Web Log

DOWNLOAD: GarageBand for iPad: Everyone knows that a lack of musical talent is no barrier to a music career.

Apple’s latest app, GarageBand, brings that dream a little closer. Not only will it allow you play whatever instrument you set your mind to, it also uses the equivalent of auto tuning to make sure that you sound like a pro. All you need is an iPad, a copy of the app, and you are ready to go.

It has all the essentials – pianos, organs, guitars, drums, and basses – and a host of special effects you can apply to your music. Using multi-touch gestures, the software also detects how hard or soft you are striking the iPad. You can even save the finished product and share your masterpiece with friends.

itunes.apple.com

UPGRADE

Firefox 4

Internet Explorer 9 isn’t the only new browser to hit the web. Firefox also has a new edition, promising a speedier internet experience for users. Mozilla says graphics load faster and web applications work more quickly, thanks to hardware acceleration. It’s also claiming to be a safer browser than ever before, protecting you from certain attacks and allowing you to opt out of behavioural tracking.

mozilla.com

WATCH

EyeWriter helps paralysed artist

Find out how technology helped 1980s graffiti artist Tempt, paralysed as a result of a nerve disease, to create art again. At TED Active, entrepreneur Mick Ebling showed off an open-source device – the EyeWriter – that was created with a team of collaborators and allows wearers to draw or communicate with eye movement.

It uses a pair of cheap sunglasses, some copper wiring and a hacked PS camera. And because it’s open source, it means others can build it too.

ted.com/talks

TRY

TweetDeck Web

TweetDeck brought a web app to Chrome that brought the Twitter client to the Google web browser. The company has gone a step further now and decided it should be available to all web browsers. The result is TweetDeck Web, which is currently in a limited beta roll-out to “white-listed” TweetDeck accounts.

It uses the same core as Chrome TweetDeck, has the same user interface and aside from Twitter streaming, it has mainly the same functions.

The main advantage is that you don’t have to download any software to your machine, and you aren’t limited to one browser. Sign up now.

blog.tweetdeck.com