Twitter

Google lawyer Alexander Macgillivray has joined Twitter as its general counsel, according to posts on Sunday from Macgillivray's personal blog and Twitter account.

"Working in Google Legal has been a dream job," Macgillivray wrote on his blog. "The people at Google are phenomenal. In every part and at every level of the company there are great people with multiple useful talents in addition to those that got them the job. For a lawyer, the issues we dealt with every day were fascinating, the real-world impact of our work was humbling, and the ethical compass of the … Read more

Could the Internet be any filthier than it is right now? Today's show highlights some of the more disturbing stories that we haven't been able to get to over the past few weeks, but not before complaining about the dirty microphone screens pressing up against our mouths on a daily basis. Wilson seems to like it!

We scavenge the depths of the dirty Internet to bring you a couple interesting, albeit dirty, stories, like this one about a teen in New Zealand who stumbled upon some "artistic" photos of his mother, and instead of gouging his eyes out with the nearest sharp object, he auctioned them off on the Internet!

Ugh, the story gets even more messed up though, and you'll never guess what his Mother does when she finds out what her son's been up to at her expense. Hint: he doesn't get in trouble.

That story actually segues well into the next one, where we finally ask the question, "Is the Internet destroying porn as we know it?"

The answer is a mix of yes and no, as CNET blogger Chris Matyszczyk (how do you pronounce that?!) helps us figure out why 90-minute adult movies are quickly getting fazed out in lieu of 335-second clips on sites like YouPorn and XTube. On the other hand (no pun intended), there are plenty of examples of money getting poured into big budget pornographic films, some with a budget of over 1 million dollars. Although we have no personal opinions on the matter, since none of us have actually seen said video genre, we reference very informative articles we've read on the Internet.

Stay tuned to the second half of today's episode to see how you can instantly obtain 5,000 Twitter followers and listen to a hilarious Calls from the Public with a special appearance by none other than the much-missed Sally Henderson!

The royal family of Britain is becoming more enlightened with every day.

Over the years, details have emerged that many of its members suffer from the same pains and dilemmas as we who are sadly mortal do: relationship break-ups, a little excessive drinking, even the odd peculiar comment.

And in recent times, the royals have become rather tech-savvy.

So how can one not be delighted that the royal family has decided to embrace Twitter? Well, perhaps embrace in a somewhat formal, British way, but still.

The royal household has launched a Twitter feed, http://twitter.com/BritishMonarchy, full of the … Read more

We all know and love Twitter, but it's not perfect. A few months ago, I used these pages to tell you what I liked about Twitter and what I didn't.

Since then, Twitter has undergone some major changes. It has enjoyed worldwide acclaim. It has a new design. And its community is bigger than ever.

All those things are great. But I'm not as happy with it as I could be. Unfortunately, I've found some issues with Twitter and its community that need to be addressed.

1. The "more" has to go Say what you will about Twitter's new design, but sifting through the stream is too difficult. In the previous design, I was able to click the "next" button to get to older tweets. From there, I could quickly change the URL in the address bar to get to the page I wanted. For example, if I wanted to refer back to a tweet that, by now, was on page three, all I needed to do was change the "page=1" command to "page=3." Once it loaded, I was on the right page.

But in Twitter's new design, it requires me to keep hitting "more" to see tweets. It's a real annoyance. Quickly getting to the tweet I want to find takes too long. And although it makes the site more "Web 2.0," I don't like it. Bring back the "next" option, Twitter.

2. Down times are back For a while, Twitter was on its game. There were so few down times, it seemed the Fail Whale was finally in the past. But as of late, I've noticed many more down times on the service. Almost each day, it's down for a minute or two at a time. It's not nearly as bad as it used to be, but it's still present. Down times have been a problem with Twitter since the beginning. They need to be averted.

3. Search still sucks Sorry, but Twitter Search doesn't even compare to some of the third-party apps available on the Web. I've used it on numerous occasions and each time, I'm left wanting more. So, I followed CNET Editor Rafe Needleman's advice and tried out Twazzup. It's more robust than Twitter's search. It helps me find results more quickly. Don't waste your time with Twitter Search. I don't.… Read more

The monarchy comes to Twitter, but of course the Queen doesn't sully her fingers on the keyboard, she has a royal twitterer do that. We also discuss whether the new Universal Music Group deal with TuneCore will change the landscape of music. We also absolve North Korea of the botnet.

