Low Latency is a weekly comic on CNET's Crave blog written by CNET editor and podcast host Jeff Bakalar and illustrated by Blake Stevenson. Be sure to check Crave every Thursday at 8 a.m. PT for new panels! Want more? Here's every Low Latency comic so far.… Read more
Did anyone else besides Jeff get teary-eyed yesterday watching Adele's performance at the Grammy Awards?
According to psychologist John Sloboda, there's a specific musical device called an "appoggiatura" that produces chills and a physiological reaction--in Jeff's case, a fist-clenching, hand-trembling faucet of man-tears.
On today's episode, we'll go around the table with the songs and movie scenes that pull at our heart strings, and why.
Today on The 404, we use Justin's absence as a way to introduce a new friend of the show, "Stoopid" Andy. Ironically enough, Andy isn't as dumb as his name implies as we all learn the man is quite the nerd. Andy shares some geek secrets on hacking DVR boxes and spending weekends reprogramming drivers.
Also joining us today is longtime 404 friend and guest Kenley, aka "Flow." We'll chat about Apple's initiative to trademark "There's an app for that," and other commonly used phrases countless people utter every single day. Then it's off to a discussion about the iPad hitting other carriers, which leads to a heated conversation about the inevitable fallout resulting from the iPhone's migration to Verizon.
Finally, we all try to come up with ways we'd take advantage of Taskrabbit.com, the service that allows customers to outsource common tasks. Of course, we can't think of anything that wouldn't be illegal, so if you've got ideas, feel free to send them our way.
Episode 687 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read moreThe pioneering virtual world There.com will shut down on March 9, a victim of the recession and the pinch on brand spending that had kept it going long past earlier troubles. The news was announced by CEO Mike Wilson on Tuesday.
The service, which launched in the fall of 2003, was a fully 3D social environment with a sophisticated economy, wonderful vehicles like hoverboard and hoverboats and, eventually, a wide variety of community-created content.
In its early days, There got the lion's share of the 3D virtual world attention, far outstripping even Second Life, which launched around the … Read more
We have no idea what today's show title means, so we're happy to welcome Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg back on the show to spell it out for us. He's also here to officially kick off "The Audiophillie Music Awards for Excellence in Recorded Sound" contest! Read Steve's blog on the contest here. Keep in mind that this is not "American Idol," so entries won't be judged by musical talent, but on the quality of the recording itself. This is your chance to prove your recording skills and promote your favorite unsigned band, so submit your entry on a CD and you'll be entered to win a pair of Monster Turbine Copper or Monster Turbine Gold in-ear headphones!
Click here for official rules and entry form (must complete and send along with CD). The contest ends on April 17, so good luck everyone!
The phrase "private Web browsing" has always been a bit of an oxymoron, but a new site called Have Your Friends Been There? threatens to broadcast your NSFW surfing to your closest friends and family. We're not exactly sure how it works, but the site works like this: you create a customized list of "naughty" Web sites, HYFBT generates a link that you can send to friends, and you wait for the results to come in, essentially catching your friends in the act. Think before you click on random URLs and don't forget to clear your history, people!
We've got plenty more to talk about in today's rundown, including a wrap-up of last night's spectacular hockey game, an update on the massive PSN meltdown and a segment we like to call, "What the hell did Justin do in his sleep last night?"
Finally, our hearts go out to the victims of the Chilean earthquake, and we urge all our listeners to join us in donating money to help. It's super easy; just text "Chile" to 25383 for Habitat for Humanity, 20222 for World Vision, 85944 for the International Medical Corp, or 52000 for the Salvation Army, and your $10 donation will automatically get added to your monthly phone bill.
EPISODE 527 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read moreMetaplace, a company that plans on letting users build a virtual world and use social networking conventions to allow groups to enjoy them, announced today that it raised $6.7 million of funding in a round that was led by Charles River Ventures and Crescendo Ventures, as well as independent investors, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.
Somewhat similar to Second Life, Metaplace creates an online virtual world for people across the globe to interact with. But unlike Second Life and There.com, Metaplace uses an open platform to allow users to create, build, and live in their own unique virtual … Read more
The 404 is back together again and this time around we welcome DIY comic book artist Samuel Vera to the show. Artist, publisher, and do-it-all for Crazee Comics, Sam sits in for a chat about the state of the comic book industry, how to get your start in publishing, the war between online and print comics, and the recent surge of comic book movie adaptations.
