Crave

Today's episode of The 404 is especially passionate, maybe because we know it's the last one of the week. No show tomorrow, but look out for two special throwback episodes coming your way Friday and Sunday. Anyway, onto today's stories. As the title states, we're taking a trip back to our childhood and remembering some of our favorite Smashing Pumpkins songs and music videos. They've had so many hits that it's hard to pick just one, but I'll always love the video for 1979, and judging by the 5,298 five-star rating, I'm not alone, but who says it has to end? Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan recently announced plans for a new album! "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" will include 44 songs and will be available for free!

Of course, if you want hard copies and album art, you can also get limited edition EPs with collectors art and high quality audio. The album won't be finished for awhile, but Billy says the music will sound more like the Pumpkins' first few albums: "psychedelic, atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty." We can't wait!

Next, we run through a slideshow of the eight technologies to thank the 1980s for. The list includes the Walkman, the Personal Computer, the CD, and more--mostly these things just give us an opportunity to make fun of how excited everyone was to run a 4.77MHz processor with TWO floppy disk drives.

In any case, the list leads us to the strangest hypothetical situation we've ever posed to each other: if you had to choose between using a COMPUTER or a WASHING MACHINE for the rest of your life, which one would it be? The catch is that you will be banned from using whichever product you don't pick for the rest your life. The rest of the world would go on as normal, so only you are are making the decision. Listen to the show to hear our choices (I think you'll be surprised) and leave a comment on this blog telling us you think.

We finally have another contest for all the gamers out there! Jeff got his mitts on two copies of EA NHL 10, which improves on the NHL 009 gameplay with a new "board play" feature that allows skaters to pin opponents against the boards and kick the puck. If you want to win the game, you're going to have to work for it. Here's what you do: take a picture of yourself standing on the ice of a hockey rink with your most creative 404 sign! Best sign on the ice gets to choose between the XBox 360 or PS3 version, and don't even think about using Photoshop or Jeff will hunt you down.

Since there's no show tomorrow, you have plenty of time to call 1-866-404-CNET and leave a funny/bummer/impression/hate/idea/question voice mail, and if you can manage to produce a coherent thought, we'll play it on the air! Have a great weekend everyone, we'll miss you! :)

The Sony PlayStation is finally getting a price drop, but some dummy retailers in Europe are actually increasing the price of the Xbox Arcade console set. In other news, a Twitter user is offering his followers a line to God, Starbucks says OK to freeloaders, and we also debate the most prolific technology of our time! You'll never guess what Wilson has up his sleeve...

It's a washing machine.

(Credit: First-Act)

In case you haven't heard, our economy is in a little bit of hot water right now, and while most companies like Sony are slashing prices to keep up with the competition, the geniuses at Microsoft EU are actually increasing the price of the Xbox Arcade from £129.99 to £159.99. Furthermore, the five Xbox Live Arcade games will no longer be included in the bundle. The company's excuse is that it is to "counteract the poor pound-to-euro currency exchange rate." Who allowed this to happen at Microsoft? At least fix the failure rate before you increase the price!

In other news, Starbucks is opening its doors to Wi-Fi freeloaders. We reported in the past that several cafes in New York are banning cell phones and laptops, cutting off Wi-Fi access to discourage freeloaders from just hanging out and surfing the Web for free. Starbucks has always been an easy place to gain paid access to the Internet, and it will continue to provide a welcoming environment for customers to enjoy their $68 cups of flavored coffee.

Many more stories to get to today, including a Twitter account that gives followers a direct line to God and a hilarious poem from our buddy CHRISTOPHER WALKEN!

Just a cup of water and a bit of detergent. That's all that needs to be added to a virtually waterless washing machine from British company Xeros that's poised to hit the North American market.

The dirty job is done by small nylon beads that pull stains off garments and lock them into the nylon's molecular structure. The beads don't even seem to suffocate easily--they can continue to absorb dirt over hundreds of washes.

Nathan Wrench, program manager at Cambridge Consultants, holds the nylon beads used in Xeros' washing process.

(Credit: Xeros)

The technology builds on research out of the U.K.'s University of Leeds and has been applied in a concept washing machine with the help of Cambridge Consultants.

Now, after three years of testing, Xeros, a University of Leeds spinout (forgive the pun), has struck a deal with Kansas City-based GreenEarth Cleaning. It aims to start reselling Xeros washing machines throughout North America next year. (The concept device is being demonstrated Thursday at the Clean Show in New Orleans.)

But you won't be able to save water at home with the Xeros machines yet--the target market consists of commercial dry cleaning and laundry operations.

GreenEarth Cleaning will add the nylon bead technology to its proprietary dry cleaning method based on liquid silicone, or decamethylpentacyclosiloxane if you prefer the scientific name. Commercially, it's simply called D5.

Liquid silicone is a dry cleaning alternative to good old perchloroethylene, which is thought to produce toxic waste and is also classified as a probable human carcinogen.

