The 404 podcast

The 404 had an all-around scattered Turkey Weekend that ended with Wilson getting Justin's deadly disease. With the show once again missing a host, we deflect the quantum of solace and invite MTI to chat it up about free flip flops, depressing holidays, Black Friday, and Japan's largest pseudo-orgy.

Straight up, I had a crappy Thanksgiving. What started off as a healthy month ended with a virus compounded by a upper respiratory tract infection and canceled dinner plans. Instead, I spent the holiday in a random E. Vill. diner with a friend, blowing snot into a trash bag full of tissues and generally wallowing in my own filth. But I'm not one to complain; actually, it was a lot of fun and best of all: no post-cookery dishes to wash! Sometimes things work out for the best, but we want to hear about your spoiled holiday plans. If you can top my depressing Thanksgiving story, leave us a voicemail @ 1866-404-CNET or e-mail it to us @ the404{[at]}cnet[dot]com. If we crown yours the saddest of all, we'll send you a copy of Shaun White Snowboarding signed by the man himself to make up for it! Good luck!

It doesn't matter if you get down with turbaconducken or veggie alternative tofurky, it doesn't matter if your first sex ed lesson was in Cantonese or involved videos of a crowning baby, you can definitely get down with The 404 pre-Thanksgiving show! We talk about Truman Show syndrome, Ann Coulter's ironic injury, forgiveness, the PlayStation credit card, alien squids and the death of Batman!

Dan the Mantern here. Okay, gross out time in five syllables: TUR-BA-CON-DUCK-EN. Only in America, people, can one indulge in the abomination of nature that is a stuffed chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey that's wrapped in bacon. This, my friends, is the reason we have half-ton mothers and fathers. What's so bad about plain old turkey? Anyway, however you do the holiday, have a great Turkey day, 404 fans! The 404 is thankful for you!

Next it's on to a fairy tale story starring Steve Jobs as the fairy godmother. Seems some kid (who is clearly more well-off than the average college student) sent him an e-mail desperately seeking a student discount for Final Cut Studio. Jobs waved his magic wand and sent him the package totally free. Wow Steve, that's awfully nice of you. How bout hooking The 404 up with a Mac Pro that won't drop our Ustream feed?

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the short week. Download today's episode for more stories from around the Web, a ridiculously huge Calls from the Public session, and some Christian rock apologies.

Jeff is back to prove that father truly does not know best, but we're happy to welcome him back to the show. The OG crew is finally back together, so we get right back into the mix with stories about video game energy conservation, YouTube cheat tactics, Christian Guitar Hero, the weekend box office, and Jeff regales us with tales of the forgotten country of Canada.

Welcome back Jeff! Last week seemed to last forever without you buddy, and while guest hosts are always a good time, The 404 is almost too positive without your brand of bitter hatred for everything under the sun. So now that you're back and you've brought your gray cloud with you, we can get back to all things "normal" on the show. We're all about new and old movies, so I must recommend Let the Right One In, a new movie that takes an original look at vampirism. The story is about a young boy ostracized by his peers who finds friendship in a young neighbor...who also happens to be a blood-sucking vampire preying on other members of his community. It's an indie flick, so don't expect to see big budget explosions or crazy CGI, but the story is well-told and emotional. The movie is all in Swedish, so don't forget your reading glasses. I also just read that an American remake is in the works that will undoubtedly butcher the original. Just check out this one; I give it The 404 Seal of Approval, arf arf you won't be disappointed!

On today's show, dogs, dogs and more dogs! Why? We have no idea. We talk about Bentley the driving dog, an animal abuser who gets served with poetic justice and, of course, the release of cutesy dog movie BOLT. A cell phone saves one man's life, Second Lifers get physical and Canada's biggest losers win in court. Also, angsty teen vampire flick Twilight drops this weekend, get out your Clearisil...

Dan the Mantern here. My favorite story of today is about how Second Life users are getting it on. This article from the BBC describes in vivid detail how to set yourself up for some 3-D lovin. Kudos to the creative programmers who busted out the code that allows for some pretty graphic depictions of virtual anatomy, but, come on people, is this really the way we want future generations to remember how we harnessed technology? Well, at least you don't have to worry about birth control...