Universal/TuneCore deal opens major doors for indie artists http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/07/universaltunecore-deal-opens-major-doors-for-indie-artists.ars http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10283224-27.html

Korean DDoS Bots To Self-Destruct http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/10/0452256/Korean-DDoS-Bots-To-Self-Destruct … Read more

Let me just get this out of the way: The Palm App Catalog sucks. Give it time and there will be plenty to choose from, but right now there are only a few gems in there. I was at first eager and hopeful when I saw Classic, by MotionApps, which is an emulator and allows you to install any of the applications that were designed for Palm OS on webOS. It would make thousands of applications availble to Pre owners, but two things are keeping me from purchasing right now: the $30 price tag and the plethora of poor reviews. … Read more

Speeches, like plays, are sometimes more interesting to read rather than see live.

So I have spent some time staring at the words of a speech recently given by Danah Boyd, from the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society, titled "The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online."

In the speech, given to the Personal Democracy Forum, Boyd picked up utopian views of technology, pinned them against a wall and asked them for a little more than their name and rank.

"For decades," she said, "we've assumed that inequality in relation to technology has everything … Read more

Some of us have multiple Twitter accounts that we need to manage. We have an account for work and an account for personal use. In that case, switching between usernames can be a pain. Luckily, there's an easy way to manage multiple Twitter accounts with some basic apps.

We've taken a look at a couple of services that will help you manage those accounts on your computer, but what about when you're away from home?

We have you covered there too. Let's take a look at iPhone apps that help you manage multiple Twitter accounts.

LaTwit Although LaTwit lets you post updates to multiple accounts, including those from Twitter, Identi.ca, and others, its interface is difficult to get used to. In fact, it detracts from the experience of using the app. If you're looking for other features, LaTwit also lets you post multiple tweets if your update exceeds the 140-character limit. But for $2.99, it might not be worth the price tag.

SimplyTweet SimplyTweet comes in two flavors: a Lite version for those who want a free app and a paid version with all the SimplyTweet features, which includes multiple user accounts. Don't let SimplyTweet's name fool you--it's not so simple. The app lets you draft notes, update your stream with iPhone photos, and more. It has a slew of features. The paid version is available for $3.99.

TweetDeck TweetDeck is my favorite mobile Twitter client. Like its desktop alternative, the app provides a column view, making it easy to see all kinds of Twitter data pass you by. Plus, it makes it extremely easy to manage multiple accounts, creating a scenario where updating all your accounts will only take just a few seconds. TweetDeck also shortens URLs before you post to your stream. Overall, it's a great app. And since it's free, you'll probably like it even more.… Read more

We invite Natali Del Conte onto today's show to have some fun with us, but you should've been there in the preshow--she went berzerko! We calm her down a little bit and she talks to us about her Palin/Twitter fallout and her upcoming appearance at Comic-Con 2009. She also dispels rumors about drugs in her undergarments, and we get to a few more exciting stories on the show!

If you're wondering why there's a photo of Lara Croft to the left of this paragraph, look again: it's actually Natali Del Conte, host of Loaded on CNETTV. She'll be at this year's Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, so be sure to look for that soon! We love it when Natali comes on because we always seem to bring out the dirty side of her, or so we think.

Today's show starts off a little rough because Natali just can't seem to get the Wi-Fi in the studio to connect to her computer, so we're warning you to brace yourselves for a classic NDC scream in the beginning of today's show. After that, everything runs smoothly (as smooth as it can get on The 404).

We get to talking about Sarah Palin resigning and the ridiculous speech that sort of made sense, but didn't say anything. I think NDC put it best when she said that the former Governor of Alaska is very good at the art of "saying without saying." We all watched the speech, too, and after several 17-minute viewings, I still have no idea what the heckbeans is going on. I guess she's not so much of a Maverick after all.

The next story in today's show rundown is about the city of Boston launching a complaint-filing iPhone application. Sounds like a disaster waiting to strike, right? I'd have to agree with you. Now that all citizens of Boston have an open forum to complain, I imagine a flood of the most mundane little squawks about graffiti, potholes, smells, street lights, etc...stuff that you normally wouldn't give a **** about.

After we report on the story, we go around the table and list off a few complaints that we have with the city of New York, and if you think Boston is bad, just wait, there are a few good ones in there. Are you listening, New York?

Finally, we want to send our thanks to our pal Daniel for sending us a very kind e-mail with a picture of what he did this weekend. He writes, "Hey Guys, Wanted to let you know that I spent sometime with the 404 and a Becks this weekend. Feel free to post this to the blog or whatever. Really love your show, keep up the work and congrats on the sponsor." Now if that isn't the most ideal way to sponsor a show, I don't know WHAT is! We jest, but we seriously appreciate pictures like these, they make our day. By the way, our new iTunes album art looks GREAT in Cover Flow!