Virgin Mobile uses your webcam to change YouTube ads every time you blink

In what can only be described as one of the more unusual approaches to online advertising, Virgin Mobile’s YouTube page is now using a technology they’ve dubbed BlinkWashed in which they use your webcam to track your eye movements. Each time you blink, the onscreen advertisement will change. Um, what?

Megaupload sues Universal and joins fight against SOPA

The file-hosting service Megaupload and Universal Music Group (UMG) have locked horns, after a video released by the former was removed on Friday from the popular video sharing site YouTube over Universal's claim that it violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). 

The surprise video featured leading recording artists including P Diddy, Will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Macy Gray, Chris Brown, The Game and Mary J Blige, singing the praises of the popular service. As news of the video began to spread Google pulled the video in response to UMG and IFPI copyright takedown demands.

On late Friday, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom demanded that YouTube re-instate the video, to which UMG then responded to with another takedown request.  Speaking with TorrentFreak yesterday, the file-sharing service's CEO David Robb said, "let us be clear: Nothing in our song or the video belongs to Universal Music Group. We have signed agreements with all artists endorsing Megaupload."

The illegitimate removal of the Mega Song was in promotion of its soon to be launched, iTunes style service Megabox, which will see artists earn 90% of each song sold. In Robb's opinion, it was a deliberate step in order to prevent a real competitor from going viral as news spread. The irony is it might actually benefit the firm by providing the type of media coverage that money cannot buy.

He further commented that all attempts to contact the music giant to start a dialogue have resulted in questionable legal threats, including demands for a public apology. "Regrettably, we are being attacked and labelled as a ‘rogue operator’ by organizations like the RIAA and the MPAA," Robb said, while pointing out that his firm take piracy very seriously by closing accounts of repeat offenders and removing illegal files.

After getting nowhere with the music group, the file-sharing site has filed a lawsuit with the San Jose District Court, and intends to sue the group for misrepresenting DMCA rights as a basis for validating the removal of the video from YouTube.

The whole situation has led them to start endorsing those opposing the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, otherwise known as SOPA. “UMG is currently lobbying lawmakers in Washington for legislation that would allow them to not only delete specific content from a website, but to delete entire websites from the Internet. After this demonstration of the abuse of power by UMG, we are certain that such an instrument of Internet censorship should not be put into the hands of corporations,” Robb said.

He also took the opportunity to thank everyone for their massive support, and asked everyone who agreed to join forces and fight for an Internet without censorship.

How to access the new YouTube homepage now

YouTube is currently testing a new layout for their landing page that is rolling out in stages. If you are impatient and want to try it for yourself now, you are in luck as there is a way to force the new homepage should you happen to use Firefox or Chrome.

To access the new layout, first navigate to YouTube.com using either Firefox or Chrome. Once there, you need to open your browser’s web console. Here’s how:

In Firefox: press Ctrl + Shift + K

In Chrome: press Ctrl + Shift + J

Once you have opened the console, copy and paste the following code into the command line and press enter:

document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=ST1Ti53r4fU";

Finally, refresh YouTube.com and you should see the new homepage.

YouTube’s new beta homepage is more organized than the current offering and should make it easier to keep up with subscriptions and recent activity from those you follow.

You will be prompted with a series of tips on how to navigate the new homepage. The new layout consists of three separate sections or panes. The left pane shows your channels and subscriptions that you have signed up to follow. Users can click Add Channels to select from multiple different categories including news, music and gaming. The center window shows recent activity from users you are following such as videos they have posted on YouTube or shared on Google+. The right column displays recommended videos based on previous clips you have viewed.

Your favorite music and streaming sources

Music is among the most primitive forms of entertainment and self-expression, with the oldest confirmedmusical instrument -- a bone flute -- dating back at least 35,000 years, and it's believed the human voice, hand clapping and other bodily-derived noises were used to produce rhythmic melodies long before then. Fast forward to the present day and we have instant access to millions of songs spanning thousands of genres and sub-genres containing everything from blue dudes wailing on PVC pipes to CGI pop stars (for better or for worse).

With the advent of smartphones and streaming services like Spotify and YouTube it's never been easier to drown out a boring conference with your preferred tunes. With that, we want to ask: what's your favorite music and how do you access it? Feel free to share your favorite genres, artists and songs (links must be legal). I can't say I have a particularly favorite genre, though I tend to favor music without vocals -- anything from classical to electronic. That said, I've probably listened to Pink Floyd's "Animals" album more than anything else in my collection