self-destruct

Wickr (download) gained new secure sending and subsequent self-destructing powers in a big update to the encryption and security app today, perhaps not coincidentally Data Privacy Day.

There are four new features in the app. You can now send and subsequently self-destruct images and PDFs from Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box to other Wickr users, which expands the limits of the original send-and-self-destruct feature. You can also send up to three 30-second videos, up to 5 MB, per message. Audio messages, which function like voice mails, have been extended to 30 seconds long, as well.

Wickr can now connect to … Read more

RunCore introduced a new SSD this week -- aptly named InVincible -- that offers one unique feature: a self-destruct button.

Well, the special hard drive actually includes two buttons; a green clicker for intelligent destruction (software-based wiping), and a red option that literally burns and cracks the storage chips within the drive via a major surge of electricity. … Read more

CNET TV reviewer Ty Pendlebury joins in on a fun rundown to start the week. We'll chat about a proposed bill that would require marketers to put a disclaimer on doctored advertisements, self-destructing e-mails, a Sony heads-up "VR" display, and something called "nomophobia." Yeah, you probably suffer from it already.… Read more

OneShar.es can make anyone feel like a spy.

Using the Web site, you can send-self destructing messages to friends, colleagues, or anyone else you may be sending personal information to. The messages are only accessible through a unique URL, and as soon as the URL is viewed once, it is no longer valid.

Using a service like this may seem a bit gimmicky at first, and it is to an extent, but it can come in extremely handy when you want to send personal information and don't like the thought of that information sitting in some e-mail account … Read more

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

New rules in Europe prevent Internet advertisers from tracking people without permission

The next version of Apple's OS X operating system may have a do-not-track option in the built-in Safari browser

Toshiba has a new hard drive that will self destruct in the wrong hands

Google now allows you to set your own background image in Gmail

You can now control your Netflix queue with motion control in Microsot Kinect

The Nook Color is coming to Staples

The next Madden NFL game will launch August 30

Somehow we make it past the wild Tesla coil in the room to bring you an awesome (if not kind of late) show! Today we show you how to self-destruct your private data, discuss how 3D is totally lame, and why we think Jon Stewart should run for president.

Sorry for starting late today, live listeners! I think today's show made up for the tardiness, and it all starts with Little Big Planet celebrating one million user-created levels. Since the game's popular release, a level is created every 21 seconds or so, on average, which means that if you were to play all of the levels it would take 5 years to finish them all, and that's only if you're playing 24 hours a day. Wild!

I'm also very excited (big surprise!) about the rerelease of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, dubbed TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. Who can forget that classic side-scrolling beat-em-up? I logged so many hours at the local nickel arcade next to my house just sitting there with my friends feeding nickels into that machine. Those were always my favorites kinds of games, and there used to be so many titles, too, including Streets of Rage, Final Fight, Simpsons, and Sunset Riders! Ahh, the old days when you actually had to go to an arcade to play a video game...

We also complain about the recent upsurge of all things 3D and how even YouTube is jumping on the bandwagon, offering users the capability to display their 3D videos in multiple formats. Later on in the second half, we analyze Jon Stewart's role as America's Most Trusted Newscaster, according to an online poll by Time Magazine. Should we be scared that America is relying on a comedian to report the daily news? We're not questioning Stewart's credibility here--he's clearly a smart man--but we're wondering how Comedy Central will leverage such a powerful figure.

OK, I have to bring up the Wikipedia page one more time and then I'll shut up: after a brief recess following yesterday's announcement, the page is now in Wiki-limbo. We need users and 404-supportive Wikipedians to populate the page with more details about the show, the hosts, references, guests, etc...since we can't do it ourselves (no, really, we can't), feel free to insert our appearance on "Fox Strategy Room" as well as other blogs on the Internet that mention The 404, even if it's your own! Anything helps, but please remember not to edit the redirection page; only edit the content at the existing address. Thanks, everyone!

Now this is something any spy could use.

Fujitsu Labs unveiled a self-destructing USB drive Friday. It's still just a prototype, but it appears ready to solve real-world problems.

It's larger than the average 1GB USB drive, but there's also a lot more going on inside. The device has a processor and a battery. The owner of the drive has two options: the information can be automatically erased after a set time period, or if the USB drive is plugged into a non-authorized computer, the data will erase itself or the entire device will become unusable.

Fujitsu … Read more

The first self-destruction button was mildly amusing when it came out last year, and it actually served a useful purpose as a USB hub. But a miniature successor, a phone charm seen on Akihabara News, is just plain silly--all it does is flash a red light and play a recording that sounds like an explosion. Even that we could live with, but its $27 price tag is nothing short of offensive. We're tempted to buy one and use it for target practice with a .44 magnum, then post it on YouTube as an instructional video.