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We have an especially fun episode for y'all today, with a comparison between Transformers 2 and GI Joe, a brief rundown of old video game movies, the decade's biggest tech flops, and OF COURSE: The 404 Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews 5000!

Man, the preshow this morning got HEATED! In a joking way, of course. You really have to be there for Friday morning preshows in the live chatroom. The buzz this morning was about Jeff seeing "Bruno," and actually LIKING IT! This is, of course, in contrast to Wilson totally despising the flick, blaming the overuse of phallic objects used only to make the audience feel uncomfortable. If you saw that movie and have an opinion, leave a comment on here and help us settle this argument!

That conversation in the preshow leads us to talk about the latest from AintitCool News, who claim that "GI Joe" is a better movie than "Transformers 2"! This is actually pretty surprising to us because we saw the trailer for "GI Joe," and it seriously looked awful, although it'd be hard to make a worse movie than "Transformers 2." I guess it's a "lesser of two evils" sort of thing. Early reviews coming in claim that the "GI Joe" movie should be taken with a large grain of salt, since the tone is similar to that of the original "Street Fighter" movie.

Mayer Hawthorne spreads the love

(Credit: Last.FM/Stone's Throw Records)

After talking about video game movies for awhile, we finally get to our favorite segment, the OFFICIAL 404 Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews 5000! Today's pick is Mayer Hawthorne, a 29-year-old music junkie from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who makes retro-sounding soul music in the vein of such artists as Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hudson, and Barry White. His music tips its hat to the old Motown days between 1966 and 1974, when scratchy instruments and smooth falsettos dominated the waves. Hawthorne definitely draws inspiration from those artists, but also layers his own style into the mix with breakbeat production and a gallery of horn instruments that every generation can get into. He's currently on the popular hip-hop label Stones Throw and has a few singles out, but his new album, "A Strange Arrangement," is due out in the fall. For now, check out his page and today's track, "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out," and let us know what you think!

(Credit: Asus)

Like fashion, the hottest toys from the '80s have come back in style, and the latest craze is Transformers. With two movies under its belt, this franchise has gone beyond toys and T-shirts to a customized special-edition Transformers laptop from Asus.

Based on the G60 gaming notebook, this machine comes with a 15.6-inch full-HD panel and Core 2 Quad processor combined with the newest Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M graphics chip.

A unique feature of this model is that it sports a turbo button that automatically overclocks the processor for faster speeds. The Asus gaming machine will be available in August worldwide and will cost about $2,073. Unfortunately, the Transformers edition is only a one-off production unit which, by the way, will be given away as a lucky draw prize by Odeon Cinemas in the U.K.

All you can do is hate the winner and drool over these pictures.

(Source: Crave Asia via Pocket-lint)

Since we're not having a show tomorrow for Independence Day, there's a lot to cover today, including a new segment with Beck's Beer and Last.fm, a chat with the winner of our logo design contest, and a hilarious voicemail from everyone's favorite Tina Schwartz.

Blake Stevenson's masterpiece poster...click for a larger image

(Credit: Blake Stevenson)

Our annual GetMcDonaldsBreakfastOnJulyThird Day leaves us with upset stomachs and wandering minds, so it's a good thing we have Blake Stevenson on for a quick segment in the beginning of today's show to talk about his winning submission for our logo contest.

We get to pick his brain a bit about how he came up with the design, and we're also curious about his work history and how he got so good! In turn, Blake also surprises us with the amazing poster illustration you see to the left. Click on it to see the larger version, and check out the impressively accurate caricatures of Wilson, Jeff, and me! From Wilson's highlights to Jeff's pursed lips and my ridiculous everything, Blake really did an excellent job of capturing the feel of the show, both with the poster and the logo itself. Attention Tom Green: critics agree, your logo sucks.

The good news is that Blake Stevenson is more than willing to redo it, so head over to JetPacksandRollerSkates.com and put him to work!

(Credit: Daniel Kelleghan Photography)

We're also very excited to debut the very first of our bi-weekly (that's twice a week) segment called The Weekly Audio Draft, sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.fm. Every Monday and Friday we'll introduce you guys to some fresh bands with varying genres that we hope will be music to your ears.

