dan

Dan Levy has us on his podcast On the DL, where we discuss the future of online media and why Wilson hates the chat room. Twitter says that Justin is the best dressed on the show. T-Mobile announces a $50 unlimited voice calling plan. Justin's dad kills the world's largest rat. Nintendo launches the DSi, and Boxee pulls Hulu support as well as TV.com. Wow, we are actually discussing some technology news today.

Brought to us by voice mail, the biggest news of the day is that your favorite podcast, The 404, is No. 8 on iTunes … Read more

You might recognize Sprint CEO Dan Hesse from those black-and-white commercials. When I met with him last week at a hotel bar in Oakland, Calif., two women at the next table certainly did. They treated him like a celebrity.

I wouldn't go that far, but he does appear to have a good handle on the mobile industry and what Sprint--the No. 3 cell phone service provider behind AT&T and Verizon--needs to do. And he knows more than a little something about phone companies, having spent 23 years at AT&T, including a stint as CEO of … Read more

The 404 is happy to welcome the host of the On The DL Podcast, Dan Levy, to today's show. We spend the first half complaining about our deadbeat friends and the strains of running a wildly successful show, then move onto a few stories about Hitler youth, Spider-Man's special guest, the First Family's privacy, and the FCC's overreaction to Darren Aronofsky at this year's Golden Globes.

It's not every day that we welcome a fellow podcaster to guest-host the show, but we're more than happy to share the mic with Dan Levy, the … Read more

Clarification at 7:02 a.m. PST: This article originally noted Silicon Alley Insider's report that Dan Lyons has been banned from CNBC. A CNBC representative disputes that assertion.

Newsweek columnist Dan Lyons, whose anonymous "Fake Steve Jobs" satire blog took the tech world by storm in 2007 went on a blunt rant on cable network CNBC that questioned its journalistic tactics--but contrary to a blog report, CNBC says he has not been banned from appearing on the network.

Lyons was facing off against CNBC's Silicon Valley bureau chief, Jim Goldman, in a segment about the … Read more

Business networking site LinkedIn has confirmed reports that its founder, Reid Hoffman, will return to the CEO post to replace resigning CEO Dan Nye.

Hoffman had stepped down as CEO in 2006 but remained chairman of the board and stayed active in product development operations. This month, LinkedIn hired Dipchand Nishar as vice president of products, with the objective of taking over some of the duties that Hoffman had been handling. Meanwhile, former Yahoo executive Jeff Wiener, currently the executive in residence at Accel Partners and Greylock Partners, will take over as interim president at LinkedIn.

Nye plans to step … Read more

Internet superstar, GameDaily editor-in-chief and Dan Ackerman "better half" Libe Goad joins us and we take this rare opportunity to talk video games for the entire episode! We hear Libe's holiday game picks, discuss rumors of a PSP2 and marvel at the ingenuity of a college student whose 360 was stolen from his dorm. Calls from the Public after the break fuel an intense discussion about the future for the PS3. Enjoy!

Dan the Mantern here. Something we talked about on the show needs to be settled once and for all. Remember "blowing" on game … Read more

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave contributors will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season.

1. Either a BlackBerry Storm, Samsung Omnia, or Apple iPhone: After getting laughed at one time too many when whipping out my chunky Treo 700P, it's finally time to give in and get a new smartphone. Initially, as a long-time Verizon customer, I was torn between the BlackBerry Storm and the Samsung Omnia. After playing around with both, I wasn't convinced--the Storm's click screen seems like it would get annoying real quick, and the Omnia, despite the rave reviews, just felt sluggish to use, and the low screen resolution made it hard to read text in the Web browser.

Now, I'm also considering making the switch to AT&T and joining the iPhone masses, just on the strength of the interface and general ease-of-use. I use my phone primarily for Web surfing and AIM, not so much for calls, but even so, Verizon's good reputation for service in NYC (and AT&T's less-than-stellar rep) gives me pause. I'm still undecided, so let me know what you think...

2. Flip Video MinoHD: As a one-time film student, I still have the folding chair and tilted beret of a big-screen director in the back of my mind. To help kick off my alternate career as a documentarian in the mold of the Maysles Brothers or Werner Herzog, I'll start with this handheld HD mini-cam.

3. M-Audio Keystation 88: If you're a part-time musician like myself, figuring out how to squeeze the most music-making power out of your gear is always an important topic. There are as many combos of hardware and software, digital and analog equipment out there as there are music styles, but my personal preference is a PC-based ProTools setup. I currently use a Digidesign Mbox and ProTools LE 7.4, with Propellerhead's Reason software ReWired into it for keyboards and sequencing.

If that's all Greek to you, the point is, I've used a variety of different 49-, 61-, and 32-key USB controllers (essentially dummy devices that look like piano keyboards but have no onboard sounds and are used to control music software) over the years, but have never had a full-size 88-key controller. Since they're basically just plastic keys wired to a USB port, they're usually moderately priced, such as this $249 model from M-Audio. … Read more

I never liked the Fake Steve Jobs blog because I didn't like an author to be able to hide behind anonymity. When Dan Lyons, the then-Forbes and now Newsweek reporter, revealed his identity as Fake Steve Jobs and decided to continue blogging as Real Dan Lyons, I cheered. I know Dan and respect the reporting he's done over the years, even when it hasn't been favorable to open source.

Why? Because I can always count on Dan to tell the truth, as he sees it. Dan pulls no punches.

This past week, that tendency toward brutal candor … Read more

With newspapers cutting back, and predictions of even worse times ahead, Rupert Murdoch said the profession may still have a bright future, if it can shake free of reporters and editors who he said have forfeited the trust and loyalty of their readers.

"My summary of the way some of the established media has responded to the Internet is this: It's not newspapers that might become obsolete. It's some of the editors, reporters, and proprietors who are forgetting a newspaper's most precious asset: the bond with its readers," said Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive … Read more