bear

CNET official Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg guest hosts today's ball-busting show. Steve brings his usual brand of random topics to the table today that include the most bizarre festival you'll never want to visit and the world's largest ketchup bottle. We also introduce another awesome band in our Becks/Last.FM semiweekly audio draft!

Today's show is very important, for three reasons. First, we're stoked to welcome Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg who brings his expertise to answer all your high-end audio questions on the second half of the show, but not before introducing us to the most horrid festival that you'll never, ever want to visit. Let's just say that the subject matter of this food fair leaves room for plenty of punny jokes to be made, and we take that opportunity every chance we get (see:show title)--too funny!

Second, it's also a very important day because it's the first time we actually get a few bottles of Beck's Beer into the studio to sip on during the show! Don't worry though, we take things in moderation here at The 404 (yeah...), but no amount of self-control can prevent Wilson and me from getting the classic Asian glow.

Finally, all of us are caught offguard when Wilson Tang, infamous for literally feeling indifferent about any music made after 1791, makes an executive decision and chooses Grizzly Bear for today's Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Pick, sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM.

Grizzly Bear is a four-piece band out of Brooklyn here in New York that has been slowly gaining popularity for its dusty mix of folk piano and a mix of other instruments including whistles and an intermittent banjo. After releasing several albums in the past few years, Grizzly Bear just released a new one called "Veckatimest," which includes today's song, "Two Weeks." The album retains Grizzly Bear's unique low-fi sound--mixing airy vocals with refreshingly creative arrangements that are rare to find in today's soundstage. We hope you'll enjoy Grizzly Bear as much as we do!

(Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News and Reviews.)

One more thing: We'd like to congratulate newlyweds Elizabeth and Ian for getting hitched recently. They're both avid 404 listeners and while we doubt that Elizabeth walked down the aisle to our theme music, we're swooning with you and wish you guys the best of love.

Last November, Wayne Burdick was on a cruise ship docked in Miami when he suddenly said to himself: "I wonder how my beloved, infuriating, ugly-quarterbacked Chicago Bears are doing?"

So he got out his wireless card, opened his laptop, unleashed his Slingbox and began to pray. Surprisingly, the Bears beat the Detroit Lions 27-23.

As his ship sailed to the Caribbean, Wayne Burdick's heart was lighter than Joaquin Phoenix's sense of humor. On his return, his pockets were lighter too.

Because AT&T sent him a bill for $27,788.93. You know why it … Read more

Via Technologies' EPIA-P700 Pico-ITX is an x86 embedded board that measures 10 cm x 7.2 cm, uses a 1GHz Via C7 CPU, and thanks to its low power consumption, is an ideal fit to process small little cute robots that will soon be our lords and masters. Well, maybe not soon, but one day, you'll see.

With robotics development representing the cutting edge of technological progress, Via's commitment to extremely compact designs, robust performance, extensive feature sets, and extremely low power consumption means that the company's off-the-shelf EPIA boards are becoming an essential component for academic, hobbyist, and commercial robot developers.

Via plans to be at the forefront of the eventual robot takeover as it has been a major supporter of robotics development for academics, hobbyists, and military applications. Friday in Taiwan--which is probably Thursday by now--Via showed off its EPIA Pico-ITX-based robots at the Taipei International Robot Show (TIROS), taking place August 21 to 24.

At the Via booth will be three compact robots provided by PlayRobot, a Taiwan-based robot developer and distributor of educational, scientific, and entertainment robots for government, academic, and research institutes, as well as robot kits for enthusiasts. … Read more

The best inventions fill a need most people overlook--like that most fundamental human need not to be wracked by painful seat belt chafing.

Suffer no more, my friends. Now there's the Tiddy Bear Comfort Strap.

No, really.

As the video commercial on the Web site points out, "That's "T-I-D-D-Y Bear." You know, in case you thought they were saying something else.

It's a cute little plush bear that snaps onto the shoulder strap of your seat belt to cushion your shoulder or, um, chesticular area.

I'm not sure if this decreases the actual … Read more

If you think GPS breathalyzer devices are intrusive, you'll love this next item from Japan. Engineers at iXs Research are developing a talking teddy bear that serves as an in-car navigation system, giving directions while sniffing out any alcohol on your breath with a sensor embedded in its neck, asking "You haven't been drinking, have you?"

As if that weren't irritating enough, this backseat-driving teddy also has sensors designed to detect reckless driving, such as sudden braking and acceleration ("Watch out!"). And as a "bonus," according to Pink Tentacle, the bear … Read more

I listened to two CDs for the first time last night, and while I'm very happy with both of them, the disparity in sound reminded me how much production can make or break a record.

The first one was Planet of Ice by Seattle band Minus the Bear. I've read good things about this band for years, but the descriptions of this 2007 album--it's apparently more progressive and "math"-y than their previous releases--finally got me to make the purchase.

Musically it's a fantastic achievement, one of the most progressive and interesting modern rock … Read more

While Jeff is still out, we manage to press forward in the most depressing way possible (you'd think Dan Ackerman was on the show). Randall cheers for a recession like its 1999, Xbox 360 kids are kinda crazy (surprise!), and China bans YouTube. All that and more on this episode of the 404!

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Has your tech company played coy with a potential suitor lately? You may want to rethink your reaction.

In the past four months, Oracle, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts have all launched high-profile, unsolicited buyout bids for reluctant targets. Such efforts are otherwise known as bear hugs.

Oracle put the squeeze on middleware competitor BEA Systems in October; Microsoft did likewise with Yahoo at the start of this month; and on Sunday, EA made a play for rival game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software.

Did someone forget to put the lid back on the honey jar?

In the case of Oracle, it … Read more