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This weekend, Justin Yu made an appearance on Tom Merritt's and Roger Chang's podcast, East Meets West. Ostensibly, it sounds like a podcast about technology and Asian and Western cultures, right? Nope. Turns out it's half an hour where Tom and Roger ream Justin and The 404 for our use of "curse words."

(Credit: Mark Licea/CNET)

Also in the news this weekend, "Adventureland" came out. Contrary to its marketing campaign, it's not a film in the vein of "Superbad," but is actually kind of deep. As for way less deep films, "Fast and Furious" topped the charts with a cool 72.5 million bones. Michael McCarthy, ace reporter Caroline McCarthy's little brother, joins the show today to lend us his opinion on movies and provide a laugh track.

Twitter, for all the problems that it's caused in the world, may have actually saved the life of a suicidal woman. Apparently, if you @reply Demi Moore, you can get saved. There's some more bummer technology stories in there, too.

In happier news, Rick Moranis might make an appearance in "Ghostbusters III." We just hope that Seth Rogan, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill aren't the new Ghostbusters. Also, Queen Elizabeth II gets an iPod from Barack Obama filled with show tunes. And finally, Domino's gives away 11,000 pizzas, accidentally.

Listen to this episode of East Meets West and let us know what you think. We're available via voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638) or via e-mail at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Does bad language really bother you? Does it make us juvenile? Or are we just getting lectured by padre?

You need a 3G phone like the AT&T Tilt or the Apple iPhone 3G to take advantage of a 3G network.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

So the iPhone 3G is coming out tomorrow. Are you ready? OK, that's more of a rhetorical question that those who've been lining up in front of Apple and AT&T stores in NYC and San Francisco would call me crazy just for asking. (Though, in fact, it's they who are crazy). The real question is if AT&T is ready. And it looks like it is.

It's only fitting that AT&T announced today that it offers the nation's fastest 3G network, by a significant margin. The claim was made based on a variety of tests conducted by leading third-party researchers, who tested the throughput speed and overall performance by downloading and using multiple applications and files at a time.

The company also announced that it has started doubling the capacity of its 3G markets and that by the end of the year, about half of all its cell sites will receive additional 3G capacity. This will bring the total 3G coverage area to 350 major U.S. cities and metropolitan areas, up from 296 currently. In addition, AT&T also has the largest global coverage, with roaming available in more than 200 countries, with 60 of them being 3G roaming.

Those impressive announcements above are the direct result of the investment AT&T made in network improvements and upgrades between 2005 and 2008 that totaled up to $20 billion. Much of this network investment has gone to building out the 3G broadband data network and deploying additional 3G coverage using the 850 MHz spectrum, which is now available due to the recent sunset of its older TDMA network. This spectrum extends farther and better covers the interior of buildings.

The biggest benefit of the 3G network is, of course, the high-speed data connection; however, it also allows for simultaneous voice and data activities. For example, you can instant message and talk to the same person at the same time with your 3G phone. Now that's really crazy.

(Credit: FastMac)

Most of us charge our laptop batteries by simply plugging in our laptops, but there are times when you need to have a spare battery or two ready to go at a moment's notice. For Mac users, accessory maker FastMac now has a universal Apple laptop battery charger, called the U-Charge (imagine the lawsuit if they tried to call it "iCharge"), that connects to a pretty huge list of current and classic Apple laptop batteries.

The $69 battery charger includes several different adaptors for connecting to your Apple battery, and while it's not available just yet, FastMac expects to ship these within the next 30 days.

Pretty cool idea overall, but will this just give MacBook Air critics another reason to knock that system for not having a removable battery?

The full list of compatible Apple laptop batteries is as follows:

(Credit: OLPC)

With the dust-up this week about Intel leaving the fold of OLPC, it got me to thinking: Will One Laptop Per Child become the TiVo of PCs for emerging markets? In other words, they spark the revolution but gain relatively little from it.

TiVo of course almost single-handidly created the DVR category and market. Their technology was very well executed, they created a user experience that is still unparalleled in terms of ease and joy of use, and with continual roll-out of innovative capabilities that kept stretching the definition of the product.

