governor

The 404 690: Where rent is too damn high (podcast)

We couldn't have said it better ourselves: Rent is Too Damn High isn't just a resounding truism for all NYers, it's also a candidate party AND a slogan created by NY governor hopeful Jimmy McMillan. At last night's NY gubernatorial debate, McMillan looked and sounded more like an SNL skit than a serious cry for change.

Regardless, we can definitely see this guy getting his own TV show, or at least a dedicated segment on the next Autotune the News video. Despite his karate expertise, he won't likely get our vote--not because we don't trust the guy, more due to all the GIFs on his "Web site."

"Man accidentally impregnates wife after losing Apple iPod" is a deceiving headline, but that's exactly what happened to 28-year-old Doug Wilson when he forgot to look at an iPod app pre-coitus that explained the details of the "rhythm method" (Google it) for contraception. Checking your phone before getting down isn't very romantic, although it does sound like something Wilson would do, so don't skip this segment or you might end up with a baby in beta.

Despite Steve Jobs' surprise announcement at yesterday's Apple earnings call that there will not be a 7-inch iPad, we're still waiting with open wallets for the next generation to come out. On the other hand, nasty news about the amount of germs on the average American's touch screen might put that purchase off for awhile.

According to a British study, cell phones have 18 TIMES the germs of a public toilet seat handle. Add that to the list of other filthy objects we touch on a daily basis, including elevator buttons, door handles, and money, and it's only a matter of time before Apple debuts its own line of sanitary gloves to use with all its touch screen devices--blech!

After a quick review of "Jackass 3D" by yours truly, we discuss whether or not Mark Zuckberg learning Chinese will help get Facebook back into the country's list of unblocked sites. Apparently the Facebook founder has set a personal challenge to learn the language one-hour per day, in an effort to understand the "language, the culture, and the mind set" of a country that has 420 million active Internet users. Tune in to hear Wilsons' personal experience with Web censorship in China, and what roadblocks Zuckerberg can expect to face.

Episode 690 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Guvs support Oprah's 'No Phone Zone Day'

Oprah Winfrey, who's famous for giving away cars to audience members, is now promoting driver safety by making cars a "No Phone Zone."

The Governors Highway Safety Association, and its member state highway safety agencies, today announced it is joining forces with Winfrey and Harpo Studios to fight distracted driving during "No Phone Zone Day" on Friday, April 30, 2010.

Since January 2010, Winfrey has been promoting a ban on cell phone use while driving--especially texting.

Currently the states that have banned texting while driving include: California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, … Read more

Why is eBay logo in Whitman ad?

You know when something doesn't seem quite right to you? Like hot pants on a bloodhound? Or the chemical makeup of most human beings who live in Marin County, California?

Something didn't seem quite right to me the other day when I watched the campaign ad that purports to tell you why former eBay CEO Meg Whitman will remove some of the tarnish from the Golden State. (You know, the one that forgets to mention she's a Republican.)

It's not that this ad showed Whitman crunking in a nightclub. Or that it showed her showering admiration … Read more

California blesses open source as 'acceptable'

Among the budget cuts California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed to health care, prison, environment, and other parts of the state budget, there's one area that has a good chance of actually getting a budget increase: open source in IT.

According to a policy letter (PDF) issued last week by California CIO Teri Takai, "the use of Open Source Software (OSS) in California state government [has now been formally established] as an acceptable practice."

It's about time.

California faces a $20 billion budget deficit, a gaping void that open-source software, no matter how aggressively used by … Read more

Product management goes open source

One of the hardest parts about launching a new product is knowing what prospective customers want to buy. Sure, some companies like Apple can impose their product visions on the public, but most vendors need to fulfill pre-existing product requirements, not create new ones. For everyone but Apple open source offers a great way to perform product management.

When I was working on my juris doctorate, I signed up to be a guinea pig for Microsoft. (It's not as bad as it sounds.) The company would send people out to my house to observe me using my computer, and … Read more

The 404 376: Where Natali Del Conte can't get her pinche computer online...AL;DKFJKASF

We invite Natali Del Conte onto today's show to have some fun with us, but you should've been there in the preshow--she went berzerko! We calm her down a little bit and she talks to us about her Palin/Twitter fallout and her upcoming appearance at Comic-Con 2009. She also dispels rumors about drugs in her undergarments, and we get to a few more exciting stories on the show!