Jeff is first up with a band called The Twilight and the Sound, which features Jeremiah Rangel and Matt Lovato, former members of pop-punk band Mest. Their new band draws influences from The Cure, Deftones, Weezer, and Interpol, and you can buy their new album "100 Sundays..." on their profile page on Last.fm. On today's edition of the Weekly Audio Draft, we rock out to their new song "There's No Basement at the Alamo," a driving, upbeat track that combines male and female vocals in a call-and-response format that makes the perfect accompaniment to a weekend BBQ or road trip. Leave a comment on this post and let us know what you think! Check out more info for the band at their MySpace page as well.

The second half of the show is filled with hilarious voice mails including some bike shopping advice as well as a really funny voice mail from our favorite listener, Tina Schwartz. We have to reiterate that her views and opinions DO NOT reflect those of The 404 or our parent company, CBS Interactive. We even get into a few stories at the end of the show, including some back and forth about the Microsoft and Nickelback collabo, Facebook flirting and Universal grabbing the rights to the Asteroids full-length movie.

Have a great Independence Day weekend everybody, stay safe, and don't forget to check back tomorrow for our weekend throwback episode!

Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET.

I'll ruin the surprise for you right now: the worst movie of the summer (only four days in so far) is "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen." On today's show, we rip apart this atrocity even more, spoiler-free! Wilson also gives us his first impressions of his brand new Apple iPhone 3GS and discovers the weirdest camera issue ever. I love you, Wilson, but that came out of NOWHERE!

Controversial characters Skids and Mudflap

(Credit: Complex.com)

So I finally broke down and saw "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" last night, and although I can't give away too many plot details, suffice it to say that I'm throwing in my vote for it being the WORST movie of the summer. Sure, summer blockbusters are supposed to be silly and entertaining, but a truckload of physical humor and irritating little side-stories ruined what could have been an awesome action movie. Where are the Transformers fanboys on this one? This betrayal feels like that "Spiderman 3" abomination all over again! Apart from the movie being about an hour too long (2.5 hours total, say whaaatt?), the only parts worth watching are the epic fight scenes and Megan Fox jumping/running/screaming/rolling through explosions. We also address that whole racist robot plot point yet again--now that I've actually seen the movie, I wouldn't say that characters are straight-up racist, but the gold tooth and excessive slang are definitely in poor taste and an unnecessarily stereotypical slight at hip-hop. Listen in for more details.

The next story is about gaming company Global Gaming Factory X resurrecting The Pirate Bay as a legal file-distro site. After a bit of confusion about how exactly that whole case ended, we're still left wondering why companies keep trying to cannibalize on the success of dead P2P sites, relying on the name alone to tread water and maybe even gain a few new subscribers. The problem is that it never works! Napster, anyone? Who's idea was that, anyway? "Hey guys, let's buy this dead service that still exists only to bait people into RIAA lawsuits and relaunch the site with legit, paid content. It's all about brand confidence, right?" Good luck with that, doods.

Finally, we're announcing BIG changes on the show tomorrow including the triumphant debut of our new logo (based on Blake Stevenson's winning design) and a few surprises to go along with it! We're also excited to have Brendt Barbur of the Bicycle Film Festival as our guest on tomorrow's show. Check it out LIVE tomorrow @ 11AM ET at CNET Live.

EPISODE 373

This is what we get for calling our show "The 404." Despite literally everything going wrong on today's show (sorry, live listeners!), we get it in gear for what turns out to be a hilarious show, thanks to CNET reporter Caroline McCarthy who comes in and saves the day. Today, Jeff previews us on the latest Nintendo Wii games, including the new Wii Fit Plus, Super Mario Bros, Wii Sports Resort, and more!

Mezrich's new book about the founding of Facebook.

(Credit: Doubleday)

Caroline McCarthy of CNET News' The Social comes on the show today to give us her unique take on a bunch of different stories. First off, we want to apologize to ALL of our beloved live listeners. For one reason or another, our broadcasting engine pooped out and we were unable to broadcast live. All is not lost, however--you can still definitely download or watch the stream here! Rest assured that Jason Howell, aka Superman, is on the job. Thanks, Jason!

