Easter

The 404 775: Where we <3 Japan (podcast)

We're keeping Japan in our collective thoughts today as the country continues to suffer from the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit this morning. Be sure to visit RedCross.org for how you can help with the relief effort.

As usual, Google is doing its part to help on the tech side with a Person Finder to help locate displaced family and friends in Japan. Google launched a similar project in February of last year amid the Chilean earthquake disaster.

It's hard to think about anything but our friends in the East, but today also happens to be iPad 2 day, and there are already people in line for the release at 5 p.m. tonight.

And after spending almost 41 hours in line (all the way through last night's torrents), college student Amanda Foote just sold her first-place spot in line for $900. She plans to use the money to buy Lady Gaga tickets.

This morning also marked the release of the trailer for JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg's new sci-fi thriller "Super 8." The Twitter-exclusive full-length trailer finally gives context to the teaser we first saw in last year's Super Bowl ad, although we still don't know exactly what escaped from the train crash.

In typical Bad Robot fashion, JJ Abrams and his crew add to the mystery of the film with an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) alongside viral marketing that creates an entire world to discover around the film.

There's already a product page in place for Rocket Poppeteers that lets you sign up and create your own member certificate, as well as an easter egg editing room whose URL is seen in this frozen screenshot from the trailer.

After an extended chat about the origin of ARGs, Jeff and I both have stories to talk about that deal with our beats--video games and printers, respectively.… Read more

This Week: Updating the Volkswagen Rabbit

I'm sure many of you observed or enjoyed the Easter holiday weekend with your families, and that those of you with kids may have been paid a visit to your home or local park by the Easter Bunny. While your young ones are probably big fans of this holiday creature, there are quite a few car geeks out there who are big fans of another kind of bunny--one that has four wheels and no fuzzy cottontail. In case you need me to spell it out, I'm talking about the little ol' Volkswagen Rabbit--a vehicle that has been rechristened … Read more

The Gizmo Report: WikiReader--simple, singular

It's been years since the concept of a digital convergence was seriously debated. Today, it's rare to see a single-function electronic device.

Digital still cameras can record video, and camcorders can take still photos. Even cheap cell phones include cameras. There are Web browsers in cell phones, cameras, televisions, and digital picture frames. In fact, it seems like it's only a matter of time before everything with a battery or power cord will be connected to the Internet.

So it's a little startling to see a new gizmo that does nothing but display text, especially when … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 970: Printer porn

Cooley needs a cigarette after a personal moment related to the wonder of band printers and the glory of dot-matrix. Who knew? We also have a good long talk about how soon physical papers will disappear and teach Rafe all about the Konami Code.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 970

Murdoch: Web sites to charge for content http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/05/07/murdoch.web.content/

Analyst: AT&T likely to cut $69 iPhone service plan by $10 http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10235782-94.html

AT&T, VZW are no longer immune to the recession – … Read more

Konami Code triggers Easter egg on Facebook too

For the uninitiated or nongamers out there, the Konami Code (UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A) is arguably the most famous cheat code in video games.

It has been used in countless games and has references in multiple forms of pop culture. Lately, some sites have taken to using the code to trigger amusing events on the page. Recently, ESPN used the code to spawn unicorns and rainbows all over its pages.

Now, Facebook has dropped the code into its site. When entering the Konami code, followed by Enter, a lens flare is generated every time … Read more

Texas Hold'em iPhone game hides an Easter egg

I recently learned about an Easter egg in Apple's Texas Hold'em card game, which sells for $4.99 in the iTunes App Store.

If you're playing the game in landscape mode, you'll be able to see both your hand and the hands of the other players. Looks normal right? Indeed, the game will continue to look normal until you make a random touch motion on the screen.

Simply make a circle with one finger in the middle of the screen and the game's hidden Easter egg--a heart-shaped cartoon face with his hands in the air--will make its appearance. In case you missed him, we've captured the little surprise. Find our screen capture after the break.… Read more

New York church brings Good Friday to Twitter

In observance of Good Friday, a New York church has been Twittering the story of the Passion--the biblical tale of the hours leading up to Jesus' crucifixion. This means that subscribers will receive 140-character updates coming from a set of Twitter accounts run by people playing characters in the story.

Trinity Wall Street is an Episcopal church in Manhattan's Financial District that live-streams its services on the Web, encourages members of the congregation to send video e-postcards to friends and family, and produces its own podcasts. The church's thinking behind offering a Twitter feed of the Passion … Read more

Easter screensavers for all ages

Easter is alive on your desktop with these seven holiday-themed downloads for all ages. From the sublimely sweet slideshow screensavers of fluffy chicks and gorgeous wildflowers to a clever Easter bunny caper involving a skateboard and Easter egg ammo, this festive collection of applications has something for everyone.

Everything Easter Everything iconic about Easter resides in this free screensaver slideshow. In one scene, five fluffy chicks sit irresistibly atop eggs in a woven, ribboned basket. In another, a pure white rabbit sniffs an egg while sun-yellow daffodils and deep purple petals fill in the foreground and background. It's no wonder Everything Easter is our top pick for a calming, feel-good screensaver that's perfectly designed to give your heartstrings a gentle, therapeutic tug.

An Eggstremely 3D Easter Screensaver This eggstremely hilarious free-to-try screensaver follows a day in the life of the Easter Bunny as he delivers eggs in the backyards of a prototypical suburban neighborhood. At first, the emblematic rabbit drops his colorful eggs one by one on grassy lawns, careful not to miss an opportunity to tramp some flowers. As he leaps, somersaults, or crashes over the neighbor's fence, our big-eared holiday hero encounters a hostile pooch, which he subdues with a firm pelting of eggs. Eventually, the Easter Bunny acquires rocket boots and a skateboard to speed up his "egg laying" in this inventive, lighthearted screensaver comedy.… Read more

Holiday ornaments decorate Google search results

While some are decorating Christmas trees, Google has ornamented its search results with holiday-theme graphics.

Google spruced up a search for "Christmas tree" with a column of holly leaves to separate the search results on the left with the search ads on the right. A search for "Christmas" gets candy canes, and Santa gets the holly treatment.

Christmas might be the largest-scale trigger for the seasonal economic frenzy, but other holidays get fancy dividers, too, including candles for Kwanzaa, and dreidels and menorahs for Hanukkah.

And, in what's probably inappropriate to call an Easter egg, … Read more