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Orson Welles' Martians finally land--in a Colorado attic

Two years ago we asked the question: Could the mass hysteria of the 1938 "War of the Worlds" scandal, in which a Halloween radio drama orchestrated by actor Orson Welles was mistaken for a real announcement of Martians landing in New Jersey, still take place in the Information Age?

The answer: Yes, it could. And it happened this week.

Like millions of Americans, you were probably glued to your computer watching some news outlet's live video stream or hitting refresh on Twitter for updates on "Balloon Boy," the twisted saga of a 6-year-old Colorado boy who had allegedly floated away in a flying-saucer-shaped helium balloon … Read more

The 404 447: Where the cheese stands alone

Even though I definitely messed up the title format and everything else for that matter, today's show is still "Where the cheese stands alone," because you get to witness the pain as I try to record a solo podcast. That's right, Jeff is out and Wilson called in sick, so I'm left to fend for myself with the generous help of a few friends along the way.

Disclaimer: Today's show is atypical. If this is your first time listening to The 404, note that this is definitely not the norm. The show is usually very random and tangential, but today's episode is a ONE MAN SHOW. That man is me, and for that I beg your forgiveness in advance. If you're able to get through the entire show, well then I tip my hat to you.

It's the first time I've operated the engineering board and camera switching by myself, so the production value ain't up to par with Jeff's expert skills...just keep that in mind as you struggle through this episode of random musings, behind the scenes scoops, upcoming guests, meet-up ideas, Halloween costumes, and the future of The 404!

As hard as it is to listen to me wing my way through 45 minutes of streaming video, it would have been far worse if not for my dear friends Dan Ackerman, Scott Stein, and Julie Rivera who all came in to put me out of my lonely misery. They're all part of CNET's own Digital City Podcast, so be sure to check them out.

Here's some exciting news to look forward to: our guest on Monday will be the band Family of the Year. After hearing that we chose them for our Beck's Beer Draft Pick, they agreed to come in for a live in-studio acoustic performance!

Jeff will certainly be back for that, but no guarantees for Wilson G. Tang, who may or may not have contracted the Avian Swine Flu, a rare form of H1N1 that only occurs when pigs fly.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Episode 447 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The DSi needs a Virtual Console: Here are the games we want to see released

When the Nintendo DSi was first announced, flaunting, among other things, an ability to download games directly from Nintendo to system memory or an SD card, our minds leaped to visions of a portable Virtual Console on the Nintendo handheld.

It would be a museum of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, to be chosen from the hundreds of thousands of titles dating back to 1989. Much like the Wii's Virtual Console, it would be a mix of greatest hits and the obscure. Best of all, it could be affordable.

Unfortunately and quizzically, Nintendo still hasn't launched … Read more

The 404 386: Where we get lost in the dream

It's Wilson's turn again to choose The 404 semi-weekly audio draft sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews 5000, so naturally we're a little skeptical (but not nearly as skeptical as we are about the moon landing), but Mr. Tang comes through again with the beautiful music of Priscilla Ahn, a young singer-songwriter with a light, ethereal voice that drifts through the layered atmosphere of her acoustic folk melodies.

Like many of the artists featured on our Draft Pick, Ms. Ahn also brings several instrumental talents to her songs, incorporating her harmonica and even a kazoo on top of the gentle plucks of an acoustic guitar.

Today's featured song, "Dream," was recently featured in an episode of "Grey's Anatomy," and with good reason: the layered harmonies make the perfect soundtrack to quiet, rolling landscapes...also, I think it's pretty cool that's she's on Blue Note Records, the jazz label responsible for putting out albums by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis.

She put out her first record last year called "A Good Day," and is currently touring Japan and Korea before heading back to Los Angeles on August 1 to play at the Troubadour. Give her a listen and let us know if you're in love with her as much as I am!

As usual, this episode is also jam-packed with current newz, including MCA's YouTube announcement (get better soon!), Facebook self-love (not like that, dummy), and another Facebook story about the most EPIC PARTY EVER!

One final note: does anyone have the original text/code for our Wikipedia page? I know it's been awhile, but somebody must have it, right? Our intentions are secret for now, but we definitely have a stew a-brewin', so hit us up at the404(at)cnet(dot)com if you have a copy of it!

EPISODE 386 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Digital City No. 41: Apple's falling market share vs. the Game Boy Micro vs. the death of gaming PCs

Episode 41 of the Digital City, where we discuss Apple's falling market share, Scott's love affair with the Game Boy Micro, and whether Alienware's $5K laptop means the death of gaming PCs.

Related links: >>Alienware M17x the fastest gaming laptop ever, but do we still need big PC gaming rigs? >>Apple drops to No. 5 in laptop sales--are cheaper MacBooks the answer? >>Retro Gadget: An ode to my Game Boy Micro

>>Watch the Digital City live every Friday at 3pm EST on CNET Live! >>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes &… Read more

Retro Gadget: An ode to my Game Boy Micro

Oh, GBM, you've been hiding. In a plastic drawer, under some socks and a 60GB iPod, you lay upside down next to your coiled-up charger. I admit I've ignored you in recent years, what with the Nintendo DS Lite and iPhone (and sometimes PSP) vying for my mobile attention. Your little plastic case, and the Game Boy Advance cartridges you played, were overlooked.

