For the last few years, Windows users have been clamoring for Apple to release it's vaunted GarageBand music creation software on Microsoft's OS. While we can't see this happening any time soon, we will say this: there are just some things GarageBand makes more difficult than they need to be, and for that, Windows users can be happy they have Acid Pro.

If you're a GarageBand user (and what Mac-based musician isn't?) then you've probably wondered how you can create your own digital instruments without spending an arm and a leg on software. Up til now, of course, making your own digital instruments was just too hard, but we suppose Apple figured their own digital instruments (and supplemental Jam Packs) would be enough aural eclectics to satisfy everybody. Sadly, musicians, like all artists, have ever-evolving tastes. What sounded good enough yesterday will sound horrible tomorrow.

That's why Sonic Amigos introduced their PolyPhontics Software Instrument Toolbox for GarageBand. This package will let you create your own software instruments--based on your own recorded samples. So if you think the built-in saxophone sounds like a dying mallard, you can now replace it with a software instrument of your own creation, perhaps sampled straight from grandpa's antique tenor sax... and the PolyPhontics package costs $25, so you could probably pay for it by selling grandpa's sax after you've sampled it.

Since this tool lets you assign an individual sample to each key on the keyboard (there are 88), you could create a very large drumset or percussion instrument with ease. When you're done sampling, PolyPhontics will compile and drop the new instrument into your GarageBand banks folder, and off you go. Check out the video tutorial and you'll be creating instruments in no time. Oh, and if you're a Logic or ProTools user who needs a little more power in your studio than what GarageBand offers, check out Sonic Amigos' high-end version of PolyPhontics, too.

Looking for some great free books, or some stored knowledge in the form of e-books, lecture notes, programming texts? FreeTechBooks.com has you covered. All books are legally free and available for online viewing or download. There is a lot of great stuff here, and the only "catch" is that the texts are bound by their own terms, which isn't a problem in my book. Most of the titles are in the computer science or related areas like operating systems, programming, logic and systems analysis and design. There is enough stuff here to keep you busy for a weekend, or several weekends depending on how many programming languages and texts you are interested in.

I first heard about Sudoku awhile ago, but never really got into it until this week. But boy did I get into it. Sudoku is a logic puzzle in which you're presented with a grid of nine rows and nine columns. The object of the game is to fit the numbers 1 through 9 into the grid so that each number appears only once in each row, column, and 3x3 sub-grid. At the beginning of the game you're given many of the numbers and have to use deductive to figure out where the rest go. It's a very simple game—sort of a cross between minesweeper and the venerable crossword puzzle—but maddeningly addictive and, at the higher difficulty levels (i.e. fewer "given" numbers), a real mental exercise.

There are many sites where you can play Sudoku online, but I've found Miniclip's Flash Sudoku  to be the best. It has three difficulty levels, the invaluable ability to record "guesses" (e.g when you know a cell must be a 3 or a 9, but you don't know which), and a new puzzle for each difficulty level every day.