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Terrence O'Brien

Terrence O'Brien

Weekend Editor

Weekend Editor

    More From Terrence O'Brien

    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    This clip from 2000 of someone creating a digital doppelganger is weird.

    This episode of BBC’s Tomorrow’s World features people weirdly excited about internet radio and online gaming. But it’s this bit about creating a digital avatar and trying to capture your personality in code that feels oddly prescient in the age of AI chatbots, but also deeply dystopian.

    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    Looks like the Pixel Watch 5 is getting a Steph Curry edition too.

    Just like the orange and grey special edition of the Fitbit Air we got in May, a new leak shows the Pixel Watch 5 with a similar band, suggesting Steph Curry will be lending his name to more Google gear.

    Image of Steph Curry special edition Google Pixel Watch 5
    Image: MyMobiles
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    My favorite softsynth now has a free version.

    Arturia’s Pigments is my go-to synth plugin. It’s powerful, versatile, and shockingly easy to build complex patches in. It’s currently marked down to $129 from its usual price of $199. But if you’re hesitant to commit even that much, the company just launched Pigments Play, a free stripped-down version.

    Pigments Play

    [Arturia]

    Musician and entrepreneur Tom Vek is building a digital music player, but don’t call it retro

    The Sleevenote creator is ready for the offline resurgence, but wants to move on from CDs and cassettes.

    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    Happy 808 day, read this ebook about the history of Roland for free.

    It will be going away in 24 hours, but to celebrate 8/08 Bjooks, the company behind Beat Gems and Pedal Crush, is making Inspire the Music — 50 Years of Roland History free to read. The company is also offering 15 percent off the hardcover version for the day.

    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    What are you snagging for Bandcamp Friday?

    I’m eyeing Boatshoes, the new album from Baltimore’s Brian Ennals (who collaborated with Infinity Knives on last year’s incredible A City Drowned in God’s Black Tears) and frequent Aesop Rock producer Blockhead. Don’t forget, Bandcamp skips its cut and every penny goes directly to the artist today.

    Terrence O'Brien
    Terrence O'Brien
    Suno will start scanning outputs for copyright infringment.

    It’s the first platform to adopt Musixmatch’s new Sentinel detection service designed explicitly for generative AI. Its sizable database pulls from over 200,000 publishers, including the big three, to identify copyrighted lyrics and compositions. And importantly, it doesn’t just scan prompts and inputs, but also the resulting outputs.