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Lyrics on demand

We'd never award it prizes for looks or design, but like all the software in the TuneWiki family, this streaming app's capability to spool lyrics in time with the music makes it an application well worth your attention.

TuneWiki begins with an online database where community users upload song lyrics, Wikipedia-style. When you use TuneWiki as a media player, it hooks into this database to stream lyrics in time with the music. There are occasionally mistakes, and songs without lyrics, both of which are a function of the underlying community Wiki and not the application itself.

But the … Read more

Netflix streaming coming to Net-enabled Sony Bravia TVs

Netflix streaming will be coming to online-enabled Sony Bravia televisions this fall.

Once enabled via a software update, the Netflix feature will give Bravia sets access to the same 12,000-title catalog of Netflix streaming movies and TV shows that's available on a growing number of devices, including the Xbox 360, Roku Player, and all recent Samsung and LG Blu-ray players and home theater systems.

Compatible Sony TVs include the XBR9 series, the Z5100 series, and the W5100 series. However, a wider variety of sets can access the Netflix feature by adding the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link, an … Read more

Where to watch the Jackson memorial online

Some 1.6 million people registered for a chance to receive 8,750 pairs of tickets to attend Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center on Tuesday. But if you weren't among the lucky few who won tickets but feel the need to bear witness to the spectacle, fear not--several Web sites plan to provide live streaming video of the event.

The service will be a star-studded event, with singers Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, and Smokey Robinson expected to perform in what some expect to be the biggest event in the Web's history.

Considering … Read more

Record Internet radio easily

FStream is a free, fast-launching app for listening to and recording Internet radio. If you don't want to open iTunes or some other more full-featured application when you play Internet radio, FStream can be a good alternative--and its very small resource footprint can help you avoid networking issues sometimes caused by more bloated apps. This application has a slim, unobtrusive interface, and you can even run it directly from the menu bar. FStream can play OGG Vorbis, AAC/AAC+, MP3, and WMA, and it can handle MMS over HTTP as well as M3U, PLS, and ASX playlists. It can … Read more

Facebook wants you to do it live

When Facebook launched its latest redesign, it became evident that the company was putting a lot of emphasis on real-time information--inspired, undoubtedly, by the runaway success of Twitter. Now the company's rolled out two small but crucial new features that put instant updates even more front and center.

First, Facebook is aiming to use the "publisher" tool--formerly known as the status update box--as members' gateway to the Web at large. Starting Wednesday and rolling out gradually, according to a post on the company blog, a beta version of the new content-sharing box will allow members to select … Read more

On-demand site Fizy offers huge rock selection

Just days after the news broke that EMI is suing Grooveshark, another contestant popped into my in-box. Today, it's Fizy, which offers essentially the same features as Grooveshark, Meuzer, and JustHearIt: search for a song name, and Fizy will compile audio and video results from public sources around the Web. Today, Fizy relaunched with a handful of new features such as the ability to save playlists and the ability to post all played songs to your Friendfeed account. (Friendfeed? Where's the Facebook app?).

The new features are nothing special, but in a quick test, I did find that … Read more

Squeezebox Duet firmware update fixes connectivity issues

The Logitech Squeezebox Duet was given an enthusiastic Editors' Choice award when CNET reviewed it back in March of 2008. But the audio streamer is a two-part product that's heavily reliant on Wi-Fi (both the iPod-like remote and the base station communicate to each other--and your home network--wirelessly). And many users have experienced a problem wherein the Controller (the remote) fails to reconnect to the network or recognize the Squeezebox base station after "waking up" from a period of inactivity. The issue has been widely reported online, from CNET's user reviews to Logitech's own support forums. … Read more

Swedish researchers to unravel secrets of solar storms

Solar storms that can threaten satellites, power lines, and communications are to be monitored in a large-scale study at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and Uppsala University starting Thursday.

The organizations will use stream-computing technology to analyze data from sensors that track high-frequency radio waves, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) said in a statement.

"Over the next year, this project is expected to perform analytics on at least 6GB per second or 21,600GB per hour--the equivalent of all the web pages on the Internet," said the IRF statement.

The organizations will use IBM InfoSphere … Read more

Hulu coming to Roku? Maybe, maybe not

When we last heard from Roku, the company was pledging to add 10 more channels to its Roku Digital Video Player before the end of the year. With 2009 almost half over, however, there's still only two: Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. But according to Playboy Magazine, one of those new channels could well be Hulu. So notes blogger Dave Zatz, who photographed the incriminating sidebar article from the June 2009 issue of the magazine. "Roku promises Hulu support is coming" says the throwaway parenthetical sentence.

But is it true? Responding to the Playboy excerpt highlighted … Read more

The 404 354: Where we three cover day one of E3 2009

Yesterday was the first time that I've ever seen Jeff doing actual work at his cube, so I relent for once and let him and Wilson talk about E3 2009. Video games, video games, video games on today's show, specifically about the new XBox 360 Project Natal, Halo sequels, new Metal Gear Solid, the Beatles: Rock Band, and even Facebook and Twitter! Wake me up when it's over.

Yesterday's Microsoft press conference at E3 2009 unveiled some pretty exciting video game news, even for an antigamer such as myself. First up is the new Project Natal, the company's new motion-sensing bar for the XBox 360 that allows the gamer to control gameplay with motion, sound, and even 3D movement. As exciting as it sounds, unfortunately Microsoft didn't mention a release date, so we definitely won't see it in stores for Christmas 2009, which Jeff and Wilson think is a bit of a tease.

Aside from a few big game announcements, the big release news comes by way of everyone's favorite British gentlemen, with Beatles: Rock Band. Paul, Ringo, and even a few surprise visitors were there to kick off the game, and although Jeff is decidedly negative about the rise of plastic gaming, the game looks pretty cool. Check out the slideshow for pictures of Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse and Dhani Harrison taking a crack at the game.

Later on in the show, we announce the FINALISTS for our 404 logo competition. We received over 150 submissions and while they were all fantastic, we can only choose one for the official logo, so be sure to check out the final slideshow above and vote for your favorite in the comments section! Also, don't forget that even if your entry doesn't win the grand prize, we'll still use it for our mosaic/quilt/poster/sticker/shirt/etc...Thanks one million times over and again to everyone that submitted--you guys rule!

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