agency, is opening a massive innovation center in Singapore in 2014. At the center, law enforcement will learn all about the latest cybercrimes... and have access to cutting-edge forensics laboratories and research stations.INTERPOL, the international policing organization, is building a law enforcement tech geek heaven in Singapore. The INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation will function as a R&D lab, training facility, and forensics lab for all things cybercrime. Slated to open in 2014, the Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) will be part of the…

• 5 Ways To Put The "Pro" In Profile Pics

  Amber Mac

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:29 am

  Your profile photo is an important part of your online image, so if you still have an egg as your Twitter avatar or a blue-and-white silhouette for your Facebook page, it's time to step things up. (Hint: This photo is a "don't.")If you still have an egg as your Twitter avatar, it's time to step things up. Your profile photo is an important part of your online image. Not only is this pic the first thing people see when they look you up on the web, whether you're using Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+, this image is now regularly transported into people's in-boxes and pulled onto their phones as…

• Apple May Sell iPads To Air Force, Groupon Reports Surprise Q4 Loss, Foxconn Servers Hacked

  Nidhi Subbaraman

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:17 am

  Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day.Rumor: iPad 3 Announcement In March. The latest buzz on the iPad 3, this time from AllThingsD, is that the new device will be unveiled at an early March event. Sources, per usual, are anonymous, but their tips confirm what's already expected of the device--a faster chip, Retina Display, and better graphics. --NS--Updated 9:15 a.m. ESTApple May Sell iPads To Air Force. The Air Force is on the lookout for about 18,000 new tablets, and chances are the iPad--the only device mentioned on their recently spotted notice--may fit…

• 

  TechCrunch

• Avast, Me Hearties: How The Pirate Bay Changed The Way We Steal

  John Biggs

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:41 am

  The Pirate Bay, in many ways, is disappearing. It is one of the most popular torrent sites on the web and its database of millions of torrent files – essentially pointers to pieces of files hosted elsewhere – has long been the go-to spot for budding pirates around the world. While it still exists in spirit, the admins are now moving all of the torrent files off the site and are instead offering magnet links. This is an important distinction that will move the locus of general piracy from a single site to any number of sites, reducing the Pirate Bays importance as a source. First,…

• Cinemagram Turns iPhone Photos Into Animated Gifs In Seconds

  Sarah Perez

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:07 am

  Remember when the iPhone app GLMPS launched last summer, seemingly heralding the start of a new image format that blended static photos and video? No? That’s OK. Today, there’s a new twist on the idea of reinventing the mobile photo, this time by turning static photos into animated ones. With the newly launched app called Cinemagram, you can turn your iPhone pics into animated gifs in a matter of seconds. Cinemagram isn’t quite the same as GLMPS, to be clear. “The GLMPS app embedded an entire video as a picture-in-picture onto the image,” explains…

• Google, Microsoft Search Queries Grow In January While Yahoo Continues To Slide

  Leena Rao

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:56 am

  comScore has released its ‘explicit’ U.S. search data for January of this year and while Google and Microsoft Bring’s search share continues to grow, Yahoo’s share dropped both year over year and month over month. This comes after Bing overtook Yahoo in terms of search queries for the first time in December. While Bing grew slightly from December 2011 to January, Google reached its highest share since December 2010 this past month. Google search queries increased 6% year over year in January, to 66.2%, compared with 65.9% in December 2011 and 65.6% in January 2011.

• Fab.com Rolls Out New Mobile Apps With Browse By Color & “Fab Shops”

  Sarah Perez

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:05 am

  After hitting 2 million members at the end of last month, design shopping startup Fab.com is today rolling out new iOS applications that offer a number of new features and improvements. In addition to an updated layout, search and navigational elements, one of the apps’ biggest new features is the inclusion of the recently launched new storefronts called “Fab Shops.” These Fab Shops went live late January, allowing Fab.com members to visually browse through products via dedicated online storefronts that were organized around product categories, as opposed to by designers.

• YouTube’s Latest Original Programming: Olympic-Style Lightsaber Relays

  Anthony Ha

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am

  Here’s a fun example of the original programming that YouTube is supposed to be investing in these days — a relay from Santa Monica to San Diego. With lightsabers. Geek celebrity Chris Hardwick is announcing the event, dubbed Course of the Force, on the YouTube blog. Hardwick hosts the popular Nerdist podcast, and he plans to launch a Nerdist YouTube channel in April,which he says will include “Neil Patrick Harris, Rob Zombie, Awkward Family Videos, The Dudesons and The Kids in the Hall,” plus more programming that covers “gaming, science, tech and cosplay.” As…

• 

  Mashable!

• An Olympic-Style Torch Relay … With Lightsabers [VIDEO]

  Christina Warren

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:33 am

  Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks. The fine folks at Nerdist are teaming up with Lucasfilm, Octagon and Machinima to do the first ever “Lightsaber Run” in the days leading up to San Diego Comic Con. That might be the geekiest thing we’ve ever written. Considering our penchant for robots, that’s saying a lot! Dubbed “Course of the Force,” the Olympic-style lightsaber relay will take place on July 7 to 11 and cover the trek from Santa Monica to San Diego. At each quarter-mile marker, participants…

• Kickstarter Project for Adventure Game Raises $600,000 in One Day

  Chelsea Stark

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:18 am

  A video game developer’s Kickstarter project has raised more than $600,000 in just 24 hours. When game veteran Tim Schafer put up a Kickstarter Wednesday night, he wanted to answer the question: are adventure games still viable and popular? Adventure games, mostly seen on PCs and some consoles in the late ’80s and ’90s, were known for their creative stories, immersive worlds and difficult puzzles. Schafer was responsible for designing and writing of the most popular ones, including Full Throttle, Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle and The Secret of Monkey Island. He has…

• Listen, Then Vote: Who Should Win a Grammy?

  Todd Olmstead

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:03 am

  The 54th annual Grammy Awards ceremony is imminent, and the nominations are in. This year, the Recording Academy continues to embrace digital and social technology, providing you ways to follow the activity leading up to and during the big night. Of course, we’ll all have to wait until Sunday night to find out who the winners are. Prolific Tweeter Kanye West leads the way with seven nominations, but the major four categories (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist) are dominated by Adele, Bruno Mars, and Bon Iver (3 out of 4 each). Last year’s…

• Thrillist Co-Founder Ben Lerer Answers Your Questions [LIVE CHAT]

  Scott Gerber

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:50 am

  Ben Lerer is the co-founder and CEO of Thrillist, a leading men’s multi-platform lifestyle publication with over 3 million daily subscriptions in 21 localized markets in the U.S. and the UK. Since its launch in 2005, Lerer has overseen the growth of Thrillist’s marketing, sales and business development efforts, as well as its expansion into e-commerce with the acquisition of members-only online retailer JackThreads.com, and the launch of localized deals platform Thrillist Rewards. Lerer was among Crain’s “40 under 40” class of 2010, Entrepreneur magazine’s “Top 5…

• DARPA AlphaDog Robot Steps Lively With 400 Lbs on its Back [VIDEO]

  Stan Schroeder

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:14 am

  The typical soldier can only carry about 100 lbs. worth of gear, but not indefinitely. DARPA’s (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) new robotic mule, however, can carry 400 lbs. of gear and never get tired — and it can do it with a surprising degree of agility. Physical overburden of soldiers is one of the top five biggest challenges for the U.S. army, according to DARPA, and a semi-autonomous legged robot, officially named the Legged Squad Support System (LS3), might be one way of fixing that problem. In the video above, the LS3 prototype (original developer Boston…

• 

  Wired Top Stories

• Brightbox Cloud Serves Up Windows Server 2008 R2

  Mike Barton

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:59 am

  ?Any OS, any app, any time? is one step closer now for Brightbox customers. The company announced this week the availability an Windows Server 2008 R2 official image for Brightbox Cloud.