But ultimately their business model proved insufficient to the task of dominating the category that they had created, and the superior user experience and features were not enough to compete with the "good enough" offerings sold with monthly subscriptions from cable and satellite providers. If "great design" were all that mattered in making a product succeed, by all rights TiVo would own the DVR market, but sadly that is not the case. The fast followers have largely taken over the market.

OLPC has many of the same traits: Tightly integrated user experience, innovative design and features, and a rather shaky business model that is hard to see how it will scale well. Ultimately OLPC's legacy is likely to be similar to TiVo's too: it sparked the market and brought attention to it in a high profile way. But others with more clout, better understanding of the business imperatives, and the distribution and manufacturing muscle to back it up will in the long term come to dominate. Creating a platform of ingredients, rather than trying to be the all-in-one marquee solution, is probably going to be the winning strategy, as it has been with DVRs.

OLPC has had partnerships to help build out their capabilities, but the bickering as described by Charles Cooper is emblematic of the strains that occurred with TiVo and its early service provider partners. There is the dance of each wanting to dominate, and each waiting for the tipping point when it makes more sense to go it alone. In OLPC's case, as with much of the effort's history, it is happening embarrassingly publicly.

Let's hope that these fast-followers don't take the lazy way out and just sell cheap PC's, but instead design them based on a rich and deep understanding of the cultural needs of the children, teachers and schools who will use them. Ideally these will appear out of the cultures themselves (similar perhaps to the Asus eee PC), and given the globalization of design and engineering capabilities there's no reason why that couldn't happen.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Forget the Slow Food movement. True geeks are in a rush to spend their cash on the latest electronics, not snobby epicure. So when we spotted a fast-food restaurant that's automated, our heart rates sped up accordingly.

Kitchen Mogu Mogu is a Singapore-based Japanese fast-food restaurant that styles itself after similar dining concepts in Japan. In fact, it feels like buying from a vending machine, only in this case it's hot Japanese grub, not sodas or candy bars.

The transaction is easy. Tap the touch screen for your orders and make your payment. You can choose to pay using cash (notes and coins) or EZ-link (a Singapore wireless card payment system). Next, you just have to pick up your order at the next counter.

The human factor can still be problematic. I can't remember how many times I've had to repeat my order or hold my tongue when my double beef patty was somehow transformed into a soggy fish sandwich.

So should your next order at Kitchen Mogu Mogu turn awry, you only have yourself to blame. But if you crave a human touch, the restaurant has a sweet young woman hand to coach the novices, or if you need to scream at something other than a machine.

(Source: Crave Asia)

(Credit: Microsoft)

While Microsoft may one day consider offering a subsidized Zune for those who commit to a monthly music subscription, reports that such a plan is in the works appear to be premature, at best.

Zune marketing director Jason Reindorp, whose name was attached to the reports, said Friday that looking at the cell phone industry model is just one of many ideas Microsoft is looking at.

As others have pointed out, the current Zune is a bit pricey to be fully subsidized by a monthly subscription (without making the monthly fee exorbitant). A flash-memory based player, which some think will come in time for the holidays, could be a better bet for such a program.

Interestingly, while the iPod doesn't support subscription music, audio book service Audible.com has had a program where it offers users a discount on an iPod if they sign up for a long-term subscription.

(Credit: Luxist)

Porsche may rule the road in many eyes, but it has a ways to go on the open seas. While its much-publicized $300,000 racing yacht boasts a top speed of 88 mph, for example, the new XSR48 claims to exceed 100 mph.

Called "the world's fastest diesel production boat," it will attempt to break various world records this year, according to Luxist. Its speed isn't the only thing that will hasten heartbeats: Its price is estimated at nearly $2 million.

If you've ever ridden regularly on San Francisco's Muni system, you'd probably be willing to take your chances on a driverless bus. Safety is a relative thing.

(Credit: BornRich)

A prototype of one such vehicle will soon be on display at the Science Museum in London, where it could be tested in the next few years. The bus, designed jointly by Capoco Design and the Royal College of Art, is an electric drive and bio-fuel hybrid that would be guided by satellite navigation, intelligent cruise control and magnets embedded in city streets, according to BornRich.

Best of all, passengers can use their cell phones to call for a ride from their location. Perhaps the "Taxi Hailer" was an idea whose time will never come.