just because...

heh-heh...

Make Your Own Noise Canceling Headphones

I have a lot of fun with vid sites like Metacafe...

So I get the idea behind this vid, putting nice headphone parts into closed back earmuffs, but is this really better than say picking up a beautiful pair of cx300's?



I'm not a huge fan of active noise reduction. You have to keep a battery around, and it only reduces constant noise (like the droning sounds of an airplane), and not sudden noises. But hey, Passive NR is Passive NR right? You're just blocking noise. I just happen to prefer inner-aural, "in the ear" headphones.

So anywho, this guy's discovery of clipping together headphones and shooting range earmuffs is pretty sound...


Headphone Hack! Make You Own Noise Eliminating Headset! - Awesome video clips here


Heh-heh, "pretty sound" ... I'm teh funnie...

John Cleese to Work for Podcast Network!

News out of Tech Crunch today, John Cleese has signed an exclusive deal with TPN to star in (and maybe write??) a video podcast called "Headcast".

It looks like there will be Free and Premium available, probably similar to what Ricky Gervais did with his podcast (my speculation).

No details available yet on how much Cleese was paid, or what pricing the show will go for, but it's still pretty exciting news for web content.

Certainly something I'll be looking forward to!

Duncan Riley's write up @ TechCrunch

DRM advocates getting nervous about consumer backlash

You all know the slogan "Guns don t kill people people kill people." At the Digital Rights Strategies conference in New York City a similar message could be heard: "DRM doesn t anger consumers content owners abusing DRM anger consumers."

read more | digg story

Victorious RIAA defendant gets attorneys' fees, turns to class-action plans

Calling the RIAA's case unjustified "as a reasonable exploration of the boundaries of copyright law," a federal magistrate judge late last week awarded former RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen attorneys' fees for her nearly two-and-a-half-year fight against a copyright infringement lawsuit.

read more | digg story

Just Messin Around with Lee and Tuck...

While recording the sound track to a short film bound for the festival circuit (more on that later), my pals Lee and Tuck, took a little time to un-wind.

Maybe I accidentally kept recording...



Just promise you wont sick the estate of Marvin Gaye on us...

Win an iPod from Gizmodo!

Not much to post here on this one.
Just get over to Gizmodo to throw your hat into the ring to win an iPod classic and an energizer Energi to Go Charger.

Here's the link!

See The New Halo 3 Ad "Museum" !!!

Joystiq has the new Halo 3 Commercial up and running. It's an exceptional spot, very interesting, and very unexpected.

Check it out here!

Also of note, the voice on the commercial is that of Mr. Bill Bolender, a client at the agency. Bill's a great guy, a lot of fun to work with, and is a very avid gamer. I was happy to see him get this spot, as I'm sure that he'll be first in line at a GameStop to pick up Halo 3 when it comes out.

Whole Ton of Music News...

So I was reading through Idolator today, and a couple stories struck me as interesting.

Both Kanye and 50 Cent are seeing decent success with the release of their respective albums. Currently though Kanye is outselling by a sizable distance (400,000 units to Fiddy's 300,000). So even though 50 took it too the streets to advertise, it looks like Kanye will win this one. I'm glad. I don't really care that much for either, but now we'll get to see if 50 Cent will keep his promise to never record again if Kanye beats him.


To follow that up here's Kanye's new video:

I kinda hate it. Late Registration had this great "becoming a man" vibe for me. If this is indicative of Kanye's new work, I'll stay far away. I'm just not that hyped up on another rapper telling me how much money they have, that they "got mine", and even telling me "You're Welcome" for all the joy they've brought into my life. Thanks but no thanks...


And lastly in "rip off Idolator" news, it looks like we'll be seeing a crackdown on Lyrics sites. This makes me mad, as we don't always get inserts with music anymore (especially downloaded), so if I want to check out the lyrics of a song I go online now. I understand the argument that these sites make ad revenue off of content they don't own the rights to, but to me it seems like a silly target to go after. It serves as free advertising for the music, fans get what they want, and the music biz didn't have to pay for any of it. Are they wanting to charge people for this service. If I have to pay for lyrics ... oh bad things ... very bad things ...

