the 404

The 404 Show Special: Jay Chandrasekhar and Kevin Heffernan

The 404's Jeff Bakalar had a chance to sit down with Jay Chandrasekhar and Kevin Heffernan, two of the members of the comedy group Broken Lizard (Super Troopers, Beerfest). The duo has a new film out called "The Babymakers" in select theaters, iTunes, and on-demand August 3rd.

In addition to a discussion about "The Babymakers," Jay and Kevin talk to Jeff about a sequel to "Super Troopers," getting "Potfest" off the ground, and what else is in store for Broken Lizard.… Read more

Crazy, sexy, cool cosplay at San Diego Comic-Con

Among all the sights to see at Comic-Con in San Diego this year (David Hasselhoff, "Iron Man 3," Lucy Liu), the best attraction is always the creative cosplay.

Each year, hundreds of geeks spend months preparing for the show, showing off their DIY ethic using everything from electronics to cardboard to Mom's own ironing board.

Click through the slideshow below for The 404's favorite costumes from Comic-Con 2012, and check out our wrap-up episode for more coverage.

Marty McFly and Mattel lend a hoverboard to The 404

The hoverboard floated onto the big screen in "Back to the Future II" and broke the hearts of geeks worldwide when director Robert Zemeckis announced that the technology would not be available until the year 2015. Decades later, we're all still waiting for power laces, hydrator machines, power laces, and a real hoverboard, but Mattel was on-hand at Comic-Con 2012 to show off the next best thing: a 1:1 scale replica of the original hover board ridden by Marty McFly.

While it's still unacceptable that the thing doesn't actually glide through the air (don't even think about water), the prop retains the exact look and feel of the real thing, replete with a scooter handle hole, Velcro ankle strap, motion sensors, and "whooshing" sound effects pulled directly from the movies.… Read more

The 404 and The Walking Dead Escape

Without a doubt the highlight of our trip to Comic-Con was The Walking Dead Escape takeover of Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres.

Spanning across multiple levels of the stadium, the 45-minute obstacle course led us through a zombie-filled apocalyptic simulation where "survivors" must outrun the living dead or become infected themselves.

This event was no joke. We were told to stretch out before, wear gym clothes, and be sure to not leave anyone behind. Armed with our head- and chest-mounted GoPros, we documented the entire experience. Of course, not everyone could survive. So who made … Read more

The 404 1,087: Where we talk about it without ruining it (podcast)

With Justin Yu still under the weather, The 404 Show once again experiments with Joe Kaminski filling in. We consider ourselves very lucky to have a guest with super-powers on our program. The first power is his knack for going on obscenely long tangents about the most meaningless of topics. The second is the ability to give spoiler-free movie reviews, more specifically of The Amazing Spiderman, which was just released.

Next it's off to a discussion on Android and the fact that only 10-percent of those devices have Ice Cream Sandwich running on them. What's even more confusing is that Jelly Bean (ICS' successor) was just released last week. It's arguably the most annoying Android reality, so we weigh its pros and cons.

Finally, we touch on EA's recent statement that the company will soon be distributing games 100-percent digitally. This shouldn't be much of a surprise, since EA already goes out of the way to combat used game sales (see EA Online Pass).

But perhaps the most exciting news of the day is the introduction of the official 404 trucker hat (pictured above). These bad boys will be available should you come and hang out with us at ComicCon 2012. All the info you need is here. We also highly recommend participating on CNET's ComicCon Twitter Contest for your chance to win a game console. … Read more

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

The 404 1,067: Where tweets look better from behind (podcast)

Years from now, when our children are grown, we'll tell them we were all online when a single Web site changed the way we use the Internet. Unfortunately, Chatroulette stumbled after racking up more than a million users thanks to a certain part of the male anatomy, but Napster co-founders Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning have teamed up again for a video-chat pivot called Airtime.

Though it's not ready for deployment yet, Airtime is already getting support from celebrities like Jim Carrey, Alicia Keys, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus who can't wait to start a random conversation with a Facebook user online. The service is different from Chatroulette in that it actually protects the eyeballs of its users from "vulgar behavior, sexually suggestive behavior, violence, and animal cruelty". In other words, nobody associated with The 404 will receive an beta invite.… Read more

The 404 1,049: Where so, it's come to this (podcast)

Here's another reason not to blow your cash on those Beats by Dr. Dre headphones: the NYPD is reporting that the headphones have become the new top target for thieves based on their $500 resale value. With dozens of Beats heists occurring over the last four months alone, your best bet is to avoid the red "b" altogether and invest in a better pair of cans.… Read more