A beginner’s guide to Mastodon, the open source Twitter alternativeUnless if you’re really in the know about nascent platforms, you probably didn’t know what Mastodon was until Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X. In the initial aftermath of the acquisition, as users fretted over what direction Twitter would take, millions of users hopped over to Mastodon, a fellow microblogging site. As time […]

Building a Steam Loco These Days is Nothing But HacksThe Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)’s T1 class is famous for many reasons: being enormous, being a duplex, possibly having beaten Mallard’s speed record while no one was looking… and being in production in the 21st century. That last fact is down to the redoubtable work by the PRR T1 Steam Locomotive Trust, who continued their efforts to reproduce an example of these remarkable and lamentably unpreserved locomotives in the year 2025.
They say that 2025 was “the year of the frame” because the frame was finally put together. We might say that for the PRR Trust, this was the year of welding. Back when the Baldwin and Altoona works were turning out the originals, the frames for steam locomotives were cast, not welded. There might not be anywhere on Earth to get a 64′ long (19.5 m), 71,000 lbs steel casting made these days. Building it up with welded steel might not be perfectly accurate, but it’s the sort of hack that’s needed to keep the project moving.
The cylinders, too, would have been bored-out castings back the day. Getting the four (it’s a duplex, remember) assemblies cast as one piece didn’t prove practical, so T1 #5550 will have welded cylinders as well. Given modern welding, we expect no problem with holding steam pressure. The parts are mostly machined and will be welded-together next year.
The giant wheels of the locomotive have been cast, but need to be machined. It’s not impossible to believe that locomotive #5550 will be on its frame, on its wheels, in 2026. The boiler is already done and the injectors to get water into it have been reinvented, which can perhaps be considered another hack.
Right now, if donations continue to trickle in at the current rate– and prices don’t rise any faster than they have been– the Trust hopes to have the locomotive steaming in 2030. She’s now 59.8% complete. That’s up from 40% when we last checked in, back in 2022, which is great progress considering this is a volunteer-driven, crowd-funded effort.
If you don’t have the skills or geographical location to volunteer with this build, but we’ve peaked your love of steam, perhaps you could 3D print an engine to scratch the itch.

Kulshan Studios Smooth Jazz Soundset for Moog Sub 37 + Subsequent 3759 smooth Jazz presets, compatible with the Moog Sub 37 and Subsequent 37 analog hardware synths. This soundbank is 100% Jazz-oriented, which means no Trance, Dubstep, or Techno sounds. The patches in Smooth come straight out of songs by legendary artists of the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. So this soundset is designed to fully exploit the fat Moog ladder filter, expanded modulation capabilities, and multidrive to their max. Patches in Smooth are based on sounds from songs by the likes of Herbie Hancock, Parliament, George Clinton, Casiopea, Bill Bruford, Janelle Monáe, Kool & The Gang, Gorillaz, Hiromi Uehara, George Benson, Stevie Wonder, Weather Report, Seatbelts, Earth, Wind & Fire, Chick Corea, and many many more. Only FX used on these sounds outside the onboard FX was Virus TI2 reverb and delay on the leads/ plucks. Sounds in this preset pack are suitable for the Smooth Jazz, Acid Jazz, Funk, Soul, and RnB genres, and are organized by category into Leads, Plucks, Pads, and Basses, for quick reference. All patches are royalty-free and delivered instantly via email as a 24-hour download link. Requirements: Moog Sub 37, Subsequent 37, or Subsequent 37 CV synthesizer. Read More

GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Latin Rock or Alternative AlbumThe 2025 GRAMMY nominations are here and we're going to help you to untangle it all right up until the big event, continuing with the Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album category.

Take a listen to the nominated albums below--who do you think will win?

See the full list of nominees in every category here.

Genes RebeldesAterciopelados

ASTROPICALBomba Estéreo, Rawayana, ASTROPICAL

PAPOTACA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso

ALGORHYTHMLos Wizzards

NovelaFito Paez

Fito Paez photo by @chinolemusThe post GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Here Are Your Bandcamp Friday Dates for All of 2026Here are the 8 scheduled Bandcamp Fridays for 2026. The program, which waives Bandcamp’s revenue share so artists keep 100% of sales, has become one of the most impactful ongoing artist-support initiatives in the industry.
The post Here Are Your Bandcamp Friday Dates for All of 2026 appeared first on Hypebot.

GRM Tools Atelier from INA GRM The latest addition to the GRM line-up draws on the company’s extensive experience, but rather than bringing a new effect or processor to the table, uses their technology to power a new sound-design instrument. 

'Massive' liquidity injections to boost BTC price in 2026, crypto exec saysMoney printing is a catalyst for higher risk-on asset prices, but the looming 2026 US midterm elections could throw a wrench in markets.

