culture

I woke up on Monday morning to about two dozen text messages, and none of them were really for me.

Rather, they all came from two separate group messaging accounts set up through a start-up called GroupMe, both of which had been created in the prior few days specifically to corral people before the annual South by Southwest Interactive Festival--part of the broader South by Southwest music and film festival--kicks off Friday in Austin, Texas. One was a posse of New Yorkers trying to coordinate carpools to and from their Thursday and Friday flights. The other was a group … Read more

This year's Toy Fair in New York City was a little lacking in big-ticket excitement, but there were a few surprises for office geeks such as myself. Nanodots are high-powered mini magnetic balls, perfect for whiling away fidgety minutes at a desk. They come in packs of 216, cost around $30-$40 a set, and are tremendously addictive (just keep them away from small children--they're quite dangerous if swallowed). The problem with them generally tends to be finding a place to put them. They roll, they damage sensitive electronics, and they're easy to misplace.

The $20 Nanopad is a mat woven with iron, heavy and dense like one of those aprons you wear for dental X-rays. Nanodots stick to it like glue, and won't slide around and glom on to each other. On one side is a printed chessboard, perfect for building your own chess/checker/made-up board game set, if your inner geek dares. … Read more

The last time we wrote about Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg making an appearance on "Saturday Night Live," it was an April Fool's Day joke. Now, according to a rumor posted in the New York Post, that wacky idea may come true.

Jesse Eisenberg, the actor who played Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network," an unflattering but acclaimed portrait of the young CEO, is scheduled to host "SNL" this Saturday. Eisenberg was just nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, so it's a high-profile "SNL" hosting appearance. According … Read more

Injecting some high-brow culture into a smartphone realm more characterized by people texting at dinner and playing video games on the subway, the British Library has released an application to allow exploration of some of its collection.

OK, so perhaps it won't mean people rushing to read Beowulf in the original Old English from 1,000 years ago. But it's nice to know the option is there, and the application comes with commentary from experts such as a video on Beowulf by linguist David Crystal.

In any event, it is encouraging at least to this history and museum … Read more

We didn't always want to admit it, but in 2010 the world accepted that Facebook--the company that introduced us all to such mundane pursuits as photo tagging, virtual farmsteads, and the voyeuristic tracking of the lives of people we only half-knew in high school--has changed the world.

Yet Facebook has also begun to pioneer something different: a corporate structure and philosophy intimately tied to the mind of its young CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and the company's roots as a tiny cadre of coders in a college dorm. We'll call this "the Facebook Way." And in 2011 … Read more

There's a scene in the film "The Social Network" in which a fictionalized version of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds a developer challenge that involves programming at breakneck pace and pounding frequent shots of alcohol. The real Facebook "Hacker Cup" developer challenge, which the company announced last night, will probably be a little different. We hope.

The Hacker Cup, an "annual algorithmic programming contest open to hackers from around the world," is open to entries starting Dec. 20 and will consist of three online elimination rounds followed by finals at Facebook's headquarters … Read more

While the role of the professional critic in the realm of books, film, music, or art is well-established, for interactive entertainment the lines are less clear. As a (relatively) young medium, questions about how to actually write about video games are still being hashed out, by consumers, fans, bloggers, established media critics, and others.

The default to date has been to consider a work of interactive entertainment as a packaged consumer product--hence game reviews that focus on the number of levels, hours of gameplay, and other technical details. I am more inclined to consider a game as a cultural or … Read more

It's the last day of the week for us! Mark Licea joins us today to fill in for the day before Thanksgiving. We hope all of your enjoy your new TSA-approved enhanced pat-downs when you're flying to see your loved ones. Justin isn't even leaving the city, but he's making daily trips to the airport to meet his special security officer.

Speaking of the TSA screenings that have become all the rage on the news these days, Jeff thinks that it's the dearth of news in American media that is letting the issue blow up on cable news and across the Web. In part, Wilson agrees given that the new regulations, backscatter (cool name for a band) X-ray scanning machines and pat-down searches have been planned for months. While the general populace might be a bit surprised by the new TSA regulations, Wilson doesn't believe it makes it right to be photographed through our clothes just because we want to fly.

In happier ramblings, The 404 does give thanks for the privilege of essentially shooting the tech-and-culture crap with each other on a daily basis. It's something we're truly thankful for, and we'd love nothing but to share our love for our loyal and growing listener base.

Jeff, being Jeff, though, has to interrupt the flow of happiness to talk a bit about the blackout for the New York-New Jersey region when it comes to the NHL's new GameCenter service, which lets fans watch games and replays. The big exception that really irks Jeff is that the service won't let him watch his beloved New Jersey Devils! Wilson and Mark really couldn't care less.

Any way, we won't be having a show tomorrow or Friday, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but be sure to e-mail us or call in at the usual 1-866-404-CNET (2638), and let us know what you're thankful for. Maybe it's that new tech gadget or Wilson's laugh? Let us know.

editor's notebook Is Google's Street View about to become a global forum for street theater?

It might be headed in that direction, if Italian officials get their way. According to a report, Italy has demanded that Google start giving people in that country three-days warning, via radio and newspapers, as to when its Street View cars will be roaming the stradas collecting images to plaster all over the Web.

The demand, picked up by PC Magazine from a report in La Stampa, is hardly surprising. As my colleague Chris Matyszczyk has pointed out, the Street View cars have … Read more