cosplay

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Katie interviews DC Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee at New York Comic Con.

- Check out Katie's new app Splatrpult, available today for a free download.

- The New Yorker traces emojis back to the beginning.

- Real apples branded with Apple's logo.… Read more

In the geek world, cosplay is an art form. Sometimes it's just masks and colorful spandex. Sometimes it's elevated to a high level. Consider Anastasiya Shpagina, a 19-year-old Ukrainian whom some might call a goddess among cosplayers.

Shpagina is obsessed with anime. She's so obsessed, she turns herself into a real-life anime character, complete with giant eyes and a teensy body. She probably has a secret stash of Ramune, too. … Read more

People like to make statements about themselves.

Sometimes, they use words. Sometimes they dress themselves in a manner that, well, says something.

So if you saw a man with wires and gadgets strapped all over him, what statement do you think he'd be making? That he's a cool, original, quirky, gadgety dude? Or that he's about to wander into the local movie theater and bomb the place?

This was the dilemma faced by ordinary mortals in the Discover Mills Mall in Gwinnett County, Ga.

As WSB-TV describes it, 30-year-old Daniel Tudela wandered into the mall and headed … Read more

So you've got your cat ears, your cat suit, and everything else you need to transition to another species. What's missing? A thought-controlled robot tail, of course.

From Neurowear, the makers of Necomimi robot cat ears, comes this concept for a mechanical tail that moves according to the user's emotional state. There's a brainwave-reading sensor, also used in Necomimi, that can be hidden under your hat.

As seen in the ridiculous vid below, your tail will wag when you see a bunch of pretty flowers, or an attractive Frisbee player in the park.

And, no doubt, fresh kitty litter. … Read more

One of the joys of playing video games is breaking the laws of physics and playing a character that can move, fly, jump, and roll in ways you could never to do in real life... unless you happen to be a parkour daredevil.

YouTube filmmaker Devin Graham created a real-life Assassin's Creed sequence full of jumps, climbs, and rolls. There's one shot that features visual effects, but the video is pretty much all human-powered awesomeness. … Read more

Among all the sights to see at Comic-Con in San Diego this year (David Hasselhoff, "Iron Man 3," Lucy Liu), the best attraction is always the creative cosplay.

Each year, hundreds of geeks spend months preparing for the show, showing off their DIY ethic using everything from electronics to cardboard to Mom's own ironing board.

Click through the slideshow below for The 404's favorite costumes from Comic-Con 2012, and check out our wrap-up episode for more coverage.

We're back from San Diego Comic-Con 2012 with a wrap-up show of everything we saw at the show. This being our first year, it quickly became obvious that we missed the first rule of Comic-Con: leave your civilian clothes at home!… Read more

Who knew pants could be so controversial? The issue of whether or not Wonder Woman should wear pants has heated up the comic book community in the past. Photographer Adam Jay of SuperHero Photography is having it both ways.

Jay's recent photo shoot features a reimagined Wonder Woman costume that has managed not to offend anybody's comic book geek sensibilities. The costumes were built by Hermes Terceiro and modeled by Sarah Scott (warning: scantily clad pole-dancing photo ahead).

The updated take on the look includes Wonder Woman's classic red, blue, and gold ensemble, but punches it up with a tough, modern feel to the wardrobe.… Read more

There are few words to describe people that don't know that the movie "Titanic" was actually based on a real Titanic, and even fewer to describe the bravado in tweeting about that ignorance, but Jeff musters a few adjectives.

On today's episode, we'll cover the $1 billion Instagram buyout and what you can expect to change once Facebook takes over, all four major U.S. wireless carriers joining forces to create a "lost my phone" database, smart touch-screen displays replacing payphones in New York City, and the shaky future of Best Buy and its former CEO.… Read more