• Bitly Fights for Social Analytics With Weapons-Grade Math

  Caleb Garling

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:30 am

  Bitly is just one of many tools that are trying to make sense of people's behavior on social networking services -- and put this information to use inside marketing departments. Like Bitly, the Vancouver, Canada-based HootSuite offers a "social dashboard" that seeks to analyze the performance not only of shortened links, but other media. Big names like IBM and Salesforce.com offer social analytics tools. And Google has gotten into the game with its acquisition of another Canadian outfit, PostRank.

• Up Your Game With Banned Sports Gear

  MichaelSalvador

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:30 am

  These athletic aids — from bats to balls to hockey sticks — aren?t approved for official play, but they can give you the unfair advantage you deserve.

• Amphibious Network Lets Marines Share Data From 250 Miles Away

  Spencer Ackerman

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:30 am

  The Marines think they have their data network of the future, an experimental communications system that can keep jarheads linked to sea bases 250 miles away. If it works, it'll be a big win for a Navy/Marine plan to take U.S. troops off of land bases where the locals don't want them. And it got its first test this week off the Atlantic coast during a massive wargame.

• Feb. 9, 1870: Feds Get on Top of the Weather

  wired

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:30 am

  President Ulysses S. Grant signs a bill creating what we now call the National Weather Service. Forecasting models were simple but generally effective.

• 

  Lifehacker

• Upgrade a Wall Outlet to Charge UBS Devices [DIY]

  Melanie Pinola

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:30 am

  More »

• The Best Times to Buy Infographic Shows You All the Savings by Month and Day [Infographics]

  Melanie Pinola

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:00 am

  More »

• Maximize Kitchen Drawer Space by Storing Utensils Diagonally [Storage]

  Melanie Pinola

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:30 am

  More »

• How to Be an Audiophile on the Cheap [Stereo]

  Thorin Klosowski

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am

  More »

• Approximate the Weight of Any Item Using a Clothes Hanger [Macgyver Tips]

  Whitson Gordon

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:30 am

  More »

• 

  Church Marketing Sucks

• Office Hours: Communication Volunteers & Church Social Media

  Justin Wise

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am

  Every week I hold online office hours and answer questions from folks like you. This week we’ve got a question about communication volunteers and staff. I also take a look at the true meaning of social media and how churches can participate. Take a look and be sure to join me every Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. CST for online office hours! I’m setting up a creative team at our church to handle all the communication requirements. There are no staff on the team, just volunteers. Any advice on what to focus on most and what can wait until later? My answer: This is what I would do if I were…

• Churches Reaching Out With Pinterest

  Tim Schraeder

  6 Feb 2012 | 5:21 am

  Whether you’re crazy about pinning or think that it’s just a fad, there’s no denying that Pinterest is a new player on the social media scene. In January it beat YouTube, Reddit, Google+, LinkedIn and MySpace for percentage of total referral traffic in January, according to a Shareaholic study. One church is pioneering this new territory and has some insights to share on how churches can use Pinterest. Jake Johnson is the publishing and content manager for Mars Hills Church, Resurgence and PastorMark.tv. He oversees content strategy for all of Mars Hill’s online…

• Job Board: Director, Web & Media

  Chuck Scoggins

  3 Feb 2012 | 6:15 am

  Are you looking for a job in church communications? The CFCC Job Board has some listings that you might be interested in. Here are a few of the recent listings to the board: Hempfield United Methodist Church in Lancaster, Penn., is looking for a director of communications. Click here for details. Northview Church in Carmel, Ind., is looking for a web coordinator. Click here for details. Victory Highway Wesleyan Church in Painted Post, N.Y., is looking for a media designer. Click here for details. Is your church looking for a communications professional? Be sure to get your free listing on the…

• Lessons from Bible Billboards in Egypt

  Kevin D. Hendricks

  1 Feb 2012 | 6:09 am

  On Sunday my church had a visit from the general secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt, Ramez Atallah. His visit coincided with the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Egyptian revolution. But rather than a typical discussion of passing out Bibles, he offered a lesson in marketing. In Egypt the Bible Society isn’t allowed to evangelize, so they advertise. They’re not allowed to give Bibles away, so they sell them. Atallah admitted he freely borrows from the business world, saying “If it works for Pizza Hut, it can work for us.” That includes using billboards and…

• Annual Report: We Need Your Help

  Drew Goodmanson

  31 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am

  We need your help. As an organization that has delivered thousands of breakthrough moments—those key sparks that frustrate, educate and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ—we believe there is even more to be done.  We’ll get to that in a moment.  First, 2011 was a remarkable year and I want to celebrate what took place.  Last year included events such as the launch of Outspoken: Conversations on Church Communication, Creative Missions, more CFCC meetups and the continuation of Cultivate.  I’d encourage you to read the 2011…

• 

  Brad Lomenick

• Favorite things from 2011

  bradlomenick

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:46 am

  Got this idea from my buddy Jon Acuff. Listing out my favorite things from last year in 2011. I’m a little late to the game in reviewing 2011 since it’s now already the first part of February 2012, but oh well. Here you go: Favorite new band: Seryn Favorite new artist: Josh Garrels  Favorite song: 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman Favorite organization: Atlanta Mission Favorite movie: Moneyball  Favorite book: Unbroken Favorite TV Show: Gold Rush Favorite App for iPad: Fruit Ninja and Netflix Favorite new person: Katie Davis, founder of Amazima Ministries and author of Kisses from…

• Look me in the eye

  bradlomenick

  6 Feb 2012 | 2:56 pm

  So I had the chance last week to attend all the festivities in DC tied to the National Prayer Breakfast. Every year this event is put on by Congressional leaders, and high profile leaders from all over the world are invited to attend. I’m always honored to be in the room with many well-known folks. One thing I’ve noticed about those who have “arrived” in terms of influence, and stature, and credibility, is that they are usually the kind of leader who authentically takes an interest in you when you first meet them. They ask good questions, and are genuinely interested…

• People to Avoid When Flying

  bradlomenick

  4 Feb 2012 | 8:26 pm

  From the Archives for Your Enjoyment Reality is, most people shouldn’t fly on airplanes because they simply lack airplane etiquette. I have flown in the last 16 years around 850,000 miles, on basically every carrier, and visited 14 countries and almost every US state. Many of you have flown much, much more than me, and have way more experience and insight, so feel free to add your own points to this ever evolving list. Power to the flying people on this one. Will make a good coffee table book in the future….. The 14 people I try and avoid when flying…… 1. The middle…

• Write it Down

  bradlomenick

  2 Feb 2012 | 3:16 pm

  Young leaders consistently ask me: “what’s one practical piece of advice for becoming/being a leader who gets things done?” A leader that is trustworthy and reliable. The kind of leader when you ask them to get something done, you have complete confidence that it will happen. My answer is always the same: Write It Down. Always. What do I mean? 1. never show up to a meeting without a pen and a notebook. My preference is a sharpie and a moleskine notebook. But doesn’t matter whether it’s a legal pad or a Red Big Chief pencil, Or your iphone or laptop. ALWAYS show…

• The Real You is Needed

  bradlomenick

  1 Feb 2012 | 4:51 am

  Authentic. Who I really am. The REAL YOU. The REAL Me. True Authenticity might be the hardest thing for us to do as leaders. Deep down, we constantly want to be someone else, act like someone else, talk like our favorite speaker, pray like our favorite pastor, be funny like the guy who is always making everyone laugh. You get the point. We are wired to improve, get better, constantly change, and keep moving. We wear the same clothes, memorize the same lines, tuck our shirts in the same way, tilt our hat similarly, drink the same coffee, watch the same TV shows, and somehow think that someday…

