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- Fresh from San Francisco where she was covering last week's Apple announcements, Natali Del Conte joins us on the today's pop-culture-y episode.
- We couldn't record today's Podcast without spending a little time on Gizmodo's big unveiling of Microsoft's secret tablet PC. The blog is reporting that even though our first inclination is to call it a tablet, it's really more of a booklet, with two 7-inch screens with multitouch, a 3MP camera on the back, and a fancy stylus for clicking, writing, dragging, and drawing. In typical 404 fashion, we have to poke fun at the fact that while a long plastic pen is very innovative, we wish it had fully functioning voice recognition, but as we've seen from the Google iPhone app, that technology will likely never be perfected. In the meantime, it looks like the Microsoft booklet will materialize before the fabled Apple tablet.
- A listener reports that NFL.com subjected him to a 75-second pre-roll ad. Not funny, NFL. In the news today, the FCC proposes codifying Net neutrality rules, and much as we'd love to leave it to the market and the telcos, well, we just don't trust the telcos. Rules, FTW! Unless it's rules on selling energy-hog TVs. Those aren't cool.
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- Plenty of news to talk about, but first we recap our weekends. We all used the holiday weekend differently: Jeff sailed a boat on the Potomac river; Wilson became the only Asian Agent Double Oh Nothing for Her Majesty's Secret Service, and I had the unfortunate experience of actually laboring at work on Labor Day. Hear all the juicy details on the first half of the show.
- Today's guest on The 404 Podcast is The Paper Raincoat, a local band of the "experimental rock ambition" genre, as Jeff calls it. Amber Rubarth and Alex Wong have both garnered musical recognition for their individual acts, but only recently came together to form The Paper Raincoat. The release of their first EP, Safe in the Sound, ushered in an international fan following and an impressive list of accomplishments, including the iTunes Indie Artist Spotlight. We're very excited to have them in the studio with us today, and they come bearing instruments for a live acoustic show!
- Can 2009 give us any more bad news? I think at this point, the three of us are ready to move straight into 2010, mostly because we're too afraid of what's going to happen in the next three months. To put it lightly, this year has been a tough one for celebrities. Although it didn't exactly make Twitter headlines, we're all saddened by Patrick Swayze's death and take a few minutes out of the beginning of the show to talk about all of his great movies, including "Ghost," "Donnie Darko," "Dirty Dancing," and of course "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar."
- Now that I've moved into a new mouseless apartment, I can finally settle down and live the dream of digital cable television. First things first, though: I need a new TV. Since it's been eights years since I've even considered buying a new box, needless to say I need all the help I can get. Luckily I've got Jeff, Wilson, and CNET's HDTV World to help me decide on a size, resolution, and brand! Feel free to send me your shopping advice or hot deals at the404cnetcom or @the404 on Twitter.
- Twitter trades hype for a huge cash infusion, Windows 7 attempts to create hype with a spectacularly awfsome video, and we cover all the hype falling out of the Demo conference. Speaking of falling, Honda's new Segway-style unicycle looks amazingly easy to fall off of.
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- We realize the problem with an OS installation party is there's nothing to do. We also warn you about the great iPod camera shortage of 2009. If it's real. And we all like the Asus Eee-reader. Too bad that and the glasses-free 3D TV aren't real... yet.
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- A judge has determined that violating terms of service is bad, but it's not tantamount to unauthorized access of a computer system. Good news for jailbreakers and hackintosh perpetrators. Also Opera 10 is out. I know. I know. But some of you really do care.
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- Alison Rosen is back on the program today, and no, she's not really shrinking. That said, she is mystified by Craigslist missed connections, so we debate about what sort of scenario would lend itself to the use of the site's bizarre feature.
- Nothing can compare to someone whispering sweet nothings in your ear...unless that person is Wilson Tang...in which case you should probably pick up the phone and quickly dial 911. The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is coming to a close in New York, but there's one more runway show that we don't think got the attention it deserved: the Snuggie! The blanket with sleeves somehow rose to ridiculous popularity and became an actual phenomenon, and the company is trying to continue its revenue stream by introducing a new "urban jungle" line of robes featuring zebra and leopard prints. I managed to get my hands on a a Snuggie of my own and we each take turns trying it on before brainstorming our own ideas for Snuggie customization.
