Review

"Traces the development of sound technology in the U.S. and Europe from the first demonstration of the phono-autograph in 1857 to the latest MP3 technology. Morton skillfully blends a basic understanding of the physical principles involved in recording sound waves with an interesting chronological account that examines the cultural and economic issues affecting the development of sound technology... Written in an engaging style for general readers and includes references to primary and scholarly resources for readers who want to learn more." -- Choice

Book Description

How did one of the great inventions of the nineteenth century -- Thomas Edison's phonograph -- eventually lead to one of the most culturally and economically significant technologies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? Sound Recording traces the history of the business boom and the cultural revolution that Edison's invention made possible.

Recorded sound has pervaded nearly every facet of modern life -- not just popular music, but also mundane office dictation machines, radio and television programs, and even telephone answering machines. Just as styles of music have evolved, so too have the formats through which sound has been captured -- from 78s to LPs, LPs to cassette tapes, tapes to CDs, and on to electronic formats. The quest for better sound has certainly driven technological change, but according to David L. Morton, so have business strategies, patent battles, and a host of other factors.

Sound Recording : The Life Story of a Technology

A remarkable account of the interaction between basic research and application, taking as its example the historical development of fluid dynamics in the first half of the 20th century. The book centers on the work of Ludwig Prandtl, founder of the aerodynamic research center (AVA) in Goettingen, whose work and decisive advances in boundary layer and wing theories became the basic material of fluid dynamics.
This is definitely not a biography of Prandtl (however desirable this might be), but a history of fluid dynamics a viewed by Prandtl's impact on it, focusing on the science/technology dualism. This means that the field is not treated merely as a byproduct of aviation history, but instead this is the first publication to describe the evolution of fluid dynamics as a major field in modern science and engineering.
While certainly suitable for other readers, this book is intended for natural scientists and engineers, as well as historians of science and technology.

The Dawn of Fluid Dynamics : A Discipline between Science and Technology

The SavetheInternet.com Coalition is an alliance of organizations, citizens, businesses and bloggers that have banded together to protect Internet freedom.

The Coalition believes that the Internet is a crucial engine for economic growth and free speech. We are working together to urge Congress to preserve Network Neutrality, the First Amendment for the Internet that ensures that the Internet remains open to innovation and progress.

From its beginnings, the Internet has leveled the playing field for all comers. Everyday people can have their voices heard by thousands, even millions of people. The SavetheInternet.com Coalition -- representing millions of Americans from all walks of life -- is working together to ensure that Congress passes no telecommunications legislation without meaningful and enforceable Network Neutrality protections.

Save the Internet : Fighting for Internet Freedom

When you hear a song you like — even if it's halfway over — one press of a button records it from the beginning.

Once you record a song to the Helix's memory, that's where it stays. You can't burn it to a CD or transfer it to a computer; you can't move, copy or distribute it in any way.

When you hear a good song, you bookmark it on the player.

The player also offers a TiVo-like "wish list" feature: you plug in the name of a band or a song, and if that band or song ever comes on while you're listening to a different channel, the radio alerts you so you can tune in.

XM Radio Fans Can Record It if They Hear It

"The thing that has changed is the consumers' perspective of what they expect from audio," said Dweezil Zappa, the 36-year-old musician who is performing the music of his late father, Frank Zappa, for new audiences. "I think younger consumers aren't familiar at all with really high-quality audio because for them a CD is the best thing they have ever heard."

"We are trying to add back a layer of quality, a layer of experience that people don't realize that they are missing," said Chris Bennett, president of Audistry.

Better Sound in Small Packages

MySpace discovered the intrusion earlier this year and blocked it. The Los Angeles-based company also reported the incident to authorities. During the course of the investigation, threats were made that unless $150,000 was paid, new exploit code would be released, according to the statement.

Teens arrested in alleged MySpace extortion scam

Kevin Kelly writes about digital libraries for the NYT Magazine.

The technology that will bring us a planetary source of all written material will also, in the same gesture, transform the nature of what we now call the book and the libraries that hold them. The universal library and its "books" will be unlike any library or books we have known.

Scan This Book!

Speed kills. That used to refer to the dangers of driving too fast, and sometimes to the drug. Now it more ominously refers to the unhealthy pace at which we live our lives, coerced by rampaging technology into cramming as much as possible into our waking hours. This isn't good for an individual's well-being. But even if you're indifferent to everyone's need for a little wa, the bean counter in you should appreciate this: It's also counterproductive.

Wired News: A Sour Note on Modern Times

Welcome to the first stock exchange on headline news!

On Trendio.com, you can bet on the popularity of politicians, sporting teams or events, ideas, stars, natural catastrophies, etc., in fact on any word that makes the headlines. The words are rated according to the number of times they appear in 3000 anglophone media web sites from around the world. Buy the words you believe in, sell the others!

Trendio.com - The first stock exchange on headline news

Anyone who has clicked the popular button that commands a spreadsheet computer program to make a chart has experienced the satisfaction of seeing a confusing grid of numbers resolve into crisp bars. It is hard now to imagine how we ever got by without visual tools for understanding masses of data. But of course such devices as the bar graph, the time-series line graph and the pie chart had to be invented. The peculiar man who came up with all three was William Playfair (1759-1823), a Scot who was convinced he could influence Britain's course with visual explanations of macroeconomic trends. Endowed with drafting experience and confident in the power of graphical language, he presented his polemics in a new form: annotated graphs that vividly highlighted trade gaps and the growing national debt.

Although Edward Tufte (author of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information [1983]) and others have noted Playfair's role as the leading originator of modern statistical graphics, access to his work has heretofore been limited. Finally Playfair can speak for himself: Facsimiles of two of his most important works—the 1801 edition of The Commercial and Political Atlas, and The Statistical Breviary of the same year—have now been published in one small, affordable volume.

American Scientist Online - A Visionary and a Scoundrel