pink

Porn stars are at CES, after all

You will be interested in the fact that, last night, Lexi Belle was walking around with an iPad on her chest encouraging people to press it and guess which was her real chest on the screen.

I was interested in the fact that Allison Vivas, CEO of Pink Visual, told me this: "This generation of girls aged 18 to 22 is the first that doesn't think porn is something dirty that their boyfriends do behind their backs."

You will be interested to learn that Alexis Texas and Kirsten Price were there. (The "you" I am … Read more

Should phones be gender-neutral?

I don't hate girly things. Shiny, pink objects actually excite me, but sometimes the marketing of gadgets to women takes the meat out of a product.

I've been oohing and aahing over the HTC Rhyme because it's so hot and sexy, but geez. I was so distracted by the gorgeous purple color that I didn't even notice what operating system was installed or why its processor is not as powerful as the HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio--another recently released HTC Android phone.

The Rhyme has a 1GHz processor, while the Sensation XE has 1.5GHz, dual core. Say what?! Women like dual-core processors, too. Ahem!

And don't even get me started about video recording--780p versus 1080p.

One look at the Sensation XE and it's clear that it's a man's phone. (OK, and goth girls too--don't hate me.)

All this made me think: Should gadgets be gender-neutral? And for argument's sake, if gadgets are going to have to be gender-specific (like pants and shoes), how different should the hardware be? Heck, the only reason pants and shoes are designed with gender in mind is because our bodies are made differently. That's a fact. But when it comes to technology and our use of mobile devices, are women that much different than men? … Read more

The 404 905: Where we go twice as high with Bridget Carey (podcast)

Bridget Carey makes her first appearance on CNET TV today. She's the host of an upcoming daily tech news show on CNET called Checked In, so be sure to follow her on Twitter so you don't miss the first episode.

She'll help us out with our story rundown today and gives her take on LeVar Burton bringing back "Reading Rainbow" as an iPad app, an LA film studio constructing an underground "post-apocalyptic" fortress, and the resurgence of AOL e-mail addresses as a pre-Internet status symbol.

The 404 Digest for Episode 905

"Reading Rainbow" to be rebooted for iPad. LA porn studio begins construction on "post-apocalyptic" underground bunker. AOL e-mail as status symbol? Follow Bridget Carey on Twitter. The 404's daily bathroom break: Justin and Jeff's "Reading Rainbow"/Husky Dance Mash-up.

Episode 905 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Pink Panther auto and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang replica headed for online auction Sept. 4

The original Pink Panther car and a replica of the "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" car will be featured in an online auction from from a U.K. auction house beginning at noon on Sept. 4, and running through 1 p.m Oct. 14.

The Panthermobile was created for "The Pink Panther Show," which ran from 1969 to 1976 on NBC.

According to auction house, Robson Kay, the car was the brainchild of Hollywood designer Jay Ohrberg, who is best known for creating memorable small- and big-screen vehicles such as K.I.T.T. from "Knight … Read more

Behind the scenes at Abbey Road Studios

LONDON--After spending a day on a behind-the-scenes tour of Abbey Road Studios, it's hard to know which great anecdote to start a story with.

It could be hearing about how, just a few days ago, a studio rehearsal session was interrupted by the sound from another studio of someone pounding out The Beatles' "Lady Madonna" on the very piano used in the original song and that person turning out to be Paul McCartney. Or perhaps it was walking through a random hallway and having my host point out how a four-track recorder placed unceremoniously against a wall … Read more

Bling bike: Harley gets 10,000 Swarovski crystals

"The Wild One" would have been a very different movie if Marlon Brando had ridden into town on Jodi Johnson's customized 2004 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It's hard to fear a biker sporting a ride with pink flames and 10,000 Swarovski crystals. It's just as hard to be brooding and moody when you're looking at one.

Johnson is the cover rider for the April issue of the Thunder Roads Michigan motorcycle magazine. "Every girl needs a little sparkle in her life," Johnson writes in the magazine. I can attest to the truth in that. Most gals don't take it as literally as hand-applying thousands of crystals to a machine that's more closely associated with leather and bar brawls than Beyonce's Swarovski-encrusted microphone.

Johnson describes her style as "J-Bling." She started with motorcycle helmets, but every hobbyist yearns for bigger and better things. She celebrated the recent achievement of earning her motorcycle license by going all Liberace on her ride.

As we know, it's hard to stop the spread of Swarovski crystals once it has started. Everything from the front windscreen down along the tail pipes to the license plate holder has been emblazoned with little gems of happiness. I can hear Jon Bon Jovi singing in my head, "I'm a cowboy. On a steel unicorn I ride. And I'm wanted... dead or alive."

Unlike actual unicorns, you can see Johnson's sparkly creation in person at the Giant Motorcycle Swap Meet in Michigan on April 17. In summary: wheels, a pink paint job, and crystals. I would do this to my Prius in a heartbeat, if I didn't think it would negatively affect my gas mileage.

(Via Luxury Launches) … Read more

Porn studio's antipiracy plan rejects mass lawsuits

"I'm not of the mind that someone who pirates one piece of content is never going to purchase another piece of content."

That statement was made a couple of months ago by Quentin Boyer, a spokesman for adult-film company Pink Visual. Los Angeles-based Pink Visual has eschewed filing copyright suits against alleged film pirates in the hope that it can strike some kind of balance in a world where unauthorized digital photos, books, movies, and music are so easily passed around the Internet.

This year, a growing number of porn studios, including such top triple-x filmmakers as … Read more

Porn studio could teach Apple, Google about cloud

Home video innovations always seem to lead back to porn.

The fingerprints of the adult-film industry can be found on the development of VHS and Blu-ray disc. Soon, the sector may teach us about the cloud.

Pink Visual, a porn studio with a history of embracing new technologies, appears to be among the first filmmakers in the United States to offer the kind of streaming-video features that Apple and Google were said to be considering last year.

Instead of storing digital movies they own on computer hard drives, Pink Visual customers will be able to store clips they buy from … Read more

The 404 674: Where we're giving out Pink Kisses (podcast)

Would you pay $30 to screen a new-release movie on your television at home? Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Walt Disney are all in talks with cable TV networks to offer wide-release movies streamed to your TV, so you won't have to wait the three months for titles to show up on demand or on Netflix.

Cable providers like Comcast are already testing this service, but Disney also has plans to stream films on Web-connected gaming devices like the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, with movies ranging from $20 to $30, depending on consumer interest. The services look to solve Hollywood's recent decline in DVD movie purchases in the face of online piracy.

Last year, physical disc sales dropped 13 percent over the previous year's sales. Although there's no word yet on when companies will officially release the solution, won't this just open up self-pirating to anyone with a living room TV and a HD Flip video camera?

In case today's show title spawned dirty thoughts in your head, Pink Kisses is really just a paid service that helps newly single women get through a rough breakup. The Texas-based company offers clients a variety of chocolates, personalized text messages, e-mails, flowers, and even virtual gifts to help women set new goals for their lives and forget about the man (or woman) that broke their heart.

Prices range from affordable all the way up to an unbelievable $272 services that offers three days of encouraging text messages, two "life coaching session," flowers, and "better than sex" truffles. It sounds kind of depressing until you consider how simple the NSFW male equivalent of Pink Kisses would be.

We're running out of call backs and voice mails, so there's no Calls From the Public Segment today. Give us a ring at 1-866-404-CNET and say "This is ____ from ____, and you're listening to The 404, the show where ___insert random comment here___." If it meets Jeff's standards, he'll play it on the show, so make it good!

Episode 674 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more