school

Are you ready to rock?!...and learn some fundamentals about music?

There is no Guitar Hero or Rock Band game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. There are other rhythm games like Tap Tap Revenge andDrummer available, but what do these games really teach you about music?

Well, I wouldn't know personally as I've not played Drummer orTap Tap Revenge. I do know this, though: you may be making straight As playing those games--if by "straight As" I mean enjoying playing them--but let's face it, you're only living in the dumb daze--if by "dumb daze" I mean "did you catch my clever … Read more

The 404 209: Where Dan Ackerman plugs everything under the sun

Since Wilson can't be here today (or tomorrow), we invite Dan Ackerman into the studios to give us his expert opinion on the new Apple laptops and the latest video games. Unfortunately, he ignores all of our pressing questions in lieu of his own shameless promotions. Dan is a man of many talents, and his many creative projects give us a glimpse into his kooky world. Listen in for hilarious banter from Mr. Ackerman and even a brief look into the sad state of existence that is affectionately dubbed the Ackergoad household!

What more can be said about a man who literally has his hand in everyone else's cookie jar? Dan Ackerman, Senior Editor for Laptops at CNET, simply can't be pinned down or pigeonholed into one creative arena. No way! Mixed media is his art of choice, and on today's episode he invades the waves with several of his own personal projects including a unique take on the classic podcast and even his DIY amalgam music group! We play a clip on second half of the show after a bit of technical troubles (typical) and I have to admit that although Jeff and I were poised and ready to give Dan hell, the music is great and we actually find ourselves grooving uncontrollably to the penny licks and rolling bass lines. Buy a copy here and prepare yourself for a night of aural love making. And if you can't get enough of Dan's awesome radio voice, be sure to catch his new CNET podcast Digital City, available every Monday on CNET.com.

Episode 209 Download today's podcast … Read more

Finland massacre: YouTube provided early warning

YouTube this week handed authorities in Finland an opportunity to stop a mass killing.

After spotting several threatening videos allegedly posted to YouTube by student Matti Saari, Finnish police tracked down and questioned the 22-year-old man on Monday. Authorities there are now answering questions about why they freed Saari, who on Tuesday gunned down 10 classmates and then killed himself at the vocational school he attended.

The sick trend of school shootings continues: Columbine, Virginia Tech, and last November's Jokela High School Massacre, also in Finland. What was different this time was that police were in a position to … Read more

Lessons from a Harvard MBA grad who said no to Google

I am philosophical today. Would you take a slow walk with me and listen to a story that may not have an ending?

I was in my favorite sushi restaurant the other night when Dan, a man in a Tommy Bahama shirt, leaned over to me and, through thickly alcoholic breath, said: "There are more banks going down. Mark my words."

Normally, a Tommy Bahama shirt signifies "my brain is dead and my eyes have turned to disco balls." However, Dan is, I know, a retired accountant. The very finest, wiliest, (relatively) honest kind.

With his … Read more

Best of back-to-school laptops

Just in time for the fall semester, we've gone and reviewed more than two dozen new back-to-school laptops. For this particular roundup, we stuck to relatively recent configurations that were available on the shelves of big consumer electronics stores (so, for example, you'll find the in-store version of Dell's 1525, rather than the configurable version available on Dell's Web site).

You can peruse the entire collection of 27 back-to-school reviews, but we've gone ahead and picked our favorites in four different price ranges.

For the Entry Level category, which is laptops from $600 to $700, … Read more

Canon rolls out 6 printers for every occasion

Tuesday, Canon announced six new printers that are sure to appeal to a variety of users including small- to mid-size business professionals, photography enthusiasts, students, and creative hobbyists. This new release includes four new Pixma printers and two new Selphy compact photo printers. Let's take a closer look at the offerings:

Pixma iP3600 $80 9600x2400 color dpi resolution Dual paper trays for plain and photo paper Five color individual ink cartridge bay Bundled with one ChromaLife100+ ink set and Easy-PhotoPrint EX software Pixma iP4600 $100 9600x2400 color dpi resolution Reported print speeds of up to 26 pages per minute for black, and up to 21 ppm for color Auto-duplexer with two separate paper trays Easy-PhotoPrint EX software includes Auto-Photo Fix for easy edits… Read more

IDF news and the end of back-to-school: The week in laptops

This week's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco kept us all busy this week, with plenty of new components and products that use them. We'll start off with the event host, Intel, which announced small-form-factor versions of its Centrino 2 processors (that should ignite plenty of rumors about a Centrino 2-based MacBook Air). Intel also broke out a SATA solid-state drive and announced a dual-core version of its Atom processor, due next month. The company also showed off an update to its tiny Classmate PC, which will include a touch screen.

There were plenty of other manufacturers' Netbooks … Read more

Gateway P-7811FX: King of the desktop replacements

Students can certainly find a suitable laptop for general campus use for less than $1,000. Of the retail models we've reviewed this summer, we'd point you to the $979 Dell Studio 1535, the $799 Gateway T-6836, or the $679 Sony Vaio NR430 . Of course, with Apple's education discount, the entry-level MacBook costs only $999--a campus favorite and one we endorse (we reviewed the higher-end black MacBook after the last update). The higher-priced laptops you'll see on retail shelves are a specialized lot, by and large. You'll see big, feature-packed 16- and 17-inch models that … Read more

The 404 168: Where we've got 2 generations of MTI in the studio

On today's show, we trade in one Wilson for two MTIs- sounds like a deal! Mark's pop sits in on this episode where we officially begin the JYu PS2 project, give an update Justin's floating apartment, provide video game console updates, and reminisce about pogs, mechanical pencils, and the good ol' days when places like Walmart didn't exist.

Mark's Dad visits the studio today and sits in on the podcast and Mark replaces Wilson on the show- two Marks for the price of one! And the good news keeps on coming when Jeff busts out … Read more