Check out London based girl band The Mentalists singing a cover of MGMT’s "Kids" song with just their iPhones. How did they do it without instruments? Simple: the App store. Using a clever mix of the musical apps and more iPhones than band members, the Mentalists are able to recreate a very cool song in a very cool way. We won’t spill the exact details here so you’ll just have to watch the video to see how they do it.

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DiskAid is a wonderful freeware program that directly connects to your iPhone’s file system through the USB cable, without requiring you to jailbreak your iPhone, install OpenSSH, connect your iPhone to wifi, figure out your iPhone IP address, and know how to FTP to it. With DiskAid, it’s possible to transfer your own custom ringtones to your iPhone for free without paying Apple’s iTunes store $0.99 and without using even iTunes itself!


Step 1: Create ringtones
First off, you’ll need to have a ringtone ready. To make your own, we recommend following our TechLogg tutorial to create free custom ringtones from songs you already have in your music library. Once you have a ringtone in .m4r file format ready, you are ready for the next step.

Step 2: Get DiskAid
Download the latest version of DiskAid which should support the latest iPhone 2.1 firmware and earlier. After downloading, install DiskAid. Connect your iPhone to your computer with the USB cable, then launch DiskAid.

Step 3: Transfer ringtones
When DiskAid pops up, it shows you the media view of your iPhone. The first thing to do is get to the root view of your iPhone by selecting it on the drop down on the lower left hand corner.

There will be a dialog which warns against messing with the root partition. Since you’re a fearless knowledgeable expert, click OK.

From Root on the left directory tree sidebar, navigate to Library -> Ringtones. You’ll see all your stock iPhone ringtones like Alarm.m4r, Ascending.m4r and so forth. Make sure you are looking at this directory before continuing to the next step.

Click on the “Copy File to Device” button on the menu bar with icons up top. Browse to the directory wherever you created your custom .m4r ringtones. Then click OK. Do this for each ringtone you wish to transfer to your iPhone.

When each ringtone is added, you will see it appear in DiskAid in your file system.

Step 4: Enjoy ringtones
When you are done, you can close DiskAid and disconnect your iPhone. To see your new ringtones, go to Settings -> Sounds -> Ringtone. You’ll see your newly added ringtones in the “Standard” section.

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Pretty Cool what you can do with some metal balls and a lot of free time.

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The complete Rock Band 2 track list has been known for some time but the ratings have not. IGN has categorized the track listing into each instrument and sorted them according to difficulty. The only list we care about (full band) starts off easy with Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger and ends with Judas Priest’s Painkiller. We’re showing the difficulties based on a full band starting with the easiest, but for the complete list check out IGN.

1. Survivor – “Eye of the Tiger”
2. Lit – “My Own Worst Enemy”
3. Social Distortion – “I Was Wrong”
4. Beastie Boys – “So Whatcha Want”
5. Beck – “E-Pro”
6. Duran Duran – “Hungry Like the Wolf”
7. L7 – “Pretend We’re Dead”
8. Bikini Kill – “Rebel Girl”
9. Panic at the Disco – “Nine in the Afternoon”
10. Modest Mouse – “Float On”
11. Nirvana – “Drain You”
12. Interpol – “PDA”
13. Alice in Chains – “Man in the Box”
14. Squeeze – “Cool for Cats”
15. Cheap Trick – “Hello There”
16. Smashing Pumpkins – “Today”
17. Paramore – “That’s What You Get”
18. Norman Greenbaum – “Spirit in the Sky”
19. The Go-Gos – “We Got the Beat”
20. The Donnas – “New Kid in School”
21. Dinosaur Jr. – “Feel the Pain”
22. Elvis Costello – “Pump It Up”
23. Linkin Park – “One Step Closer”
24. The Libyans – “Welcome to the Neighborhood”
25. Billy Idol – “White Wedding Pt. 1″
26. Talking Heads – “Psycho Killer”
27. Presidents of the USA – “Lump”
28. Speck – “Conventional Lover”
29. Lush – “De-luxe”
30. Bad Company – “Shooting Star”
31. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Give it Away”
32. Jimmy Eat World – “The Middle”
33. The Guess Who – “American Woman”
34. Bon Jovi – “Livin’ on a Prayer”
35. Blondie – “One Way or Another”
36. The Main Drag – “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter”
37. Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
38. The Muffs – “Kids in America”
39. AFI – “Girls Not Grey”
40. Silverspun – “Lazy Eye”
41. The Offspring – “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)”
42. Jane’s Addiction – “Mountain Song”
43. Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “Where’d You Go”
44. The Replacements – “Alex Chilton”
45. Steve Miller Band – “Rock’n Me”
46. Bob Dylan – “Tangled Up in Blue”
47. Pearl Jam – “Alive”
48. Ratt – “Round & Round”
49. Alanis Morissette – “You Oughta Know”
50. The Grateful Dead – “Alabama Getaway”
51. Rage Against the Machine – “Testify”
52. The Sterns – “Supreme Girl”
53. The Who – “Pinball Wizard”
54. Lucana Coil – “Our Truth”
55. Devo – “Uncontrollable Urge”
56. Joan Jett – “Bad Reputation”
57. Bang Camaro – “Night Lies”
58. Journey – “Any Way You Want It”
59. Sonic Youth – “Teenage Riot”
60. Guns N’ Roses – “Shackler’s Revenge”
61. ACDC – “Let There Be Rock”
62. Rush – “The Trees”
63. Jethro Tull – “Aqualung”
64. Disturbed – “Down with the Sickness”
65. System of a Down – “Chop Suey”
66. Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
67. Tenacious D – “Master Exploder”
68. Rise Against – “Give it All”
69. Kansas – “Carry On Wayward Son”
70. That Handsome Devil – “Rob the Prez-O-Dent”
71. Soundgarden – “Spoonman”
72. Motorhead – “Ace of Spades”
73. Avenged Sevenfold – “Almost Easy”
74. Allman Brothers – “Ramblin’ Man”
75. Anarchy Club – “Get Clean”
76. Megadeth – “Peace Sells”
77. Mastodon – “Colony of Birchmen”
78. Testament – “Souls of Black”
79. Steely Day – “Bodhisattva”
80. Breaking Wheel – “Shoulder to the Plow”
81. Metallica – “Battery”
82. Abnormality – “Visions”
83. Dream Theater – “Panic Attack”
84. Judas Priest – “Painkiller”

