foot

Stinky Footboard gives your PC gaming foes agony of the feet

Snickers come easily when dealing with a product like the Stinky Footboard, to be announced later today. It has a corny name. The idea of a specialized foot-based input device for PC gaming seems spectacularly niche and nerdy.

Then you use it, and you recognize its benefits almost immediately.… Read more

The 404 at CES 2013: Where we pay tribute to Danny DeVito (podcast)

We've had some awesome guests on The 404 Show before, but nothing could have prepared us for Danny DeVito. Well, except for all the preshow preparation we did. None of that mattered though, because Mr. DeVito stole the show with a wiggle of a toe on his #trollfoot.

At the CES 2013 CNET stage, Mr. DeVito joined us to talk about filmmaking, Twitter, social media, and the story behind his Twitter profile picture. The iconic star has appeared in countless legendary films and currently plays Frank Reynolds on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."… Read more

So where will people shop today that isn't Amazon?

Today is expected to be one of the biggest days ever for online shopping, but where will people be making some of their purchases may be surprising.

According to Deepfield, which provides technology to track and analyze network performance, some of the top Internet retailers are the usual suspects, like Amazon, while some others, such as Shopify, are more unexpected.

The company conducted a large-scale study of online shopping infrastructure over the past several months, using data from its ongoing study of Internet backbone traffic.

What it has found is that Amazon, of course, dominates Internet retail. About 14 percent … Read more

SoftStep KeyWorx controller: Hands-free computing

Afraid that the excessive use of the mouse and keyboard will someday make you suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome? Maybe you should let your feet take over some of the job. And Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) has something that enables you to do exactly that.

The company announced today the SoftStep KeyWorx multitouch foot controller, which it claims is "the world's first foot-controlled digital interface." According to KMI, SoftStep "works with any computer program to speed up access, making the computer as easy to use as a car's gas and break pedals."

The new … Read more

The 404 844: Where we're all missing the point (podcast)

Your favorite snacks from the '90s, including Gushers, Fruit by the Foot, and Handi Snacks are making a comeback on today's show, and we're also talking about what happens on the Internet every 60 seconds, new top level domains, and the worst sound in the world, CONFIRMED.

We're also debuting a new Stump the Host segment today! Enjoy today's episode of The 404 Podcast!

The 404 Digest for Episode 844

What happens on the Internet every 60 seconds. ICANN approves expansion of top-level domains, .sex included. 20 snacks that will make you miss the '90s. Whining is the worst sound in the world, study confirms.

Episode 844 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS VideoRead more

Rock Band is breaking up

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook plans an announcement for Monday in which it may announce a "Gmail killer"

Viacom is selling off Harmonix, maker of Rock Band

Apple teams up with Twitter to promote its music social network, Ping

YouTube claims to have 35 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute

Walmart.com will ship for free this holiday season with no minimum purchase

Microsoft receives a patent for foot computing

Hustler releases an app for Android

Soccer dribbling and smooth space combat: iPhone apps of the week

The Apple event on Wednesday was largely about the next iteration of Mac OS X (appropriately named Lion). But an interesting development came when Steve Jobs introduced the new Mac App Store, which will become available to Snow Leopard users in about 90 days.

Much like the iTunes App Store, the Mac App Store will let you purchase Mac apps and install them quickly on your computers. And as it does with the iTunes App Store, Apple will take a 30-percent cut of the sale price, leaving developers 70 percent. But Jobs was careful to point out that the Mac App Store will not mimic the closed system of the iTunes App Store--it will simply be another option to bring apps to your Mac. But do we really believe him?

It seems to me that creating the Mac App Store is Apple's way of testing whether the market will tolerate Apple getting a piece of the action on software developed for the Mac, just like it does with iPhone apps. We can be pretty sure that several developers will submit their apps right off the bat, if for no other reason than for the exposure that an iTunes-like experience can provide. But what Apple might be banking on is that once the software submissions gain momentum, the larger players may no longer have a choice but to submit their software to the new system. Am I just being paranoid?

While we certainly can't be sure what Apple hopes to achieve with the Mac App Store, this sort of soft launch makes me think there's something more going on here. Let me know what you think in the comments.

This week's apps include a 3D third-person soccer game and a new arcade space flier with a fun single-player mode.… Read more

Fighting foot funk one nanosheet at a time

Researchers in Shanghai have engineered super-thin sheets of graphene oxide paper that could be used as antibacterial material in shoes, bandages, and food packaging.

That's right. We mortal humans have discovered a kind of material that actually fights disease-causing bacteria, thereby opening a door into an unknown world of freakishly fresh food and feet.

As Chunhai Fan, Qing Huang, and colleagues at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics explain in their report in the monthly journal ACS Nano, graphene is a material first discovered in 2004 by the Russian physicist Andre Geim (also responsible for the development of gecko tape). … Read more

Gadgettes 146: The Hot Topic Episode

Two months worth of Twilight talk has resulted in this homage that we lovingly refer to as "goth-lite." Take a walk on the dark side with the Gadgettes and special guest Natali Del Conte.

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EPISODE 146

Skull phone shows just how wild and crazy you are

Report: U.S. military developing robots that eat human flesh

Gory intercom system a savagely funny concept

Meet the black Wii

iKey's AK-39 wearable keyboard is about as weapon-like as it sounds

Sense and Sensibility and Sea MonstersRead more

Worry-free screwing off with the press of a button

Ever had one of those days where you're just not motivated to get any work done? You're sitting there with a ton of projects due, but you just can't pull yourself away from whatever game you're trying to run on your work computer.

Now, I could say that you should probably get your priorities straight and start taking your job more seriously, but screw that. No, you should own the half-assed effort you're putting into your career.

Just don't get caught. The best way to not get caught is to not screw off. The … Read more