Let’s play a silly little game

So one late night a little while ago I was extremely bored and had absolutely nothing to do. Actually, I could have just went to bed but, come on, why would I want to do that? Anyway, I was sitting there on my laptop going from one dull website to another when I decided to fool around with Cleverbot.

If you don’t know what Cleverbot is, it’s basically just an artificial intelligence program. You talk to a robot and it responds back to you with human-like intelligence. Cleverbot learns from actual people’s conversations and remembers how to respond to future comments and questions.

It does have some flaws but it’s still a really neat site, especially to fool around with.

Which is exactly what I did.

Best. Sing-along. Ever.

The robot actually knew the lyrics to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”, the theme of Rocky III (the greatest movie ever, by the way).

If you ever find yourself with nothing to do, why not play this entertaining, albeit pointless, little game? Just go to Cleverbot, type in the first line of your favorite song and try and see if you can sing its entirety with the robot.

It’s the most fun you’ll have with an A.I. program at three in the morning on a Tuesday. Trust me, I know.

Rasputina to perform at the Ottobar

The group that most people consider to be the best cello-driven goth rock band will be at the Ottobar this Friday.

If you’ve never heard of them, Rasputina is a Brooklyn-based band that has been around since 1992. Their music revolves around the cello while their lyrical influences are primarily based upon historical allegories, most of which are from the Victorian era.

You could call them an “art rock” band due to the types of references they make in their songs and especially because of the costumes they love to wear as you will see below.

And trust me, they have a broad range of historical references in their songs.

One of them is about the famous aviator Howard Hughes. Another expresses sympathy to a group of enslaved Holocaust victims. Finally, this live performance of “The New Zero” is about the plot of “The Illusionist” set in the 1900′s in which the abominable magician Eisenheim and the wealthy upper-class Sophie fall in forbidden love with one another:

As you can plainly hear, their style of music is absolutely unique. They also sound pretty damn good live which is great if you plan on attending their concert at the Ottobar.

Rasputina will be playing along with opener Prudence Teacup (who also has a unique sound of her own) at 8 p.m. on Friday. Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 at the door.

Want to download free music legally for once?

Just kidding, I know nobody out there downloads music illegally anymore.

April Fool’s?

Anyway, I came upon this great page on Mashable called Free Music Monday where each and every Monday 10 free songs or albums are posted up for anyone to download.

The genres vary from and to just about everything. On this past Monday’s list, the music ranges from electropop to reggae to country, so you’re bound to find music that’s more to your liking.

What’s great about these sets of downloads are the bands and musicians that are highlighted. Obviously, you’re not going to find music that you’d hear on mainstream radio. However, you will find good, new music that you more than likely never heard before. It also gives you the opportunity to listen to different types of genres that you may not have cared to listen to before.

Also, if you’re an aspiring artist or in a band and you want to get your music out there, they are more than willing to accept any submission. As you all know, any type of publicity is good publicity.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow them at #musicmonday.

Maniacal talks about his biggest passion: rap music

A very close friend of mine named Dave Duvall, who goes by the rap name Maniacal, has been deeply involved in rap music for a very long time.

I took the time to sit down with him and find out what truly fuels his love for music.

As you can see, the man is extremely passionate (and quite hilarious) about how he feels about his rapping.

Hopefully, some of you can take what he had to say and relate it to not just music but everything in general. If you aren’t really enjoying and having fun with what you’re doing with your life, then what’s the point?

Anyway, here’s a little taste of what my man Maniacal loves to do.

New version of iTunes delivers more music space

Apple has released a new version of iTunes today that, along with several other features, gives you the opportunity to add more music space to your iPod or iPhone.

No, the feature won’t magically give your device more hardware space.

The new tweak gives you the ability to reduce the size of the music files that already exist on your iPod/iPhone. What it does is convert your higher bit rate songs to a smaller 128 kbps bit rate.

Don’t worry about it affecting the sound quality. The change is hardly noticeable, if at all.

If you’d like to use this feature, first install the update. Then once you plug in your device, check “Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC.” This is where you’ve got a wait for a while since the application has to convert each individual song to the lower bit rate. When the sync is finally complete you will have about twice as much music space as you did before.

This is especially useful for cheapskates like me who still carry around ancient 2 GB iPod Nanos.

Yay, technology.

Erykah Badu in potential trouble due to latest video

R&B artist Erykah Badu could be charged with indecent exposure by Dallas authorities because of her actions in her latest music video entitled “Window Seat.”

In the video, she is seen getting out of a car in Dallas’ Delaney Plaza fully-clothed and walking along the park while gradually removing a piece of clothing until she’s finally completely naked.

Despite the fact there was no police on-hand during the video shoot, authorities are claiming that if just one witness comes forward they will strongly consider charging her with indecent exposure which carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine if convicted.

As you can see from the video, there are a lot of witnesses:

The video itself is obviously creating quite a controversy because of its graphic content (even though the blur strips cover up all the good parts). She is also seen getting shot at the very end which some people may deem offensive due to the fact Delaney Plaza is the location where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Personally, I think the video is great. Badu has always been known to push the boundaries with her uniquely-bold talent. I mean, sure, she does get naked in public but, as you can see in the video, none of the public really seem to mind her nudity. It would be an absolute atrocity if she were to be charged with any crime.

The video is art. Plain and simple.

What do you think?

Unexpected concert turns out surprisingly well

I was slaving at work yesterday afternoon doing the same old grind I usually do on weekends when a coworker asked me what I was doing later that night. Usually on Saturday nights I’d chill with some friends and unwind after a long day of work or, if I’ve got the energy, we’d head out to a bar/club and have a few drinks.

But, I had absolutely no plans so I went ahead and answered: “Uh, nothin’.”

She told me about a concert happening up at Sonar in Baltimore with her favorite band HIM headlining the show. I’ve obviously heard of them before but I’ve never been much of a fan but seeing as I didn’t feel like sitting at home alone on a Saturday night and she didn’t want to go alone I agreed to go with her after we got off work.

And I’m glad I did.

We were able to catch some of the bands that went on before them such as Drive A, Dommin and We Are The Fallen, who are all very good bands. Once HIM hit the stage though I was actually pleasantly surprised. I’ve heard their songs before but their live show was better than I had expected.

The one and only gripe I had was that the sound quality was honestly pretty bad. This was my first time being at Sonar and, despite the fact the place is on the small side, I could barely hear the lyrics to the songs. At first I thought it was the band, up until I saw Ville Valo, the lead singer of HIM, have an angry fit during Katherine Wheel and throw his microphone at a sound technician which resulted in them restarting the song.

He eventually apologized for his actions which I really didn’t think was necessary. To be honest, I thought it was freaking hilarious.