antoine dodson

The 404 861: Where we're putting it all out there (podcast)

Have you ever received a phone call from a mystery number, but had no way to find out who was on the other side? A new online service called NumberGuru lets you perform a reverse number search to identify the source, and our friends from BeenVerified.com are in the studio to tell us all about it.

There are a few services like WhitePages that offer similar features, but NumberGuru is free and accessible from the Numberguru.com Web site, or with any one of its smartphone apps. Even better, the site lets you share comments on phone numbers to warn other users about spammers and telemarketers, and BeenVerified.com also offers background checks to dig up more details about the caller.

The 404 Digest for Episode 861

BeenVerified does background checks. Why bother to remember when you can just use Google? Great fear as PS1 discs begin to oxidize and degrade after 10 years.

Episode 861 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

What it takes to judge Web culture's best (Q&A)

If it's the end of the year, that must mean it's awards season. And in the world of Web culture, there's one site that hopes to have the final word on the best of the year's offerings.

That would be Urlesque, an AOL site that is becoming a must-visit for those interested in the latest and greatest Internet memes. In 2008, the site launched the Urlies, its first Web culture awards, and now, it is in the middle of collecting readers' votes for the best of 2010.

As you might expect, there are plenty of cat … Read more

The 404 695: Where basically, we hide your wife (podcast)

Jay, Josh, and Danny from BeenVerified are back in The 404 studio to show off their brand new sex offender locator app for the Android and iPhone! For some reason, it keeps going off during the show...

BeenVerified is an online service that makes it easy to do quick, thorough background checks on people, and it's a lot easier than simply Googling someone's name. The instant search not only gives public access to legal databases for criminal records and phone numbers; it's also an excellent source for monitoring sex offenders in your neighborhood.

Their latest Sex Offender Tracker App uses augmented reality to display graphical overlays on your phone that help you locate registered sex offenders in your area, and can you believe it? They got ANTOINE DODSON to be their spokesperson in the commercial!

Keep listening if you're unaware of Mr. Dodson, but with a successful single that has gotten 35,000 YouTube hits so far and his own Halloween costume, you should really know this guy already.

The Sex Offender Tracker app is available for the iPhone and Android for $1.99, and 5 percent of all proceeds will be donated to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (Rainn), an anti-sexual-assault organization.

The guys stick around after the break for the following batch of video voicemails:

DeeJay shows us how an 8-bit beat is made with a simple drum machine!

Mass from Phil the Mailguy hopes we have a wonderful day!

Episode 695 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more