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If full automatic sync’ing is to be utilized in iTunes, your iPhone or iPod can only be sync’ed with one music library on one computer. This isn’t really a big issue until you upgrade or migrate to another one. What about your painstakingly organized iTunes library? The process is actually pretty painless, especially if you’ve got an arrangement like mine.

If your entire library is contained within your iTunes folder at the default location, it could not be any simpler. Simply copy your iTunes folder to the same location on your new computer. Then download iTunes from Apple and install it. It will automatically pick up all your old music from your old library.

If some of your library is in iTunes but some of it is in a different location, it could still be easy depending on your setup. You should still follow the same step above but you’ll need to do some extra work. For me, all my music was on a different internal hard drive, so when I switched to the new machine, I took that hard drive out and installed it in my new computer, keeping the drive letter the same. Don’t worry if it’s different. In this case open up “iTunes Music Library.xml” in your iTunes folder (located in My Documents\My Music\iTunes for me) in your favorite text editor (I highly recommend freeware Crimson Editor) and do a find and replace. You’ll want to do a find on the old path, and a replace with the new path.

Let’s come up with a sample scenario: Your old music was on D:\Albums and your new library is now on E:\Music. You can see the old path in the .xml file above. Execute a search and replace in your text editor and you will get a prompt similar to this:

Hit the replace all and sit back and wait. Depending on how big your library is, it may take some time to modify the whole file (mine was 8MB).

Once this completes, exit your text editor and install iTunes. It will automatically pick up your newly migrated iTunes library.

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The RIAA has filed a motion to dismiss what may be the most contentious file sharing case to date. In a letter to the judge the RIAA’s lawyers admitted they don’t believe there is any chance they will be able to positively identify the computer used to share the files in question. They’re now confident it was the same PC owned by the plaintiff’s daughter, which she has since gotten rid of. The letter also mentioned that they’ll be filing for court sanctions against the defense for impeding discovery of this evidence earlier.

To say the case of UMG v. Lindor has been hotly contested would be an understatement at best. The defendant, Marie Lindor, owns a computer but has reportedly doesn’t know enough about it to share a file. In fact the plaintiffs’ investigators have officially stated that her computer wasn’t the one involved in the file sharing they reported to the RIAA.

While RIAA lawyers have focused on who else may have had a computer connected to the internet through Lindor’s account her lawyer, Ray Beckerman, has repeatedly attacked both the legality of the damages claimed, the lack of transparency in the investigation, and even the competence of the investigators themselves.

During one exchange, documented in court records Beckerman said “everybody I speak to tells me that MediaSentry doesn’t know what they’re doing.” He also implied that the RIAA’s campaign of lawsuits was intended to “target disabled people, home health care aides, people who don’t even know how to use a computer”

Throughout the suit, which began more than three years ago, he has consistently taken the RIAA to task for their calculation of damages, which he sees as not just excessive but also beyond the scope of the law. Rather than $750 per song for a total of nearly $7000 he argues that the maximum allowed by law would be the actual cost of the same tracks if purchased ($8.91 for 9 songs) multiplied by a statutory maximum of 9 for a total of $56.70.