Another recent alternative is washing with carbon dioxide under such high pressure that it becomes liquid--and no, it doesn't add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere as existing CO2 is used, but the downside is the high expense of the machines.

The upside with both CO2 washing and the British nylon beads is that garments are virtually dry immediately after being washed.

It's easy to think these almost-dry-cleaning processes would wear and tear the garments more than traditional laundry, but GreenEarth Cleaning insists there's no difference.

"The testing completed to date has indicated no appreciable difference in wear between garments processed in the Xeros technology versus the traditional laundry process," Tim Maxwell, president of GreenEarth Cleaning, told CNET News. "Extensive testing with silks, embroidered garments, and other delicate items have shown no ill effects."

So you want the convenience of an automatic washer, but you also want to feel like you're doing your part for the planet. Fisher & Paykel's Intuitive Eco may be for you.

The instruction manual says this machine will give you clean laundry even if you don't have any cleaning experience.

(Credit: Fisher & Paykel)

The machine's sensors monitor clothing movement and adjust the wash action and the water level to get your clothes cleaner with less water and energy. The bowl only fills with enough water to saturate clothes. That concentrated water and detergent solution is recirculated via a special pump system that lets the washer use only one-third of the hot water used in other models.

Throughout the wash cycle, the sensors continue to adjust the agitator for gentle or more intense movement, mimicking hand washing, and allowing the machine to change the water levels and temperature as needed, which, according to the company, dramatically reduces water usage.

In addition, the washer's direct drive motor has no mechanical brake, pulleys, or gears, which means fewer moving parts. In other words, what's not there can't break.

For the truly eco-minded, the machine also comes with instructions that detail how you can reuse your wash and rinse water for a second load--but you'll need to have enough storage space for the wet clothes to sit around and wait their turn.

Sensitive users can take advantage of the machine's allergy cycle, which is designed to kill dust mites and remove all their waste in a highly concentrated hot wash.

(Credit: Gizmodiva.com)

There are many reasons to do your laundry: grass stains, spilled wine, and the sloppiest of Joes. But if you find yourself doing loads mostly because you've been sitting around the house sweating up a stank, then here is the ultimate godsend for you.

The Toshiba TW-3000VE washing machine also packs in an air-conditioning unit.

According to the Gizmodiva write-up (translated from Japanese), the machine not only washes your socks, but also cools the air in your laundry room and keeps it clear of mold.

The machines won't separate your lights and darks automatically, but it will be available in an array of vibrant colors--silver, gold, and orange--for about $2,600 starting in September.

[Via Gizmodiva.]

(Credit: CrunchGear)

Yes, gentle readers, it's apparently combo day here at Crave, as we've already spied a mouse phone and a TV bar. But this one is even better than George Foreman's "iGrill": an MP3 washing machine.

As CrunchGear observes, LG's newly patented appliance would most assuredly sound better than the loud drone of a laundry cycle, whether it's on spin or rinse. The best part of all? The prospect of the RIAA going after neighborhood Laundromats.

(Credit: Haier)

It seems particularly ironic that Haier--a company known for such hernia-inducing products as refrigerators and washing machines--would claim to produce "the world's smallest GSM phone featuring an MP3 player." But as Shiny Shiny notes, the world's smallest anything is claimed all the time, regardless of product or manufacturer.

Regardless of its Guinness status (the records, Caroline, not the stout), Haier's "Elegance" measures 3.5 inches long and features a Bluetooth stereo and either dual-band (U.S.) or tri-band GSM (Europe) technology, though there's no word of any camera. More than the specs, though, Haier is focusing on this as a fashion item, calling it a "lipstick-case-sized luxury phone" with "a gun metal-mercury mirrored surface," whatever that means. We'll just stick with the photos.

(Credit: Techie Diva)

On our next trip to South Korea, one of the first things we want to see is the laundry rooms. When Samsung came out with its designer washing machine last October, we thought it was just an ill-advised attempt to create a new market. But then we spotted these other colorful models on Techie Diva from Korean rival LG.

These machines have brains as well as beauty, with a environmentally friendly steam-cleaning system controlled through an LCD. They're not exactly our taste, but we do appreciate that they're on display at Harrods. (Any excuse to do some shopping in Knightsbridge.) Besides, we're all for dressing up home appliances--as long as Swarovski doesn't get hold of them.

(Credit: Electrolux)

(Credit: WinePod)

Pardon us--make that a washing system.

The KaionWAVE, from the design labs of Electrolux, is an appliance concept for the true germaphobe. Shunning mere soap and water, it uses ultraviolet light to penetrate fabrics and kill bacteria and viruses while presumably taking care of that ring around the collar. And it will do it all wirelessly, of course. (It would also be a perfect match for the WinePod.)

One problem: It's designed to work on "nano-coated" material, which Appliancist describes as "a durable and stain-resistant fabric that many hypothesize will be used to make the clothing of the future." So much for taking your shirt for a test spin on the showroom floor.

And then there's the obvious issue with its shape, but we'll save that for another post.