Sim City 2008

www.simcity2008.com- Vancouver isn't the only place trying to clean up undesirable parts of the city in anticipation of the upcoming Olympic games. In a move that makes Vancouver's whitewashing of its drug and homelessness problem seem fairly mundane, the Chinese government relocated over 33,000 homes in 2005 alone from urban slums without really providing cost-effective alternatives for those who were displaced. In this digital protest piece, users get to bulldoze parts of a city to make way for Olympic facilities and luxury hotels. The project is an innovative use of the popular Sim City interface, but more information about what's happening could have been provided.

Girl Talk Remix

twww.opensourcecinema.org/girltalkremix- One of the most exciting artists scheduled to play the Jazz Winnipeg Festival's New Groove Series, Pittsburgh's Gregg Gillis is going to be part of Basement Tapes, an upcoming documentary on copyright. As part of the film, Gillis has offered up video material for people to download and remix under a creative-commons licence. Gillis is an innovative producer whose 2006 album Night Ripper reset the bar for sample-based recordings and reinvigorated the debate about the antiquated nature of North American copyright laws, and although the former biomedical engineer has not been sued even though his album was built with hundreds of illegal samples, his next release might receive more scrutiny due to the exposure he's gotten. Notorious for his crowd-surfing laptop shows that typically end with the stage filled with fans and Gillis a sweaty mess, Girl Talk will perform in Winnipeg on June 28. Don't miss it.

Shellac Live @ Touch & Go 25-Year Anniversary Weekend

www.touchandgorecords.com- Last summer's Touch & Go 25-Year Anniversary Festival boasted a staggering lineup that included a reformed Scratch Acid and performances by The Ex and Big Black, but the consensus was that Steve Albini's Shellac stole the show. Shellac played material from its then-unreleased Excellent Italian Greyhound album and delivered an ear-numbing pummelling with the type of intensity that can only come from over 20 years of distrust and hatred of the music industry. Parts of the riveting performance have been uploaded to the video section of the Touch & Go website. Other acts you can view include Supersystem, !!!, Archwelder, Ted Leo and a handful of other bands signed to the seminal label.

Ask Mary 420

www.potpartner.com/photo_rate.php -Sure, you can ask Google to give you directions to the closest liquor store via your cell phone, or you can find out the weather with a text message, but where do you go for the really important questions in life? Ask Mary 420 is a new interactive service that will help answer all those tough questions regarding pot smoking and relationships. While no advice has yet to be given, the site is currently accepting questions from users.

Anthony Augustine is a freelance music, technology and pop culture writer. He can be heard every Tuesday morning at 8:55 am on Hot 103 chatting about the web. Got a site you think he should see? E-mail him at anthony.alloneword@gmail.com.