grammys

The symbiotic relationship between television and music goes back to the early days of broadcasting.

One of the most noteworthy examples happened 48 years ago this week when the Beatles made their first live U.S. television appearance on the "The Ed Sullivan Show." A record-breaking 73 million viewers--more than 40 percent of the American population at the time--tuned in for the legendary broadcast on CBS and the fab four's stateside popularity immediately took off.

Music continues to be one of the most powerful and unifying forces in our culture, bringing people together across regions, sensibilities, and … Read more

Welcome back to Apple Talk Weekly. We're back from hiatus with a weekly dose of the top Apple news and rumors.

Despite the holiday season being in full bore, it's been a busy week for Apple, starting with a win against HTC in its complaint to the International Trade Commission. That was followed shortly thereafter by the apparently successful purchase of an Israeli memory chipmaker, and another legal volley against Samsung in an Australian court.

There were, of course, other goings-on, like some changes to the iTunes store, talk of "prototype" Apple retail stores, and a … Read more

Steve Jobs will be honored with a Grammy for helping to transform the way music is distributed and consumed.

The late CEO and co-founder of Apple will be posthumously awarded one of the organization's Special Merit Awards, the Recording Academy announced today.

Jobs "helped to create products and technology that transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books," the Recording Academy said in a statement. "A creative visionary, Jobs' innovations such as the iPod and its counterpart, the online iTunes store, revolutionized the industry and how music was distributed and purchased."

Jobs, who … Read more

To celebrate the most miserable day of the year, aka Christmas 2.0, we're being Debbie Downers and checking out stories to ruin your cheesy holiday. If you're not hitched up with a honey bunny today, you may be able to increase your chances of bagging someone special based on the next gadget you buy.

According to this Gadgetology study, your computer, cell phone, and other tech accessories are big factors in determining your attractiveness to the people around you. Of the men surveyed under the age of 35, 50 percent find women with fancy smartphones more attractive, whereas 38% of women think a modern laptop oozes the most sex appeal.

And this is no surprise, but the two worst tech deal breakers for women are the awful Bluetooth wireless headset and cell phone holster, so steer clear of those two if you're looking to hook up. Finally, outside of the tech world, more women younger than 35 say they're attracted to a man walking a cute dog than a geek with a cool smartphone, so we're kind of screwed either way.

On the other hand, if you want to avoid sex altogether this year, the best way to accomplish that goal is to trick your partner by cooking them a dinner made of anaphrodisiac ingredients.

You can kill the mood with a number of ingredients including hops, marjoram, common rue, soy, and coriander, or you can really play it safe with a combination of it all in a deliciously platonic chicken and tofu in a marjoram cream sauce.

A anti-touch relationship is a good way to practice safe sex altogether, but what if a painful health affliction is preventing you from getting yours? A dating Web site based out of Winnipeg is playing Cupid for clients that suffer from herpes.

Actually, you don't have to have herpes to join. According to the creators, hopeful clients are asked during registration if they have it and if they'd be open to someone with it for full transparency. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, about one in six people between the ages of 14 and 49 suffer from the STD and are embarrassed to admit it to lovers, so Camelot Introductions offers this service to dispel the prejudice.

But all that aside, if you're a super procrastinator and still haven't purchased your boo a gift, consider a New York solution and just name a cockroach after your Valentine.

It seems but a year ago that famed right-wing singer Stephen Colbert launched the iPad at the Grammys. Principally because it was.

So at tonight's Grammys, it was HP's turn to touch the nation's hearts, with its TouchPad.

And some may decide that HP's musical contribution was created by someone very touched indeed.

For someone enjoying a spark of dubious luminosity appears to have thought it a fine idea to take Lou Reed's great anthem to grime and excitement, "Walk on the Wild Side," and rewrite the words.

Yes, Grammy TV audiences were … Read more

Many products launch themselves very much like an investment banker launching himself at a party. They strut in, chin up, determined to tell everyone how great they are in as loud a voice as possible. Somehow, they feel, everyone will hear, whether they like it or not.

