miseryXchord ♫

YouTube Preps Video Fingerprinting
Friday July 27, 6:52 pm ET
By Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Writer
Youtube Says September Is Target Time to Block Copyrighted Videos

NEW YORK (AP) -- Google Inc.'s YouTube hopes recognition technology will be in place in September to stop the posting of copyrighted videos on the popular Web site, a lawyer Friday told a judge presiding over copyright lawsuits.

The lawyer, Philip S. Beck, told U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton in Manhattan that YouTube was working "very intensely and cooperating" with major content providers on a video recognition technology as sophisticated as fingerprint technology the FBI uses.

He said the company planned to have the technology in place in the fall, "hopefully in September."

Viacom, England's top soccer league -- The Football Association Premier League Ltd. -- and indie music publisher Bourne Co. have filed suits against YouTube that were combined for trial purposes before Stanton.

Beck said the video recognition technology will allow those holding copyrights on videos to provide a digital fingerprint so that if anyone tries to share a copyrighted video, the system will shut it down within a minute or so.

Beck said the company was counting on the software to "hopefully eliminate such disputes in the future."

He said the company believes the new technology goes way beyond what the law requires to stop copyright infringement.

He told the judge the company began only two years ago when one of its two California founders sought a way to send videos of his children to relatives on the East Coast. Since 30 videos were exchanged in the first month, more than 10 million videos have been exchanged worldwide, including hundreds of thousands a day, he said.

Lawyers for plaintiffs in the two lawsuits said they welcomed any improvement that would end alleged infringement of their copyrights but believed YouTube should have acted sooner.

Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., a lawyer for Viacom International Inc., said it will take the next year to identify the extent of infringement that continues to happen on "a very massive scale."

"Perhaps the filtering mechanism will help. If so, we'll be very grateful for that," he said.

From DOSE.CA

AFI's Davey Havok Let's Fans into His Bedroom with Blaqk Audio's CexCells
Written By Heather Adler
Published: Thursday, August 16, 2007

They've tackled issues of suicide, drugs, murder and depression, and now, AFI frontman Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Puget are taking on the one last taboo: sex. On the debut release from new AFI side-project Blaqk Audio, fittingly entitled CexCells, the glam duo let fans into their bedrooms for the first time, revealing a sexy new set of industrial-tinged electro that's sure to perk at least a few, err, eyebrows.

"It's very hedonistic for the most part, actually, almost entirely, so whether that hedonism touches on, one aspect of sexuality or another, is dependant on the song," Havok explains.

For years, Havok has had people guessing when it comes to his sexual practices and preferences and has often laughed about it when asked in interviews. You won't find the answer to the "Is he gay? Bi? Straight?" questions on CexCells, but you will discover that, whatever he is, he's damn sexy -- and this record is sure to only escalate his gothic sex-symbol status. Not that it bothers Havok: the singer says he didn't even weigh the implications that releasing such a steamy album might cause people to pry even more into his sex life.

"I didn't even consider that [the album would bring more attention to his sexuality]. It's such a facet of my life," he playfully relates. "I mean, it's really just day-in, day-out. That's seemingly such an issue for people, whether they know me or not, that I suppose it will [increase the attention], although I don't know how it can be increased by much."

While Havok has remained guarded on matters of the bedroom on AFI releases, he says the shift to opening up about more romantic matters was a natural one brought on by the album's vibe. Gritty and distorted, CexCells is an up-tempo, buzzy, dark but, above all, fun -- dance record that will get any good glam lover shimmying their corseted selves in industrial clubs everywhere.

"It wasn't really a conscious decision. It was really natural for me. It was where the music lead me and I was inspired to do so [write about sex]," Havok explains. "It's dance music and electronic music, and I personally see that style of music as being a very sexual type of music, and so when I sat down to write, that's the direction it pushed me in. ... The subject matter just seemed very porpos for the music, and each song sort of spoke to me in a different way and resulted in a different lyrical manner."

