M-Audio just released a control surface for use with GarageBand. It’s called the iControl and it looks pretty cool.

iControl gives you total tactile control over GarageBand. You get dedicated transport buttons and jog wheel, eight rotary encoders for track functions like volume or pan, or effects parameters in GarageBand’s EQ or any other AU plug-in. You also get dedicated mute, solo and record-enable buttons. Automatically recognized by GarageBand.

I don’t have a copy of GarageBand, but this caught my eye, as I am always interested in what companys are doing to interface the real world with the digital world.

In these days of digital production and digital audio consoles, and the plethora of other gadgets used in audio, interface design has become an even bigger project than it used to be. In the days of analog gear, the controls were all there because they were part of the electronic circuit. Some of the layout was “designed”, but some of it was the way it was because it had to be for the electronics to work correctly.

Now, designers of interfaces have a different set of choices to make. To take a conception of what is possible in the digital world and translate that to a useable, intelligent tactile control surface, can be maddening. Especially when a particular piece of equipment crosses between different markets and uses.

M-AUDIO:iControl

Who Links Here

If you have a weblog you can participate too!

The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a paper on a proposed music licensing scheme that is very interesting. Basically it works in a manner similar to the method venues use to license music (perhaps through ASCAP or BMI). A flat fee which makes it’s way to the artists, writers and copyright holders of the material. It may, depending on contracts with record companies, partially cut record companies out of some revenue, but the creators get their due. It’s a shame that the record companies can’t seem to embrace the electronic distribution model, and truly take advantage of the massive distribution potential of the internet, including P2P.

EFF: A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing of Music File Sharing

I don’t know why I found this intriguing, but I did. I think I have most of these around the house somewhere.

There all here, from Atari2600 to PS3 and everything in between. If you ever wondered about the evolution of the game controller, check out Sock Master’s Video Game Controller Family Tree

OK, I drive a little Mazda P5, which I love. I’m not really into moding my primary transportation, so the only upgrades I really have installed are a high performance air filter (look out) and window tint. (Which isn’t much of a upgrade, but more of a necessity in the desert).

I do, however, have the desire to listen to my MP3 player in the car, which is the stock radio for the Mazda Protege5. I tried using FM modulators, and they suck. I did know that the factory radio in my P5 has an “expansion bay” which allows one to purchase a cassette deck or MD deck that can be integrated into the form factor. Actually a cool idea. I had speculated that one could use this bay, and it’s associated connections to supply an Aux input for the unit. After searching periodically for information on connector type, pin-outs, or a how-to file somewhere in the internet, I came up empty handed many times. I mostly found postings on various fourms and discussion groups expressing the same problem.

Well, I think I finally found what I need to make the factory radio in my Protege5 work the way I want. As it turns out the radio in my 2002 P5 is virtually idetical to the units Mazda put in the Miata. Take a look at Stephen Fosketts collection of photos and pin-outs. The radio in my car is close to the 4262, and as it turns out, the differences are mearly cosmetic.

Heres the thing I had been looking for, the Pin-out and photo of the connector in the expansion bay.

Upon futher snooping, I also discovered that a little company called Sylfex is manufacturing a plug-in circuit board for expressly this purpose called AuxMod!!! It doesn’t appear that there are many avaliable, but the second generation stuff looks really cool, and may have the ability to interface with an iPod or CarPuter using the radios front panel interface. You can find pictures of the installation process and an installation guide in pdf format.

UPDATE 7-17-2005:

So I’m on the wait list for the SuperAuxMod. #1150. I’ll update again when I have one in my hot little hands.

Other Resources:

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Geek My Ride by Auri Rahimzadeh with a foreword by Steve Wozniak. Pretty interesting, and the car used in the book (although I don’t think it’s stated anywhere) appears to be a Mazda Protege5.

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Car Hacks and Mods for Dummies by David Vespremi.

Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

I’m usually not a Bose fan, and one can get better headphones, but these are amazing. They have active noise canceling, which works better than other options I’ve heard. I bought a pair for a airplane ride I had to take recently. While the noise cancelling functions are impressive, I was most struck by the comfort of these headphones. Their design allows them to completely surround ones ears, so the headphone rests on ones head rather than on ones ears. I was able to wear them for 4 hours without any discomfort at all. They also come with a nice case, and a comprehensive set of airplane friendly adapters. The case is fitted to the headphones, but has enough space inside to carry my iPod as well.

Google Secret Lab, Prelude

News about Google is always interesting. It seems that Google has many secrets to keep. It is being reported that Google has a secret sub-domain http://eval.google.com

Click it and you get …nothing. The site reveals itself only if you have the proper login and if you use a network known by Google. Residues of Eval.google are found on the web, but the full content of the mystery site has never been published before.

It is supposed that Google uses this site to allow real people to keep the quality of their results high. It seems obvious that a smart company would real people for quality assurance.