Reality

E3's come and gone, but some oddities still linger. Shown during the Sony E3 press conference and discussed little after that, Invizimals is a curious game using the PSP's camera to create augmented reality "animal ghosts" that appear in real-life settings. Coded capture cards seem to attract the beasts, after which they do battle to each other. Nintendo DS-like blow-and-shake controls add extra input to the critter-fighting.

Confused? Check out the trailer. Would augmented reality gaming be something you'd like to see more of? Would it be something you'd trust the children with? And, … Read more

Many of you will, perhaps, remember how Woz was very suspicious (and then suspiciously changed his mind) about the voting on "Dancing with the Stars".

Now we are tormented with cries that local AT&T representatives in Arkansas gave lessons in sending up to 10 simultaneous texts to people at "American Idol" viewing parties. The surprise winner (to some, at least) was Kris Allen from Arkansas.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Fox and the two companies that produce the show, FreemantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment, denied that the "enthusiasm" of … Read more

Monday, I was concerned that the words "Ashton" and "Kutcher" had not yet been associated with the proposed new Twitter-based reality TV show.

Today, the real Ashton Kutcher himself tweeted his concern about the show's content: "Wow I hope this isn't true. I really don't like being sold out. May have to take a twitter hiatus."

When he wrote "this," he was referring to a report from the Examiner.com that speculated whether people would be asked to, in one way or another, cyberstalk those bathed by fame.

The … Read more

If scientists got the correlation models together, I wonder if they would find a blisteringly harmonious relationship between those who loathe reality TV and those who loathe Twitter.

Critics of the microblogging service declare that, like reality TV, tweets are just mindless ego-fodder being released on the masses by the second.

Well, now the two ego-fodder receptacles appear to be coming together for the further enlightenment of the world.

Variety reported Monday rather up-to-the-minute news of Brillstein Entertainment, a powerful artist management company, and Reveille Productions, the folks who used to be owned by NBC Entertainment's co-chairman, Ben Silverman, … Read more

If you've ever wondered what it would take for Wilson to finally snap, well...it's today. After getting a load of flack for "spoiling" the "Star Trek" movie on last Friday's show, Wilson retaliates. You gotta hear this. We also take a crack at the Guitar Hero reality show, Disneyland noodies, chatting with strangers, and wolf shirts guaranteed to give you magic powers!

After forcing Wilson to bite his tongue re: "Star Trek" spoilers, we talk about Disney laying off employees in charge of screening mid-ride pictures for nudity before they're displayed and sold to the parkgoers. Larger men are particularly excited about this because it means that they can finally let their moobs fly free, but something tells me parents won't appreciate the sneak peek.

We go into detail about why this might be a bad idea, although I had no idea they even employed people for this specific job in the first place. What do you even call that? Nude-person-picture-watcher-outer? Get a real job, Grouch.

Well, well, wellllll--look who decided to join the Konami code party: FACEBOOK. Literally weeks after ESPN used the code for its unicornery, Facebook comes along and does it to its site too, but on a much smaller and more irritating level.

Now, when you enter in the famous code (I shouldn't have to tell you what it is), a couple of cheesy colored orbs pop up on the screen and follow your cursor around like an annoying little mutt. Granted, I don't know how they could have topped UNICORNS and RAINBOWS, but they could've at least tried.

Here's where it gets ugly. Calls From the Public today is sponsored by Wilson freaking out on everyone for getting mad at him about spoiling a certain cameo...actually two. We got several voicemails and countless e-mails about our Tang-a-lang, but when we give Wilson a chance to apologize to our beloved fans, he lashes out and says a few things that might rile you all up.

Now we all know that Wilson gets a lot of hate on the show, but it was a joke! That said, listen to today's show and let us know what you think. Leave us a voicemail at 1-866-404CNET or e-mail us at the404[at]CNET{dot}com!

For decades, slightly cheesy sleight-of-hand artists around the world have promised that "you won't believe your eyes!" before demonstrating ageless moves handed down from generation to generation.

Now that an ever-accelerating cascade of eye-popping visual technology such as augmented reality has threatened to steal some of the magic dust from old-fashioned magicians, along comes a pasteboard prestidigitator who folds augmented reality into his own YouTube-ready routine.

Enter Marco Tempest, a renegade cardsharp and AR artist who assembled an open-source, real-time theater of the future for your entertainment, called Augmented Reality Magic 1.0.

Is this, ladies and gentlemen, magic of the future?… Read more

Last year, the Institute for the Future created an alternate-reality game, Superstruct, designed to crowdsource scenarios to try to save humanity from fictional "superthreats" discovered in 2019 that are thought to mean the end of humanity by 2042.

Now, the IFTF has issued its first findings from the 1,000-plus stories, 500-plus discussions, and 500-plus "superstructures" created by the worldwide community of the game's players, and while there's some reason for hope, there's also a lot to be pessimistic about.

In a report issued Wednesday evening, Superstruct's program director, Kathi Vian, lead … Read more

Many new car buyers face a similar dilemma: You want to customize a new car, but don't know if you'll like the maroon leather interior that looks great in the catalog but always seems too pimplike in person. Not wanting to make an expensive mistake, you go with the safe silver-and-black combo, just like everyone else.

Cater, a technology group funded by the European Commission, is working on software that could help shoppers customize with confidence.

Using virtual-reality technology, Cater is building a car customization application that helps customers picture more realistically, and spatially experience, what their configured … Read more

Back in 2007, we put out two April Fools' Day posts chronicling fake and absurd start-ups. One was a Google Maps mashup for rodent sightings in New York restaurants. The other was a prenatal version of Twitter where unborn children could post status updates. A few readers took the bait in the comment sections, but it appears our ideas weren't so far off, as both have come to fruition just a year and a half later.

The first is, true-to-form, a maps mashup where New York City residents can see where local eateries have had rat-related health code violations. … Read more