Geek culture

The mission is simple: gather three brands of popular mini-speakers and see which is powerful enough to annoy a grumpy building superintendent.

The briefing: I reside in a quiet, courtyard complex in Studio City, Calif. On most Sundays, the residents gather around the pool for a casual barbecue. Such an event recently presented the perfect opportunity to test three mini-speakers: an X-mini Capsule Speaker from ThinkGeek, a Soundmatters foxL Bluetooth Soundbar, and a Cyber Snipa Sonar Portable Mini Speaker to see which could produce enough quality sound to prod our cranky 60-plus-year-old supe to leave his recliner and tell us to knock off the hubbub. Join us, won't you?

To expedite the outstandingly unscientific experiment, I chose Dubstep, which is electronica in the extreme. In fairness, some wouldn't call it music as much as well-organized static. When the uninitiated listen to Dubstep, they're often uncertain if the CD might be skipping. As a bleeding goat will draw the hungry, Dubstep pouring from my iPhone will attract the crotchety handyman if we can get the racket loud enough. … Read more

Happy birthday to the emoticon, invented 29 years ago today on a computer-science bulletin board at Carnegie Mellon University. Thanks for making parents around the world feel tech-savvy. :)

Before we get into the important Netflix news of of the day, Jeff tells us about his weekend experience at "Sleep No More," an interactive theater experience in New York that's loosely based on the Macbeth story--with a creepy twist. The plot plays out in various acts throughout a three-story abandoned warehouse in Chelsea, so tune in to hear more spoiler-free details and reserve your tickets here!

Next we'll get into the Netflix mea culpa delivered by e-mail and blog post this morning that's giving current Netflix subscribers even more reasons to moan about the recent price hike.

CEO Reed Hastings announced that the company will soon split in two, with the name of the DVD mail rental service changing to Qwikster (not to be confused with Quixtar, QuickStar, Kwikster, Quickster, or Quik-Star), while the video-streaming arm will retain the Netflix name and Web address.

We'll also talk today about a satellite plunging from space, a group of scientists that are poaching PS3 gamers to help find a cure for AIDS, and the last single-space parking meter disappearing in Manhattan today.

Bridget Carey makes her first appearance on CNET TV today. She's the host of an upcoming daily tech news show on CNET called Checked In, so be sure to follow her on Twitter so you don't miss the first episode.

She'll help us out with our story rundown today and gives her take on LeVar Burton bringing back "Reading Rainbow" as an iPad app, an LA film studio constructing an underground "post-apocalyptic" fortress, and the resurgence of AOL e-mail addresses as a pre-Internet status symbol.

It's either the heartwarming tale of a man's passionate love for fantasy and adventure or a sad story of a lifetime's income terribly wasted. You get to decide.

Rob Hull of Doncaster, England, has been officially awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Dalek toys and models. As of this writing, he possesses 571 of the evil alien overlords after 20 years of collecting.

In a real head-scratcher, Hull isn't a fan of the TV series that gave birth to his beloved Daleks, "Doctor Who." According to Guinness, Hull just liked the design of Dalek toys as a child. When his mother refused to get him one, he evidently vowed to own his own plunger-waving army one day.

Hull reportedly torments his long-suffering wife, Dawn, with the collection as it slowly overtakes their home and exterminates any sense of interior design aesthetic.… Read more

"Poor Windows 8. You totally crashed out, but you're so adorable. I just can't be mad at you." That may be the new reaction to operating system failure when Windows 8 finally reaches the masses.

Chip Hazard posted a picture on Facebook of the new Blue Screen of Death from Microsoft's latest version of the Windows operating system. It features a prominent emoticon sad face on the familiar blue expanse of sorrow.

The new BSoD also delivers the simple message, "Your PC ran into a problem that it couldn't handle, and now it needs to restart."

It tells you briefly what the error was about so you can search for more information on what happened to upset Windows so much. Hint: it probably found out you've been spending time with an iPad.

This change may be part of a bid by Microsoft to get more in tune with a younger crowd, the sort of kids who won't get it when Windows spews out a list of obscure error codes. Everybody understands a sad face.

In the past, the appearance of the BSoD has been met with vulgar curses, strangled cries of frustration, and the hammering of fists on keyboards. Now, you may hear, "Awww. What a cutie-pie. Can you restart for Mommy? Come on, you can do it!"… Read more

At last, the very long-awaited "Star Wars" Blu-ray box set has arrived in stores. Its arrival hasn't come without gripes: the newly remastered films feature even more controversial sound edits and visual tweaks, further distancing the classic Episodes IV-VI from their original '70s and '80s counterparts.

Since the box set doesn't include versions of the untouched original theatrical releases, if you want to enjoy any of the "Star Wars" movies in full HD, this is the set you'll turn to. It'll be a reference set for many, and undoubtedly a must-have Blu-ray. So, what sort of packaging comes with such high aspirations? … Read more

Since multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft first rose to pop culture prominence, subscription fees have fueled the revenue stream for developers. Now, a new report from market researcher iSuppli suggests microtransactions will drive industry growth in years to come.

Basically, fewer new players are signing up to play MOGs, the report says, but those who are playing are dropping their money on add-ons and other in-game enhancements.

The iSuppli analysis reports that subscriber revenue in the combined North American and European markets for PC massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) and standard MOGs declined for the first time ever in 2010--piling up $1.58 billion in 2010, down 5 percent from $1.66 billion in 2009.

That decline seems even more dramatic when compared with the 10 percent annual growth in 2009 and the 21.6 percent increase in 2008. IHS did the math and speculates that the subscription market will decrease on an annual basis through the year 2015, when revenue will shrink away to $1.33 billion. … Read more

Robots are slowly taking over the world, and a startup in Illinois called Narrative Science is targeting journalism as the next profession to go extinct. Well, maybe just the journalists covering local youth sports and number-crunching quarterly earning reports, so we're safe for now, but let us know if they come out with a robot that can podcast and tell dirty jokes.

Not all robots are out to drive humans to obsolescence, though. We'll also report on a Japanese pet robot named Evolta training for the Hawaii triathlon. The little guy is only 20 inches tall and runs on two AA batteries, so officials are giving him 10 days to complete the 140-mile race.

After the break and a couple voice mails quizzing Wilson on high-school chemistry, we'll offer a couple pro tips on how to handle business in the office, inspired by this helpful article on Gawker. Can't give out too many details here, so check out the show today!

The Internet caught fire an hour before we recorded today, so our apologies if we're still reeling from the "news" for the first few minutes of the podcast. No clue what we're talking about? Enjoy the show.

In serious tech news, Google is putting more companies out of business with its new Flight Search service that went live yesterday. The tracker takes advantage of Google's other Web products, integrating with Google Calendar, Maps, and Mail to show you special deals and notify you about upcoming flights.

In a related story, Virgin America just partnered with Lufthansa Systems' new BoardConnect platform to roll out the next evolution of its Red in-flight entertainment. Air travel is getting even swankier thanks to Virgin America, and next year all of their planes (Virgin calls them Nerdbirds) will have HD television monitors on every seat back and faster Wi-Fi for connected devices.

Finally, we'll take you on the hunt for the rarest video game ever created: the gold Nintendo World Championships cartridge awarded to the winners of Nintendo Power Magazine's 1990 competition. Of the original 26, only 13 units have been found, and they're valued at around $20,000 by video game collectors. I think it's safe to assume that the other 13 games were sacrificed to the trash gods by the players' mothers.

We want to hear about the valuable junk from your childhood that your parents have carelessly thrown away. Give us a call at 1-866-404-CNET (2638) and tell us about it!