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Neil Young's Pono music service wants to democratize high-quality audio (video)
Neil Young isn't shy when it comes to embracing new technology, something he put beyond question with his latest appearance on The Late show with David Letterman. The artist took the opportunity to reveal plans for his high-fidelity Pono music service. The aim is to tackle the poor quality in which he believes most people receive their music these days -- the humble MP3. Young's offering would comprise a three-pronged approach, including a music store with high-resolution recordings, a digital-to-analog style conversion technology, and portable hardware to listen to it all with. The simple intention is to offer music as it was originally intended to be heard, but at this time there's no detail as to what this actually entails (sorry specification fans). According to Rolling Stone, the big three labels are interested, and the goal is to unify, rather than diversify, the quality of recorded content. The Pono players (that yellow wedge you see above) will serve up your existing catalog, but you'll likely need to re-buy some of your collection if you want the holistic experience. With no cards fully on the table, we're at the ransom of Young's celebrity endorsements, which all claim that the benefits are tangible. Young, of course, says "You can't get better than this, this is what they do in the studio," but until we get some details, or ears on, everybody knows this is nowhere. [Image credit:CBS]
Trion Worlds teams up with DeviantArt for colossal contest
"You're traveling through Telara as a bright light appears. A massive rift opens up and monsters start invading. Your team fights to protect their land. As they continuously battle the invading monsters, a massive, 10-story colossus appears." This is Trion Worlds' introduction to its newest contest, which challenges artistically inclined RIFT players to create a colossal creature that would look right at home stepping forth from the planar rifts of Telara. The rules for the contest itself, which is being run in partnership with the ever-popular art gallery website DeviantArt, are fairly simple: Choose a planar theme (from Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Death, and Life), whip up some concept art for a gargantuan creature that fits with the theme, and submit it to DeviantArt. Semi-finalists will be chosen by the DeviantArt staff, and from those, the top three will be chosen by none other than members of Trion Worlds' creative team. Prizes -- including rather sizable cash prizes, Wacom tablets, DeviantArt Premium Memberships, and of course, copies of RIFT -- will be awarded to the finalists. So if you wield a brush or pen with the same aplomb as your Telaran counterpart does a sword or staff, you can go to the contest page on DeviantArt's official site and join the competition.
