It's the penultimate episode before our 404th episode of The 404. Yes, the Internet will exploded when we run our live show tomorrow. Today's episode, though, might keep us from ever reaching that magic number. In our first half, we discuss our recollections of learning about the birds and the bees. In the second half, we have a great Calls from the Public section, and we mention Best Buy's latest snafu.
(Credit:
CNET)
So, why the birds and the bees? Well, according to a study by Symantec, children are searching the Internet to learn about sex, not necessarily from their parents. While that might sound quite disturbing, Jeff, Justin, and Wilson reminisce about how we learned about it, and most of it involved dirty magazines and shared videotapes. Plus, we swapped tips on how to catch a glimmer of the Spice Channel by either jiggling the remote or hooking up a black box to our cable outlet.
We round out the show with some delightful Calls from the Public. We love it when a woman calls. Finally, we chat a bit about Best Buy and its mistake of putting a high-end Samsung HDTV on sale for $9.99. People are upset that the company won't honor the price. Well, duh. Come on, you knew it was a mistake when you bought it!
Be sure to send in your favorite show moments and congratulate us on our 404th episode tomorrow! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Or send in a MP3 or WAV to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Tomorrow, we've got an amazing roster of guests, including Clayton Morris, Caroline McCarthy, Mark Licea, and more!
EPISODE 403
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(Credit:
Gear4)
The cubist period for speakers seems to be alive and well, whether we like it or not. As a reflection of its widening influence, the latest example comes from the U.K. with Gear4's "BlackBox Micro."
As the second half of its name implies, it's the little brother of Gear4's larger wireless BlackBox system. As the first half implies, it's a black box.
The smaller sibling isn't wireless, unfortunately, which is one reason the traveling speaker goes for about $40, as quoted by Electronista. Gear4 claims that the USB device has unusual quality for its size, thanks to an "SFX gel base driver" along with a standard one that improves its bass and high notes, respectively. Either way, it could be a perfect addition to a geometrically inspired decor, along with the "Audio Cube" ottoman.
No, I am not talking about something that's for or from an airplane. It's simply a network attached storage device from VOX. The full name--don't hold your breath, you've already read the creative part--is BlackBox Dual Bay Gigabit RAID Shared Network Storage. As if the naming it BlackBox were not sensational enough, VOX decided to paint the device silver.
The Vox BlackBox can accommodate two 3.5-inch SATA hard drives of any capacity.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)Other than the confusing, yet very telling name, the device is actually straightforward. It's a dual bay NAS device that supports RAID 0 and RAID 1. It's always nice to have the option of using either a high-performance or a data redundancy RAID setup. The BlackBox can also work without RAID and show the hard drives as separate volumes. The BlackBox ships with two 500GB hard drives, making it the best deal in the NAS community with the price tag of only $310. That's about $0.31 per gigabyte. For now, you probably can't find another NAS device that offers better value.
The BlackBox boasts an interesting design. It's made entirely of aluminum and is very rugged and heavier than it looks, though it is still compact. On the front, its drive bays are locked and you can't open them with the provided keys. However, looking at the keys, you will soon realize that they are not necessary. You can open the case with a paper clip. You just need a pointed object to poke the little hole on the front of the drive bay and the latch will swing open.
The BlackBox also is the first dual bay, compact NAS device I've seen that doesn't have a power adapter but comes with just a regular power cable (found in most desktop computers). This means one less thing to clutter your work space. However, you might not want to leave the BlackBox on your desk since it's very noisy. The BlackBox requires a decent amount of ventilation since the power supply is in the box. It has two fans on the back and--when the device is turned on--these fans are noisy enough to be heard from across the room.
Overall, this seems to be a simple and interesting NAS device with a very appealing price tag. It's available for purchase now unless, but you might want to wait and check CNET.com for our review, which is coming soon.
(Credit:
Gadget Universe)
It's official: Crave has a link to Paris Hilton. A couple of weeks ago we panned the idea of this car-board black box device for any number of reasons. But today we read on GeekSugar that Kathy and Rick Hilton expressed interest in the Gadget Universe product for their ubiquitous daughter to keep tabs on paparazzi and other media hounds. We're not sure what to make of this latest development, but we do agree with GeekSugar's trenchant observation: "Personally I wonder if Paris really needs any more cameras around her than she already has."
(Credit:
Gadget Universe)
The idea of a car-board black box doesn't bother us, despite the obvious issues of data privacy and commentary on modern society. We are, however, offended by another aspect: aesthetics.
Just take a look at the most recent version from Gadget Universe. Would you really want to mount one of these things on your dash or in the rear window of your car? It's almost as bad as a dog with a bobbing head.
Sure, it's possible that your recorded evidence could come in handy after an accident. But what if you were at fault because your vision was blocked by this 18- by 6-inch monstrosity?
(Credit:
Red Ferret)
There's one thing that brings people together every holiday season, and we're not talking about the mall: It's car accidents. Bad weather, bad drivers, bad last-minute-shopping attitudes make for a deadly combination. So Crave is doing our part to spread cheery thoughts by passing along the "RoadBox."
This "vehicle accident camera system" from South Korea, according to Red Ferret, "incorporates a speed and acceleration monitor to give you some all round information about the circumstances leading up to the crash, 14 seconds before and 6 seconds after." It just goes to show that hazardous traffic is an international affair, as we recently posted an item on a similar black box system in Japan.
Happy Holidays to all.
It makes sense that this latest product comes from Japan, which we maintain is headed toward a human-free society because of its declining population growth. Just as it has found so many ways to automate services, the Japanese have found one less duty for police to handle: fender benders.
(Credit:
Nikkei)
As Plastic Bamboo notes, Fujitsu's automotive subsidiary has developed the equivalent of an airliner's black box to document "the scene and sounds of a traffic accident" with a system that includes a microphone, recorder and a camera with a 134-degree lens. The device automatically kicks in when it senses impact, sudden braking or other "gravitational change."
At an estimated $514, it's something that one can imagine becoming a regular option for automakers overseas. It's likely to be a very different story in the United States, however, where black boxes face uniquely constitutional issues of privacy.
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