Otherwise
Shipping Rates
As those of you in the USA may be aware, US Postal Service postage rates
recently changed (at the beginning of May). Unfortunately the rates for
lighter First Class packages rose dramatically, and most of our CD orders fall
into this category. Domestic postage on a single-CD order rose from $1.35 to
$1.81, an increase of 34%.
In case you were wondering: Lotuspike shipping rates in the web shop are
calculated to be our exact shipping cost plus 65 cents. The 65 cents covers
the cost of the mailer boxes that we use to ship discs; it does not include
any handling fee (my time to pack the boxes and ship them out is free!). (So
the total shipping charge for a domestic single-CD order is $1.81 + $0.65, or
$2.46.)
New Site Launched Today!
After much anticipation, we have launched a new site! Enjoy and happy browsing.
-Lotuspike
Deep Space Impact – [otherwise]
Let’s face it, it’s hard to be an ambient/space music fan without having a somewhat strange fascination with space itself.
And if you do, and paid any attention to the news this week, you will have seen or read about NASA’s recent attempt to document a collision with a comet.
The probe, named Deep Impact was launched from Flyby “mothership” to make impact with Comet Tempel 1. While the probe crashed into the comet, Flyby was able to capture the collision and get a glimpse of the nucleus of the icy comet
Apple on Intel – [otherwise]
What about the Apple on Intel announcement? I, for one, am looking forward to it; it means my next PowerBook will be faster (well, of course it would) without melting the skin off my legs when it’s sitting on my lap. End-user-visible differences should be minimal, since it will still be Mac OS X (”Leopard”, I guess).
I only hope Apple handles the transition well enough that the platform remains vibrant during the transition. I think Jeff Carlson’s thoughts on TidBITS‘ “ExtraBITS” blog hit the nail on the head.
As for me, I’ve downloaded Xcode 2.1 and will be building universal binaries for all my projects. I hope all Mac developers do the same.
Live 5-what will those Berliners think of next – [otherwise]
It seems like just yesterday Ableton released its way improved Live 4, including a pretty deep suite of virtual instruments…seemingly completing the ultimate composition and production “instrument”.
Well, if their preview announcement for Live 5 is any indication, they have upped the ante considerably with an even tighter DAW integration, including clip “freezing” and better overall CPU usage, and new additions to their set of instruments, including an updated version of Simpler and FINALLY…and arpeggiator! I have looked quite a while now for an intuitive, fully integrated software arpeggiator within reach of someone like me.
For a price of 499.00 USD, it comes in a bit steep, however if it delivers what’s promised, it may worth the investment, if nothing else, for live performance.
We’ll see how it measures up…Coming in July.
OK, I admit it… – [otherwise]
Well, this is sort of about music but not about ambient music, so I’m calling it “otherwise”. I admit it: I watch American Idol. I wasn’t sure whether Vonzell or Bo would win, but I was pretty sure it would be one of them. I’m quite surprised at last night’s result. I now predict that Bo will win it, but Carrie has surprised me in each of the last three weeks by not being eliminated, so maybe there’s one more surprise in store.
lotusBlog mentioned in PGH Post Gazette! – [otherwise]
lotuspike and our blog / LotusCast have been mentioned in todays Pittsburgh Post Gazette. The article discusses blog technology as a marketing tool, and how companies are taking advantage of the opportunities blogging offers to reach audiences quickly and cost-effectively.
We like that!
Tiger – [otherwise]
I upgraded my laptop to Tiger today. With a little prep (updating some utilities, deleting some things known to be incompatible), it went very, very smoothly.
Indeed, I’m typing this blog entry in via a Dashboard widget right now…
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