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!
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.)
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A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine, worried that her little brother played too many video games, asked if there was a way to make money while gaming. When I told her about e-sports, she returned quite the guffaw at the concept.
I suggested she tell her brother about it, and she refused, saying that she didn't want to lose him forever to the virtual world. Money aside, if I'd told her just how much fame he could amass as a pro gamer, maybe she would have had a different reaction.
"ProdigyX" has mad drumming skills.
(Credit: WCG Ultimate Gamer)To wit, at a worldwide gaming tournament in New York Saturday, Robert "ProdigyX" Paz set the official Guinness world record for "Highest Aggregate Score in all 84 Songs of Rock Band 2."
Paz--a 22 year-old pro gamer from the Bronx who already owns four other world gaming records and took second place in SciFi Channel's Ultimate Gamer show--played his ion drums for over six consecutive hours, earning more than 10.5 million points. The achievement will be chronicled in the Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer's Edition.
He accomplished his feat at the Samsung Experience during the 2009 U.S. Invitational, part of the World Cyber Games.
In addition to Rock Band 2, gamers competed in several other popular games at the two-day event, including, Virtua Fighter 5, Starcraft: Brood War, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Gears of War 2, Hero: World Tour, FIFA? 09, and CounterStrike 1.6.
The WCG 2009 grand final will be held November 11th to 15th in Chengdu, China.
California-based Eton makes a wide range of radio-related products, but it started off as the exclusive distributor of Grundig shortwave radios in the U.S., and shortwave is still at the company's heart.
Eton: stylish booth, stylish devices.
(Credit: Matt Rosoff)At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company is showing off the Grundig G4 World Recorder, which not only lets you listen to just about every kind of radio broadcast available (including shortwave from 3,000 to 29,999 KHz), but also lets you record those broadcasts to MP3 files. (There's also a built-in mic for voice recording.)
The device comes with 2GB of built-in flash memory, and has a slot for SD memory cards and a mini-USB port for transferring files back and forth from a PC. It's great way to archive radio information from around the world for use in any way you can imagine--and nothing quite says "international dance floor" like a sample of a news broadcast in Farsi. It'll be available in March for $200.
View complete CES 2008 coverage from CNET.
You'd think that once you hit the summit of Mount Everest you might be able to count on at least a few incommunicado moments. Not these days.
British climber Rod Baber set a world record Monday for the highest-ever land-based mobile phone call and text message, according to Motorola, which is sponsoring his climb. He called from 29,035 feet at 5:37 a.m. local time using his Motorizr Z8.
Rod Baber
(Credit: Motorola)Baber, who set out for Kathmandu on March 30 with a global team of climbers, made his first call to a special voice mail account. "It's cold, it's fantastic, the Himalayas are everywhere," he said. "I can't feel my toes. Everyone's in good spirits. We got here in record time. It's amazing."
He then made a second call to his family and sent a text message to a Motorola employee: "One small text for man, one giant leap for mobilekind--thanks Motorola." China Telecom made the achievement possible by setting up a mobile phone tower at base camp on the north side of the mountain.
Baber--managing director of an aerial adventure center in the U.K.--already holds a world record for reaching the highest point of every European nation, according to his moblog. An audio clip of his record-breaking Everest call can be heard on that site.
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