rings

Even if your new slim Xbox 360 console malfunctions, you won't be getting the now-infamous "red ring of death" error. That's because Microsoft has actually eliminated all of the red LEDs from the system's internal make-up. Instead, any sort of problem with the console will now be displayed using various combinations of green lights, GameSpot reports.

While we're relieved to witness the end of those dreadful red flashing lights, we're still skeptical about the new 360's reliability. Microsoft made a point to mention the new system's "whisper quiet" operation, … Read more

What started out as a class assignment for Maddie Chambers became a nearly yearlong obsession. Now that the 30-year-old British woman's project is mostly finished, her work has drawn admirers from Brazil to the Netherlands to Spain and has even prompted a few to propose marriage.

Chambers has painstakingly created a miniature version of Bag End, Bilbo Baggins' house from "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings"--from the round front door and porthole windows, right down to the Middle-earth maps and the barrel of pipe-weed inside.

It's clear Chambers is a J.R.R. Tolkien fan. What isn't clear is when she sleeps. Chambers, the mother of young twin boys, started the project in March 2009 when she was taking a college course on child care. The unit was on "the importance of play." The assignment? Create a toy by term's end. Chambers, who lives in Chesterfield, England, set to work on the Hobbit hole in the evenings after her boys went to bed. Other times, she would turn to it while the toddlers napped.

Chambers based the dollhouse, roughly 3-foot-square, partly on Tolkien's stories and Peter Jackson's big-screen adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings." Her imagination filled in the rest.

"The Hobbit" first hooked her when she was about 10. About a year later, she tackled "The Lord of the Rings." Tolkien created a world that she wanted to live in, populating it with elves, dwarves, and dragons, Chambers said in a recent e-mail. (She has read "Lord of the Rings" about 20 times over the years.)

"I longed to go on the adventures with the Hobbits and I literally imagined every single step they took and pictured myself there too," Chambers said. … Read more

Dong wants you to change your passwords often, and he seems committed to spreading his brand of Internet security ideals. I see it slightly differently.

Then, from the world of extreme ridiculousness--at least from my perspective--comes Game Crush . One of the saddest takes on Web 2.0 social networking I've ever heard of. In this episode, I explain why I'm so livid.

Finally, I've attributed the empty void currently in my soul to the fact that my Xbox 360 has been on the road to the red ring. Games have been crashing after two minutes of play … Read more

We usually scold Wilson for eating while we're on the air, but today we're making an exception so that we can taste test  Jeff's horrific supermarket find: Cheeseburger-flavored Doritos! Who knew that harnessing the sinewy flavor of cooked beef and artificial cheese would be such a catastrophe?

It takes the three of us a few minutes to recover from the explosion of McNausea, but we get it together and move onto the big Apple news of the day: while many Appleheads are still clamoring over the forthcoming iPad release, the rumor mill is also churning about the fourth-generation iPhone that will supposedly be named the iPhone HD for its 960x640-pixel resolution screen. Other features to look out for include a front-facing camera for video calls and an software update that allows for application multitasking. Our own Apple fanboy Wilson G. Tang contributes his own concerns about battery life and network robustness, and also gives us permission to tattoo a half-full hourglass on his face if his predictions are incorrect.

The latest tech trend to hit Japan is called "Ringtone Therapy" that promises the cure for fay fever and obesity by using simple sounds through your phone. Japanese citizens suffering from stuffiness, runny noses, and sneezing from the pollen in the air can call a service that emits noises that supposedly releases the pollen in your sinuses if the user holds the phone up to their nose. You know what else is good for protecting your sinuses? Not holding foreign objects up to your nose.

We can't thank Steve Fatone and Props Guy Jim enough for all the work they've done for the show. Whether it's the Official 404 Temporary Tattoos, NDC's Motherboard action figure, The 404 hoverboard from BTTF, or the Yu Be Gone spray repellent, these guys are a tremendous asset to the show and we're honored to have them as friends. Thanks again, guys! Let us know if there's anything we can do to return the favor, keeping in mind that Wilson is no longer allowed to attend children's birthday parties.

Finally, be sure to tune into the second half of the show for Calls From the Public plus a couple E-Mails From the Public! Keep sending your comments, questions, critiques, and sticker pictures to the 404(at)cnet{dot}com and you might be on a future episode of The 404!

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The show's a pretty well-controlled train wreck right up until we start talking about the underwear that texts when it's, um, moist. No, you're not listening to the 404 (or Gadgettes), it's actually Buzz Out Loud. In real news (if you will), the first week's worth of iPads have apparently sold out and actual competition is coming to the wireless space ... around 2011. Also, cosmic rays are making your car go fast. No, really.

Apple runs out … Read more

RingCentral is a phone call management service can make small businesses look and function like larger ones with some pretty neat telephonic tomfoolery. The service has been around since early 2004, and has since introduced a slew of VoIP plans called DigitalLine that give users the option to use VoIP instead of, or on top of their existing landlines.

So what can you do with RingCentral? Small business owners will love it, since you can set up a ridiculously extensive set of rules to handle incoming calls, or reroute them on the fly with a virtual phone call manager called … Read more

Update at 8:25 a.m. PST Feb. 2: "Avatar" has snagged nine Oscar nominations: visual effects, best picture, art direction, cinematography, directing, film editing, sound editing, sound mixing, and music (original score).

When the trumpets sound Tuesday morning and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces its annual Oscar nominations, could there be any more of a sure thing than that James Cameron's mega-hit "Avatar" will grace the list of visual effects honorees?

After all, while many people have enjoyed the film's sprawling anti-colonialism storyline, there's little doubt that what … Read more

One of the more recent additions to Sunpak's lineup of flashes is the DSLR67 LED ring light, a low-cost, easy-to-use LED ring light for macro work with an SLR. It's simple to use: just turn it on and shoot. Although it won't put out as much light as a traditional strobe ring light, it only costs about $50, less than a strobe ring light. It's meant for when you need to add a little light to small subjects.

The DSLR67 fits most lenses with a filter size up to 67mm. The ring light mount slides into … Read more