Jill Schlesinger of CBS' MoneyWatch joins the show to talk about the economy. So it turns out that things aren't going to collapse, and we're not going to have to sell our bodies in a barter system. That doesn't mean, however, that we're out of the woods, and Jill is here to show us the way out. Throw in a little bit of health care, a little bit of Social Security, and a garlic smell? Only on The 404!

(Credit: Jill Schlesinger/CBS)

For the last couple of months, stocks have been soaring more than 50 percent since their March low. Jill says all that means is that the market doesn't think we're headed for Great Depression 2.0, but that doesn't mean we're out of trouble. In the dark, we imagine what V-, U-, and W- recoveries would look like. Strange... Justin, is that your hand on my leg?

Further down the line, we jump into the health care debate. Jill tells us her generation is screwing our generation and not in a good way. Essentially, they took all the good health care, and we (the 20-somethings) will just not be able to afford the premium "best health care" in the world, when we really need it. And somehow, Wilson reveals some of his Republican leanings? Say what?

Finally, we get into personal savings for the future, and we pick up the ashes of our 401(k)s. So while your parents may have lost a bundle on their retirement funds, we 20-somethings still have another 40 years before we really have to worry about our returns. Meanwhile, Social Security is a toss-up. Jill wants to advise President "Barry" Obama that the easy solution to fixing the "Third Rail" of American politics is just tying benefits to an age index. People are just living too long...death panels, any one?

Wow! So we hope you finally learned something on The 404. We sure did! Send in your feedback to the usual at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Follow Jill on Twitter. Or leave us a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET, and you can debate us on the finer points of the liquidity of the money supply and U6 unemployment figures.

Asian pears are delicious, which is why Jill Schlesinger--The 404's very own financial expert from CBS MoneyWatch--likes them so much! After getting through some munching and slurping noises in the first minute by Wilson, Jill explains to us what is going on with the economy and why we need to fear the End of Days. Just kidding...mostly.

Not being financial experts by any means, Jill explains some basic terms to us so we know what the heck is going on. Like what is the difference between the unemployment rate and weekly jobless claims? Plus, she goes on to say that she thinks that everybody should have at least six months of living expenses saved up, given that the average person is jobless for 22 weeks now. And maybe we should start spending money again if we know that we're not about to lose our job. It would help the economy out. We know it sounds very different than most of our inane topics to most of our audience, but money is something we all need to know and understand. Plus, we love how Jill lays it on us with financial straight talk.

On the second half of the show, Jill tells us about her CBS Evening News appearance and her lady crush on our very own Katie Couric. Jill comments about the growing political discourse about a possible second stimulus package. Check out the segment. We've embedded it into this blog post.

Come back tomorrow, where we've got Steve Guttenberg. Of course, we're got the doors barricaded, just in case HR comes running in. And! We've got Wilson's Audio Draft. (Editor's note: I promise I listen to music. Whale sounds anybody?)

UPDATED: Before we forget, download the new 404 artwork for your desktop background.
Desktop Backgrounds: 4 x 3, 16 x 9 and 16 x10, iPhone.

Full Disclosure: CNET, The 404, MoneyWatch and the CBS Evening News all are properties of CBS.

It's back to the regular news stories on today's show, and we start off strong with talk about how the iPhone 3.0 may give sex toys a run for their money. See what happens when you give developers control over the vibration functionality?

This isn't going to end well.

(Credit: Amazon)

Microsoft has announced it won't be making Money anymore--the software that is--but who actually used that program anyway?

Next, we discuss how the Internet is successfully turning the English language into nothing more than a bunch of incoherent misspellings of words with numbers in them. "n00b" is now a real word? We're starting to regret this whole Internet thing.

A Stretch Armstrong movie? Really? This isn't going to end well.

There won't be an episode tomorrow, but fear not, we're going to feed you with a classic 404 from the past that's sure to tickle you. See you Monday!

EPISODE 361

It's no surprise that Jeff, Wilson, and Justin don't know jack about the economic financial crisis, so we invite CBS MoneyWatch.com's Editor-at-Large Jill Schlesinger on the show to break it all down. She preps us with tips on what young people can do to secure a stable future and she gives us three very important ways to keep the money we earn.