The lyrical matter goes to some quite dark places, such as on "Between Breaths (an XX perspective)," in which Havok sings about asphyxiation play with lyrics like "'Please, please, please don't take at easy on me. Just make it harder to breath.' So I'll climb on top and I'll never stop till I make you forget who you are, and just feel." Or take "On a Friday," a song about "dancing with strangers," "white lines" and "sex scenes." The songs aren't just culled from Havok's kinky imagination, either.

"Oh, no, no, it's all real," he laughs mischievously. "I'm not playing a role. It's all situations I've been involved in and my perception of situations. It's all real."

And let's not forget the album's sexy cover and linear notes' art, comprised of stylized photographs of various nudes.

"There were a lot of people involved in that photo shoot. It was a good time!" Havok laughs. "There were a lot of people there. A lot of the pictures that are used on the record have all sorts of stuff going on. There's girl-girl, there's guy-guy, there's girl-guy, there's girl-girl-guy, there's girl-girl-girl, there's guy-guy-girl. We were just going for what looked best and I really didn't matter what the combination was."

Despite his spicy artwork and songs, Havok isn't concerned about how people might react to his newly public sexy side. AFI has also been knocked by some conservative voices in the past for that band's dark image and subject matter -- despite the fact Havok is actually a vegan who lives a straight-edge lifestyle, meaning he doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs -- so he's learned to just go with the critical flow. Blaqk Aduio is meant to be fun, after all, and while it does touch on some titillating topics, it never really gets too explicit (you can find raunchier things on a Nickelback single) and it's all done in Havok's trademark, poetic prose.

"It certainly is possible [people will be offended]. People get bent out of shape about so much," he relates. "It's not really a concern of mine either way. I write what I write and I write honestly from the heart. That is the case, no matter what the topic is."

Havok says all he really wants to do with the CexCells is get people on the dance floor having a good time, but when asked if he's prepared for people to be makin' babies to his sleek, sexy, new music, the singer is struck by the possibility.

"Oh man, I hope they don't procreate!" he laughs. "We should have included birth control with the record. I didn't even think of that. I didn't think of the whole procreation aspect, of the results."

Music buys are advised to practice safe Blaqk Audio listening sessions.

So I'm checking my email last night and discover (to my surprise and annoyance... an understatement) that my obsessed stalker is still name dropping me and is now telling people I'm his ex-wife. WTF.

I don't know if that's an improvement over earlier this year when he was telling people I was his WIFE (his wife who apparently didn't like him very much as he's living in a different state) I mean, in this fantasy... did I divorce HIM? Does he ever tell anyone WHY? Do people wonder if he's such a great guy, then what sort of idiot must I be to not appreciate him? And HEY!! Then where's my fking alimony?!?

I am so creeped out right now...

Prompted by a journal entry by Panasonicyouth, I offer these nuggets of information (whether they're gold nuggets or stale granola is prolly debateable)

Here are Mark's rules:

1) Only list 8 facts.
2) You must then list 8 TAGS at the end of the post. This means you must name 8 people on Buzznet who now must do the same blog.
3) Go comment on their profile and tell them to come read yours! I want participation.

With the additional corollary:

Each of you must tag 8 more people and you can't tag someone who has already done one. Make a friend!

And so...

1) I am afraid of the dark, to the utterly freaked out level if caught in pitch darkness, especially if I'm alone, especially if the power goes out or there's suddenly no light source (nearly broke my neck last time it happened)

2) I was in and out of a coma for nearly four years (beginning in 2003), resulting in a lot of memory loss (extending outside that time period) and potentially permanent neurological damage. Most of the time it was a catatonic state much like being under a lethe field (go read Heinlein). I don't remember 2004. Like, the entire year. At all. Other time periods may have some random memories... although I might recall general facts that occured, I don't remember myself actually living through them. I don't remember Bush Jr being reelected, or AFI releasing Sing the Sorrow... but I remember riding home from the hospital in 03 and seeing a sign advertising Angry Samoans/Dead Kennedy's playing a few blocks from my house, and being upset I'd missed it. The last age/birthday I remember being was at 27. I had to ask what year it was and get a calendar to figure out I didn't remember turning 32.

