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Asian pears are delicious, which is why Jill Schlesinger--The 404's very own financial expert from CBS MoneyWatch--likes them so much! After getting through some munching and slurping noises in the first minute by Wilson, Jill explains to us what is going on with the economy and why we need to fear the End of Days. Just kidding...mostly.

Not being financial experts by any means, Jill explains some basic terms to us so we know what the heck is going on. Like what is the difference between the unemployment rate and weekly jobless claims? Plus, she goes on to say that she thinks that everybody should have at least six months of living expenses saved up, given that the average person is jobless for 22 weeks now. And maybe we should start spending money again if we know that we're not about to lose our job. It would help the economy out. We know it sounds very different than most of our inane topics to most of our audience, but money is something we all need to know and understand. Plus, we love how Jill lays it on us with financial straight talk.

On the second half of the show, Jill tells us about her CBS Evening News appearance and her lady crush on our very own Katie Couric. Jill comments about the growing political discourse about a possible second stimulus package. Check out the segment. We've embedded it into this blog post.

Come back tomorrow, where we've got Steve Guttenberg. Of course, we're got the doors barricaded, just in case HR comes running in. And! We've got Wilson's Audio Draft. (Editor's note: I promise I listen to music. Whale sounds anybody?)

UPDATED: Before we forget, download the new 404 artwork for your desktop background.
Desktop Backgrounds: 4 x 3, 16 x 9 and 16 x10, iPhone.

Full Disclosure: CNET, The 404, MoneyWatch and the CBS Evening News all are properties of CBS.

NEW YORK--Collins Osei, who had bought an iPhone 3G last year, came to the AT&T store Friday not to buy the latest-generation iPhone 3G S, but instead he wanted to downgrade to a less expensive Nokia phone.

Nokia 2600

(Credit: CBS Interactive)

Osei said his decision to go back to a basic-feature phone was all about cost. The iPhone and its service plan are simply too expensive, he said. Osei, who is in the middle of his two-year contract with AT&T, had his iPhone 3G stolen recently. But he said replacing it with a new one would cost too much. Instead, he picked up a Nokia 2600 for a mere $43.

But Osei's decision didn't hinge just on the upfront cost of the phone. He also said he was tired of paying the additional $30 a month data charge that is mandatory with the iPhone.

"The iPhone plan was just too expensive," he said. "They made me pay $30 extra a month for data, and I don't really need the Internet on my phone. So I went back to a regular phone. And now I'm on a plan that costs $39.99 a month."

Osei might not be the only consumer out there turned off by the high cost of the iPhone service fee. Unlike previous iPhone launch days, there was no line of people this morning waiting outside the AT&T Time Square store hoping to get the latest iPhone 3G S. In fact, it looked like more customers were leaving the store empty-handed or with other devices than those leaving with new iPhones.

It's no surprise that Jeff, Wilson, and Justin don't know jack about the economic financial crisis, so we invite CBS MoneyWatch.com's Editor-at-Large Jill Schlesinger on the show to break it all down. She preps us with tips on what young people can do to secure a stable future and she gives us three very important ways to keep the money we earn.

(Credit: CBS MoneyWatch.com)

First of all, be sure to have six months of living expenses in the bank. If you don't have a steady, stable job like a tenured teaching position, a three-month rainy day fund in the bank will do you some good, if, God-forbid, something happened. Second, pay off your debt. Sounds obvious, but most Americans haven't saved a dime since the '90s.

Last thing she says is to take advantage of your company's 401k. Yes, your parents retirement and pension funds might be gone, but if you're like us, in our 20s and barely employed, you should throw money into your 401k. If you want, Wilson will manage your 404k--if you want a negative return on your investment.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to show off all of your submissions for our logo contest, but let's face it: some things are more important than logos. But rest assured that we're going to go over ALL of them on tomorrow's show, not to mention a huge "Calls from the Public" to make up for today. Keep sending in your submissions to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com--they've all been amazing. We've gotten so many that we're EXTENDING the contest to next week! Don't forget: all submissions should include a JPG/PNG as well as a high-res file. Thanks all!

