Can video games save the music industry? Probably not. But video games are emerging as a powerful distribution channel for digital music downloads. Players of Grand Theft Auto IV can buy the songs they hear in the game from Amazon by making their characters dial a number on their cell phones.

Now the rock band Mötley Crüe (yes, they are still alive) is getting in on the action as well. They released a single from their latest album, Saints of Los Angeles, both in the video game Rock Band and as download on iTunes, Amazon and elsewhere. In the first week that the digital single was available for sale (the physical album won’t be released until June 24), it was downloaded 47,000 times on the Xbox alone compared to 10,000 times on iTunes and other digital download stores on the Web.

Maybe people who play Rock Band are just naturally drawn to the Crüe. Or maybe video games are just a better way to sell music. You get to hear the whole song as part of a more immersive experience. And if you just scored high in the game, you are probably more receptive to shelling out some cash for the song that helped you get there. All those feel-good endorphins have to be channeled somewhere.

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You may have seen our review of the Kingston DataTraveler HyperX high-speed thumbdrive. If so, you’ll remember how it proved itself far superior to the peasant drives I put it up against. Well, it’s far from the only high-speed USB key on the market, so we got our hands on a couple other leading offerings from Corsair (the Cruzer Contour) and SanDisk (the Voyager GT) and have evaluated them thoroughly. Find out which of these handy little things comes out on top by reading on.

Luxury Lineup
There’s precious little to be critical about with these excellent drives, so excuse me if I lapse into minutae. First, how do they look and feel? You can see them in the picture above, closed and with a dime for scale. They’re all quite good-looking drives, so I won’t fault them on that. They’re all small but not tiny; I prefer something with a little heft, otherwise it falls through the hole in my pocket.

Their mechanisms are all different: the Kingston has a quite stiff little thing you push, which isn’t very comfortable but at least you know it’s not going to happen by accident. The Kingston’s mechanism is unique and interesting: the black part slides within the silver part and reveals the interface. An opposite action reverses it and hides it behind the little dust cover. Quite ingenious, but it’s a bit counterintuitive and I’m afraid a little grit in there or a slight bend might ruin it. The Corsair has the more traditional-looking cap over the plug, but what you can’t see is that it’s this very pliable, soft rubber material that makes it feel like an actual thumb. It’s kind of creepy, but it’ll never break. I’d say the Corsair wins out body-wise, even though it’s the least slick.

The real goods
But you didn’t come here to hear me babble about their “mechanisms,” did you? Which one is the fastest, right? Believe me, I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately, the results of my totally unscientific tests were all over the map. I tested each drive with two types of file transfers, both to and from my desktop. First there was a single 1.07GB file, you need not know what it was. Then a bunch of smaller files: 600 or so, averaging between 50 and 300kb, totalling 122MB. I know what it sounds like, but it was NES games. I swear! Anyway, here are the results:

I know, right? Everybody’s a winner, just like at your house. Seriously, though. You can’t argue with the results - they seem evenly matched. I don’t even want to try to break it down for you, it would take forever. The Kingston drive really whupped everyone at copying those NES games; the SanDisk was slow to copy to itself, and the Corsair was going to take probably ten minutes to copy them over. I have no idea why. It was slower copying over a batch of photos as well, and took 30 seconds to delete what it had gotten on it. Keep in mind, however, that the Corsair is also a 16GB drive as opposed to the others’ 4GB.

What we’ve learned, basically, is that these drives are on equal footing with the large files you and I are probably dealing with, and that the Kingston is what to go with if you copy a lot of photos, documents, and so on. The Corsair, despite getting a big fat fail on the small files test, handled the large files with ease and grace. The SanDisk held its own as well, and didn’t fail nothin’ neither. What’s left to look at? Price.

Damage
The 4GB Kingston Datatraveler HyperX costs about $70, the SanDisk Cruzer Contour costs about $35, and the Corsair Voyager GT is about $100 (remember that it’s 16GB, though). For your dollar, the best performance is probably found in the Cruzer Contour. However I have all three and I find myself using the Kingston the most. But then, 4GB is getting smaller and smaller these days, so if I’m transferring any extra-large files (footage, DVD images) the Corsair is the only option and it performs perfectly well. You’re paying quite a bit more than a regular drive, especially with the Kingston, but you’re also getting a butt-load of extra performance (comparison).

So let’s sum up here:

CrunchGear’s Recommendation
I know it’s kind of a cop-out, but I can’t really recommend any of these over the other. They all work perfectly well and none is truly superior speedwise. If you do handle many large files, you’ll of course want to go for larger than 4GB, but I think you can’t go wrong with any of these brands. Wow, a happy ending!

