snooping

Snoop Dogg launches new mobile photo app, 'ya dig?!'

Who wouldn't want to create an image of themselves smoking a joint, wearing wrap-around shades, and holding a wad of cash? The new Snoopify app aims to let users do just that.

West coast rapper Snoop Dogg rolled out his new mobile app on Monday, giving users the option of adding photos into the app and then dressing them up gangster style or Rasta-inspired. Free and available on both Android and iOS, the app seems to be making its money with the new trend of the moment -- stickers. While a handful of stickers in the app are free, … Read more

The 404 1,223: Where we wear Beats By Hey Keep That Racket Down (podcast)

- Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Cook reportedly discussed music-streaming service with Beats.

- Snoop Lion reverts to canine type in video game "Way of the Dogg."

- W controller for "Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style" ain't nothing to futz with.

- Guy with Netflix tattoo gets a free year of Netflix.

- Andrew WK is now the spokesperson for Playtex Fresh + Sexy wipes.

- Bathroom break video: "Iron Man 3" trailer, remade shot for shot.… Read more

Secret document on FISA snooping law released -- sort of

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been successful in having a secret document released by the U.S. government, that helps U.S. authorities to interpret the federal snooping law, the Foreign Intelligence Services Act (FISA).

The trouble is, the document is pretty much entirely all redacted. (So much for transparency...)

In a nutshell, last month the U.S. Congress reauthorized the FISA Amendments Act for another five years, allowing the U.S. government and its law enforcement agencies to conduct "unconstitutional surveillance," according to the EFF. However, the law is complicated and lengthy, and there is a "… Read more

The 404 Show Special: Jay Chandrasekhar and Kevin Heffernan

The 404's Jeff Bakalar had a chance to sit down with Jay Chandrasekhar and Kevin Heffernan, two of the members of the comedy group Broken Lizard (Super Troopers, Beerfest). The duo has a new film out called "The Babymakers" in select theaters, iTunes, and on-demand August 3rd.

In addition to a discussion about "The Babymakers," Jay and Kevin talk to Jeff about a sequel to "Super Troopers," getting "Potfest" off the ground, and what else is in store for Broken Lizard.… Read more

Become a hip-hop superstar with AutoRap (not really)

Right when you launch AutoRap, you can get started by tapping your screen and speaking. The app immediately records your speech until you tap the screen again to stop it. After a few seconds of "rappification" (AutoRap's proprietary syllable-mapping technology), the app will replay your recording, autotuned, timing-adjusted, and laid over one of its generic rap beats.

Off the bat, you get two free beats to play with: Turkey Burgers and OneOneOne (I've never heard of them either). You can use these as many times and as often as you like. If you want more beats, … Read more

Caught snooping: U.K. government staffers

Don't worry about hackers illegally accessing government systems. It turns out government workers and civil servants who are trusted with private citizen data are more likely to access your data illegally.

The U.K. government is hemorrhaging data -- private and confidential citizen data -- from medical records to social security details, and even criminal records, according to figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests.

Just shy of 1,000 civil servants working at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were disciplined for accessing personal social security records. The Department for Health (DoH), which operates the U.K.'… Read more

Low Latency No. 19: Projecting the future

Concertgoers who attended last week's Coachella music festival apparently had their minds blown by a "hologram" performance by the late rapper Tupac Shakur. The centuries-old illusion made it seem that Snoop Dogg and Tupac were sharing the same stage.

That got us thinking about what the future of concerts will look like. We've already seen some jokes about the next "all hologram Coachella lineup," but will the concert experience 50 years from now allow us to watch the show from the comfort of our homes? We can only hope to still be rocking out when we're that age -- minus the skull head-tattoo. … Read more

Tupac hologram raps from beyond the grave

Rapper Tupac Shakur was murdered in 1996. In 2012, he shared the stage at the Coachella music festival with Snoop Dogg.

The startlingly realistic appearance came courtesy of AV Concepts, a company specializing in holographic projection technology. According to AV Concepts, the holographic return of Tupac required months of planning in conjunction with Dr. Dre's production company.

There are quite a few YouTube videos of the performance floating around, showing the life-size hologram giving shout-outs to Coachella, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre and rapping the song "Hail Mary." It gets even more impressive when Snoop Dogg comes out for a synchronized duet.… Read more

Laptop-tracking company can be sued for spying on sex chats

It's a tenet of modern existence that if you are online (and even if you're not) someone might be watching. Is there a limit, though, in what they're allowed to see?

I mention this existential conundrum because of a case in Ohio, which has seen a judge decide that it might not be alright for a laptop-tracking company to espy some of the more intimate parts of your life and body--even if they are being displayed on a stolen laptop.

A Wired report suggests that Absolute Software was quite wired in to where an allegedly stolen laptop … Read more