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The 404 803: Where we're picking up some Funyuns, man (podcast)

Wilson mysteriously disappears on this beautiful Wednesday, but Natali's pulling a twofer this week and filling in to help us with today's rundown. To her delight, a new augmented reality app is bringing future tech from the Harry Potter series alive, a PhillieBot will chuck the first patch at tonight's game, and a new iPhone case protects more than just the device inside.

The 404 Digest for Episode 803

Robot to throw first pitch at today's Phillies game How did that RFID chip end up in my suitcase? On a related note, Natali brings this delightful Jamaican tale to our attention. The JustinCase prototype fights for safe sex.

Thanks to Attariq for drawing this picture of The 404!

Episode 803 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Baseball season welcomes new mobile apps (video)

I am a diehard baseball fan. Wait, let me clarify: I am a diehard Oakland Athletics fan. And now's a good time to throw in a full disclosure: I also work for the team on game days as their in-stadium host. I know--it's the greatest job ever for a baseball fan! When I saw that my CNET colleague Erica Ogg was writing a piece about mobile apps for baseball, I thought it would be a perfect way to combine my passions--baseball and tech--into one cool and useful story for our CBS audience.

As an LA Dodgers fan, Erica … Read more

Win $1 million for perfect game in MLB 2K11

Loosen up your arm and take to your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3--there's $1 million on the line.

Starting tomorrow, Take-Two Interactive and Major League Baseball Properties are kicking off the Major League Baseball 2K11 Perfect Game Challenge, which will award $1 million to the first gamer to throw a perfect game in the recently released MLB 2K11.

A perfect game is one of the most impressive feats in baseball. A single pitcher takes the mound and retires all 27 batters without a single opposing player reaching base. Just 18 pitchers in the modern era have thrown a perfect … Read more

Baseball apps that score on opening day

Before "The Star-Spangled Banner" is sung, Navy jets go ceremonially zooming overhead, and the first cracked peanut shell hits the ground today, let's talk about the important stuff when it comes to the inaugural game of the 2011 Major League Baseball season: Baseball apps for your smartphone or tablet.

While baseball is surely the most romanticized of American professional sports, it's also by far the geekiest. After all, it was a certain set of baseball fans' and executives' reliance on and obsession with player performance numbers that gave birth to the curious science behind baseball statistics nicknamed "sabermetrics."

In some sports you can't look away or you'll miss a key play. Baseball moves at a bit more easygoing pace. "People say it's slow, but it's a thinking game," is how basketball coaching legend John Wooden once defended the sport.

With all that time between plays, and of course with OPS and VORP--that's "on-base percentage plus slugging" and "value over replacement player" to the uninitiated--to calculate (and pick the perfect roster of players for your fantasy team, obviously), it makes sense that the geekiest sport of them all offers so many ways to use technology to watch it.

Here are some of the best ways to watch, follow, or fantasize about America's pastime, and of course, keep score of games. … Read more

Pro teams form Green Sports Alliance

The newly formed Green Sports Alliance will promote eco-friendly practices for professional sports teams and their stadiums.

The alliance, announced this week, was created by team owner Paul Allen and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Allen, who co-founded Microsoft, owns the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers and co-owns the Seattle Sounders.

The Environmental Protection Agency and six pro sports leagues are endorsing the effort: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and Major League Soccer (MLS).

Six teams, including … Read more

Video game showdown: MLB 2K11 vs. MLB 11: The Show

With spring training under way, it's time to brush off the cleats, dig into the batter's box, and step into another season of baseball video games.

The usual suspects are at it again: 2K Sports' MLB 2K11 and Sony's MLB 11: The Show. Both games introduce some new features and gameplay, so let's go head to head to see which game hits for the cycle.

As it's been for some time now, Xbox 360 owners will only have one choice for a baseball game: MLB 2K11. Because MLB 11: The Show is developed by a Sony property, the game is only available on PlayStation 3.

MLB 2K11: If you're one of the millions of players last year who didn't win a million dollars pitching a perfect game in MLB 2K10, the contest is back again this year, though we wouldn't be shocked if the promotion ends before this post goes live.

Marketing strategies aside, MLB 2K11 does make a few noticeable tweaks in presentation and gameplay to improve the overall realism of the experience. Fielders will respond a bit more lifelike this time around, though there still were a few unnatural-looking instances that just didn't make sense.

Regardless, it's clear that a fair amount of attention was devoted to correcting some of last year's fielding issues, and we're happy to report things are much better in 2K11.… Read more

Facebook takes another swing at Web video

Last week, you could rent a movie on Facebook. Today, you can watch a live pro baseball game on the site.

Still think Facebook can't be a big player in Web video?

You can watch the game--today it was a pre-season matchup between the Dodgers and the Rangers--for free, via Major League Baseball's page.

If you click on the image, you'll be directed off-site, where you can sign up for a (free) account and watch the game on a full screen. And maybe you'll end up liking it so much you'll end spending up to $… Read more

New mode helps disabled gamers play MLB 11

A 25-year-old St. Louis Cardinals fan with cerebral palsy has inspired a new game mode in the upcoming MLB 11: The Show.

According to ESPN, Hans Smith wrote to Sony's San Diego game studio, the title's developer, a few years ago to talk about his love for baseball and the video game. The letter prompted the studio to add Smith as a playable character in MLB 10: The Show, and his continued ties with the development team spurred it to create a new game mode in its upcoming release that makes it easier for gamers with disabilities to play.

ESPN said the mode is named after Smith's organization, the Association for Disabled Virtual Athletes. Rather than require gamers to press several different buttons to control players, the new mode offers single-press functionality for everything from throwing a runner out to batting. The game's AI takes care of running after the ball and other activities that might require multiple buttons.… Read more

The 404 701: Where Justin cancels his flight back to San Francisco (podcast)

It was a close call, but California voters yesterday defeated Proposition 19, also known as the "Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010," so we're canceling our S.F. holiday plans and staying in New York. Oh well, at least we still have front-row seats to the World Series riots thanks to the newly appointed Riot Badges on FourSquare.

Speaking of things that are harmful to your health, a new report co-authored by former government chief drugs adviser David Nutt suggests that alcohol is more harmful than heroin.

Professor Nutt judged 20 drugs on 16 degrees of harm that include lasting effects on physical and mental health, social harms including crime, and environmental damage, and alcohol is the most prevalent on this chart, topping other substances like ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms, crack, and methylamphetamines.

The results likely have more to do with alcohol being the only legal drug on the list, and cannabis surprisingly ranks fairly high on the list as well, just two under nicotine.

We all know cigarettes are lethal carcinogens, but a new company called Blu Cigs is manufacturing electronic cigarettes aimed at users who want to "smoke" tobacco without the addictive nicotine element.

We're obviously not condoning use of this product, but the tech angle on the device itself is interesting because they use battery-operated atomizers to warm up capsules of flavored liquid that then produce vapor you can inhale, making them technically "legal" to use in non-smoking areas, like on an airplane. Be sure to watch this segment's video to see an actual e-cigarette in action!

After we hit the break (and a small audio hiccup afterward), we have two jaw-dropping video voicemails queued up: the first is from our own Jeff Bakalar, who recorded a video of him and his new wife Stacie at some dreadful resort in who knows where, and the second is a relatively straightforward voicemail from "BMGreatness" that also features a disturbing prop. Check it out, and keep sending your video voicemails to the404(at)cnet.com!

Even in paradise, Jeff is still Jeff. BMGreatness: Please call back and verify the owner of that thingie.

Episode 701 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more