theories

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Just say no: Polaroid returns with an instant camera shaped like...the Instagram icon.

- "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme song prompts school lockdown.

- You should watch "Room 237," a fan theory documentary about "The Shining."

- 50 fan theories that will blow your mind, and the Subreddit that goes with it.… Read more

"The Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco doesn't mind making a few extra dollars endorsing products. Tweeting an ad to her 1.2 million Twitter followers is an easy way to pick up some spare change. Just as long as she isn't tweeting at Dish Network's behest about its ad-skipping Hopper DVR.

As first reported by The Wrap, Cuoco, or her representatives, deleted the following tweet after The Wrap inquired about it: "Amazing! Watching live TV anywhere on the #Hopper looks pretty awesome! Now where can I find a tiny beer? #ad."

Dish … Read more

Some engineers have never dated a real person.

They've tried to, but it's hard for them to appreciate that real people don't necessarily use data to make decisions -- especially when it comes to love.

Perhaps their most embarrassing moments come when they try to mimic what non-engineers do in order to make themselves more attractive.

This mirrors some of the little issues that the Google brand has had over the years in becoming, well, human.

When you've spent you life believing that facts are everything, it's hard to imagine that people might prefer, oh, … Read more

A good hearty conspiracy theory can shine a sharp light on two of humanity's most enduring traits.

One, of course, is humanity's boundless imagination. The other is humanity's essential suspicion of humanity.

So while you might be deeply immersed in Bill Nye's explanation of the Russian meteorite, those with darker sensibilities have filled the Web with their fears and hauntings about the phenomenon.

There are few nations with greater awareness of dark sensibilities than Russia. The fact that there seems to be little evidence of meteorite fragments on the ground has encouraged some Russians to offer their own suspicions.… Read more

It's looking like the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" may become a reality series, of sorts.

Jim Parsons, one of the show's geek protagonists, is working on creating a television series that profiles real-life young geniuses, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series will be based on a YouTube show by the THNKR channel called "Prodigies."

"I knew within a few minutes of viewing my first episode of 'Prodigies' that I wanted to be a part of the team bringing the digital series to a wider audience via television. Spending time with … Read more

Bazinga! Scientist Sheldon Cooper, a character on the TV show "The Big Bang Theory," already has two Ph.Ds and an IQ of 187. But now he also has a bee dedicated to him.

A new species of the Brazilian orchid bee -- dubbed Euglossa bazinga -- has been named after Dr. Cooper's catchphrase "Bazinga."

On CBS' TV series (disclosure: CBS is CNET's parent company), Cooper, played by actor Jim Parsons, uses the word after he pulls a trick on someone. Brazilian biologist Andre Nemesio from the Universidade Federal de Uberlandia recently discovered a new bee species that he thinks fits the "bazinga" bill. Because the new species so closely resembles the Euglossa ignita, a more common Western Brazilian orchid bee, it wasn't recognized as a separate species -- therefore it "tricked" scientists for years. … Read more

The position of guest star can sometimes be abused by sitcoms.

They roll out a movie star for one or two episodes in order to boost ratings, before that star departs, leaving a pitiful normalcy behind.

When it comes to "Big Bang Theory," however, the term "star" enjoys a more celestial quality.

So I know that many will feel a heavenward surge to learn that Stephen Hawking--he of the extremely large brain and extreme suspicion of the goodness of aliens--will be making a guest appearance on the show.

My voracious reading of Entertainment Weekly offered … Read more

It's another confusing day on Google.com, with a foreign-looking (for most of us) equation greeting visitors to the search engine's front page. Wednesday's Google doodle is a tribute to mathematician Pierre de Fermat on his 410th birthday.

de Fermat spent most of his life working as a lawyer, but became the father of modern number theory in his spare time. Apparently the lack of e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter in 17th century France allowed the smartypantses of the era to be a lot more productive.

The equation in Google's doodle, x^n + y^n = z^n, … Read more

Motorola has added three new phones to Boost Mobile's offerings today with the Motorola Clutch + i475, the Motorola Theory, and the Motorola i412.

The Clutch +i475 is an update to the Motorola Clutch from a couple years ago. The new Clutch has a larger display while still maintaining that candy bar design with a full QWERTY keyboard. Features appear to be mostly the same. They include push-to-talk, GPS, Bluetooth, threaded messaging, e-mail and Web, and unfortunately, a VGA camera.

The Theory is another candy bar QWERTY phone, but it lacks push-to-talk. It has a slightly better 1.3-megapixel camera. … Read more