ASCAP, the music conglomerate that sues everyone for not paying them money, is once again presenting itself as a mammoth pain-in-the-ass. This time they are going after venues that offer Guitar Hero as entertainment for patrons, like bars and restaurants.

ASCAP is demanding $800 a year from one bar just for the right to have Guitar Hero night:

Ascap has been chasing us down about our Guitar Hero video games. We only have two of them but have been getting hassled about them. My understanding was this was a legally licensed game but ascap is saying that it isn’t. we had one in a music venue and they are wanting us to pay a fine because they are basically saying it is used like a jukebox but its not because patrons are paying for the entertainment of the game not for the listening value of the music. anyone else had any problems with this?

ascap is saying we have to pay the $800 a year license to have it in this bar. this bar does not have the ascap license already because it does not do cover bands just simply original music so they have no need for the license. we gave the lady hassling us raw thrills number because our distributor told us that should clear it up but it has not.

ascap is saying they are going around the st. louis area and is going to push every one of these out.

Source

I happily received my copy of Forza 3 on the day of release and was quickly pissed off at the state of the game, specifically the horribly broken and half-finished multiplayer system. Considering Forza 2 didn’t have significant multiplayer issues, this came as quite a shock. What’s broke? A little of everything. Players, myself included, are having a hell of a time finding populated lobbies. More troubling is the lack of options in finding a game that fits your desire, like a circuit race using C-Class cars, of which you will find no mention. Currently, Forza 3 is only hooking up players who want to race A-Class and above.

Turn 10, the developers of Forza 3, have been issuing comments on the official forum and claim these matters are being addressed.

Most recently, this comment was offered:

Update – 5:30PM PST: Alright folks we’ve made some optimizations to the Multiplayer Hoppers and as of now you should be able to succesfully join populated races. Give it a shot and let us know your experience here.

We’re hoping this will solve the majority of issues, however were still looking for the best balance of ping vs. number of connections etc…

We will update if anything else changes. Now go run some races!

From our official FAQ (that everyone should read)

10.28.09 – Optimization of Multiplayer Matchmaking Lobbies Begins.

Today work has begun on optimizing the multiplayer matchmaking lobby experience. Over the next few days you should expect to see changes to the behavior of our multiplayer hoppers. We will post any new updates here with any additional news or information as it becomes available.

So yes we are aware of the problems and are actively working towards improving connectivity between players.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

While it’s commendable that Turn 10 is speedily trying to solve these problems, allow me to proclaim this situation unacceptable. No product should ship in this state. Period. Turn 10 should have made a beta-test of Forza 3 available long before the product shipped so as to avoid this embarrassment instead of wasting time on a single-player demo.  As it stands now, everyone with a copy of Forza 3 paid a minimum of $60 for the glorious job of Quality Assurance.

For shame.

Back in 1938, a very young Orson Welles, along with his acting troupe The Mercury Theatre, performed a live drama on CBS radio called War of the Worlds, based on the classic book by H.G. Welles. Directed without commercial interruptions and presented as a live news broadcast of an alien invasion, many people across America were fooled into thinking an actual alien invasion was taking place.  The next day, all hell broke loose. One fringe benefit of the event was that it catapulted Orson Welles into super-stardom, allowing him to go to Hollywood where he was able to make Citizen Kane without any studio interference.

In celebration of the forthcoming movie Me and Orson Welles, a special website has been created that will air the original CBS broadcast live on the Internet on October 30th, 8PM EST.

You can listen here.

For more information and backstory on the CBS radio drama War of the Worlds, use the following links:

Wikipedia Entry

Time Magazine article

If the Internet is ever going to crash then tomorrow is probably the day. Michael Jackson’s memorial service is shaping up to be the most watched event in history, which can only mean one thing: websites crashing like a house of cards. What you need are options and plenty of them. No one wants to be frantically searching websites for a stable stream when the event is in full-swing, so here is a list of sites to minimize the frustration.

The service begins at 10 a.m. pacific.

Good luck to the Internet. You’re going to need it.

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