• 

  churchrelevance.com

• Atheists vs Christians Research Study on Personality Differences

  Kent Shaffer

  8 Feb 2012 | 7:47 am

  Matt Baker of UsefulCharts is conducting some very important research regarding the personality differences between atheists and Christians. Please take a moment to complete the quick questionnaire by clicking here. The survey has already received about 25,000 responses from atheists and is in great need of more Christian participants to balance out the dataset. I’ll publish the results on Church Relevance when available. Sponsored by: E-zekiel: Websites for Active Ministries E-zekiel.com is a flexible platform that thousands of churches depend on to create and manage their website and…

• The Top Churches in America to Watch in 2012

  Kent Shaffer

  1 Feb 2012 | 12:18 pm

  The metrics that matter most in ministry are true conversions, maturing disciples, and selfless acts that advance the gospel message. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to truly measure this in just one church let alone tens of thousands of churches. Instead those who study churches rely on metrics like weekly attendance, growth rates, subjective opinions, scope of influence, and church planting efforts as hints to gauge if a church is successful. The underlying flaw with this is sometimes exceptional churches have humble results in terms of size, growth, and influence while sometimes…

• Whoops! Open Church Delayed but Coming Soon

  Kent Shaffer

  25 Jan 2012 | 4:20 am

  Open Church’s launch has moved to March 1, 2012 for the ministry ideas section and likely April 2012 for the free resources. WHAT HAPPENED? Developing the site wasn’t as easy as our developer expected. After previous delays, we pruned off features to make a mid-January launch possible, but those pruned benchmarks were not hit either. Unfortunately, what is left is unstable and missing most of what we hoped for. It is clear we need to go a different route. The developer has moved on. I apologize for this. Any payment the developer received was underwritten by my company or came…

• What Ministry Conferences Are You Attending in 2012?

  Kent Shaffer

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:14 am

  Church Relevance’s list of 2012 church conference recommendations has been updated to almost 40 ministry conferences. There’s no way it includes all of the conferences worth considering. So check out the list, and please leave a comment letting us know which conferences we forgot and which ones you’ll be attending. Sponsored by: Leaders Book Summaries Leaders Book Summaries help you grow as a leader. Receive the best books for leaders in concise, easy-to-read summaries. Thirty times/year receive a 12-15 page complete summary and a 2-page Nutshell of each book.

• Leaders Book Summaries

  Kent Shaffer

  17 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am

  I love books. From the Bible to theologians to business experts, books are a quick way to get wisdom which in the long run helps you make better choices and avoid dangerous pitfalls. Over time my library has grown to about 1,500 books I haven’t read yet, but over time, my responsibilities have also grown to the point that I have to be very strategic about what I read and how long I read it. In 2012, I have purposed to read more by using book summaries from Leaders Book Summaries. I’ve avoided book summaries in the past because I liked the sense of accomplishment from reading a…

• 

  LifeChurch.tv : swerve

• Round Tables at LifeChurch.tv

  Craig Groeschel

  24 Jan 2012 | 5:35 am

  In order to help serve churches, we will be hosting several round tables this year. Here is information on the first two. ARC (Association of Related Churches) will be doing a one day Leadership Forum for all pastors and church leaders at LifeChurch.tv. Pastor Chris Hodges, Rick Bezet, Joe Champion, and I will be contributing. This round table is for those who are interested in church planting and for pastors interested in developing their leadership skills. The forums will be a great time of learning, sharing ideas and growing relationships in a dynamic setting. There will also be an…

• ACCEPTABLE PRIDE?

  Craig Groeschel

  19 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am

  We know God opposes the proud. But some forms of social media seem to have redefined what pride is and what it’s not. For example: Imagine if I stood before our church and told everyone, “Joe Smith said, ‘Craig you are the best preacher ever! Your sermons changed my life.’ And Jill Denny said, ‘I loved your book. Everyone should read it. You are the best author I’ve ever read!’ Not only that, but Mike Mitchell said, ‘Craig, Life Church is the best church in the world! No church is as good as Life Church.’” Chances are good most people would look at me funny and think I’m…

• Church Online Platform is Live

  Bobby Gruenewald

  9 Jan 2012 | 11:29 am

  I’m very excited to let you know… Church Online Platform has officially launched! This is the same technology that makes Church Online happen at LifeChurch.tv. What we’re making available to other churches for free is identical to what we’re using internally. We’ve been looking forward to this moment for a long time. Ever since the early days of Church Online (or the Internet Campus as we called it back then), one of the most frequent questions we received was, “How can we develop something similar?” Through the partnership of a handful of like-minded…

• Free Platform Helps Any Church Launch an Online Ministry

  Bobby Gruenewald

  6 Dec 2011 | 5:06 am

  One of the most common questions we receive about Church Online is, “how can I start something similar at my church?” That’s why I’m excited to share this news about the Church Online Platform… If you’d like to stay in the loop as we near the launch date of January 9, just enter your email address at ChurchOnline.org. And if you know churches who might be interested, please share this post with them!

• The Imaginary Deadline

  Craig Groeschel

  6 Jul 2011 | 5:00 am

  For years I struggled with managing my time effectively. One tool I learned that dramatically increased my effectiveness is the “imaginary deadline.” If I’ve got a project without a deadline, it’s easy to procrastinate or work halfheartedly. When an assignment has a hard deadline, I start faster, work smarter and focus better. Instead of thinking, I need to have my sermon finished before I preach this weekend, I have a Wednesday-at-noon deadline. It’s not anyone else’s deadline. It’s mine. Rather than saying this video needs to be finished by next week, I complete all videos by…

• 

  CatalystSpace | Catablog

• Write It Down

  info@catalystspace.com

  8 Feb 2012 | 12:48 pm

  Young leaders consistently ask me: “What’s one practical piece of advice for becoming/being a leader who gets things done?” A leader that is trustworthy and reliable. The kind of leader when you ask them to get something done, you have complete confidence that it will happen. My answer is always the same: Write It Down. Always. What do I mean? 1. Never show up to a meeting without a pen and a notebook. My preference is a sharpie and a moleskine notebook. But doesn’t matter whether it’s a legal pad or a Red Big Chief pencil, Or your iphone or laptop. ALWAYS…

• Francis Chan [Video]

  info@catalystspace.com

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:48 pm

  Catalyst Atlanta 2011 | Francis Chan from Catalyst on Vimeo. Being Present means dwelling in HIM. HIS presence matters is the understatement of the year. Does ANYTHING ELSE matter? Think to the OT stories, his presence MATTERED! In the NT, people prayed & were FILLED with the presence of God. [John 15:5] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. EVERYTHING is dependent on HIM. Where are you seeing God's presence in your life? What fruit do you bear as a result of Christ IN YOU?

• Living Like We Actually Believe God Loves Us

  info@catalystspace.com

  6 Feb 2012 | 6:47 am

    Every now and then I love to post quirky and inspirational quotes on Twitter. It's become a hobby of mine actually. I search for the sage words of the heroes of yesteryear and meditate on them myself for a bit before I highlight them with the mouse on my laptop, then cut the quote, and paste it into my Twitter update box. I'm old school. I still sign in to Twitter.com. I'm not into apps. Sometimes I find a quote that I love, then highlight it, cut it, and paste into the Twitter box - only to be sorely disappointed that it has 20-30 letters more than the 140 the box will allow.

