tumblr

The 404 968: Where we're totally idiot-proof (podcast)

We asked CNN technology writer Mark Milian to come into the studio today to wrap up the last show of the year, and he surprises us with Peter Ha from The Daily in tow!

Our two favorite guests join us for a discussion about the tech trends of 2011 ("hacking," privacy, mobile OS wars, Tumblr, and Reddit), and we'll also take a look at Mark's new book, Letters to Steve: Inside the E-Mail Inbox of Apple's Steve Jobs.

It's a collection of e-mails sent from the legend himself that shows his dedication to customer service and Apple fans. Some of them aren't so nice, though, as Mark tells us a few stories about his lesser-known messages.

I know you're probably super upset that this is the last episode of the year, but we'll be publishing exclusive Yuletide and Throwback episodes throughout the break, all the way up until we start our block of CES shows, live from the CNET stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center!

Thanks to everyone who helped us out this year--too many names to list, but we wouldn't be here without all our awesome guests, fans, moderators, producers, callers, and co-workers!… Read more

Tumblr users fight SOPA with 87,834 calls to Congress

Tumblr users have come out in full force against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the microblogging service announced yesterday.

Earlier this week, Tumblr set up a page where its users could sign up and receive a phone call from the company with talking points about SOPA. From there, the company connected users with their U.S. representatives to voice concerns about the bill.

All told, Tumblr said yesterday, 87,834 calls were placed to representatives. The average call lasted 53 seconds, while the longest came in at 31 minutes, the company said. A total of 1,293 total hours … Read more

Google Music plays up sharing, free storage

Web sites black out their pages to protest online censorship and SOPA, the Salvation Army is using Square, and Google Music arrives with free online storage, music sharing tools, and a few freebies.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Anti-censorship protests irk some Web surfers

Web sites opposed to a federal anti-piracy bill were coming up with some innovative ways of protesting the proposed law, which they claim would allow for Internet censorship. But the protests were interfering with some Web surfers.

In honor of "American Censorship Day," some Web sites were symbolically blacking out their front pages today. The big pop-ups with a darkened background urge people to contact Congress and express opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The House of Representatives held its first hearing on the controversial bill today.

Hollywood studios, the recording industry, large content holders and … Read more

4chan outage could be digital version of a food fight

4chan, a site known for launching memes and harboring trolls, was down early today following an outage earlier this week that could be attributed to a digital version of a lunchroom food fight with users of Tumblr, according to a knowledgeable source.

The evidence is in what appear to be tit-for-tat online fliers circulating among users of the sites. One flier titled "Operation Overlord: Final Phase Tumblr" vowed to take down the popular microblogging site. It urged people to download the LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) software so their computers could be used to overwhelm Tumblr with traffic … Read more

Create retro-style photos in OS X with Analog

Chances are you have heard of the popular photo-sharing iOS app called Instagram. What makes the app so appealing is its broad range of filters and effects the average photog can apply to photos to make them, in some cases, look amazing. … Read more

Netflix feeling the pain

The father of the iPod creates a cool home thermostat, the Obama campaign joins Tumblr, and Netflix reports its first drop in customers in nearly two years--and it's a doozy.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Obama campaign turns to Tumblr for 2012 race

President Barack Obama's campaign yesterday opened up its first Tumblr account to help get the word out about their candidate.

"We'd like this Tumblr to be a huge collaborative storytelling effort--a place for people across the country to share what's going on in our respective corners of it and how we're getting involved in this campaign to keep making it better," the campaign wrote its first post on the page.

Currently, the Tumblr page has three posts, including an image of the campaign's Ohio offices and an excerpt from the President's address … Read more

Sassy Siri even performs musical duets

Everyone's talking to the iPhone 4S' personal assistant Siri and posting their favorite exchanges. From witty banter to borderline insults, Siri has us fascinated.

Musician Jonathan Mann, for example, managed to sing a hilarious duet with Siri, which is posted below. Mann uses some of the most popular questions people have been asking Siri, like "will you marry me?" and "what is the meaning of life?"

You'll have to watch the video to see Siri's snarky answers. … Read more