flu

Episode 30 of the Digital City, where we discuss the new multi-camera setup in the studio, how to fight the swine flu online, how one of us ditched cable for online TV, and the crossroads of Twitter and World of Warcraft.

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H1N1 worries got you down? Perhaps taking a stab at flying, green, infected pigs with a giant needle will provide some comic relief.

That's your task in the Web-based Swinefighter, one of a growing number of casual games that capitalize on current events.

In this instance, you play as a doctor in a white coat and face mask. Wielding a giant needle, you attempt to inject sick-looking pigs flying around a map of the world. Once you prick the digi-pig (it's not hard), it turns a healthy pink and says "Oink," and you've done your … Read more

An e-mail referencing a vaccine for swine flu is circulating that includes a link to a malicious file on a Mexican Web site that is designed to steal bank log-in information, security firm SonicWall said on Friday.

The e-mail, which is in Spanish, has a link to the Qhost.NJI Trojan on a Web site that appears to be legitimate but has probably been hacked, said Nick Bilogorskiy, manager of antivirus research at SonicWall.

The Trojan, an executable file coded in Visual Basic, changes the host file on Windows computers so that if the computer is used to visit certain … Read more

Today we get a very pleasant--yet fattening--surprise! A special fan of The 404 sent us some amazing cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery here in Manhattan. Fortunately for you, the sugar rush was captured on tape, so now you can listen to what it sounds like when you eat dessert for breakfast.

Kenley is back on the first half of the show, and we discuss the reasons why a Radio Shack employee might want to punch a customer square in the face. We've all been in situations before where this is probably warranted, so we side with the disgruntled man in red.

Next, we chat about a story Justin posted the other day that involves a clearly delusional man who thinks he's a fictional superhero. He's already hurt himself once trying to save a woman, so we think maybe our masked friend needs a new hobby.

Everyone enjoy the weekend and make sure to call us up and leave a voice mail @ 866-404-CNET or e-mail us the404 [at] cnet [dot] com!

I don't know if the Mexican swine flu, which may or may not have come from Mexico or have anything to do with pigs, will wipe us all out.

But I do know that people are scared.

How do I know? A simple perusal of Amazon.com's health and personal-care store.

Amazon is often an extraordinary barometer for people's feelings. A singer dies, his music is off the charts. Or, more accurately, up the charts. An author dies, and her words suddenly have new meaning for the world at large. Or, more accurately, new sales.

So it … Read more

After yesterday's downer show, we're back and cheerier than ever. Even Jeff is in good spirits after the New Jersey Devils got stomped all over their home ice. We discover today that Wal-Mart really does rock, and not in a good way.

The lesson of today's show is DO NOT BUY ELECTRONICS FROM WAL-MART, unless you're a rock collector, in which case you'll be thrilled, because apparently the company is literally selling Nintendo DS boxes filled with sediment.

We need to get THE BONCH, aka Bonnie Cha back on our show to talk about the Palm Pre. Actually, Palm is offering preproduction review units to Average Joes (and Josephines) in hopes of receiving "true life" feedback on the smartphone. Wilson seems to think that most consumers will frown on the smaller screen size, but we all have high hopes for the brand since this is definitely a last ditch effort in the smartphone market.

In exciting movie news, Jeff is superstoked to hear about a "Drop Dead Fred" remake starring Russel Brand, that quirky English dude that played the hippy beauhunk in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." His brand of piratey humor should do well as a young girl's imaginary friend, right? Oh! We also reveal another popular movie sequel in the works, but you'll have to listen to the show to get the full scoop.

Finally, we touch on the bloated cost of higher education and how NYU students are getting questionable phone calls about their financial aid. Apparently NYU financial advisers are individually calling students receiving significant amounts of financial aid and questioning their decisions to accept the money and attend the university. If I were still in school and someone called me about this, I'd probably just tell them to put the check in the mail and stop telling me what to do all the time.

Today's CFTP is rather heartfelt. Thanks to everyone who called in, and we'd like to personally welcome James Christopher Maximus to the world! You were born today, dude! Hopefully you're reading this in the year 2021, when you're old enough to fully grasp our jokes. We love your dad for breeding future listeners of The 404!

Per usual, don't forget to check out our live VIDEOcast (man it feels good to write that) every morning at 11 a.m. ET. We have a ton of fun in the preshow and you get the inside scoop on how we prepare for the show. And please please please call and leave us a voicemail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638)!

Following the outbreaks of SARS and Avian Flu earlier this decade, Sprint Nextel has taken the threat of a global flu pandemic very seriously. And in 2005, the company created a special group within its Emergency Incident Management team to plan what to do in such an emergency.

Late last week, when the World Health Organization started alerting the international community to the threat of the swine influenza that originated in Mexico, Sprint's four years of planning came into action and Sprint has been working through its checklist of actions. On Friday, it started posting information and updates on … Read more

We're not sure that Barney Frank gambles in his pajamas, but he's fighting for your right to do so in the United States. Also, Verizon gets a little slutty, looking for an iPhone...and an Android phone...and pretty much anything else. And Blu-ray is on the rise, but so are digital downloads.

Pre release date: June 7? http://www.precentral.net/pre-release-date-june-7th http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/palm-pre-138-to-build-according-to-isuppli/

Report: Verizon thinks Pink--as in Microsoft iPhone rival http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/04/verizon-courting-microsoft-for-iphone-competitor-pink.ars

Motorola’s … Read more

Updated at 11:30 p.m. PDT: This blog misreported the percentage of swine flu interest on Facebook member pages in the states of Texas and Mississippi. The correct percentages are 0.82 percent and 0.29 percent, respectively.

There have been a lot of resources that have surfaced to help track the newly spreading swine flu. On Monday, we covered some of these online resources to help you stay on top of it. Tuesday night, Facebook released some interesting data on the conversations taking place around the swine flu outbreak. The company has posted a photo album on Facebook'… Read more