• A Partnership For Kingdom Impact [Catalyst Story of IMPACT]

  info@catalystspace.com

  5 Feb 2012 | 7:44 pm

      I was simply a ‘next generation leader' looking to make a mark on my world. I was ready to step into the mysterious journey of pursuing Jesus by embracing; courage, danger, adventure, mission and calculated risk. The Lord would use Catalyst to change my world or more accurately His World, forever. Someone other than Jesus believed in me. That was all I needed. I was pastoring Gateway Church, a church I had the opportunity to plant from scratch. I was sitting in my office when 9-11 rocked our world. That evening I was in New York City and I would serve there for the…

• From the Archives | Perry Noble on Fear

  info@catalystspace.com

  4 Feb 2012 | 7:49 pm

  Perry Noble did a blog series recently on 5 Leadership Styles that Always Lose. Here's a clip from #5 - The Fearful Leader "When a leader allows fear to control him…the people he leads ALWAYS lose. Fear forces a leader to embrace the “way things are” rather than how they should be. Fear causes a leader to think more about what they have to lose rather than what the Kingdom has to gain. Fear makes a person depend on their power and ability rather than God’s. Fear leads to impulsive and unwise decisions rather than prayed through and processed ones." See the full post…

• 

  Ragamuffin Soul

• I Want Joel Olsteens Body

  loswhit

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:51 am

  Not like WANT his body… But want his body… Like only if it wasn’t so pasty. A bit more tan. But like my head on top of his body. Not like that. Not with his head on his body and my head on his body. Like cut his head off and put my head on his shoulders. I mean I would never actually do that. Cut off his head. You know what I mean. I just want his pecs as my pecs. His abs as my abs. Not ON my abs. Whatever… This post started off really safe and ended up wounding my masculinity. But face it… The J Dog is ripped Los

• Fevers, Crap, & Good Theology

  loswhit

  8 Feb 2012 | 8:02 am

  When the 5 year old crawled on top of me at 4:30 this morning it pretty much felt like someone had just taken him out of the microwave. The kid was burning up. “Hey buddy?  You ok?  Daddy’s got you.” “I know this daddy.  That’s why I came. You make me feel less sick.” Out of the mouths of babes… Losiah didn’t crawl up and snuggle next to his new Power Ranger sword. Losiah didn’t crawl up and snuggle next to the wii. He came to me. He found rest. How quickly we, as adult followers of Christ, forget this simple concept and try and find refuge…

• Today I Am…

  loswhit

  7 Feb 2012 | 9:36 am

  Today I Am…

• To Be Christian And Famous

  loswhit

  6 Feb 2012 | 11:41 am

  To Be Famous It’s said that mans greatest desire is to know and be known. I mean who wants to live and not be known? But even if all you do is preach or sing or write about Jesus, the satisfaction from being known is sometimes greater than the satisfaction of Jesus being known. Ah humanity. So I ask 2 simple questions… How has the current culture of Christianity helped this problem? How does the current culture of Christianity solve this problem? Los

• If We Could Only Watch ONE MORE MOVIE Ever…

  loswhit

  3 Feb 2012 | 12:43 pm

  3 Hours Left. If we had just 3 hours left to watch one movie. After those 3 hours we would never be able to watch another movie again. Ever. What movie would you beg us to see? What is the one movie that you would tell the world is not to be missed? Los

• 

  tonymorganlive.com

• Stop & Start 2012: Will Mancini

  jvernon

  8 Feb 2012 | 11:00 am

  Will Mancini As part of my series on things leaders should stop and start doing, I connected with Will Mancini.  Will is a Clarity Evangelist who started Auxano and wrote Church Unique so that ministry leaders can have amazing vision and focus.  Here are Will’s thoughts on shifts leaders should consider making in the new year. Stop imitating. Make 2012 the year to stop imitating.  No matter what your role is ask the question, “Who am I imitating?”  Are you a group’s pastor?  Reconsider the model you are following so you can reinvent.  Are you a children’s…

• Too busy to read?

  jvernon

  8 Feb 2012 | 6:32 am

  Last week was pretty typical. Once again, I received several “must read” books in the mail. They are sitting on my desk with some other books that I’m trying to find time to read. You have probably found yourself in a similar situation. It wouldn’t surprise me to discover that you have ten to twenty unfinished books on your Kindle. We all want to read more. Unfortunately, we live in a fast-paced world with limited time. Recently, I heard about a group called Leaders Book Summaries. They summarize books for busy leaders. The group was started by Dave Frederick.  Dave…

• Sifted: 20 leaders in 20 days

  jvernon

  6 Feb 2012 | 8:30 pm

  There’s something new happening at storiesofsifting.com this week. Make sure to check it out. Today they launched a really cool 20-day campaign of daily devotionals based on the theme “sifted.”  The word “sifted” means accelerated spiritual growth in times of trouble.  The 20 leaders in 20 days devotions are essays on 20 Bible leaders (Paul, Noah, David, etc.)  The stories are written in Max Lucado story format by a professional writer. The collection of the stories and similar essays from national leaders will be packaged into a free eBook in the next few…

• Stop & Start 2012: Mike Foster

  jvernon

  6 Feb 2012 | 11:00 am

  Mike Foster As part of my series on things leaders should stop and start doing, I connected with Mike Foster.  Mike is a speaker, author, and consultant helping people live and tell a better story. He is the Co-founder of “People of the Second Chance” a radical grace movement made up of activists, artists and imperfectionists. He serves on the Executive Team of PlainJoe Studios and is the author of “Gracenomics: Unleash The Power of Second Chance Living.” He lives in Southern California with his beautiful bride and his 2 young children.  Here are Mike’s…

• Top 10 Posts from January 2012

  tony

  6 Feb 2012 | 5:00 am

  Here are the top 10 posts from TonyMorganLive.com in January 2012: 6 New Year’s Resolutions for Church Leaders (1/2/2012) 7 Questions to Identify Who Should be on the Team (10/24/2011) The “Culture of Honor” is Hurting Churches (3/31/2011) 12 Questions on Job Satisfaction (10/14/2008) 10 Reasons I Don’t Like Most Christians (12/4/2008) Friday Five: My 5 Favorite Kindle Fire Apps (1/6/2012) 10 Easy Ways to Keep Me from Visiting Your Church Because I Visited Your Website (May 14, 2005) 12 Trends for Healthy Churches in 2012 (1/19/2012) Stop & Start in 2012: Mark…

• 

  WithoutWax.tv by Pete Wilson

• Christian Community Made Simple

  Pete Wilson

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:33 am

  A lot gets written about Christian community these days. How we build it and maintain it seems to be quite the popular topic. I don’t want to over simplify it, but look at Romans 12:15. ” Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” This statement may be simple, but it’s not easy is it? In fact, the reality is we quite often do the exact opposite. We mourn another’s joy (jealousy) and we rejoice when someone has reason to mourn (self-righteousness). And this is why “authentic community” may be a big buzzword in Christian circles, but…

• Love To Hate

  Pete Wilson

  8 Feb 2012 | 5:31 am

  Almost four years ago I wrote THIS post about my friend, Brad Johnson. The post included an open letter he had written to his church apologizing for the pain his affair had caused his church. Yesterday, while sitting in my office one of my colleagues asked me a question about “search terms.” They were wondering how people most often find my blog. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked at such stats, but I was absolutely shocked to see that almost four years later “Brad Johnson Affair” is still one of the biggest search terms used on Google to find my blog.

