The truths

System of a Down's sound is a mix of punk, metal and Armenian folk music. In 2006, their song B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs) won a Grammy for best hard rock performance. Loyal fans are attracted to the band's activism for social justice just as much as the music. The new film Truth to Power follows Serj Tankian, the lead singer of System of a Down , from the band's formation to its years-long activism for Armenians, which in 2019 led to the US officially recognizing the 1915 Armenian Genocide. On CNET's I'm So Obsessed podcast , Tankian explains where the idea for the documentary came from and how the film morphed away from its initial Hardcore Henry approach. Editors' top picks Subscribe to CNET Now for the day's most interesting reviews, news stories and videos. "Originally the idea started with making a POV film," said Tankian. "I strapped cameras onto my head at different times and just shot everything that I did. Once I started looking at the footage, I realized … [Read more...] about Truth to Power shows System of a Down’s growth as artists and activists

Edward Snowden expressed his support for a German investigation into NSA surveillance in a letter delivered the German government on Friday. Outraged by recent allegations that the NSA might have tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone, German lawmakers are considering a closer examination of the NSA's practices and have proposed inviting Snowden to testify. See also: Email Providers Build Service to Protect Your Inbox From the NSA In the letter, Snowden, who has been charged with espionage , declines a potential invitation, but he says he "looks forward" to cooperating with Germany once the "situation is resolved" with the U.S. government. "Speaking the truth is not a crime. I am confident that with the support of the international community, the government of the United States will abandon this harmful behavior." Snowden, who has reportedly taken a job in Russia , gave the letter to Hans-Christian Stroebele, a green party lawmaker who showed it to the … [Read more...] about Snowden in Letter to Germany: ‘Speaking the Truth Is Not a Crime’

Australia looks set to become the sort of Microsoft monopoly that Redmond has only dreamt about, but rather than being in an area Microsoft is known for -- office suites, Windows, Surface products -- the country is turning to the eternal bridesmaid of search engines, Microsoft Bing. This is all a result of the Australian government, and opposition parties, lining up behind the Media Bargaining Code that has been making its way through Parliament. If the code is finalised, it could in effect shift money directly out of the pockets of big tech and into the hands of the nation's newspapers and TV stations. The nation's competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has sought to rein in the tech giants in recent years, with not much to show for it thus far. The code provides an opportunity for the ACCC and the nation's politicians to do something popular by going after offshore multinational tech companies while supporting the fourth estate and going … [Read more...] about If Bing is the answer then Australia is asking the wrong question

Amazon Prime Video has gathered an impressive lineup of original shows to keep you entertained. It's also picked up excellent programs from other countries to stream in the US. Thankfully, those exclusives, like A Very English Scandal and Catastrophe, can be appreciated by a wider audience. Let's round up the best TV shows Amazon has to offer. CNET Culture Entertain your brain with the coolest news from streaming to superheroes, memes to video games. Read more: The 19 best movies to watch on Amazon Prime Video The Wilds Amazon Amazon's first original young adult offering is an intriguing combination of Lost and the Breakfast Club -- and it works. Crucially, the cast of characters who find themselves stranded on a deserted island are all teenage girls. To them, that makes life even more excruciating. Each has a very different background -- from spoiled rich girl to Native American -- but they have to put aside their differences to survive, … [Read more...] about The 19 best TV shows on Amazon Prime Video

Has there ever been a better time to be a Star Trek fan? While The Next Generation spawned spin-offs Deep Space Nine and Voyager in the 1990s – as well as prequel series Enterprise – there were never more than two shows on TV at once. Fast forward to 2021, however, and CBS All Access (soon to be Paramount Plus) is doubling down on the Final Frontier.The espionage-focused Star Trek: Section 31 is lined up to become the latest incarnation of the rapidly expanding 55-year-old franchise. Like the upcoming Pike/Spock show Strange New Worlds, it’ll be a Star Trek: Discovery spin-off, focused on her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo’noS, Regina Andor – Emperor Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh).Perhaps fittingly for a show that’s boldly going into the inner sanctum of a shady intelligence agency, Section 31 plot specifics are being kept tightly under wraps – not even the title is officially confirmed. … [Read more...] about Star Trek: Section 31 – what we know about the upcoming spin-off