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The 404 Podcast 469: Where CBS turns our Twitter account into a sitcom

No, The 404 Podcast isn't getting a TV deal with CBS, but it doesn't seem that far out of reach. The network has its giant eye on the witty musings of a cynical old man, posted on a Twitter account created by his son, Justin Halpern. Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are signed as Exeuctive Producers and Justin himself will super the writing along with Patrick Shumacker. Uhh, HELLO CBS, is anyone from our parent company out there? You already got a strategically developed television show just waiting to delight the eyes and ears of America: it's called THE 404.

Next, we take a moment to spotlight the Dell Zino HD, a full-on entertainment PC that looks remarkably like Wilson's firstborn son, the Mac Mini, but can actually do a lot more with up to a terabyte of storage space, 8GB of RAM, and the option to throw in a Blu-ray or DVD drive. Wilson wishes his Mac Mini gave him direct HDMI access and a bigger hard drive, but still defends Apple and its OS to the death--it's interesting to hear him try to wiggle his way out of this one.

Another story from today's episode comes from our own Caroline McCarthy, who tells us that the New Oxford American Dictionary has picked the verb "unfriend" as its 2009 Word of the Year. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the process of removing someone formerly deemed as a friend on a social networking site such as Facebook or Twitter. You might recall the Burger King ad campaign that encouraged users to "sacrifice" friends to get a free burger. Systems like these encourage the use of the term "unfriend," and give it value in the everyday lexicon, but when will this stop? I'm scared to think that the 2018 Word of the Year will something awful, like "tweet" or "pwn."

If you haven't had a chance to listen to yesterday's show with Tony Hawk, definitely go back and check it out and keep listening for your chance to win tons of video game prizes, including a free giveaway of Tony Hawk: RIDE. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

EPISODE 469 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

BOL 1082: Just another outage Monday

First, apologies for the song that will be stuck in your head for at least a week. Blame the chat room. In the news today, the T-Mobile Sidekick outage, the ongoing Facebook outage, the IBM outage that briefly crippled Air New Zealand, and the unbelievable failure that is the PSP Go launch. It's a fun show.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1082

T-Mobile: We probably lost all your Sidekick data http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/10/t-mobile-we-probably-lost-all-your-sidekick-data/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10372521-1.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10372525-56.htm … Read more

Pirate Bay founder accused of running Reservella

Update: 4:30 p.m. PT To include statement from BREIN

Dutch antipiracy group BREIN says it has found documents tying one of The Pirate Bay founders to the company listed as the owner of the Thepiratebay.org, Reservella.

According to a blog post by Peter Sunde Kolmissoppi, one of the founders of the BitTorrent search engine, BREIN has filed a complaint against The Pirate Bay founders, who include Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm. The Pirate Bay has been outlawed in the Netherlands.

During that hearing, BREIN produced documents, including a credit report, showing that Neij is listed as CEO … Read more

Hollywood hunts The Pirate Bay; site down again

Update: 11:05 p.m. Monday: To note that the site was down most of Monday.

The Pirate Bay was inaccessible most of the day Monday after a group representing copyright owners forced the BitTorrent search engine's bandwidth provider to cut off service, according to a published report.

NForce, the Pirate Bay's latest Internet service provider, complied with a request to shut off service to The Pirate Bay made by Netherlands-based antipiracy group Brein, according to online news site Tweakers.net.

Monday's outage followed a three-hour blackout of The Pirate Bay on Friday. The blackouts are the … Read more

Pirate Bay suffers outage, site back up

The Pirate Bay was down across the U.S. for at least three hours on Friday, an outage that comes as the site's latest bandwidth provider comes under pressure from entertainment companies.

CNET noted that the site was down at 1:22 p.m. PDT but appeared to come back up at 4:50 p.m. PDT. The cause for the blackout was unclear. Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi, one of The Pirate Bay's co-founders did not respond to interview requests.

The Pirate Bay, the BitTorrent search engine loved by file sharers but loathed by many copyright owners, has had … Read more

Google: Pirate Bay booted off search by mistake

Update 3 p.m. PT: To include an updated comment from Google.

Google said on Friday that an error caused the search engine to remove The Pirate Bay from its search pages.

"Google received a (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) take-down request that erroneously listed Thepiratebay.org, and as a result, this URL was accidentally removed from the Google search index," Google said in a statement. "We are now correcting the removal, and you can expect to see Thepiratebay.org back in Google search results this afternoon."

Later, Google updated it's statement: "The removal appears … Read more

Wednesday's the Pirate Bay acquisition deadline, yeah right

commentary Global Gaming Factory X, the little Swedish software company dogged by controversy, is facing another deadline to complete its acquisition of The Pirate Bay.

Hans Pandeya, Global Gaming's much maligned CEO, has said the deal would be completed by Wednesday.

Typically, in anticipation of a big acquisition story, I'll collect background on the companies the night before so I can have a few graphs ready when the deal is announced. The only things I'll collect Tuesday evening is a nice piece of salmon and bottle of white wine.

That is because there's a better chance … Read more

Would-be Pirate Bay buyer loses control of assets

Update: 2:16 p.m.: To include comments made in letter by Hans Pandeya.

A Swedish court has seized control of all assets belonging to Hans Pandeya, the CEO of Global Gaming Factory X and the man who wants to acquire The Pirate Bay.

On Wednesday, the court found that there is enough evidence to show that Pandeya owes Johan Sellstrom, a former business partner in Global Gaming, the equivalent of about $400,000, which includes interest.

The district court in Sweden ruled that the state would take control of Pandeya's assets until enough of them can be sold … Read more

Pirate Bay bidder finds new stock exchange

Global Gaming Factory X, the software maker that has claimed it will acquire BitTorrent search site The Pirate Bay, has found a new stock exchange for its shares--a move that can only be described as bewildering.

Mangold Fondkommission, an independent exchange that specializes in the trading of small and medium-size stocks, issued a press release Wednesday, announcing that Global Gaming's shares were available for trade.

Global Gaming was booted off its former stock exchange earlier this month after exchange officials concluded the company provided false information about its ability to purchase The Pirate Bay.

Sweden's Economic Crimes Bureau … Read more

Pirate Bay buyer 'misled' investors, booted off exchange

A Swedish stock exchange has banned Global Gaming Factory X from offering its shares there after concluding the company "misled" investors about its ability to purchase The Pirate Bay.

AktieTorget, the Swedish stock market where shares of Global Gaming once traded, said a disciplinary group found the company had "provided false information," displayed "a lack of accountability," and "seriously violated" the exchange's transparency principles.

A report issued by AktieTorget's disciplinary group called into question most of Global Gaming's public statements since June, when the software company and operator of … Read more