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3.3

Fujifilm's must-have digicam for 3D lovers?

Although Fujifilm was one of the first manufacturers to have a consumer-focused camera for capturing 3D photo and video with the FinePix Real 3D W1, it didn't seem to be all that popular--at least in the U.S. Maybe that's because it cost nearly $600 and the results could only be viewed on a special 8-inch digital frame that was nearly as expensive; through a computer using an Nvidia 3D vision-ready graphics card while wearing glasses; or $7 lenticular prints. However, that was 2009. The company is back with the follow-up, the Real 3D W3, and not only … Read more

Zip sub

WinMount Free Edition 3.3 takes a unique approach to file decompression. Instead of unzipping compressed files to a temporary folder, WinMount creates a new, virtual drive and mounts the compressed files to it, using the RAM cache instead of a temp folder, so nothing is left behind. It saves time over decompression, especially for large files, because you can access them immediately and directly via the new virtual disk or folder. It handles a wide range of file types, including ZIP, RAR, CAB, TAR, ISO and more, as well as the software's proprietary high-compression MOU format. WinMount also … Read more

Slideshows to go

MySlideShow Gold from Anix Software is an all-in-one application for creating multimedia slideshow presentations and albums directly on your PC, without needing any other graphics or multimedia software. You can combine your photos and your favorite music together with captions and effects in an attractive, ever-changing desktop display. You can also quickly view your image archives as filmstrips or thumbnails, or create standalone, self-running executable slideshows, burn them to a CD or DVD, and send them to your family and friends. You can even use it to produce attractive catalogs and archives of everything from household items to collections and … Read more

The man behind Pixar's 3D films

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--In Hollywood these days, the push to put out movies in 3D is on. In part, it's a way to get some additional marketing buzz about a film, but it's also a source of additional revenue because theaters charge a premium for showings in that format.

At Pixar Animation Studios, those rationales are not lost on executives, and when "Toy Story 3" comes out on Friday it will be offered both in 3D and the traditional 2D format. Indeed, last year Pixar worked to build up interest in the new film by promoting a … Read more

Digital City 85: E3 edition--Kinect, motion games, Nintendo's mysterious 3DS

A certain E3 Expo has swept in to steal the spotlight everywhere, so, of course, we spend the episode breaking down the aftermath of Microsoft's news conference, including an impressive surprise from ESPN. Is the Kinect worth it? Will Nintendo's 3DS be any good? And why are there so many damn shooters? Our guest, gaming/tech expert, E3 veteran, and former Playboy editor Scott Alexander, joins us for some grumpy and impassioned talk.

Next week, Dan will be back from his E3 adventures, hands full of strange pictures and stranger stories. Until then, enjoy the show!

Related links:… Read more

Shopping helper

Of the many bar code scanners available for Android, the simply named Barcode Scanner makes a good starting place, especially for new Android users. With it, you're at liberty to scan QR codes to download Android apps, add a contact to your phone, or jump to a Web link. The scanner also reads retail bar codes, triggering a Google search for whichever product comes up. Though Barcode Scanner isn't as precise as other shopping apps that follow up their scan with a database search on where to find the item, it does its duty as a simple, multipurpose … Read more

Battery indicator

Are you tired of guessing when your laptop's battery will be done charging (and tired of second guessing its so-called battery meter)? Give BatteryBar a try. It's an unobtrusive but capable utility that accurately displays the status of your laptop's battery while in use or during charging. It's "smart," too, giving progressively more-accurate estimates of remaining battery or charge time: the more you use it, the better it does its job.

After installing the program, we opened BatteryBar by right-clicking the Toolbars menu on the system taskbar. BatteryBar's main "interface" is … Read more

Dark color scheme

RedShift V3 is an add-on for Mozilla's Firefox that changes the browser's theme. If you're tired of your current Firefox interface and are a fan of darker color schemes, this theme is worth a look.

Like all Firefox themes, we had to restart the browser for the theme's changes to take place. The change to our browser was definitely dramatic. Our default Firefox theme was replaced with much darker hues. The menu option and navigational button placement didn't change and were still intuitive, but they were a bit harder to see. We aren't a … Read more

The 404 544: Where heroes get remembered but legends never die (podcast)

If you couldn't tell by the hockey picture and the well-placed Sandlot quotation in the title, today's episode of The 404 Podcast celebrates Jeff's 28th birthday! Wilson and I are fully prepared to light up a string of firecrackers for Bakalar, but our third host is less than enthused about his age, so leave a comment and wish him a very happy birthday, will you?

Most of the stories we talk about on The 404 highlight the absurdity of the Internet, but today is different. We're taking a different approach, starting with a feel-good story about a Mom-made iPhone Pillow.

Lynda Harrison began the project when her son, Drew Olanoff of #blamedrewscancer, began chemotherapy for Hodgkin's Disease. Drew says his iPhone kept him alive and connected during treatment, but we'll take a handmade version of the real thing any day, especially since the fluffy model has a LOLCATS button and a side pocket that fits an iPhone. Don't forget to hug your moms, everyone.

OK, let's get back to our regularly scheduled programming. A new service called GameCrush offers romantically inept gamers a chance to pay for a play date with an "attractive" girl over a Webcam via Xbox Live and games like MW2, GOW2, GTAIV, and Halo 3.

Sony fans, Nintendo addicts, and desperate nongamers alike can still indulge their inner creep with a second option that lets you set up play dates with simple Flash games like checkers and chess. This NSFW gallery on Kotaku shows a few of the options you can choose for your opponent and gives new meaning to "first-person shooter." Also, I'm pretty sure No. 7 is a straight-up dude.

Twitterers will love the next stories because they show exactly how stupid or useful the service can be, depending on the application. SleepingTime.org adds another dimension to Internet stalking--it lets you track the sleep patterns of any Twitter user based on the time when he or she is least active on Twitter. Watch the segment in the video version of the podcast below to see exactly how well this doesn't work.

On the other hand, Huffington Post founder Jonah Peretti found a way to use Twitter creatively by resurrecting one of our favorite books of yore, Choose Your Own Adventure! Jonah's truncated version of the game takes the words off the page and packages the scenarios into 140 characters that you can play online. If you're too impatient to run through all two of the possibilities, just head over to Jonah's Twitter homepage and see the results for yourself.

Thanks for listening, everyone, and keep sending your e-mails to the404(at)cnet[dot]com; we're going to start reading selected messages on the air in addition to playing voice mails. See? We really DO care! Now where's our 404 pillow?

EPISODE 544 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more