ie8 fix

classics

Three groovy sounding turntables

Sound & Vision magazine's Michael Trei recently tested three turntables: the Rega Research P1 ($395), Music Hall mmf 2.2 ($449), and Technics SL-1200MK2 ($699). And guess what: the most expensive turntable wasn't the best-sounding one!

Mike's an old friend and a major turntable guru in his own right. His knowledge of all things analog runs deep, and he regularly sets up finicky high-end turntables for the rich and famous, including the president of a major record company, here in NYC. Mike set up the VPI Classic turntable I bought last year.

The three turntables covered in his report, the Rega, Music Hall, and Technics are all excellent, but I was more interested in the belt vs. direct-drive aspect of the reviews. The Technics is a long standing DJ favorite, for its powerful, direct-drive motor, which is a big plus when you're back cueing and scratching records. Direct-drive 'tables never wowed the high-end crowd, they favor belt-drive turntables. The appeal is mostly based on the fact that the belt "decouples" the motor from the platter. So whatever noise and vibration the motor makes as it spins aren't directly transmitted to the platter, and therefore to the record. No wonder the vast majority of turntables sold to audiophiles are belt-drive designs.

Mike may be a hard-core audiophile, but he's not closed-minded about direct-drive turntables, and in fact owns a Technics direct-drive turntable (and many belt-drives as well).… Read more

Is Pac-Man for iPad worth the price?

As more games are released for Apple's tablet device, some of the old stand-up classics are making the jump to the touch screen. The iPad version of Pac-Man is almost identical to the original in every way, with the same ghost paths, same fruit bonuses, and same intermission movies. But can Pac-Man still be anywhere near as popular as it once was, with today's smooth graphics and multilevel arcade game offerings?

Before you head to the App Store and spend your hard-earned money, there are a couple things you should know about the iPad version of Pac-Man. Though … Read more

Stand-up arcade classic on the iPad

As one of the definitive arcade classics, Pac-Man needs little in the way of introduction. We're sure that many readers can still remember putting quarters up on a Pac-Man machine at the arcade waiting with anticipation for their turn to play. You may also have played on numerous other platforms since the game's release in 1980. Whether you're an old Pac-Man vet or you're one of the few who has never experienced the pill-eating arcade classic, the iPad version is very good, with only a few minor annoyances.

For the uninitiated, the object of the game … Read more

Zune HD or iPod Classic--Ask the Editors

It's certainly true that MP3 player numbers are dwindling. One need only to look at the paltry variety of portable media devices on the Best MP3 players list to see this fact. However, that doesn't mean all of us have given up our standalone audio players in favor of music phones, and there are still plenty of people wavering on the age-old iPod versus Zune debate. But which do you get? Sadly, I can't make up your mind for you, but the below might help in some cases.

Q: I have never owned an iPod nor any … Read more

Old school shoot-'em-up action

StarCannon is a remake of classic arcade shooters of the past, with 2D shoot-'em-up action and challenging boss fights. The graphics are smooth even on the older iPhone 3G. The controls are mostly effective, but can sometimes feel sluggish using a touch-to-move system rather than an onscreen joypad. Your ship fires automatically as long as you are touching the screen so you can play the game using only one finger or your thumb.

You can acquire three different weapons as you play and, just like top-down arcade shooters of the past, StarCannon lets you upgrade each weapon with more … Read more

Metal fabrication on the 1937 BMW 328 Roadster

In yesterday's post we learned that part of the historic significance of the legendary 1937 BMW 328 Roadster was that the car's engineers (who had previously worked on post WWI airplane technology) had designed the would-be touring vehicle with unforeseen lightweight chassis that reportedly weighed roughly 800 kilograms. This statistic, which allowed for maximum performance on less petrol, helped the 328 become one of the hottest race vehicles of its time period.

And for today's video clip, I found a very recent clip (from just two days ago!) of what the 328 Roadster's body shell looks … Read more

History, technology of BMW's 328 Roadster

In yesterday's blog, I wrote about the 1937 BMW 328 MM Roadster, a rare classic car that will be up for auction at the RM Auctions' upcoming event in Monaco on May 1. We got a glammed-up look at this collectors' car and learned a little about why this car is much sought after, but I wanted to dig even deeper on what makes this Roadster so significant. With that in mind, today's clip is all about the history and technology behind the making of the famous BMW 328.

This car, conceived in 1936, was designed to be … Read more

Rare BMW 328 MM Bügelfalte Roadster comes to Monaco

I read last week that the BMW Classic Center in Munich was throwing open its doors to work on customer's vehicles, both BMW and otherwise. Thinking that it would make a fun blog topic, I went hunting the Web for video of classic BMWs. In this process I stumbled upon a promotional video for the 2010 Sporting Classics of Monaco event presented by RM Auctions that boasted the presence of one of the most notable and valuable BMWs ever made--the 1937 BMW 328 MM Bügelfalte Roadster.

RM Auctions will be bringing this classic BMW to its first-ever … Read more

Listen to old-school Mario sounds

Mario & Friends Lite is a soundboard app--that is, a sound-effects player--featuring over a dozen sounds from popular, old-school Nintendo games like Super Mario and Legend of Zelda. Unfortunately, the App Store currently lists this app under Games, not Entertainment. Make no mistake: it is not a game.

This is the Lite version of the full Mario & Friends app (which has more than 60 sounds), so you get just a handful of sounds, some just a second or two long. Examples include fun, iconic effects like Street Fighter's classic "Hadouken!" or the bouncy Mario 1UP trill.… Read more

The return of a classic and survival shooter mayhem: iPhone apps of the week

Unless you've been living under a rock this week, you probably already know that the iPad, Apple's new tablet, is on its way in less than 60 days. With some time before the release, it will give app developers the new challenge of optimizing their offerings for the new and bigger touch screen. But even more exciting will be what app developers come up with for the iPad exclusively; with the added processing power, superior graphics, and added screen real estate, I think this is where we will come to fully realize the power of Apple's latest … Read more