celebration

FBI investigating hacking of celebrities

The FBI office in Los Angeles is investigating a series of hacking incidents targeting high-profile victims.

"The FBI is investigating a person or group responsible for computer intrusions of high-profile figures," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told CNET in a phone interview today.

Eimiller said she couldn't say how many alleged victims there may have been, but estimated that there were "dozens." The investigation has been going on since late 2010, she said.

Yesterday, photos of Scarlett Johansson were posted to BuzzFeed that appeared to have been taken by the star of herself. Johansson asked the FBI to investigate, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The news follows leaks of celebrity photos reported in previous months. In March, Vanessa Hudgens met with the FBI after nude photos of her were allegedly stolen from her Gmail account and released online, TMZ reported at the time.

It's unclear who is behind the Johansson incident and whether all of the reported cases are linked or even legitimate.

Unlike corporations, which typically shun publicity for hacking, celebrities--whose careers seem to rise and fall with headlines--may have a motivation for going public with hacking claims, either to get attention or to deflect bad publicity. Meanwhile, celebrities are an attractive target for headline-seeking hackers. Sometimes it's difficult to link the attack to a specific party. … Read more

Heidi Klum the 'most dangerous' celeb on the Net

Move over, Cameron Diaz, there's a new leader in the race to be the "world's most dangerous celebrity."

Former Victoria's Secret model and current host of "Project Runway," Heidi Klum is the Internet's "most dangerous celebrity," security firm McAfee announced today. According to McAfee, when people type Klum-related queries into a search engine, nearly 10 percent of the results are "malicious."

"Fans searching for 'Heidi Klum and downloads,' 'Heidi Klum and 'free' downloads,' 'Heidi Klum and screensavers,' 'Heidi Klum and hot pictures' and 'Heidi Klum and videos' … Read more

Crave 53: Enough already (podcast)

Eric and Donald reveal their TV watching habits and the lies behind tablet marketing. Also, the bionic arm just got cooler, the human computer interface is a temporary tattoo, and plans to put the Crave show in a van... a small one.

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Google hopes to lure celebs to Google+

Google, apparently keen on moving beyond 10 million people on Google+, is working on a plan to attract celebrities to its new social network.

Central to the plan is the matter of verifying identities, according to a CNN report. Online identity matters are thorny on Google+, but they're particularly tricky with celebrities because of impersonation issues. I see seven Lady Gagas on Google+ right now, for example, and William Shatner's Google+ account was revoked and restored yesterday.

Google didn't comment on future plans or what happened with Shatner. It did say, though, "Just like everyone else, … Read more

Royal wedding soundtrack to go straight to iTunes

Move over, Rebecca Black: Another unusual addition to the iTunes top-selling charts is on its way. Namely, it's the "soundtrack" to the much-ballyhooed royal wedding between Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton on April 29, set to appear on Apple's digital download marketplace "within hours" of the occasion's end, according to The Telegraph.

Were this a perfect world, the album would include a handful of wedding guests' merry karaoke recordings (Prince Harry is making sure that this is part of the program, right?), and perhaps the live cut of a surprise reunion … Read more

Does the 'new Digg' need an Ashton Kutcher?

It's still too early to tell whether the redesigned and revamped Digg, which went live on Wednesday following a limited private alpha test, will be enough to resuscitate the once-hot social news site. The usual suspects of the blogger punditocracy seem to agree: it's all dependent on how the community reacts, and Diggers are unpredictable.

The "new Digg," which puts a focus on a customized news lineup based on content chosen from social-network friends as well as celebrities and brands that the user opts to follow, is a big change from its predecessor, in which Digg … Read more

Cameron Diaz 'riskiest' celeb on the Net

Cameron Diaz fans, look out. The actress has made McAfee's list as the most dangerous celebrity to search for in cyberspace.

Released Thursday, McAfee's fourth annual Most Dangerous Celebrities report tracked the top performers, models, and other celebrities that cybercriminals use to trick people into hitting malicious Web sites. Search for a hot photo or the latest gossip on your favorite star, and you could find your PC infected with a payload of malware instead.

In grabbing this "award," Diaz bumped last year's riskiest celebrity, Jessica Biel, to the No. 3 spot.

Being No. 1 … Read more

The 404 645: Where no one will buy this (podcast)

During this year's Celebration V fan convention, director George Lucas announced that all six of the original "Star Wars" films will be released on Blu-ray in 2011 as a box set. The films and the much-criticized prequels were previously released as DVD box sets, but this is the first time fans of the series can see them in HD.

The Blu-rays will also include new documentaries, special features, and behind-the-scenes moments that both Jedis and Imperialists can appreciate. Lucas also announced the inclusion of a lost scene from "Return of the Jedi" that shows Darth Vader calling out to Luke as he builds the green lightsaber you see in the film. Good news, though: if you can't wait a year for the box set to come out, the clip is also available on YouTube--with George's approval, of course!

Good news for Android users: Last week Google re-released the app formerly known as Voice Search for its mobile operating system. The app is called Voice Search, and it lets you dictate text message, write e-mails, map directions, play music, and make phone calls--all without ever touching the phone. It's free, so we can't pick it apart too much, but once the initial "cool factor" wears off, we're not sure we'd ever use voice commands outside of a car. More importantly, when the heck is Angry Birds finally coming out for Android?

In line with today's Star Wars theme, check out these custom 404 Podcast squadron helmets made exclusively for our show by Props Guy Jim! Dedicated fans of the show will remember Jim's work with the Yu-Be-Gone Bug Spray, The 404 temporary tattoos, and, of course, The 404/Mattel hoverboard from "Back to the Future"!

Click through for more pics of the X-Wing helmet after the jump! Thanks Jim!

When droids break their huddle

ORLANDO, Fla.--When you're lucky, you're lucky. And on Saturday, I was lucky.

At about 9:20 a.m. Saturday, walking into the Orange County Convention Center here, where the massive Celebration V "Star Wars" fan fest is being held, I stumbled onto a scent that could only be described as geek heaven: a group picture of dozens of droid builders and their motley collection of R2-D2s and other creations based on George Lucas' sci-fi saga.

I wasn't the only one, of course. There were many people gathered around watching the scene unfold, including an … Read more

George Lucas on making 'Star Wars': 'It helps to be nuts'

ORLANDO, Fla.--You'd think, with all the resources at his disposal, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas would be pleased, if not all that impressed, to see the flood of life-size and (nearly) fully functional droids that fans of his films have created over the years.

In fact, though, Lucas sees those droids--which were out in force at Celebration V, the huge "Star Wars" fan fest here this week--as a bit of a "tragic" reminder of the struggles he and his team had trying to get their own R2-D2s to work properly back when … Read more