Bringing A Yagi Antenna to 915MHz LoRaIf you’re a regular reader of Hackaday, you may have noticed a certain fondness for Meshtastic devices, and the LoRa protocol more generally. LoRa is a great, low-power radio communications standards, but sometimes the antennas you get with the modules can leave you wanting more. That’s why [Chris Prioli] at the Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club in the great state of New Jersey have got a Yagi antenna for North America’s 915 MHz LoRa band.
Right out the gate, their article links to one of ours, where [tastes_the_code] builds a Yagi antenna for the European 868 MHz LoRa. Like [tastes_the_code], the radio club found [Chris]’s antenna gives much better reception than what came with the LoRa module. Looking out their window, instead of two Metastatic nodes with a stock antenna, one club member is now connecting to two hundred.
A simulation of the radiation pattern. Looks like a Yagi, alright.
Now, the Yagi is directional, so you only get that boost pointed down the axis of the antenna, but at least in simulation they estimate a 7.7 dB front-to-back gain vs under 3 dB for an omnidirectional antenna. Not bad, for a simple 3D print and some stiff wire!
If you don’t want to re-invent the wheel again, check out the GCARC’s GitHub for files if you’re in North America. If you’re in Europe, check out [taste_the_code]’s build from last year. Of course whatever band you’re operating in, Yagi isn’t your only roll-your-own option for a LoRa antenna.
Thanks to [Jon Pearce WB2MNF] for the tip!

The Best Gig I Ever Saw: Sylvia Black Recalls Cramps and WeirdosMulti-faceted post-punk and psychedelic blues femme fatale Sylvia Black told us about her Cramps/Weirdos experience...

Sylvia Black: I probably haven't seen as many live shows as one might expect. Tough to choose between Betty Carter at Yoshi’s in Oakland, CA, and Retrovirus with Lydia Lunch in Brooklyn Summer of 2017. But I s’pose one of my most memorable concerts was one of my firsts. It was 1990, San Francisco Civic Center, New Year’s Eve. It was the party to go to that night in the Bay Area with the Red Hot Chili Peppers headlining. But that night was where we discovered The Cramps and The Weirdos, who were supporting acts. 

It was loud and wild. The energy was just reverberating through the steamy air as Lux gave us a show in his shiny skivvies. Let’s just say that my best girlfriends and I had the full San Francisco experience and crossed some kind of threshold that night. It was NYE so everyone was ramped up and loaded to 11. We were completely and utterly young, dumb, feral and free. There wasn’t one corner of the Civic center or the surrounding streets that could contain us for long. And somehow we came out unscathed.

There was no photographic record. Were no text chains or geo locating. No real safety nets. My god, I feel so bad for my parents. But Lux did leave an indelible mark on my mind as I went on to make The Cramps song ‘Primitive’ one of my main cover songs in my lounge act. I soon thereafter discovered Primitive was originally recorded by The Groupies. 

Sylvia Black's new single "Long Gone Gardens" is out now; the album Shadowtime is out January 16.

The post The Best Gig I Ever Saw: Sylvia Black Recalls Cramps and Weirdos first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Universal Audio’s Moog Minimoog is just $29 until January 1st
Universal Audio has discounted its Moog Minimoog instrument to just $29, marking one of the best software synth deals to close out 2025. This is also my final article of the year, so before diving in, I just want to say thank you for being part of BPB in 2025. Your support, comments, and daily [...]
View post: Universal Audio’s Moog Minimoog is just $29 until January 1st

Investors predict AI is coming for labor in 2026 The exact impact AI will have on the enterprise labor market is unclear but investors predict trends will start to emerge in 2026.

Live Nation moves again to dismiss DOJ antitrust suit, claims ‘Zero Proof’Live Nation and Ticketmaster delivered a bold new filing on December 29th in its ongoing antitrust battle with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The entertainment giant claims prosecutors have produced no credible evidence showing its business practices cause real-world harm to artists, venues, or fans.
The post Live Nation moves again to dismiss DOJ antitrust suit, claims ‘Zero Proof’ appeared first on Hypebot.

Why Did So Many Music Festivals Cancel in 2025?The 2025 festival season saw out some of live music and DJ culture's most beloved festivals due to surges in costs, an exodus of sponsorship, and a “saturation of sameness.” Let's talk about it.
The post Why Did So Many Music Festivals Cancel in 2025? appeared first on Hypebot.

Full Bucket Music MicroWaveConverterMicroWaveConverter is a program to convert single wave cycles contained in a WAV file to a (MIDI SysEx) User Wavetable file for the Waldorf Microwave 1 (firmware revision 1.2 or higher). It is available for Microsoft Windows only and uses NAudio by Mark Heath for reading WAV files. I originally developed MicroWaveConverter for Piet Wagner who also Beta-tested it. Read More

194db Audio releases FREE Vox Relief Lite vocal processing plugin
194db Audio has released Vox Relief Lite, a free vocal processing plugin for macOS and Windows, designed to quickly clean up vocal tone and help vocals sit better in the mix. In plugin-land, the word “Lite” in a plugin’s name usually suggests a stripped-down free version with a paid upgrade coming later. That might be [...]
View post: 194db Audio releases FREE Vox Relief Lite vocal processing plugin