improve

How much better will the iPad 3 be?

I was talking to a friend and tech enthusiast the other day--let's call him "Chuck"--and he sheepishly admitted that he'd taken the iPad plunge.

I was shocked. Not so much because Chuck had never bought an Apple product before (take note, Android fanboys), but because he'd bought an iPad 2 with the iPad 3 just around the corner (if the rumors are to be believed).

I told him he was crazy. In buying his first Apple product, he'd not only broken the cardinal rule of buying Apple products (don't buy within six … Read more

The 404 900: Where we have sweet dreams of rhythm and dancing (podcast)

Mark Licea transports us back to the '90s on today's 404 Podcast, which also happens to be our 900th episode! How appropriate that the penultimate episode would also fall on Jonathan Taylor Thomas' 30th birthday.

The '90s theme rolls through the show as Mark sings today's "Tang That Tune" music trivia segment, and we'll also reveal details about Nike's Back to the Future sneaker, as well as Rolling Stone's ranking of the worst songs of the '90s. We have a few selections of our own to add!

Finally, we spend a minute talking about a clever algorithm that helped arrange the names on the 9/11 memorial wall. The memorial planners hired a local media design firm to develop a network of names organized by interpersonal relationships.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The 404 Digest for Episode 900

An algorithm helped arrange the names on the 9/11 memorial. 9/11 memorial guide. No power laces = 100% fail; back to the best shoe Nike never made. Rolling Stone ranks the worst songs of the '90s. This matters: JTT reunites with "Home Improvement" cast to celebrate 30th birthday. Justin's Daily Bathroom Entertainment: dog loop.

Episode 900 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Easy 3D Design

Three-dimensional models are essential if you're in the design field. Google SketchUp gives you the ability to easily create your own 3D models. With an easy-to-use interface and a wide swath of Help features, it's the perfect tool for beginner and intermediate designers alike.

To begin, Google SketchUp puts all of the help options in plain sight, which include video tutorials, tips and tricks, a blog, and a help center. It asks you to select a template from a long list that includes templates for architectural design, woodworking, Google Earth modeling, and basic plans. We started simple with … Read more

Google announces host of search improvements

Google held a special search event in San Francisco this morning to discuss several improvements to its Web and mobile search products.

Though details surrounding the Inside Search event were slim leading up to it, the company promised journalists it would give them "an under-the-hood look at Google Search, share our vision, and demo some of our newest technology and features."

At a similar event last year, Google unveiled its Instant Search feature, allowing users to see results as they type queries into the search box.

This time around, the company focused first on mobile search. It reported … Read more

Reliable downloader

There's a ton of great video content on the Internet, and Dailymotion is one of the most popular sources for it. The unfortunate thing about online videos, of course, is the fact that they can't be viewed if you're somewhere without an Internet connection. Improved DailyMotion Downloader makes it easy to download videos from Dailymotion in a variety of formats, letting you entertain yourself with videos even when you're offline.

The program really couldn't be easier to use. It appears as an icon in your computer's system tray, and to download a video you … Read more

Should you buy a new receiver or new speakers?

I get a lot of questions from readers, and by far, this is the one that seems to be on everyone's mind: "I have an old receiver, and I was considering upgrading to a newer model with HDMI switching and Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio processing. Would I notice a dramatic difference in sound quality from what I have now?"

It's a hard question to answer for a lot of reasons, starting with the fact that one man's "dramatic" is another man's "subtle" difference. I think the best new … Read more

Online security toolkit

The Electronic Frontier Foundation publishes Tor, a free suite of Internet communications and security utilities. Tor enables safe, anonymous online browsing and publishing, instant messaging, and more. It has potential uses ranging from helping casual Net surfers protect themselves from online attacks and predators to giving programmers the tools to develop applications with built-in safety and privacy features. Tor protects your online privacy and anonymity by linking your PC to the Tor network, which then links to the "outside world." Tor's developers stress the importance of understanding what Tor does and doesn't do; it stands not … Read more

The Evil Empire takes on the Empire State

We've covered Improv Everywhere before. It's a loose-knit group of theater nerds who pull off hilarious yet elaborate pranks in public. They're always just this side of genius and a lot of fun to watch.

This week they had some fun in New York's subway system by re-creating the opening scene from "Star Wars" where Darth Vader boards Princess Leia's ship and takes her hostage. The group staged its latest "mission" several times, heading uptown as far as 125th Street, and then back down to Union Square.

It's not as … Read more

New service aims to improve on Chatroulette

If you like the basic concept of Chatroulette--video chatting with random strangers--but are tired of clicking "next," "next," "next," and men behaving lewdly, a start-up called ChatImprov says it has an alternative.

ChatImprov, said CEO Lee Lorenzen, is a service that offers video chatting between random strangers, but in a way that is designed to offer participants more engaging, interesting encounters than can usually be found on Chatroulette. Though it hopes to achieve that goal through a series of measures, the most direct is by creating a ratings system called ChatRank.

Simply put, Lorenzen … Read more