match

The 404 276: Where we prefer Pitas to PETA

Wilson's back on the show to prove that two Chinese men are always better than one. He brings back news of the Kindle 2, which leads us to a discussion about the books of Scholastic yore- like Goosebumps, Choose Your Own Adventure, Flowers in the Attic, Bunnicula, and the Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Okay, I might be the only one who read that last one. We quickly move on to less awkward topics, like FarmersOnly.com--an online dating site catered to farmers looking for love...from other farmers, get your mind out of the gutter. … Read more

Samsung's Lapfit monitors complement laptops

Forget your laptop stand and hideously mismatched secondary display, because Samsung's Lapfit series offers external LCD monitors that will match your laptop beautifully. The Lapfit External Display, which coordinates with the design of Samsung's latest laptops and comes in 19- and 22-inch versions, connects to your notebook, considerably enlarging your workable display area.

The pair of low-profile, wide-screen monitors, the LD190G (19-inch) and LD220G (22-inch), sit at the height of your typical laptop and have adjustable tilt angles from 10-30 degrees. Both monitors offer 1,360x768 pixel resolution (16:9 aspect ratio), 4ms response time, and a 20,… Read more

Yahoo shuts Google AdSense competitor in Europe

Yahoo has thrown in the towel in Europe for Content Match, an advertising partnership program that let people put Yahoo-selected ads on their Web sites.

"Yahoo Europe is closing Content Match as we do not wish to invest further resources in developing this product," Yahoo said in a statement Wednesday. "We have other products which, in the current climate, are attracting a growing proportion of advertiser spend and we would like to focus our efforts on these. These include Sponsored Search and Display, including Direct Response solutions."

Content Match competes directly with Google's AdSense program. … Read more

MySpace ruling could lead to jail for lying online daters

The MySpace suicide case concluded last week, with the jury finding Lori Drew guilty of three misdemeanor counts of gaining unauthorized access to the popular social-networking site.

While most of the press attention has been focused on the specifics of the case, the more important issue is the potential impact this could have on the Internet in general.

Web site terms of service, which end users universally ignore, suddenly have teeth: violating them is a federal hacking offense, punishable with jail time. The days of being able to freely lie on the Web could be coming to an end. This … Read more

Aurora Feint II: The Arena

We were already big fans of Aurora Feint: The Beginning, but with the addition of online battles and even more features, The Arena has become one of our favorites on the iPhone. Like the earlier iteration of the game, the action is centered around moving blocks to match up groups of three or more. Excellent graphics and rich sounds enhance the action as you mine for various elements.

As you stockpile each type of block, you can enhance gameplay by buying items at the in-world store which effect gameplay. These items then get better as you purchase upgraded items. We … Read more

MixMatchMusic makes it easy for musicians to collaborate, get paid

SAN DIEGO--There are millions of musicians in the world who are talented but haven't gotten lucky enough to get a record contract.

These days, the Internet makes it easier for these artists to find an audience, but there are still countless numbers of musicians who have some skills, but perhaps not all the ones--such as drumming--that might be necessary to finish a song that could make them money.

That's where a company called MixMatchMusic comes into play. It has built a system that it thinks will help these artists find the collaborators and the audience that will result … Read more

Netflix's social experiment. It's time to come clean.

I know that some people are worried that mad scientists can now clone sheep.

Soon, they say, they will do the same with human beings.

Think of it. Tasteless nerds creating hundreds of Thomas Kinkades and David Archuletas to alter the cultural balance of America.(Or, perhaps, confirm it.)

I am here to tell you that those very probably nice, sane scientists at Netflix are surely ahead of the game.

Here's how it works. I declare that "Climates", a very sensitive and refined Turkish movie, deserves five of my stars. The Netflixsters tell me that they have … Read more

Where it's the fiiiiinnnnaaalll countdown

EPISODE 79

Brian Brushwood stops by to ruin our lunches. He did some crazy crazy tricks like sticking a 4-and-a-half-inch nail in his nose, sticking a smaller nail in his eye, and basically taking over the show and making it awesome. The boys of the 404 might talk about iPod Touches, but who are we kidding? Magic! Listen in, or even better, watch the video later today on this post or on CNET TV's YouTube channel. We promise you WILL NOT want to miss this episode.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Widgets, widgets galore: MatchKey, MuseStorm, FeedHub

Three more companies making new micro-applications that track and deliver media preferences.

Matchmine allows consumers to figure out what kind of media they like by creating a MatchKey, or a visualization of their preferences.

Just give a ZIP code, date of birth and rate some movies, blogs, etc. with a star system a la Netflix. Users can share their MatchKey with friends and/or advertisers, but not any personal information. The Facebook widget version show what the person has in common with his or her friends--like Flixster, but not in list form. Matchmine has an API online for developers to … Read more

NewsMatch (iPhone App)

Do you stay informed of the latest news around the world? This fun quiz application for iPhone tests you on the news of the day, by showing you pictures that you need to match up with the headlines. Once you've matched the story with a picture, NewsMatch will take you to a small blurb of information. Though we like the concept of the game, if you're not already a news junkie, this probably isn't the best way to get the news.

iPhone Link: http://labs.openlaszlo.org/ipdc/newsmatch05

Web site link: http://www.laszlosystems.com