Opinion

There are few words to describe people that don't know that the movie "Titanic" was actually based on a real Titanic, and even fewer to describe the bravado in tweeting about that ignorance, but Jeff musters a few adjectives.

On today's episode, we'll cover the $1 billion Instagram buyout and what you can expect to change once Facebook takes over, all four major U.S. wireless carriers joining forces to create a "lost my phone" database, smart touch-screen displays replacing payphones in New York City, and the shaky future of Best Buy and its former CEO.… Read more

This January at CES in Las Vegas, Facebook's platform partnerships guru Justin Osofsky shared a vision with me of a future in which Facebook is everywhere -- yes, even more than it already is.

But who would have guessed that could mean Facebook would purchase a tunnel directly into other social networks?

That's just one of the many things Facebook bought with its billion-dollar purchase of Instagram today. … Read more

Richard, our studio engineer, is the inspiration for today's show title that goes along with a story about his old Dumpster-diving days, when he'd raid the Hostess factory at the end of the night to recover "old" Twinkies and Ho Hos.

Jeff faced childhood memories of his own this weekend while cleaning out his old closet, unearthing treasures like Palm Pilots, two Sega Dreamcasts, and a box of old CD jewel cases. If you don't know what those things are, you're too young to be listening to The 404.… Read more

Our special guest today is CNETer Zach W., but longtime 404 listeners may recognize him as the voice behind Tina Schwartz, our weekly visitor on Tuna Tuesdays. He joins us today as our ad-hoc social correspondent with a firsthand account of Grouper, a newish startup that uses Facebook to set up a group blind date between two groups of friends: three guys and three girls.

Zach takes us through the sign-up process, the criteria that he chooses for his wingmen, and the actual experience of going online to meet someone offline. If you've ever been curious about what goes on during an online date, definitely check out today's episode of The 404.… Read more

Macs have long had a reputation as machines that rarely catch malicious bugs like trojans and spyware. Windows computers were always the sickly cousins, in need of having an antivirus doctor on hand at all times to ward against illness.

Mac's ironclad image may need to be revised. Russian antivirus company Dr. Web has come out with a report saying 600,000 Macs around the globe are infected with the Flashback Trojan. The report says more than half of those Macs are located in the United States.… Read more

When the PlayStation Vita launched, I didn't buy one -- or even preorder one, which seemed odd to a few people who know my affinity for Sony.

I've written about the device numerous times on CNET and enjoyed many extended gameplay sessions with major launch titles at press events. I kept up with Vita chatter on jumbo-size gaming forums like NeoGAF, reading about the trials and tribulations of the new system from faithful early adopters.

And let's face it. The Vita, with its array of sensors comparable to the Death Star, would capture the attention of any geek. Like some of you out there, I've grown tired of playing touch-screen games on my iPhone 4 and wanted buttons like the old days. Who could resist the doubleheader quad-core processor and quad-core graphics driving a mega, 5-inch OLED screen?

Well, so far, I have resisted, and I largely credit a visit to my mother's house several weeks before the PlayStation Vita launch on February 22.… Read more

Are you disappointed or psyched that so many new technologies draw inspiration directly from films and TV? First it was Samsung citing "2001: A Space Odyssey" as an influence for their Samsung Galaxy tablet and all the reports of "Minority Report" tech coming soon. And now Google looks like it watched too many Star Trek episodes while designing its augmented-reality glasses.… Read more

A world without used video games means the days of letting a friend borrow a game are numbered.

While the end of physical media is a certainty, we're not sure how the pursuit of its elimination right now will go over. With anti-used-games technology, unique user IDs, and the requirement of a constant Internet connection, showing a friend a new game might be more of a hassle than it's worth. Of course, we'd imagine there would be ways to sign in on other consoles, but is the reality pictured above that much of a stretch? … Read more

Yes, the Samsung SyncMaster S23A750D supports Samsung's proprietary active shutter 3D, but forget about that for a minute. What you should really focus on is its movie and games performance.

Now, not everyone loves glossy screens. As I mentioned before, they can get uber-reflective, particularly during sunny days, and movies or TV shows or games with lots of dark scenes can suffer as a result.

However, the payoff of watching movies on the S23A750D under proper lighting conditions (i.e. at night) is worth any difficulties that sunny days bring.… Read more