balloons

We should have seen this one coming. Richard Heene, much better known these days as "Balloon Boy's dad," has been made into an action figure.

Oxford, Conn.-based Herobuilders.com--whose action figures include Sarah Palin, Elliott Spitzer, and Joe the Plumber--is newly out with the Heene model. It sports a T-shirt with an arrow that points upward and the text "I'm with stupid." Attic box, confused 6-year-old boy, and gaggle of reporters not included.

The action figure costs $34.95, which seems a bit pricey given that you can get an entire Balloon Boy Halloween costume kit … Read more

Episode 54 of the Digital City, where we discuss NYC's plan to stop taxi drivers from using cell phones and Washington's suddenly high-tech subway system.

Scott talks about his meeting with Shigeru Miyamoto, and Nintendo's big holiday gamble on New Super Mario Bros., while special guest Jeff Bakalar expresses his frustration with Jack Black's Brutal Legend.

And, in a nod to the hottest story of last week, we show off the very best Balloon Boy Web games (ok, the only Balloon Boy Web games we could find), and host the world podcast premiere of the parody … Read more

I have tried to avoid the Balloon Boy, his dad, and all who sail in this online/offline/out-of-line clattermaran.

However, thanks to CBS News, I have learned that Richard Heene once appeared on a fine YouTube extravaganza called The Psyience Detectives and offered 15 reasons why our haggard old world will end on December 21, 2012.

I have no idea if the world will end in 2012, though I suspect Richard Heene doesn't know either. And yet there is something quite eerie that he should assault our eyes and ears in the same week that a movie called &… Read more

Two years ago we asked the question: Could the mass hysteria of the 1938 "War of the Worlds" scandal, in which a Halloween radio drama orchestrated by actor Orson Welles was mistaken for a real announcement of Martians landing in New Jersey, still take place in the Information Age?

The answer: Yes, it could. And it happened this week.

Like millions of Americans, you were probably glued to your computer watching some news outlet's live video stream or hitting refresh on Twitter for updates on "Balloon Boy," the twisted saga of a 6-year-old Colorado boy who had allegedly floated away in a flying-saucer-shaped helium balloon … Read more

Even though I definitely messed up the title format and everything else for that matter, today's show is still "Where the cheese stands alone," because you get to witness the pain as I try to record a solo podcast. That's right, Jeff is out and Wilson called in sick, so I'm left to fend for myself with the generous help of a few friends along the way.

Disclaimer: Today's show is atypical. If this is your first time listening to The 404, note that this is definitely not the norm. The show is usually very random and tangential, but today's episode is a ONE MAN SHOW. That man is me, and for that I beg your forgiveness in advance. If you're able to get through the entire show, well then I tip my hat to you.

It's the first time I've operated the engineering board and camera switching by myself, so the production value ain't up to par with Jeff's expert skills...just keep that in mind as you struggle through this episode of random musings, behind the scenes scoops, upcoming guests, meet-up ideas, Halloween costumes, and the future of The 404!

As hard as it is to listen to me wing my way through 45 minutes of streaming video, it would have been far worse if not for my dear friends Dan Ackerman, Scott Stein, and Julie Rivera who all came in to put me out of my lonely misery. They're all part of CNET's own Digital City Podcast, so be sure to check them out.

Here's some exciting news to look forward to: our guest on Monday will be the band Family of the Year. After hearing that we chose them for our Beck's Beer Draft Pick, they agreed to come in for a live in-studio acoustic performance!

Jeff will certainly be back for that, but no guarantees for Wilson G. Tang, who may or may not have contracted the Avian Swine Flu, a rare form of H1N1 that only occurs when pigs fly.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Twitter was bombarded on Thursday afternoon by the shocking news that a six-year-old boy had climbed into a homemade hot-air balloon and taken off over Colorado--the microblogging service's timeline temporarily slowed to a crawl and its trending topics were filled with tags like Colorado, Denver, and #balloonboy.

He was never actually in the balloon, apparently: CNN reported later on Thursday that he was found, safe, hiding in a box in the attic of his family home.

Live video streams from news outlets' helicopters showed the saucer-shaped balloon speeding through the air and then making a relatively soft landing. But … Read more

If you want to consider a difficult computational problem, try thinking of the algorithms required to animate more than 10,000 helium balloons, each with its own string, but each also interdependent on the rest, which are collectively hoisting aloft a small house.

That was the challenge the production team at Pixar faced when it set out to begin work on "Up," its tenth feature film, five years in the works, which hits theaters on Friday.

There was absolutely no way the team was going to hand-animate the balloons. Not with their numbers in five-figures, and especially not … Read more

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--You might think sitting in a flying armchair would be a blood-pumping, adrenaline-rushing, and terrifying pastime. But I'm here to tell you that it's pretty darn smooth sailing.

I know because on Friday morning, I got a chance to take a ride on, yes, a flying armchair. And while I didn't crash it into power cables or cause a major blackout like Larry Walters, aka "Lawnchair Larry", I did take some serious air.

This was a rare opportunity to take part in what I suppose is the little-known sport of cluster ballooning. Ultimately, … Read more

Coming to a sky near you: a large cluster of multicolored balloons carrying a real-world version of the flying armchair featured in Pixar's forthcoming film, "Up."

The film, Pixar's 10th animated feature, focuses on the fate of 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen, his house, and a wayward 8-year-old who happens by one day. Together, launched into the sky by a cluster of balloons tied to the roof of Fredricksen's house, the two set off on, you know, the adventure of a lifetime.

For most of us, we'll have to go to the theater to share in … Read more