Crave

Y'aint right, Yeezy.

(Credit: Getty Images)

Fresh from San Francisco where she was covering last week's Apple announcements, Natali Del Conte joins us on the today's pop-culture-y episode.

Of course, the big Twitter and Facebook news of the day is Kanye West's unwelcome outburst at last night's MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) show. The producer slash performer just can't seem to keep his head above water. In case you haven't heard, Kanye rudely interrupted Taylor Swift's award acceptance speech to announce that Beyonce should have won for her "Single Ladies" video. Whether that's true or not (some of us think it is), the millions of Tweets and status updates indicate that the public isn't on his side, despite his half-hearted apology that someone should probably post on this Web site.

Speaking of celebrity freak-outs, Serena Williams has her own apologizing to do, but this time it's to a line woman who became the object of her public outburst after a call was made in Serena's error. The charitable Williams, albeit unsatisfied with the result of the match, managed to keep her composure and must have thought the woman looked a little hungry, because she offered to feed her a tennis ball down the esophagus. She politely declined the meal. Watch the disaster unfold.

Click thumbnail for larger image

(Credit: LA Times)

Finally, we do actually have some good news to report today: Captain EO is making its triumphant return to Disneyland! Even though the classic 80s movie has already made its way to YouTube, watching it on a computer doesn't even compare to wearing those cheesy pink 3D glasses and watching it in a giant theater with all the physical effects. We're not sure what changes are in store for the film, but rest assured that you'll be the first to know once we get more info.

Unfortunately, no Calls from the Public segment today because, well, we didn't get any! None that were good, anyway. So give us a call and tell us how much you like/love/hate/despise the show. You know how it works- call 1-866-404-CNET and you might get played on the air. We also accept e-mail submissions (preferably of you holding a 404 sign or something) like the one we received from our buddies Ammi and Samri in Sweden over the weekend. Send 'em our way at the404(at)CNET[dot]com.

Jeff and Justin with Dong- Wilson not included

(Credit: Joseph Kaminski)

After multiple cancellations and attempts to get him on the show, Mr. Ngo is finally in the 404 studio in New York! We're excited to pick his brain on all the new advancements in the CNET labs, but we get sidetracked by the most random conversations. Dong and I have a special relationship (don't go there): Dong was actually the first person I met when I first started working at CNET! In fact, you could consider him my printer mentor! Thanks, Dong.

Since we have Dong in the hot seat, we take this opportunity to pick his brain about his experiences coming to America from Vietnam. As you can imagine, it took the young Dong awhile to adjust to our idioms and figures of speech, which he illustrates beautifully in a cheeky story involving an attractive blond woman and a big, yellow Hummer.

In addition, Dong surprises us all and tell us that it was actually Michael Jackson who inspired him to learn English! I can just imagine little Dong saying "Who is the Man in the Mirror and why are we asking him to change his ways?"

RIBA the Robot

(Credit: UberGizmo)

Believe it or not, we finally arrive at an actual news story in the second half of the show. This one is about a Japanese teddy bear robot nurse named RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance) meant to transport the elderly and handicapped in its creepy outstretched arms. Has anyone noticed that it looks a lot like a certain bear meme?

Either way, we all take issue with the fact that the bear can only hold up to 134 pounds in its foam-padded paws! Clearly this robot ain't picking any Americans up anytime soon. I think we actually have babies that weigh more than that.

Big thanks goes out to Paul Ramsay for inviting us to last night's hypnotism show at the Julliard Academy. It was tons of fun--who knew a group of kids could Riverdance so well!? Maybe you can help Jeff through his knife phobia! If you're not familiar with Paul's work, be sure to check out his appearance on our show. Also, head over to the Inside CNET Labs Podcast to catch more of Dong Ngo's crazy antics.

The late Michael Jackson was not only the "King of Pop," but also an avid collector of pop culture memorabilia.

In early 2009, Jackson's estate contacted Julien's Auctions with plans for an April 2009 auction of relics Jackson had collected throughout the '70s, '80s, and '90s.

Among these treasures, housed at Jackson's Neverland Ranch, were art, furniture, toys, and video games. The items were abruptly pulled from the auction block on March 5, the same day Jackson announced his 10-concert London comeback tour.

Photos: Games Michael Jackson played

The status of these items remains unknown for now, according to a Julien's Auctions representative, who could only confirm that his site continues to maintain a good relationship with the Jackson estate. But regardless of where the artifacts end up, they offer a look into the games Jackson played--or at least owned.

Konami's Dance Dance Revolution, circa 1992, is featured in Julien's online auction catalog and was just one Jackson's arcade video games. Click through the gallery above to see more.

One of the most enduring images of the '80s is also one of the decade's most notable gadgets: the DeLorean. Not just because Doc Brown turned one into an iconic time machine, but because there were some amazing and high-tech design elements throughout the machines, like the gull-wing doors, fiberglass and stainless steel construction, and Flux Capacitor.

All kidding aside, they're fantastic cars, yet still fairly expensive. One young man, due to the current recession, no doubt, had trouble paying for his DeLorean. So a team was sent to repossess it. Of course, a reality TV show crew from TruTv's "Operation Repo" was there to document the event. What nobody expected was that the young man who purchased the car was an insane Michael Jackson impersonator.

The fun in this video really starts at 1:50 and just keeps getting more crazy, including a Jacko-Fu kick to the repo man's undercarriage.

I feel bad for the guy and hopes he finds a way to pay for his awesome ride. I recently had a short trip in one of these cars and, if I had the extra cash, I'd be driving one myself.

