Crave

JBL's best speaker, the K2 S9900.

(Credit: JBL)

Most of you probably think of JBL as a manufacturer of affordable high-performance speakers, but the company offers a truly vast range of consumer and professional models.

The K2 S9900 ($15,000 each) is the best consumer speaker JBL makes. It's a massive thing, weighing in at 182 pounds, and it's armed with a 15-inch woofer, 4-inch magnesium, horn-loaded midrange, and 1-inch magnesium horn-loaded tweeter. It can handle amplifiers as large as 500 watts a channel.

The JBL K2 S9900 will be equally at home in ultra-high-end music and home theater systems.

The K2 was originally developed for the seriously finicky Japanese audiophile market. There it has already achieved legendary status, and it was years before JBL brought it home. American hi-fi at its best.

I haven't heard this latest version of the K2, but I'm somewhat familiar with the previous K2 S9800. That one's sound was huge, incredibly effortless, and capable of delivering truly lifelike dynamic range. That last quality alone goes a long way to making reproduced sound sound realistic.

If you can afford the best, make it your business to hear the K2.

(Credit: Gamespot)

A heated discussion over which supernatural species is superior (zombies or vampires) leads us into a truly geeky episode of The 404. To help settle the controversy, we have on today's show CNET's own Scott Stein.

Also on today's show, we solve the mystery behind yesterday's Gawker DDoS attacks that flooded the blog network. It wasn't us, we swear. Next, we analyze a disturbing trend of Obama Joker posters popping up in California and whether or not they're making a statement or are just confusing.

We'll also find out if you can actually sue Amazon for losing your homework and whether or not a new Resident Evil movie is a good idea. All this, plus a special call from Jason Howell and some submissions for Justin Yu's new glasses!

...And to our Japanese astronaut friend, we're not sure deep space is the ideal venue to test out everlasting underwear.

EPISODE 396

(Credit: Triumph International)

I just got back from a trip to California, where I got to be with almost my entire extended family. I'm 33 years old and single, so the whole time I had relatives telling me to hurry up and get married. The pressure was horrible. But now that I've seen, courtesy of talk2myShirt, this "husband hunting" bra concept from Japan, I'm a little relieved.

The bra, by Triumph International, has a built-in digital timer indicating how much time's left before the woman wearing it must get married. If she's not married by the time it reaches zero, she's a "leftover," which is perhaps Japan's version of an old maid. Either way, the social stigma must be daunting.

But there's a solution: an engagement ring fits neatly into a compartment above the timer. Only then can the countdown be stopped, thus giving the useless ring a function beyond labeling someone as "taken."

If they make a man version, perhaps boxer briefs, I will not be getting it. I don't need to be reminded every time I drop trou that I'm still single. Thanks, world.

As a side note: why do I keep getting assigned stories about gadgetized underwear?

Unicorn spotted in the wild.

(Credit: Busy P./Coolcats)

Believe it or not, party photographs are good for something: the guys over at Coolcats spotted this Eastpak CD case in the wild, and it appears to be part of the company's product collaboration with Ed Banger Records, the French label behind recently popular acts Justice, Busy P., and SebastiAn.

The entire collection will drop this fall, but High Snobiety already gave us a look at some of the first pieces in the official collabo--a backpack and a few smaller luggage items that bear bright, colorful Ed Banger allover-print themes.

The CD case is a little strange to me, though...I actually had to look it up to grasp a full understanding of its functionality. Prior to being called analog mp3s, people apparently stored these physical objects in a big folder with the rest of their "CDs?" Across the sea, you've got Japanese luggage designer Head Porter killing it (per usual) with its iPhone cases, and Eastpak responds with its...CD case?

I guess we can look forward to Eastpak's new MiniDisc holders coming soon to a Circuit City near you.

Jason Howell, from Bore Out Loud, keeps us classy in this very special episode of The 404. We make our big videocasting announcement. That's right! The 404, podcast of the future, is going to become a video podcast, so you'll be able to watch as Wilson looks deeply/creeply into the camera every morning. Plus, we get into some studio shenanigans as we prepare to revamp this place. And CNET TV is nominated for a Webby!

(Credit: Wilson G. Tang/CNET)

On today's show, find out why you should never eat Domino's pizza, especially if you live in New York City. It's all about the Ray'z Pizza, man. Also, Amazon says it had a homophobic "glitch" that caused several LGBT books to be removed from its listings. We think Nazis did it.