The move against lyric sites comes as the publishing business is in the midst of rolling out official online-lyric offerings through such places as Yahoo! Music and Real Networks' Rhapsody, via deals with lyric aggregators Gracenote and LyricFind.
In those deals, publishers license lyrics for online reproduction in exchange for a portion of ad revenues from the sites. Illegal lyric sites have been in operation for years, and top ad-supported sites like AZ Lyrics Universe have attracted some of the most traffic among music-related Web sites.
Industry insiders say all take-down requests at this point are "voluntary," and part of an "educational" push on behalf of music publishers to inform lyric Web sites that reproducing the words to songs without authorization is a violation of copyright law.
However, sources warn that sites that do not cooperate will be subject to cease-and-desist notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. DMCA notices often serve as a precursor to music-industry litigation.

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Actors, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! Youtube Edition...

SO, you might remember my story just a little while back about my friend Mike Rock being a Bert Fershner.

In that story I linked out to a Youtube clip of one of his commercials (he was the voice of Kleenex on their Monk commercial). I sent him the story, and he thanked me for linking out to their B.F. clips. He mentioned in passing that they had some problems initially with posting the clips because Viacom was removing everything on Youtube even remotely connected to Comedy Central, MTV, or any of their other holdings. They took a slash and burn approach to removing the content, and clips that didn't infringe on the content (say someone commenting on the Daily Show, but not actually showing a Daily Show clip) were also removed. This sucked for B.F. because even their home grown clips which weren't on Comedy Central were threatened with take down.

This got me thinking. I posted a link to his Kleenex commercial. I had originally tried to find his commercial at Kleenex's site but couldn't find it there. If Kleenex wasn't using the commercial, maybe they didn't pay Mike for Web use. If they didn't pay Mike for web use then that commercial doesn't belong ANYWHERE on teh intarwebs.


I spoke to Mike about it. He said he hadn't checked off his contract for Internet use.


(CLICK TO EXPAND)

On a SAG contract there are these tiny little boxes where an actor can say "I don't allow production to use my likeness on the internet". A lot of places will say you can't check that box, but in actuality you have every right to control how your likeness is used. We encourage our actors to strike all of these provisions, if for no other reason, then it forces production to call us and we can negotiate the additional use in good faith.

Even though Mike didn't check those boxes, it doesn't mean that they would be able to put the Kleenex commercial up for free. They'd still need to pay him.

Youtube has been tricky because anyone can post anything at anytime. It makes it really hard to keep track of what content is being used and where. The stick of the situation is that it doesn't matter who puts it up or where it's put up, the internet is the internet. If it airs you get paid for it.
It's also in the best interest of production to review, because by having it online and by not paying for it, it leaves them in an actionable position. Realistically they should approach Youtube about removing the content (they had no problems working with Viacom).

I told Mike to contact the Business Affairs people with the agency he booked the commercial through. I'll keep you posted on what happens!

STORY ON DIGG

Weird Al Yankovic - First TV Appearance

A Weird Al Yankovic Parody of Queen-Another One Bites the Dust. This is his First Television Appearance on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.

read more | digg story

Warners "T-Works" Web Site, New Home for Classic/Contemporary Animation

This kinda funny. I was just talking with a client about how much I loved the old Tex Avery Looney Tunes, and how it was getting harder and harder to actually find them on TV. I already feel old enough making pop culture references about the 80's, Tex was way before MY time...

Hollywood Reporter has a story up about an exciting new site coming from Warner Bros:

Warner Bros. Entertainment will launch T-Works next spring, an interactive home for its iconic characters from Warner Bros. Animation, "Looney Tunes," Hanna-Barbara and DC Comics along with newer animation.
T-Works will present old "Looney Tunes" cartoons, featuring characters like Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, alongside Hanna-Barbara offerings like "Scooby-Doo" and "The Flintstones," as well as more contemporary animation like "Batman Beyond."

The story also goes on to talk about web exclusive content, and a site where users can create their own "mash ups".
This is fantastic! The more studios do this, the more they will stave of theft from file sharing, and the more ad revenue they'll generate. People get better (legitimate) content, the studios make more money, everyones happy!

Read the story @ Hollywood Reporter

iTunes Hack for FREE RINGTONES

Just posted up on Engadget...

If you read my last story on this, it's just ridiculous to me that ringtones should cost extra on the iPhone. It's another example of them fundamentally missing the market.

If Apple had said "Those other companies make you PAY for ringtones, with Apple the music IS your ringtone!" or some other such nonsense, he could've driven so much more business to the iTunes music store. Instead Apple/AT&T are trying to shear a sheep that's already been shorn (I know that was meta).

