gizmodo

The 404 1,189: Where we rubber band your chopsticks (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- What it's like to experience new technology after 25 years in jail.

- Ante up that $100 if you want to message Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

- Why the next big DJ will be an algorithm.

- Enough with the social-media "gurus," "ninjas," "masters," and "mavens."… Read more

The 404 1,178: Where we engineer great thoughts (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- From Peter Ha: What it was like launching The Daily.

- The importance of album track order in the Digital Age.

- Psy estimated to receive only $61,000 from Korean digital sales revenue for "Gangnam Style."

- Pizza Hut gives back with pizza-scented perfume.

- Verizon patents DVR box with camera in it.

- PA High School's "Gangnam Style" parody dubbed "Worst Video on the Entire Internet."… Read more

Antivirus pioneer McAfee sought for questioning in murder case

John McAfee, who founded the antivirus software giant named after him, is wanted for questioning by police in Belize who are investigating the murder of a 52-year-old man, CBS reported today.

According to the report, police are searching for the killer of Gregory Viant Faull, an American expat. Gizmodo reported earlier today that McAfee was wanted for the crime, but CBS, quoting Rafael Martinez, spokesman for the Belize National Security Ministry, said it would be incorrect to call McAfee a suspect at this time.

Police in Belize say Faull, a general contractor and restaurant owner from Florida, was shot Saturday … Read more

New York Web sites remain offline following Sandy

Hurricane Sandy may have passed the Mid-Atlantic region, but its effects are still being felt online.

The storm knocked out power and caused severe flooding across the Northeastern United States. New York City power companies pulled the plug on parts of lower Manhattan yesterday, shutting down Web sites without redundant servers. Many of those data centers remained down today, and power provider Con Edison said power likely won't be restored to Manhattan for about four days.

Those in Bk and Manhattan should have power back w/in 4 days. All others in areas served by overhead lines will take … Read more

NYC data centers hit by Hurricane Sandy

Power outages caused by Hurricane Sandy show why it's good to have a duplicate Web server located somewhere far away from New York City right now.

The local power company, Consolidated Edison shut down power to portions of lower Manhattan this evening in an effort to prevent damage to underground equipment.

That coincided with when Gawker.com and Gizmodo.com went offline. In a Twitter update at 4:21 p.m. PT, Gizmodo said: "We'll be back soon! There was a data center battery failure after the power went down in Lower Manhattan. Generators powering up." … Read more

Apple responds to journalist's iCloud hack

After former Gizmodo reporter Mat Honan's entire digital presence was hacked via a loophole in AppleCare, Apple now says it is looking into how users can reset their account passwords to ensure that their data is protected.

It all began when Honan took to his Tumblr blog on Friday, detailing the events that led to his online life being sabotaged -- with his Google and Twitter accounts being deleted and his MacBook, iPad, and iPhone being wiped clean. He blamed an AppleCare technician for allowing his accounts to be hacked, as well as the tech blog's official feed.… Read more

Journalist blames Apple tech for allowing iCloud hack

Former Gizmodo reporter Mat Honan is blaming an AppleCare technician for allowing his personal e-mail and Twitter accounts to be hacked, as well as the tech blog's official feed.

The Gizmodo breach, apparently perpetrated by a person or group of people calling themselves Clan W3, was brief but resulted in racist and offensive tweets being sent to the tech blog's 415,000 followers on Friday. Gizmodo initially blamed its former reporter for the tweets and quickly regained control of its account.

But Honan, who currently works for Wired, was not so fortunate. He described in a blog post … Read more

Gizmodo sees Twitter account hacked

A former Gizmodo employee had his Twitter account breached, and the hackers then used it to crack the gadget site's Twitter account and send out racist tweets yesterday. Talk about a bad day. Emil Protalinski at CNET sister site ZDNet has the story.

The 404 1,086: Where we left our dreams in a cab (podcast)

Filling in for a Justin Yu who thinks his air conditioner got him sick is the wild card Joey Kaminksi, a man who can apparently talk about -- in painfully great detail -- tipping etiquette in and around New York City. We love Joey for his tangential speaking habits, but also because he lends us his unique skew on the important matters of the day -- that and the fact that he brought us a Google Nexus 7 tablet for us to play with.

Do you have a game plan if you ever left your phone behind in a cab? Our producer Ariel Nunez tells the tale of such a predicament. Does Ariel get the phone back? Or is he forced to plop down $500 on a new device in addition to non-defective shorts?

The 404 crew also dishes out the dirt that saw multiple Web sites and services go down over the weekend including enormous time-suckers Netflix, Instagram, and Pinterest. How did planet Earth go 45 minutes without commenting on a sepia-filtered photo of your dessert? Find out inside!

Make sure you start your holiday week on the right foot by listening to these stories and so much more on today's show! … Read more