Al-Jazeera English
Anthony Augustine


Al-Jazeera English — www.youtube.com/profile?user=aljazeeraenglishm — While you may get added to the no-fly list and visited by CSIS for subscribing to the web version of Al-Jazeera English, a simple cloaking proxy and the help of YouTube will allow you to see some of what you’ve been missing since the CRTC blocked the network from Canadian TV. As Uptown deputy editor Mike Warkentin suggested a few weeks back, Al-Jazeera is not a terrorist-friendly propaganda machine but rather a progressive news agency willing to tackle stories that other mainstream media won’t touch. As such, it has always been in the best interests of the other major networks to portray Al-Jazeera as irresponsible, biased against the West and lacking ethics. Who needs more competition in an already-crowded marketplace? Until now you’ve needed a grey-market satellite dish or a subscription to the web version to see how Al-Jazeera was covering Afghanistan, the war in Iraq and atrocities in Darfur, but hopefully it won’t be too long until the CRTC grants the news network a licence. While the suits are at it, they should also allow HBO, FX and all the other channels they’ve been blocking with archaic broadcast laws. With the web shifting the way entertainment is being distributed, it’s absurd to try and continue to control what’s being sold to Canadians.

Songs to Wear Pants to—www.songstowearpantsto.com — What do you do when you’ve mastered music-creation software Abelton Live, you’re tired of playing in bands and you’re unemployed? If you are a 22-year-old musician from Toronto, you launch a site that features songs created by taking suggestions from people who have stumbled across your online experiment. Part make-work project (he charges for some stuff), part performance art, the site is successful enough that it’s become a full-time endeavour for its creator, Andrew. Free songs are never longer than 71 seconds but are available to download

Tribeca Film Fest Short Films—nymag.com/movies/filmfestivals/tribeca/31249 — The Tribeca Film Festival may be a launch pad for some summer blockbusters such as Spiderman 3, but it also has a strong schedule of short films. Over 50 films cracked the festival lineup this year — ranging from love stories to an expose on Iraq — and here are the five best, as selected by New York Magazine film critics.

Andy-Warhol-Up Your Photographs—www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-warholphoto.html — If you can’t figure out what to put on that huge white wall in your new place or can’t afford to buy art unless it’s pre-packaged crap from Ikea, this Photoshop tutorial will have you channelling your inner Andy Warhol in a few easy-to-follow steps. Using almost any photo and the free version of the popular image-editing software, you can have your own iconic pop-art print even if your artistic skills top out at a Grade 6 level. The info can also be used to create avatars for message boards and social networking sites such as LiveJournal, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

Anthony Augustine is a freelance music, technology and pop culture writer. He can be heard every Tuesday morning at 9:00am on Hot 103 discussing the web. Got a site you think he should see? E-mail him at anthony.alloneword@gmail.com.