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Calendar app Tempo introducing a reservations system

Back in the old days, before last month, releasing software was easy.

You wrote your code, uploaded it to an app store, and let people download it and start using your service. Many apps launched this way. Some were even successful!

Then came Mailbox. Mailbox is an e-mail app. It has a nice user interface and can remind you to respond to e-mails you've allowed to languish, but at the end of the day it's an app that lets you read and write e-mail.

Mailbox's biggest innovation wasn't its reminders, though. It was the virtual velvet … Read more

Who needs high-resolution music?

Most of the music people enjoy doesn't sound very good. That's not to say it isn't good music, just that it doesn't sound great. I'm not picking on digital or contemporary music; most of my favorite Motown and Stax soul music from the 1960s and 1970s sounds like crap. Most rock music from any decade sounds cruddy; that's just the way it is.

A lot of today's best bands, including alternative darlings Arcade Fire, make awful-sounding recordings. I'm specifically referring to their Grammy Award-winning "The Suburbs" album from 2010; it'… Read more

Wilco beats leaks by streaming its own album

Wilco on Wednesday began streaming its new album, "Wilco (The Album)," in its entirety from its Web site. The band began circulating the record about a month ago, and anticipated that the album would be leaked on file-sharing networks. As soon as it appeared via P2P, the band offered it up as a free stream, reasoning that hardcore fans would pre-order the new album regardless, and showing confidence that fence-sitters would find it engaging enough to buy it as well, or at least be aware that the band will probably be bringing its (amazing) live show to town … Read more

Music on the brain

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it's not open."--Frank Zappa

We all tend to like what we like--the music we know--but finding new music that breaks through can be almost impossible for some folks. I'm always on the prowl for something different, it's just that too often the new music that immediately grabs my ear bores me in a week or two. I've learned over the years the music that doesn't instantly connect is the stuff that sometimes sticks around for the long haul. I remember when … Read more