Crave

MTI (also known as Mark Licea) joins the show today to replace Justin Yu, who's on vacation to Boston. We cover everything under the typical 404-sun: strippers, Playboy, Mexican-Korean truck food, Twitter, and Sweet Lou Bakalar.

That's one machine I crave.

(Credit: NBC Universal)

Every one knows that the economy is in the tank. For a lot of people out there, that means spending hours every day listening to past episodes of the 404. For some it means that instead of using that Harvard degree, they are using the assets their momma gave them. In related news, Playboy has posted its entire back catalog online. Warning: This is totally NSFW. You can check out all the previous back issues of Playboy magazine online with a Silverlight-enabled browser.

Also, last Friday was the final broadcast of the landmark series Battlestar Galactica. Wilson, being the only fan of the show on The 404, has plenty to say--most of which seems to bore the hell out of Jeff and MTI. The show will be missed, and while the finale hit most of the right marks, there were a few things that gave plenty of pause--like the second ending. Check it out on iTunes or Hulu. Promise you're going to love Number Six in a red dress.

There's a food truck in Los Angeles driving around, Twittering, and making Korean-Mexican tacos? Finally, Sweet Lou Bakalar, Jeff's father, gives us his insight on the current state of texting and television buying. Stay tuned tomorrow for Eric Franklin!

Read the full 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 review.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)

When we first laid eyes on the Dodge Ram, a few words came to mind: gargantuan, behemoth, colossal. The words that didn't immediately come to mind when the big ol' truck rolled into the CNET garage were "high" or "tech." However, after--literally--climbing into the Ram's cab and spending some time behind the wheel, we found a surprising amount of drive-train tech and, more surprisingly, some very sophisticated cabin tech.

Satellite TV, a hard drive-based audio system, and in-vehicle Wi-Fi are just some of the ambitious, if unrefined, tricks the Dodge Ram has up its sleeve.

Read the full 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 review.

Hybrids aren't just for eco-conscious soccer moms.

(Credit: GE)

General Electric on Tuesday said that it has tested a hybrid version of a haul truck, the kind of giant dump truck that's used at a mine or to haul away mountains of dirt.

The system works just like a Toyota Prius, more or less. The engine feeds electricity to a battery that runs the drivetrain. During braking, the spinning wheels act as a generator for the battery.

The batteries in the hybrid off-highway truck is the same sodium-based battery used in GE's locomotives, according to the GE Research blog.

The hybrid haul truck wasn't just announced in honor of Earth Day.

Rising fuel prices are pushing truck manufacturers to adopt more efficient and clean technologies.

Volvo is developing a range of Mack trucks with the goal of making them carbon neutral. A hybrid Mack dump truck can save between 25 percent and 30 percent on fuel costs.

Oasis electric-cooled truck

(Credit: Global Refrigeration Systems)

Refrigerator trucks may not be sexy, but they play a vital role in our day-to-day lives by carrying food and supplies from one part of the country to another. However, they also contribute a significant amount of pollution on our roads.

Aura Systems, a company based in El Segundo, Calif., on Wednesday introduced a mobile-power system that keeps produce cold by using electricity instead of diesel fuel.

Traditional refrigeration trucks use a separate diesel engine to drive the compressor that keeps the inside of the truck cold. The extra engine not only emits more pollutants, but is also extremely expensive to operate.

The first vehicle with the new system, the Oasis, is a midsize Isuzu refrigeration truck. The truck's cooling compressor is jump-started by a large power surge (the system can handle between 5 kilowatts and 8.5 kilowatts of power), and it is kept running by the truck's main engine. And although the system still relies on diesel to keep it going, Aura reps say the elimination of the second motor saves, on average, about $250 in fuel costs per month, per truck.

The Oasis is set be on display at the Worldwide Food Expo October 24 through 27 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

For more information, visit the sites of Global Refrigeration Systems and Aura Systems.

(Credit: OhGizmo)

Even some of the most jaded Cravers were admittedly impressed by the recently cited $1 million-plus RV and its over-the-top appointments. But less than a week later, it's already been topped by an even more outrageous concept.

The Spanish-made "Hotel Movil" isn't just a mobile home: It's a mobile hotel. Or motel, as the case may be. In fact, OhGizmo says it can convert to pretty much anything you want--"a mobile hospital, a portable film studio and even a school"--because it must be built to custom specs anyway. Yet its primary use is envisioned as a two-story, 11-bedroom "traveling" hotel that even has an outdoor terrace and is equipped with private bathrooms, flat-screen TVs, Wi-Fi networks and luxurious amenities that can qualify for a 5-star rating.

