The 404 763: Where we tagger easy (podcast)
In the midst of international turmoil, The 404 Podcast is your source for First World problems. So don't freak out yet, because Bitly is in no danger of closure, the RoboCop remake may still happen, cell phones don't cause cancer (hopefully), and you can now get weed from crowdsourced coupon sites.
Doug from Pennsylvania inadvertently started another 404 Podcast meme in yesterday's video voice mail with his sign-off salute, "Tagger easy!" We dedicate today's show title to him and WhiteWhine, a Tumblr for First World problems.
More than 200 protesters in Libya have been killed with Qaddafi's machine guns and large-caliber weapons, but some nerds in America are more concerned with the future of .ly domains like Bitly. How will we shorten our links to a Tweet-appropriate size if Libya shuts down the Internet again?!
Don't freak out yet, because Internet restrictions by the Libyan government will not affect those domains, since most of the servers that give access to .ly links are located outside of Libya, and most administrators like Bitly CEO John Borthwick are already using precautionary measures to ensure their stability.
But no matter what happens to Bitly, there's always the handful of alternative URL shorteners you can use. Personally, we like to use ShadyUrl.com, a redirector that replaces your boring link with a more suspicious and frightening URL. For example, ShadyURL changed "the404.cnet.com" to http://5z8.info/how-to-skin-a-gerbil_q1q6v_openme.exe.
It's always fun watching our resident adviser squirm, and you can actually watch steam come out of Wilson's ears as we talk about a new crowdsourced coupon site for medicinal marijuana. Read on...
WeedMaps.com is the Google Maps for marijuana dispensaries that launched last year, and it recently introduced a Groupon-style daily deal site that lets users sign up for bargain coupons with other smokers.
General Cannibis, the company behind WeedMaps.com, avoids the sticky issue of dispensary card verification by eliminating up-front costs on the Web site. Instead, the coupons must be redeemed in the dispensaries themselves, which require a legitimate medical marijuana card to enter.
General Cannibis also hosts sister sites like WeedFreebies.com, which has biweekly contests that give patients a chance to score free marijuana and other medical accessories.
Tune in after the break for a few good voice mails about Four Loko, a birthday wish from Ingrid, and a discussion about an Ubisoft video game called Call of Juarez that may hit a little too close to home.
Episode 763
Podcast
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