- As AT&T tries to accuse Google of violating net neutrality, Molly wonders if they really just want to be seen as a villain. Also while you should never call anything unhackable, the netbooks being given to students in Australia are pretty tight. Physical-layer BIOS protection is unusual in an educational situation like that. And we also get a little frustrated at people who don't listen. So please. Listen. Thanks.
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- If you're thinking about buying a portable gaming system this holiday season, you should definitely listen to this show before making a decision. After a few weeks of teasing you guys about the new PSP Go, we've got all the details from the man who wrote the CNET review himself and now must defend himself from Sony snipers perched across the office. That's right, Jeff Bakalar breaks down all the reasons why the PSP 3000 is still the best Sony portable gaming device. The Go, on the other hand, didn't fare so well in Jeff's eyes. It costs more than the 3000, has a smaller screen, and an awkwardly placed analog stick, and worst of all: you can't play UMD games or use old PSP accessories! On top of all of that, the games take so long to download that you can probably watch a full length movie while you wait. Save your money and buy the best mobile video game console on the market today...the Apple iPhone.
- Microsoft shows "Pink" , MMS disaster, er, feature about to launch on iPhone, Wii gets price cut, Archos new Win7 tablet looks great - too bad nobody will notice, and MIT has a synthetic eyeball on the way that amazes us. Oh yeah... and about that cuddle party...
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- The new DreamScreen tablet from HP looks like what everyone wants from Apple at first glance. Until we dig deeper and find out it may be what nobody wants. The music publishers also seem like they're full of stupid too wanting to get a performance right for you watching a TV show alone in your room. And Cooley and me get in a knock-down over Kurt Cobain's proper presentation in Guitar Hero.
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- Jill Schlesinger of CBS' MoneyWatch joins the show to talk about the economy. So it turns out that things aren't going to collapse, and we're not going to have to sell our bodies in a barter system. That doesn't mean, however, that we're out of the woods, and Jill is here to show us the way out. Throw in a little bit of health care, a little bit of Social Security, and a garlic smell? Only on The 404!
- Today's episode of The 404 is especially passionate, maybe because we know it's the last one of the week. 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!
- The monkeys are running the zoo: Rafe Needleman, Brian Cooley, and Brian Tong, with producer Lynn Fu, cover the iPhone finally getting MMS, Google's patent on its home page, Amazon re-delivering 1984 to Kindle, and the closure of the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge.
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- AT&T let's you pay for their network holes, Chrysler puts auto manuals on DVD , MySpace says it's video portal now, USB 3.0 is here, Europe gives Google a green light to sell ads to the black marketers, and when you're dead on the web, you're dead.
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- If you thought the Palm Pre had a lame name, then consider their newest fumble: the Palm Pixi. Can you imagine walking into the nearest Sprint store and asking for the latest smartphone to hit the market, only to have the clerk bring out the Pixi? Well, names aside, the phone looks pretty cool. It's basically a stripped-down, simpler version of the Pre. It replaces the sliding keyboard with a fixed QWERTY keypad. The screen is a bit smaller, but still retains the 8GB of memory and GPS.
- T-Mobile's parent company is considering buying Sprint Nextel, meaning we'd have only three big cell phone companies in the US. But in a weird way that could be good for competition? We're not sure ourselves, actually. Also, a rogue ad hits the New York Times and we discover Pirates only see in 2D. Eye-patch FTW!
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- What happens when one extremely popular tech TV show with an attractive female host blatantly takes the slogan of a much lesser known Internet radio show with three mildly humorous, if not a bit awkward, post-pubescent manboys? You're about to find out on today's episode of The 404, where Attack of the Show's GadgetPr0n stole our tagline, "High Tech, Low Brow." Now, I'm a little unwilling to compromise my relationship with Olivia Munn, the , but Jeff and Wilson are heated and propose an all-out battle for the right to the slogan!