• A Moment In Time

  Pete Wilson

  7 Feb 2012 | 5:06 am

  I’m not clueless. I know time is flying by. I know I’m going to blink and they’ll be off dating, studying for college finals and climbing the career ladder. So when they invite me into their world, their world of imagination, adventure and excitement, I don’t walk, I run into it. These pictures may just seem like a dreary day in the woods swinging on tree vines but look a little closer.   We were dodging arrows. We were swinging over boiling lava and man eating crocodiles. We rescued a few princesses. Fought a few bad guys. It was a good day. They don’t know…

• Madonna, Tom Brady, The Super Bowl & Me

  Pete Wilson

  6 Feb 2012 | 6:02 am

  Hope you guys had fun watching the game last night, or at least had fun watching the commercials. I was really looking forward to watching the halftime show with Madonna, but, unfortunately, missed the whole thing. We had committed to two different parties and used halftime to shuttle to the next one. Several of my friends said she did an amazing job. Somehow the pop icon, whose now 53, had no wardrobe malfunctions and avoided controversy on almost every level. Maybe 30 years in the business has taught her a thing or two. I still can’t help feeling sorry for Madonna or really any other…

• Just In Time For The Superbowl

  Pete Wilson

  3 Feb 2012 | 5:32 am

  Okay, so this may not be the best way for me to invest $36 but I’m not going to lie: I want the Porta-Pizza oven really BAD. I’m all about pizza and I’m all about multi-tasking. This 12V portable oven and pizzeria plugs right into your dashboard. High and low settings for cooking and warming. Unique heating elements cook from top to bottom. Built-in fold out carry handle. Easy to clean and maintain. Fine freeway dining. You want one don’t you?

• 

  Human3rror

• Wise Man

  admin

  8 Feb 2012 | 2:57 am

  You just finished reading Wise Man! and you survived!

• Super Mario: Inception

  admin

  5 Feb 2012 | 5:13 am

  You just finished reading Super Mario: Inception! and you survived!

• Biblical Differences Between Men and Women

  admin

  4 Feb 2012 | 7:46 am

  Fascinating stuff: Man was formed from dust; woman was formed from flesh. Man was placed in the garden alone; woman was brought to the man so they could be together. Man was created with a need; woman was created to fill a need. Man’s job was work; woman’s job was to help man with his work. Man’s job was cognitive/task oriented (name the animals); woman’s job was emotive/relational (meet the need of the man). Man gave woman her name; woman received her name from man. Man’s body was crated to give a seed; woman’s body was created to give life. You just…

• This is the Good Stuff

  admin

  1 Feb 2012 | 3:19 am

  When was the last time you did this. Really? You just finished reading This is the Good Stuff! and you survived!

• Top Love Needs for Men and Women

  admin

  31 Jan 2012 | 3:27 am

  Does the following resound with you? Women need: Unconditional love and acceptance Emotional intimacy Spiritual intimacy Encouragement and affirmation Companionship Men need: Unconditional love and acceptance Sexual intimacy Companionship Encouragement and affirmation Spiritual intimacy   You just finished reading Top Love Needs for Men and Women! and you survived!

• 

  Echo Hub » Posts

• The Widow’s Offering

  Scott McClellan

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:04 am

  I’m going to try something a little different today. I’m going to present you with Mark 12:41:44, but I’m going to resist the temptation to add a bunch of commentary at the end. 41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ”Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the…

• MyBetterStory.com: How to Help with Technology

  Scott McClellan

  8 Feb 2012 | 7:19 am

  I could probably say this every week, but Elevation Church is up to something cool. Elevation’s current sermon series is called “Living a Better Story,” and in order to support that series, the team at Elevation launched MyBetterStory.com. It’s a simple website that invites people to identify and articulate the stories they think God is calling them to live. As Pastor Steven Furtick explains in the video below, the site was birthed out of a desire to help people explore and apply the sermon series — what a great concept! As Furtick goes on to say, the site represents an opportunity…

• Our Very Own Dumb Jib Dolly

  Steve Vanderheide

  7 Feb 2012 | 11:54 am

  Over the last six months, we at Igniter Media have produced some scripts that required a few shots that went beyond just a stationary tripod. When we brainstormed “Strangers” back in August, the script was screaming out for a few long dolly shots. And thus began the creation of our 22-foot dolly track. I’d never built something like this before, so I hope you enjoy reading about my experience, and I hope you can use it to make something even better. (Thankfully, we already owned an Indie-Dolly so we were fortunate to not have to go out and purchase rollerblade wheels as suggested…

• Graceway Media Joins RT Creative Group

  Scott McClellan

  7 Feb 2012 | 8:04 am

  As you may know, Echo has a parent company called RT Creative Group. I spend most of my time focused here on Echo Hub and putting together Echo Conference, but I still work closely with the rest of my colleagues in the company. They spend their time helping me on the Echo side and/or creating great church media through Igniter Media. Anyway, yesterday we announced a new addition to the RT Creative Group family: Graceway Media. If you’re not familiar with Graceway Media, just know that it’s made up of a great team of people who design and deliver title graphics, banners, motion loops, and…

• A Sale and Other News from the Echo Hub Store

  Scott McClellan

  6 Feb 2012 | 12:44 pm

  There have been a few new developments in the Echo Hub Store, and I wanted to make sure you heard about them: First, the Echo DVD 4-pack is on sale through the end of the week. Get the DVDs from the four previous Echo Conferences for just $179, a savings of $50 off the regular price. As you might imagine, the DVDs feature audio and video recordings of fantastic sessions from past Echo events. The 4-Pack is a great resource, and you can find out more here. Culture Making by Andy Crouch is now available. This is one of the best books I’ve read in the last five years, no doubt about it.

• 

  Less Clutter. Less Noise.

• 20 minutes about communication trends in the local church…

  Kem

  2 Feb 2012 | 11:23 am

  Sean Cannell over at Think International sat me down on Skype last week for an interview about communication trends in the local church. Best practices, bad habits, missed jokes and all–we covered it in 20 minutes.

• How we addressed our growing connection and communication gaps as a church…

  Kem

  30 Jan 2012 | 7:42 am

  We launched the Table at Granger last fall. Since then, I’ll regularly get emails and voicemails from other churches wondering why we made the choice, how we rolled it out and what’s happened since the launch. Last week, I took some time and answered all the FAQs over on the Table blog. Hope it’s helpful. Part 1: Why did you feel Granger needed its own private social network? What made you pick the Table? How did you get leadership buy-in? Part 2: What kind of response has the Table received at Granger? What’s your favorite feature of the Table so far? Part 3: What do…

• If I asked you to describe your job with one visual, what would it be?

  Kem

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:09 am

  I had a special guest in the office on Monday. Emily, an eighth grader, shadowed my goings on for a full work day as part of a Career Day assignment for school. She was all in–going to meetings, listening to phone calls, observing emails, catching hallway conversations, going out to lunch with the gang, etc. She showed up more prepared than most adults and kept me on my toes–asking questions about the why behind the what, sharing unique perspectives and jumping in wherever she could add value. Several of my teammates thought she was in college. At the end of the day, she ran me…

• Economics for humans…what we don’t measure and why it’s a problem.

  Kem

  24 Jan 2012 | 6:59 am

  I listened to an HBR Ideacast this AM that had an encouraging perspective from an unlikely source. An economist was advocating that there is more to life than a growing GDP. Here’s a few notes I jotted down. If I asked you what a good life consists of, your answer would be about more than money & stuff. It would be about a life rich in relationships (social capital), accomplishment (organizational capital), meaning, fulfillment and passion (emotional capital)—all of those things add up to a meaningful life. Economics as we know it and live it doesn’t really capture this…

• I got to be on the world’s only user-antagonistic podcast…

  Kem

  20 Jan 2012 | 11:53 am

  Thanks Anthony, Heath & Matthew… I could do this every week.  

• 

  ChurchCrunch

• What To Do with Multimedia By-Products?

