the 404 podcast

Welcome to another Yuletide episode from The 404 Podcast! We'll be publishing these podcasts, videos, and rerun episodes all the way up until we return on January 10 for a block of live shows from CES in Las Vegas!

It's that time of the year again: a time to look back at 2011 for its gaming prowess, to pay tribute to those elite pieces of electronic interactive entertainment that reside in a league all by themselves. Join Jeff Bakalar and guest Russ Frushtick for a rundown of the best games of the year.… Read more

Last year we talked about Back to the Future, Hackers, and the Fifth Element, but this year's batch of movies has a special place in the hearts of nerds everywhere.

To help us out today, Jeff and I invite our buddy Russ Frushtick aka The Fishstick into the studio to chat nostalgic about Jurassic Park, True Lies, and Ghostbusters!… Read more

We asked CNN technology writer Mark Milian to come into the studio today to wrap up the last show of the year, and he surprises us with Peter Ha from The Daily in tow!

Our two favorite guests join us for a discussion about the tech trends of 2011 ("hacking," privacy, mobile OS wars, Tumblr, and Reddit), and we'll also take a look at Mark's new book, Letters to Steve: Inside the E-Mail Inbox of Apple's Steve Jobs.

It's a collection of e-mails sent from the legend himself that shows his dedication to customer service and Apple fans. Some of them aren't so nice, though, as Mark tells us a few stories about his lesser-known messages.

I know you're probably super upset that this is the last episode of the year, but we'll be publishing exclusive Yuletide and Throwback episodes throughout the break, all the way up until we start our block of CES shows, live from the CNET stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center!

Thanks to everyone who helped us out this year--too many names to list, but we wouldn't be here without all our awesome guests, fans, moderators, producers, callers, and co-workers!… Read more

CNET Audiophiliac and general audio diva Steve "Sphere" Guttenberg is back on The 404 Podcast for his last appearance this year, and as usual he brings a list of talking points, like a kooky theory on how to curb population control, and when the iPad will eventually overtake the big screen TV.

Jeff and the official 404 graphic designer Blake Stevenson have also partnered together for Crave's first weekly comic strip "Low Latency,"and a big congratulations goes out to our video voice mail contest winners! Check out the videos below:… Read more

CNET's newest TV editor, Ty Pendlebury, joins us on today's episode for a short lesson in Australian holidays and colloquialisms!

Today we're talking about another billionaire bitten by the space travel bug, even though Jeff seems reluctant to travel in outer space.

We'll also bug Ty to tell us why the FCC doesn't care about eardrums, and he'll join us throughout the second half where we'll premiere a new geek speed-dating show on TLC.

Also, be sure to tune in tomorrow to hear us announce the winners of Target's video voice mail competition. Two winners will get their choice of an Xbox 360/Kinect Bundle or an iPad 2!… Read more

Joseph Kaminski fills in for Wilson again on today's 404 podcast to mediate a most divisive argument: "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" vs. "Dumb and Dumber": who did it better?

We'll also wag a finger at Sony for pushing the U.S. release date back to February 2012, show off a YouTube educational feature guaranteed to upset a ton of schoolkids, and discuss a couple scientists claiming they're getting very close to Matrix-style instant learning.… Read more

It's our last week of 404 podcasts for 2011! We'll be back in the new year for a round of LIVE CES COVERAGE, but Wilson's not feeling well today so Joseph Kaminski fills in for an update on kid tech.

This year's most-wanted gift is the LeapFrog LeapPad, a junior tablet with games, e-books, and apps that helps kids learn...and also frees up the TV so Dad can watch the game.… Read more

To wrap up the penultimate week (for the year) of the 404 Podcast, we're running through Apple's year in iTunes--from the best-selling apps to the most-downloaded movie online.

We'll also tell you about a woman who made $1,200 exploiting dudes on Match.com, give you a tour of Amazon's massive Costconian warehouse in Seattle, and question the artistic merits of photo-filtering apps like Instagram.… Read more

AT&T earns the "worst carrier in the world" award for the second year in a row, so it's a good thing I just signed up for two more years of service with this new iPhone 4S.

According to Consumer Reports, prepaid phone subscribers are actually the most satisfied with their service, but that's probably because their burner phones don't have the Internet access necessary to lodge a complaint.

On today's show, we'll look at how the other carriers compare to AT&T, dispel rumors of Shigeru Miyamoto's departure from Nintendo, put in our our bid for RickPerry.com, Jeff demonstrates My Xbox Live for the iPad, and we'll show some incredible listener-submitted contest submission videos!… Read more