terminator

Aside from the cost of the device and the expensive monthly plan, you might have to face an additional charge just for the privilege of getting a smartphone.

According to a document found by the Boy Genius Report, Verizon Wireless has raised its $175 early termination fee to a whopping $350 specifically for "advanced devices," which probably includes all smartphones. The termination fee won't stay at $350 however: the sum will decrease by $10 for every month of service.

This isn't exactly painting Verizon Wireless in a positive light here, though we suspect it's just … Read more

One surprise guest on The 404 always makes for a great show, especially when it's Bonnie Cha, who's in town apartment hunting for her big move out to New York at the end of the year! We're so excited at the idea of hanging out with her full-time, and even more stoked to welcome our second surprise guest: 404 superfan Brendan!

Our new underage friend took it upon himself to arrive at the CNET offices in the middle of his N.Y. vacation, bright and early at 3 a.m. in anticipation of sitting in on the show. We're more than happy to oblige, because that's some serious dedication. 404 fans rule; thanks for stopping by, Brendan!

In honor of our two guests, we've got a hilarious show today, literally packed full of awfully random stories from the Internet. It's the first day we're all back together as a family, so Jeff takes a second to tell us about his Halloween adventures and his trip to see Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3D. It sounds like he might be changing his opinion on 3D, although we're all a little wary about Jim Carrey's upcoming 3D adaptation of "A Christmas Carol."

Next, Wilson offers two completely off-kilter stories that he dug from the colon of the Web about a creepy new Wii game that forces you to "cram a Wiimote inside a baby," according to Wilson's description, and another story about a bizarre space hotel that will charge guests $4.4 million for a three-night stay that includes majestic views of the rising sun...15 times a day. No, it's not Fhloston Paradise, it's real life, which is much scarier.

Speaking of movies, check out the official trailer for "Prince of Persia" and this photo of a shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal and tell us you won't be first in line when it comes out on May 28, '10.

Also, Wilson tells us Joss Whedon has issued an open letter to the Terminator owners asking to make a $10,000 bid to continue the popular franchise. The guy definitely means business, and we might be onboard were it not for the fact that he keeps referring to himself as a "legendary mastermind." He does, however, offer a throat lozenge for Christian Bale's John Connor if accepted and even puts in $10k for the Batman series while he's at it, so it's clear that Joss Whedon has lost his marbles. Maybe we should just keep it to blood-suckers and wooden stakes, how about it Joss?

Much thanks once again to everyone who sent in photos for our Halloween costume virtual catwalk you see below. If you'd like to be included, send us a photo of this year's get up to the404{at}cnet[dot]com.

Hope you guys enjoy today's show as much as we enjoyed recording it!

By default, the root user is not enabled in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Enabling it takes a simple procedure by way of the Directory Utility application or via Terminal. In Mac OS X 10.5, Directory Utility was located in the Applications > Utilities folder. In Snow Leopard, this is no longer the case. You can now find Directory Utility in System > Library > CoreServices.… Read more

When you launch the terminal, the default shell "Bash" will present the last login time, followed by the command prompt. This is formatted to show the computer's name, followed by the current directory and then a dollar sign. Depending on the system and network configuration, the computer's name may change.… Read more

When you enter commands in the Terminal, they are saved in a history that you can scroll through by pressing the up and down arrows. This is convenient because you can quickly access previously entered commands for repetitive tasks, or to access previously used syntax for a command. While this is useful, if you have entered the same command several times you will have to scroll through the same command in the terminal in order to get to a unique command you entered. This default behavior can be changed, which may be convenient for people who access the terminal frequently.… Read more

Porn Terminator allows users to scan their computers for objectionable content, analyzing images based on skin tone. We found the program to be surprisingly effective at picking up on pornography, although it's not perfect.

The interface is simple and will be easy for anyone to navigate. Users need only select the directory they want to search and click Scan Now. The program searches for objectionable images, movies, and Web sites, and then allows users to review the findings and delete content as needed. We were a bit skeptical that the program could differentiate pornographic content from other images, but … Read more

Try as I might, I can't get that worked up about carrier exclusivity. If a cell phone carrier and a manufacturer want to pair up and offer a handset for a certain period, I'm not going to oppose it purely on principle. Granted, such deals may not be fair to absolutely everyone, but I'd argue that there are much bigger problems with how the U.S. wireless industry operates.

Yet, a few U.S. Senators don't appear to agree. On July 7, a few weeks after a Senate committee grilled national carrier reps on device exclusivity, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) wrote letters to both the federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department's antitrust division asking the agencies to investigate the issue and suggest possible regulatory proposals.

"The practice of large cell phone companies gaining exclusive deals to the most in-demand cell phones is a serious barrier to competition," Kohl wrote. "Consumers are unlikely to obtain cell phone service from companies if they cannot obtain desired handsets."

I'm no carrier lackey, but I find it fascinating that Congress is just now noticing that carrier exclusivity exists. The practice, which is hardly unique to the United States, has been around for a long time. So from where is the sudden interest coming?

… Read more

Delayed for years, a high-profile game originally to be published by Sierra and now in the hands of Atari has finally become reality: a Ghostbusters video game for the Xbox 360 and PS3 that's actually billed as a sequel to the movies.

Written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and voiced by nearly the entire cast of both films, it's not lacking in official Ghostbusters cred. The question is, how does it play? Reviews have been generally solid, but our intra-office discussions among the CNET editors' gaming roundtable have been just this side of heated. We're presenting our sometimes-conflicting views, and leaving it up to you to sort out who's right. Give us your opinion in the comments section below. Also, be sure to check out our exclusive trailer featuring many of the phantasms you'll encounter in the game!… Read more

Robots that can self-replicate aren't new. But a new DARPA initiative is a little more frightening as it looks to create robots that can take part in their own construction, according to The Register. That means they're "alive" before they're finished and can help their forebearers put them together.

As if I'm not scared to death enough of robots, it means the robot armies of the future might be able to build themselves faster.

Now, I'm all for science, but DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is a military entity. That means … Read more