Justin kicks off the show with some fresh haterade for Fox "personality" Bill O'Reilly and his views on the godless liberal city of San Francisco. Also on the show, Wilson goes hands on with the Blackberry Storm, an inmate gets $300 K for his lost genitals, NASA installs a fart detector in the space station, same sex couples can join eHarmony and PETA releases "Cooking Mama: Mama kills animals." We conclude with a geeked out discussion about X-Men.

Dan the Mantern here. In case you haven't seen it already, you should check out the above "documentary" from the O'Reilly Factor that claims that, should the Christian right not remain vigilant, all of America will begin to resemble San Francisco, the modern-day Sodom. If you analyze the video, you'll notice that several interviews were conducted with homeless people and burnt-out hippies, precisely the type of people who would make any city seem like an undesirable place to live. Obviously O'Reilly is running out of material. You better watch your back, Bill, because I know a 130-lb. Asian man who loves skinny jeans and ass-whupping, and his skinny jeans are in the wash...

UPDATE: If you're having problems listening to today's episode of the show, please re-download the episode. We apologize, but there was an error in the MP3 encoding, which caused the file to not play passed the 7 minute mark.

The Juice Stain is back! The guys invite Natali del Conte and Cheryl Holloway onto the show to give a much-needed female perspective on the world of technology and pop culture. Today's rundown includes stories about using technology to cover up infidelity, Google's new iPhone application, the most ridiculous band names in the history of music, and a look into upcoming movies. Also, be sure to listen for a way to get FREE PIZZA! Whoo!

Yikes, that was a rough couple of days. After few episode absences due to an illness that will remain undisclosed (not stomach herpes...… Read more

It's 404 time! Wilson, MTI and the Mantern hijack the show while Jeff tours Canada and Justin suffers from radiation poisoning. With Wilson at the helm, the show starts to sound like NPR, but a few below-the-belt comments from the Mantern get things back on track. We talk golden earbuds (not showers), unarmed German thieves, astronaut fitness and Chinese spies. For the show's second half we gear up for the new Xbox Live Experience that launches tomorrow.

Dan the Mantern here. I must say, I'm pretty excited about the launch of the new Xbox Live Experience. Having canceled my cable subscription because I can't afford an additional gajillion dollars every month to surf 700 channels of crap, I'm hungry for a new way to entertain myself. I can't wait to start streaming to my big screen in full HD. As for the new "avatar" features, I'm petrified. Almost nothing is worse than getting pwned by an 8-year-old in Call of Duty 4 and having to listen to him trash talk. Getting pwned by a cutesy cartoon avatar of an 8-year-old who has a mouth like a sailor? Completely humiliating. Here's to the last hours of a Mii-free Xbox Live.

With Jeff on vacation and Justin dying of stomach herpes, Wilson is left alone to hold down The 404 fort. Mark Licea and Joey Kaminski join him today to talk about Quantum of Solace, Obama's BlackBerry, and ordering pizza from your TiVo.

Unfortunately, Wilson doesn't have the writing prowess of a one Justin Yu, but he'll do his best today to sum up what was a relatively disaster free show. First of all, he actually did pay attention to the chat room. So all you haters out there, Wilson can read. We also wish our second favorite Asian, J-Yu, a speedy recovery. We know we shouldn't have let him go home with that woman. Mark Licea joins the show to talk a bit about the latest Bond-movie and how kick ass it was. Mr. Kaminski chimes in on President-elect Barack Obama's BlackBerry addiction and its threat to national security. People keep on getting lazier, with cell phone airport check-in and ordering pizza from their TiVos. This, in turn, brings up memories of My Half-ton Dad on TLC. (Seriously people when you hit 400 lbs. put down the cheeseburger and see a doctor!)

Finally, the latest trailer for the new J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek comes out today. So for all your Trekkies out there, check your pants. It's already an order of magnitude more exciting than the craptastic Star Trek: Nemesis we got a few years ago. And we pay our respects to ValleyWag and Total Request Live. Only the former deserves our respect.