beer

Part of the fun of playing video games in the arcade back in the day was watching the adults try to evade giant pickle slices, fried eggs, and hot dogs in Burgertime without spilling the beer perched precariously on the cabinet.

Now, through the miracle of modern technology, you can relive those days with the Arkeg arcade cabinet. Not only does the cabinet house a PC preloaded with 69 arcade classics (legally licensed, even), but it also has a kegerator with a 5-gallon keg.

You can customize it with add-ons such as drip trays or a European keg coupler as … Read more

Now you can get your weekend 404 fix with throwback episodes coming at ya every Saturday! We're always open to suggestions on which episodes you guys want to hear, so hit us up at th404(at)cnet[dot]com and let us know your favorites.

This episode is dedicated to you and your far-reaching obsession with foodstuffs. Oh and speaking of ugly things, today we talk about Michelle Malkin and take an in-depth look at the miracle of personal deep frying, kooky Japanese space beer, the marketing morons at Blockbuster, and "Sex and the City" again! One … Read more

It's Wilson's turn again to choose The 404 semi-weekly audio draft sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews 5000, so naturally we're a little skeptical (but not nearly as skeptical as we are about the moon landing), but Mr. Tang comes through again with the beautiful music of Priscilla Ahn, a young singer-songwriter with a light, ethereal voice that drifts through the layered atmosphere of her acoustic folk melodies.

Like many of the artists featured on our Draft Pick, Ms. Ahn also brings several instrumental talents to her songs, incorporating her harmonica and even a kazoo on top of the gentle plucks of an acoustic guitar.

Today's featured song, "Dream," was recently featured in an episode of "Grey's Anatomy," and with good reason: the layered harmonies make the perfect soundtrack to quiet, rolling landscapes...also, I think it's pretty cool that's she's on Blue Note Records, the jazz label responsible for putting out albums by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Miles Davis.

She put out her first record last year called "A Good Day," and is currently touring Japan and Korea before heading back to Los Angeles on August 1 to play at the Troubadour. Give her a listen and let us know if you're in love with her as much as I am!

As usual, this episode is also jam-packed with current newz, including MCA's YouTube announcement (get better soon!), Facebook self-love (not like that, dummy), and another Facebook story about the most EPIC PARTY EVER!

One final note: does anyone have the original text/code for our Wikipedia page? I know it's been awhile, but somebody must have it, right? Our intentions are secret for now, but we definitely have a stew a-brewin', so hit us up at the404(at)cnet(dot)com if you have a copy of it!

We have an especially fun episode for y'all today, with a comparison between Transformers 2 and GI Joe, a brief rundown of old video game movies, the decade's biggest tech flops, and OF COURSE: The 404 Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews 5000!

Man, the preshow this morning got HEATED! In a joking way, of course. You really have to be there for Friday morning preshows in the live chatroom. The buzz this morning was about Jeff seeing "Bruno," and actually LIKING IT! This is, of course, in contrast to Wilson totally despising the flick, blaming the overuse of phallic objects used only to make the audience feel uncomfortable. If you saw that movie and have an opinion, leave a comment on here and help us settle this argument!

That conversation in the preshow leads us to talk about the latest from AintitCool News, who claim that "GI Joe" is a better movie than "Transformers 2"! This is actually pretty surprising to us because we saw the trailer for "GI Joe," and it seriously looked awful, although it'd be hard to make a worse movie than "Transformers 2." I guess it's a "lesser of two evils" sort of thing. Early reviews coming in claim that the "GI Joe" movie should be taken with a large grain of salt, since the tone is similar to that of the original "Street Fighter" movie.

After talking about video game movies for awhile, we finally get to our favorite segment, the OFFICIAL 404 Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews 5000! Today's pick is Mayer Hawthorne, a 29-year-old music junkie from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who makes retro-sounding soul music in the vein of such artists as Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hudson, and Barry White. His music tips its hat to the old Motown days between 1966 and 1974, when scratchy instruments and smooth falsettos dominated the waves. Hawthorne definitely draws inspiration from those artists, but also layers his own style into the mix with breakbeat production and a gallery of horn instruments that every generation can get into. He's currently on the popular hip-hop label Stones Throw and has a few singles out, but his new album, "A Strange Arrangement," is due out in the fall. For now, check out his page and today's track, "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out," and let us know what you think!

