James Hancock demonstrates the 12-jet diatonic hydraulophone at Stanford's school of music.
Larger models allow for duets, like this rendition of "House of the Rising Sun."
Image: YouTube / hydraulist
'Interstellar' theme played on the hydraulophone
The return of Tower Records
Tower Records, the iconic chain of killer record stores is back as an online retailer. The cultural powerhouse declared bankruptcy in 2006 and closed the doors of its physical stores, although the independently-owned Japan and Dublin stores remain open. Now, the brand has relaunched with a solid Web site, a digital version of their Tower… READ THE REST
Listen: The song that became A-ha's "Take On Me"
A-ha's "Take on Me" was born in 1981 as a song called "Miss Eerie" by A-ha members Pål Waaktaar's and Magne Furuholmen's previous band Bridges. "Miss Eerie" was actually the song's second name out of four total. The "Miss Eerie" 7" is included in a new book, A-Ha: Down to the Tracks. From Wikipedia: ['Miss… READ THE REST
Song Exploder, exploded
Song Exploder is Hrishikesh Hirway's wonderful podcast (and now Netflix show) in which a well-known musician guest on each episode breaks down a song bit-by-bit, reverse engineering the story of its creation through sound and story. In this week's New Yorker, the brilliant music critic Amanda Petrusich explodes Song Exploder and its lasting appeal. From… READ THE REST
The DeliverySafe is the ultimate foil for porch pirates and it could save your holidays
With everyone stuck in COVID quarantine for much of the year, online sales for Amazon and other retailers have gone through the roof. That means more and more packages coming right to your door, to the sheer delight of a more loathsome brand of COVID opportunist: the porch pirate. Thieves taking off with delivered packages… READ THE REST
Become a machine learning aficionado with this training bundle
In the past few days, the U.S. Air Force rolled out new tools fueled by machine learning to help stem the spread of misinformation about COVID. Additionally, the Library of Congress has launched a project on how to use machine learning to better cross-reference all 170 million items in its overflowing archives. Every day, we… READ THE REST
This portable USB charger can get an Apple Watch back to full power on the go
The Apple Watch is a great addition to any tech arsenal–until it runs out of juice, that is. Then, you have to go about the process of recharging. Of course, the Apple Watch only recharges via wireless charging, meaning it can sometimes end up being pretty inconvenient to power up, especially if you're out and… READ THE REST