It's the penultimate episode before our 404th episode of The 404. Yes, the Internet will exploded when we run our live show tomorrow. Today's episode, though, might keep us from ever reaching that magic number. In our first half, we discuss our recollections of learning about the birds and the bees. In the second half, we have a great Calls from the Public section, and we mention Best Buy's latest snafu.

(Credit: CNET)

So, why the birds and the bees? Well, according to a study by Symantec, children are searching the Internet to learn about sex, not necessarily from their parents. While that might sound quite disturbing, Jeff, Justin, and Wilson reminisce about how we learned about it, and most of it involved dirty magazines and shared videotapes. Plus, we swapped tips on how to catch a glimmer of the Spice Channel by either jiggling the remote or hooking up a black box to our cable outlet.

We round out the show with some delightful Calls from the Public. We love it when a woman calls. Finally, we chat a bit about Best Buy and its mistake of putting a high-end Samsung HDTV on sale for $9.99. People are upset that the company won't honor the price. Well, duh. Come on, you knew it was a mistake when you bought it!

Be sure to send in your favorite show moments and congratulate us on our 404th episode tomorrow! The number is 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Or send in a MP3 or WAV to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Tomorrow, we've got an amazing roster of guests, including Clayton Morris, Caroline McCarthy, Mark Licea, and more!

We always try our best to keep a positive mental attitude on The 404, so it makes sense that we've chosen The Hold Steady's latest album, "Stay Positive," as today's Audio Draft Pick. We also run through the accidental video game archive, shame the Guinness World Records, and warn our listeners about open manholes, literally.

Today's "Best Web site you've never seen" award goes to Derek Yu's Accidental Video Game Porn Archive that showcases sexual innuendos found in your favorite video games. It's an easy way to waste a few hours at work. They're all hilarious, but this Menage a Kong has got to be one of my favorites, with this Star Fox violation in a close second. I also like that Derek and I share the same last name--this Web site is totally something a Yu would do. Nice job, cuz!

We don't wag our fingers as much, but we have to scold the Guinness World Records for this record-breaking fail. One of the entries on its Web site awards the "Most Individuals Killed in a Terrorist Act" to the terrorists behind the attack on the World Trade Center towers and even invites viewers to "break this record."

Instead of immediately taking down the award, Guinness World Records compounded the fail by threatening legal action on the ICanHaz network for posting a screengrab that features the Guinness World Record logo without proper authorization. If that isn't a case of corporate cowardly B.S., I don't know what is. Daps to Fail Blog for their hilarious response complete with a Rick Roll at the end!

The Hold Steady's "Stay Positive".

(Credit: Last.FM/The Hold Steady)

Jeff's pick for today's "Audio Draft," sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, is Brooklyn local band The Hold Steady. In our own words, these guys sound like the aural lovechild of Bruce Springsteen, Social Distortion, Joe Strummer, and Billy Joel. The music combines various instruments (banjos, organ, piano, theremin) to produce a jamming rock theme, and then adds gruff vocals with epic storytelling lyrics to complete the circle.

The band's latest album, "Stay Positive," keeps the party going with a steady balance of hilarious stories from the road ("Sequestered in Memphis") and heartbreaking admissions of love lost, but not forgotten ("Lord, I'm Discouraged"). Check out the entire discography and let us know what you think in the comments!

(Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News and Reviews.)

Could the Internet be any filthier than it is right now? Today's show highlights some of the more disturbing stories that we haven't been able to get to over the past few weeks, but not before complaining about the dirty microphone screens pressing up against our mouths on a daily basis. Wilson seems to like it!

Teenagers love money.

(Credit: Dan@cheapshooter.com/Flickr)

We scavenge the depths of the dirty Internet to bring you a couple interesting, albeit dirty, stories, like this one about a teen in New Zealand who stumbled upon some "artistic" photos of his mother, and instead of gouging his eyes out with the nearest sharp object, he auctioned them off on the Internet!

Ugh, the story gets even more messed up though, and you'll never guess what his Mother does when she finds out what her son's been up to at her expense. Hint: he doesn't get in trouble.

That story actually segues well into the next one, where we finally ask the question, "Is the Internet destroying porn as we know it?"

The answer is a mix of yes and no, as CNET blogger Chris Matyszczyk (how do you pronounce that?!) helps us figure out why 90-minute adult movies are quickly getting fazed out in lieu of 335-second clips on sites like YouPorn and XTube. On the other hand (no pun intended), there are plenty of examples of money getting poured into big budget pornographic films, some with a budget of over 1 million dollars. Although we have no personal opinions on the matter, since none of us have actually seen said video genre, we reference very informative articles we've read on the Internet.

Stay tuned to the second half of today's episode to see how you can instantly obtain 5,000 Twitter followers and listen to a hilarious Calls from the Public with a special appearance by none other than the much-missed Sally Henderson!