We always try our best to keep a positive mental attitude on The 404, so it makes sense that we've chosen The Hold Steady's latest album, "Stay Positive," as today's Audio Draft Pick. We also run through the accidental video game archive, shame the Guinness World Records, and warn our listeners about open manholes, literally.

Today's "Best Web site you've never seen" award goes to Derek Yu's Accidental Video Game Porn Archive that showcases sexual innuendos found in your favorite video games. It's an easy way to waste a few hours at work. They're all hilarious, but this Menage a Kong has got to be one of my favorites, with this Star Fox violation in a close second. I also like that Derek and I share the same last name--this Web site is totally something a Yu would do. Nice job, cuz!

We don't wag our fingers as much, but we have to scold the Guinness World Records for this record-breaking fail. One of the entries on its Web site awards the "Most Individuals Killed in a Terrorist Act" to the terrorists behind the attack on the World Trade Center towers and even invites viewers to "break this record."

Instead of immediately taking down the award, Guinness World Records compounded the fail by threatening legal action on the ICanHaz network for posting a screengrab that features the Guinness World Record logo without proper authorization. If that isn't a case of corporate cowardly B.S., I don't know what is. Daps to Fail Blog for their hilarious response complete with a Rick Roll at the end!

Jeff's pick for today's "Audio Draft," sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, is Brooklyn local band The Hold Steady. In our own words, these guys sound like the aural lovechild of Bruce Springsteen, Social Distortion, Joe Strummer, and Billy Joel. The music combines various instruments (banjos, organ, piano, theremin) to produce a jamming rock theme, and then adds gruff vocals with epic storytelling lyrics to complete the circle.

The band's latest album, "Stay Positive," keeps the party going with a steady balance of hilarious stories from the road ("Sequestered in Memphis") and heartbreaking admissions of love lost, but not forgotten ("Lord, I'm Discouraged"). Check out the entire discography and let us know what you think in the comments!

(Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News and Reviews.)

CNET official Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg guest hosts today's ball-busting show. Steve brings his usual brand of random topics to the table today that include the most bizarre festival you'll never want to visit and the world's largest ketchup bottle. We also introduce another awesome band in our Becks/Last.FM semiweekly audio draft!

Today's show is very important, for three reasons. First, we're stoked to welcome Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg who brings his expertise to answer all your high-end audio questions on the second half of the show, but not before introducing us to the most horrid festival that you'll never, ever want to visit. Let's just say that the subject matter of this food fair leaves room for plenty of punny jokes to be made, and we take that opportunity every chance we get (see:show title)--too funny!

Second, it's also a very important day because it's the first time we actually get a few bottles of Beck's Beer into the studio to sip on during the show! Don't worry though, we take things in moderation here at The 404 (yeah...), but no amount of self-control can prevent Wilson and me from getting the classic Asian glow.

Finally, all of us are caught offguard when Wilson Tang, infamous for literally feeling indifferent about any music made after 1791, makes an executive decision and chooses Grizzly Bear for today's Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Pick, sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM.

Grizzly Bear is a four-piece band out of Brooklyn here in New York that has been slowly gaining popularity for its dusty mix of folk piano and a mix of other instruments including whistles and an intermittent banjo. After releasing several albums in the past few years, Grizzly Bear just released a new one called "Veckatimest," which includes today's song, "Two Weeks." The album retains Grizzly Bear's unique low-fi sound--mixing airy vocals with refreshingly creative arrangements that are rare to find in today's soundstage. We hope you'll enjoy Grizzly Bear as much as we do!

(Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News and Reviews.)

One more thing: We'd like to congratulate newlyweds Elizabeth and Ian for getting hitched recently. They're both avid 404 listeners and while we doubt that Elizabeth walked down the aisle to our theme music, we're swooning with you and wish you guys the best of love.

We invite Natali Del Conte onto today's show to have some fun with us, but you should've been there in the preshow--she went berzerko! We calm her down a little bit and she talks to us about her Palin/Twitter fallout and her upcoming appearance at Comic-Con 2009. She also dispels rumors about drugs in her undergarments, and we get to a few more exciting stories on the show!

If you're wondering why there's a photo of Lara Croft to the left of this paragraph, look again: it's actually Natali Del Conte, host of Loaded on CNETTV. She'll be at this year's Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, so be sure to look for that soon! We love it when Natali comes on because we always seem to bring out the dirty side of her, or so we think.

