brains

Sega Dreamcast classic ChuChu Rocket now on Android

In ChuChu Rocket, your objective is to guide hordes of frantic mice (ChuChus) to their rocket ship by dropping arrowed tiles on the ground. As the mice move about the screen, simply swipe in front of them to drop a tile and point them in a direction to run. While the game may not sound very difficult, there are, in fact, an assortment of obstacles and an army of evil cats that very well could have you pulling your hair out by level 10.

There are three different game modes to choose from in ChuChu Rocket: Puzzle, Challenge, and Battle. … Read more

Calling all alien firefighters

In Sprinkle for Android, its your job to protect the alien inhabitants of Titan, a distant moon being bombarded by flaming asteroids. Armed with a gigantic water cannon, you venture from level to level extinguishing the falling asteroids along with all of the other neighborhood fires they happen to ignite.

Each level challenges you with a number of rampant fires, each on the verge of engulfing a Titanite's home. All you have to do is aim your cannon at each set of flames (sometimes for a few seconds) to make sure that they are completely extinguished. Sound easy? Well, … Read more

Do cell phones cause brain tumors? Debate rages

A controversial study holds to an earlier claim that mobile phone use does not increase a person's risk of developing a brain tumor.

The study, which was published in the British Medical Journal yesterday, argues that even after using a cell phone for more than a decade, a person's chances of getting a brain tumor are about the same as they would be without cell phone use. The study, which is an update to previous research that found no link between mobile phone use and cancer, examined the instances of brain tumors among long-term cell phone users in … Read more

For babies, no such thing as educational screen time

In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement that discouraged electronic media use by children under the age of 2. Today, the same group is releasing a follow-up statement that not only maintains its previous recommendations, but backs them up with a great deal of data to boot.

In 1999, as display screens were making their way into parents' and children's bedrooms alike, the pediatricians had limited data with which to work. But they had something of an expert hunch that kids younger than 2 reaped more negative than positive effects from media exposure.

In today's … Read more

Word nerds, behold: Dropwords for Android

If Scrabble and Boggle had a digital love-child, and that love-child were then adopted by Bejeweled, Dropwords would be it.

To start, you get a five-by-five board of lettered tiles, with each letter worth a certain number of points, a la Scrabble. Your objective is to use these letters to make words and score as many points as possible within the allotted time. A word can be made up of any number of connected tiles, and can go in any direction, just like in Boggle.

But what makes this game different from Boggle is that after you find a word … Read more

Dropwords, a unique word puzzle mashup

Dropwords for Android is the digital love child that Scrabble and Boggle never had. In other words, it is a word nerd's dream come true. To start, you get a five-by-five board of lettered tiles, with each letter being worth a certain number of points, as in Scrabble. Your objective is to use these letters to make words and score as many points as possible within the allotted time. A word can be made up of any number of connected tiles, and can go in any direction, just like in Boggle.

But what makes this game different from Boggle … Read more

The 404 915: Where we're not as think as you drunk we are (podcast)

CNET's Bridget Carey is here to talk about the imminence of the next iPhone. Signs like cases arriving at AT&T stores and the new smartphone appearing in Apple's inventory system have Wilson almost giddy.

Jeff obviously doesn't really understand why anybody would be interested in the new iPhone. It's just a different shape with more storage, right? Well, the iPhone 4S/5 may include some new patented technology that stabilizes shaky smartphone video. It might be the end of an era of vomit-inducing iPhone videos.

We also chat a bit about the crazy idea that Amazon may want to buy the beleaguered remains of Palm from HP. It seems to be a strange purchase, given that this week, Amazon seems to have a buzz-inducing product with the Kindle Fire.

It's not as crazy as Microsoft wanting to start its own TV service on the Xbox 360. That doesn't seem like a terrible idea, given the number of boxes that we have to hook into our televisions these days just to watch cable TV. In our opinion, we think it would be a lot better of a TV tuner than those generic cable boxes that seem to crash every other day.

Rounding out today's craziness, we also talk about faking a girlfriend with a Web site called Fakegirlfriend.co. Don't think that it is going to get you much help with your social life if you ever use it. Finally, we talk about the anarchy that will ensue if Facebook ever gets hacked, and your poke history is revealed.

Let us know what you think of the show by calling and leaving a voice mail at 1-866-CNET (2638). If it's good, funny and short, we'll play it. Or if the phone is foreign to you, you can send us an e-mail at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com, follow us on Twitter @the404 and like our Facebook page. OK, we're going to stop with the plugs now.

The 404 Digest for Episode 915

New iPhone appears in Apple's inventory system iPhone 5 case arrives at a AT&T retail store New iPhone may use accelerometer and gyro to stabilize video Amazon may want to buy Palm Microsoft looking into a Xbox TV service Fakegirlfriend.co lets you pretend to have a girlfriend Scientists use brain imaging to reveal the movies in our mind Facebook keeps history of pokes Justin's Bathroom Break: Kid video bombs sister's YouTube video Justin's Bathroom Break: Dog only responds to terrible Beatle's impression

Episode 915 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 915: Where we're not as think as you drunk we are (podcast)

The 404 Digest for Episode 915

Episode 915 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Here's digital video of what we see inside our brains

I don't know what kinds of things you see inside your head, but I do worry about it.

As for the things I see inside my head, well, if only I could show you. Actually, there are scientists at UC Berkeley who believe that they can show you.

I haven't let them into the house yet. But I can show you video of their work. I am grateful to the inner brains at Gizmodo, who first revealed this footage to me.

You will, naturally, be wondering whether the scientists created this footage, well, naturally.

In a way. They … Read more

This Day in Tech: Yahoo's Bartz is out; Google's Korean offices raided

Too busy to keep up with today's tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Tuesday, September 6.

CNET got the scoop about Google's mobile search practices. Korean trustbusters raid Google offices in Seoul. Jay Greene writes: "Regulators are apparently interested in information about Google allegedly limiting access to rival search engines on its Android mobile operating system."

Yahoo's Carol Bartz is out as CEO; fired by the board. Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse will fill in as CEO.

Just because you're not checking into Foursquare doesn't mean … Read more