Ironically that’s the same argument that Universal Music Group, the plaintiffs in this case, used to get damages reduced after losing a copyright infringement case related to sampling where they were the among the defendants.

Regardless of what you may think of Ray Beckerman’s tactics, he makes two fundamental points that someone needs to address. First it needs to be established what the approrpriate (and lawful) maximum amount for damages should be. Then we need to make sure that if we’re basing court decisions on purported scientific evidence there is actual proof of both the methods and results.

Until such time as both issues are dealt with in a reasonable manner we will continue to see defendants at a disadvantage against massive corporations which operate in secret by their own rules and ultimately answer to no one.

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Go to http://disturbed1xbox.com/

Enter the code 1lfa89

It’ll give you a code you can use on Xbox Live to download the songs.

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This article is a great troubleshooting tip based on the “tool of a thousand uses”, the good old tone generator, tone detector. Everyone has (or should have) one of these in the tool bag. They’re typically used to locate cables you forgot to label, labeled incorrectly, or got cut somewhere during house construction.

Next time you have a dead audio path, you can use the toner to work from the audio source component to the final amp, or use the signal generator from the amp and work backwards to the source.

Since we need to make an adaptor for the alligator clips on the end of the tone generator leads to an RCA stye plug, it’s a easy step to add a simple filter/amplitude reducer to make the tone generator signal more amp/preamp friendly.

Better known as the cable signal generator/detector (or “toner”), these two devices are, in fact, the perfect audio (and even video) test gear.   And they’re cheap.  

Photo 1. Typical tone generator (with alligator clip leads) and tone detector.

The tone detector is a very high gain, high impedance audio amplifier that can be used to locate sources of both audio and NTSC video.   To find out whether an audio component is putting out a line-level audio signal, simply stick the probe end of the detector into the RCA jack (see photo 2).  

 

Photo 2.  To test for audio, just stick the tip of the probe into the jack.

You’ll definitely hear the audio.   You can also touch the tip to the end of a line-level audio cable to hear the music.  This trick also works to detect NTSC video except that what you hear will sound like a nasty noise (the horizontal/vertical sync pulses).   But that’s not all.   Want to know whether audio is getting to a speaker?  Simply hold the tip of the detector on the speaker cable or touch into the speaker terminals.

Most signal generators output a pair or alternating tones, something like 500 and 700 cycles.   Unfortunately, upon closer examination of these tones on a scope, they are anywhere from 6 to 10 volts peak-to-peak and a nasty square wave with high amplitude spikes.   You could inject this signal into an amp, but it might cause either amp or speaker damage if the amp was cranked up. Typical line level audio is about 1-3 volt peak.

Since we need to make an adaptor for the alligator clips on the end of the tone generator leads to an RCA stye plug, it’s a easy step to add a simple filter/amplitude reducer to make the tone generator signal more amp/preamp friendly. Figure 1 shows the schematic of the two resistors and a capacitor needed to do this. 

Figure 1. Schematic of simple tone generator adaptor. 
Two resistors and a capacitor.  Values are not critical.

All the parts are easily available at Radio Shack.  This filters out the high frequency components (spikes) of the toner signal and lowers it’s amplitude to less than 1 volt peak.   Photos 3 and 4 show the adaptor I built hooked to the tone generator, and a close-up of the component hook-up.  Simple.  I tested this with three different toners, two from Fluke and one from Ideal (seen in photo).  All work fine. Keep it in the tool bag or the bag that holds the toner/detector. 

Photo 3. Ideal tone generator hooked to the audio adaptor with the alligator clips. 
I built it with two RCA plugs for quick stereo testing.

Photo 4.  Close-up of the adaptor components.  The RCA cable center conductors connect to the junction of the two resistors, grounds go to the end on the left.

Next time you have a dead audio path, you can use the toner to work from the audio source component to the final amp, or use the signal generator from the amp and work backwards to the source. 

Written By: Grayson Evans, Training Reels

http://www.hometoys.com/ezine/08.04/trainingreels/troubleshooters.htm

 

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We all know the “right” way to run cables. Do it before the walls go up, and run every conceivable type of wire from each room to a central location. However, what if you have an older house, and can’t afford to have professionals fish wires through you home? Well, wireless can solve some of your problems, but for the rest, you’re on your own. Still, if you’re thoughtful and creative, you may be able to run more wires, with less effort than you think. 

