God, Please Save These Troubled States

We continue to listen to your suggestions and, based on comments given to us when we launched our new homepage, we've made a few changes to the navigation bar on Buzznet!

Read more for a full explanation...

If you've already taken a peak at our homepage, you've seen the new skins we've added to give the page more personality and color. We've decided to make the process to submit a skin for the homepage much easier for you!

Here's the four current designs that we're running on the homepage:









If you'd like to send in a design to be considered for a skin:

1) Create your design in any program. Your finished project should be a .JPG file that measures 1128 x 860.

2) Send the file to moshiro@buzznet.com.

That's it! We'll do all the work for you.

Some guidelines for creating an image:

*The simpler, the better. Remember, most of it won't show.
*Coats of arms or Hot Topic Light designs suck. Don't submit them.
*DON'T USE SOMEONE ELSE'S ART. EVER. If we find out you submitted content that's not yours....I'll do something. I don't know what, but it won't be good.
*Feel free to submit as many entries as you like.
*Seriously, don't submit copyrighted art or plagiarize. At all.
*Don't use hard edges, especially since they'll be the only thing showing most of the time. All the images we've already used have no hard edges. :)

Manipulate a photo you've taken! Design a skin from scratch! Be creative. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

Buzznet offers forums in tag pages and groups so that you can discuss various topics based around whatever you happen to like. They're easy to start and even easier to participate in.

You can locate forums on any tag page in two locations:

-In the bar along the top of the page


-In the "Forums" module above the "Top People" section of any tag page


Clicking either one will open up the forums!



Much like a message board, our forums contain various topics started by members of the community. You can post a new topic if you don't see one you like or if your query/idea/comment has not been addressed.

Simply fill out the title (Subject) of the thread and write the body of the post under "Body."



If you'd like Buzznet to notify you any time there is a new reply to the thread you've created, make sure to leave the box "Watch this topic" checked. If you uncheck it, you will not "follow" the thread.



Forum notifications automatically appear in your sidebar:



The main original post will then live at the top of the thread at all times:



You can navigate between pages as well; each page contains 10 replies. From the original post, you can also choose to follow the thread (click "Watch This") or flag the thread for removal. "Report" will ask you to send a message to one of the admins. Please describe why you think the thread should be removed.




You can post a general reply to the thread by scrolling to the bottom of the page and adding your reply:



If you'd like to automatically quote a person's post, click the "Quote" button in the bottom right corner of any reply:



This will automatically parse a reply inside our custom Quote Tags:



You can then write your reply and press "Post Reply."

If you'd like to include a photo in your reply, click on the "Insert Photo" button in the top right corner of the reply box:



Clicking on it will bring up the Buzznet photo box. You can upload a photo from your computer or paste the image location from off of the web:



Your forum management page lists all the threads you've requested to watch:



From here, you can check threads you're following to see new replies, to stop following threads, and to search forums.

You can stop watching a thread by clicking the blue "X" at the far right.



Please use common sense when posting in the forums! Spam, harassment, or bullying is never allowed. Be kind, polite, and if you're going to disagree with someone, do so in a respectful manner. If you're at all concerned or confused as to what is the best thing to post, check out our Terms Of Use, which give a great guide to what standards you should use when replying in the forums.

To the shock of nearly every Nine Inch Nails fan, Trent Reznor released a new NIN full-length album, The Slip, at midnight on Monday. Unlike Ghosts, the record has no payment options and is available for free exclusively through the band's Web site. More NIN already???

I've just finished editing and updating all of the How To sections on the Help Page. Check them out!

-Customize Your Page
-Easy Video Uploads
-Introducing User Homepages
-Meeting People
-Posting a Journal
-Posting and Managing Photos
-Private Messages
-Profile Photos
-Reporting Obscenity
-Safety and Privacy
-Tags

If you had commented on an entry with a question that hadn't been addressed in the How To, it's been deleted and I answered the body in the text.

See any mistakes? Is something still not clear? Would you like to see me write a How To on a topic that isn't included? Let me know! I'm listening.

"Iron Man" wastes no time getting right to the point; from the first time we see Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, it's evident that the film is painfully modern and relies heavily on realistic CGI action sequences. The film is a flawed but ultimately tolerable comic book adaptation.

Does 'Iron Man' live up to the hype?

