brothers

Keep your data safe at the border

There is no right to privacy at international borders. For those of us with laptops, this presents a pretty major problem: How do we get through U.S. Customs with our beloved portable devices, without having Uncle Sam peeking at every e-mail we've sent, every MP3 we've listened to, and every "home movie" we've made?

The obvious solution, encryption, is not enough. Non-Americans have no right to enter the U.S. Don't want to hand over your encryption keys? No problem--but you will be put on the next airplane back to your home country (… Read more

Where blazers, T-shirts, and flip-flops are great

EPISODE 81

Natali Del Conte, star of CNET's hit show Loaded, joins the boys of the 404 to talk about Jeff's visit to see Shigeru Miyamoto, digital copy of Juno, and movies coming up this weekend.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Raconteurs to avoid leaks with quick release

Back in the old days (like 2007), the marketing strategy for new albums included a prerelease "rolling thunder" PR campaign. First came a single, followed shortly by the video.

Then a few chosen reviewers would get early copies with "NOT FOR RESALE" imprinted across the front, allowing them to have their reviews ready slightly before or on the release date. Retail outlets would receive promotional matter, like cardboard cutouts of the band standing in front of the album cover. A few warm-up shows would feature songs from the record. Meanwhile, somebody--a reviewer, a disgruntled record … Read more

Where you'll want to chase today's show with a dose of penicillin

EPISODE 50

We're giving away a copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, one of the most hotly anticipated titles for the Wii. Listen up so you can win! Click here for more pictures and instructions and how you can win an autographed copy of Super Smash Brothers Brawl!

In the meanwhile, the hosts of the 404 talk about: Tina Fey being cute, but not so funny; Sarah Silverman and Amy Winehouse looking exactly alike; Ben Stiller's new movie featuring Robert Downey Jr. in blackface (?Qu??); terrible airplane movies; and the return of 30 Rock with Will Arnett and … Read more

Cut the cord with Brother's newest wireless all-in-one printer

With spring just around the corner, it's time to clean up your workspace. To help you clean up your clutter, Brother is releasing two multifunction printers: the MFC-7440N ($249) and the MFC-7840W ($299). Both are significant upgrades to their predecessors, with the MFC-7840W living up to its prefix multifunction name.

The MFC-7840W is the standout product here, it includes all the features you would expect from a high end all-in-one printer, such as a speedy 23 page per minute output, 2400x600 dots per inch resolution, and a 35 sheet auto feeder. We're excited to take a look at … Read more

HD Radio and a four-channel mixer for iPod recording

Several CES booths had the telltale orange and black HD Radio sign, designating that they were selling at least one device with an HD Radio receiver in it. There was also some buzz over a new feature that lets you flag a song for later purchase on iTunes (this works only on models with an iPod dock). I stopped by iBiquity's booth--they're the developers of HD Radio technology--to get an overview of all the supported devices out there, and it's a pretty impressive list, including home radios from Creative, JBL, and Sony, plus automotive radios from many … Read more

Found at CES: ... a sewing machine?

Sure there are flashy tvs, phones that vie for the iPhone's status, more flat screens than you can shake a stick at, but at today's CES sneak-peak, I noticed some of the more random things at CES 2008 that caught my attention:

Juice This!

Duracell, battery manufacturer galore, is making plugging in easier with these plug-in-able packs. Maybe it's me, but with brown-outs, black-outs and white-outs lately, it may be worthwhile to think about.

Sew This!

Maybe it's Project Runway's fault, but I even saw Brother sewing machines at CES. Maybe they're Wi-Fi enabled … Read more

CompUSA closes shop

Forget Black Friday. For the best deals on gadgets and PCs this holiday season, look no further than your neighborhood CompUSA.

The embattled electronics retail chain was dealt its final blow Friday when it was sold to Specialty Equity, an affiliate of private equity firm Gordon Brothers Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the immediate result is that Specialty Equity will close all 103 CompUSA stores in the United States, according to a press release issued late Friday.

Gordon Brothers will "initiate an orderly wind-down" of each of the stores, the company says. That's … Read more

Eyebox is watching you watching it

[Update: It seems that Google is, in fact, not developing the Eyebox, and it's all Xuuk's project. The relation to Google seems to have been a misunderstanding about the similarities between Eyebox's tracking technology and Google's completely separate PageRank technology. We're sorry for the misunderstanding.]

The next time to you look at an advertisement, it might be looking back at you, thanks to a new product from a company called Xuuk. According to Engadget, the strangely-named company is developing the Eyebox, a $1,000 camera that can track people looking at it. The palm-sized device … Read more

Music system looks like our first stereo

Break out those leisure suits--this sound system may be new, but it looks right out of 1974.

The "Gene Sound TAS-100" ("Gene Sound"?) combines digital and analog music in a system that can play and record old LPs and CDs as well as MP3 files, according to Newlaunches. The all-in-one system, made by Seagrand Japan, goes for an affordable $170.

There are a lot of systems that convert old and new recording media, but few have the distinctively retro look of this one, at least from this particular era. Regardless of how it sounds, you'… Read more