bush

'News games' put public in charge of hot topics

Here's a conundrum: when the world is deep into hysteria over a potential pandemic like the swine flu, how does someone who wants to poke fun at the problem do so?

For Jude Gomilla and Immad Akhund, the answer was a single sleepless night about 10 days ago during which the two San Francisco entrepreneurs built what has become a massively popular Flash game called Swinefighters.

In Swinefighters, players--dressed as giant-syringe-wielding and mask-wearing doctors--are tasked with killing off rogue viruses in the form of sneering pigs. Each time you hit a pig with the syringe, it is wiped out, … Read more

The 404 317: Where someone poisoned the watering hole

Wilson's still at the car show, so Jeff and I play twosies under the table. We start off with a very important announcement that involves us literally showing up at your door with mace and a large, blunt object. We also reveal more details about our Meetup, apologize for yesterday's spoiler, and discuss some seriously screwed up stories!

Okay, so let's get a few business items out of the way while I have you here. FYI, we do have a ringtone in the works thanks to our buddy Jamie Lewis, check back here tomorrow for a download link. Also, be sure to keep sending in your adventure/prison/survival stories to win a copy of Tom Avery's book, "To the End of the Earth." Leave us an e-mail (the404 [at] cnet [dot] com) or call in at 866-404-CNET to submit an entry!

Finally, bust out your digital/analog calendar and mark this down: 404 MEETUP on April 16th (next Thursday) @ The Delancey. We plan on getting there around 7:30 and staying until whenever our legs give out. So here's what you have to do:

Go here. Sign up for a Meetup account and join "The 404 Podcast Meetup Group" RSVP for the Meetup on April 16th

Make sure you join our group even if you live somewhere else and can't make it to this one, it will still serve as a good barometer for future travels and meetups--we'll use this group to organize and plan all future events, so don't sleep on signing up and we'll see you next Thursday!

Now back to today's episode: who knew that you could get Viagra, the popular ED drug, in an aerosol can? In Europe, scientists are playing around with a spray-on version. We personally DO NOT have any experience in this field, nor do we suffer from any of those kinds of ailments, but Jeff just happens to have a "friend" that's used it for recreation and speaks good things. By the time this comes to the United States, it'll probably just be a laser point that you just aim at the little tadpole to awaken the bullfrog.

Next, we get a little tangential discussing a new service called TinyChat that allows users to create online chat rooms on the fly, which of course opens up a whole discussion about the old days of chatting, with IRC and AOL chats. Jeff takes advantage of the intimate studio environment and reveals a little something about his college years, but so what? Institutes of higher learning are practicallybuilt to encourage experiemtation. We'll get behind you and your freak flag any day, Bakula! Well...maybe next to you.

EPISODE 317 Download today's podcast | Subscribe in iTunes | Subscribe in RSS… Read more

Obama unseals Bush-era wiretap memos

The Bush administration secretly concluded after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that it had the authority to wiretap the Internet and telephone calls with virtually no limitations, restrict free speech, and use the U.S. military domestically against suspected terrorists.

Those legal opinions came in a series of memorandums written by U.S. Department of Justice lawyers, including deputy assistant attorney general John Yoo, which were disclosed by the Obama administration on Monday.

Although the broad outlines of the Bush administration's claims to sweeping executive powers were previously known, the newly released memorandums provide a glimpse at both … Read more

Much ado about Whitehouse.gov's new openness

Fans of President Barack Obama, or perhaps just those who dislike former President George W. Bush, seem to think there's something notable about the way the new White House Web site is configured to deal with search engines.

That configuration file is called robots.txt. It's designed to let Webmasters ask search engine robots not to include certain areas of a Web site in their index. Well-behaved robots will comply.

The Obama revamp of Whitehouse.gov included a shorter robots.txt file, which Thenextweb.com called "a sign of greater transparency and change." A BoingBoing poster … Read more

Obama's Whitehouse.gov launches, with problems

As President-elect Barack Obama began his inaugural address at noon on Tuesday, his aides were busy switching over Whitehouse.gov.

Until 11:59 am EST, the Web site featured a photograph of former president George W. Bush leaving the White House for the last time. The relaunched site's most prominent feature is an oversize photo of the new president next to the slogan: "Change has come to America."

Because the presidential Web site launched under Bill Clinton's tenure, this is only the second time that Whitehouse.gov has changed hands. The Clinton-Bush handover was not without … Read more

Bush leaves behind a mixed technology legacy

By Declan McCullagh and Stephanie Condon

news analysis Months after being sworn in as president, George W. Bush sat down with reporters and his wife, Laura, for a technology-themed event: a relaunch of the Whitehouse.gov Web site, which previously had been rather dilapidated.