Talk about a "boutique" hotel. The $500,000 base price may be a bit off-putting, but a Hotel Movil can be rented for about $8,000 for a weekend. Remember, it's not too soon to start thinking about the next Super Bowl party.

Two 500kW diesel engines drive this 28-wheeled truck up mountains as it carries antennae to observe the stars.

Could this one-of-a-kind truck be in the next Transformers movie?

Oh, come on. You know a super-duper-mega-blockbuster hit such as Transformers is destined for sequels. In fact, one of the best things about it was the overwhelming believability of it all.

Just kidding. We all know that green-screen alien robots fighting over the Hoover Dam with a hefty dollop of inane dialog and epileptic cinematography pushes the limits of incredulity. But that's part of the fun.

As much as I loved the movie--I thought it was an exhilarating, ridiculous thrill-ride--the fact that all the vehicles were based on real cars, trucks, and helicopters gave the film a bit of much-needed grounding. Optimus Prime was a Peterbilt 379, Bumblebee a 1974 and 2009 Concept Camaro, Starscream a F-22 Raptor jet fighter, and so on.

Gizmodo and Boing Boing recently dragged this mountain-climbing truck from the austere BBC to the attention of the blogosphere, and it looks like nothing if not evil. It's custom-built with 28 wheels, and it's designed to lift and carry 66, 115-ton antennae up to the top of the Chilean Andes for astronomical observation. More than 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) above sea level, the array is expected to reveal secrets from the earliest days of the universe.

That's all well and good, but to my unscientific, raised-in-the-80's eye, a bright yellow, 65.5-foot long truck that clocks in at 130 tons and can carry practically its own weight up some of the world's tallest mountains screams to be remade into a transforming robot and featured in a movie.

A monstrosity like this, with wheels galore and enough strength to lift its own crushing weight needs a good Decepticon name, though, right? Behemoth? Haulicon? Obliterator? Or maybe it's an Autobot named Guru, because it sits on mountain tops?

If you think you've got a better name for it, leave us a note in the TalkBack comments.

(Credit: GadgetGrid)

Now this is a laptop case that makes sense to us. There are PCs, keyboards and even USB drives designed to withstand all manner of assault, but our needs aren't so ambitious. In fact, given our sedentary nature, the only time we really worry about damage to our computers is when they're packed away for the car or plane. Which is precisely where RadTech's "MacTruck" comes in.

The aluminum-alloy case, which the manufacturer claims is "rugged enough to drive a truck over," has two steel latch bars to provide maximum protection for a MacBook or PowerBook, according to GadgetGrid. Better yet, it's designed so that the laptop can be used while it's still in the case, allowing access to all its ports and drives.

It's a bit pricey at $200 or $230. But if you can't pamper your laptop, what kind of geek are you?

(Credit: CNET Networks)

It's difficult to imagine what customer segment the designers at GM had in mind when they came up with the idea of the Cadillac Escalade EXT. The 2007 model that just arrived into the CNET Car Tech garage boasts a dazzling array of tech features: heated and cooled front seats, a factory-installed DVD player, DVD-based touch-screen navigation, as-standard XM Satellite radio playing through an eight-speaker Bose surround-sound audio system and...an 8-foot cargo bed.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

With all-wheel drive and a monstrous 6.2-liter engine, the EXT could theoretically be used to haul around stacks of 50-gallon drums or to tow manual log splitters. For outdoorsy types, there's even the option of an "open-air driving experience" with the release of the midgate panel behind the rear seats.

But with a price tag of $60K, this is one pickup that's more likely to be found on Rodeo Drive than driving to a rodeo. We'll be rolling up our sleeves to bring a full review of the '07 Escalade EXT to CNET Car Tech shortly.

Hip Tech Blog is showcasing a particularly interesting exhibition from last week's X Prize Cup in New Mexico: a 2,750-pound thrust nitrous oxide rocket that fits neatly in the bed of a pickup truck. Here at Crave, we like versatile technology, and wow, this truck rocket really takes the cake. Imagine the possibilities!

1. Clearly, now you can catch up with that elusive deer. Unfortunately, since the rocket takes up the entire truck bed, you'll have to find somewhere else to put the animal when you drive it to the taxidermist's. And a rocket can't correct your terrible aim.

2. The liquor store's closing in five minutes...no, wait, four minutes...

3. With a rocket in the back of your Chevy, you can now run over possums and simultaneously roast them for dinner, thus leaving more time for you to get your Dale Jr. fix on ESPN once you return home.

4. Go ahead and enter that demolition derby you've always wanted to. There's no way you could possibly lose now.

5. So what if Cletus next door gets all the ladies because his F-250 has a GPS system, satellite radio, and Yosemite Sam mud flaps? There just isn't anything cooler than a rocket. Period.