Donald and Jasmine bow to listener pressures and dedicate (almost) an entire episode to Bluetooth. On deck: a description of A2DP Bluetooth technology in detail, some fascinating info about the iPod Touch/iPhone's partially crippled BT functionality, and product shout-outs for Bluetooth-capable headphones and MP3 players. Also, consider yourselves warned: the hosts spend several minutes discussing the ousted "porn" app that was released in the iTunes App Store last week (not overly explicit).

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(Credit: Apple)

Update (June 26, 2009): Now that the dust has settled, Jim Dalrymple has a more complete picture of how and why this app was removed.

Update: We initially reported that Apple had blocked the app, but it now appears that the developer's servers were simply overwhelmed (Apple's servers distribute the app, but the images themselves are pulled from the developer's server). We'll have further updates as the story continues to evolve.

Back when Apple first launched its App Store, Steve Jobs showed a slide with six categories of apps that would be verboten: "Porn, privacy, bandwidth hog, illegal, malicious," and "unforeseen." Well, on Wednesday Apple allowed a developer to add nude models to the 17+ rated app "Hottest Girls," ushering in what may--or may not be--a new era for iPhone apps.

When news of the nude images first leaked out, the Mac enthusiast site Macenstein proclaimed, "And then there was porn." The headline was followed by the rather titillating lede: "Today the iTunes app store became a man, having finally seen its first adult app. Meaning nudity. Meaning boobies."

As noted, "Hottest Girls" ($1.99), carries Apple's 17+ rating (for "Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity.") and until recently only featured women in lingerie and bathing suits. But Hottest Girls' developer Allen Leung told bloggers Wednesday that, "We uploaded nude topless pics today. This is the first app to have nudity."

Macenstein noted that the announcement rivaled "the first transmissions from the moon landing in importance."

That was Wednesday. On Thursday, TechCrunch discovered that it couldn't download the application and immediately assumed Apple had blocked it. But it now appears there were just too many people trying to download the application at once.

A note on the developer's Web site reads:

"The Hottest Girls app is temporarily sold out. The server usage is extremely high because of the popularity of this app. Thus, by not distributing the app, we can prevent our servers from crashing. Customer satisfaction is more important to us than profits. Those who already have the app will still be able to use our app. To answer the question on everyone's mind: Yes, the topless images will still be there when it is sold again."

Of course, this brings into question the whole notion of just what "porn" is--and isn't. In some parts of America, an app that boasts "completely naked pics" would be considered indecent, plain and simple. But in parts of Europe, well, Hottest Girls is just a day at the beach.

What do you think? Is this good news? And how relaxed do you think Apple will be? Or is it just a matter of time before the company shuts down tawdry apps like this because it potentially damages its reputation?

(Source: Macenstein via Gizmodo)

Until recently, the Hottest Girls app just featured scantily clad models.

This week, your Intrepid Editor returns from vacation, just in time to catch a Hewlett-Packard laptop-news trifecta. First, the company announced that it had achieved a mobile-computing milestone by getting the HP EliteBook 6930p to operate continuously for 24 hours on a single battery charge. Then came word that the Voodoo Envy 133 laptop, introduced in June, started shipping to customers. And finally, the company brought a bit of geekiness to New York's Fashion Week when a Vivienne Tam-designed HP mininote hit the runways.

Sony also initiated a multipronged attack on the headlines this week, first with its 18.4-inch media laptop, the Vaio AW, followed by two more Vaios on Friday.

Meanwhile, Lenovo dealt Linux fans a blow when it quietly stopped offering the OS as a preinstall option for its ThinkPads, IdeaPads, ThinkCenters, and IdeaCenters. But Linux had a win as well: the gang at CNET Asia found a $98 laptop from Chinese manufacturer HiVision with components that aren't likely to run any OS but Linux.

This week's rumor mill churned up news of a possible Samsung Netbook that just might hit the States; reports that Intel's next-generation Atom processor, codenamed Pineview, will hit the market in the third quarter of 2009; and wishful thinking for cheaper MacBooks.

In other news, Asus released a 15-inch gaming laptop, the G50V; we admired the wooden Stiletto laptop stand; and the $849 Asus N10 has us wondering: at what point is a small laptop no longer a Netbook?.

And finally, watch what you surf in seat 12C: Flight attendants and management of the newly Wi-Fi-equipped American Airlines are debating whether they should filter their in-flight Wi-Fi networks to keep passengers from accessing "inappropriate" sites (read: porn).

Have a great weekend!

I recently wrote a column about using American Airlines' new in-flight Wi-Fi service to blog at 37,000 feet. I did a couple of speed tests and ran some Hulu video, but the one thing I never thought of doing is pulling up a porn site.

