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The 404 Podcast 471: Where we work for No. 2

It's National Toilet Day today, and Justin isn't here to celebrate. Fortunately, we more than make it up with dozens upon dozens of fecal jokes. Mark Licea of The Green Show joins the show today to talk tech and...lingerie?

Admittedly, we here at The 404 celebrate National Toilet Day at least three times a day, but we're glad to see that people across the planet are starting to recognize the importance of the porcelain throne. It may sound a bit unusual for us to be so beholden to the toilet, but most New Yorkers can sympathize. After all, most of us here have to deal with a mixed bag of ethnic food and $20 dollar fees to use a public restroom.

In nonpoop news, we talk about a Warner Bros. program to let DVD owners upgrade their discs to Blu-ray versions. The program is called DVD2Blu. This only applies to Warner Bros. films, and viewers must pay a fee of $8 to $10 per disc. We think this is a great idea. Wilson is especially keen on not having to pay $30 for each disc in his "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" collections.

Also, Jeff has a follow up to our video game censorship series. He interviewed Major Nelson of Microsoft to talk about racism, misogyny, and homophobia in online gaming. Check it out. A keen chat room listener though points out the irony of talking about derogatory words when players are shooting people in the head.

If you're worried about your cheating wife or girlfriend, a Brazilian line of lingerie from LindeLucy that comes with a built-in GPS tracking device. Now, the device is not exactly subtle, but for the paranoid ones out there, this might be the trick to keep your lady in line--or get her mad at you, again. Trust, after all, is the bond that holds all relationships together.

Finally, we get to some voice mails and viewer feedback about cool moms that play video games before their children do and an early review of "2012." Wilson is disappointed with the fact that the film won't be available in IMAX. He just wants to watch the world burn. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew remember the movie magic of the first "Jurassic Park" movie. The t. rex at the end: Priceless.

Send in your feedback and callbacks to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Or call us! We are after all an audio podcast too! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Thanks again!

EPISODE 471 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

Digital cinema is looking 'Up'

I went to an opening-day screening of the new Disney/Pixar film "Up," on Friday. I had a great time and not just because of the movie. There was an interesting technology story, too.

The Camera 7 theater in the Silicon Valley city of Campbell recently installed four new digital cinema projectors. They're the best on the market today: Sony's SRXR220, which lists for about $200,000 with the usual required accessories.

Sony also has a slightly less expensive model, the SRXR210, for smaller screens. What puts these projectors ahead of the competition is their native … Read more

Is 3D DOA?

There's an interesting article over at Slate titled "The problem with 3D." I'd encourage you to read the whole thing, but the subtitle pretty much sums it up: "It hurts your eyes. Always has, always will." Author Daniel Engbar argues that today's digital-assisted 3D technology isn't so far removed from earlier incarnations of the 1950s and 1980s, and that it's still effectively hacking your brain's depth perception triggers--and putting a lot of strain on your eyes in the process.

This matters, of course, because Hollywood is doubling down on 3D technology in a big way. In addition to new movies like "Monsters vs. Aliens" and James Cameron's upcoming "Avatar," studios are repurposing existing favorites for eventual 3D releases. And why not? With increasingly affordable giant-screen TVs in the home (and ever-shrinking theater-to-DVD release windows), the industry needs new and more elaborate gimmicks to get customers into the theater.

But it's not just the movie theater.… Read more

Dolby literally to give you more 3D

The first time I bought into this this whole digital 3D thing was a 2006 showing of "Superman Returns" on an IMAX screen. In the scene, various objects floated around the screen and seemingly, right in front of my face. For me, this was the first time 3D had lived up to its promise.

If Dolby Laboratories has anything to say about it, it won't be the last. On Tuesday, the company announced that theater exhibitors will now be able to play Dolby 3D Digital Cinema content on screen sizes of up to 70 feet (42 feet … Read more

Giant screens are in, spending money on crazy stuff is out

With the U.S. economy in the toilet and the world facing increasingly uncertain times while we select the next president, it's good to know you can still go out and buy an array of 12 24-inch monitors for 13,000 bucks.

On Wednesday, CineMassive announced the OmegaPlex, an "Ultra High Resolution Multimonitor Desktop Display Wall." If you're into world domination, you're probably gonna want one of these. For everyone else, well, that will depend on your salary level and, possibly, your sanity.

For those of you who are interested--you rich, crazy sociopaths you--CineMassive insists … Read more

Samsung's showcase in San Fran

Samsung Electronics, an arm of the giant Korean company (second only to General Electric in annual revenue among conglomerates), held a press event in San Francisco last week to show off its products for the coming holiday season.

I'd been looking for an excuse to go up to the city, so off I went-- taking Caltrain rather than driving. Conveniently, the Samsung event was just a few blocks from the train station in San Francisco.

The 404 142: Where we KILL the Batman

This is the show where we KILL the Batman. And by kill, we mean praise...maybe obsess. We scored a few free tickets to attend an exclusive Dark Knight IMAX screening and after getting stood up by three contest winners, we finally get in touch with Cesar Marty, who came to enjoy the movie with us. And man...did we enjoy it. So much so that we spend the first half of today's show gushing over its superiority over all other superhero flicks. Don't worry, we keep Wilson "The Spoiler" Tang on a short leash. The … Read more

The 404 141: Where this aggression will not stand, man

We have a winner! After poring over a ton of submissions, Natali chooses a winner to attend a non-date with her tonight to see an exclusive screening of The Dark Knight on the IMAX screen. Here's the haiku that took the prize, courtesy of Kin::

What do I want more? Natali or the Dark Knight? Movie first, then her...

Scallyyyyyy! Congratulations Kin, we've sent you an e-mail with instructions on how to pick up your tickets.

Our favorite guest ghost Rana Sobhany joins us again and brings her friend Alex Cone, who dishes the dirt on the Apple … Read more

The 404 140: Where you can win a non-date with Natali Del Conte!

Natali Del Conte scored an extra ticket to an exclusive IMAX screening of the Dark Knight tomorrow night, so we're holding a contest to see who gets it: just send a haiku about Natali and Loaded to the404@cnet.com or record it on a voice mail to 1-866-404-2638 and we'll choose a winner on tomorrow's show! Remember two things: it's a non-date (listen to today's show for more details) and entries must be received before tomorrow's show. Good luck! On today's show, we spout about our "appearance" on Fox News, … Read more

Who shows the best view of 3D 'Beowulf'?

The race for the best 3D movie projection technology began in earnest last week with the release of Beowulf, and I'm here to judge the first lap.

Beowulf, which recounts the Anglo-Saxon adventures of a Swedish prince of that name, is the first wide release of a 3D movie, showing on hundreds of screens in 3D. And for the first time, viewers had the choice not only of watching with Imax 3D and Real D projection technology, but also newcomer Dolby 3D.

Based on watching the movie start to finish three times, the 3D winner is Dolby 3D--and not … Read more