Aside from some technical difficulties today and a giant bug bite, we've got a great show featuring all three of your favorite Web celebrities. Before we get to the stories, we want to remind everyone of The 404 logo contest and of our appearance on our buddy Clayton Morris' FoxNews.com's Strategy Room to talk about all the good tech, video game-related goodness at 2 p.m. EST.
(Credit:
Jasper Engels)
On today's show, find out ways that kids now are using abbreviations in text messages to hide things from their parents. Apparently, "RU/18" is something that kids these days are getting on their cell phones. Also, Pfizer is giving away free three-month supplies of Viagra and Lipitor because of the recession, but only if you were on the drugs before you got laid off. We hope Justin isn't itching to get fired for this deal.
In regard to a story about China shutting down a sex-themed park, Wilson gives us way too much information about "the talk" with his mom when he was 15. Justin and Jeff learned everything from "Sesame Street." Speaking of more things naughty, there is a new version of "Star Trek" called "Star Trix", and we can't really say much more about it other than it's totally NSFW.
Finally, showers make you more productive at work. Just be sure to watch out for peephole-size openings at work. Be sure to write in at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. We'd love to see more of your submissions for our logo contest. See you on Tuesday after the Memorial Day break!
Episode 348
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(Credit:
Matt Hickey)
Oh, Dell, did you start up a firestorm. Sure, your idea was great: create a site marketing your Netbooks to women. But instead of telling non-tech-savvy women what they can do with their laptops--download recipes!--you ended up offending the tech-savvy ladies, who, you know, are the ones who have actually bought your computers.
I have several friends who are women (no, really!). I showed the site to several of them and the feedback was completely negative. One of my friends actually said she now feels bad about the Dell Netbook she bought just two months ago. Awesome.
You see, computers are computers are computers. They are gender-neutral. Your ads should be too. The good news is you listened to consumer feedback over the past few days. Gone from the Della site are the tacky 1950s-style housewifeisms and the "shoe shopping" stuff. They've been replaced by more appropriate language.
Still, Della, your "site" for women, is still a little too "Sex in the City" and not enough "it's 2009 and we all have computers."
The 404 crew goes to see the new "Star Trek" film by director J.J. Abrams. It's a reboot of the venerable Star Trek television series that most geeks grew up watching. Our good buddy and Photoshop contest winner Jacky W. Chen came with us, along with Edouard, our new bouncer.
(Credit:
Jacky W. Chen)
We try to keep the show spoiler-free today, but in case you didn't know from the movie poster, Tyler Perry is in the movie. Overall, we think it's a great, fun film, but there are some deep plot holes you could fly the Enterprise through. Check out our video wrap-up from the opening here in New York on CNET TV.
On today's show, we find out the origins of the name Twitter. Apparently, its etymology is whale-based. The Natural History Museum Whale also follows us today. In more crazy news from the Web, "DJ Hero" comes out soon to ensure that the next generation of children will not know how to play a single real musical instrument.
In more video game news, Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier is rated T for teen, but on the box, it contains "alcohol references, fantasy violence, mild language, partial nudity, and suggestive themes." We wonder what you have to do to get a M-rating now. Finally, if you're still living your mother's basement and playing World of Warcraft, we've got a gadget for you that will ensure that you will never get a girlfriend. It is a hut that will let players isolate themselves from the outside world, feed them, and possibly even wipe their butts. We're not sure if the last one is really a feature, but it's definitely in the same vein.
Keep calling into the show at 1-866-404-CNET (2638). We love your voice mails. Next week, we've got Molly Wood joining us on the show along with the equally lovely @LizMoney from the Gadget411 and Anna David!
Episode 338
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Nuff said.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)If you are a fan of the Fail Blog (and I think you should be), be in the know that you now can view the site conveniently with an iPhone app.
The app, developed by MC Development, is called "I Can Has Cheezburger?", which is also the name of the Web site that gathers, organizes, tags, and captions funny, cute, and entertaining pictures submitted by people around the world. These pictures cover topics ranging from animals and random daily life to bad English, celebrities, and politicians.
The app lets you pick and view any of ICHC's eight popular and hilarious blogs, including I Can Has Cheezburger?, Fail Blog, I Has a Hotdog, Pundit Kitchen, GraphJam, Totally Looks Like, Engrish Funny, and ROFLrazzi.
It also lets you save pictures to your iPhone for other uses, such as turning them into a wallpaper or sending to a friend. However it doesn't allow for reading or leaving comments, which is another big part of the sites.
Of course, without the app, you can always view these blogs using the iPhone's Web browser, but the app makes it so much more convenient and, for now, doesn't display ads. According to ICHC, future versions will add more features including allowing you to upload pictures right from the iPhone.
I tried it on my iPhone 3G and immediately got addicted. It helps if you have a fast data connection, though. One complaint: the app doesn't allow for bookmarking the picture you are looking at. Each time you go to one of the sites, you will have to view all the photos from the very beginning, which is not LOL-worthy at all when you are on a sluggish GPRS connection.
The app is available at App Store for free. Go get it and have some good laughs!
Although it only applies to a small percentage of units on our shores, today Sony announced that "A certain number of DSC-T20 cameras (in pink and silver only) will vibrate when the power is switched on and will not be able to shoot pictures" due to a "mechanical failure that affected the lenses." Ouch. Since there haven't been that many incidents thus far in the U.S., this isn't a recall; Sony will simply repair any faulty units for free, from July 10, 2008 to July 9, 2011. It seems that overseas there's also an issue with the T70.
(Credit:
eBay.com)
New Englanders weren't the only fans banking on a Patriots Super Bowl victory on Sunday. Last night, a California-based domain squatter faced disappointment as his auction for 19-0.com ticked down to a close with no bidders.
The auction might have had more success if the Patriots indeed won instead of cementing an 18-1 record for their season, but even then takers would have probably been sparse. The auction had a starting bid of $19,000 and a "Buy It Now" price of $150,000, pricing it out of the range of all but the most dedicated Patriots fan (or most unbelievably spiteful Giants fan). In modern Internet vernacular, the best term with which to describe this auction would be "Epic Fail."
eBay user "brucard" isn't quitting, though. While he hasn't reposted an auction for 19-0.com, he just put up an auction for 17-0.com. If you have $17,000 to spend, and really, really liked the Miami Dolphins' 1973 season, check out this auction.
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