Geek culture

Toyota aims little 2012 Yaris at the young

CULVER CITY, Calif.--With the 2012 Yaris, Toyota is promoting an image as much as a car. The automaker is gearing up to target the four-cylinder at entry-level buyers as likely to spend their money on video games and MP3s as they are a new set of wheels. ("Yaris! It's a car!" reads a cutesy little ad campaign with bright, cheery letters).

The youth-centric campaign is primarily marketing hype, as the Yaris is no more or less appealing to someone in a Captain America T-shirt in San Francisco as it is to a middle-class family in Milwaukee. An inexpensive car that saves you money on gas can sell itself in this repressed economy if it's put together correctly. And the Yaris is a fun, unassuming ride that falls a little short of adjectives like zippy or thrilling. It doesn't feel as cool as a Fiat 500, as powerful as a Volkswagen Golf, or as substantial as a Ford Fiesta, but for $14,115 to $17,200 (depending on the setup) it's close enough for young drivers entering the market. … Read more

'Woot' is officially a thing, according to Oxford English Dictionary

August marks the 100th anniversary of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COED), the smaller but most widely recognized derivative of the official Oxford English Dictionary, or OED. To celebrate, the lexicon published its 12th edition today that adds more than 400 new entries--many of which reflect the technological pervasiveness of modern society, like "woot," "mankini," and "jeggings."

COED Editor Angus Stevenson heads up a small team at the Oxford University Press's academic cabinet tasked with choosing the next words for inclusion, and the process involves keying popular words into a database that shows frequency of use in print and online.

Since publishing its first edition back in 1911, the COED's evolution shows the tremendous effects of social media and instant-access technology on language, creating new words but also modifying existing definitions of words like "follower."

What once meant "a person who imitates or copies" now earns a second and more widely used meaning: "someone who is tracking a particular person, group, etc., on a social networking site." Another example that's a little unsettling is the general term "friend" that loses gravity in its new form: "a contact on a social networking Web site."… Read more

Meet Connor, a 7-year-old iPhone app developer

While other kids were out selling glasses of lemonade, 7-year-old Connor Zamary was starting his own app company. Toaster Pop, an iPhone game that involves slathering spreads on toast, is his first creation.

Connor isn't just a figurehead with a first-grade education. He's a fully fledged technology entrepreneur. "He pitched investors, made his own PowerPoint, filled out the paperwork for his LLC all by himself, has done conference calls with the West Coast developers," father Craig Zamary tells CNET in an e-mail interview.

Connor vetted and selected a developer to build the app and took feedback from friends and family into account during the development process.

One perk Connor isn't allowed yet is his own e-mail account. He uses his father's to conduct company business. He answered a few questions from CNET, including where his app idea came from.

"My dad was telling me about an old fashion toaster since I never saw one before. Then it just came to me to create an app, where toast would pop out of the toaster, land on a plate and you would have to butter it with butter," Connor writes.

That sums up the 99-cent Toaster Pop app pretty well. It's a family-friendly game designed with kids in mind. It starts with butter, moves up through jams, and then mixes it up with a spread called "The Works." Connor's personal favorite toast condiment is butter.… Read more

The 404 884: Where there are no words (podcast)

If you've ever wondered what Playboy looks like in Braille, you'll want to check out this 404 podcast. Today, the Internet Archives is showing us how it's endeavoring to scan all books and magazines (including Playboy) for posterity.

Before we get to that story, however, we begin with Jalopnik's hunt for the hottest TV traffic reporter. It includes one of Jeff's childhood friends from summer camp who somehow ties into Justin's morning routine.

After that, we have a couple of tips on how to avoid in-person conversations with the help of your phone. Then we move onto a strange study that profiles the drinking, eating, and social habits of Android vs. iPhone users, a mysterious prototype MacBook Pro with 3G spotted on eBay, and a handful of Calls from the Public!

The 404 Digest for Episode 884

Android users versus iPhone users. What it's like to read Playboy in Braille. OMG, it's happening again: Prototype MacBook Pro with 3G spotted on eBay. Ever faked a cell phone call? You're not alone. Who's the hottest TV traffic reporter? Video voicemail from Marshall's dancing girlfriend.

Episode 884 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Internet cat star Maru to grace the printed page

Some people like reading fiction. Some people like reading biographies of historical figures. The new biography book, "I am Maru," should cover both bases.