  Paul Clifford

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am

  I’ve been thinking about by-products. You know that when you do things there’s waste. When you cut down a tree for the wood, there’s sawdust left. When you wash your car, you have dirty water left. When you cook ground beef, you have fat left over. There’s a couple ways to deal with this fact. You can find a way to get rid of the waste and regard it as just a garbage, or you can find something useful to do with it. In the case of the dirty water from washing your car, you can use it to water your plants; it turns out they like dirt. When I was growing up, there was a…

• What Dr. Seuss Books Were Really About

  Eric Dye

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:47 am

  Having read all of these Dr. Seuss titles to my kids, I could quickly understand how these titles tell more explicitly what the books are about. There are a couple of things we can learn from this: Be mindful of what the media you are consuming is really saying. What are the books, TV shows and movies feeding us? Communicating the Gospel and Godly values doesn’t have to be dry and “in your face.” It can be done in a creative way. Just like Jesus did with His parables. Now, take a look at these Dr. Seuss titles and you’ll see what they are really about: See what I…

• 25 of the Worst Passwords from 2011

  Eric Dye

  8 Feb 2012 | 5:00 pm

  As I look through this list of last year’s worst passwords I keep wondering: What where these people thinking!?! They were thinking, “Easy.” If you haven’t figured out a system for solid passwords that are easy to remember, be sure to invest in a password management program. Now, here are the 25 worst passwords from last year: password 123456 12345678 qwerty abc123 monkey 1234567 letmein trustno1 dragon baseball 111111 iloveyou master sunshine ashley bailey passw0rd shadow 123123 654321 superman qazwsx michael football There are a few things to keep in mind when…

• How Do You Feel About Gmail’s Prying Eyes?

  Eric Dye

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:00 pm

  Have you ever wondered how your Gmail ads seem to relate to your email content? The video below breaks down into simple (and humorous) terms the way Google skims your email for keywords and renders ads based on these metrics. The video is actually Microsoft’s jab at Gmail as it promotes their own online email solution through Office 365, but it is certainly … funny? Can't see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click Here! How do you feel about Gmail’s prying eyes? You just finished reading "How Do You Feel About Gmail’s Prying Eyes?" on ChurchMag! Feel free to…

• GuideGuide: Easily Design with Grids in Photoshop

  Eric Dye

  8 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pm

  Ever since I started building my WordPress sites on 8BIT’s Standard Theme, I’ve used the provided layered PSD file for website design and mockups. It makes developing much, much easier, as I know where the elements naturally lie within the theme. With this same concept in mind, I can use this handy Photoshop plugin to design any WordPress theme on just about any grid-based CSS template of my choosing. Traditionally, I’ve found transitioning from a Photoshop mockup design to HTML and CSS code can sometimes be a little tricky. If you like building on a grid, you’ll…

• 

  Worship Matters

• Show Us Christ – Video from The Gathering

  Bob Kauflin

  7 Feb 2012 | 2:37 pm

  When we were putting together the songs for The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11, we ended up having not one, but two songs that served as a “prayer for illumination.” One is Your Words of Life, written by Pat & Joel Sczebel. The other is Show us Christ, which I co-wrote with Doug Plank. Show Us Christ reminds us that the purpose of preaching God’s Word is not simply to give insights for living, impress people with our knowledge of Greek, or to tell people they need to try harder. The primary goal is to display the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).

• Have Mercy on Me – Video from The Gathering

  Bob Kauflin

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:12 am

  The first song I heard that I thought would be on our most recent album, The Gathering, was Have Mercy on Me. Co-written by Dale Bischof and Pat Sczebel, it combines grief over sin with an assurance of God’s mercy in Christ. Even though as Christians all our sins are completely forgiven (Col. 2:13), we can continue to battle either ongoing condemnation or arrogant presumption. The first results in an attitude that binds us, discourages us, and makes us fearful of approaching God. The second equally dangerous mindset supposes that because our sins have been paid for by Christ’s…

• David Peterson on Revelation and the Songs We Sing

  Bob Kauflin

  19 Jan 2012 | 5:36 pm

  My top recommended book on a biblical theology of worship is David Peterson’s Engaging with God. If you’re responsible for leading in your church, either as a pastor or a musician, I think you’ll serve people more faithfully and biblically if you read it. I go through it every year with my interns and never fail to come away from our discussion times with fresh understanding and inspiration for leading corporate worship. Peterson focuses on worship as it’s understood in the Old Testament, the gospels, and various epistles. The chapters on Hebrews and Revelation by…

• As You Go – The Evolution of a Song

  Bob Kauflin

  12 Jan 2012 | 6:15 am

  Here’s our latest video from The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11. As You Go was written by Mark Altrogge, who has been writing songs for Sovereign Grace Music since the early 1980s. That’s a long time. It amazes me how he continues to write such theologically rich, relevant, singable songs. What you may not know is that even with the decades of experience Mark has, he is one of the easiest people to work with when it comes to suggesting changes to his songs. Rather than giving you a detailed explanation of why he wrote what he did, or sharing 5 reasons why no alternative could…

• The Piano in Contemporary Worship, Part 3

  Bob Kauflin

  7 Jan 2012 | 12:53 pm

  Last month I posted two sessions from the pre-conference workshop I taught at WorshipGod11 on the Piano in Contemporary Worship (Part 1 and Part 2). We finally finished editing the third session. This one took a little more time to edit because people were regularly walking past the window of the door in the video, which is a bit distracting. My good friend Dave Mackenzie performed his video wizardry and edited the movement out. In this session I deal with many of the specific questions I’ve been asked over the years. Those include: chord coloring inversions playing hymns developing…

• 

  beyond the noise

• Sunday Setlist: January 29, 2012

  Matthew Starner

  31 Jan 2012 | 7:31 am

  We continued our Going Beyond Our Comfort Zone series this week looking at the area that everyone loves to hate: Giving. People seem to hate hearing about giving but what I think they fail to realize is that most churches hate talking about it as much as people hate hearing about it. But giving back to God is an important part of our relationship with Him. It’s a way for us to show our gratitude and a way for him to bless us even more. This Sunday’s Setlist: All to You by Lincoln Brewster Beautiful One by Tim Hughes, By The Tree’s arrangement Holy is the Lord by Chris Tomlin…

• Sunday Setlist: January 22, 2012

  Matthew Starner

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:27 am

  We started a new series a week ago called Going Beyond Our Comfort Zone, looking at things like Sharing Your Faith, Growing in Faith, Giving and others. We found a great graphic over at CreationSwap.com that plays off of a Twilight Zone theme, because going beyond your comfort zone can feel a lot like going into the twilight zone! This week, we looked at Growing In Our Faith. This was a bit of a challenge because many people who regularly attend church feel like a message like this is just for those who are new to Christianity. They’ll tune out and decide that there’s nothing for…

• 5 Ways to Use Technology at Church

  Matthew Starner

  17 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pm

  In case you might not have picked up on it, I’m a fan of technology. I’m also very pro technology when it comes to church and leveraging that technology to make things interactive, engaging and user-friendly. So if your church isn’t on the technology train yet or you’re wondering if there’s something new that you might be missing, here’s some places to start: 5. Get On Facebook Unless you’ve been under a technological rock for the last 5 years, Facebook is pretty much the biggest thing since, well, the internet. Right now, Facebook boasts some 800…

• Taking my next steps

  Matthew Starner

  10 Jan 2012 | 7:32 am

  At Journey, our mission is about helping people take their next step. For us as a church that usually means taking a next step in their relationship with Jesus, and EVERYone has a next step. When we stay in one place too long things start to stagnate – and that goes for all aspects of life, not just spiritual. That’s why last fall, I decided to take a next step in my life. I decided to go back to school and continue my education. It’s something I’ve thought about doing for some time but never really knew how I was going to make it work. Working full-time in ministry is…