3) I currently live with 12 cats. We had four (stray and feral cats apparently network and keep finding me), then rescued two kittens from the neighborhood meth addict who had starved them and shut them in a closet in the unairconditioned garage in the middle of August. They somehow found out I'd scheduled them to get "fixed", committed incest, and then we had 12. I am now trying to find homes for 6 kittens. Last time I ended up with a pregnant rescued cat it took me 2.5 years to get them all adopted out.

4) I suffer from severe sleep deprivation and at the moment can only fall asleep 1-2 times a week, and can't sleep longer than 15 minute intervals, without my doctor drugging me. (I don't regulate serontonin levals properly)  I have surpassed the Guiness Book of World Records for going without sleep (11 days) 5 times. I've beaten Echo and The Bunnymen's deceased drummer's cocaine-induced sleepless jag (21 days) once (and without pharmaceutical help). At 5 days you're supposed to start hallucinating... then you start getting brain/body damage, then your brain burns out and you die. Guiness has (this year) closed that record to any further entries due to the serious health risks involved. Unfortunately, sleep deprivation severly impacts productivity, so the extra hours awake actually interfere with getting things accomplished instead of creating more time to do them in.

5) I work in the comicbooks & gaming "industries". (although my career is currently off track due to aforementioned coma... I think my art directors believe I'm dead) I illustrated the covers for the first three issues of the Men In Black comicbook. I  once danced on Jim Shooter's desk after a friend broke into his office at 2am. I was at Jack Kirby's memorial dinner and was accidentally (extremely) rude to Chris Claremont. Neil Gaiman once uttered the words "I want her to draw Sandman" to his editor (unfortunately she didn't concur.. I'll write the whole story into a journal, eventually). I've had multiple fan stalkers.

6) I have never had a boyfriend tell me I was beautiful. Three of them declared (without prompting or interest of any kind on my part) they would fully support a decision to get breast implants (none offered to actually pay for them. One went further and said he'd be happy to drive me to a clinic... but I'd have to find a ride home because waiting around would be boring for him). Several also criticized my hair, clothing, lack of makeup and apparently unforgiveable nonresemblance to a cheap skanky blond porn star.

7) I have a strong reaction to people without authority trying to inappropriately exert authority over me. (People who do have the authority to do something might still be annoying. but they don't push this button)
    When I was a (live radio) DJ in 1990 I had a four hour alternative music show (midnight to 4am on Friday- Saturday nights, and during my shifts I was the only person in the station) . One night the following 2 DJs (2 hour shows) never showed up. Going into my 7th hour my fat, arrogant 19 year old college student assistant programming director phoned in to tell me the next Dj had called in sick (or whatever) and he didn't have anyone to cover so I had to stay on the air until he'd be there for his shift at 10am. He then  instructed me to start playing new age jazz at 8am when the station switched formats. I responded by first fuming and stomping around the booth, then calling him back and informing him I was putting  NIN's Pretty Hate Machine (which he despised and I adored) in the cd player and hitting play, and when the album ended there'd be nothing but dead air. He got there while the last song on the disk was playing.
    He later tried to hide the NIN cd in the manager's office but I broke in and stole it.

8) I left home when I was 16, and didn't gradute high school (they threw me out), but still went to four different colleges. My kids turned 16 years old two days ago. I am totally weirded out whenever I think of what things were like when I was the same age.

And this is who I'm tagging:

blaqkwingsofhavok, caseycapey, djscribbles, evillynn, kissxxcntrl, janicethemenace, priscilla6, xnyquilx

As reported on Save The Internet.com


AT&T Plays Gatekeeper. Censors Pearl Jam.
August 9: Over the weekend AT&T gave us a glimpse of their plans for the Web when they censored a Pearl Jam performance that didn’t meet their standard of “Internet freedom.”

Connecting the Net censorship to Net Neutrality, Pearl Jam dubbed the situation a "wake up call" for people to take action on the issue.

