hooked

The 404 Podcast 506: Where the Apple tablet is the most important thing we will ever do

It smells like Apples in here. The day of reckoning is finally upon us and CNET has all your Apple coverage including a live blog to track the news as it comes through the pipe.

CNET's The 404 Podcast is also on the job, so check out today's episode for our predictions on what Steve Jobs has in store for the world. It better be good, especially if Jobs stayed awake all night inventing it. Jeff and I are able to approach it with a level head, but Wilson G. Tang is in full-blown Apple fanboy mode with the T-shirt and the Apple lip gloss all ready to go.

Before we get into our predictions, Jeff shows us a surprising study that demonstrates pirates are the music industry's most valuable customers. We're a little suspicious that the story comes from TorrentFreak.com, but they bring up a legitimate point that music "sharers" (aka pirates) are actually likely to buy more digital music as opposed to physical media in a store. In either case, the best way to support your favorite bands, signed or unsigned, is to buy a ticket to their live show and spend money on merchandise while you're there. That way, your cash support goes directly into the pockets of the band, instead of the digital music service taking a cut of the profit. Stick local!

Next up we've got a story about the worst Facebook revenge, like, ever. It happens like this: teenage girl finds six-pack of beer in younger brother's closet. Brother searches through sister's closet and finds disturbingly detailed "hookup list" and publishes image of said list on Facebook.

Wait, it gets way worse: the ultimate fatality is that he also tags every single guy on the list and starts an epic three-way flame war between brother, sister, and a group of guys that all have one thing in common.

We end today's show by going around the table and seriously (OK, not seriously at all) dishing out our Apple tablet predictions for the day.

Spoiler alert: Jeff is hopeful for a game-centric device, Justin hopes you can connect a printer to it, and Wilson can't even talk with all the saliva pouring out of his mouth.

EPISODE 506 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Swing as long as possible

Rope'n'Fly 2 Lite is a free preview of Rope'n'Fly 2, a simple-but-fun physics-based, 2D arcade game in which you swing from building to building on a rope, trying to cover as much distance as possible. The touch-screen interface is easy to pick up: You begin the game falling onto a city skyline, and you just tap on a building to attach your rope. Once you're swinging forward, you tap again to release and then repeat to attach your rope to the next building. You want to time each release for the maximum forward momentum, but … Read more

Fancy to-do lists and a unique platform game: iPhone apps of the week

The evolution of the app store witnessed another milestone recently, with the release of a game that doubles as a very effective advertisement. One of my favorite iPhone games of the year, Firemint's Real Racing, just got a Lite version that doubles as a promotional tool for both the app and an outside company. Real Racing GTI (Free), sponsored by Volkswagen, lets you race on a few of the tracks of the full game using the 2010 Volkswagen GTI. You only get a small taste of the action in the full game, but it should be enough to help … Read more

The 404 383: Where it's so bad it's good

Maybe we should have used "So bad, but so good" as our show motto instead of "High Tech, Low Brow!" Today's show is a good example of that, and we kick it off with Wilson's brief and spoiler-free review of Bruno. We also talk about the rise of the Twitterns, Apple breaking the Pre-iTunes lovefest, and Jeff meeting Tony Hawk!

Check it out! Jeff was invited to an Activision event last night to preview Tony Hawk's new game, but he was pretty surprised when Tony Hawk himself showed up to show him around! As you can see, the game comes with an actual "skateboard" controller to jump, ride, and pop up to do tricks within the game. Jeff tells us that the game is very realistic, but popping up the board feels more like a snowboard than skating. Check it out for yourself when it comes out on October 13 for $120.

In other news, The 404 has decided to hire a young Twittern to update our Twitter. Social media, whether it's in short or long form, is super time-consuming...anyone out there want to be our Twittern? We're only half-joking...

In more important news, Apple has finally broken up the love affair between iTunes and the Palm Pre: the smartphone no longer works with the popular desktop software. Jeff owns a Pre and figures that the only thing to do now is to refrain from upgrading to the latest software, lest some savvy developer use the latest SDK to somehow crack Apple's padlock.

Also, start getting amped for tomorrow's episode where I, Justin Yu, will debut yet another band in a segment we like to call...deep breath..."The 404 Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews." Jeez.

EPISODE 383 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Mobigrip leashes replace fold-up calculator as No. 1 corporate giveaway

Technology might be the only medium where smaller is always better, but it's starting to get ridiculous. I'm worried that my next cell phone is going to be the size of a sunflower seed. There's got to be a point where we finally decide that things need to start getting bigger, and Mobigrip thinks that now is as good a time as any.

Mobigrips, also known as "device leashes," aren't exactly at the forefront of tech innovation; it's essentially a circular hunk of plastic with adhesive on the back and a lanyard attached … Read more

Barack Obama's website was not hacked

It is critical that Internet users be skeptical. In fact, skepticism may be more important than any anti-malware software.

The latest illustration of this was an April Fools joke pulled by Emmanuel Goldstein and the gang at 2600. As they explained on their show, Off The Hook, on WBAI in New York, they started by hiding the true ownership of one of their domains.

When a domain, such as hope.net (the one used in the joke) is registered, the person or organization that pays for it, identifies themselves in a public directory known as WhoIs. Some registrars offer a … Read more

Postal Service site lets anyone hold your mail

Wednesday night on Off The Hook, a radio show on WBAI in New York, Emmanuel Goldstein and the guys from 2600 discussed a feature on the Web site of the U.S. Postal Service that can only be described as ill-conceived.

If you're going to be away from home for a while, the your local post office can hold your mail to avoid an overflowing mailbox. Fine.

In the old days (and you can still do this), you went to the office and filled out a form (PDF). Someone on the show who has done this said the Postal … Read more

Grappling hook back-ups high tech gear

Locate the problem with imagery-enhanced GPS, monitor it via digital remote surveillance, chew it over on low-Earth orbit sat-phone, but sooner or later there'll be a boarding, and that's when you'll need the T-PLS pneumatically launched grappling hook.

Digital Force Technologies makes and markets all of the above, but it's the T-PLS air-propelled tactical line-throwing system with standard titanium grappling hook and 7mm Kevlar line that you want in the trunk of your car when you're called to the next Vegas hotel fire.

Developed by DFT for Special Operations Forces, the 350psi regulated air source … Read more