Rush releases Time Machine app for iPad

Legendary Canadian rock band Rush has released a new iPad application for hard-core Rush fans providing news and info on the band’s recent Time Machine Tour and exclusive behind-the-scenes content. The application includes a cross-section of 30 of the band’s songs throughout it’s 40-year history presented in a GeFilter Time Machine interface where users can warp back in time and play songs from different eras. Other features include a Gear section where fans can discover the gadgets and artifacts that the band members use while on tour, news on Rush activities, a “Moving Pictures” wallpaper section, set lists from the band’s R30, Snakes & Arrows and Time Machine tours and an interactive bobbleheads game with Geddy, Alex and Neil that includes rare audio clips. The application also includes extended itinerary, ticket and venue information for the recently-concluded Time Machine tour, suggesting that it was intended for an earlier release. Rush Time Machine is for $5. [iLounge via Geeklish]

iArm Forearm Mount

It was Christmas of 2004, and Arik Nordby was watching his nephew open a present. His family had gotten the boy a Nintendo, but since they had also bought a game and thought it might be easier to consolidate both gifts, decided to wrap the console and disc in a larger box that once belonged to a breadmaker. “You got a breadmaker!” they said as the crestfallen boy unwrapped his gift. “Pretty nice!”

In that moment of comic gold, Nordby had the germ of an idea that would later hit stores nationwide, with a little help from the folks at The Onion. Nordby makes fake gift boxes, and his newly independent company 30Watt is releasing three new “Prank Packs” in a few weeks. The idea: buy your loved one something they actually want, put it in the fake box, and savor the moment of awkwardness under the Christmas tree. For example the iArm, above, should particularly puzzle your gadget geek who really wanted an iPad. Check out the back of the box: [read]

Study: Alcohol more lethal than heroin, cocaine

LONDON — Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.
This Story

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison. [read]

Introducing PT Tuts – Essential Pro Tools Training (yet another tutorial site)

Can’t speak from personal experience, but if you’re interested it may be worth checking out.

PT Tuts is an awesome new Pro Tools training course created by Chris Bryant. This is a complete and comprehensive training product for absolute beginners to intermediate Pro Tools users.
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Click to watch video
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Key Features

• Hours of Pro Tools Training Videos
• Access to Member Community
• Text Based Articles
• Illustrated Tutorials
• 165 Page QuickStart PDF Guide
• QuickStart Tutorial Pro Tools Sessions
• Membership Bonuses
• One Year Membership

Chris gave me a chance to see the first few modules of his course and it did not disappoint! I’ve seen over a hundred hours of online Pro Tools training and this is among the very best in quality. Large, clear videos with clean audio; excellent clear narration by Chris; and a ton of content covering everything you need to know. One great aspect of this course is that the massive amount of content is not just dumped on you. Each week new articles and videos are unlocked giving you time to learn and really understand each concept before moving on. [read]

What Happened to Downtime? The Extinction of Deep Thinking & Sacred Space

Interruption-free space is sacred. Yet, in the digital era we live in, we are losing hold of the few sacred spaces that remain untouched by email, the internet, people, and other forms of distraction. Our cars now have mobile phone integration and a thousand satellite radio stations. When walking from one place to another, we have our devices streaming data from dozens of sources. Even at our bedside, we now have our iPads with heaps of digital apps and the world’s information at our fingertips.

There has been much discussion about the value of the “creative pause” – a state described as “the shift from being fully engaged in a creative activity to being passively engaged, or the shift to being disengaged altogether.” This phenomenon is the seed of the break-through “a-ha!” moments that people so frequently report having in the shower. In these moments, you are completely isolated, and your mind is able to wander and churn big questions without interruption. [read]