why

The 404 558: Where we lose big on a Double Down (podcast)

This is an image of a new KFC sandwich called the Double Down. If you can't tell, it puts a twist on the classic sandwich and replaces the bread bun with two boneless white-meat chicken fillets (your choice of Original Recipe or grilled) hugging two slices of bacon, Monterey Jack AND pepper jack cheese, topped off with the Colonel's own "secret recipe sauce." Coronary artery bypass graft on the side, please.

Rather than try this monstrosity ourselves, we'll refer you to NPR's nutritional rundown--not surprisingly, the taste testers tell us that the sandwich contains 1,380 milligrams of salt, nearly the maximum daily amount recommended by the American Heart Association. Anyone else think they should have kept the meat on the inside and used two hash brown buns? Maybe for Double Down 2.0!

There's a lot to talk about on today's episode of The 404 Podcast that won't give you a heart attack--news like Conan O'Brien announcing a new late-night talk show to debut this November.

Fans of Team Coco who didn't get tickets to see him live on the "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" will be able to watch the comedian every night on the basic cable network TBS. George Lopez's "Lopez Tonight" will follow the show at midnight.

We also continue our conversation about the dangers of multitasking with an older story about a woman in Florida who crashed her car into the back of truck while landscaping her lady parts. Ex-con Megan Jones told the cops she was meeting her boyfriend and wanted to be ready for the visit, which we certainly respect, but some things are just better left at home or in a truck stop bathroom stall.

We're down to crunch time for tax season and we've got CBS MoneyWatch.com's Jill Schlesinger, aka The Financial Decoder, on the show tomorrow to help you cram and answer your pressing questions, so send all your financial Qs to the404(at)cnet(dot)com!

EPISODE 558 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Prickly proposition: Dress your dog as a porcupine

It's a dog. It's a porcupine. It's a dog dressed as a porcupine (Martha Stewart's dog Francesca, no less). Yes, it looks like Francesca will be dressing up as another animal species this Halloween, and she no doubt will suffer a serious identity crisis in the process.

The very creative Alison Lewis, editor of the technology life and style blog Switch, went on Martha's show Monday to demonstrate how to make the illuminated porcupine dog costume.

Required materials include fiber optic strands, electrical tape, a 5-millimeter LED light, AAA batteries, silver reflective paper, a craft … Read more

Inside CNET Labs Podcast 63: Why yes, I am a Ninja!

This week Dong regales us with the trials and tribulations of being a nice guy and all the sickening adulation that accompanies it.

Then we talk ninjas. Korean pop star (and arch-nemesis of Stephen Colbert), Rain is playing one in the upcoming movie "Ninja Assassin," and Dong cannot contain his excitement. Also, Eric encounters a real-life ninja!

For technology we talk Netbooks: what they are and why you probably don't need one.

Lastly, we get an interesting hypothetical from one of our readers about "scoring" as he puts it and "making out." Find … Read more

The 404 389: Where we elect Jeff Bakalar the new mayor of Hoboken

Today's show welcomes Eric Franklin, host of the Inside CNET Labs Podcast, who comes on to talk about the new Watchmen Blu-ray/DVD. We also talk about Xbox Portable, Hoboken's newest mayor, Comic-Con, and, of course, Beck's Beer/Last.FM Audio Draft!

The first half of today's show features Eric Franklin, the better half of the Inside CNET Labs Podcast, AKA The 404 West Coast Continent. Like me, Eric is a huge "Watchmen" fanboy, so he joins us to talk about the 3-hour long "Watchmen Director's Cut" Blu-Ray and DVD, which features deleted scenes from the original theatrical release. If you're obsessed with the graphic novel, we recommend waiting for the "Ultimate Cut" edition to be released this holiday season; that one is 3 hours and 25 minutes and intercuts back and forth between the movie and the comic within the graphic novel, "Tales of the Black Freighter." We also talk about the movie's reception, critical acclaim, and what you should know before checking it out. Read Eric's fanboy review on Crave.

We also talk with Eric about the "Alice in Wonderland" trailer that debuted at Comic-Con this year, along with a few more disappointing sequels that prove the well of original stories is long dry.

Today is Friday, which means it's time for yet another 404 semiweekly audio draft sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews 5000! My pick for today is Why?, an established group on SF's own avant label Anticon Records. The group dug its roots in what some people call "post hip-hop," but its first album "Oaklandazulasylum," can be more accurately described as spoken-word-style poetry with more poignant lyrics and instrumentation. Out of the three full-lengths released to date, today's highlight "Alopecia" stands proudly as Yoni Wolf, Josiah Wolf, and Doug McDiarmid's most harmonically "indie rock" record, but in my opinion, Why's best trait is the relationship between the three essential instruments: vocals, melody, and percussion. Yoni's vocals and lyrics explores rhythms with diction and imagery that might sound delineated, but, in fact, it layers seamlessly with the music behind it. "Fatalist Palmistry" is today's draft pick, so give it a listen and let us know what you think!

EPISODE 389 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 163: Where Wilson eats scorpions, bears, and sharks, oh my!

On today's show: The honorable Clayton Morris joins us for a hilarious high energy show. We recap our Fox News appearance that never came to be, answer the questions you're too afraid to ask your Doctor, relive this decade's greatest meeting of the minds, and quiver in fear over Boeing's newest air-to-ground laser turret.

Clayton Morris, ladies and gentlemen! That's right, The 404's all-time favorite guest steps into the studio this morning and helps us out of our Olympic rut. That's right, you'll be happy to hear that there's absolutely no … Read more

Gadgettes 100: The 100th Episode!

One hundred action packed episodes of Gadgettes! We recap the history of our segments in this week's episode. And who's that special guest knocking at the door? Listen and find out! Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 100

PinkWatch Sanyo Xacti DMX-HD800 camcorder offers palm-size HD shooting for $468 http://dvice.com/archives/2008/07/sanyo_xacti_dmx.php

Samsung thinks patronizing women will get us into tech; Engadget agrees http://www.popgadget.net/2008/07/samsung_thinks.php

Hot Asian Gadget Audio slave: Gadget nut turns Pikachu into a ‘musical’ instrument http://dvice.com/archives/2008/07/audio_slave_gad.php … Read more