Recently, though, I pulled you out again. It all happened because the Nintendo DSi, while an excellent handheld, cannot play GBA cartridges anymore. To play Super Mario Bros. 3, I needed your services. Removing you from the gear drawer, I was impressed that you still seemed small. Smaller, in fact, than any of my other gadgets, except for the iPod Shuffle. You make the iPhone seem bulky. While your screen is miniature, it still looks bright and crisp compared with any other handheld screen. Even more amazingly, the battery still worked when I turned you on. I can't even recall another gadget whose battery has lasted that long in disuse.

The Game Boy Micro was Nintendo's attempt at a Game Boy swan song.… Read more

The 404 Holiday Weekend Throwback: Episode 187, 11/18/08

Have a great Independence Day and enjoy this 404 Throwback episode #187 from September 18, 2008 featuring CNET Smartphones Editor Bonnie "The Bonch" Cha!

We finally get our hands on the much coveted Bonch aka Bonnie Cha, Senior Editor for CNET.com. No, we don't grill her on the latest cell phones at CTIA or the proper way to make a Superman cape. Instead, we try to guess Sarah Palin's e-mail password, run through a list of Jeff's mancrushes, do the Cha Cha on the air, and take a visit to the Sex Museum, aka Wilson's cellar.

Wow, did someone open up a tank of nitrous oxide in here? Today's show is literally 40 minutes of constant laughter, and we owe that to our special guest, Bonnie Cha! She's a Senior Editor of mobile phones at CNET and one of the first people I ever met at the San Francisco office. Please don't be operating heavy machinery while listening to today's show! We do taint, tarnish, and otherwise frack up Bonnie's "innocence" by explaining the science behind "Supermanning that ho," which goes over surprisingly well with her. We also debut a service called Cha Cha that allows you to text or call a 24/7 concierge service that will literally answer any inquiry, such as "Is the 404 going to be taken off the air tomorrow?" or "Why is Bonnie's nickname The Bonch?" Of course, all of these questions can be answered using another service; here in 2008 we call it Google. Furthermore,why would I use the Cha Cha when I know Wilson will always be within arm's length of a computer? The man is physically tethered to the Internet. Finally, we take a look at the NBC fall lineup and Bonnie asks the question that's on all of our minds: Jeff, how can you like Sex and the City and still urinate standing up?

EPISODE 187 Download today's podcast … Read more

The 404 353: Where the Sony PSP Go! at E3 looks like Eric Cartman

This show is getting too many mascots. First Boxxie McFinderberg, then our soon-to-be beta fish, and now a baby panda?! On today's show, we discuss "Terminator Salvation," Asian actors in Pixar's "UP," E3 2009, the Sony PSP Go, and the leaked Palm Pre review on Boy Genius Report.

Sony and Palm are clearly using the same marketing team, because they're both mucking things up with the release of their latest products, the Palm Pre and the recent Sony PSP Go leakage. Jeff and Wilson suspect that they released it early on purpose, but the real story here is how boring it is. None of the internal specs have changed, it's the same screen as the PSP 3000 except for minor upgrades to the onboard memory. The most obvious difference is the sliding keypad. Wilson thinks it's simply useless and just another piece of hardware prone to break over time. Not surprisingly, the dudes think it's a wise move not to include a UMD slot in the new PSP Go. After all, everything is going the way of cloud computing, and you can still put a game on a Sony Memory Stick anyway. Wait a second, what the hell? Why am I even writing about all this gaming garbage? Up until five minutes before the show, I didn't even know what a PSP Go was!

Moving on: if you're running out of toilet paper for the day, print out Boy Genius Report's Palm Pre review and wipe away. BGR unveiled the "world's first review" of the new handheld on Friday, and it also happens to be the "world's most poorly written review" as well. First of all, there's a code of ethics that comes into play here, and BGR still hasn't revealed how or why they decided to leak the review before anyone else. Journalistic integrity, anyone? And come on, dude: if you're going to leak a high-profile review that you know will get a massive amount of hits, maybe spend a tiny bit more time shaping the text. We get that it's a blog, but this review reads like someone wrote it on the pot. Or maybe we're just jealous that we didn't get one first. :)

Finally, thanks again to EVERYONE that submitted logos over the weekend for our contest. It ended today, so don't send any more unless you have one that can seriously compete with the finalists (which we will debut tomorrow). Check out the final submissions below and let us know what you think in the comments. Do you have a favorite out of all of them?

EPISODE 353 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Game video that'll burn in your retinas: Muscle March

Sometimes a video is so fascinating, so hypnotic, so awe-inspiringly strange, that it just doesn't leave your head. It stays for days and days, over a whole weekend, while the mind reels at the possibilities. Namco-Bandai's Muscle March is just such a brain injection of oddity.

Japan is a lucky country. It gets titles like Muscle March for WiiWare, while we get to watch YouTube videos instead.

Witness the rainbow-colored bikini briefs and posing polar bears...almost like Punch-Out!!, if Punch-Out!! involved slamming your shirtless body through walls while on psychedelics. The style is reminiscent of the best … Read more