F

Bind.

.. Angela Espinoza

hen YouTube made its official launch in November 2005, it took the world by

storm. Rickrolls aside, YouTube was a major step forward in what could be accomplished through video sharing websites. The site’s had its fair share of criticism, of course—failing to stand by many of its copyright policies and missing the occasional piece of ultra- violent or even pornographic imagery (trust me, it’s on there), but if anything, this just makes the website even more popular.

Going back to copyright issues, virtually every one of us has either

YouTube to rent out movies

Online service a departure for the free video giant

uploaded or searched for all sorts of commercials, TV shows, and even full movies. Just over the last two weeks, I’ve managed to watch Se7en (1995), Fantastic Planet (1973), City Lights (1931) and Eraserhead (1977) and for the record, several of these films have been on the site in their entirety for years. As an anti-Blockbuster consumer, every film I find is like hitting gold. However, were I to own the rights to these films, I’d probably want to have a word with those running the site. There’s no stopping the uploading of movies—if one is taken down (by the way, one full film is about thirteen individual videos), another is bound to take its place in no time. That being said, YouTube has found a way to cash in on this.

Google, who became the proud

owner of YouTube in November 2006, has decided to team up with Apple, Amazon.com and Netflix in order to create a new type of video rental service through YouTube. With the service currently available to Americans only, a semi-successful beta test of the service ran from January 29-31, providing viewers the ability to watch five films from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance Film Festivals.

The rental service is neither complicated nor basic. If one wishes to rent out films, they must fill out a form online from where they will select their desired rental price and upload the respective film. YouTube will then run a check to make sure the partners involved are legitimate. If one wishes to view the rentals, they must first have both a YouTube and a Google account.

The rentals are purchased through the credit card service Google Checkout. Once all this has been cleared up,

a search for a specific rental can be run with the option to view the film’s trailer first. From there on out, it’s the viewers’ choice whether they wish

to rent the piece or not. Refunds are available to those who try to watch their rentals and encounter a technical issue; the only catch is that the video cannot have started running before the issue occurs.

One cannot say for sure if this will be a step forward or a step back for YouTube. Viewers are used to paying zilch for anything on the website, so the rental service will most likely have a rocky start once it’s officially launched. Whether or not it’ll become popular is up to the consumers.

Make no mistake about it; this is not a thing of beauty!

Jessica Simpson’s new rebound relationship makes Billy Corgan the luckiest man alive

By Jay Schreiber, Arts editor

hy does the ugly guy always get the gorgeous

girl? This is one of those rhetorical questions that

mankind has pondered for decades beating their head against the wall with the idea that there must be a logical reasoning behind it. The sad truth is that there is no logic, just like why stores sell hotdogs in packs of 8, and buns in packs of 12.

For those of us not in the know, Hollywood has a

long history of mismatched couples that feed late comedy shows and are notoriously short lived. The general public usually enjoys finding celebrities at the butt end of jokes, and after things are all done, forget anything ever happened

and look to the next laughable

pairing. Anybody remember how Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson dated for two years? Didn’t think M so.

Golden- haired goddess and thing of beauty Jessica Simpson is the most recent to be ridiculed for dating Smashing Pumpkin’s front man Billy Corgan in an act of abstract attraction. Corgan, who hasn’t had a hit in 15 years is also working in the studio with Simpson and has been quite prevalent in the media for it.

Looking at Simpson’s history might help to understand why things are going this way for her, but still the question of why has to be asked. Simpson remained a virgin (yeah, right) until her marriage to ex-husband and closet case Nick Lachey. The former member of failed boy band 98 Degrees was

together with Simpson for an unforgettable reality TV show Newlyweds, until the two finally split after four years of being together. Anyone who has tuned into MTV’s ridiculous waste of money will know that both of the stars have an intelligence level of a lawn chair and the show was merely eye candy for teenagers or material for Conan O’Brien.

Following her split with Lachey, Simpson went on to date John Mayer for a few months before settling down with NFL quarterback Tony Romo. Romo was criticized for time spent with Simpson, having claims laid on him that he wasn’t spending enough time throwing it into the end zone, and rather too much time throwing it into Jessica. Looks like a classic case of Yoko Ono syndrome if you ask me.

Romo broke up with Simpson the day before her 29" birthday, and she’s been heartbroken ever since. If you ask me, the Corgan thing is a rebound if anything. Simpson has

“Anyone with two eyes and a Y chromosome can see why these two don’t look right and why Corgan is more suited towards Ashlee “Let’s do a hoedown and ruin my career” Simpson.”

dated the attractive musician with a small brain, the intelligent musician with some talent, the football star and now the ugly depressed artist who makes you feel sorry for him.

This is definitely a highlight in Corgan’s career, having piggy backed on the grunge movement to get his band popular and recently failed at a reunion tour by releasing mediocre radio rock. Corgan is bald, whiny, semi-talented and more than that he hasn’t really done anything in the last decade. So why does this guy get a heavenly creature such as Jessica Simpson? Anyone with two eyes and a Y chromosome can see why these two don’t look right and why Corgan is more suited towards Ashlee “Let’s do a hoedown and ruin my career” Simpson.

My prediction is that in a few months, the two faded stars will break up and go their separate ways. They don’t fit as a couple in the high-pressure world of Hollywood and once Simpson realizes how hard she’s rebounding, this chapter in the book of Corgan will come to a close.