The book, which originally came out in Japan in 2009, is finally arriving in the U.S. this month. As with most cool Japanese things, it took awhile.

In case you've actually been working and don't know about Maru, I'll give you a primer. Maru is a pudgy Japanese cat who likes to jump into boxes. I know that doesn't sound like much, but you have to see him in YouTube action to understand the appeal. Maru regularly racks up 500,000 to 2 million hits per video.… Read more

Craction: A fantasy-football tool for the rest of us?

The PR flacks for Craction, a new online football game, deserve a little credit for getting one point of their rollout publicity campaign correct: it's more or less impossible to have a fully functional life while aggressively competing in an online fantasy-football league.

Dedicated fantasy-football participants--the type of people who spend hours neglecting their jobs and families to pore over player stat sheets looking for the best punter--often sacrifice their maturity and dignity in an obsessive pursuit of a statistically perfect virtual NFL football team.

Craction looks to offer football competition without "all the fantasy-sports commitment." The game launched online this month, but Scott Schmidt developed it in 2000 when he was a business student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"I wanted to stay connected with my friends who were spread out at colleges across the country," Schmidt said during Craction's debut. "NFL football was something we could all relate to, but I knew I'd have trouble getting people to commit to fantasy football because it requires so much time. So I just invented a better game." … Read more

Dog Wars app for Android is Trojanized

An older version of a controversial Android app called "Dog Wars" has been modified to include a Trojan horse that takes actions without the device owner knowing it, according to security firm Symantec.

The app sends a text message to everyone in the contact list that says, "I take pleasure in hurting small animals, just thought you should know that," and signs United States-based devices up for a text alert service operated by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Irfan Asrar wrote in a post on the Symantec blog.

"We have no reason to believe that PETA had anything to do with this app, and that it is most likely the work of someone attempting to associate the app with PETA," he writes.

A PETA representative provided this statement when asked for comment: "We don't know who created this version of the app, but we think it is ingenious. When someone creates a game that glorifies animal abuse, you can bet that people will come up with clever, smart ways to take action against it." … Read more

The 404 883: Where the PATH to success is paved with delays (podcast)

Why are schools no longer teaching typing? Typing class used to be a sanctuary for nerds, but now that everyone has a smartphone and a Facebook profile, some school districts are making a case against teaching standardized touch-typing lessons.

But before we dive into the technology lessons we think should be taught in all grade schools, we start today's episode of The 404 Podcast with a recap of the past week's metaprotesting in San Francisco and the flames that ignited Anonymous to shut down public transit.

The 404 Digest for Episode 883

SF subway closes stations during Anonymous protest. Why are schools no longer teaching typing? A video voice mail from Andrew in Ontario!

Episode 883 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

These 'Star Wars' coins are mint

I sense something, a presence in coin collecting I have not felt since...OK, please forgive my horrifically altered Darth Vader quote.

The New Zealand Mint has unleashed an epic coin collection for "Star Wars" fans perhaps worthy of the Empire itself. In all, 48 coins featuring characters from the classic sci-fi movie series will be available to purchase this November as legal tender of Niue Island. The tiny country resides 1,500 miles northeast off the coast of New Zealand.

There are two pure-silver full-color sets of $2 coins, including a $391.62 (plus shipping) Darth Vader and Millennium Falcon collection in a limited mintage of 7,500.… Read more

Former Microsoft exec: Mobile won't kill consoles

A former Microsoft gaming bigwig is convinced that the growth of mobile gaming won't eliminate the demand for game consoles.

In an interview with IndustryGamers published yesterday, former Microsoft Game Studios Vice President Shane Kim said he "would never" say mobile titles could kill game consoles such as the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Kim believes that the gaming market is expanding, leaving room for titles dedicated to both game consoles and mobile devices.

Given Kim's history at Microsoft, some might believe that he has a vested interested in supporting consoles in their fight against mobile platforms. But it's worth noting that since leaving Microsoft, Kim joined the board of Zipline Games--a mobile-game development house.

"So will there be some impact on console gaming?" Kim asked in his interview with IndustryGamers. "I think it would be hard to say that there isn't any impact, but I would never say that it's going to go away completely. I think that the big console game manufacturers, they've all got plans for the next console generation. I think that they're all shooting to make sure that those next versions, whatever they look like, are going to be things that are going to be compelling for the kinds of gamers, especially hard-core gamers, who really enjoy that style of gaming."… Read more