The fact that music costs about .99 a song anywhere you go (except eMusic!), and ringtones cost about $1.99, is retarded (and I mean that in the classical sense of the word as in "to retard progress of the music/cellphone industry").

Anywho, there's a story up at Engadget telling us how to get around their 99 cents extra charge:

To get this to work, we hear you only need to rename an AAC track to .M4R, then double click it and iTunes
will automagically load it into iTunes for you. Next time you plug in
your iPhone to sync up, just check off the song in the Ringtones tab
and voila, instant tone gratification.

Read the rest here @ Engadget!

***EDIT***

Having read this over now, it doesn't look like this will work for music purchased through iTunes (which has copy protection on it, but should work fine for unprotected songs (like the ones you rip off CD's).

Also while I'm schilling for Engadget, they've posted a story up regarding your rights, and what protections you have when it comes to making your own ringtones.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: Is it Illegal to Make My Own Ringtones @ Engadget

Protecting Your Ears!

Hear that ringing in your ears? That's a frequency of sound you'll never hear ever again, a piece of your ear dying.



Ok I don't know if that's completely true, but it does mean you are doing irreparable harm to one of your most valuable instruments. Whether you're in front of the mic, or behind it, consistent monitoring of what you hear is vital. My top bookers do everything they can to not only protect their voices, but also their hearing (no loud concerts, etc).

It's very frustrating sitting in front of my monitors, and recording newbies that cough and clear their throats into the mic, suddenly spike volume after we've checked levels, or try to adjust their copy stand and end up bashing the mic. These things might not seem like such a big deal to the actor in the booth, BUT THEY ARE ALL AMPLIFIED FOR ME! Working at the agency for almost two years now, I've lost almost a full kHz (high frequency hearing) in each ear, and most likely will never get that back.

Trying to explain that to other people is almost equally frustrating. This is how I plan to make my living, and I'm faced with people that probably crank the volume on the earbuds that came with their ipods. The responses range from ultra-cavalier to a genuine "that sucks", but get them in front of the mic again, and it's the same behavior.

*sigh*

Anywho, this article from Gigacrate is written from a DJ perspective, but is good reading for
anyone that depends on vocals or hearing for their work.

How many times have you left a gig with your ears ringing? Or woke up
the next day worried you may have caused some permanent damage to your
ears? My guess is quite often. It’s no secret that as DJs we are
constantly exposing ourselves to super loud noises for extended periods
of time.
With a little care and precautionary measure, you can lower your risk
of serious hearing loss. After all it’s about the music right? Make
sure when you’re 60 you can still hear it.

READ THE REST HERE!

Apple Adds iPhone .99 Ringtone to iTunes ... Kinda Lame ...

So this iPhone thing can hold GIGS of music, all available at a flick of a finger, and ringtones still cost .99 EXTRA. If I purchase a song on iTunes, I have to spend twice as much to use a crappy version of the same song as a ringtone.

Why can't this phone use the same audio file?

Why do you need to take up more storage?

Why does it cost extra? It's the same song!

Would I get charged extra if I bought a song and played it really loud on crappy speakers? That's what a ringtone IS!

I'm really frustrated with Windows Mobile right now, but at least I can use WHATever media I want, HOWever I want...

Here's Engadget's write up!

And Here's Gizmodo's!

Remove Vocals From Music. Make Your Own Horrible Karaoke Tracks! FOR FREE!!!

So I've played around with this before. I dont really do much music work, so this hasn't been anything I've invested any serious time into. Though this Youtube tutorial is a great step by step if you want to start cutting music up.



So the general gist of this is, you get Audacity, then if the vocals are in the middle of the stereo spectrum you can cancel them out.
Basically if you have a sound, and you line it up with the exact opposite of that sound, the two will cancel each other out to silence. A lot of music will put the singer in the middle, then pan the instruments either right or left (thats why in stereo the guitar sounds like it's on your right, the bass on the left, etc). Since the music is pushed to the sides it should stay intact, and the singer should cancel itself out. Simple enough concept, but it doesn't always work (especially if effects are used, or an instrument is featured front and center, then the instrument gets canceled out).

Even if it doesn't work though, you can stumble into some unexpectedly cool effects (weird reverbs and ghosting).

Anywho, check it out ... if this is the thing you're into .... you weirdo karaoke person you ...

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Rare Final Lennon and McCartney Recording Session (Bootleg MP3)

IS THIS SERIOUS!?!?!

Ok I'm not a huge Beatles fan. Huge appreciation for their work, but seriously the only albums I enjoy are Abbey Road and Sgt Pepper. I had never heard of this though...

