Facebook has been rolling out Timeline slowly since December, after first introducing it at its F8 developer conference in September. The project is one of Facebook’s most ambitious and significant redesigns to date, as it seeks to become your digital scrapbook with the capability to document your life from birth to present day, and revisit old posts more easily.

While not everyone is on board with Timeline, the switch is inevitable. Here’s our complete guide to Facebook Timeline, from making the switch to adjusting your privacy settings, in order to make the transition easier. [read]

Photo: Marsha Vdovin for CDM.

Remember when electronic sound gear hid in hulking, rack-sized cases? Korg’s Kaossilator series had already begun shrinking the desktop KAOSS Pad gear, but even the first-generation Kaossilator wouldn’t fit in your pocket, given its square shape and corners. (Well, unless you were wearing overalls.) The Kaossilator 2 and Mini Kaoss Pad 2, on the other hand, are scaled perfectly to your hand and would tuck neatly into a pocket in your pants or bag. And while I know some readers were hoping for a new Pro addition to the KAOSS line, these little bundles of joy have added some functionality that could make them musically useful. Being dedicated hardware, they also won’t suffer from a battery sapped by phone calls or the interruption of a Facebook message – and that input jack is built in.

We saw the new models at the NAMM show this month. The highlights:

The Kaossilator 2 is a PCM-based phrase synth, inspired by the original Kaosillator, for improvising melodic lines. What’s new is some handy recording functionality:

• Scale Key and Note Range so every note is “right,” effectively, as on the original
• Drum sounds
• Gate Arpeggiator with adjustable gate time and swing settings
• Loop recording to layer phrases and add as many overdubs as you like
• “Dual Loop Recording banks allow DJ-Style mutes and cross-fades”
• Record using the built-in mic; or use the mic input for recording of external input
• microSD/SDHC, so you can cheaply add up to 32G of removable storage

That crossfader, of course, is entirely new, and Korg does mention “dance music” in the sounds and focus. It’s easy, then, to imagine this as a pocket-able instrument for jamming or something you’d use to make musical ideas on the go, and it does look like a lot of fun. [read]

Do you flee? Or, do you get flexible and learn to interact?

When we encounter these extreme personalities it can feel like they are trying to make our life miserable, but more often than not, it’s simply learning about these peoples’ tendencies and how to interact in a more tactful way. Some conflicts are unavoidable and shouldn’t be smoothed over or suppressed, though it’s learning to deal with our differences, and how to understand, resolve, and learn from these interactions that’s important. [read]

AT&T also reported a $6.3 billion charge for its benefit plan costs and $2.9 billion for asset impairments during the quarter. The company had revenue of $32.5 billion for the quarter, up from $31.4 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010.

AT&T announced in December it would charge a $4 billion merger breakup fee during the quarter, after it withdrew its offer to purchase T-Mobile. [read]

According to their study, name brand batteries from Duracell and Energizer last over twice as long as dollar store batteries. However, when they broke down the cost to energy ratio, all the batteries are essentially equal. The exception is that you have to replace dollar store batteries more often, but since they’re cheaper, it balances out. What does this say about choosing batteries? Wired suggests: [read]

During each of the major conventions and trade shows in a given year, the editors of PAR and PSN, with assistance from the editors of sister titles Audio Media and Mix, comb the exhibit halls for new and noteworthy products. Gear and software that show particular merit are singled out for the ProSoundNetwork Best of Show Awards. All products debuting at a given event are eligible.

And the winners are: [read]

Huge news from Universal Audio! Today at the NAMM show they will announce a brand new 18 x 24 FireWire/Thunderbolt-ready audio interface with on-board UAD plugins for tracking and mixing.

Apollo will be available in UAD-2 Duo and Quad formats. If you plan on mixing with the UAD plugins I assume you’ll want the Quad version but if you’re integrating hardware and/or Native plugins the Duo should be able to handle the task well. Universal Audio promises sub-2ms latency. [read] [Universal Audio]

You may be concerned about overcrowding the top of your browser, but remember that these icons are small and easily removable. [read]