garage

10 music-tech trends that will shape the next decade

Bill Gates has said that prognosticators often overestimate the amount of technological change that will happen in a year, but underestimate the changes that will take place over a decade. With the Zeroes coming to an end this week, and Steve Guttenberg's recent column questioning the viability of recorded music in 2020 as inspiration, here's my pick of 10 trends in music and technology that will shape the next decade.

Songs instead of albums Musicians will always find ways to record their music--it's a fundamental drive, like painting for a painter or writing for a writer. But … Read more

TechCrunch files suit over CrunchPad

TechCrunch filed a lawsuit Thursday against Fusion Garage, the blog's onetime partner on the CrunchPad tablet device, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington announced Friday.

Arrington wrote that the suit charges Fusion Garage with "Fraud and Deceit, Misappropriation of Business Ideas, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Unfair Competition, and Violations of the Lanham Act."

The filing of the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California escalates the war of words between TechCrunch and Fusion Garage, in a falling-out that recently became public. Arrington had earlier indicated that he would move toward litigation.

In the … Read more

The 404 Podcast 483: Where we play a never-ending game of devil's advocate

Today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast starts off on a personal note, with Jeff detailing last night's tour of Justin's tiny Manhattan apartment. I'll concede that the space is indeed very small relative to the cripplingly expensive rent, but like any self-respecting human, I'll pay almost anything stay out of New Jersey.

Although, if I ever get tired of New York, I can always make like Rob Cavazos, aka the Wilderness Man, and embark on a 10-day camping trip to the most remote phone box in the world. It's a 10-day experiment put on by Skype and The Viral Factory to raise awareness of Skype's cheaper international calls to landlines and mobile phones. Cavazos speaks English, Spanish, and French, and is inviting everyone to call the payphone using Skype for a quick chat. Check out the Phone Box Experiment Web site for more details.

Back in January, we made a spelling error trying to use the idiom, "Good juju, bad juju." As it turns out, the expired CrunchPad is now resurrected as the "JooJoo," but CNET's Rafe Needleman doesn't think consumers are willing to pay $499 for a device that does less than a Netbook. Check out Rafe's hands-on with the JooJoo and let us know YOUR opinion in the comments below.

Big thanks to Austin for the Nook motivation poster you see up there. And, as promised, we've got more 404 theme song remixes today, including more 8-bit awesomeness and two piano covers of Jonathan Coulton's "Mother Effers" track! Very cool stuff here, and please keep them coming! This has been the most. successful. unofficial. contest...ever!

EPISODE 483 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

CrunchPad reborn as JooJoo

Monday morning, former TechCrunch partner Fusion Garage revealed details of its plans to release its Linux-based Web browsing tablet.

Known as the CrunchPad until TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington announced on his blog that Fusion Garage had removed his company from involvement the product, it was expected to be a touch-sensitive slate computer designed for browsing the Web. It was said to have no local storage aside from what was necessary to load and run the operating system. Arrington said he was hoping to bring the product to market for under $300, but did not expect it to be a big … Read more

Ropid the robot can walk, run, and hop

Japanese robot wunderkind Tomotaka Takahashi has created a new humanoid robot that can jump 3 inches off the floor, an impressive feat for a small bipedal machine.

Known for his anime-inspired robotic creations used for product promotion, Takahashi's latest bipedal walker is called Ropid (from "robot" and "rapid").

The cute carbon fiber and plastic droid weighs 3.5 pounds and has 30 degrees of mechanical freedom.

Seen in the video below, Ropid can get up, walk, run, and even jump 3 inches into the air.

It does all that while maintaining its balance thanks to … Read more

Must see! California's garage sale on eBay and Craigslist!

There's something that looks like a wedding ring. A wedding ring, I tell you.

I don't for a moment believe it belongs to Gov. Arnold Schwarzernegger's fair wife. However, it's the governor who is inviting you to "bring the family" and take items such as this ring off his hands. Because California needs to find cash wherever it can.

Please, go to Craigslist or eBay and take the ThinkPad ($200) and the the Dell laptop ($200). Or even these 10 office chairs ($5 each). The LG Flip Phone ($9) and the Blackberrys ($25) have … Read more

Mechanic's digital organizer

Garage Organizer offers to help coordinate all of the various chores that make running a garage difficult. With simple options and great results, this program is sure to win a few fans.

Garage Organizer boasts its strengths immediately by showcasing a well-organized interface that never leaves you in the dark. Large command buttons clearly point the way toward several boxes for data that are easy to quickly fill. The program offers a Help file, but we are confident it will need to be consulted only for the program's more complicated tasks. This versatile management system operates primarily from a … Read more

Bad Ass American Rides Pt. 2: '69 Chevy Camaro

As we get revved up for the Fourth of July this coming weekend, I have slated a week long tribute to some of the most bad-assed American cars ever made. And they don't get much more classic than the iconic 1969 Chevy Camaro SS.

This video actually features a '69 Camaro SS for sale from Fleming's Ultimate Garagebra, and whoever managed to afford this American beauty got a really special car. This Camaro rocks royal blue paint with white stripes from the tip of the hood to the end of the trunk, and it sports brand new performance … Read more

Road Trip kickoff: The garage where the HP legend began

(Editor's note: This post serves as a starting point for Daniel Terdiman's Road Trip 2009, which kicks off Sunday. See below for more details on his trip.)

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Sometimes, when things are huge, it's easy to forget that they come from the most humble of backgrounds.

Such is the case with Hewlett-Packard, one of the biggest technology companies in the world. It has a massive headquarters in this central Silicon Valley town, but like the stuff of legends, it got its start 71 years ago in a tiny garage in the middle of an otherwise … Read more

Metallica's Kirk Hammett speaks about Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero: Metallica, which lets gamers play along with the band and its influences, comes out in the U.S. on March 29. Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett spoke to me this afternoon at the South by Southwest music festival about the game and other issues related to music and technology.

Q: With the Guitar Hero game, do you think you'll be reaching longtime fans, or is this mainly a way to reach younger fans who might know a song or two but don't really know Metallica? Hammett: We'll be reaching fans across the board, longtime fans, … Read more