Midwesterners and Texans are doing their best to prop up the U.S. retail consumer technology market, according to new sales data released Thursday.

Sales of HDTVs are key to supporting the entire consumer electronics industry, according to The NPD Group.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

During the fourth quarter of 2008, Houston was the only market of the 45 largest in the United States to actually see an increase in gadget sales compared to a year earlier. Purchases of LCD TVs, notebooks, digital SLR cameras, cables, and camera accessories helped drive sales totals up 2.3 percent in the Houston area, according to NPD Group, which tallies store-level sales data.

Improved sales in Houston can be an example to retailers, said Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of analysis. It shows that large, reliable categories of gadgets--such as HDTVs, notebooks, and cameras--have to do well in order for the entire consumer electronics ecosystem to see an improvement in sales.

The other markets that saw the smallest declines in gadget sales are all midsize markets further north of Houston. Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Minneapolis saw the smallest declines in sales in the fourth quarter, between 4.9 percent and 7.1 percent, according to NPD.

Conversely, the worst drops in consumer tech sales during the fourth quarter were mostly on the coasts: Seattle; Tampa, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; and West Palm Beach, Fla. saw declines of between 16.5 percent and 18.8 percent, the highest in the country.

MTI (also known as Mark Licea) joins the show today to replace Justin Yu, who's on vacation to Boston. We cover everything under the typical 404-sun: strippers, Playboy, Mexican-Korean truck food, Twitter, and Sweet Lou Bakalar.

That's one machine I crave.

(Credit: NBC Universal)

Every one knows that the economy is in the tank. For a lot of people out there, that means spending hours every day listening to past episodes of the 404. For some it means that instead of using that Harvard degree, they are using the assets their momma gave them. In related news, Playboy has posted its entire back catalog online. Warning: This is totally NSFW. You can check out all the previous back issues of Playboy magazine online with a Silverlight-enabled browser.

Also, last Friday was the final broadcast of the landmark series Battlestar Galactica. Wilson, being the only fan of the show on The 404, has plenty to say--most of which seems to bore the hell out of Jeff and MTI. The show will be missed, and while the finale hit most of the right marks, there were a few things that gave plenty of pause--like the second ending. Check it out on iTunes or Hulu. Promise you're going to love Number Six in a red dress.

There's a food truck in Los Angeles driving around, Twittering, and making Korean-Mexican tacos? Finally, Sweet Lou Bakalar, Jeff's father, gives us his insight on the current state of texting and television buying. Stay tuned tomorrow for Eric Franklin!

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

LAS VEGAS--With the exception of the camera section, the hall where Sony held its annual product showcase here was practically deserted Monday evening.

In past years, the Sony line show, held two months after CES in the same town, has usually brimmed with tech journalists and gadget reviewers who've gathered to see Sony's real coming-out for the year. (Sony typically holds back at CES in order to show the majority of its new stuff for the year at its own event.)

This year was different. There are likely two factors involved here. Sony had the grandest stage of all at CES this year. Chief Executive Sir Howard Stringer was given the high-profile keynote slot during the show, and the Japanese electronics giant took full advantage. Sony rolled out its P-series Netbook, a Walkman with OLED display, a mini Flash-based camcorder, motion-sensing TVs, and more. What was shown Monday night was heavily weighted toward products like those already on the market.

The economy is probably taking a toll as well, judging by the minuscule number of journalists sent to cover the event (despite really reasonable room rates!). Sony actually combined two events this year, so logic would dictate that the PMA (Photo Marketing Association) crowd plus consumer electronics reporters would be out in force. Not so. In addition to combining them, the line show is usually an all-day event. This year's program lasted two and a half hours. Fewer than usual Sony execs were in attendance as well.

But Sony still trotted out a hefty load of cameras, it being PMA and all. There was one new line of TVs (the W-series), cheaper Blu-ray players, new home theater systems, and miscellaneous headphones, and some peculiar-looking boomboxes.

Click on the photo above for a full gallery of pictures of Monday's event and here for Crave's complete coverage.

Photos: Sony hauls cameras, electronics to Vegas

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

Starting Friday, for every BlackBerry purchased, Verizon Wireless will throw in another for free.