The Wires
First, what wires do you want to run? For audio, there are speaker wires, and line-level stereo audio cable for source distribution (this is cable with two “hot” leads and a common-shield). Room-to-room video may use coax. Use CAT-6 for Ethernet (unless you prefer wireless). Add in some phone and intercom cable, and you have quite a bundle, perhaps more than an inch thick. Hiding this without tearing up your walls could be quite a trick.

Know Your House
The secret is getting to know your house, and thinking carefully about how much is already hidden. If your basement isn’t finished (or even if it is, but has a drop ceiling), it gives you access to the entire first floor. In a like manner, an accessible attic may give you access to your entire second floor. If not, think about your closets. Are they stacked on top of each other? A closet that you can access from the bottom (or top), and is adjacent to two or three rooms, is an excellent “hidden” route to those rooms. Another possibility is so-called “wet” walls. Many homes are laid out so that all the sinks, toilets, and tubs are very close to the same wall, where all the plumbing is run. Like stacked closets, this wall might give you an easy path from attic to basement. Admittedly, all of these paths require some drilling, and navigating the wet wall may require some fish tape, but all should be within the abilities of a DIYer. 

The first step is to map out your house. Mark where you want wires to go (point-to-point), and connect all the points with a “runway.” This would be a single long path through your house that passes every wiring point. This isn’t as elegant as a “home run” solution (where wires are run from all rooms to a central point), but it will get the job done. 

Think about how you can route the runway to best hide it. In some cases this will be easy (like along the ceiling of a basement, or through a closet), but you will no doubt find some challenges (doorways, heating vents, etc). This is where your creativity comes into play. Consider longer routes with fewer obstructions. Think about how you might hide the conduit in plain sight by building something that blends with the surroundings, temporarily removing some trim, or even shifting a piece of furniture. Consider entering a room at a different point, and running wire under carpet or behind furniture to finish the local route. 

Never underestimate the usefulness of molding (L-shaped, baseboard or crown). This is an almost-invisible way of creating a large conduit for the wires. Wiretracks has an interlocking channel and cover that replaces your existing baseboard or crown molding. The wire is completely hidden and it looks like any other decorative molding.

Think Ahead
Choose the wires you want to run, including some for future needs (you need not be exhaustive, as you will always have access to your chosen path).  However, don’t include any power cables, not only will they add hum to your other cables, but power cables must be installed to code. 

The Tools
You’ll need a tape measure, hammer, cable staples, power drill, and stud-finder. A fish tape is also a nice tool when running wires through walls. Use twist-ties to “bundle” your cable for easier handling. When drilling a hole between rooms, always measure so that you know where it will come out on the other side. Always drill a small (1/8″), shallow test hole first, and then poke inside to make sure there aren’t any obstructions. Drill only a small hole through to the other room, and then widen it from the other side. Also, it’s easier to pre-finish your L-molding before you install it.

Get Thin
Finally, if all else fails, consider putting some wires right on the wall. Southwire of Carrollton, Georgia makes paper-thin Flatwire for audio, video, data, and even AC power. Flatwire is paintable, or you can wallpaper over it. 

If you have a 5000 sq. ft. pristine mansion, and need to wire every room, these methods may not work for you, but if you have a smaller, older home, and just need to make a few well-hidden connections without draining your pocketbook, looking hard at the opportunities already in your house may be a good place to start.

By: Jeff Winston

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/tips_for_running_wire_through_your_home/C28

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The RIAA has declared complete victory over the infamous Russian music download store AllofMP3 which was accused of selling tracks but not giving any of the proceeds to the artists or record labels.

At its peak, the site had 6 million users who legally downloaded songs and full albums for cheaper than 1/3 the price of iTunes or Amazon. The RIAA said however that the record labels and the artists were not seeing any of this money and filed complaints to get the WTO to shut the site down. In 2007, the site was shut down and the RIAA praised the decision. However, in October of that year, the site was acquitted of any charges and a district court in Moscow confirmed the innocent verdict after an appeal by the record industry group. Despite being innocent, the site shut down and no longer offers music.

It now appears that this week the RIAA dropped its copyright infringement lawsuit against AllofMP3 and claimed victory.

“The site is now defunct and out of business, the result of a successful anti-piracy initiative,” Jonathan Lamy, an RIAA spokesman said.

That may be true, but following the media AllofMP3 received, almost a dozen similar sites have sprung up and are currently fully operational. Even funnier, the founders of AllofMP3 have started a new site called Mp3Sparks which operates exactly the same as the now “defunct” AllofMP3 did.

Talking about the dropping of the lawsuit, John Crossman, representative of the site’s owner, MediaServices LLC says, “They [RIAA] never correctly commenced the proceeding in the first place…Maybe it was a rare triumph of good sense.”

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