Welcome to Pogue's Pages!

My New Special, "HUNTING THE ELEMENTS," on PBS

In case you missed my PBS "Elements" special this week, it's now online and free!

"Hunting the Elements"--a fast, funny journey through the 118 elements that make up us and our universe. I poured gold, I grabbed sharks, I went to Russia to see where they've created the latest man-made elements by smashing atoms...it's a great show. And it's your tax dollars at work, so you should see what you've bought! :)

(My 2011 NOVA miniseries, "Making Stuff," is available online. To watch, click the show you want: "Making Stuff: Stronger", "Making Stuff: Smaller", "Making Stuff: Cleaner", "Making Stuff: Smarter".

This week's New York Times column

The Voodoo Behind The Voice

The Internet hit pop music hard. Without the Net, we’d still be buying songs from record stores. Apple would still be just a computer company. And Justin Bieber would probably be working in a Burger King in Ontario.

In the online world, you can take your music straight to the public. No more gatekeepers, record executives or rejection letters. If you’re any good, you’ll soon win your fame and fortune — or at least sky-high view counts.

But these days, a great voice isn’t enough; you also need great processing. There’s not a song on the radio today that hasn’t been digitally massaged with effects like reverb (echo), compression (evening out the volume spikes) and autotune (fixing notes that were sung sharp or flat).

You can do this sort of work using software like GarageBand or Audacity. But the VoiceLive Play ($250 online), a new gadget from the vocal-processing company TC Helicon, offers all of those effects and more — it can even generate phantom backup singers...more

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This week's email column

How Compatible Are Rival E-Readers?

The mail is still coming in about my review of Barnes & Noble’s latest e-book reader, the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight.

Very little of the mail is actually about the reader, though. Most of it challenges the statements I made when I characterized the state of the e-book world right now.

Here’s a summary — and a few clarifications...more

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Recent video

Energy from lasers: Sure shot or dead end?

The National Ignition Facility opened its doors to their control room for "Sunday Morning" to witness a laser shot for tests that may change how the U.S. may some day get its energy. David Pogue reports.

Click here to see older archived videos or here to subscribe to Pogue videos via the iTunes Music Store!

Special interest - Scientific American Column

Check out my monthly column in Scientific American magazine! Each month, I take a broader look at what's going on with consumer tech and society….

What Wi-Fi Stands for—and Other Wireless Questions Answered

Inside information from the bigwigs of the wireless world...more

The Trouble with Wi-Fi

Impossible connections, dropped signals, phantom networks—why wireless Internet still seems stuck in the Stone Age...more

Use It Better: 8 Alternatives to the Hated Captcha

Programmers hope that humans can jump through these hoops better than bots...more