Today's show starts off a little rough because Natali just can't seem to get the Wi-Fi in the studio to connect to her computer, so we're warning you to brace yourselves for a classic NDC scream in the beginning of today's show. After that, everything runs smoothly (as smooth as it can get on The 404).

We get to talking about Sarah Palin resigning and the ridiculous speech that sort of made sense, but didn't say anything. I think NDC put it best when she said that the former Governor of Alaska is very good at the art of "saying without saying." We all watched the speech, too, and after several 17-minute viewings, I still have no idea what the heckbeans is going on. I guess she's not so much of a Maverick after all.

The next story in today's show rundown is about the city of Boston launching a complaint-filing iPhone application. Sounds like a disaster waiting to strike, right? I'd have to agree with you. Now that all citizens of Boston have an open forum to complain, I imagine a flood of the most mundane little squawks about graffiti, potholes, smells, street lights, etc...stuff that you normally wouldn't give a **** about.

After we report on the story, we go around the table and list off a few complaints that we have with the city of New York, and if you think Boston is bad, just wait, there are a few good ones in there. Are you listening, New York?

Finally, we want to send our thanks to our pal Daniel for sending us a very kind e-mail with a picture of what he did this weekend. He writes, "Hey Guys, Wanted to let you know that I spent sometime with the 404 and a Becks this weekend. Feel free to post this to the blog or whatever. Really love your show, keep up the work and congrats on the sponsor." Now if that isn't the most ideal way to sponsor a show, I don't know WHAT is! We jest, but we seriously appreciate pictures like these, they make our day. By the way, our new iTunes album art looks GREAT in Cover Flow!

Since we're not having a show tomorrow for Independence Day, there's a lot to cover today, including a new segment with Beck's Beer and Last.fm, a chat with the winner of our logo design contest, and a hilarious voicemail from everyone's favorite Tina Schwartz.

Our annual GetMcDonaldsBreakfastOnJulyThird Day leaves us with upset stomachs and wandering minds, so it's a good thing we have Blake Stevenson on for a quick segment in the beginning of today's show to talk about his winning submission for our logo contest.

We get to pick his brain a bit about how he came up with the design, and we're also curious about his work history and how he got so good! In turn, Blake also surprises us with the amazing poster illustration you see to the left. Click on it to see the larger version, and check out the impressively accurate caricatures of Wilson, Jeff, and me! From Wilson's highlights to Jeff's pursed lips and my ridiculous everything, Blake really did an excellent job of capturing the feel of the show, both with the poster and the logo itself. Attention Tom Green: critics agree, your logo sucks.

The good news is that Blake Stevenson is more than willing to redo it, so head over to JetPacksandRollerSkates.com and put him to work!

We're also very excited to debut the very first of our bi-weekly (that's twice a week) segment called The Weekly Audio Draft, sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.fm. Every Monday and Friday we'll introduce you guys to some fresh bands with varying genres that we hope will be music to your ears.

Jeff is first up with a band called The Twilight and the Sound, which features Jeremiah Rangel and Matt Lovato, former members of pop-punk band Mest. Their new band draws influences from The Cure, Deftones, Weezer, and Interpol, and you can buy their new album "100 Sundays..." on their profile page on Last.fm. On today's edition of the Weekly Audio Draft, we rock out to their new song "There's No Basement at the Alamo," a driving, upbeat track that combines male and female vocals in a call-and-response format that makes the perfect accompaniment to a weekend BBQ or road trip. Leave a comment on this post and let us know what you think! Check out more info for the band at their MySpace page as well.

The second half of the show is filled with hilarious voice mails including some bike shopping advice as well as a really funny voice mail from our favorite listener, Tina Schwartz. We have to reiterate that her views and opinions DO NOT reflect those of The 404 or our parent company, CBS Interactive. We even get into a few stories at the end of the show, including some back and forth about the Microsoft and Nickelback collabo, Facebook flirting and Universal grabbing the rights to the Asteroids full-length movie.

Have a great Independence Day weekend everybody, stay safe, and don't forget to check back tomorrow for our weekend throwback episode!

Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET.

Bill Gates is part of a team that has patented a new beer keg. Sure it could be used for other things. But the point was we're pretty sure he came up with the idea when drinking warm beer in Africa. We also talk about porn on the iPhone and new Windows pricing.

Microsoft Windows 7 pricing revealed: pre-orders kick off June 26th http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-windows-7-pricing-revealed-pre-orders-kick-off-june-26th-2547957/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10272703-56.html

AT&T’s 3G upgrades to … Read more