alcohol

The 404 237: Where Wilson ate some bad Tofurkey

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!

EPISODE 237 Download today's podcast … Read more

Buzz Buddy for iPhone knows when it's safe to drive home

As the holiday season approaches, get-togethers have a tendency to grow...merry. After slurping up a couple spirited mugs full of glogg or 'nog, will you know when you're fit to drive home?

You might if you've tracked your drink intake with Buzz Buddy for iPhone and iPod Touch ($0.99). It can't guarantee you'd pass a breathalyzer test, but this blood alcohol calculator gets close.

After entering your gender, weight, and whether you've already consumed alcohol, you'll tap the drink type you're about to imbibe--standard measures of beer, wine, cocktail, and shots. … Read more

Your (better) drinking conscience

In the middle of a night of heavy drinking is probably the worst time to judge if you've had too much drink to drive, or maybe even walk. Buzz Buddy for iPhone and iPod Touch is a good stand-in for your conscience--if you can remember to use it.

After entering your gender, weight, and whether you've already consumed alcohol, you'll tap the drink type you're about to guzzle. Buzz Buddy will keep track of your beer, wine, cocktail, and shots count. Using your weight and gender, it'll graph your estimated blood alcohol level over the … Read more

At last Google invents something truly brilliant

I know those little Google search ads are supposed to be terribly clever.

And I realize that Google has lots of other highly interesting services, none of which come to my mind just this minute because, well, I seem to have done without them until now. They don't move me. They don't make me think "oh, what a fabulous little invention."

Then I heard about GMail Goggles. So brilliant and yet so wonderfully, non-mathematically human.

Someone at Google clearly came into work one morning and said: "You know that girl I met in a bar … Read more

The 404 gets down and dirty at the CNET Tiburon launch party

The 404 is proud to present our official podcast from the Tiburon Launch party. The event was held at the elegant 450 Club complete with hors d'oeuvres (vodka spritzer, anyone?), desserts, and of course, an open bar. After sitting down with a host of people and later sifting through a mountain of cuss words, deviant behavior, and otherwise inappropriate material, it's easy to see that people had a blast. The new CNET.com looks fantastic and we all worked hard to see it come to life, so a big thanks to everyone that came out, especially Jim Loughran … Read more

The key to being a bottleless bartender

Who says you have to go to a bar to experience mixed drinks that come from a spout? Meet the Super SideBar, a countertop gadget that allows you to make drinks from up to five kinds of liquor without ever having to handle a bottle.

The visible part of the SideBar consists of a row of five buttons attached to a spout. This user interface sits on top of your counter, ready for you to dispense drinks. The bottles can be stored up to 10 feet away, under the counter, under your picnic table, or around the corner. The buttons … Read more

The 404 130: Where Justin dances like a Muppet

Fridays are always the craziest days at the 404--hopefully you saw today's preshow where Justin danced his little Muppet heart out to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." If you missed it, you can still check out the video below. We have the pleasure of speaking to the great Lou Bakalar today over the phone; he gives us his take on cutting edge tech and we pick his brain about the dangers of driving a taxi in the city. The story rundown is equally zany, filled with strip clubs, celebrity death predictions, vegetable oil automobiles, and of … Read more

Not at a store near you: Repulsive Armor Iron Man

Just in time for next month's Iron Man action and CGI cinematic extravaganza comes this one-of-a-kind, custom-modded Iron Man action figure from Jin Saotome. Painted to resemble Tony Stark's gadget-obsessed hero after a serious bender, and based on a Marvel Movie Legends Iron Man figure, the alcohol-poisoned hero doesn't come with a Great White Telephone from which he can call Ralph.

It does, however, come with several miniature beer cans and a mini bottle of Bacardi that dear, dear Tony Stark probably swiped from a Paris Hilton Barbie. Painted in all the hues of the contents of … Read more

Report: Climate change will threaten beer production

We all know already that climate change will affect everything from food prices to cute baby polar bears.

But now it's really hitting home, folks. A report from a researcher at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand suggests that rising temperatures may threaten beer.

An Associated Press report details the findings from climate scientist Jim Salinger, who presented his research at the Institute of Brewing and Distilling's annual convention in Wellington, New Zealand. The grim results? Climate change may affect the production of malting barley, an ingredient crucial to the tasty beers we … Read more