- Apple announcements were a little mundane. The One More Thing was an iPod Nano with a camera. We were more impressed with the fact that they added an FM radio. But really that's the No. 2 story. The Palm Pixi caught our eye for top billing. Should it catch yours?
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- A Google Android mod received a cease and desist for including Google apps in the mod. Seriously? Google may not be a walled garden with a high wall but it's a walled garden nonetheless. And it's pretty sad when your open source project gets protested for not being open. We also discuss whether the Dell Latitude Z series is for posers. Or us. Or both. Which makes us posers. Own it people.
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- After going off on a rant in the preshow, we settle down for a hilarious episode, inspired by the near-extinct Snow Leopard. Jeff opens it up with a complete horror story about his experience trying to buy the new Mac OS upgrade from a local big box retailer. We won't name names, but clearly this company is hiring all kind of unqualified employees, and Jeff's had about enough.
- While the Apple Tablet is much more fashionable to hype, the Microsoft Courier turns out to be very hype-worthy. We also find out, once again, that Rafe knows where he works. And the U.S. has relaxed its grip on the Internet. Good thing? Bad thing? Irrelevant thing? Or over-hyped thing like an Apple tablet?
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- Ok, but just to be clear, when I say it's time for me to get a pimp, what I MEAN is that it's time to get a PMP -- a portable media player. That is, perhaps, an iPod Touch. Anyway, you'll understand. In other news, the MPAA is trying to clamp down on your analog hole and break your DVR all at the same time and Apple's Snow Leopard is having a rough landing ... apparently because of the picture on the box.
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- We're not real sure about the iRex reader, Microsoft's Courier is a lot of smoke, Palm gets told to sit down and be quiet about iTunes syncing, and a PlayStation 2 for you car. And finally, Brian imparts a valuable life lesson for everyone listening.
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- Lots of stories with buzz today, including a new Archos Android tablet, the launch of Zune HD and voice chat on Facebook. Of course Joe the pilot in Honolulu sent us some good old fashioned Phillipino Whiskey and Rum. So Cooley makes us pause and do a tasting. Poor Natali gets left out though. Sad.
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- Now, don't get any wrong ideas, the show title might sound dirty, but it's actually just a reference to our parent company, the wonderful Columbia Broadcast System, or CBS. Unfortunately, Dan the Former Mantern is no longer with us, but we're happy that he just moved laterally to PBS. In fact, he joins us on today's show to help promote a local documentary he's working on featuring yours truly! It's a spotlight on New Yorkers whose lives were changed after visiting one of America's National Parks, and what a coincidence--I just got back from a trip to Yosemite!
- We finally get to the bottom of why Apple rejected the Google Voice App, how not to get caught for being a thief over Facebook, and we have plenty of sympathy for Palm. Also, Rafe hates libraries and culture.
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- Natali has an internal Twitter dialogue about whether to let the world know that the last pumpkin scone has been sold. The Zune HD will only be available in the US, and Facebook launches a lite version of the site sans apps.
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- Jeff has the day off today, so you know what that means: TOTAL CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION! Well, not exactly...Wilson has a little trouble getting the show started, but eventually we get off the ground and welcome our guest on today's show, Mr. Tim Geisenheimer. However, we only get to chat with Tim 1-on-1 for a second before Natali Del Conte pops in to help us out too, making it an all-star lineup!
- After multiple cancellations and attempts to get him on the show, Mr. Ngo is finally in the 404 studio in New York! We're excited to pick his brain on all the new advancements in the CNET labs, but we get sidetracked by the most random conversations. Dong and I have a special relationship : Dong was actually the first person I met when I first started working at CNET! In fact, you could consider him my printer mentor! Thanks, Dong.
- That beautiful silvery comet you saw in the sky recently was actually astronaut urine. No joke. We also avoid talking about pee for most of the show. Bing is still on the rise and Facebook is making money. Wow. Things are looking up all over. Just be careful when you look up. There's astronaut pee up there.
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