ansari

Another comedian takes Louis C.K.'s route as Net entrepreneur

Comedian and actor Aziz Ansari is selling his new hour-long stand-up special, "Dangerously Delicious" for $5 over the Internet.

Ansari's announcement over Twitter follows in the successful wake of fellow comedian Louis C.K., who similarly bypassed the studios and sold his online video with no copy protection restrictions for $5.

The last time Louis C.K. offered a sales update, he said the experiment had pulled in $1 million in sales.

In a statement published on his Web site, Ansari explained his reasons for going solo.

"I wanted to release it online because I saw … Read more

The 404 897: Where you both owe me 14 bucks (podcast)

Remember the story we told you last week about the woman who spent $180 on what turned out to be a wooden Apple iPad? It happened again! In the same city! There's a lesson to be learned in all of this, and that lesson is to never trust anyone with more than four gold teeth.

Same rule goes for mustaches, and Google's celebrating Freddie Mercury's 65th birthday with a Web app that lets you add a mustache to every face on the Internet! We'll demo it today using someone else's face, however, since none of us are creepy enough to grow our own mustache.

We'll also talk about Amazon.com-branded delivery lockers popping up in select 7-Eleven stores, adding fuel to the fires already burning through the United States Postal Service, and introduce a new photo caption segment that Wilson cooked up over the weekend.

The 404 Digest for Episode 897

This is why Jeff and Wilson owe me 14 bones. After the $180 wooden iPad comes the $250 paper laptop (same city). Google honors Freddie Mercury with Mustachify.me. Google doodles a complex piece for Freddie Mercury. Amazon starts putting the USPS out of work, one 7-Eleven at a time. The U.S. Post Office says a winter shutdown is possible. Did somebody ask for pizza on a bullet-capsule to the moon? Check out this 404 photoshop, courtesy of Captain Carlos! Join The 404 Facebook Group! Add The 404 on Twitter, and while you're logged in, follow Jeff, Wilson, and Justin too!

Episode 897 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The next five years of the X Prize

At a gala charity event Saturday night featuring "Avatar" director James Cameron, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and a who's who of tech industry luminaries, the X Prize Foundation laid out its vision for the next five years.

Already in 2004, the foundation has paid out $10 million in prize money for the winner of the Ansari X Prize, which in 2004 went to the first non-governmental team to launch a vehicle into space twice in two weeks. The prize winners were Burt Rutan and the Paul Allen-backed team that built SpaceShipOne.

The foundation offers … Read more

David Cross has been photographed playing 'Guitar Hero'

If not for this photograph, the intersection of music, film, interactive entertainment, and celebrity sightings that is Austin's South by Southwest (SXSW) festival may have remained inadequately documented.

Comedian David Cross plays a game of Guitar Hero at SXSW, while fellow comedian Aziz Ansari enjoys the rock show.

In the photo, both showcase the Stage I Guitar Hero face.

In a perfect world, Titannica and Three Times One Minus One songs will be part of the upcoming Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360, or even the mythical Guitar Hero III. If that's the case, Cross could shred his … Read more