etsi

The 404 991: Where we're trapped in a cube (podcast)

Steve "The Spherical Audiophiliac" Guttenberg makes his first 2012 appearance on the show this morning and adds some more descriptors to his middle name.

He brings in a few noise-canceling earbuds and headphones into the studio for a head-to-head, and we'll confer about which modern artists have the talent to stick around another 30 years.

Finally, we'll end the show with a talk about Paul McCartney pulling his tracks from Spotify! These stories and more on today's 404 Podcast.… Read more

Startup opportunities abound in wake of Facebook IPO

Facebook may dominate the social media landscape today with 845 million users, but experts say that instead of consolidating around the market leader, the social media landscape is fragmenting, leaving big opportunities for startups, especially those targeting mobile users.

This could be good news for entrepreneurs and investors who might be green with envy over Facebook's projected $5 billion gain from its upcoming initial public offering. But for consumers, it means that managing Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts is just the beginning.

Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist and principal at Union Square Ventures, discussed this notion of a more … Read more

A Star Trek coffee table for 'Enterprising' couch potatoes

Woodworker Barry Shields' impressive Star Trek coffee table creation proves yet again that Trekkies are nothing if not, uh... Enterprising. Sorry.

Terrible puns aside, there's no need to apologize for this one-of-a-kind living room conversation piece. It took two attempts for Shields to get it just the way he wanted, with the glass cut in such a way to make the ship appear to be in motion.

You'll find it for sale on Etsy for $3,100--a real deal when you consider how many galaxies this genuine starship has visited and how deliciously geeky it would be to … Read more

Princess Leia headphone covers: What took so long?

Princess Leia's famous head buns are joining forces with your favorite headphones through the power of Etsy.

Since George Lucas has an Imperial Army of lawyers at his disposal, however, the official name of these headphone covers on JacquieLongLegs' Etsy page is "Galactic Princess Headphone Covers."

The $24 covers are made from synthetic hair. That's not surprising. Headphone covers made from real Carrie Fisher hair would probably fetch about $500,000 on eBay.… Read more

The 404 879: Where we remember, remember (podcast)

Today we're exploring the trend of digital vigilantes (aka digilantes) taking to the Internet for crowdsourced criminal identification and cyberjustice. The most recent example is the hacker collective known as Anonymous' YouTube video threatening to take down Facebook on November 5, otherwise known as Guy Fawkes Day.

We'll also fill you in on the London police toying with facial recognition technology on Facebook to identify looters caught on camera, yesterday's 5,000 percent spike in blunt weapons sales on Amazon.co.uk, and a woman who used an airplane to wag a giant finger at Wall Street.

The 404 Digest for Episode 879

Anonymous: Facebook's going down November 5. Will London's police officials turn to Facebook's facial recognition technology to fight crime? Sales of aluminum bats are up more than 5,000 percent on Amazon.co.uk. The USB toothbrush: Philips' device is the "iPod of toothbrushes." Angry Birds makes it onto the cover of Mad Magazine. Airplane banner circles Wall Street: "Thanks For The Downgrade. You Should All Be Fired"

Episode 879 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Etsy moves CTO Dickerson to CEO, replacing founder

Etsy, the handmade goods online marketplace, has appointed its CTO Chad Dickerson (pictured here) as CEO. He replaces founder Rob Kalin, who stepped back into the top leadership role in late 2009.

Kalin is again transitioning out of the day-to-day management at the New York-based start-up.

In a blog post about it, Dickerson wrote, in part:

With engineering well in hand and a strong partner in Adam Freed (our COO), it's time for me to focus my attention on other aspects of the business. I'm stepping into the role of CEO at Etsy, and I'm looking forward … Read more

Gotcha! Facebook parody site pre-empts a lawsuit

Get this one: A site called "Lamebook" that mocks bad and silly Facebook content had been threatened with a trademark infringement lawsuit from Facebook, so it decided to sue Facebook first. It may sound silly, but Lamebook's rationale is that it's a very obvious parody and hence is protected by the First Amendment.

"Unlike the Facebook website, the Lamebook website does not offer social-networking services or functionality to its users and, therefore, does not compete with Facebook," the complaint explained, adding that Facebook's repeated threats of a lawsuit began in March.

Facebook has, … Read more

Etsy's crafty balance: Fans vs. trademark holders

BROOKLYN, N.Y.--It's a languid, late-summer Wednesday afternoon at the offices of online handmade-goods marketplace Etsy, and Chief Technology Officer Chad Dickerson is sitting at a table in a conference room decorated to look like a cartoonish version of the interior of a Mercury-era space capsule.

Surrounded by fake panic-button consoles, plush jet packs, and quilts depicting outer-space views of moons and planets, Dickerson is peering at his laptop screen to report a particularly important number that he's just been asked to look up: "We've got 263 search results for 'Justin Bieber.'"

That's 263 listings at this precise moment in time by Etsy sellers hawking homemade shoelaces, tapestries, pendants, and pillows (to name a few) featuring the visage of the sugary pop singer. Bieber is hardly alone on Etsy; poke through its listings, and you'll find necklaces in the shape of the "Golden Snitch" winged orb from the "Harry Potter" series, cuff links painted to look like the head of "Star Wars" robot R2-D2, and bottle cap pendants featuring the bronzed face of "Jersey Shore" star "DJ Pauly D."

Fan creations are a funny thing. For well more than a decade, the Web has provided an unprecedented gathering space for loyal and zealous followers of literary, cinematic, and televised franchises who might not otherwise ever interact, allowing many phenomena that were once cult hits to achieve mainstream, mass-market success and often phenomenal profitability. Sometimes, as with the sale of unofficial DJ Pauly D pendants and Star Wars cuff links, the fans stand a chance of profiting, too. And the trademark and copyright holders aren't always happy about it.… Read more

Etsy find: iPhone stands made of forks and spoons

Cute. Clever. Whimsical. No, no, I'm not talking about me, but how sweet of you to think that! I'm referring to ForkedUpArt's iPhone stands made of forks and spoons. I think the photos speak for themselves; these things are just adorable.

(Um, did I just use "sweet" and "adorable" in the same paragraph? I meant to say "killer" and "bitchin'." There, manhood restored.)

As you can see, there are two versions, the aptly named Fork Head and Spoon Head. Both use a combination of forks and spoons, and both … Read more