CDM contributors Liz McLean-Knight and Michael Una will be presenting at Dorkbot Chicago this month, which falls on Wednesday, November 28th. As always, it will take place at the excellent Deadtech, 3321 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago. Here’s what you’ll see: A self-proclaimed “multi-hyphenate,” Liz McLean Knight–the sole woman behind Quantazelle–is thoroughly immersed in technology, […]

Welcome to our Bug Motel. Bugs check in, but they don’t check out. Much of the OS discussion tends to devolve into generalities, philosophical debates, and religious wars. We’re going to try something different: wherever possible, squash the bugs. Here’s a tip for Windows Vista that finally allowed many of my USB devices to work […]

John Hutchinson pointed us to this hack a day post about a new projector calibration system. Skip to minute 3:00 in the video to see the applications for multiple projections and non-rectangular, curved surfaces. It uses embedded light sensors in the projection surface and software — no projector hacks — and was created by researchers […]

Beatport Sync, now an easy, free way to play OGG/FLAC files, browse external drives, and cross-fade. Beaport Sync is a free, DJ-friendly music player / librarian / mixing app for Windows and Mac. On its surface, it looks like a hook for online music store Beatport and a beginner-friendly DJ mixer (two tracks, auto tempo […]

Digidesign has “announced” their Vista support information, but it’s leaving some users scratching their heads. Fully a year after Windows Vista went Gold Master, Digidesign doesn’t seem to be able to get a clear support picture together. How odd is Digi’s Vista support? Let’s see: Only Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Business are supported, […]

Mixaloo is a new service for building digital mix tapes. Counter-clockwise from upper left: assemble tracks, get recommendations and previews (or add your own recommendations), promote your mix online (via an embeddable widget), and make custom skins and cover art. The Web holds huge potential for music sharing and music discovery, but figuring out how […]

Hard drives are the skeleton and lifeblood of digital video. Musicians and other audio-botherers seem constantly amazed by the amount of space required for DV and especially HD-Video projects (with uncompressed HD capture inhabiting an entirely different level), while my video-based friends seem to be ever carrying around stacks of Firewire or USB hard drives […]

We asked to hear from some actual studios targeted by plug-in maker Waves’ anti-piracy police (aka “banpiracy.com”). Here’s one report from Nick Buxton, via comments: I haven’t read all the comments but wanted to add our experience; all our recording software is legal, we use uad plugs but wanted to see how waves worked; couldn’t […]

Are our eyes just as oversensitized — or desensitized — as our ears? Artists in a Hong Festival rediscover what senses mean, above. New York City, despite its reputation, is actually a pretty peaceful place to live in a lot of ways. Most visitors here never make it out of Times Square, though even that […]

Last week, I mentioned my friend, Keyboard colleague, and Ableton sound maestro Francis Preve had written an overview of Ableton Live 7 for Beatportal. Maxim DJ writes in comments that he’s posted a Russian translation and commentary. (Already one complaint that it’s not a direct translation, but in blog style, he adds his own thoughts […]