Drive Capital’s second act –  how the Columbus venture firm found success after a splitThe venture capital world has always had a hot-and-cold relationship with the Midwest. Investors rush in during boom times, then retreat to the coasts when markets turn sour. For Columbus, Ohio-based Drive Capital, this cycle of attention and disinterest played out against the backdrop of its own internal upheaval several years ago -- a co-founder split that could have ended the firm but may have ultimately strengthened it.

Mapping Tool Helps Identify Usable Land For BuildingHow would you go about identifying usable land that suits your building tastes? [Scott Sexton] was specifically, looking for land that’s not to steep to build on, and realized that existing resources didn’t easily offer him this information. He thus dived into the world of GIS to try and solve this issue for himself.
[Scott] hoped that USGS maps might provide the information he needed, but found they lacked grade information, only presenting elevation and topographic data instead. From past experience reading such maps, he knew that seeing a lot of topographical lines close together tended to indicate steeper areas, but wasn’t sure on how to actually get the computer to parse this and spit out the information on steepness and grade that he wanted.
Ultimately, he set about downloading USGS elevation data in three meter resolution. He then applied some calculus to determine the rate of change of the slope across areas of the data in order to mathematically find what he was looking for. Namely, flatter areas that would be more suitable for future construction. He then took the work even further, tweaking the output of his tools and automating until he could quickly and readily generate usability maps of areas of interest. He was even able to sanity check his work by seeing if it correctly identified roads as obvious flatter areas.
If you’ve ever tinkered with GIS work, [Scott’s] usability project may be of some interest. We’ve also seen amusing examples of what can go wrong when digital mapping data is used without sanity checks. Meanwhile, if you’re got your own GIS hacks on the go, don’t hesitate to notify us via the tipsline!

Mercado Bitcoin announces tokenization of $200M in RWAs on XRPLTokenized real-world assets (RWAs) continue to gain traction as crypto firms push for clear regulations for onchain financial instruments.

Gorilla DSP Old Vintage FuzzOld Vintage Fuzz is a guitar effects plugin designed to emulate the tone and behavior of analog germanium fuzz pedals. It is intended to be placed before amp simulations in the signal chain, responding naturally to input levels—such as volume knob roll-off—just like a physical fuzz unit. Read More

Indie Musician News Last Week: Music Teams, Mental Health & MoreTop indie musician news last week included a guide to global music success, how to protect yourself on social media, and more...
The post Indie Musician News Last Week: Music Teams, Mental Health & More appeared first on Hypebot.

Music Business News Last Week: Spotify, Startups & AI SuccessIn top music business news last week, indie band Deerhoof pulled its music off Spotify, applications for 2025's Music Tectonics Startup Competition opened, an AI created band made waves and much more.
The post Music Business News Last Week: Spotify, Startups & AI Success appeared first on Hypebot.

Fors introduce Pivot FM soft synth The result of years of research and development and inspired by the company’s love of FM synthesis, the latest addition to the Fors range promises to deliver just the right balance of flexibility and simplicity. 

Brazil’s central bank service provider hacked, $140M stolenThe theft occurred after the hackers allegedly compromised an employee of C&M, a software service provider, by buying the employee’s login credentials.

3D Printer Turbo-Charges a Vintage Vehicle[Ryan] of [Fat Lip Collective] has been on a streak of using 3D printing for his car mod projects. From spark plug adapters to exhaust pipes to dash panels, his CAD skills and additive manufacturing tech have played a number of roles in his process.
Most recently, [Ryan] has embarked on a mission to equip an ’80s-era Toyota KE70 Corolla with a turbo engine. The main question there being how to fit the engine back into the car once he’s inserted a salvaged turbo into the exhaust line.
There is a non-trivial amount of stuff that needs to be packed in with the rest of the engine and finding a working configuration that doesn’t get in the way of anything else requires some trial and error. Furthermore, the alignment of the many twisting and turning pieces of schedule 40 pipe that will direct gasses where they need to go needs to be pretty precise.
Juggling all of this would be tedious, time consuming, and error prone if it were not for [Ryan’s] mighty 3D printer. He printed a set of the different elbows and reducers modeled on the schedule 40 pipe that he would likely be using. He added degree markers for easy reference later and flat sections at the ends of each piece so they could be bolted to each other. With this kit of parts in hand, he was able to mock up different arrangements, re-configuring them as he considered the position of other nearby components.

