Fed's 'skinny' accounts end Operation Chokepoint 2.0 — Senator LummisGiving crypto companies and fintech startups access to accounts at the Federal Reserve is a hedge against debanking by commercial banks.

Building Beautiful LED Lanterns With Black LED Acrylic[Geeksmithing] and [When Geeks Craft] recently came together for a glowing collaboration. They wanted to build ever more attractive lanterns for a local parade event. They recently discovered a fantastic material that can really improve the look of whatever project you might be building with LEDs.
The material is commonly referred to as “Black LED Acrylic” or similar. In this case, it was sourced from TAP Plastics, though you can source similar acrylic from other vendors, too. From first glance, it looks like any other piece of black acrylic plastic. However, shine an LED through it, and it will be beautifully diffused and smoothed out to wonderful visual effect. A simple test of a 3×3 array of LEDs behind a 3D-printed grid shows how good this can look. It almost entirely eliminates hot spots, and the result looks like a display built out of juicy glowing cubes. The duo used this material to produce giant pixel art lanterns for their local parade. We only get a glimpse at the final build, but it appears giant Pacman and Blinky totems are on the way.
If you’ve been struggling to find a good way to diffuse the light from LEDs, you might want to give this stuff a try. Alternatively, you might explore some other methods we’ve looked at before, and don’t discount ping pong balls, either.

FaZe Clan’s future is uncertain after influencers departSix influencers recently announced that they are leaving esports group FaZe Clan following unsuccessful contract negotiations with new management.

Casa Occidente RaiderPro - Level Balancing AutomationRaiderPro Allows you to maintain consistent track levels without the coloration that commonly adds compression. Experience intuitive control with our easy-to-use interface, start crafting professional mixes right away. Harness powerful features to shape your tracks. Features Dynamic Control: Set precise movement ranges, adjust output levels, and fine-tune the sensitivity to perfectly balance vocals and music. Side-Chain: Use side-chain functionality to let an instrument bus subtly influence your vocal track, creating a dynamically balanced mix. Automation: Use automation to bake the rider into your track, so you can spare the plugin and reduce CPU consumption. Save time by eliminating the need to manually draw automation curves. This tool is ideal for vocals in music, podcasts, and video narration, offering real-time operation with no added latency, it's suitable for both studio mixing and live performance. New features Added compatibility with mono tracks, the plugin passes the auval and pluginval validations. Channel configuration compatibility. The plugin works with the following configurations: mono-to-mono, mono-to-stereo and stereo-to-mono. Fixes The plugin state is now preserved after closing and reopening. Solved range fader bug that used to crashed the plugin. Use as many instances as you want Measured with Xcode's time profiler, performance has been improved significantly so you can run several instances of the RaiderPro in your DAW without issues. Join our Discord Community for support here! You can also follow updates here. Read More

GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Gospel, Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

The 2025 GRAMMY nominations are here and we're going to help you to untangle it all right up until the big event, continuing with the Best Gospel Performance/Song and Best Contemporary Christian Performance/Song categories.

Take a listen to the nominated performances/songs below--who do you think will win?

See the full list of nominees in every category here.

Best Gospel Performance/Song

Do It AgainKirk Franklin; Kirk Franklin, songwriter

ChurchTasha Cobbs Leonard, John Legend; Anthony S. Brown, Brunes Charles, Annatoria Chitapa, Kenneth Leonard, Jr., Tasha Cobbs Leonard & Jonas Myrin, songwriters

Still — LiveJonathan McReynolds & Jamal Roberts; Britney Delagraentiss, Jonathan McReynolds, David Lamar Outing II, Orlando Joel Palmer & Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters

AmenPastor Mike Jr.; Adia Andrews, Michael McClure Jr., David Lamar Outing II & Terrell Anthony Pettus, songwriters

Come Jesus ComeCeCe Winans Featuring Shirley Caesar

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

I Know A NameElevation Worship, Chris Brown, Brandon Lake; Hank Bentley, Steven Furtick, Brandon Lake & Jacob Sooter, songwriters

YOUR WAY'S BETTERForrest Frank; Forrest Frank & Pera, songwriters

Hard Fought HallelujahBrandon Lake With Jelly Roll; Chris Brown, Jason Bradley Deford, Steven Furtick, Benjamin William Hastings & Brandon Lake, songwriters

HeadphonesLecrae, Killer Mike, T.I.; Tyshane Thompson, Bongo ByTheWay, Michael Render, Lecrae Moore & Clifford Harris, songwriters

AmazingDarrel Walls, PJ Morton; PJ Morton & Darrel Walls, songwriters

CeCe Winans photo by Hanna CorwinThe post GRAMMY Nominations 2025: Best Gospel, Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Top New Music Industry News Last WeekTop new music industry news last week includes predictions for 2026 from experts, how musicians will get discovered in 2026, Songcards, the Measure of Music Conference, France honoring EDM and more.
The post Top New Music Industry News Last Week appeared first on Hypebot.

Eventide H90 & H9000 granular update Eventide's latest algorithms expand the H90/H9000's versatile collection of effects, delivering everything from “blooming reverse delays and rhythmic glitchy stutters” to “skittering repeats that morph into unexpected textures”.

