parties

Inside a Windows 7 house party

Although some scoffed at the notion of Windows 7 house parties, Elliott Minor of Albany, Ga., said his event was a hit.

Roughly two dozen people showed up to the event, which was held at his church. Although not a huge gathering, the event seemed to be one of many that served Microsoft's purpose--helping spread the word about its just-launched Windows 7 operating system.

Two techies from the area teamed up to highlight Windows 7's key features and answer questions.

"Judging from the oohs and aahs of guests, I'd say they were favorably impressed," Minor … Read more

eBay sales of Windows 7 party packs halted

Attention those with leftover Windows 7 house party kits: don't try to sell them on eBay.

Readers report that several auctions of the house party kits have been canceled. Among other things, the kits provided to those hosting Windows 7 house parties include a Steve Ballmer "signature edition" of Windows 7 Ultimate.

The auctions may have been canceled at Redmond's request, although several other auctions appear to be ongoing.

"While we cannot confirm why eBay has removed these specific auctions, Microsoft routinely works with online auction sites such as eBay to remove infringing auctions," … Read more

Dive into your own chocolate fountain

You know how you always wanted that fountain in the back yard? That chocolate fountain? Imagine it: a 16-foot-tall tower of gushing chocolate, always ready at your disposal. Wake up in the morning, look out through the window and across the lawn, and gaze upon one of mankind's greatest treasures. Simply go outside, take your morning cup of coffee, and hold it under the flowing waterfall of chocolate.

Unfortunately such simple pleasures can be monstrously unattainable. Luckily, the Select Home Chocolate Fondue Fountain can fill in the gap until you can afford your dream fountain. Standing at a respectable … Read more

Crock-Pot does double duty

It takes a real commitment to decide on a slow-cooked meal. Pot roast, chili, stews, braised short ribs: all of these slow cooker meals require lots of cooking time. When the ingredients are in the pot, there's not much you can do to change your mind. Meals made in a slow cooker truly are set-it-and-forget-it-type meals. Once it gets going, there's no turning back.

The Crock-Pot Duo Cook and Server does double duty in more ways than one. First, the appliance combines two cooking vessels along with an attractive service for convenient tableside dining. Second, there are two … Read more

BOL 1071: Falling off the hype cycle

Twitter trades hype for a huge cash infusion, Windows 7 attempts to create hype with a spectacularly awfsome video, and we cover all the hype falling out of the Demo conference. Speaking of falling, Honda's new Segway-style unicycle looks amazingly easy to fall off of.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1071

Report: No Palm Pre for Verizon Wireless http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10361144-266.html

Twitter Appears Set to Raise $100 Million, Valuing It at $1 Billion http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/technology/internet/25twitter.html … Read more

U.K. gets its own Pirate Party

The Pirate Party UK, which is dedicated to technology and copyright-law reform, has become an official political party.

The party was registered by the Electoral Commission this week, the party's leader Andrew Robinson told ZDNet UK.

"We're still in the early stages of forming the party," Robinson said Thursday. "We're still very small."

The U.K. organization has around 250 active members, Robinson said.

Electoral Commission registration allows the party to raise funds and list Pirate Party UK candidates at the next general election, which must take place before June 2010. Similar parties … Read more

Sony's Party-shot joins Crave Asia's party

Sony's Party-shot dock does the swivel and twist at our Crave Asia offices. And, surprise, surprise, Sony's new spaceship-looking Party-shot arrives just in time for our evening... party.

Would you put Sony Party-shot on your guest list?

When a Sony rep plunked down the company's new, unfortunately hyphenated Party-shot dock in the middle of a press briefing with one of the two new Cyber-shot models parked in it, the thing automatically began to whir, rotate, tilt, zoom, snap and flash in our faces. And I began to go through what I retrospectively realized were the five stages of grief.

Denial: They're joking, right? This thing reminds me of the "SNL" commercial parody Big Red (which I really wanted to embed/link, but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere on the Web) … Read more

The 404 365: Where Andrew WK gives us bloody noses

Artist and newly crowned TV show host ANDREW WK joins The 404 today in what might be the crowning moment of our careers. We run the gamut in our extra-long show--we chat about his music career, an upcoming album, his new show "Destroy Build Destroy," and Jeff and I actually reveal our two chance encounters with the man. IT'S TIME TO PARTY!

After pimping out his appearance on the show for the past two weeks, we're very, very excited to welcome Andrew WK to our humble studio. Unsurprisingly, Andrew's super posi vibe gels well with the group and we get right into the interview, beginning with a story about how Andrew got into the piano as a kid and how it shaped his music today.

If you haven't had a chance to see Andrew play live, do yourself a favor and check it out with The 404's highest recommendation for a guaranteed good time. Also be sure to listen for a very special clip from Andrew's newest sold-out record, "DAMN! The Mixtape Vol. 1", currently only available for download on iTunes or Amazon. We also pick Andrew's brain for his opinions on the current state of music, including the overuse of auto-tune and his newfound appreciation for Dave Matthews Band.

After the break, we launch right into a conversation about Andrew's newest endeavor, a brand new show debuting on the Cartoon Network this Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EDT called "Destroy Build Destroy." The premise is simple: two teams of teenagers (with plenty of guidance and safety measures) compete to destroy a large structure, build the remnants up into something else. The winner of the competition gets to obliterate the loser's! You had us at "destroy," Andrew, the premise sounds like a mix between Double Dare and Battle Bots.

AWK's all over the place! In addition to Santos Party House, his successful bar in downtown Manhattan, Andrew also talks about his next solo album entitled "55 Cadillac" that's a pretty wide departure from his normal rock and roll. Listen to a few clips on his MySpace, give him a call, and let him know how much you love it!

Click on the slideshow above for candid shots from our interview with Andrew WK, courtesy of Sara the Woah-mantern, and a big thanks goes out to Anna David for introducing us to AWK! Wait, is it time to party yet? Yeah, it's time...LET'S GET A PARTY STARTED!

EPISODE 365 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more