tubes

The music industry is pinning great hope on subscription music services such as Spotify, a segment that's growing faster than any other part of recorded music industry. And now comes news that Amazon is looking to jump into the fray.

The Verge, citing multiple sources, reports that Amazon is holding informal talks with the music industry about launching an on-demand service similar to Spotify, which is the largest such service with 24 million active users and 6 million paid subscribers.

This development comes as Google is trying to launch a pair of subscription music services this summer, one tied … Read more

Some subjects, like communism, zippers, and our long absence from the moon, can be a little hard to explain. That's when people turn to "Explain Like I'm Five," a Reddit group dedicated to breaking complex ideas down into understandable terms. While the group has been geared for adult readers, it has now morphed into a video series featuring real 5-year-olds.

The YouTube series kicks off with three entries. The topics covered are Syria, existentialism, and the stock market. If you can make a group of bored 5-year-olds understand these topics, you should be good to go for most adults, too.… Read more

How would you feel if Simon Cowell came out of the closet?

Yes, your closet. The one that is full of your truly fashionable black clothes and discarded board games.

That seems to be the remarkably exciting premise of a new venture created by Cowell, together with the nice people at YouTube.

TV talent shows have been struggling of late. Why, last week's "American Idol" managed a series low in the Thursday ratings.

Cowell's own "The X Factor" has largely been disappointing too. Can you tell me who won the last one? Or the first one, even? Or anyone who won "America's Got Talent?" … Read more

If you are frustrated that YouTube's iOS app doesn't let you upload videos, then you missed YouTube Capture's release last December. Google decided to keep video uploading separate from video viewing. YouTube Capture made it easy to capture, lightly edit, and upload videos from your iPhone or iPod Touch, but there was no love shown for those who wanted to perform such a trick with an iPad. Now, with yesterday's update, YouTube Capture is universal, bringing iPad videographers into the fold.

After installing the app, you'll need to sign in to your YouTube account, allow … Read more

When the Web gets excited, it can lose its faculties.

These might be critical or merely observational, but the effect can be comical.

Over the last couple of days, millions have been enthralled by a Pepsi Max video which, as they say, went viral.

It purported to show race driver Jeff Gordon putting on a disguise and going to a car dealer to test drive a 2009 Chevy Camaro.

He even put on glasses equipped with a camera. Yes, it made him look even more elegant than anyone wearing Google's future goggles.

Then, claiming to be Mike, he took Steve the car dealer for a ride. … Read more

While there are controls on the Mac keyboard to pause, play, move back, and fast-forward, they only operate in programs like iTunes. Tube Controller for Mac allows you to engage these controls for watching YouTube videos, but with a small cost.

Available via the Mac App store for $2.99, Tube Controller for Mac has no trial version available. As with all App Store purchases, the installation and setup were easily managed. While Tube Controller for Mac started up quickly, it attempted to sign on to every computer on the test network and did so repeatedly. This became a distraction … Read more

The Fosgate Signature Headphone Amplifier is one of the very best-sounding amps I've ever used. It was designed by one of the greats, Jim Fosgate, a man who earned 18 audio related patents, founded a number of successful electronics companies -- oh, and he pioneered high-power car audio systems. He was also a big supporter of the very first home surround format -- quadraphonic -- in the early 1970s, and so committed to the format that even as quad was winding down, he designed the Fosgate Tate 101, arguably the finest quad processor of the era. Fosgate also created … Read more

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This week on Crave, The Count counts 1 billion views on Sesame Street's YouTube Channel. Plus, the DRM chair self-destructs after eight sittings, we run screaming from a concrete-tossing robot dog, and sex up your iPhone with Sexy Smarty Pants underwear from Japan. All that and more goodies on this week's show. … Read more

Russell Crowe has seen the light.

It was burning in the sky outside his office in the Sydney district of Wooloomooloo.

There in the sky were visitors from an outer galaxy, beings even weirder than the ones he encounters in Hollywood.

So, as Australia's Daily Telegraph reported, Crowe secured pictures and then posted the time lapse edition to YouTube.

The Telegraph speculated that Crowe was concerned he wasn't enjoying enough publicity for his new movie.

Indeed, I wasn't aware that there was one.

On Twitter, Crowe claimed: "A friend and I set camera to capture fruit … Read more