Son of Rambow is a refreshing and youthful comedy that traces the effect that First Blood has on a set of British children who come from different sides of town. Combining animation over live-action cinematography, "Son of Rambow" is one of the more uplifting and hilarious films of 2008.

Full 'Son of Rambow' review inside...

Boris' unique brand of experimental doom rock has risen to new heights with Smile, their 14th full-length record. Matching chaos with pop sensibilities, the Japanese musicians seem willing to push every boundary when it comes to their music.

How does 'Smile' match up to older records?

Starting today, I'll have limited time at my laptop as I attend this year's Coachella Festival. Kraftwerk, Portishead, Gogol Bordello, Black Mountain...mmmm. This shall be a good weekend.

For immediate matters that involve the community, please contact my fellow admin Richard. He'll be able to help you.

I'll be posting updates and photos when I get back tonight!

Trent Reznor has posted a brand new Nine Inch Nails song (with vocals!) on his Web site, complete with a free download and new artwork. The song, "Discipline," first sprung up on radio outlets yesterday afternoon before Reznor provided the track to fans.

What will Reznor do next?

This process has been REVISED! Please read the new and updated version, which has a much simpler submission process.

Thanks!

Anti has announced European dates for The Weakerthans, who will be supporting their recent release, Reunion Tour. The band will play mostly smaller clubs across the continent in May and June.

Will The Weakerthans visit your city?

Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the latest raunchy comedy in the Judd Apatow empire, is a surprisingly realistic examination of dependent relationships and what happens when they collapse. It's also the funniest movie so far in 2008.

Review of 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' inside...

Uma Thurman shines in The Life Before Her Eyes, Vadim Perelman's newest drama. The film combines stunning visuals and a haunting story to provoke feelings of guilt and loss, though the ending ultimately may be detrimental to the film as a whole.

Full review of 'The Life Before Her Eyes' inside...

West Hollywood, California - In an interview with Buzznet at this year's Warped Tour kickoff party, pop-punkers Broadway Calls revealed their plans to record a split 7-inch with Laramie, Wyoming's Teenage Bottlerocket.

What other plans do Broadway Calls have for 2008?

AFI guitarist Jade Puget, has posted a blog in response to the numerous reports of the track list of the yet-untitled AFI EP. He has revealed the correct songs that will appear on the EP and promises it will be out "soon(ish)."

AFI EP details revealed inside....

Against Me! have announced a partnership with Rock the Vote that involves the punk-rockers creating a public service announcement in support of voter registration. The band has contributed its song "Stop!" to the commercial, as well as filming a short performance for it.

Check out Against Me! rocking the vote...

Wednesday's late news that Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz and singer Ashlee Simpson are engaged (the news broke on FOE) sent our community into a bit of a tizzy. We recently corralled some of your reactions and are presenting a few updates to the story, including reactions from a Wentz bandmate and news that Simpson is NOT pregnant.

What? I must know more!

Exciting news for Buzznet! Our front page has been given a makeover and has a new, cleaner look.





The biggest changes we've made are:

-Change in colors
-Simplified navigation bar at the top of the page. ("Community" is now "Members." It's also reorganized.)

The modules for featured stories and news has been changed.



Clicking on any of the titles will take you to the story.

The only things you'll be affected by is the new navigation bar and the new search function:



The search function is much easier and more detailed. You can search for content AND members at the same time:


Buzznet is also switching to a centered design. As it is right now, every page on Buzznet is left justified:



This leaves a large blank spot to the right of all pages. However, the pages will be centered, meaning you'll have blank spots on either side:




What does this mean for you? It won't disrupt any of your customization, but you'll now be able to customize your background in a much better way. Essentially, anything outside of the 1000 pixels of the page will show up along the sides.

Here's a great example. Leirdasim's page looks so much better because you can see more of her customizations:



Everything else is still the same. Your individual pages will not be changed.

Please check out our new homepage! As always, your feedback helps us build a better site, so let us know your thoughts here in the comments! (I'll be responding to it.)

Social music site Last.Fm has released sales data from Amazon.com that reveals that their full-album streams, which are ad-supported but free, have more than doubled music sales on Amazon, according to ArsTechnica.com. This suggests that allowing full album previews actually helps sell records.

Last.FM's sales inside....