@cdpeterson Those rings are amazing! Really great stuff there, I'm impressed

I've started making my own furniture and while everything so far is VERY simple/basic, I'm pleased with the results and it's all functional stuff. Pictured is the dining table (not the chairs), computer desk, coffee table, and entertainment center. I built them all with cheap lumber from Home Depot, metal legs are from IKEA, and everything is simply stained/poly'ed. P.S. Don't mind the television - my wife is watching something awful.

(I also make some music, only stuff online right now is at soundcloud.com/petebarta)

Hey @will and @norman and anyone else who may be able to contribute. I'm coming to San Francisco for a wedding in January and I'll be traveling alone. This will be my first time in the area and I'm wondering if you have any must-see or must-eat venues that I should check out while I'm there. I'll have 3 days with no plans and I'd like to fill my time as much as possible. Any museums/zoos/tours/shit I should hit before I leave? I like sushi, Indian food, anything involving being on the water, and science/history. I'm coming from Detroit. Any and all feedback is appreciated!! Thanks

Pete

@SpaceMonk Awesome, thanks so much!

Hey guys - a month ago (ish), Will talked on the podcast very briefly about testing a bluetooth receiver that plugs into the aux input on his dash and automagically pairs to the phone so no cables need be run. I can't for the life of me find this clip or remember the specific episode, so was wondering if anyone else remembers or maybe @will can remind me. Thanks!

Yeah first question that dictates everything else is local group recording or Skype recording?

So another thread has basically concluded that making music is included in the "Making" category. Therefore, I thought I'd post a few of the virtual tools I use to create electronic music without spending a fortune on samples, vsts, DAWs, and whatnot. There is SO much you can do without spending any significant money, or pirating software, or hacking. It is an amazing time to be a musician. Here are some of the best bang-for-buck things I've found and used:

DAWs:

• FL Studio: $200 for the 'producer' edition, this is by far the most expensive thing I use. It is incredibly powerful and especially shines when working with samples in their built-in step sequencer or MIDI data in their piano roll. The real beauty is lifetime free upgrades. Unlike Ableton, ProTools, Cubase - you will never be asked to shell out several hundred dollars in a few years for the new features. You get them for free. Lifetime.

• REAPER: Free, unlimited, unrestricted demo. All you get is a splash screen that asks you to buy when you start up. If you do buy, it's only $60 for a personal license. This software is a little intimidating to use, but is very good at handling audio clips and traditional track-based mixing. It's sampler and piano roll aren't great for EDM styles, but hey, its SO CHEAP. It is also extremely light-weight in terms of CPU usage and HDD space. Great program.

Samples:

• www.drumsamples.org (free)

• MPC60 samples (I use v1 & v2, $30 each)

VST instruments:

• http://www.tweakbench.com/ (lots and lots of free, great sounding 8-bit style instruments and effects)

• Togu Audio Line - amazing stuff here, NoiseMaker is the best free synth I've used, and the effects are great

• Pocket Limiter and Maximizer can be found here, they are both free and amazing

• Ambience - great free reverb

• GSnap - free autotune! Not super intuitive, but powerful

• endorphin - great sounding compressor, free

• DR-Fusion 2 - it's not amazing, but I love this free drum machine plugin

A ton of this information comes from Zircon, an awesome producer who gives a lot of great advice and has super helpful tutorials on his website and YouTube. To get all your music onto iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Google Play, and a ton of other stuff, check out CDBaby.

Cheers

I think the idea of living without the internet is far more interesting than reading about someone who lives without the internet.

I have no experience with NAS apps, but as for the "essential apps", my vote would include:

• Pocket (like instapaper but for Android, there is also an Instapaper app for Android)
• PodkickerPro - best podcast app on Android imo
• ShopSavvy - I mostly use it to check local stock/price against online retailers in a pinch
• SMS backup+ - automatically backs up all your SMS's and call log to a tag in your Gmail
• TuneIn Radio Pro - awesome internet radio app with access to tons and tons of local stations all over
• Chrome to Phone - one click sends your browser page to your phone automagically
• all the 'standard' stuff (facebook, twitter, flixster, etc)

If nothing else, wait until the end of the month since there are rumors of the next Nexus device. If it actually exists and it's hardware matches or bests the GS3, it'll be the best Android option available. Honestly though, you can't go wrong with the newest iPhone. For anyone who isn't specifically against Apple or iOS, the iPhone is generally the safest product (ie. the one you're least likely to regret buying).

+1 for Instacast. Currently using Android but I've used a ton of podcast apps for iOS and Android, and Instacast is the best I've found anywhere.

I've used a ton of podcast apps on Android (I drive and listen to podcasts pretty much all day for work). I finally found my perfect one - Podkicker Pro. It's $3 (don't get the free one, it's not updated and much different) and worth every cent. Lots of flexibility (download/stream/caching/etc) and a killer "car-mode" interface. Can't recommend this enough

Hewo. I just submitted a request to add PeterBarta. Thanks!

I'm not sure what everyone's budget looks like, but personally, I got real tired of paying out the ass for my phone. Recently, I sold my iPhone 4S and used the money to pay my AT&T termination fee. I then bought a Galaxy Nexus for $350 direct from Google unlocked, and am on a no-contract prepaid plan from T-Mobile. 100 minutes (I never use a lot of minutes, and you can set up wifi calling without too much hassle for home use), unlimited text, and unlimited data - the first 5gb of which is "at 4G speeds", which means various things, but in metro Detroit, means usually 8-12mb down, 1-5 up. This plan is $30/month. It is awesome. It. Is. Awesome.

GNex isn't a wow-inducing phone at this point, but it's solid (especially if you can forgive the shitty low-light camera), and it's getting all the updates. That's my route, maybe a little boring but cheap and flexible.