No doubt as I type this some guru is preparing a book for O’Reilly or some other press on the ‘ethics of blogging’. (For example, is it permissible to correct errors “invisibly” after posting or should you always highlight changes after the initial publish?) And of course the idiosyncratic nature of blogging is being slowly eroded as major corporations sanction the activities of ‘house bloggers’ who chart the zany (but always productive) antics in cubicleland. In an attempt to preserve any integrity this blogger may have, I will preface the description of the following product by admitting that most of my family is involved in its development. Now, having got the declaration of interest out of the way, I will say that in an era when the Apple iPod has been hailed as the greatest breakthrough since the splitting of the atom, I can’t see why a gadget like the StikAx shouldn’t sell by the shedload. The website (www.stikax.com) will do a better job than I can in explaining the device’s appeal, but what struck me is that it now allows people to turn sample mixing (which seems to have become the backbone of modern music production) into a performance art. The StikAx itself is a sleek-looking gadget with buttons that you can ‘wire up’ to various loops and effects. Once you’ve “prepped” the buttons with their associated sounds, you can leave the keyboard and let loose. (This should appeal to teenagers and their balding fathers equally.) The resulting mix is automatically recorded–you can then use this recording as the basis for a new “performance” thereby creating ever-more complex soundscapes with a minimum of hassle.Anyway, that’s enough of my spiel; go to the site and see for yourself.