Bush and his aides proudly demonstrated the new features, including photo essays, better access for the disabled, and a kids' area with details about the First Pets. The president said the Web site would let Washington become "more accessible" and let Americans "participate in the process."

Less than two weeks later, the … Read more

The 404 257: Where Vegas chewed us up and spit us out

Now that we've survived the frigid beast that is Las Vegas, we can finally get back into our everyday groove. Today's show is all about recovery and recollection, as we desperately try to piece together the last week of our lives. Listen in for a full CES 2009 recap with tons of juicy details and a few Internet stories on the side.

What. Just. Happened?! The past five days are completely a blur, and we collectively remember about four hours total. Did we really see a blind guy at a club where vision is a necessity? Did we really stay in a hotel room with double HDTVs and a third TV in the bathroom? Did we really eat more than 300 crab legs between the three of us? And most importantly, did we really lose that much money on the blackjack tables?

We ponder these questions and more on today's CES wrap-up show. If you didn't have a chance to watch the live shows, I've posted them below for your enjoyment. It's definitely good to be back after such a long vacation. Now let's try to forget what just happened again.

EPISODE 257 Download today's podcast

Live video from CES Day 1: Where no one cares about MacWorld

Live video from CES Day 2: Where we all wish we were at the OTHER conference

Live video from CES Day 3: Where we've jumped the virgin shark

Live video from CES Day 4: Where we celebrate good juju bad juju

The 404 247: Where Wicker Hollow is stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel

Back by popular demand, Wicker Hollow is in the studio with us today on The 404. Chris Leone and Chris Sparta join us to talk about their new album, "Wake Up Call," in stores and online December 20. Make sure you call into the show for a chance to win free tickets to their CD release party December 20 at The Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey.

Justin Yu is gone for the rest of 2008, so now we can finally get some stuff done. That includes talking to the Wicker Hollow guys about a recent controversial Saturday Night Live skit, George W. Bush's ability to dodge shoes, N.J. marijuana laws, and what it's like playing in a punk rock band.

Editor in Chief Libe Goad from AOL's Gamedaily.com will join us tomorrow to talk about all things gaming, so make sure you tune in for that one.

EPISODE 247 Download today's podcast … Read more

Bush talks with international bloggers

The president-elect has been showing off his Web savvy on Change.gov, but George Bush demonstrated Wednesday he also advocates using the Internet to facilitate democracy.

President Bush, in recognition of Human Rights Day, met with bloggers from Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, and Venezuela at the White House and via video teleconference to discuss blogging in favor of democratic change.

The administration has supported pro-democracy new media efforts through programs like the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent group responsible for all U.S. government and government-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting. The BBG collects reports from citizen journalists with … Read more

The 404 220: Where we finally endorse a candidate

Up until this point, The 404 has tried to remain nonpartisan (untrue), never officially endorsing a candidate, but that rule is chucked out the window on today's show. It's a big announcement that's literally no surprise to anyone, but we make it anyway. Lots of election talk today, mostly about free corporate-sponsored junk food you can get for voting. We also talk about GPS chastity belts, marital affair enablers, and the best position to take while docking your iPod Touch. Wilson, you dirty birdy, you.

I had every intention of forcing you to listen to today's show for our official political endorsement, but screw it, I'm going to do it right here and now. The pundits at The 404 have unanimously decided that Professor Charles Xavier is the best hope we have for our nation's successful future. His not-for-profit work with our world's gifted youngsters prove his social skills, his political prowess, and ultimately his potential to be an extraordinary leader in these desperate times. It's time for a change, and we completely believe that Charles Xavier's innate telepathic powers can grab us by the coattails and pull us our of our eight-year rut. Too long has Erik "Magneto" Lensherr been allowed to employ his Brotherhood of Mutants at the political expense of our fair country. We need a juggernaut in the oval office, and Professor X is our man.

The 404 is delighted to support Professor Xavier and also very pleased to see him choose Peter Nikolaievitch Rasputin as his Vice President. Peter, or "Colossus" as we've come to know him through the years, has proven his executive talent, toughness, and ability to knock through several layers of brick time and time again. The Prof X/Colossus team is an unstoppable one and we're excited to see what they can do in 2009. If you care about the welfare of this nation, please cast your vote for Charles Xavier and Colossus today.

Episode 220 Download today's podcast … Read more