Don't forget to come and say hi to us tonight at our second 404 meetup at Gstaad Bar on 26th and 6th Avenue in New York! We'll be there at 6:30 tonight, kicking back and celebrating our 200th episode anniversary, and you're welcome to join us! We want to meet as many of our New York listeners as we can, so if you're in the New York area, come check it out--if nothing else, Natali Del Conte, Mark the Intern, and Dan the Mantern will all be there as well.
Big thanks to our buddy Samuel Vera for coming on the show today. Listen in for seriously helpful tips on how to publish your own comic and even hear Sam's opinions on existing comics and his humble beginning in the thriving comic book industry (no matter what Wilson thinks). He also weighs in on a few current events including the closing of two corporate pillars of American excellence: Circuit City and Mother's Cookies. All right, all right, nobody is going to miss Circuit City but Mother's Cookies gave us the famous ANIMAL CRACKER! You're never going to believe this, but neither Jeff, Wilson, nor Sam knows what those are. Whaaaattt? Is this a West Coast thing or what? I don't get it, but nevertheless I'm still really bummed out because I practically survived off those things for the first half of my life. Hmm, that explains a few things...RIP Mothers Cookies, we'll almost remember you and your deliciously sprinkled confections.
EPISODE 203 Download today's podcast … Read more
The virtual world, There.com, appears ready to reach for some new and broad audiences, announcing Tuesday night that it would finally be offering support for Mac OS X, as well as a new Facebook plug-in and an instant message application that can communicate directly with anyone on the Internet.
In October 2003, There, as it's known, launched to big headlines and heavy expectations.
One of the first 3D social digital virtual worlds, it presented users with a rich and complex environment complete with a functional economy, the ability to create content and even flying hoverboats for five.
But … Read more
Under the Radar's Mobility is all about accessing Web services while away from the comforts of your home computer. While a great deal of that has to do with phones, many of the sites and services can be useful even when you're back at the homestead. The first four companies showing their stuff are Boopsie, Buzzwire, Dial Directions, and ImThere. While all four have mobile components, Boopsie and Dial Directions are phone-centric.
Boopsie showed off its mobile search application, which has both a standalone application for phones with open platforms like Windows Mobile and Palm, along with a BREW and J2ME application, and an ajaxy Web interface the company touts as iPhone-friendly. The search tool is focused around categories, which the user has to choose before seeing a search box. Boopsie's CEO Greg Carpenter did a live demo of the service on a Palm Treo for finding a Wikipedia entry. The results come up live and very quickly. It's also got prefix search, meaning you need to type in only the first few letters of a word in multi-word searches.
The company makes its money from theme-skinned clients and an enterprise version that can be tweaked for businesses wanting to use it as an internal tool. Eventually Boopsie hopes to integrate keyword placement with wallpapers, ringtones, and all the other things that are making buckets of cash for mobile-phone companies.
The panel of judges chided Boopsie for putting too much pressure on the consumer who needs to pre-think searches by picking a category--something that goes against the current trend of letting users be "lazy" and simply type into a blank search box. Carpenter says consumers who use the application tend to use it extensively enough after doing a single search that they identify channels they go back to.
Buzzwire focuses on streaming media, which is made from audio, video, and written content like blog posts and news articles. The service is launching "early" next year, as soon as it can line up carrier support, although the company has had a 3000-user beta trial going since July. The application lets people find stuff to read, listen to, or watch online, and make customized lists of favorites that can be accessed on both the phone and from a desktop browser. There's also a social-networking component with a sharing service that lets users swap bookmarks with one another.
The big question from the moderators is how the company would maintain whatever deal it have with the carriers without being pushed out over time. Buzzwire's answer was that the content it serves up is king, and that it always tries to maintain compatibility on as many platforms as possible.… Read more
Todd Haynes' new Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" stars Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw playing different aspects of Dylan's life. The film comes out later this month, but the soundtrack is here now. The 34 track, two-CD set mixes interpretations by what I call "Baby Bobs," artists, many born before the music was originally recorded, and "Boomer Bobs," Dylan's contemporaries. And curiously enough, the Baby Bobs mostly dish out for note-for-note recreations of the originals, while the oldsters veer off in different directions.
Jeff … Read more
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