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Amazon and Overstock are duking it out with New York state in a court battle over the issue of collecting sales tax.

In a case being heard by the State of New York Court of Appeals, attorneys for both retailers claimed yesterday that a 2008 New York law requiring them to collect sales tax on online purchases is unconstitutional, as reported by Reuters.

A 1992 Supreme Court decision found that retailers can't be forced to collect sales tax on out-of-state purchases unless they have a physical presence in those states. But the New York law skirted that decision. The … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Google Glass to use bone conduction instead of traditional headphones.

- Google searches expose racial bias, says study of names.

- Vampire Weekend announces new album details in the NY Times Classifieds section.… Read more

When one of the most famous buildings, let alone the busiest train terminal in the world, turns 100, a lot of people stand up and take notice.

So it should come as no surprise that on its 100th birthday today, the world celebrated the grandeur of Grand Central Terminal, New York's shining beacon to public transportation, still vital and busy after all these years.

In 2010, I had the privilege of visiting Grand Central and getting a behind-the-scenes look at some of its greatest secrets, and some of its most awe-inspiring views. Given the opportunity to look out over … Read more

Time to dust off that hype machine. The next generation of video game consoles may debut as early as February 20. That's the date Sony has set aside for an event in New York City, leading some to believe this could be the first-ever announcement of the PlayStation 4, the inevitable successor to the company's current PlayStation 3 game system.… Read more

The Wall Street Journal said today that it's been the target of Chinese hackers stemming from its coverage of China, echoing reports from other news organizations.

Hackers infiltrated the newspaper's computer system through its Beijing bureau in order to monitor the paper's coverage of China, according to the report. Paula Keve, chief spokeswoman for the Journal's parent company, Dow Jones, issued a statement that said the hacks "are not an attempt to gain commercial advantage or to misappropriate customer information." The company completed a "network overhaul" on Thursday to increase security.

The … Read more

We're on the ground in NOLA gearing up for Super Bowl XLVII. Many of our shows, crews, and talent have been here for days. Now it's a whole lot of buildup and anticipation for super Sunday -- the biggest day of the year in television, sports, advertising, and marketing.

For many people, it's a national celebration -- a day of fun, cheering, bonding, eating, and drinking in front of the TV. For teams it's an epic battle, the single biggest day of the year for sports. For advertisers, it's a rare and valuable opportunity to … Read more

After a lengthy newspaper investigation on China's prime minister, The New York Times claims, the newspaper's computer systems were infiltrated and attacked by Chinese hackers.

The attacks began four months ago and culminated with hackers stealing the corporate password for every Times employee, according to the paper. The personal computers of 53 of these employees were also broken into and spied on.

The Times discovered the attacks after observing "unusual activity" in its computer system. Security investigators were then able to get into the system and track the hackers' movements, see what the infiltrators were after, … Read more

Ah, I remember going to the movies. I recall those years fondly, before I had kids and an HDTV and a Whirley Pop.

If, unlike me, you go to a theater to consume movies and popcorn, you might want to check out Movie Cron. At this site, you can watch trailers and should you provide an e-mail and create an account, you can have the site e-mail or text you reminders for movie premieres. The site needs a little work, but the important tool of transmitting reminders does work.

The site lets you browse by Top Movies (for the week, … Read more

Microsoft has finally unveiled Microsoft Office 2013. CNET's already had a chance to do an in-depth review of Office 365, the subscription version of Office 2013. Have more questions? Check out our answers below.… Read more