First up, Jeff tells us all about yesterday's Nintendo event, where he got a chance to preview a bunch of exciting new games, including the new Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, and Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. He also got a chance to try out the new Wii Fit Plus. Last year, when Jeff went onto the balance board to demo the original Wii Fit, the machine actually gave up and unplugged itself, committing console suicide, so we're all anxious to see if Nintendo beefed up this new version.

Caroline also surprises us with a very positive review of the new "Transformers" movie. It turns out that the movie is geared toward...teenage boys. Which makes us question why Caroline was there in the first place--what a cougar! She also tells us even more horrifying news about the upcoming Facebook movie based on Ben Mezrich's upcoming book, "The Accidental Billionaires." Caro tells us that Shia Labeouf and Michael Cera are being eyeballed to play the role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, but the rest of us think those are both terrible choices. Actually, maybe it should be Labeouf; his portrayal of Zuckerberg would at least be more believable than his relationship with hottie biscotti Megan Fox in "Transformers 2." There's NO WAY a woman of that caliber would even sneeze in Lebeouf's general direction!

(Credit: Flickr user John Kratz)

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" won't hit theaters globally until June 24, so for now you just have to contend with the Voltron Star Shooter camera if you're into shape-shifting robots.

Flickr user John Kratz collects old and weird cameras, but this SLR-like snapper stands out among his other antique shooters. Just like Transformers, the Star Shooter is more than meets the eye because the point-and-shoot uses the old 110-format cartridge film and the big, protruding lens is just a decorative element with no practical use.

You probably won't be able to see this camera in stores now as it was first constructed in 1985. Let us know how much it costs these days if you do manage to find one for sale online.

(Source: Crave Asia via CrunchGear)

(Credit: 10x10)

Although its Web site calls it the Transformer Camera, we don't really see it resembling an Autobot or a Decepticon. However, there's more here than meets the eye as this large film canister is actually a working 35mm film camera.

The online store is in Korean. Here's what we can make out of it after running it through Google Translate. The lens' focal length is fixed at 35mm with an aperture of F10, and it requires an AA-size battery to operate.

Measuring 2.5 inches by 5.5 inches and weighing just less than half a pound, the camera is portable enough to carry around in a sling bag or backpack.

Given that film cameras are enjoying a mini revival these days, we'll probably see the Transformer Camera soon in novelty stores. If you can't wait, the Web site prices the shooter at approximately $20. No shipping details were provided.

(Source: Crave Asia via Crunch Gear)

LG Versa with Transformers design

(Credit: LG)

Bringing new meaning to the phrase "more than meets the eye," LG has partnered with Dreamworks to bring you a limited edition of the LG Versa with a Transformers theme to help promote the sequel to the 2007 summer blockbuster. In fact, Michael Bay himself will be on the scene at the LG booth in CTIA at 2 p.m. PDT Thursday to promote the phone and the movie, titled "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

It's fitting that they chose to make the LG Versa their promotional phone, as the touch-screen handset is quite transformative as well, what with the option of adding modules to increase its functionality. For example, it comes with a QWERTY keyboard for texting, and there are currently plans to release additional modules like a gamepad for playing games, external speakers, and more.

The Transformers version of the phone is the same as the Versa, but it just has a new Transformers image on the back, and will have custom movie-related graphics as well. No word on pricing, but we expect it'll be the same as the Versa, which is around $200 with a two-year contract from Verizon Wireless. We'll update this post with pictures of the phone once we have it.

What used to be romantic tends to be seen as just plain creepy these days. And quite possibly somewhat stalker-ish too. So of course, we do what we always do when it comes to gadgets and accessories that have the potential of abuse...we mock them endlessly.

EPISODE 124

Wii Fit for Valentine’s Day: It’s ok. Really.

10 Valentine’s Day gifts to get you dumped

Valentine’s Day gifts for the geeky girl

USB Plasma Heart spectacularly displays your love

Nokia Cupid - the anonymous way to say “I want you”

Blow a Valentine’s kiss with your iPhone