On the second half of the show, it's Tuna Tuesday! (Please listen to the show to find out what that means.) Nintendo releases an add-on to the Wiimote that makes it even longer and more precise. TWSS. Also, a 79-year-old Japanese man has the greatest job in the world.

By the by, is Miramax sending the right message to a girl who couldn't find a copy of "Adventureland" on bittorrent by giving her free tickets to see the movie? Or is it all a ploy to get her arrested? Finally, be sure to check out your RSS and iTunes feeds for our little "404 presents."

Keep sending in your best survival stories and character voices to the show at 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Be sure to RSVP for The 404 and Buzz Out Loud Meetup here in New York City. Alison Rosen, Jason Howell, Natali Del Conte, Kenley Bradstreet, and so many more are going to be making their appearance. Maybe you can buy them a drink? (Be warned: Jason is ours though.)

Justin calls Wilson out for being happy with his life, so they decide to name the show after the popular '80s song Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. Meanwhile, Justin hates his life because New York City ruined his evening. Stay tuned for that story on today's The 404.

Jeff talks about a dangerous e-mail chain letter about entering your PIN number in reverse to call the police during a robbery. Too bad, it ain't true. You might just get stabbed in the stomach if you try this one. Speaking of your health, you can help stop the spread of the flu this year with Twitter. We also suggest not licking the subway poles, but hey--to each his own.

Also, Apple quietly introduces data tethering to the iPhone OS 3.0. Apparently, it takes a little minor hacking, but you'll be able to tether your iPhone 3G to your computer over USB. Bluetooth support is a few more hacks away. Hopefully, you don't take down the entire AT&T network when you BitTorrent the latest "Battlestar Galactica" over your iPhone 3G connection.

Microsoft releases the latest version of Internet Explorer 8 for download. The tech community gives a collective yawn (except for IT managers), while we get creeped out by a Japanese robot model.

Finally, our tagline contest is coming to an end, and before we decide on an official winner, we'd like you to chime in by taking our poll. Click here or look up and to your left. Jonathan Coulton had to reschedule but will make his appearance in the coming weeks, so hold onto your horses. Be sure to support our very own Natali Del Conte's Smackdown for Charity!

(Credit: Hypbeast)

Tokyo-based fashion designers Head Porter come prepared for the holiday season with a new collection of cases designed to fit both the original iPhone and the 3G. With a long history of catering to the fashion-forward tech consumer, Head Porter offers stylish cases for cell phones and mp3 players. This fall's iPhone collection sees the marriage between a new case form and classic Head Porter visuals, including "Black Beauty," "Monogram Black Beauty," "Dot Black Beauty," "Master Navy," "Navy Argyle," "Python," "Savanna," and "Zebra." All models are available for $95 at the Head Porter Web site.

The Farago AirCool suit is lined with silver ions to absorb sweat.

(Credit: Aoki)

During the heat of summer, a distinct smell is known to permeate public transit and elevators. It's the sweaty stench of business professionals who still have to wear suits to the office, despite the outside temperature and humidity.

The Japanese have caught on though, and Aoki is now selling a suit that emits deodorant, keeping its wearer in the cool. The Farago Aircool suit is made (Web site in Japanese) with a deodorant antibacterial silver ion lining, to absorb sweat and stifle smell.

Of course, a suit with special silver ions will cost some cash, and the Farago Aircool suit runs for the equivalent of $370 on sale, while other good-smelling apparel like a polo shirt or socks, run for $37 and $8, respectively.

While the deodorant suit's a perfect item to wear over an air-conditioned shirt, the most useful outfit might come from pairing it with a stylish bullet-resistant jacket.

Consumer electronics makers looking to find their way into consumers' living rooms could learn a thing or two from Japanese custom PC manufacturer Universal Roaming.

Sony in particular has gone out of its way to make PCs and gadgets that blend nicely into the living room decor without being too gadgety. The result has been, well, mixed. See the Vaio TP25E (that weird round one) and the sleek Vaio LT29U all-in-one.

(Credit: Ryou PC)

Universal Roaming takes a different approach, creating the Ryou PC series of small and lovely desktop PCs that appear more akin to decorative art than computers. They're not quite as avant garde as the Enlighten or Shadow from Suissa, but they definitely make a statement.

Each is made from Japanese Judas trees, and decorated with silver, gold, and red lacquer. But the Ryou series is not just a pretty face: it comes loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, an 80GB hard drive, a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a DVD burner, Wi-Fi adapter, and a 3-in-1 card reader.

There's no price listed, but be prepared to pay a pretty penny. Clearly a lot of manual labor went into these guys.