(Yes, yes, we know "Operation Repo" consists of scripted--and no doubt sometimes embellished--re-enactments of actual repossessions. That said, we're just happy this video happened and like writing about DeLoreans.)

In anticipation of the July 4th weekend, we're coming to you a bit early this week. Topics include the late Billy Mays, Joey's theory on how to fix Madden, and why your Windows 7 beta is about to self-destruct.

Related links:
>>Is The Conduit the Wii's best shooter?
>>Xbox Live's Jacko tribute: Free 'Thriller' video downloads
>>Moving objects with the brainwave-reading Mindflex
>>Watch the Digital City live every Friday at 3pm EST on CNET Live!
>>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes
>>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page
>>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter!

I'll ruin the surprise for you right now: the worst movie of the summer (only four days in so far) is "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen." On today's show, we rip apart this atrocity even more, spoiler-free! Wilson also gives us his first impressions of his brand new Apple iPhone 3GS and discovers the weirdest camera issue ever. I love you, Wilson, but that came out of NOWHERE!

Controversial characters Skids and Mudflap

(Credit: Complex.com)

So I finally broke down and saw "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" last night, and although I can't give away too many plot details, suffice it to say that I'm throwing in my vote for it being the WORST movie of the summer. Sure, summer blockbusters are supposed to be silly and entertaining, but a truckload of physical humor and irritating little side-stories ruined what could have been an awesome action movie. Where are the Transformers fanboys on this one? This betrayal feels like that "Spiderman 3" abomination all over again! Apart from the movie being about an hour too long (2.5 hours total, say whaaatt?), the only parts worth watching are the epic fight scenes and Megan Fox jumping/running/screaming/rolling through explosions. We also address that whole racist robot plot point yet again--now that I've actually seen the movie, I wouldn't say that characters are straight-up racist, but the gold tooth and excessive slang are definitely in poor taste and an unnecessarily stereotypical slight at hip-hop. Listen in for more details.

The next story is about gaming company Global Gaming Factory X resurrecting The Pirate Bay as a legal file-distro site. After a bit of confusion about how exactly that whole case ended, we're still left wondering why companies keep trying to cannibalize on the success of dead P2P sites, relying on the name alone to tread water and maybe even gain a few new subscribers. The problem is that it never works! Napster, anyone? Who's idea was that, anyway? "Hey guys, let's buy this dead service that still exists only to bait people into RIAA lawsuits and relaunch the site with legit, paid content. It's all about brand confidence, right?" Good luck with that, doods.

Finally, we're announcing BIG changes on the show tomorrow including the triumphant debut of our new logo (based on Blake Stevenson's winning design) and a few surprises to go along with it! We're also excited to have Brendt Barbur of the Bicycle Film Festival as our guest on tomorrow's show. Check it out LIVE tomorrow @ 11AM ET at CNET Live.

EPISODE 373

After a beautiful New York summer weekend, The 404 is back with plenty of stories to talk about. First off, we recap our appearance at The Digital Youth Media & Technology Festival, then Wilson surprises us with news about his phone and proves that he is truly the worst kind of Apple Fanboy. Finally, we settle the age-old argument: Batman vs. Transformers?!

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET)

We all had busy weekends, especially since it was so sunny in New York, but we wanted to thank our buddy Juan Garzon of MOUSE Squad for inviting us to speak at the first annual Digital Youth Media and Technology Festival on Saturday. We definitely do a lot of damage on The 404, so we felt the need to give something back to some of our younger listeners. Kids can't live on toilet jokes alone, after all. We each had the chance to speak to several groups of young people interested in pursuing a career in technology. Listen in to the first half of the show to hear how we all managed to sneak our way into CNET. Somehow, two years later, we're still here!

In usual fashion, Wilson blindsides us with the news that his weekend was spent desperately trying to track down an iPhone 3GS to replace his broken Nokia. You really need to listen to Wilson justify spending money on an iPhone after holding out for two years. Anyway, for some reason, AT&T refuses to do business after 6 p.m. and shuts down all its servers, so two separate Apple stores told him to head over to the 24-hour Apple cube store on Fifth Ave., but the lines ended up being 3 HOURS long! I won't give away what happened, but based on Wilson's prior Apple fandom, I think you guys can predict what he did.

All this plus a bunch of awesome Calls From the Public, including several Michael Jackson tributes and a touching story from Jeff about a spinal implant that'll give you a very surprising, very delightful surprise. If you want to hear YOUR voice on The 404, give us a call at 1866-404-CNET!

Episode 38 of the Digital City, where we pretty much throw the playbook out of the window to discuss the legacy of Michael Jackson (and his "Moonwalker" video game).

Plus, thoughts on upgrading to Windows 7 and how Dan got his iPhone repaired.

Related: Remembering Michael Jackson's video game legacy

>>Watch the Digital City live every Friday at 3pm EST on CNET Live!
>>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes
>>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page
>>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter!

Microsoft is among the organizations paying tribute to legendary musician Michael Jackson, with an offer to Xbox 360 owners who are Xbox Live subscribers.

According to a note we just got from a Microsoft PR person, members can download the video for the classic track "Thriller," free from 5 p.m. PDT Friday through the end of Sunday.

We are all mourning the loss of an icon. In memory and honor of the King of Pop, Xbox LIVE is launching a tribute to Michael Jackson. Starting at 5:00 p.m. PT on Friday through Sunday, visit Xbox LIVE for a free download of his number one video of all time "Thriller" and celebrate the life of one of the greatest music legends that ever lived.

>For more on Michael Jackson, check out our exploration of the 'Moonwalker' video game.
>Jacko is the topic of the day on the Digital City podcast.