I am currently laughing my ass off (not literally.. like, I wish) over the ad that was displaying on my main page right now, for this season's NEW (brand name withheld) HIGH-WAIST JEANS...

I think that means, all the jeans they've had sitting in the warehouse for 5 years while people wore waistlines descending until they resembled thigh-high denim stockings more than they did pants.

I wonder if this trend will really catch on, or if Pandora's box of unisexual ass covers has made a revolution the likes of the 80's Levi's 501s... and what the laws of commerce will dictate for the thousands of young men currently wearing girl's jeans... will they be left searching from store to store to find that rare pair of lowrisers to make their Emo/Indie/anorexic scene boy fashion look complete? Be forced to spend hundreds on designer lowrise fashion house bottoms or resort to paying through the nose for alterations on factory produced wear? Or a wave of ransacked closets and angry text messages as girlfriend's and sister's wardrobes are borrowed for the sake of a skinny ass silhouette?

Or will guy fashion swing a full 180 degrees, as Levi's ads now prompt us to buy baggier jeans and easy fit "relaxed" shapes, and hopefully settle somewhere less extreme than ass-crack baring girly hiphuggers... and dig my boxers because my package is deficient, hanging down around your knees street wear. (and guys, unless you're someone like Tim Armstrong, you look like an idiot, so give it up already)

Being someone who grew up with a waistline 15-17 inches smaller than my hip measurement and has found exactly ONE pair of pants, EVER, that fit me off the rack (that I can't fit into again until I shed more coma-weight), I have no pity.

I am, however, slightly hopeful that a change in fashion will result in better choices to dress girl children and teens than existed at the height of lowrise madness, where a walk through WalMart and Target saw lowrise Pleather hotpants being sold in the girl's department ("Girls" are between "Toddlers" and "Juniors". Yeah. slutty clubwear for your 8 year old, at a discount!)

Personally, I was happy over the Winter when the trend started changing and LONG waisted shirts started appearing. Hopefully, during this time of transition from "Hi, my name's Tara, let me bare my sexual organs to you" jeans; to,  belted somewhere south of Urkel and Grandpa Joe's nipples, they bring us more long tops to cover up our middles.

---

This blog brought to you via the effects of 109F heat and the consumption of an entire box of SnackWells Creme Sandwich cookies on an empty stomach, while watching Satellite TV and cruising Buzznet at 5am. Blame Steven Speilberg and Nabisco, because I'll deny everything in the morning.

©2007 miseryXchord

From: blaqkaudio (Myspace)
Aug 7, 2007 7:31 PM
Subject:     Blaqk Audio Announce North American Tour
Body:     Blaqk Audio will head out on a North American trek this fall in support of the album CexCells, in stores August 14th! All shows go on sale this weekend, except for the August 30th show at San Francisco’s Popscene which sold out over the weekend. Ticketing details are as follows (all times reflect local venue times):

August 30th – San Francisco, CA – Popscene (SOLD OUT)

September 5th – Atlanta, GA – The Loft
Tickets go on the sale to the public Friday, August 10th at Noon

September 7th – New York, NY – Grand Ballroom at the Manhattanth at 10am

September 10th – Boston, MA – The Roxy
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 10th at Noon

September 11th – Montreal, QUE – Le Studio
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 10th at Noon

September 13th – Toronto, ONT – Mod Club
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 10th at 10am

September 16th – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 10th at 10am

September 17th – Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 10th at 10am

September 18th – Chicago, IL – Double Door
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 10th at 10am

September 20th – Lawrence, KS – Granada Theater
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 10th at 10am

September 24th – Salt Lake City, UT – In The Venue
Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday, August 11th at 10am

September 26th – San Diego, CA – House Of Blues
Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, August 10th at 10am

September 27th – Los Angeles, CA – The Mayan Theatre
Tickets go on sale to the public Saturday, August 11th at 10am

Blaqk Audio. CexCells. Other than a slightly babbling observation of "Techno-crack!" at the time, words failed me.

