animation

I've been wanting to write about the phenomenon of animal Web cams for several years when I first learned that my good friend Susan was addicted to the sea otter cam at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Every time I would see Susan she would regale me with information about her favorite sea otter, Toola. Toola, who often serves as a surrogate mother to stranded otter pups, doesn't like to be weighed on the scale, she only leans on her right side and grooms her fur with both paws and feet, and she is very shy despite assuming center … Read more

It might not be as technically challenging as modding a PC out of a humidor, but FAO Schwarz's make-your-own-Muppet tool is still a kick for cubicle dwellers with a few minutes to kill.

With the Muppet Whatnot designer, you get to pick from three bodies, choose eyes, a nose, hair, and an outfit, and you've got yourself a custom-made Muppet faster than you can say: Gersh gurndy morn-dee burn-dee.

But for 90 bucks a pop, you'd better be sure you really like that round red nose better than the pointy yellow.

A press representative says it takes four to six weeks to receive your creation--enough time for the holidays if you start now.

But beginning November 13, the Muppets will take Manhattan--again. Customers at the Fifth Avenue store will be able to design their Muppets in-store and walk out with their new toy about 20 minutes later. Also note that, though we don't have one to look at in person (stuffed animals don't quite cut it on the CNET expense account), we suspect these are actual puppets, not full-bodied stuffed animals.

If Muppets aren't your thing, the famed toy store has another do-it-yourself toy-making service. With the Make-My-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit, you can send in your own drawing of the creatures that haunt you in the night, and a few weeks and $250 later, they'll mail you back a stuffed animal fashioned after your design. … Read more

Justin feels blue before the show, but a group hug and a little well-placed bromance sets him right. It's a touching prelude to what is perhaps the 404's raunchiest show ever! In other news, NASA combats space depression with virtual therapy, the Army reads terrorist tweets, and a shocking number of sex addicts are women. Also, please don't trust your GPS navigator too much. Check out The 404's exclusive scoop on Mac's newest OS--it's tight and supports multitouch functionality!

Dan the Mantern here. On today's show we discuss a timeless question that doe-eyed youths have asked their parents for ages: "What happens when you fart in space?" Apparently, letting one loose in an infinite vacuum can have much more dire consequences than one might believe. Farting inside of a space suit can be dangerous, if you try to let the stank out while doing a space walk. Unfortunately, the likelihood of a well-time fart inside the space station becoming a source of DIY zero-gravity propulsion is low, according to one Canadian astronaut. Finally, check out this dramatic interpretation of a space fart from Disney's 1997 classic Rocket Man.

One small step for animals, one giant step for animal kind?

Maybe.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is celebrating a decision by eBay to issue a global ban on the sale of elephant ivory products by January 1, 2009.

Coincidentally or not, eBay issued its report Monday, one day before the IFAW issued its report detailing the illegal trade in endangered species over the Internet. Nichola Sharpe, a spokeswoman for eBay, said the company had just seen a copy of the report and did not have immediate comment. But she added that eBay planned to implement a variety … Read more

In uncertain times like these, we are desperate to turn myth into reality.

Sex with Madonna really isn't all it's cracked up to be, according to those gossiping over her divorce. And there really are supranatural creatures out there that have evaded captivity, according to many explorers, scientists, and teenagers.

So if you're not persuaded that a Creepy Gnome really is terrorizing Northern Argentina, or that Bigfoot will ever be found (and certainly not by a couple of mendacious hicks) then perhaps you will believe Yoshiteru Takahashi.

Takahashi has caused a great stir over the last couple … Read more

The 404 is back together again and this time around we welcome DIY comic book artist Samuel Vera to the show. Artist, publisher, and do-it-all for Crazee Comics, Sam sits in for a chat about the state of the comic book industry, how to get your start in publishing, the war between online and print comics, and the recent surge of comic book movie adaptations.

Don't forget to come and say hi to us tonight at our second 404 meetup at Gstaad Bar on 26th and 6th Avenue in New York! We'll be there at 6:30 tonight, kicking back and celebrating our 200th episode anniversary, and you're welcome to join us! We want to meet as many of our New York listeners as we can, so if you're in the New York area, come check it out--if nothing else, Natali Del Conte, Mark the Intern, and Dan the Mantern will all be there as well.

Big thanks to our buddy Samuel Vera for coming on the show today. Listen in for seriously helpful tips on how to publish your own comic and even hear Sam's opinions on existing comics and his humble beginning in the thriving comic book industry (no matter what Wilson thinks). He also weighs in on a few current events including the closing of two corporate pillars of American excellence: Circuit City and Mother's Cookies. All right, all right, nobody is going to miss Circuit City but Mother's Cookies gave us the famous ANIMAL CRACKER! You're never going to believe this, but neither Jeff, Wilson, nor Sam knows what those are. Whaaaattt? Is this a West Coast thing or what? I don't get it, but nevertheless I'm still really bummed out because I practically survived off those things for the first half of my life. Hmm, that explains a few things...RIP Mothers Cookies, we'll almost remember you and your deliciously sprinkled confections.

A totally pointless gadget, but hey, pet owners are usually suckers for anything that's labeled "gear for your pet." I should know, having been one. First off, most pet owners would already know how old their pooch or kitty cat is. And yes, that's in both human and animal years.

But back to that bit about suckers, this Sega Toys Pet Care Clock ($40) is designed to track time as experienced by our pets (and not much else). All that's needed is to input your sweetie's size and age, and voila. Now here comes … Read more

NEW YORK--In the press room at the Web 2.0 Expo at the Jacob Javits Convention Center here, there are a ton of fliers, stickers, and press kits lying around for us reporters and bloggers to peruse.

It's kind of hard for any one of them to stand out. Unless you're like collaboration software start-up Octopz, which we reviewed last year.

The company's strategy: Leave out some bright turquoise-and-green stuffed octopi, free for the taking. No corny company logos, no attached pitch, just a cute stuffed sea creature with a flash drive press kit tied around its … Read more

From the makers of the popular scene-rendering program Bryce comes DAZ Studio, a powerful 3D-modeling and CAD program for Windows and Mac that looks great but is a resource hog and can be sluggish for the average user.

The publisher recommends having at least 256MB of RAM, but that's wishful thinking. The program runs choppily on anything less than 1GB, although some of the more complex rendering was processed more slowly than others. It also requires an OpenGL-compatible graphics card with at least 128MB of RAM onboard, so machines built before 2003 will certainly struggle. This isn't unusual … Read more