Vinyl Minded, Gift Guide Edition Vol.3Pansy Division

Deflowered (Sounds Rad)

Iconic punk band Pansy Division have celebrated the 30th anniversary of the sophomore Deflowered album with a limited edition, red vinyl rerelease. It also marks the first tine the album has been released on vinyl in over 20 years. So we're due a fresh listen.

The songs are magnificent; perfectly constructed, gloriously poetic and very witty slices of gay life. In the sleeve notes, singer and guitarist Jon Ginoli says that the album originally came out during the AIDS crisis, and that "the original inner sleeve provided safe sex instructions, information we thought could save lives." Commendable stuff.

"Chris [Freeman] and fellow co-founder Jon Ginoli (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) reflects on the impact of Deflowered's 30 years in a funny and revealing video, touching on topics as the album’s artwork, the 'dirty and sweet' balance of the lyrics, the inclusion of lesbian/bi/gay youth support group directory in the liner notes, and interpolating 'MMMbop' by Hanson and Cher’s 'Believe' into their live performances of 'Groovy Underwear,'" reads a statement. See that video below.

Shonen Knife

Our Best Place (Good Charamel Records)

Japanese punk-pop (not pop-punk) trio Shonen Knife have released an expanded edition of the 2023 album Our Best Place, with four new tracks and brand new embroidered sleeve art.

The ladies had food on their mind a couple of years ago, as they sang about "Vamos Taquitos," "Spicy Veggie Curry," and even "Afternoon Tea." Whatever they were singing about, the songs are typically fun, catchy and easy to sing along to.

The new tracks include Japanese versions of "The Story of Baumkuchen" and "Girl's Rock." If anything, the new versions are better than the originals.

Whipping Boy

Disillusion (Blackhouse Inc.)

There's a certain segment of the punk-loving population that will be whooping and cheering for this reissue. It's a niche release, sure, but the best ones usually are.

Originally produced by Dead Kennedys man Klaus Flouride over four decades ago as Muru Muru, the renamed Dysillusion is a quite wonderful, experimental slab of SF hardcore.

The influence of the likes of the DKs and also Flipper can be heard in the left field, out of kilter punk rock. But once your mind settles into it, the songs are a joy. "Sunshine Nellie," for example, is a weirdly psychedelic, experimental yet infectious tune. It's followed by the sinister "Myster Magi," and the juxtaposition is wonderful.

Dig in!The post Vinyl Minded, Gift Guide Edition Vol.3 first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

How reality crushed Ÿnsect, the French startup that had raised over $600M for insect farmingFrench insect farming company Ÿnsect was recently placed into judicial liquidation for insolvency, despite raising over $600 million.

Bitmain slashes ASIC prices amid mining industry turmoil: ReportDiscounts and bundle deals were offered to mining operators, as 2025 ends on a bad note for the crypto market and the mining industry.

Pocket-sized Test Pattern Generator Helps Check those CRTs[Nicholas Murray]’s Composite Test Pattern Generator is a beautifully-made, palm-sized tool that uses an ESP32-based development board to output different test patterns in PAL/NTSC. If one is checking out old televisions or CRTs, firing up a test pattern can be a pretty handy way to see if the hardware is healthy or not.
The little white add-on you see attached to the yellow portion is a simple circuit (two resistors and an RCA jack) that allows the microcontroller to output a composite video signal. All one needs to do is power on the device, then press the large button to cycle through test patterns. A small switch on the side toggles between NTSC and PAL video formats. It’s adorable, and makes good use of the enclosures that came with the dev board and proto board.
In a pinch a hacker could use an original Raspberry Pi, because the original Pi notably included a composite video output. That feature made it trivial to output NTSC or PAL video to a compatible display. But [Nicholas]’s device has a number of significant advantages: it’s small, it’s fast, it has its own battery and integrated charger, and the little color screen mirroring the chosen test pattern is a great confirmation feature.
This is a slick little device, and it’s not [Nicholas]’s first test pattern generator. He also created a RP2040-based unit with a VGA connector, the code of which inspired a hacker’s home-grown test pattern generator that was used to service a vintage arcade machine.

What is EQ? Definition, common types, and how to use it
In this comprehensive guide, learn about what EQ (equalization) is, its common types, and how to use it in your music.

Get the Pocket Strings library for FREE for a limited time
The Crow Hill Company is currently running a £25 voucher promotion that you can use to claim the Pocket Strings (£10) library for FREE or get a £4 bargain of your choice. The coupon code crowmas25 knocks £25 off any purchase in the Crow Hill store, with no minimum spend required. The no minimum spend [...]
View post: Get the Pocket Strings library for FREE for a limited time

How an Athletic Mindset Can Help Artists With Performance AnxietyDr. Noa Kageyama, PhD takes a look at research into how athletes deal with performance anxiety to extract a framework for musicians struggling with stage fright.
The post How an Athletic Mindset Can Help Artists With Performance Anxiety appeared first on Hypebot.

Randi Zimmerman of Symphonic Shares Her 2026 Music PredictionsHypebot's Future Predictions series is back. Join us as we ask the music industry's expert analysts what they think might unfold in the world of music in 2026.
The post Randi Zimmerman of Symphonic Shares Her 2026 Music Predictions appeared first on Hypebot.