I went to one of the Hot Topic listening events today and got to hear a large part of the album 3x through... the four songs released on the Blaqk Audio websites (Bitter For Sweet, If Only, Stiff Kittens, Semiotic Love) are great, but if you liked them you will be utterly blown away by the others. The compositions cover every mood and emotion with a confidence and depth I didn't expect even with my high opinion of Jade's talents, and I have never heard the range and quality of Davey's voice expressed so fully.

Really, I mean, holy hell. Sing The Sorrow is my favorite AFI release and I've heard him on other projects and with other people's songs... but maybe what Rancid practices applies... coming off the road and going into the studio is when you're performing at your strongest.

But I'm getting ahead of things...

We ended up taking a friend who'd stayed over the night before, then left to go home only to be dropped back at our doorstep just in time to be informed she was going to the mall with us, so four girls who looked like they shopped the black section at Hot Topic on a regular basis set forth in 104F weather, braving an airconditioned cab ride and a short dash from sidewalk to airconditioned mall.

Checking the clock display on the cell we loitered around the store doing a bad job of acting like we were only there to shop, and after a number of false starts on the sound system they finally gathered us together and announced the event.

They'd tried to be clever and asked us (mainly me and the three people I brought with me) questions to win the BA promo buttons for the event. Starting with "Do any of you like the band AFI?" To which I replied "Never heard of them!" while standing directly in front of the counter wearing an AFI t-shirt, while the clerk went on "That's too bad, because we want to test you on your knowledge to get these buttons" Then continued with "What two members of AFI are in BA?" (they thought Jade was the bass player. How cute!) and that was pretty much th level of it. They finally stopped chucking buttons to me when they feared someone else might actually show up later (they gave me several more when I left, because no one else did). I was nice and shared them with the kids.

Finally, the music started.

Innocent bystanders stopped in mid-conversation to listen, store clerks who didn't know AFI from FOB gushed over it to customers, converts were made... a redneck in a trucker hat who'd wandered in asked if they had the cd for sale and was directed to the Stiff Kittens single, but we'd already snagged all (3) of them and hid them inside a sale hoodie in case we were cornered before getting to the register.

I may have hopped around with excitement tugging on people's arms when Between Breaths, which felt like an obvious (to me) deep and ...orgasmic... homage to early Nine Inch Nails, came on. But there are no photos to prove it.

The only sad points were that the clerks were visibly distressed to find out the cd was held back to the 14th...HT corporate didn't tell them, and besides telling people all afternoon that it'd be out in a few days, they all wanted a copy for themselves.... and sad that our little rathole town didn't get any of the HT specific art promo cds... although I did manage to ultimately snag 7 of the promo buttons by giving the clerks more information than they ever suspected existed about Blaqk Audio (and a short monologue on Nine Inch Nails... because somehow the conversation just ended up there).

We left the store with the album still playing to find someone who had defected to the bookstore looking for new manga (note: Trinity Blood is worlds better in novel and manga form than the posthumous anime series that utterly neuters the Abel character. Also extremely gory. And the art is MUCH better. And extremely gory.)...we then had to go back to HT so said person could buy a Bleach t-shirt and ended up listening to the rest of the album until it started to repeat again, and with word they'd be ending the event soon, we went home to listen to multiple Stiff Kittens remixes....

---

Later notes...

It was pointed out to me after writing this that as we four left the store they ended the listening event, and the first song they played on the soundsystem afterward was Semiotic Love...

In the midst of enjoying a solid block of High Definition broadcasts of The Cure and Depeche Mode concerts, I muted the sound so I could listen to  BA's The Love Letter again...

I could live without the Stiff Kitten's Remixes on the commercial single, but enjoyed the additional three included on the radio station/DJ promo disk. There's a  tangible difference between Morel's Pink Noise Mix (which left me cold) and the Dub version, and Junior Sanchez' aggressive interpretations will be living on my iTunes...

NEW VERSION!!! Blaqk Audio - Semiotic Love  (acid burn style mxc vid)