hot

30-foot Hot Wheels playset is every kid's dream come true

Metropolis II is a four-year project by performance artist and sculptor Chris Burden that uses more than 1,100 Matchbox-style toy cars curved around 19 roadways to show the last days of what he calls the "free car"--in other words, the independent ability to simply jump in an automobile and travel.

In advance of a Metropolis II exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art this fall, directors Henry Joost and Ariel Shulman of "Catfish" fame just released this short documentary that shows the 20-foot by 30-foot art installation in action.

More pictures of Metropolis II after the jump.… Read more

The 404 871: Where we're pleading the 14th (podcast)

Today is international System Admin Appreciation Day, so buy your friendly neighborhood IT guy a bag of Funyuns for another year of tech support! It's Jeff's last show before his vacation next week, and we're kicking off today's episode with a discussion about what science has determined to be the saddest movie scene of all time.

We're also looking back at Obama's rickrolling earlier this week, China banning booth babes from their online gaming show, and Apple writing a check to free the U.S. from debt.

The 404 Digest for Episode 871

The White House just Rickrolled a Twitter user. The saddest movie scene ever is pinpointed by science. Apple now has more money than the U.S. government. It's the 12th annual System Admin Appreciation Day!

Episode 871 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Handy weather apps for iOS

Across the United States, people are experiencing some of the hottest weather of the year. Many cities are topping out in the hundreds, and some are even getting close to 110. Even a quick glance at the current weather map tells the story: It is hot just about everywhere and if you don't have air conditioning or a body of water nearby, you're probably not feeling too happy about the sunny weather.

This week's collection of apps are all about checking the weather to see when you can get some relief. The first gives the most weather information on one screen so you can know everything at a glance. The second is a fairly simple weather app, but offers one very useful feature. The third is the most complex, with both viewable weather data and national radio updates for weather in your area. Hopefully, with these apps in hand, you'll be able to see some light at the end of a very hot tunnel.… Read more

10 most-anticipated upcoming tech products

At the start of the year, I did a little roundup of the 12 most-anticipated tech products of 2011. Well, the year's more than half over and many of those products have come out already.

We had the BlackBerry Playbook, Nintendo 3DS, Chrome OS notebooks, Motorola Xoom, HP TouchPad, and iPad 2, to name some of the high-profile launches we've seen in 2011. So what's left?

Some good stuff--and even a few items beyond the obvious Apple gear. Have a look and as always, if you think we missed any potential items, feel free to suggest them … Read more

Thunderbolt update nixes unlimited mobile hot spots

The software update being made available to the HTC Thunderbolt this week may be just the latest reminder that carriers not only giveth, but also taketh way.

Hidden behind all of the benefits, bug fixes, and improvements, Verizon has quietly removed the unlimited and free access to the embedded hot-spot functionality, according to DSL Reports. In other words, instead of being able to use the feature as they wish, Thunderbolt users now will have to contact Verizon to activate the hot spot and add the corresponding service plan.

While that's not a huge shock given Verizon's new monthly charges for using the hot-spot feature, it's just another sign of the new data regime at Big Red. Verizon even foreshadowed the change last month in a statement posted by Droid Life in which it warned that the free hot-spot promotion would end July 6 (the day before the carrier subsequently ended its unlimited data plans). … Read more

Ruin your daughter's self esteem with this app!

Depending on your point of view, Top Girl is either a harmless game about "girl stuff" (shopping, dating, trying to look "hot") or a thoroughly offensive app promoting a stupefying array of sexist stereotypes.

Whatever your take on Top Girl's social and moral merits, this app definitely falls more under the category of time-waster (and freemium money-waster) than game. You start by choosing an impossibly curvy, underwear-wearing avatar, and then trick her out with clothes with varying "hotness" ratings (divided into "daytime chic" and "club" wear). You then go … Read more

Boss key utility

We're fairly sure that the development of the first boss key followed close behind the development of the first graphical user interface. As the name suggests, boss keys or boss buttons quickly hide whatever is open on the desktop when the user touches a hot key or types a similar trigger. Magic Boss Key 4.10 is a free boss-key utility that has some extra options, such as selecting which windows you want to stay open on the desktop when you use your hot key.

Magic Boss Key's small interface listed our open desktop items with check boxes … Read more

The 404 853: Where our bellies were sluggish with goat meat (podcast)

Happy belated Fourth! We're back from celebrating on Independence by blowing up a piece of it, and we spend the first half of today's episode recounting all the bbq we ate yesterday. We're also bringing you results of the annual Nathan's hog dog eating contest and breaking news about one of our favorite shows on Comedy Central--and of course we wouldn't let a Monday go by without Tanging that Tune!

The 404 Digest for Episode 853

Joey Chestnut wins 5th straight Nathan's hot dog eating competition. Jellyfish fireworks over the Hudson river in NYC.

Episode 853 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 845: Where we're allergic to oxymorons (podcast)

Today's "Not cool, man" segment once again goes to The Huffington Post, this time for rehashing the "Wet Hot American Summer" prequel/sequel rumors that first appeared on the Internet years ago. In other recurring segment news, we enjoyed testing Wilson's music knowledge so much yesterday that we're making it a daily thing, and a listener created a legit name for it too, so stick around for the second half to see if Wilson gets full credit.

We're also chatting today about Microsoft's new Decide.com tech forecasting site, how to DJ using just a Microsoft Kinect and a couple software programs, and an Apple patent that might spell the end of multitouch smartphones in the United States.

The 404 Digest for Episode 845

HuffPo teases 'Wet Hot' sequel/preview. Decide.com forecasts price drops and tells you when to buy technology. What's cooler than an iPad DJ? A Kinect DJ. Apple patent might mean the end of multitouch smartphones in the U.S.

Episode 845 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Your dad wants to fight for the right to paaaarty!

Forget the tools and ties for dear old Dad this Father's Day. What he really wants is the Beastie Boys' new tunes on vinyl--or so the message goes from a new video uploaded to YouTube by the band on June 15.

Because of an Internet leak of the Beastie Boys' "Hot Sauce Committee Part Two" album, the band was forced to stream the entire thing (the explicit version), on its Web site before the actual June release date. By the end of April, the CDs and digital downloads of the album were (and are) made available on iTunes, Amazon, and Best Buy.

The focus for this new video, however, is on the sale of the vinyl format, which Mike D. says "...will be slightly different than the other formats. But please know that our corps of engineers and experts have been on this, making sure the wait is worth it and that I can personally tell you that in my humble opinion, the test pressing of the vinyl sounded banging on my home hi fi." … Read more