Entertainment

The 404 310: Where BOL wishes it was The 404

There's been a lot of tension between Buzz Out Loud and The 404 for the last couple of months, but today, it's all on! We're sick and tired of the "Bore Out Loud" stealing our women (*ahem* Natali Del Conte) and our joke show titles. We've never been as crass as to have "urine" in one of our show titles. We got pretty bad, though, with having "tickling the Bonch." But we really did tickle CNET editor Bonnie Cha that day.

It's official! We. Are. The. Four. Oh. Four: High-tech, low-brow. That's right. That's the winner to our tagline contest. Also, here are the winners to our Justin Yu photo caption contest (in order) for a copy of Wheelman for the Xbox 360:

What, the Hubble Telescope is down?! Don't worry, just tell me what you wanna look at. The 404's Justin Yu was taken into custody shortly after molesting a lumberjack, a 90-year-old woman, and robbing a Radioshack in Chinatown last evening. Luckily, there was no evidence of d*cktopping at any of these crime scenes. All the single printers, all the single printers!

In today's episode, we've got proof that gamers who play action-oriented video games have better vision than non-gamers. A man dies after trying to get healthier with the Wii Fit. Chinese people are spying on your pr0n collection and the NSA. Let's hope the Conflicker doesn't end the Interweb before they find too much dirt. The Pirate Bay joins Facebook. And finally, Encarta dies a slow, painful death after being stabbed by Wikipedia.

EPISODE 310 Download today's podcast | Subscribe in iTunes | Subscribe in RSS… Read more

SwiMP3: Waterproof MP3 player

The SwiMP3 player is a waterproof MP3 player with 256MB internal memory. That's approximately 60 songs, and the player has a 10-hour lithium ion battery. The device charges via USB and can be synced with both Windows (98SE, 2000, ME, XP, Vista) and Mac-based PCs (OS 9, OS X, or higher), and it even works with iTunes. Supported audio formats include MP3 and WMA files. Here's a full list of technical information including iTunes and Windows Media setup.

According to FINIS, the SwiMP3 "attaches easily to any swim goggle or snorkeling mask. For audio playback it relies … Read more

Netflix to hike up monthly Blu-ray fee by up to $8

On Monday, Netflix announced that the privilege to rent Blu-ray titles would be going up in price, beginning April 26. Citing the significant increase in the number of titles releasing on Blu-ray and the high cost of the discs over traditional DVDs, that comes out to a raise of anywhere from $1 to an additional $8 over what users were previously paying, for a total of $9 a month extra for its heavy renters.

According to the Official Netflix blog, it amounts to about an extra dollar per tier of the plan you're on, as opposed to the previous system, which simply tacked on an extra dollar. That amounts to:

1 DVD out at-a-time (2 DVDs a month) Monthly plan cost: $4.99 Additional monthly charge for Blu-ray access on this plan: $1 Monthly plan cost with Blu-ray access: $5.99

1 DVD out at-a-time (Unlimited) Monthly plan cost: $8.99 Additional monthly charge for Blu-ray access on this plan: $2 Monthly plan cost with Blu-ray access: $10.99

2 DVDs out at-a-time (Unlimited) Monthly plan cost: $13.99 Additional monthly charge for Blu-ray access on this plan: $3 Monthly plan cost with Blu-ray access: $16.99

3 DVDs out at-a-time (Unlimited) Monthly plan cost: $16.99 Additional monthly charge for Blu-ray access on this plan: $4 Monthly plan cost with Blu-ray access: $20.99… Read more

How technology is changing broadcast TV

As the marketing guy at CBS, it's my job to get people to watch our programs. Our department is like an ad agency, with CBS shows as the clients--everyone from "60 Minutes" to Letterman, to "CSI" and the NFL. Each day, our focus is on how people find out what's on television and how to get them to watch, which is an increasingly difficult task given the huge volume of content that's available and the plethora of ways people are consuming it.

Sometimes my job is hard to explain. When my kids were … Read more

WiiWare and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings us every hair stylist's fantasy on WiiWare along with a boxing classic from the Super Nintendo era. WiiWare Bonsai Barber (Nintendo, 1,000 Wii points): The first barber game we can recall, Bonsai Barber has you designing hair cuts for a variety of different customers. Use countless salon tools at your disposal to keep the clients happy. Virtual Console Super Punch-Out!! (1994, Super Nintendo, 800 Wii points): The sequel to the NES classic, Super Punch-Out!! has you reentering the ring to battle familiar foes such as Bear Hugger, Bald Bull, and Super Macho Man.

What games … Read more

Inside CNET Labs 36: The Bromance

After months of speculation, we finally admit it. For some time now Dong and I been involved in a Bromance. There, I said it. Cat's outta the bag! Judge not, lest ye be judged people. That's a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. We apologize to our family and friends for keeping it secret for so long.

Anyway, this Ep. isn't all that long, but it seems we covered a lot. From rude foreigners to Onlive, to Apple (ugh, yes again). BTW, I think Dong secretly loves Apple. He's like that little boy in school who … 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

A media center extender with DVD for $95 shipped

Your PC's in one room, and your big, fancy HDTV's in another. How can you bridge the gap between the two? Answer: with a media center extender, which wirelessly pulls music, photos, videos, and more from PC to TV.

Newegg has the Linksys DMA2200 Media Center Extender with DVD for $94.99 with free shipping. These are new units, not refurbs, and they're rebate-free, to boot.

Easy to mistake for a DVD player, the DMA2200 doubles as one. Even better, it upscales your regular old DVDs to 720p, 1080i, and even 1080p. Given that you could easily … Read more

New Zelda game to hit Nintendo DS by year's end

Wednesday's Nintendo press conference at this year's GDC 2009 shed some light on various details about the company's ambitions. We now know about the Wii storage solution and the pricing structure and details surrounding DSiWare. While we would have liked to see a new Wii title announced, instead we were treated to a taste of a brand-new Zelda title for the Nintendo DS.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks will be the latest adventure in the Zelda franchise exclusively for the Nintendo DS. There's not much information on the title, but it seems this adventure will … Read more

Nintendo's Iwata opens GDC with games, Wii storage news

SAN FRANCISCO--In a keynote address short on news, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revved up a packed Game Developers Conference house here Wednesday morning with tales of the company's design strategies.

Nintendo had been mum in advance of the speech, leaving many in attendance hoping that the company would announce something big, along the lines of a hot new game or even a piece of new hardware. In the end, though, Iwata's revelations were limited to three new games and a new storage infrastructure for the Wii virtual console.

The games included Rhythm Heaven, an American version of a … Read more