Pro racer Brian Vickers explores the NASCAR-Mac connection.

Make your way through the mullets and deep-fried turkey legs, and then swing a left at the John Deere hats and six-packs of Coors. Now go past the Kenny Chesney CDs and all the NRA bumper stickers. Do you see suddenly familiar terrain? You’ve just left the world of uninformed, outdated NASCAR clichés. You’re now in the real world—and, look, there’s Brian Vickers, typing away furiously on his MacBook Pro.

Vickers drives for the Red Bull Racing Team in the Sprint Cup Series, the big league of NASCAR competition. He fits neither the NASCAR stereotype (Ricky Bobby) nor the Mac user stereotype (latte-sipping emo hipster), but he somehow manages to integrate his love of Apple technology (he’s an avid Mac|Life reader!) with his racing team duties at nearly every turn. 

DJ Charlie Darker mixing at the Poleng Lounge in San Francisco.

It’s midnight at the Poleng Lounge in San Francisco and walking beyond the entrance is a challenge for partygoers, the place is so packed they have to wait in line to walk a few feet. The dance floor is so crowded dancers can miss a step and not fall down until the music stops. A young woman waiting at the base of the DJ’s platform wants to talk to the DJ spinning. Several minutes pass, finally DJ Charlie Darker leans down to listen to her, she wants him to play some hip-hop. Darker tells her “I am playing hip-hop.” Oh Dang! Where the hell has she been? Darker has been spinning hip-hop since he fired up the turntables and his MacBook Pro.  

Indie rockers CURSIVE use GarageBand to write songs and iPods to help them practice—and share their pro tips with you.