It's National Toilet Day today, and Justin isn't here to celebrate. Fortunately, we more than make it up with dozens upon dozens of fecal jokes. Mark Licea of The Green Show joins the show today to talk tech and...lingerie?
(Credit:
CBS Interactive/Wilson G. Tang)
Admittedly, we here at The 404 celebrate National Toilet Day at least three times a day, but we're glad to see that people across the planet are starting to recognize the importance of the porcelain throne. It may sound a bit unusual for us to be so beholden to the toilet, but most New Yorkers can sympathize. After all, most of us here have to deal with a mixed bag of ethnic food and $20 dollar fees to use a public restroom.
In nonpoop news, we talk about a Warner Bros. program to let DVD owners upgrade their discs to Blu-ray versions. The program is called DVD2Blu. This only applies to Warner Bros. films, and viewers must pay a fee of $8 to $10 per disc. We think this is a great idea. Wilson is especially keen on not having to pay $30 for each disc in his "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" collections.
Also, Jeff has a follow up to our video game censorship series. He interviewed Major Nelson of Microsoft to talk about racism, misogyny, and homophobia in online gaming. Check it out. A keen chat room listener though points out the irony of talking about derogatory words when players are shooting people in the head.
If you're worried about your cheating wife or girlfriend, a Brazilian line of lingerie from LindeLucy that comes with a built-in GPS tracking device. Now, the device is not exactly subtle, but for the paranoid ones out there, this might be the trick to keep your lady in line--or get her mad at you, again. Trust, after all, is the bond that holds all relationships together.
Finally, we get to some voice mails and viewer feedback about cool moms that play video games before their children do and an early review of "2012." Wilson is disappointed with the fact that the film won't be available in IMAX. He just wants to watch the world burn. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew remember the movie magic of the first "Jurassic Park" movie. The t. rex at the end: Priceless.
Send in your feedback and callbacks to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Or call us! We are after all an audio podcast too! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Thanks again!
EPISODE 471
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I recently blogged about people in Japan getting new Eee Box PCs that came with a virus on their hard drives. Now, the opposite: a new thumb drive that comes with antivirus software.
(Credit:
SanDisk)
SanDisk, a maker of USB flash drives, and security giant McAfee, teamed up Tuesday to announce the SanDisk Cruzer Enterprise. The USB thumb drive comes with antimalware protection from McAfee built in.
SanDisk's Cruzer Enterprise USB flash drives have been known for being thumb drives with mandatory security for corporate users. Now, in addition to preventing data leaks by utilizing advanced hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption and complex passwords, the new thumb drive includes the McAfee Scan Engine, which offers advanced heuristic analysis for comprehensive detection of both known and unknown threats.
The McAfee security protects the thumb drives from infection with an automatic antimalware scan that prohibits file transfers to the secure USB drive when it detects infection on a host PC. The scan engine examines every file saved or copied to the USB flash drive.
The new SanDisk Cruzer Enterprise will be available later this year. Currently it's unclear how much it costs and how much storage it will offer.
I recently saw a Miele built-in coffee machine in action. If you love coffee, it was a thing to behold and further proof that we, as a species, have evolved.
OK, maybe that's a slight overstatement, but this beautiful Jetsons-esque machine is a tribute to the lazy coffee snob.
Miele's new built-in coffee system offers more options.
(Credit: Miele)Just stand back with your mug and this machine does the work for you--grinding your beans from course to fine (you pick the amount of beans you'd like per cup.) Then the system automatically adds the water, brews, and completes the task by steaming milk to top off your cup.
The latest version of this built in system, due out early next year, is the CVA 5000. It has some new design tweaks aimed to protect the system's exterior and simplify the concoction of more complicated, layered drinks such as Macchiato.
First off, the central dispenser on the new model provides a wider height-adjustable range to fit everything from a tiny espresso cup, to tall mugs, and specialty drink glasses.
Also new is an integrated, insulated 24-ounce milk tank that keeps milk fresh for 12 hours. The tank, which replaces the existing model's tube for transferring milk from container to coffee cup, provides one-touch dispensing of steamed milk or froth. This makes layered drinks easier to make--and there's no messy clean up after making drinks.
The tank's insulated reservoir is made of double-walled stainless steel and an automatic monitor alerts you when it's time to refill. Since the tank slides out of from a swinging door, it can be refilled easily or stored in the refrigerator.
Layering a drink is easier with the new model.
(Credit: Miele)Another new feature is a Clean Touch Steel finish that resists fingerprints and smudges. To protect the outside of the machine for longer, the company applied a thin, transparent glass treatment to the system's stainless steel panel.
The only frightening thing about this CVA 5000 might be if it went haywire. You'd probably need a well-oiled repair team to come out and fix it. And if the repair folks happened to be on vacation, well, it might be back to the local Starbucks--or you could always get reacquainted with the handy coffee press, if you've still got the muscles to use it.
No pricing has been set for this model. The existing CVA 4070 built-in model starts at $2,699.
Miele also expects to release a new Clean Touch Steel espresso machine next year, too, with details to come.
You may have seen something like this at a hotel or airport, but now it could be coming to your home (if you have an understanding spousal unit or significant other).
(Credit:
Concept & Management)
The Ronda Media Chair has a built-in computer with a router integrated into the frame and a power cord in the back. As Coolest Gadgets points out, no prices are available without asking the company directly.
The Ronda also includes optional creature comforts such as a matching two-seater bench or end table. If they can figure out a way to build in a coffee maker and a fridge, we'd be seriously tempted.
(Update: Alert Craver Chris wrote in to tell us that the enterprising folks at SlashGear ferreted out these specs for the PC: "The computer itself is based around a touchscreen 10.4-inch TFT with compact, back-lit keyboard and trackpoint-style mouse, running WinXP Pro embedded on a 1GHz Celeron M with half-a-gig of RAM and a 20GB 1.8-inch hard drive.")
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