(Credit: CBS MoneyWatch.com)

First of all, be sure to have six months of living expenses in the bank. If you don't have a steady, stable job like a tenured teaching position, a three-month rainy day fund in the bank will do you some good, if, God-forbid, something happened. Second, pay off your debt. Sounds obvious, but most Americans haven't saved a dime since the '90s.

Last thing she says is to take advantage of your company's 401k. Yes, your parents retirement and pension funds might be gone, but if you're like us, in our 20s and barely employed, you should throw money into your 401k. If you want, Wilson will manage your 404k--if you want a negative return on your investment.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to show off all of your submissions for our logo contest, but let's face it: some things are more important than logos. But rest assured that we're going to go over ALL of them on tomorrow's show, not to mention a huge "Calls from the Public" to make up for today. Keep sending in your submissions to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com--they've all been amazing. We've gotten so many that we're EXTENDING the contest to next week! Don't forget: all submissions should include a JPG/PNG as well as a high-res file. Thanks all!

Star of The Gagdet 411's "The Money Shot" Web show, Liz Money, joins us in the studio today to talk about the gadgets she's currently obsessed with. Liz is in town from New Orleans (see Nawlins) and was nice enough to stop by the 404 studio for some good, clean fun.

That wholesome fun ends when we get into a story about a recent Trojan outbreak in the office that, while seemingly benign, spread like wildfire. Liz helps gets the message across: it's always best to use antivirus protection.

Next it's on to Ron Howard's new film "Angels & Demons". We chat about how the book will probably still be better than the movie, but that it's pretty much guaranteed to be better than "The DaVinci Code."

Finally, we quickly touch on the fate of Duke Nukem Forever, a game stuck in the development process for just over an entire decade. Then we get Jeff's quick take on SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

EPISODE 343

Erica Boeke is on the show today to talk about her new book "GameFace: The Kick-Ass Guide for Women Who Seriously Love Pro Sports." On the show, we talk about women and their fascination with watching hockey players kick each others' ass. And Justin reveals that he has never played baseball, basketball, football, or hell, even played catch in his life.

Ericka Boeke in a 404 sandwich.

(Credit: Matt Fitzgerald/CNET)

We don't talk too much technology today, but we promise: we have a good time with sports and our general ability to turn any seemingly benign topic into a sexual innuendo. After Justin talks about men playing hockey, you'll never think about it in an unerotic way again.

Briefly on the show, we mention the war going on between Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," and Jim Cramer, host of CNBC's "Mad Money." Jon Stewart pretty much destroys Jim Cramer and the entire financial news media. We've never almost seen a grown man crying on cable television.

As usual, keep the voice mails coming: 1-866-404-CNET (2638). We still haven't found the right motto yet, but boy do we have a good time sorting through them. Or if you just want to leave a message about how Erica Boeke looks like Helen Hunt, that's fine too. Everyone have a great weekend, and you'll hear us next week when Jeff asks the Sleep Doctor Michael Breus how to stop farting in his sleep.

Our No. 404 fanboy Dee Wren takes time out of his busy filming schedule to bring some positivity to our Monday morning. After revealing some news about the upcoming Google Android release tomorrow, we talk about the weekend box office, touch on Facebook porn, and make an overall attempt to shade ourselves from Jeff's rays of hate (unsuccessfully). Happy Monday!

To make up for all the lives we've ruined with The 404, we invite our buddy Dee Wren into the studio to pimp his philanthropic project, From Us With Love. It's a nonprofit organization that supplies aid to children in South Africa and Dee is helping to shoot a documentary on their efforts to send a group of them to Australia for the Homeless World Cup. We'd love for you to contribute as much time, money, and resources as you can to their foundation. The best part of this endeavor is that For Us With Love is already corporate-sponsored, so the full 100 percent of your contribution will go directly into the project, no filters. It's a very noble cause, please check out the Web site and do what you can to help!

• Is "doing the robot" considered cheating?
• If California legalizes marijuana, will we need to find a new co-host?
• Is the vibrating iPhone keypad a curse or a blessing in disguise?
• When will Amy Winehouse evolve into a Homo sapiens?
• How can we stop the Ninja Turtles from stealing our precious metals?
• Do the Netflix executives listen to The 404?
• Is there a problem that can't be solved with Viagra?

EPISODE 132

EPISODE 115