Now, Bloomberg is reporting that American's flight attendants are concerned about just that--that too many passengers will try to get their mile-high Web porn fixes.

It's unclear whether those worries stem from a specific incident or incidents, but it appears both passengers and flight attendants raised some red flags and the leaders of the American Association of Flight Attendants brought it up with American Airlines' management. They urged the company "to filter its in-flight Internet service to block access to pornography and other Web sites the workers said were inappropriate."

No mile-high Web porn fix for me.

(Credit: John Falcone/CNET Networks)

Personally, I get a little embarrassed when even a semi-nude scene flashes on the screen of my iPod or portable DVD player while I'm watching a movie on a plane (we're talking R-rated here). If there are any younger fliers around I'll do my best to shield the screen or jump ahead a chapter. But people do some crazy stuff on planes, so it wouldn't totally surprise me to hear about a passenger casually perusing some porn sites and thinking nothing of it. There are people out there who think, "I bought this seat, I can act or smell as badly as I want in it."

Moral majority aside, I can see where the flight attendants are coming from. They're the ones who have to deal with passengers' complaints and will be forced to regulate what people are looking at. Better to nip it in the bud and block sites like they do at a lot of workplaces. But the problem is there's some subjectivity when it comes to what's offensive or not. Just ask Janet Jackson.

Anybody have any solutions? Or good stories about people watching sketchy material on a plane you were on? Let us know in the Talkback section.

Vudu has partnered with AVN Media Network to create an adult-entertainment channel.

(Credit: Vudu)

When we got an early preview of Vudu last year, company reps told us off the record that its Internet video-on-demand box would someday offer adult-entertainment content. Well, that day has finally arrived with word that Vudu has consumated a deal with AVN Media Network to create the AVN Channel on Vudu, "robust with AVN reviews and ratings, etc..."

According to a press release from AVN, "The AVN Channel will include hundreds of the latest standard and high-definition titles from the leading adult studios including Wicked, Vivid, Hustler, and many others. This is the first stand-alone content channel available on Vudu."

"To celebrate the launch, AVN Adult Channel includes free access to the 2008 AVN Adult Movie Awards in brilliant 1080p HD. The legendary 25th anniversary show, hosted by Tera Patrick and Greg Fitzsimmons, features special appearances by Artie Lange of the Howard Stern Show, Bubba the Love Sponge, Dave Navarro, Jenna Jameson, and many other celebrities."

That's the good news. The bad news is that there's still a hefty to price pay for discreetly downloading porn to a set-top box in the privacy of your own home. Nevermind the initial $299 fee for the Vudu hardware, standard-definition adult movies will run you $6.99 for rental and $19.99 for purchase. High-definition smut will cost you $8.99 a pop for a rental and $29.99 to own it outright (we don't know what happens if Vudu goes out of business, but now that they're into porn, the company probably has a better shot at making it).

The AVN press release also notes that, "The AVN Adult Channel includes all the functionalities available in the award-winning Vudu interface plus an advanced discovery engine useful when searching by genre or studio. Consumers can take advantage of Vudu's safe and discreet billing system and avoid risky online transactions."

Vudu already has a full parental control feature built into its system (it effectively hides any content above whatever rating level the user prescribes), but the company will be further bolstering that with adult content: "Once the AVN Channel is enabled, password-protected privacy controls must be activated in order to access the service from the TV," says the press release.

Anybody care to comment? Is this a desperate move by Vudu or just a smart one?

Editors' note: This post has been updated to clarify the robustness of Vudu's parental control system.

Last year, Playboy made the original iPhone sexier with iPlayboy, a package of Playmate-featuring wallpapers and photos for the Apple handset. But what if sexier is still not sexy enough?

It's self-explanatory, really.

(Credit: iRoticNet)

Taking advantage of the new iPhone 3G's fast mobile-data connection, iRoticNet today announced plans to premiere an adult video destination designed specifically for the iPhone 3G.

The company said it would offer a huge amount of content from dozens of studios at a much lower cost than other services. For about $10 per month, subscribers will get unlimited access to hundreds of full-length movies and more than 1,000 clips. Now that's a lot of pornography.

The service is available worldwide to anyone who can legally view adult material. It's also compatible with the original iPhone. However, iRoticNet recommends that due to the lack of 3G speed, users of the original iPhone would probably want a Wi-Fi connection.

Personally I am not surprised by this new offering. Currently, mobile adult content is a $1.7 billion business, and considering the ubiquity of the phone, this is just inevitable. By the way, when I volunteered to write about this, my co-worker Joseph Kaminski--a longtime iPhone owner--immediately asked, "Are you trying to get a free subscription from this blog?" Well, that sounds like a good deal, but I really need to be able to get an iPhone 3G first.