If you're wondering why there's a photo of Lara Croft to the left of this paragraph, look again: it's actually Natali Del Conte, host of Loaded on CNETTV. She'll be at this year's Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, so be sure to look for that soon! We love it when Natali comes on because we always seem to bring out the dirty side of her, or so we think.

Today's show starts off a little rough because Natali just can't seem to get the Wi-Fi in the studio to connect to her computer, so we're warning you to brace yourselves for a classic NDC scream in the beginning of today's show. After that, everything runs smoothly (as smooth as it can get on The 404).

We get to talking about Sarah Palin resigning and the ridiculous speech that sort of made sense, but didn't say anything. I think NDC put it best when she said that the former Governor of Alaska is very good at the art of "saying without saying." We all watched the speech, too, and after several 17-minute viewings, I still have no idea what the heckbeans is going on. I guess she's not so much of a Maverick after all.

The next story in today's show rundown is about the city of Boston launching a complaint-filing iPhone application. Sounds like a disaster waiting to strike, right? I'd have to agree with you. Now that all citizens of Boston have an open forum to complain, I imagine a flood of the most mundane little squawks about graffiti, potholes, smells, street lights, etc...stuff that you normally wouldn't give a **** about.

After we report on the story, we go around the table and list off a few complaints that we have with the city of New York, and if you think Boston is bad, just wait, there are a few good ones in there. Are you listening, New York?

Finally, we want to send our thanks to our pal Daniel for sending us a very kind e-mail with a picture of what he did this weekend. He writes, "Hey Guys, Wanted to let you know that I spent sometime with the 404 and a Becks this weekend. Feel free to post this to the blog or whatever. Really love your show, keep up the work and congrats on the sponsor." Now if that isn't the most ideal way to sponsor a show, I don't know WHAT is! We jest, but we seriously appreciate pictures like these, they make our day. By the way, our new iTunes album art looks GREAT in Cover Flow!

EPISODE 376 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Killer robots can be taught ethics

Adherence to the Three Laws of Robotics as put forth by Isaac Asimov has been, until now, entrusted to whoever held the joystick. That may change.

A robotics engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed an "ethical governor," which could be used to program military robots to act ethically when deciding when, and whom, to shoot or bomb.

Ron Arkin has demonstrated the system using attack UAVs and actual battlefield scenarios and maps from recent U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan. (videos)

In one scenario, a drone spots Taliban soldiers, but holds its fire because they'… Read more

Maria Shriver touts online tool for California-philes

By her own admission, Maria Shriver is not techy.

Confusing hardware for software and feeling like a fish out of water while speaking at the Adobe Max conference in San Francisco, California's first lady is seemingly more comfortable talking about education and history--anything other than technology.

Regardless, Shriver has lent her name and efforts to a rather sophisticated online educational tool for students of state history called "The California Legacy Trails." In my brief one-on-one interview with her, we talked about her inspiration for creating the program (Boston's Freedom Trail); who it's targeted for (the … Read more

The 404 176: Where we play with Duck Hunt all day long

Our surprise guest today is Bristol Palin, daughter of would-be VP Sarah Palin! We regrettably rescind our drooling over yesterday's picture of the Governess--it's fake! Today's show is chock full of Google goodness, atom smashing, motherfrakkers, and a tried and true geekout on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie! Special bonus: Senor Space Beer returns to The 404!

And now for a subject near and dear to my heart. After releasing a positively craptastic CGI effort, the folks over at Playmate Toys unofficially announced that the sequel will be a back-to-basics live-action movie! To me, this … Read more

N.Y. governor resignation puts pressure on media Web sites

News sites carrying coverage of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's resignation faced an onslaught of traffic Wednesday, but demand on the servers paled in comparison to earlier in the week when news of the sex scandal first broke.

Spitzer, who developed a reputation as a bulldog while attorney general for the state of New York, was a hot news topic on Monday, when allegations surfaced that he had hired high-priced prostitutes.

And on Wednesday, the former attorney general turned governor announced his resignation, a move that comes early in his term.

The New York Times, for example, faced a … Read more