Software pirates around the world are applauding in unison as news begins to circulate around the Internet that the Pirate Bay has recently acquired the domain for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI.com). The Pirate Bay and the IFPI have been at war for some time now, and this undercover snatch of the domain was a convenient kick-in-the-balls at the IFPI. A Pirate Bay admin, Brokeup, posted via TorrentFreak:

“It’s not a hack. Someone just gave us the domain name. We have no idea how they got it, but it’s ours and we’re keeping it.”

With those kinds of ties, I’m sure we’ll see more shenanigans afoot very soon.

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Joe Perry, Aerosmith’s lead guitarist said in an Interview that the band has been working with Activision on the Guitar Hero 4 project. “I don’t know much about the technical part of it but artistically we’re working hand-in-hand,” said Perry.

Ironically, Activision is fully denying the account, claiming his comments are a rumor. Ok, Activision, whatever you say.

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After a short lull from their previous rootkit shenanigans in 2005, Sony has green-lighted a new kind of rootkit to infect users computers — this time in their USB sticks! The exact model of the stick that contains the rootkit is MicroVault USM-F which contains a fingerprint reader. When inserted into a system, the rootkit installs a driver that is carelessly hidden in “C:\WINDOWS\”

This USB stick with rootkit-like behavior is closely related to the Sony BMG case. First of all, it is another case where rootkit-like cloaking is ill advisedly used in commercial software.

I’m pretty sure by 2010, doing something as simple as opening up a Sony laptop will proceed to do the following things:

1. Take your picture via built-in webcam
   
2. Scan your retina
3. Read your fingerprints as you type
4. Send all your data back to Sony Headquarters for processing

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Activision has confirmed eleven new tracks for Guitar Hero III.

• Miss Murder (by AFI)
• Through Fire and Flames (by Dragonforce)
• Number of the Beast (by Iron Maiden)
• 3’s and 7’s (by Queens of the Stone Age)
• Suck My Kiss (by Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• Raining Blood (by Slayer)
• Reptillia (by The Strokes)
• Paranoid (as made famous by Black Sabbath)
• Cities on Flame (as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult)
• Mississippi Queen (as made famous by Mountain)
• La Grange (as made famous by ZZ Top)

According to Gamepro, Rockband will feature 41 in-game venues for you and your band to play at. Of course, most of these venues will have to be unlocked, so prepare to spend a lot of time with your band-mates as you play your way to rock and roll glory. Some of the venues include: Amsterdam, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Paris, Seattle, San Franciso, Sydney and Tokyo.

The game hits stores November 6th so get your groupies ready.

TakaraTomy (Japan) has released some new images of the Transformers Music Label MP3 Player. Particular, there is a blue version of Soundwave and also a white version. Also shown are the headphone transformers Rumble and Frenzy.

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As a kid, listening to Sweet Child O’ Mine and Welcome to the Jungle, I always wished I could be Slash. With his sexy greasy curls and his ever-present cigarette, hanging nonchalantly from his lip, Slash was rock-cool incarnate. Ok so maybe I actually had a man-crush on Slash, but now, I’ll get to live my dream!

Various sources are reporting that Slash will be an unlockable playable character in Guitar Hero 3, and today Activision confirmed it.

“Guitar legend Slash, combined with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’s robust soundtrack and innovative new game features, will continue to solidify the brand’s leadership in the rhythm-action genre,” said Robin Kaminsky, Executive Vice President of Activision Publishing.

Awesome! I’m going to literally rock out with my c*ck out.

So… what do you get when you mix one of hip-hops top producers with the greatest french house robots of all time? Apparently you get an effing awesome Akira homage music video that makes me want to bump bump bump.

Ladies and gentleman, I give you:

Kanye West  featuring Daft Punk - Stronger

Jesus Christ, I’m going to explode in my pants.