ie8 fix

say

Photo fun

Add word bubbles, word art titles, and clip art graphics to a snap and suddenly your picture is worth a heck of a lot more words than a thousand. PicSay's free, fun app also handles photo-editing basics like color temperature, contrast, and funky effects, though it does lack other tools like cropping and sharpening, which you would expect to be shoo-ins. Sharing your creations through e-mail and social networking sites is a big draw; choosing from multiple picture resolutions makes it practical.

The 404 Podcast 525: Where we Shatner things my dad says

Natali Del Conte replaces Justin Yu on today's show, as he's out looking for pickles. The name of today's show refers to the news that William Shatner of "Star Trek" fame will star in CBS' new sitcom "S**t My Dad Says," based on the same expletive-filled Twitter phenomenon. We think Jerry Stiller would make a better cranky old man. (By the way, CBS, you own a equally funny podcast/show/Twitter called The 404, available on @the404.)

Jeff has a beef with the number of 3D movie theaters out there right now. Apparently, the success of "Avatar" has led a swarm of 3D films to be released, and many theaters aren't equipped to handle the 3D projections just yet.

Next, we get to Sony building a universal game controller (a la the Logitech Harmony One, but for videogame consoles). We're not exactly sure how they plan on doing this, or whether it's useful in any way. We do, however, reminisce a bit about our favorite game controllers. The original Sega Saturn controller is Wilson's favorite for 2D games. "It melts in your hands," he says.

Finally, we get to some voice mails, and the racist polar bear on Xbox Live has really taken off as a meme now. We're encouraging our fans to send in their renditions of this meme. The best ones we will showcase on the show. Maybe a few Photoshoped images? Maybe a few voice mails as the racist polar bear? Send them in to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com or call us at 1-866-404-CNET (2638).

EPISODE 525 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

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Talking time manager

Say the Time provides a simple tool for managing time and staying on task. Its signature voice alarm system was fun to use, but ultimately it's not much better than other alarm programs out there.

The program's interface was simple to understand and operate, since it broke all actions down into the easiest process and left no room for error. Things were so smooth we were able to set up reminders in a matter of seconds. The program basically functioned like many alarm systems we'd tested where we entered a date and time for an alarm via … Read more

Apple: Shareholders did approve 'say on pay'

Apple said Monday that its shareholders have approved a so-called "say on pay" proposal, contrary to the results it had reported earlier.

The company informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that a filing last week "incorrectly reported the voting percentages for shareholder-submitted proposals because abstentions were counted as 'No' votes." At Apple's February 25 shareholders meeting, shareholders had seemingly rejected a "say on pay" resolution that would have let them weigh in on policies regarding executive pay and compensation.

After a recount, Apple told the SEC on Monday, it turned out that a … Read more

Keep your coupons close

If you're not the type of person not to say 'no' to discounts, then Cellfire's mobile coupons application could potentially preserve your savings. The deals include local restaurants and retail services in the U.S., as well as national chains. Users can also save coupons for later use and participate in Cellfire's new program for cornering additional coupons by texting a keyword to 22888, Cellfire's short code. Unfortunately, Cellfire isn't always useful if your shopping habits don't mirror the offerings. Yet it's a broad enough service for us to lament that it hasn'… Read more

PicSay makes LOLcats on your Google phone

PicSay's stated purpose is to e-mail or text annotated photo messages to friends, but there's nothing stopping you from using the free program as a makeshift photo editor.

PicSay is a simple application made especially for Google Android, but it's nevertheless the most customization-focused application I've reviewed today. You start by choosing a picture from your photo album or the image you most recently viewed (this won't work if your Android phone is in mass storage mode.) Then press the Menu key to start adding in the special effects: word balloons, colorful headings, cartoony images, … Read more

Say Where iPhone app lets you search the Web with your mouth

Excuse Me Services (creators of Dial Directions) has finally made available its Say Where iPhone application which lets users search several popular Web services using just their voice. The tool was originally shown off at DemoFall back in early September, and it's taken this long to go through Apple's certification process.

Its big feature is that you can search Google Maps, Yellowpages.com, Yelp, and Traffic.com without having to use the iPhone's often times challenging on-screen keyboard. You simply talk into the microphone and it converts your speech into a search query. There's location awareness, … Read more

Say Where brings voice recognition to iPhone apps

If you've spent any time using iPhone apps, you probably have gotten a hint of the fact that they may well be the hottest thing going and, in some ways, the future of software.

That's largely due to the fact that, especially with iPhone 3G, the device combines GPS, an elegant interface, Mac OS X, an accelerometer and high-speed Internet connectivity.

Now, Dial Directions, a company that has focused on providing speech recognition tools to cell phone users, is getting in the iPhone game.

And on Monday, the company announced at DemoFall its Say Where iPhone app, a … Read more

Plan trips based on likes and dislikes with TripSay

This afternoon TripSay, a travel site that's currently in private beta is opening up to a larger group of testers and launching a few new features. The service will help you figure out places you should go on your vacation based on a calculator that will narrow down the results based on your budget, lingual ability, and comfort zone for going off the beaten path. You can also plug in your interests, and add ratings of places you've already been.

All of this information is taken and mapped out for you while being combined with what other TripSay … Read more

Say what? Mark Cuban threatens to popularize 'the motorboat' on 'Dancing with the Stars'

Have you set your DVR yet? I sure have. On Tuesday night we'll see the ballroom dancing debut of Dallas Mavericks owner and tech entrepreneur extraordinaire Mark Cuban as he leaps onto the stage of the corny ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars, which pairs celebrities of various calibers with professional dance partners and then pits the couples against one another.

Cuban, always the subtle one, is encouraging his blog readers to dial in and vote for him and his curvy blond dance partner, Kym. "I'm up against all the pretty boys, athletes and entertainers tonight,&… Read more