Filed under: Gaming

It's not confirmed by Sony just yet, but Videogaming247 says it has it on "good authority" that the upcoming version 2.40 firmware update for the PS3 will at long last bring with it in-game XMB, as well as the slightly less-anticipated trophy support. If those sources are to be believed, the update will be dropping sometime in June, with some speculation further pointing to a release in advance of Metal Gear Solid 4's June 12th launch. There's apparently still some testing to be done to ensure that the in-game XMB will work with all titles, however, and it seems like features like trophies and user-music via XMB will only be supported in games created with the new developers tools that have apparently already been released in advance of the firmware update.

[Via PS3 Fanboy, thanks John]

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It’s all over, folks. Fortune is reporting that the state of New York’s sales tax on goods purchased at Amazon.com starts this Sunday, June 1st. Peter’s already been enraged about it here and here and I’m guessing he’s not going to be too thrilled about this post either. He’s pretty excitable as it is, so hopefully he won’t read this.

The state’s justification, you may remember, is that since Amazon has an affiliate commission program and since some of those affiliates might be based in New York, all sales on Amazon.com that get shipped to anyone in New York should be subject to sales tax. Sounds pretty dumb to me. Scary, too, as I bet other states use this case as precedent to start taxing online sales as well.

Amazon, to its credit, sued the state but it looks like it didn’t help much.

Is this the alien everyone’s talking about, everyone’s waiting for?

From the Rocky Mountain News’ liveblog:

The film shows a window, reportedly 8 feet off the ground in a rural Nebraska town in 2003.

In the enhanced version of the video, a creature pops up in the window, looks around, and pops back down, again and again.

“It looks like the quintessential Gray, right out of E.T.,” Scheiber [a skeptic] said.

Audience members wanted to know why the creature traveled all those light years just to peep in a window.

I, too, would like to know why. Hoax much?

UPDATE So it turns out that this video is a hoax. The Rocky Mountain News now reports that a Denver man created the video in a couple hours for a grand total of $90. That said, a screengrab of the actual video, from the press conference earlier today, is now making the rounds. This is it:

As I said in our chat room, to think that our dumb planet, our dumb blue rock, is the end-all, be-all of Life is patently absurd; we still get excited over multi-touch for Pete’s sake. But I reject and denounce the idea that all aliens have to look like Mars Attacks.

This is pretty cool if you’re an active retro gamer. Canada’s arm of Nintendo found a cache of old NES and SNES video game carts, sealed in packaging, in their old warehouse. Instead of just trashing the deprecated games, they’re auctioning them off, with the proceeds going to the United Way of Canada.

They’re going in lots to collectors, and you can get in on the action by hitting up the eBay page.

It’s not for everyone, but if you’re nostalgic and rich, then happy bidding.

Before I write this gem of a post, let me attempt to absolve myself of all legal responsibility: I’m merely doing what I was told to do. That should hold up in court, no?

My second charge this fine Productivity Week is to teach y’all how to pirate movies, music, video games, etc. more efficiently. On what planet is this type of advice is both approved of and encouraged I don’t know, but here we are.

I’ll divide this into two parts: helping make the most of your BitTorrent experience, and doing that Usenet thing as painlessly as possible… while you still can! Oh, man. The fun, it never stops here.

BitTorrent is for poor people or jerks who either cannot afford to pay for Hollywood works of art like that hilarious Zohan movie, or who think they’re being righteous and thumbing their nose at The Man by downloading. I fall into the first category. I’m not about to pay $30 for the Blu-ray version of Rambo, but I’ll sure as hell download it, watch it and then delete it, then forget I ever watched it.

But how to use it smarter? That’s what everybody (nobody?) wants to know.

You guys want the quickest, least responsible way to BitTorrent like your life depends on it? If you’re using a router, put your computer in the DMZ and make sure any and all firewalls are turned off. Or, if you’re directly plugged into your modem (like me!), just turn off the firewall(s). This 100 percent irresponsible action, for both you and the greater Internet community, will prevent you from having to search esoteric networking forums because you keep getting “ports are closed” errors. What this does is expose your computer to the Internet with nothing getting in between your computer and the computer you’re downloading from. (Oh man, ended a sentence with a preposition!) It’s a sure-fire way to get a virus or trojan or all sorts of malware, but if you want the absolute easiest way to get your torrents up and running, that’s the way to go.