"A Toot and a Snore in '74 is a rare bootleg album of the final recording session in which John Lennon and Paul McCartney played together, which gained wider prominence when McCartney made reference to the session in a 1997 interview. This is the only known post-Beatles recording of Lennon and McCartney, it has become something of a collector’s item..."

Click on the READ MORE link to check out Licorice Pizza's write up, Wikipedia article, and links to the actual recordings.



read more | digg story



I'm downloading NOW!

Free Online Bass Guitar Lessons with audio, video, and tablature

Learn to play the bass online, through a variety of free lessons. Lessons use video, audio, flash, MIDI, and tablature.

read more | digg story

Free Online Video Guitar Lessons

Strumming a six-string guitar can be a very relaxing exercise but it is not something you can learn to do well overnight. It takes time to practice and perfect your skills. Read/Write Web recently wrote an article listing a number web 2.0 sites and services for musicians.

read more | digg story

(Video) SNL Animation About MSM Aired Once And Was Pulled By NBC

This SNL "TV Funhouse" animation aired once and only once.

I've NEVER seen this before. I wonder if there was some pressure to not re-broadcast.

We just got Simpsons Season 10 on DVD, and I can't remember ever having seen half of the episodes from this season. They never show these episodes.

They're also some of the hardest commentary on FOX...

read more | digg story

Piracy hurts Box Office? ... Even During Record Setting Summer?

There is a fantastic article up over at Ars Technica that pretty much sums up how I've felt about the MPAA/RIAA's war on "Piracy".

Despite concerns about the extent of piracy, the movie business has
pulled in record revenues this summer, earning more than $4 billion in
box revenues in the US alone.

Media by Numbers, which tracks such things, estimates that the industry will rake in $4.15 billion
(PDF) by the end of Labor Day. That's despite record-high average
ticket prices of $6.85, up $0.30 from a year ago. That's even despite
claims that piracy is on the rise, and it's harming the industry.

It couldn't be that the movies were just a lot better this year?

It goes on to talk about the lack of forward thinking for technologies. Pretty much the same trap that the Music industry fell into around Napster. If anyone had embraced mp3 back then , I don't think music would be as de-valued as it is today (at least in album form).

Watching the Movie industry scramble to come up with newer and more confusing copy protections (which are usually cracked within weeks
09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0), is pretty self destructive. These measures only serve to stop average consumers from using the content in a legitimate manner. Trust me, anyone who really wants to get around these copy protection schemes will be able to, but those just looking for the convenience of popping in a cassette tape will be sorely disappointed. Something tells me it'll most likely get worse before it gets better.

It's all wrapped up in this "consumers are pirates" mentality (read here for my take on "piracy"). Just because suits can't understand what this technology means, it perpetuates this idea of everyone trying to steal from them. If they would just consider this from a consumers point of view, for just a second, they could stand to make SO much more money. I'll give you two options:

1. Drive to store. Browse limited selection. Pick best of what they have. Wait in line at cash register. Pay, and then be asked for your receipt as you leave by big burly rent-a-cop that saw you pay. Drive home. Spend about 5 minutes or so dealing with plastic wrap, stickers, tabs. Pop DVD in player. Sit through trailers. Sit through commercials. Sit through FBI Warning. Sit through commercial telling you Piracy is wrong. Get to Disc Menu. Play movie.

2. Browse for exactly the movie you want online. Wait about 3-4 hours for it to download (over broadband of course). Burn it to disc. Pop it in DVD player. DVD menu pops up. Watch Movie.

Now, obviously today option 1 is legit Best Buy style, and option 2 is file-sharing, but what if some forward thinking exec saw option 2 and said "Wow, the consumers have already created a business model for us. All we have to do is slap a price tag on it".

Let's say option one is $14.99, and option 2 were $9.99 (no packaging, no shipping, no stocking, no paying snotty employees - just pure profit after data costs) which one would you rather patron?

Check out the Ars Technica article it is a great summary of whats going on, and where we could be.

The Original Command and Conquer is now FREE!!!

Yup, the game that started my obsession with PC gaming is now free!

Apparently the game was released Aug 31st 1995, so for it's 12th anniversary (12th? really, OK just remember that's Pearls or Linens), EA is releasing the Westwood classic for free!

You'll need a CD burner to load the game, but it is Windows XP compatible (unlike MY old copy of the game).

You can download the game here!

I'm downloading it now!