• Sunday Setlist – January 1, 2012

  Matthew Starner

  1 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm

  2012 is here and starting it with worship on New Year’s Day was the right way to begin! This is the first time since Journey of Faith began that New Year’s Day has fallen on a Sunday and we’ve never done a New Year’s Day service before, so I didn’t know what to expect. It ended up being a light service, but still a great time of worship. Our Setlist this Sunday: All We Need, Charlie Hall Your Grace Is Enough, Matt Mahar Glorious One, Steve Fee The Message All Glory, Tim Hughes Offering & Prayers Everyday, Joel Houston Music this week focused on God’s…

• 

  ChurchTechToday

• Order of Salvation [Infographic]

  Lauren Hunter

  8 Feb 2012 | 10:06 am

  Tim Challies has been putting together some really amazing and inspirational infographics on theology. Today, I couldn’t resist sharing this one with you. I hope it inspires you today and helps you take a moment to stand in awe of what God has done for each and every one of us. Kudos to Challies for using technology tools to glorify God and inspire us all! Order of Salvation [Infographic] is a post from: ChurchTechToday

• 8 Great Reasons for Using Twitter in Church Communications

  Lauren Hunter

  6 Feb 2012 | 7:30 am

  Twitter is a wonderful ministry tool to harness and use for good within your ministry’s goals. Often, churches aren’t sure where to start and what to say. Below are eight great reasons for using Twitter as a communication tool at your church: 1) What you have to say is important. Every church is different. If you haven’t already uncovered your church’s personality and ministry goals, so do this first, then reach out to people with similar desires. Share the heart of your church. Share how you envision impacting the community. Chances are people will listen if what you…

• WORDsearch iPad App Enhances Digital Bible Study

  Lauren Hunter

  1 Feb 2012 | 7:45 am

  With the advent of computers, Bible study has been forever changed. Fast forward a good 25 years and now the iPad and Tablet PCs are yet again changing the way that people study and interact with God’s Word. That said, one of the leaders in Bible study software, WORDsearch, has just announced its free iPad app that hit the iTunes store this week. Acquired by LifeWay Christian Resources in July of 2011, WORDsearch has thousands of users who will now be able to sync and access their content on their iPads to take with them anywhere. Users will be able to view, read and study the same…

• Top 10 Features of Effective Church Management Software

  Lauren Hunter

  30 Jan 2012 | 5:53 am

  It’s not every day that a company polls their customers and is overwhelmed with positive feedback. That’s exactly what happened when Icon Systems did a recent survey of their customers to gather information on what their customers most liked about their software. The results indicated that 96.4% of customers were extremely satisfied with their IconCMO church management software (chms). “We like to stay in touch with our church software customers to find out what’s working and what’s not,” says Bill Gifford, president of Icon Systems, Inc. “When we decided to survey our…

• Social Media is NOT a Waste of Time [Infographic]

  Lauren Hunter

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:02 am

  After reading emails, writing articles and sermons, and keeping up with industry articles, I thought you’d enjoy an infographic today about why social media is NOT a waste of time (ok, perhaps some of the time it’s a waste, but certainly not all the time): Social Media is NOT a Waste of Time [Infographic] is a post from: ChurchTechToday

• 

  Buzz | Avid Community Blogs

• Avid garners six awards at NAMM 2012

  Mark Williams

  23 Jan 2012 | 12:37 am

    Avid took home six awards at the 2012 NAMM Show, with "Best Of" designations being awarded to a range of Avid's recording, composing, and live sound solutions. Pro Tools 9, Pro Tools HD Native, Sibelius 7 and VENUE 2.9 all took home industry honors, and were recognized by a cross section of industry professionals representing manufacturers, customers, editors, and channel partners.     On Wednesday January 18, the evening before NAMM 2012 kicked off, Avid received the prestigious Electronic Musician 2011 Editor's Choice Award for Pro Tools 9. Dubbed the "Plays Well With…

• Mix Magazine: "40" takes Pro Tools HD Native mobile with Drake's "Take Care"

  Mark Williams

  16 Jan 2012 | 4:18 pm

  Executive producer Noah “40” Shebib has worked with Drake since the artist’s debut. Photo: Future the Prince   Everyone has heard of Drake’s latest album Take Care by now – it rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 when it debuted and took front stage at the MTV Awards.  Not many people, however, have heard how producer Noah “40” Shebib made it all happen. Lucky for us, Mix Magazine got a chance to sit down with 40 and they just published an incredible interview in their January issue detailing just how far Pro Tools HD Native has enabled…

• Production Apprentice weighs in on Media Composer: ‘Avid Media Composer 6 is everything they said it would be…’

  AlissaV

  15 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  Check out the latest review of Media Composer 6.0, appearing on Production Apprentice. John DeMaio takes us through his experience getting up and running and provides readers with his comments on several features of the new release, including the updated interface, tabbed bins, 3D, Avid Open I/0, Avid Marketplace and more … a few comments from the review:   “Avid has finally done something that should have been done years ago…tabbed bins! There was the SuperBin, which was alright, I guess. But the ability to create tabs for open bins is simply heaven for me. In the past, there were…

• Reality TV Leader, Bunim/Murray Productions, Selects Avid’s Professional Editing and Storage Solutions

  AlissaV

  4 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

    We’re excited to share that renowned television production company, Bunim/Murray Productions, has selected Avid Media Composer® 6 and Avid Symphony® 6 editing software for all of its programs beginning in early 2012. Bunim/Murray joins a growing number of professional users who have returned to using Avid solutions from Final Cut Pro to meet their production workflow requirements. Additionally, as part of this implementation, Bunim/Murray also plans to deploy an Avid ISIS® 5000 shared storage system.   Widely credited with creating the reality television genre with its hit…

• WIRED’s Michael Calore calls Keystation Mini 32 “a standout in the large crop of keyboard controllers”

  Mark Williams

  27 Dec 2011 | 11:32 pm

    The iPad has turned into a platform for music makers everywhere to hone their craft.  As a result, some pretty cool iPad compatible music gear hit the market in 2011.  WIRED’s Michael Calore only included a select few, however, in his recent “Musical Hardware for iPad Songsmiths” feature online. So you can imagine our smiles when we saw that Michael found the Keystation Mini 32 a worthwhile addition, calling it a “standout from the latest crop of [keyboard] controllers.”  Michael got a chance to check out the Keystation Mini 32 and it seems…

• 

  Avid Community Tutorials

• Avid DS Color Spot Checker

  Igor Ridanovic

  15 Jan 2012 | 9:50 am

  A simple custom Color Spot Checker preset for Avid DS simplifies color correction in file based workflows. This tutorial by Igor Ridanovic covers the use of the preset and some simple steps in basic color balancing. The free preset is available for download at HDhead.com.   (Please visit the site to view this media)

• Make Your Video Look Like Film with a Cinematic Glow Effect

  Rich D'Angelo

  13 Jan 2012 | 12:14 pm

  (Please visit the site to view this media) Avid Certified Instructor Jeff Greenberg creates the soft feel of exposed film with BCC 8 AVX's new Film Glow filter, a powerful yet very easy-to-use effect. Make your highlights bloom and shadows spread out as you experiment with your own unique looks. Or try one of the professionally-designed presets included with the filter. Use BCC Film Glow to marry two clips shot on different cameras or set the mood for an entire project.  

• Repair Video with BCC Flicker Fixer in Avid Media Composer 6

  Rich D'Angelo

  20 Dec 2011 | 7:35 am

  (Please visit the site to view this media) Avid Certified Instructor Jeff Greenberg shows you how to repair video affected by uneven shutter exposure or a flickering light source with Boris Continuum Complete v8 AVX's new Flicker Fixer filter.