It's a buy-one-get-one-free special that will run until March 31, and it applies to all BlackBerrys--including the brand new Storm. That's what makes this promotion kind of surprising: the touch-screen Storm is Verizon's supposed answer to AT&T and the iPhone and they're giving them away now?

Well, not entirely. The second piece of hardware will be free, but you still have to sign two-year contracts on each phone involved in the deal. And in the long run, Verizon extracts more money from customers through contracts than on hardware. Still, we won't see AT&T doing a two-for-one iPhone deal probably ever.

So why now? Perhaps Verizon just needs to clean out its inventory of BlackBerrys. But the Storm is barely 3 months old and has had its share of problems already. Many customers have complained vociferously about the device's buggy software and problems with the hardware.

Maybe it's not a coincidence then that the Storm software update rolls out March 31 (according to a report on the Boy Genius Report blog), the last day of the promotion?

LAS VEGAS--Despite the troubled economy and an expected drop in consumer purchases, LG Electronics said it doesn't plan to reduce its marketing and research spending in 2009.

President and CEO of LG Electronics North America Michael Ahn said his company's North American sales increased to more than $14 billion during 2008, a 16-percent increase from the previous year. Five years ago, LG sales in the region were just $5.6 billion until the company began sharpening its focus on the consumer market with its TVs, mobile phones, and Blu-ray disc systems.

"We will not reduce marketing spending or R&D spending" this year, Ahn told the crowd gathered for the company's press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show.

That's good news for the consumer electronics industry. Many of its leaders are looking for any conceivable way to save money right now, and some of the biggest names--Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic--have all said they'll be cutting back on money spent on innovation.

LG had the stage to itself to kick off the yearly gadget show here in the desert. The company offered a glimpse of what it's been up to in its labs. Woo Paik, the company's chief technology officer, took the stage to show off the company's working prototype wristwatch phone. Paik took a phone call on stage with the touchscreen, water-resistant, music-playing, 3G device, which will be released in Europe first later this year.

LG has several lines of new LCD and plasma televisions equipped with wireless HDMI technology, which allows 1080p video signals to be sent to the set without HDMI cables. LG hasn't named any prices yet, but they will be available in May.

LG also continued a theme begun last year with its Netflix-connected Blu-ray player. The company will now incorporate Netflix directly into a line of its televisions as well, which will be ready for consumers in June.

The Consumer Electronics Show has become a mammoth event every January in Las Vegas, but the down economy is paring it back as Cisco Systems, Yahoo, and other companies scale back their presence.

CES remains a useful way for technology companies to meet with retailers, press, and the media. But for some in the current economic climate, it's not useful enough to pay $35 per square foot for a sprawling booth on the Las Vegas Convention Center's cavernous interior.

"This was to have been Cisco's first time as a formal exhibitor," said spokesman Jim Brady. "Given (Cisco's) focus on reducing costs, the company has decided to scale down its participation in CES in Las Vegas in January 2009." Instead, the networking giant is sticking with a more modest space rented at the Venetian Hotel supplemented with videoconferencing technology.

Cisco isn't the only one to scale back. Also on the list are Yahoo, Seagate, Logitech, and Belkin, company representatives confirmed. Philips won't have a space on the CES show floor, either, though Funai, which has taken over manufacturing and selling TVs under the Philips brand in the United States, will pick up some of the slack.

The Consumer Electronics Association, which runs the show, said the show will be the third largest in terms of floor space, shrinking from its size the peak years of 2007 and 2008.

"The economy is causing some companies that may have had booths to say, 'Maybe we want to be in a meeting room instead,'" said association spokeswoman Tara Dunion. Despite it, the total number of exhibitors is level from 2008's show at about 2,700. "We're also seeing companies on the show floor for first time," including Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Iomega, and Mattel, she said.

And there's a silver lining, too. "Vegas hotel rates are coming down because tourism travel to Vegas is slower than it's been in years. That provides an opportunity for business professionals," she said.

Incentives to show
But the organizers are working hard to keep the show as lively as possible. One promotion is aimed at technology buyers--the middlemen who buy all those TVs, gadgets, cameras, and other devices before selling them to ordinary folks.

... Read more