BIOS

Mark the Former Intern stops by The 404 studio today to shake us out of our slumber...maybe we do need Wilson's laugh after all! Today we steer through more news about the upcoming "BioShock" movie, CBS running a video ad in a magazine, Jessica Biel (that's all), Woofer, and more!

We haven't had Mark the Intern on in a while, so since Wilson is still gone we take the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with the host of CNETTV's The Green Show. We're all a little sluggish this morning from severe lack of sleep and lingering illness, but we all know laughter is the best medicine, so we rip right into the new "BioShock" movie, slated to come out in 2075. Just kidding, but it's not far off considering the weekly changes we've been reading about in the news!

Next up, we take a look at a creative new video ad to run in Entertainment Weekly magazine this fall. The ad is the first of its kind to appear in print and can handle 40 minutes of video. You can even attach a mini-USB plug and recharge the batteries if you literally have nothing better to do. Although, something tells me Neil Patrick Harris giving the "peace" sign isn't exactly going to sell boatloads of Pepsi products...

After a Call from the Public (just one), we're very excited to talk about Woofer, another Twitter clone that requires each post to have a minimum of 1,400 characters, or roughly 500 words. Obviously, we don't expect the service to catch fire as quickly as Twitter, and in fact many of the early adopters are reaching the minimum by copying and pasting excerpts from the Gettysburg Address and the Old Testament. Go check it out, but you might want to brush up on your writing skills first!

Check out the show and please leave us a voicemail at 1-866-404-CNET and let us know what you think about any of the stories, or just tell us what's on your mind! If it's good, we'll play it on the show. Heck, even if it's awful, there's still a good chance you'll hear yourself on the air!

BioSolar has filed a patent application for a new type of backing for photovoltaic cells.

A backsheet is the bottom layer of a photovoltaic cell used by solar manufacturers to protect the cell from moisture, temperature fluctuations, and the elements.

BioSolar's BioBacksheet-A, a new addition to the company's line of backsheets, consists of a sheet of aluminum foil sandwiched between two layers of polymer made from renewable plant sources. The aluminum used in the sheets is also 100 percent recyclable.

The company announced that it was developing plant-based plastics for solar-cell components, which included the use of cotton and castor beans, … Read more

So we've started our back-to-school retail roundup of laptops, and while Dan and Scott got their first reviews posted without incident (the HP Pavilion dv7-2185DX and Sony Vaio FW480J/T, respectively), I wasn't as lucky with the Asus G71GX-RX05.

Actually, that's not entirely true. You see, the review was sailing right along until I started reading complaints about the system's Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M graphics adapter basically dropping frame rates to 1-2fps once the GPU temp hits roughly 81 degrees Celsius. So we did a little more testing and, sure enough, the frame rates dropped and … Read more

The breakthrough sci-fi role-playing-game is back in Mass Effect 2. Lead Commander Shepard through the galaxy once again as you interact with different alien races. Mass Effect 2 is set to blast off in early 2010 for the PC and Xbox 360.

An all star research team is developing a putty-like material to help regenerate shattered bones, a technology that could allow soldiers to avoid amputation and quickly regain full use of badly broken legs.

'Fracture putty' is a biocompatible compound designed to be packed in and around non-union fractures. It provides a load-bearing, osteoconductive, bone-like structure to give regenerative growth a chance. Then, once the bone heals, the putty degrades into harmless, absorbable by-products.

"The fracture putty will serve as a bioactive scaffold and will be able to substitute for the damaged bone," said principal researcher Mauro Ferrari. "… Read more

How do you follow up one of the most critically acclaimed video games in recent memory? 2K Games is facing that very challenge with its sequel to the 2007 hit BioShock. We recently sat down for an eyes-on preview of the upcoming BioShock 2 from the game's developers.

The original game succeeded by mixing a solid first-person shooter mechanic with a wildly imaginative fictional world, set in the ruined underwater city of Rapture. The art deco design of the 1940's city was a welcome break from the warehouses and space stations most games are set in, and the … Read more

One of the great things about working at a creative firm is that there's so much creativity around that it sometimes takes non-client-related work to fully channel it. From time to time, my colleagues at frog design embark on concept work for magazines to explore new territory and flex their skills.

The latest piece is a special project for Forbes' Special Report on Identity: The Troika card, a concept for a smarter Social Security card with a multifunctional screen that turns your identity card into a gadget. "Of the three forms of identification we have in the States--the … Read more

With Wilson at the auto expo in town, our good friend Kenley Bradstreet from "Heavy & Flow" joins us today on the show. We chat about Gore Verbinski's decision to make BioShock over another pirates movie and how that'll either be the best or worst thing he's ever done.

Justin then enlightens us about the logistical issues with sending feces through the United States Postal Service and how it isn't exactly a crime. First thing you'll want to do with the new OnStar system in the event of a car accident is Twitter about it as the service has found its way to the on-board vehicle communication system.

Next Kenley tells us about The Transcendent Man, Ray Kurzweil, and how he used to come visit the Bradstreet home on major holidays. Finally, we touch on some tech no-nos, a few tech-inspired faux pas (can you even pluralize that?) that we're all guilty of.

Make sure you keep sending in those stories of survival for a chance to win Tom Avery's incredible book, "To the End of the Earth". Leave us an email (the404 [at] cnet [dot] com or call in @ 866-404-CNET).

One of the more interesting games we saw at the recent Game Developer's Conference was a large-scale RPG called Dragon Age: Origins, combining well-trod sword-and-sorcery clichés with an inventively twisting plot and an advanced branching dialog engine (where the main character often affects the story by deciding what to say to other characters).

If all that sounds too "hardcore gamer" for you, that's a shame, although understandable considering the dangerously nerdy Dungeons & Dragons vibe of the game's marketing pitch to date.

Despite the elves, dwarves, and renaissance faire outcasts that populate the … Read more