The AP recently sat down and interviewed Radiohead (for my money the best band of all time) and discussed their new release In Rainbows, an album many find surprisingly warm at times, considering Radiohead is considered the most depressing band on the planet.

In Rainbows may be a departure, but it's unmistakably Radiohead. Yorke is still singing about disconnection between people, which he cheerfully acknowledges: It's part of my repertoire. It's what I do. Some people go and work at something they don't like, others talk about disconnection a lot.

Not so ironically, their new found freedom from a record label, while empowering also brought on a bit of a disconnect.

When we weren't signed to EMI and didn't have a contract, that threw up all this mad(ness), said Yorke. In a way, your possibilities are endless and limitless and meaningless. You actually suddenly have -- I don't know why, it doesn't make sense -- but there was a complete lack of connection with our past.

But as opposed to the down time and disconnect they suffered through after Hail to the Thief was released, it appears as if the band is already making new tunes and resident musical experimenter, Jonny Greenwood, is already looking to bring some new instruments into the already diverse Radiohead fold. Though there has been some resistence.

The process of finding the right instruments for the songs will soon begin. Greenwood would like to even throw a banjo into the mix, but said he gets "level looks" from his bandmates whenever he brings it out. "There's a ban on banjos," said his 38-year-old brother.

And how might they release any future albums after offering In Rainbows as a 'pay as you please' download?

Let's leave it on the street corner with a little sign, Yorke jokes as excitement sweeps over his face. Now that's a good idea! I like that idea. With a little photo on the Web: 'It's here.' A couple of clues. A little doggie bag.

Leaving it on a street corner? That sounds like the most disconnected way possible to distribute new music to fans. Quintessential Radiohead! glc

Wired Magazine's cofounder sends a letter to his kids summarizing the "dawn of the digital revolution." tjc

As the end of the primaries draw near, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean answers your questions in this week's issue of Time. jmj

I must say, I'm a bit, just a bit, intrigued by the idea of the new Microsoft search engine. From Slate:

The new program is called Live Search cashback, and it's built upon a clever business model. (No, the C in cashback is not capitalized. That's how Microsoft is insisting on writing it. Blame e.e. cummings.) Search for a product through LSc to compare prices on any item you can imagine--everything from obscure hiking socks to under-the-radar fiction. On top of a routine price comparison, though, is an extra goodie: cashback savings, usually between 4 percent and 8 percent of the pretax price.

The not-a-typo typo is annoying, but like most any technology, you have to wait for the kinks to be worked out. Life in beta. Even if they say delta. tjc

Does America need to look at its judiciary selection process?, asks the N.Y. Times, posed by Tyler Cowen on Marginal Revolution. Elections are our modus operandi, but maybe judges need different rules, i.e. not using specific cases in campaign literature. Anyway, I have been openly critical of judicial appointments in the past and maybe national judicial elections are necessary? Who knows which is better? tjc

Did you know? They did. tjc

Analyzing the facts, I discovered eight presidents did not graduate from college, including William Harrison, Harry Truman, Zachary Taylor, Grover Cleveland, Andrew Johnson and Millard Fillmore. George W. Bush has obtained diplomas from Yale and Harvard. Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson never attended law school, but their vigorous independent study enabled them to become lawyers. Eleven Presidents studied law and only one President completed medical school.

According to major insurance companies, a human life is worth roughly $50,000 per year. But Stanford economists say $129,000 per year. Split the difference, $90K/year of life? Makes you question what we're doing having to figure that out. There should be no need to make cost analysis charts for life-saving procedures and such. tjc

In case you didn't notice, the National League just may be better than the American League...finally. In the latest CBS Sportsline Power Rankings, although the top three spots belong to the American League, the rest of the top ten belong to the National. jmj

A special assembly in Nepal helds its first meeting Wednesday to declare the Himalayan nation a republic, abolishing its centuries-old Hindu monarchy. Listen to the NPR report. jmj