The project is still ongoing. but we’re looking forward to seeing [Ryan] roaring around in his souped-up Corolla soon. In the meantime you can go deeper on ways of adding turbo to vehicles from the ’90s, the innovation of the Mercedes Formula 1 split turbo engine, and see the evolution of a 3D-printed pulsejet turbocharger.
Thanks to [Ryan Ralph] (not the same Ryan) for tipping us off.

Microsoft is closing its local operations in PakistanMicrosoft is closing its operations in Pakistan, marking the end of a 25-year presence in the South Asian nation. The Redmond-based company on Friday told TechCrunch that it is changing its operational model in Pakistan and will now serve its customers through resellers and “other closely located Microsoft offices.” “Our customer agreements and service will […]

From AI artists to Warner’s $1.2bn JV with Bain… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days
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“Why waste a good mic on those vocals? Use this and keep expectations low”: Caelum Audio’s Toyphonic Micraliser destroys your vocals and is totally not seriousCaelum Audio has just released a new free plugin, the Toyphonic Micraliser, alongside its International Joke Day sale. This follows on from other intentionally bad quality-sounding freebies like Dustbin and SUBscription.
The new plugin continues Caelum Audio’s trend of releasing freebies that are seemingly designed to poke fun at the music technology industry itself, including the industry’s love of jargon and overpromising on product features.

READ MORE: Kesha: “I’ve never met a man I admire more than Rick Rubin”

Touted as an “Apex Mic Modelling” tool, Caelum Audio explains that “if your singing sounds like a dying cat, this finally kills the cat”.
The plugin uses impulse responses to capture microphone and loudspeaker characteristics, except its timbres are those that recording artists would typically avoid – unless you’re looking to intentionally destroy your mic sound.
A quick listen to the plugin’s effects demonstrates its experimental approach to mic modelling, which, in the right hands, might result in some unique sounds.

As Caelum Audio also details on its website, its new joke plugin also has a plethora of other features to make your vocals sound worse: “Employ the service of modulation via the LFO, Sequencer & Envelope Follower to keep things moving, just because your music is flat and boring doesn’t mean the automation has to be too.” Additionally, users can find “15 ‘ethically’ locally sourced, organic presets… We even blessed you with a randomise button which is like infinite presets, how kind are we?!”
You can download Toyphonic Micraliser for yourself via Caelum Audio’s website – it’s available on both Windows and macOS, as well as iOS and iPadOS.
Learn more at Caelum Audio.
The post “Why waste a good mic on those vocals? Use this and keep expectations low”: Caelum Audio’s Toyphonic Micraliser destroys your vocals and is totally not serious appeared first on MusicTech.

EAR CANDY: IN DA CULRB, WE ALL FAMHappy Fourth, my bass-blasting bottle rockets!This week’s playlist is serving sparklers, sweaty dance floors, and that one friend yelling “This is my song!” for every track. It’s Independence Day and In Da Clurb, We All Fam. This week’s Ear Candy is built for the moment the sun dips and the real party starts. These are club-ready cuts and beat-heavy bops that explode like fireworks—big, bright, and impossible to ignore. This is your invitation to move something...now hop to it!

Click HERE to access this week's Ear Candy.While you're there, please "Like" the playlist and "Follow" Music Connection's profile so you'll never miss the chance to listen along with MC!The post EAR CANDY: IN DA CULRB, WE ALL FAM first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Sequential unveil the Take 5 Desktop Module Sequential have announced the launch of a new desktop instrument that makes the sounds and capabilities of their popular Take 5 synth available in a more compact and accessible form factor. 

Oberheim announce the TEO-5 Desktop Module The latest addition to the Oberheim line-up packs all of the sounds and features of their TEO-5 polysynth into a desktop-based enclosure that’s less than half the size.