Geek culture

The 404 888: Where you have a weak electrochemical bond (podcast)

You can stop holding your breath for someone to port Android onto the HP TouchPad--it turns out someone already has, in secret! This Reddit thread has pictures and video evidence of an HP TouchPad purchased at Best Buy on Saturday that boots up with Android already on it.

And if that doesn't work out, Hack N Mod is offering a $1,500 bounty to anyone who can successfully achieve the five different tasks involved in rooting and booting Android.

In other news, did you know that the "Fifth Element" movie was based on only the first half of director Luc Besson's original 400-page script? Reddit strikes again and tells us that the second story, called "Mr. Shadow," wasn't made, but we can't help but dream about its story...

Also, PETA is launching a porn Web site that pulls the old bait 'n' switch by drawing in Netizens with dreams of dirty movies, then exposing them to gruesome movies exposing the mistreatment of animals. Those two things go together, right?

The 404 Digest for Episode 888

A guy who gets a TouchPad at Best Buy discovers Android already on it. Modders offer a bounty for an HP TouchPad Android port. PETA plans to launch a porn site. Today I learned that "The Fifth Element" was based on only the first half of Luc Besson's original screenplay.

Episode 888 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The Thuggie: Latest trend in semi-ironic, pants-optional lounge-wear

Troops on both sides of the sleeved blanket battleground are quick to defend their sides. For example, a friend of mine proudly reps Team Slanket for its utilitarian foot pocket and softer pile fabric, whereas others prefer the larger back section of the Snuggie that makes it more...blankety. Most recently, a third contender has stepped into the lounge-off hoping to pull in the last demographic unswathed by the trend: it's called the Thuggie.

Its cutesy name is the only similarity between the Thuggie and its competitors; it's basically just an extra-long fleece hoodie that extends down to the wearer's knees for optimum coverage.

There's also a kangaroo pocket in the middle for your remote control and/or snacks, but if you think the idea derived from hip-hop's iconic XXL plain white T-shirt trend, you'd be wrong; the Thuggie's genesis story is actually set on the ski slopes of Canada.

Creator Bryan Pudney and three of his friends went skiing in Whistler, B.C., back in 2009 and handmade the first version of the Thuggie as a joke to mock the bulky fashion of other snow-goers. But like a lot of things you can find on the Internet, the irony faded and it became a hit soon after.

The Thuggie store offers an assortment of colors for $75, or you can "design" your own custom Thuggie for a little more. You can't find Thuggies in stores yet, but I predict it'll hit Duane Reade and Walgreens shelves in time for the winter holidays.

Alternatively, if you're not buying into the whole Thuggie thing, Why Not Apparel Inc. also offers Thugglets for babies and Chuggies for your favorite beverage.

More Thuggie pics after the jump.… Read more

Youngest old man returns in 'Doctor Who'

The world's longest-running sci-fi series, "Doctor Who," will return this weekend with the youngest actor yet continuing his portrayal of one of the oldest characters in modern fiction.

The BBC series will turn 48 this fall, while Matt Smith will soon celebrate 29. The Doctor himself is more than 900 years old

"A lot was made of me being the youngest actor in the part," said Smith, who started portraying The Doctor last year. "Actually, I think that's worked to my favor because I think there's a sort of interesting contradiction of having a young face and old soul."

During a recent event previewing the return of "Doctor Who" this Saturday on the BBC in the U.K. and BBC America in the U.S., Smith discussed how starring in one of the world's biggest nerd-centric cult shows affects his existence in time and space. … Read more

'Tron'-inspired scooter could make geek kids rejoice

If your kids think traditional bicycles are boring, why not have them ride this "Tron"-inspired training bike instead?

Designed by Ryan Callahan, an industrial designer from the Town/Lifestyle group at Trek Bicycle, this pedal-less scooter could have kids speeding around the Game Grid while learning the basics of cycling.

Callahan presented his idea at TrekWorld 2012 last week. Do note, however, that this is only a prototype and further changes (perhaps the ability for the scooter to be generated from a baton) are expected. There's no release date for the final product yet.

Here's another look at the concept art: … Read more

The 404 887: Where we're bleeding $99 HP TouchPads (podcast)

Guess who got a TouchPad for $99 this weekend? Everyone. If you weren't lucky enough to snag one early Saturday morning, don't lose hope yet--we expect some online distributors to continue dropping prices for existing stock, not to mention the white 64GB model that just dropped last Friday.