Apple tends not to follow that principle. It doesn't create noise. It creates intrigue. It makes people feel positive--even, sometimes, against their better judgment. Since the very earliest days of its advertising, it has worked very hard at the art of being charming. It knows how to turn up at the party and say hello. It offers a bon mot here and a smile there, until by the end of the evening, it has won over many.

If Apple were a politician, it would win quite a few elections (it wouldn't get involved in extramarital affairs in Buenos Aires, either).

Rumors are suggesting that Apple's latest attempt to influence our behavior and tickle us with the lightest of hands, the iPad, will be available at the end of this month.

Which means advertising, and probably quite of lot of it. Some say the ads will launch March 15. What might they look like? Well, yet another rumor has suggested that Apple shot one of its new iPad spots in a California diner called Jax on the Tracks.

This, if true, is interesting in itself, as it suggests that this campaign might actually involve people. More than just their hands, I mean. … Read more

Today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast features a pink Ouija Board, the newest Facebook meme, search engine profiling, and Google's latest mapping feature that waves good-bye to your shopping privacy.

The infamous Ouija Board is still just as popular as it was when Hasbro first unleashed it in 1967. In fact, it even got extra publicity with a flaming cameo in last year's horror flick Paranormal Activity, but angry Christians aren't happy about Hasbro's latest idea for a Pink Ouija Board. Who knew that a pink square of cardboard and a magnifying glass could get so much controversy?

First there was Doppelganger Week, then Urban Dictionary Week, and now we finally have a Facebook meme that The 404 Podcast can get behind: Can this pickle get more fans than Nickleback? In less than a week since its genesis, the Facebook group already has more than 100,000 members, but it still needs your help to get beat out Nickelback's 1,392,481 (and growing) fans.

This next story might make you think twice before ducking into the back room at your local video store. Google's latest "Store View" is as yet unconfirmed (but not outright denied), but the service will ideally let users check out the inside of any participating retailer through Google Maps. Imagine browsing the Web for a supermarket and then virtually inspecting the interior for the best way to route yourself through a grocery store and you can see why we don't quite understand the point of Store View.

Those stories and more on today's 404, plus a meaty Calls From the Public and more of your sticker picture submissions! Keep sending them to the404(at)cnet[dot]com and we might just feature it on the show! Much thanks to Derrick for sending us a pic of the cubicle dressing you see up top.

I missed the live Grammy Awards telecast this year, but Monday at the office, one of my colleagues remarked about Pink's Cirque du Soleil-style performance, wondering if she'd been trained as a circus performer. Then, I saw several of my Facebook friends commenting that Taylor Swift should have learned how to sing before sharing the stage with Stevie Nicks. Much to my surprise, there were suddenly two Grammys videos I wanted to see.

I turned first to YouTube, but the first video I found of the Pink performance was appallingly low quality, like somebody had shot a video … Read more

You guys filled up our voice mail box over the weekend with your thoughts on the new Apple iPad, but we have to spread the hate around with a quick chat about last night's Grammy Awards, PETA's robotic groundhogs, and high school reunions. We've also got plenty of your sticker pictures to show off, including one that might be NSFW....big surprise, 404!

The Grammy Awards are becoming less and less significant to our personal music tastes, but something has to be said about a show that nominates NICKELBACK for Best Hard Rock Performance. To make matters worse, the show paired together some of the worst collaborations in the history of live performance.

To quickly recap the night, all you need to know is that Lady Gaga won two well-deserved awards and performed Speechless with Sir Elton John, Green Day took the award for Best Rock Album, poor Stevie Nicks looked pissed to be singing about locker room romance with 16-year-old darling Taylor Swift, and the live studio audience got treated to a 3D clip from Michael Jackson's "This Is It" while the rest of us settled for 2Ds and a subsequent headache.

Speaking of bad news, we've got some bad news about the Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the new Broadway musical coming soon to New York. We just found out that the entire musical soundtrack is composed by U2's Bono and The Edge. Don't get us wrong, the three of us all have a special place in our hearts for U2, but their music just doesn't evoke images of a masked web-crawler slinging his way about town snapping photos of criminals and taking down a few in the process.

Finally, much thanks to everyone for sending in their sticker pictures! We've sent out hundreds of envelopes so far, so keep them coming; send a photo of where you put the stickers and tattoos to the404(at)cnet(dot)com!