But let’s say that you’re a little more responsible than that, that you can deal with a little port forwarding nonsense. If that’s the case, then check out this site, Port Forward. It’s got tutorials for all makes and models of popular routers on how to open which ports and when. That way, you only open the ports that are necessary for BitTorrent to run smoothly and don’t leave your entire system vulnerable to Internet nasties.

You can also maximize your BitTorrent download speeds by using private trackers like What.cd. I grabbed the new Disturbed album last night in, say, three minutes, and was getting speeds of around 800 kbps. Theoretically, you’re also safe from the likes of the **AA, but with OiNK’s closure (and the subsequent arrests) and the recent threats against What.cd, I wouldn’t feel too confident that The Man isn’t watching your every move on private trackers. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

Moving on, let’s talk Usenet, whose days could also be numbered. It’s got a bit of a learning curve, but I explained most of it, including exactly what it is and how to gain access to it, a few months ago. It’s actually a pretty decent post, very thorough, so check it out before you head out of the office today. That said, he’s a brief little recap for how to use Usenet as painlessly as possible. That way, you spend less time trolling strange binary groups and more time downloading The Fifth Element in 1080p. (I’ll be watching that tonight, methinks.)

The way to download Usenet files using zero brain power is to obtain NZB files. Think of them, if you will, as .torrent files. That is, they don’t contain any data per se, but rather “point” to where this data can be found. NZBs tell your news reader—I’ve used Unison for several years now, and it’s one of my favorite Mac apps—where to go to grab the files you’re looking for.

Now, where to get these NZBs? The best location is Newzbin, but as I mentioned a minute ago, its days may be numbered. Right now, you have to be invited to even join the site, which then charges a couple dollars a month to access its NZB index. Seeing as though we’re already in the pirating mindset, I doubt you’re in the mood to pay for anything.

There’s a few free alternatives to Newzbin, that, while not as easy to use, work the same way. I occasionally use NZBIndex.nl. Try it out now. Search for “Weeds,” for example, and up will pop a list of recent posts made to a binary group dedicated to HD. All you have to do is tick the little button and click “create NZB” and the site will make an NZB file. Now, you double click that and, if everything is configured correctly, it’ll start to download all the parts of the rar archive. That’s it. So, literally, in like 10 seconds, you can go to NZBIndex.nl, search for your content, and create the NZB and away you go. It’ll pretty cool, and quite literally shocked Biggs when I showed it to him. He was able to download 27 Dresses—for his wife, he claims—it no time.

Using the Usenet server that’s part of my broadband subscription, I can usually download up to four files simultaneously at around 250kbps each; you’ll max out your connection if you go with a commercial provider. That’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.

I’ve never had any issues with ports being closed or anything when trying to download from Usenet, either with or without a router, or when hooked up to NYU’s campus network, which I miss dearly.

So there, how to pirate stuff as easily and quickly as possible. Enjoy your weekend. I won’t.

Filed under: Displays, Peripherals

Watch out, everybody, the Optimus Popularis has gone from foam mockup to proper-looking prototype. (We're really digging that full-length display in the space bar.) With any luck, we won't have to watch this one develop over the course of 2-3 years like we did the Maximus -- and with a little more luck, this one will be easier to type on, too.

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless, Networking

Shortly after hearing TiVo's top dog speak of a "whole home model" to reduce the amount of STBs required for entertaining individuals in various rooms, along comes Time Warner Cable's chief executive talking up some innovation of its own. We'll be frank -- we're not entirely sure what Glenn Britt is getting at here, but through a broken series of quotes, we're led to believe that the carrier is prepping some "equipment" that will easily bring internet content to TVs. Not like there isn't a perfect solution for this quandary already, but we digress. Specifically, he mentions a " new wireless cable modem that will allow you to network everything in your house," which is about as broad / vague as you can get. Nevertheless, it's enough to keep us watchin', though we can't say our expectations are extraordinarily high. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

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Nearly a year after it was bought by Google for $100 million, FeedBurner is finally going to roll out Google’s AdSense as an advertising option for blogs and Websites that use its service to publish their feeds. FeedBurner will start with a few select publishers next week, and then expand the option to all of its customers soon afterwards.

What took them so long? That seemed to be the whole point of the acquisition. Integrating with AdSense will allow for publishers to tap into contextual ads for their feeds, in addition to the ads that FeedBurner already sells. Hopefully, Google also found the time to integrate its automated back-end payment system into all FeedBurner accounts. Until recently, FeedBurner was still sending out paper checks to publishers participating in its ad network.

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