ups

Launch Pad at Web 2.0 Expo: Crawlers in the sky

The mini-Demo conference at the Web 2.0 Expo is the Launch Pad, where five start-up companies pitched to a small panel of experts (Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb, Matt Marshall of VentureBeat, and Anand Iyer of Microsoft) and a moderate audience spread out across a very large hall. Of the five pitches, I found four very smart (read the summaries to figure out which one didn't get my nod) and of those, one appeared to be a genuinely new idea. That would be the first company in this run-down. (The audience, though, liked Nitobi the best.)

80legs is building … Read more

Web 2.0 Expo: Don't worry, be app-y

roundup The annual conference of Web innovators may be smaller than last year's. But it's still a place for big ideas, with a focus on mobile apps and solid business plans. Get the latest news about products and lectures here.

Featured stories Web 2.0 Expo 2009: Downsized, but not out Fewer people, fewer presenters heading to San Francisco Web 2.0 confab. But it could have been much worse. (Posted in Webware by Rafe Needleman) March 30, 2009 9:20 PM PDT O'Reilly: The Web is still learning, but it can teach, too The kickoff keynote … Read more

Effective ad killer

Pop-up advertisements and banners have evolved into more than just simple annoyances. In many cases these complicated advertisements slow down performance and many times clicking on these links could give your computer a virus. BFilter is here to protect your system, but does it do too good a job?

This free program downloads easily and hides in the bottom right-hand tray of your screen. In our tests, the program operated as advertised. Its filtering software ensures that pop-ups never create a window that could be dangerous to click. In addition, banners that change graphics are left as just a blank … Read more

Artist cuts LPs like pies, makes edgy music

I play records, Christian Marclay plays with records. They're not the same thing.

He cuts up LPs and glues together slices from different records. He'll mix rock and big band jazz together in alternating slices. The effect can be mesmerizing.

Marclay's interested in the sounds people don't want. Every crack in the record becomes part of the rhythm, the skips, groove roar, static, speeding up, slowing down, wow and flutter are all acceptable to Marclay. He uses his records' fragility, purposely messes with the grooves and puts adhesive tape on them. He brings the recorded music … Read more

Recession forces some to downgrade to dial-up

Some broadband users are considering going back to dial-up as the tough economic climate forces them to cut their household budgets, according to a story published Friday in the Chicago Tribune.

While it's unlikely Americans will ditch broadband for dial-up en masse, there are likely to be some people who find the $20 to $50 monthly fees for DSL or cable modem broadband service to be too high, when dial-up providers such as NetZero are offering new $9.95 service plans.

One Florida man, Arnold Zimmerman, 66, said that after his work hours got reduced and his stock portfolio … Read more

The 404 308: Where Wilson is on nacation

If there's a more disturbing image than a naked Wilson Tang eating a stuffed pepper and doing his taxes, it's got to be a naked Tim Geisenheimer's sockless foot stuffed into a suede moccasin. We invite Tim into the studio anyway and he surprises us with some bad news: turns out the economy ain't doing so well.

Do not attempt to adjust the white balance on your monitor: Tim Geisenheimer's legs are actually that pale. I guess he and Michael Jackson share more in common than their tastes in footwear. Anyway, for some reason Wilson felt the need to stay at home today to do his taxes, which means being a good Chinese boy and writing off everything he possibly can. Why he decided to get nakee and do said taxes is another issue entirely, and one that teases my upchuck reflex anyway, so let's move on.

If you haven't figured it out yet, 'tis I, Justin Yu--on the poop deck, handling the blogging for the day. The first half of today's show is pretty random, since it's just Jeff and I riffing on a few stories, including one about Japanese space underwear.

I feel compelled to break out Space Beer guy, but mixing beer and underwear just doesn't feel right. Leave it up to the Japanese to reinvent the last thing you should worry about in space--forget the zero gravity, space debris, and Klingon warlords. Nah, nah, let's make a pair of underwear that you never have to take off.

Next story is about a Jewish Facebook group whose name suddenly changed from "I Heart Jews" to "Hitler: Great Modern Man of History." While we disagree with that statement, Jeff Bakalar (devoutly Jewish, FYI) gives the rest of us a free pass to laugh at the prank. Hey, at the end of the day, if Mel Brooks can laugh at Hitler, I think we're all safe.

After long calls from the public, we finally decide on a date for The 404 Meetup: APRIL 16. Everyone living in the Tri-State area should definitely clear their evening hour for a night of fun with The 404. We decided that two weeks is enough time for everyone to plan ahead, and it gives Jeff, Wilson, and I ample time to exercise our wrists and buy as many sharpies as possible. Riiight. Finally, check out some of the submissions below for our running contest. Can you write a funny caption for this photo of your humble 404 host? Here are some of our current favorites:

"Do these glasses make my eyes look less asian?" - Will Chan "The 404's Justin Yu was taken into custody shortly after molesting a lumberjack, a 90-year old woman, and robbing a Radio Shack in China Town last evening. Luckily there was no evidence of dicktopping at any of the crime scenes." - Andrew Teachout "What? I swear that printer was d**kto**ed before I got it!" - Jeff from Calgary

Send us your funniest caption to the404{at}cnet[dot]com and you could win a copy of Wheelman for XBox 360!

EPISODE 308 Download today's podcast |  Subscribe in iTunes |  Subscribe in RSS… Read more

Inside CNET Labs 35: 'When they talk, their head kinda jumpin' up and down'

We have the power this episode! I feel it. Dong feels it. And soon you will feel it...Can you feel it yet? No? Well start downloading.

Dr. Orgy returns this week with some very sound relationship advice for Dong. Dr. Orgy has been divorced once thought, so seriously, how helpful can this be?

Dong and I give our impressions of the upcoming iPhone 3.0 update that turns into a discussion of Apple culture that probably goes on too long. I would have edited it down some, but, we've gotten some complaints lately about us not censoring ourselves. … Read more

Princess Zelda spits hot fire in debut album, 'Ocarina of Rhyme'

If you enjoyed Eric Franklin's post on 8-bit NES-style hip-hop, you'll definitely enjoy Team Teamwork's "The Ocarina of Rhyme." It's a mix tape of mashups that combines hip-hop tracks with the score to the Zelda game Ocarina of Time.

Team Teamwork produced the mix, which features unique tracks by Spank Rock, Common, Aesop Rock, Clipse, and my personal pick: MF Doom. Most of the songs fit well with the background score; for example, in "Fumbling Over Words," artist Edan Portnoy's intensity melds seamlessly into the rumblings of the "Battle" … Read more

Y Combinator plans to fund more start-ups

Y Combinator on Monday announced that it has raised a $2 million venture fund with the aid of Sequoia Capital and angel investors.

In making the announcement, Y Combinator noted that it plans to increase the number of start-ups it funds to 60 a year, up from 40.

For Web services and software start-ups, that may bode well. Y Combinator focuses its investments on those two sectors and funds companies that are in their early stages.

As it notes, one unusual twist to this venture firm is its reliance on the strength of entrepreneurs' ideas, rather than on their business … Read more