• Generate Audio-driven Effects in Avid Media Composer 6

  Rich D'Angelo

  11 Dec 2011 | 4:29 pm

  (Please visit the site to view this media) Avid Certified Instructor Jeff Greenberg shows you how to generate audio-driven effects using Boris Continuum Complete 8 AVX's new Beat Reactor technology in Avid Media Composer 6. Built into many Boris Continuum Complete filters, Beat Reactor makes it easy to generate audio-driven effects such as a pulsing light, a glow, or even an image wipe that follows along with the beat of an audio track.

• Avid DS Stereoscopic Conversion

  Igor Ridanovic

  30 Oct 2011 | 2:32 pm

  2D video is just plain 2D. Learn how to do a quick and dirty stereoscopic conversion in Avid DS. This method is based on a SMPTE paper by C. Vazguez and W. J. Tam.The tutorial comes with a free downloadable anaglyph preset available at www.hdhead.com. You will need this preset on pre-10.3 versions of DS, but even if you have DS 10.3 and above, this preset simplifies the building of the effect. (Please visit the site to view this media)

• 

  Avid Community Tips

• The Road to 3-D

  Jim Alfonse

  6 Feb 2012 | 12:13 pm

  The Road to 3-D BY ALDO CUGNINI reprinted from http://broadcastengineering.com/RF/road-3d/ The tools are available to help digital television add a dimension. Although 3-D content is widely available in theaters, and 3-D disc players are now on retail shelves, terrestrial digital television has not caught up yet, and a standard supporting 3-D transmission is not yet in the books. Last year, the ATSC concluded a study of 3-D television, with a goal of producing a report on the benefits and limitations of a standard or a set of standards for terrestrial delivery of 3-D television. The…

• Alexa LUT using Avid Color Correction

  rebusfilm

  1 Dec 2011 | 12:54 pm

  Arri Alexa LUT Color Correction Effects Click the link to download.Extract the zip file and open the bin in your Avid project. Apply the Color Correction Effect on an Alexa logC clip or put it on an empty track above to view the footage in linear space with gamma and highlight roll off. Legal maps the footage to 16-235. Extended maps the footage to 0-255. Note: The effects are basically 1D LUTs (8bit with 16 samples) and they don't convert properly to Rec709 colors.In an attempt to fix that I added a little saturation to the effects with the suffix "SatBoost".   Cool…

• Understanding AVCHD

  Jim Alfonse

  7 Nov 2011 | 11:02 am

  Understanding AVCHD Oct 1, 2011 12:00 PM, BY STEVE MULLEN reprinted from the http://www.BroadcastEngineering.com webpage The figures have been removed due to limitations of this forum. To view the complete article go to  http://broadcastengineering.com/production/understanding_avchd/ Sorry for the inconvenience - Jim   The codec differs from H.264/AVC in several ways.   When DVCAM, DVCPRO and DVCPRO50 were introduced, manufacturers positioned these proprietary formats as “professional” compared to the “consumer” DV format. After working with all four…

• Sync Point Editing

  Yossy Tessone

  12 Jul 2011 | 2:46 pm

  A fantastic Tip on how to quickly synchronize a music beat to the Video in the Timeline. Same thing for synchronizing a Video frame to existing audio in the Timeline.(Please visit the site to view this media)

• Getting our colors back!

  Yossy Tessone

  11 Jul 2011 | 2:26 pm

  This tip will show you how to customize Timeline tracks or Bin backgrounds with your preferred colors, not the ones provided by Avid (Please visit the site to view this media)

• 

  SonicFlare - Hi-Fi reviews, audio events, show coverage, photos and more

• Review: Skogrand Air Cables

  16 Jan 2012 | 6:30 am

• Review: B&W C5 Headphones

  8 Dec 2011 | 3:16 pm

• RMAF: Korg MR-2000

  30 Oct 2011 | 10:00 am

  Korg's MR-2000 DSD recorder in use by Todd Garfinkel, seen and heard at RMAF. Rumor has it that many more companies are working on DSD capable USB DACs, first pioneered by Andreas Koch and Jonathan Tinn of Playback Designs. Stay tuned for a forthcoming review of this killer recorder right here at SonicFlare. DSD rocks!

• RMAF: Soulution

  30 Oct 2011 | 9:53 am

  Soulution of Swiss fame and fortune (that's referring to the fortune you'll need to buy their products…) was on display with JMLab Grande Utopia's, showing off their capabilities in full force. Large scale dynamic rock or symphonic sounds presented no problem whatsoever for this combo, then again, at the price point, it shouldn't! The electronics alone, ie. amps, pre-, and disc player came in at a cool $200k...

• RMAF: Ortofon A90

  30 Oct 2011 | 9:48 am

  Ortofon's A90 (sadly, no longer in production), perhaps the super cartridge of recent times, is truly a state-of-the-art rethinking of how freshly minted design ideas can positively impact age old technology. Sublimely superb sound (coming off the Wave Kinetics NVS 'table), I haven't heard anything better - no doubt, don't bother unless you have a top flight deck… Amazing! PS: this picture (as where all at the show) was taken with my iPhone 4; not bad, eh?

• 

  AIR Users Blog

• Avid Tech Support Utility Tools Video

  Russ

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:23 am

  A nice little video here from Alex at Avid to show how the Tech Support Utility Tool v 3 works. Not sure about the music bed in the background… but hey!

• Avid Announces Results for Fourth Quarter 2011 - Good News

  Russ

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:35 am

  Avid today reported revenues of $185.3 million for the three-month period ended December 31, 2011, compared to $195.3 million for the same period in 2010. The GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $1.2 million or $0.03 per share, compared to a GAAP net loss of $571,000 or $0.01 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2010. What this means for us mere mortals, is that Avid have had their first quarterly GAAP Net income since 2007. This has been reflected in the share price too which has seen steady rises since it…

• TL Audio In Liquidation

  Russ

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:34 am

  Sad news for both musicians and lovers of British studio gear, TL audio has gone into liquidation. TL products are high quality rack and anologue mixers, this will be a significant loss to many producers and engineers. I have spoken to the liquidators this morning who have confirmed that it is a disposal of assets rather than an attepmt to sell it as a going concern - this is a great shame. A meeting of creditors is being held at 2 Mountview Court, 310 Friern Barnet Lane, Whetstone, London, N20 0YZ, on 13 February 2012, at noon. Harris Lipman LLP has been appointed liquidator.

• Pro Tools 10 Menu Infogram

  Russ

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:34 am

  Click to download/Enlarge I’m not sure how helpful this is for anyone, if nothing else it’s just good fun and if I say so myself a little cool. I’ve created a Pro Tools 10 Menu infogram, which is FREE to download and distribute as you wish on your own site or social media, just please ensure you credit it back to the blog as it took 4 hours to make and in its native PSD format is 30mb in size. Just download it and then open it in your favourite app, but make sure to zoom to 100% and explore it in detail. Enjoy!

• Want To Win My Liquid Mix?

  Russ

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:14 pm

  I have a Liquid Mix (32 channel version) that I’m not using. It’s a great product, but to be honest I have more plug-ins than I know what to do with. I was about to put it on Ebay to sell, then Eric and I thought it would be nice to give it to a member of the community; not anyone, just those who are committed members. SO YES YOU HAVE TO BE A BLOG MEMBER TO HAVE A CHANCE OF GETTING YOUR HANDS ON IT. Just go here and enter by answering the questions, which require some skill to win. Also tell us how you will use it and in the event of a tie-breaker, it may well clinch it. May the…