The 404 427: Where despite all our rage we are still just rats in a cage

Today's episode of The 404 is especially passionate, maybe because we know it's the last one of the week. No show tomorrow, but look out for two special throwback episodes coming your way Friday and Sunday. Anyway, onto today's stories. As the title states, we're taking a trip back to our childhood and remembering some of our favorite Smashing Pumpkins songs and music videos. They've had so many hits that it's hard to pick just one, but I'll always love the video for 1979, and judging by the 5,298 five-star rating, I'm not alone, but who says it has to end? Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan recently announced plans for a new album! "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" will include 44 songs and will be available for free!

Of course, if you want hard copies and album art, you can also get limited edition EPs with collectors art and high quality audio. The album won't be finished for awhile, but Billy says the music will sound more like the Pumpkins' first few albums: "psychedelic, atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty." We can't wait!

Next, we run through a slideshow of the eight technologies to thank the 1980s for. The list includes the Walkman, the Personal Computer, the CD, and more--mostly these things just give us an opportunity to make fun of how excited everyone was to run a 4.77MHz processor with TWO floppy disk drives.

In any case, the list leads us to the strangest hypothetical situation we've ever posed to each other: if you had to choose between using a COMPUTER or a WASHING MACHINE for the rest of your life, which one would it be? The catch is that you will be banned from using whichever product you don't pick for the rest your life. The rest of the world would go on as normal, so only you are are making the decision. Listen to the show to hear our choices (I think you'll be surprised) and leave a comment on this blog telling us you think.

We finally have another contest for all the gamers out there! Jeff got his mitts on two copies of EA NHL 10, which improves on the NHL 009 gameplay with a new "board play" feature that allows skaters to pin opponents against the boards and kick the puck. If you want to win the game, you're going to have to work for it. Here's what you do: take a picture of yourself standing on the ice of a hockey rink with your most creative 404 sign! Best sign on the ice gets to choose between the XBox 360 or PS3 version, and don't even think about using Photoshop or Jeff will hunt you down.

Since there's no show tomorrow, you have plenty of time to call 1-866-404-CNET and leave a funny/bummer/impression/hate/idea/question voice mail, and if you can manage to produce a coherent thought, we'll play it on the air! Have a great weekend everyone, we'll miss you! :)

Watch this: The 404 427: Where despite all our rage we are still just rats in a cage

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