kodak

Are viciously negative Yelp reviews putting an unfair stigma on small businesses? Today's two-part episode of The 404 Podcast weighs the effect of crowd-sourced review sites like Yelp and Zagat on independently owned establishments, and asks the question: will future generations understand topical shows like "The Simpsons" and "30 Rock?"

Part one: this insightful article in The Atlantic magazine questions the legitimacy of online reviews and the misplaced responsibility that Yelp bestows on citizen journalists with little or no training in voicing their opinions.

The piece calls out six distinct types of crowd-sourced reviewers who make us all look bad. Our least favorite is the "Hater's Ball," but we prefer to call them trolls--people who make scathing, borderline vindictive criticisms online about the most minor offenses at restaurants that they would never voice in person.

How many negative Yelpers do you think actually call the manager over after a meal to politely voice concerns? Most of the time, Yelpers don't think about how a single bad review can springboard a series of negative press that could potentially shut down an independent business, so make sure your complaints are legit before you post!

Don't forget that there are always real people behind the keyboard...and sometimes they have access to weapons.

Part two: This Salon.com article raises an interesting question about future generations understanding the pop culture references in topical television shows like "The Simpsons" and "Glee."… Read more

Apple will announce the next iPad 2 today, so imagine our surprise when all Wilson wants to talk about is Charlie Sheen joining Twitter! There may be hope for our Apple suckling fanboy just yet...

The rumors fluttering around the next iPad are growing, with the latest batch wondering about a MobileMe update that will allow streaming media to iOS devices.

This isn't the first time we've predicted this upgrade, but a new rumor claims that an Apple employee has said today's update will indeed allow all media including music, TV shows, and iTunes-purchased movies to stream in the cloud. Since you still can't iTunes on multiple computer libraries without a clever workaround, this could be a huge boon for the next iPad.

But you just want an iPad to consume news and watch movies, it may make more sense to either wait a month for a first generation iPad price drop or wait until the end of a year, when a third generation iPad may surface with more significant upgrades. Either way, we're done with the Apple rumor mongering for today.

Moving onto the more important news of the day (to Wilson), @CharlieSheen has finally joined the Twitterverse and is adding friends at an astonishing rate of 2,000 followers a minute.

Business developers, marketing professional, and public relations experts should take note of his social media strategy: your first tweet better have porn stars, or… Read more

Today's show title comes from the Sloppy Joe scene in "Billy Madison" and continues our weeklong tribute to Adam Sandler's comedic repertoire. We know how you kids like 'em shloppy!

Jeff uses the first bit of the episode to bemoan the Washington, D.C., legal system for its use of traffic-ticketing speed detectors in deserted 40 mph stretches of road.

Take a look at the video and let us know if you think Jeff's ticket is warranted, taking into consideration his admission of guilt on a live, recorded podcast that is definitely admissible in a court of law. Cool story bro!

Now onto the first of today's stories: game company THQ is organizing an anti-North Korean rally in San Francisco to protest the country's dictatorship and abhorrent human rights violations.

The walk from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Yerba Buena Gardens will feature speeches by economic experts, musicians, and the launching of 10,000 balloons.

But the other side of the story is that THQ is also throwing the rally to promote its upcoming shooter game called Homefront that puts the player in control of an American soldier challenging North Korean forces in a dystopian occupied United States. Keeping with last week's discussion of the violent realism in Call of Juarez, could this be another case of too real, too soon?… Read more

Hey, you know what we need a ribbon for, people? We need a ribbon for the fact that less than a third of U.S. students have even basic proficiency in science education. Science. Education. You know, the foundations of the universe? The familiarity with physics and electronics that leads to inventions like cars, computers, and fancy tablet computers? This is a serious problem, and sure, there's other news today, but this? This is important. Love, Molly.

A judge said today that Apple and RIM phones featuring cameras are not infringing on technology developed by Eastman Kodak, according to reports.

Kodak filed a complaint in January 2010 with the International Trade Commission claiming that the technology used in the iPhone and BlackBerry to preview images infringes on one of its digital imaging patents. Kodak demanded the ITC block import of phones in violation.

The endgame for Kodak is really to get Apple and RIM to pay royalties for using the technology. The camera company arrived at royalty arrangements more recently with LG and Samsung after filing similar complaints. … Read more

Apple's iPhone 4 camera packs a technology that a lot of buyers of the phone may have missed: a new image sensor tech that is coming into focus--pardon the pun--as camera makers like Kodak adopt the technology in higher-end cameras.

The technology, called backside illumination, or BSI, was highlighted by Steve Jobs when he took the stage to roll out the new iPhone, as Joshua Goldman of CNET Reviews wrote here.

Apple's savviness shines through here. The company had to do its homework to get out in front of this trend, particularly in smartphones, which are not necessarily … Read more

Maybe it's because Kodak's been targeting women 18-35 lately, but Kodak didn't make much mention of the EasyShare Max when it announced its other cameras at CES 2011. It's the company's newest top-of-the-line full-size megazoom.

The basic specs include a 30x f2.8-5.6 28-676mm zoom lens, 3-inch LCD and electronic viewfinder, and a 12-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor. As with all BSI sensors there's the promise of better low-light results and faster shooting performance. You'll also get full manual controls, raw capture, creative effects like an HDR mode for creating high dynamic range … Read more

The Kodak PlayFull is pretty much a basic minicamcorder, albeit a tiny, attractive one.

It captures full HD 1080p movies and 5-megapixel stills and is loaded with Kodak's share software for quickly editing videos and sharing on sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as international sites like Yandex and KAIXIN001. There is a Share button, too, for tagging your photos and videos to upload to those sites as soon as it's connected to a computer.

The PlayFull also gets black and white, sepia, high saturation, and '70s film look capture effects; face tracking; electronic image stabilization; and … Read more

The first-generation Kodak PlaySport minicamcorder (announced at CES 2010) may have looked rugged, but in reality it was only waterproof to 10 feet. The second generation, however, is shockproof, able to withstand a 5-foot drop. That might not seem like much, but it's actually pretty good for this category.

As for general specs and such, this new PlaySport picks up where the old one left off. It still captures at up to 1080p, has a 2-inch LCD, and is loaded with Kodak's EasyShare software for quickly sharing on sites like Facebook and Twitter and international sites like Yandex … Read more