zach

Pulling back from open source hardware, MakerBot angers some adherents

You likely know MakerBot Industries as the poster child for the new era of 3D-printing. You might not know that, until last week, the company and its CEO, Bre Pettis, were considered shining lights in the open-source hardware movement.

Think of open-source hardware, OSHW, as the physical equivalent of open source software. The Open Source Hardware Association, founded just this past March, offers an extended definition for OSHW. Its Statement of Principles sums things up thusly:

Open source hardware is hardware whose design is made publicly available so that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the design or … Read more

The 404 1,027: Where every Friday should be this good (podcast)

Our special guest today is CNETer Zach W., but longtime 404 listeners may recognize him as the voice behind Tina Schwartz, our weekly visitor on Tuna Tuesdays. He joins us today as our ad-hoc social correspondent with a firsthand account of Grouper, a newish startup that uses Facebook to set up a group blind date between two groups of friends: three guys and three girls.

Zach takes us through the sign-up process, the criteria that he chooses for his wingmen, and the actual experience of going online to meet someone offline. If you've ever been curious about what goes on during an online date, definitely check out today's episode of The 404.… Read more

Security duo finds another pair of vulnerabilities in Android

Remember the duo who released an Angry Birds spoof application last fall in effort to highlight some of Android's vulnerabilities? If so, perhaps you also recall hearing that Google had to implement the remote kill feature in Android about the same time. Well, those guys are back and, judging by their latest finding, things still don't look to be all that secure.

A quick primer: Jon Oberheide and Zach Lanier put an app in the Android Market back in November 2010 that was a proof-of-concept that malicious developers could install additional applications without a user's knowledge. Google … Read more

The 404 831: Where Tupac Shakur will not cameo in 'The Hangover 3' (podcast)

We're back from the holiday weekend and we all had a good time--until "The Hangover 2" happened. The movie itself wasn't as awful as expected, so tune into a spoiler-free review on today's episode before you rush out and give Zach Galifianakis another $14 bucks.

The 404 Digest for Episode 831

PBS Hacked, claims 'Tupac alive' in New Zealand. " Literally Unbelievable" is a blog dedicated to Facebook posts that don't know The Onion is satirical. It's official: iOS 5, OS X Lion, and iCloud. Jeff show and tell: LightDims.

Episode 831 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Why did Dealbreaker freelancer have reader info?

Dealbreaker, a self-described "Wall Street tabloid," is scrambling to answer questions Monday about why it would give a freelancer--especially one with a history of questionable conduct--access to readers' personal information.

Zachery Kouwe, the former New York Times reporter who resigned in February after acknowledging he plagiarized material from competing publications, apparently tried to intimidate readers who made critical comments about his stories by informing them he knew where they worked, according to a report in Reuters.

Managers at Dealbreaker, owned by Breaking Media, told Reuters that they severed ties with Kouwe on Thursday, after learning that he "… Read more

The iPhone app that reveals your Neanderthal self

Some people are closer, when it comes to the physical aspect, to their ancestors than others.

I know several college students, for example, who are, without question, the spitting image of the cavemen from the Geico commercials. Not only do they eschew Head, Shoulders, Arm and Hammer, but their arms hang disturbingly close to the ground when they try to make their way from the organic sandwich shop to the home office of their spiritual healer.

However, others, especially in the financial sector, thought they might have retained many prehistoric habits, have lost their original Neanderthal visages. The Smithsonian Institution … Read more

The 404 532: Where we put the Oscars in a 'Hurt Locker' (podcast)

Today's episode of The 404 Podcast deals with a lot of movies, which makes sense after last night's utterly forgettable Academy Awards ceremony, or so Wilson claims, because he forgot to watch.

The awards committee certainly wasn't lacking a sense of irony after selecting Sandra Bullock for the best female performance in "The Blind Side." The actress also won the Razzie for worst female actor in "All About Steve." Audience members were also surprised to see "Avatar" lose the best picture award to "The Hurt Locker," despite the questionable activity of one of its producers prior to the event. It's also interesting to note how the same movies in the best picture category ranked on BitTorrent, with "District 9" earning the most at more than 12 million downloads since its DVD-quality release last September.

Tim Burton's adaption of "Alice in Wonderland" came out last weekend, and Jeff went to check it out with his fiancee, who festively dressed up as Alice for the showing. Don't get your hopes up though; Jeff sadly left his White Rabbit costume at the dry cleaners. I won't spoil Jeff's personal review of the movie, but let's just say that 91 other movie-goers on Rotten Tomatoes agree with him.

No matter what you think of AIW, we can all agree that Zach Snyder's new movie "Legend of the Guardians" will win next year's Oscar for best comedy. Based on the novel "Guardians of Ga'Hoole," the teaser implies that the movie is about talking owls...fighting in the sky...wearing Elven face masks. Check out these screenshots and join us as we purchase advanced screening tickets live on the show.

All these stories plus some a near-expired batch of Calls From the Public and a news piece about your grandmother DJing Parisian nightclubs, all on today's episode of The 404!

Episode 532 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 129: Where Natali is dressed like a school marm

Back by insanely popular demand, Natali Del Conte guest stars on today's pretty heartfelt show. Well, we start it off pretty naughty with a couple of stories about highly offensive T-shirt graphics and Mini-Me's "secret" videotape, but then Jeff's buddy Zach calls in with a heartbreaking story and we dish out advice on how to sustain a long-term relationship. E-mail or call and tell us your opinion! EPISODE 129 Download today's podcast

NetSuite finds a sweet spot with OneWorld

NetSuite has found a sweet spot for its on-demand business management software. Today, the company introduced OneWorld, which adds real-time management and consolidation capabilities for companies that are multinational or have multiple subsidiaries.

Targeting midsize companies, OneWorld is the biggest architectural change to NetSuite since its inception, according to company CEO Zach Nelson. "Within a single instance, you can effectively run multiple companies in real time. The subsidiaries have complete local control that automatically consolidates into any hierarchy they have in real time," he told me.

"OneWorld enables our customers to run their global businesses in real … Read more