We got plenty of voicemails and video messages from listeners standing in line for the TouchPad, so tune in to hear a couple horror stories from the trenches.

We're also encouraging all 404 listeners to shoot us an e-mail at the404(at)cnet(dot)com with your suggestions, criticisms, and ideas for growing the show. We've always valued our listener input about where you think we should improve, so let us know and we'll try to make it happen.

The 404 Digest for Episode 887

HP's TouchPad fire sale: The fallout. Wilson's Best Buy investigation shows dismal turnout for competing tablets. Arturo gets a touchpad for $99.

Episode 887 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 886: Where we'll see you in the meatspace (podcast)

Russ Frushtick from MTV's Multiplayer Blog joins us on the show today to chat about which upcoming releases are earning his favor, including Dead Island, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Batman: Arkham city, Gears of War 3, and Uncharted 3.

We also want to talk about Scott Stein's recent Crave article about the lack of backward-compatibility on modern consoles, but we'll spend the first half of the show on HP's double-whammy announcement about acquiring U.K. software company Autonomy while simultaneously dropping out of the PC hardware business.

The 404 Digest for Episode 886

'Dead Island' gameplay videos--15 more minutes of zombie carnage. HP bidding adieu to WebOS, PC biz. Game consoles and the death of backward-compatibility: Why we don't care. Add Russ Frushtick on Twitter. 90 percent of people don't know how to use Ctrl-F. Penny auctions cost plenty.

Episode 886 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 885: Where we weeze the juice (podcast)

"Woot" joins "jeggings," "mankini," "noob," and 400 other new definitions in the 12th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary published today, but what happened to "glamazon," "hangry," and "retrosexual"?

Along with our suggestions for new slang to be added, we're also warning everyone about a privacy breach called juice-hacking and a virtual hit-man service that charges $10 an hour for DDoS attacks. And we talk about whether it's necessary to reboot or shut down your computer at night.

This, plus a handful of Calls From the Public on today's episode--enjoy!

The 404 Digest for Episode 885

'Woot' is officially a thing, according to Oxford English Dictionary. Beware of juice-hacking. Russians outsource DDoS attacks for $10 per hour. Is it necessary to restart or shutdown your laptop every night? Congratulations to Sir Ron for completing the maze we featured on yesterday's show!

Episode 885 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Toyota aims little 2012 Yaris at the young

CULVER CITY, Calif.--With the 2012 Yaris, Toyota is promoting an image as much as a car. The automaker is gearing up to target the four-cylinder at entry-level buyers as likely to spend their money on video games and MP3s as they are a new set of wheels. ("Yaris! It's a car!" reads a cutesy little ad campaign with bright, cheery letters).

The youth-centric campaign is primarily marketing hype, as the Yaris is no more or less appealing to someone in a Captain America T-shirt in San Francisco as it is to a middle-class family in Milwaukee. An inexpensive car that saves you money on gas can sell itself in this repressed economy if it's put together correctly. And the Yaris is a fun, unassuming ride that falls a little short of adjectives like zippy or thrilling. It doesn't feel as cool as a Fiat 500, as powerful as a Volkswagen Golf, or as substantial as a Ford Fiesta, but for $14,115 to $17,200 (depending on the setup) it's close enough for young drivers entering the market. … Read more

'Woot' is officially a thing, according to Oxford English Dictionary

August marks the 100th anniversary of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COED), the smaller but most widely recognized derivative of the official Oxford English Dictionary, or OED. To celebrate, the lexicon published its 12th edition today that adds more than 400 new entries--many of which reflect the technological pervasiveness of modern society, like "woot," "mankini," and "jeggings."

COED Editor Angus Stevenson heads up a small team at the Oxford University Press's academic cabinet tasked with choosing the next words for inclusion, and the process involves keying popular words into a database that shows frequency of use in print and online.

Since publishing its first edition back in 1911, the COED's evolution shows the tremendous effects of social media and instant-access technology on language, creating new words but also modifying existing definitions of words like "follower."

What once meant "a person who imitates or copies" now earns a second and more widely used meaning: "someone who is tracking a particular person, group, etc., on a social networking site." Another example that's a little unsettling is the general term "friend" that loses gravity in its new form: "a contact on a social networking Web site."… Read more