Geek culture

After several high-profile incriminating pictures hitting the Intertubes this year, TMZ reports that Justin Bieber wants all visitors to his Calabasas, Calif., mega mansion to sign a liability waiver restricting any social-media divulge about the goings-on behind closed doors.

The supposed waiver (PDF) isn't the friendliest welcome mat, as anyone with loose lips automatically gets pegged with a $5 million lawsuit -- plus they forfeit a few rights, including the ability to sue Bieber.

"Without in any way limiting the foregoing, under no circumstances will you divulge the details of you entering and being on the Property or engaging in the Activities by any means or through any media whatsoever, including without limitation, through photographs, video, blogging, texting, "tweeting" or posting any such information on any social-media site," says the alleged waiver. … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- All of CNET's coverage of yesterday's Xbox One event.

- Here's what we know about Xbox One games.

- Microsoft talks Xbox One naming, privacy and more (Q&A).

- Sharon Vaknin and CNET Reviews' John Falcone at last night's Webby Awards.

- Courts turning to UrbanDictionary as an authoritative source on slang. And here's The 404's contribution to UrbanDictionary.… Read more

Engineer Ben Kokes is a lot of things. He's an outdoor enthusiast. He's a Bronco mechanic. He's a tinkerer who builds electronic gadgets for fun. He's also in love.

I'll let him tell his story in his own words: "Once upon a time, a boy met a girl. Then a short amount of time later, the boy decided to design and build a ring for the girl, because doing things in the most complicated way possible is just what he does to show the love." To that end, Kokes made a ring. But not just any ring. It's a titanium ring with internal illumination.… Read more

People who write fan fiction could find a paying market for their work courtesy of Amazon.

Unveiled Wednesday, Kindle Worlds is a new publishing venture from Amazon that promises to reward both writers and the original rights holders for new fiction based on existing stories and characters.

Authors who create works of at least 10,000 words in length will receive 35 percent of the net revenue based on the actual sales price, with royalties paid each month. Those who write shorter pieces between 5,000 and 10,000 words will receive a digital royalty of 20 percent of the sales price.… Read more

Web site Comics Alliance, a three-time winner of the Eisner award -- went mysteriously silent toward the end of April, to the distress and consternation of comics fans.

No word -- official or otherwise -- was heard from either parent company AOL or any of the Comics Alliance staff members. However, the lack of updates on the site since April 29, where it usually updated several times a day, seemed to confirm that Comics Alliance was being shelved and archived. This apparent move was puzzling, as the site was not losing money; quite the contrary, in fact.

A new post on the Web site, however, seems to indicate that perhaps the whole thing was merely a hiatus.… Read more

What's hotter -- the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4?

This year kicked off a new chapter in gaming history as Microsoft and Sony revealed their next-generation consoles, which are destined to rule living rooms (and hands) around the world. Of course, Nintendo also had its fun with the Wii U, but hard-core gamers don't seem to really be jumping on the device.… Read more

The debate around video game violence and whether it leads to actual violence has once again come to the fore this year since the Obama administration asked for funding to study the matter. A study by researchers at the University of Connecticut isn't trying to answer that particular thorny question, but it has uncovered a noteworthy component to the level of aggression gamers display when playing.

The study monitored 148 participants as they played Quake 3 Revolution on PlayStation 2. They battled opponents that either looked closely human or characters that looked like inhuman monsters. The gamers were surveyed afterward. The study found that fighting human targets increased both verbal aggression and aggressive thoughts. The research was just published in the journal Mass Communication and Society.… Read more

"Star Trek" food replicators will always be the holy grail of space-snack technology, but we could be edging a step closer to the dream thanks to the work of mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor with Systems and Materials Research in Austin, Texas.

Systems and Materials Research recently received a $125,000 grant from NASA to make a pizza. OK, it's a little more complicated than that. Contractor already created a proof-of-concept printer that can print chocolate onto a cookie. His next goal is to print out dough and cook it while printing out sauce and toppings.… Read more

Dano's iHeart Locket takes the wearable technology trend and makes it cute. The smart necklace works with the iPad to lock down digital diary entries and keep secret crushes and innermost thoughts safe from prying eyes.

The gold heart necklace, designed with preteens and teens in mind, works with the iHeart Locket Diary App for iOS. The diary app holds text, pictures, speech-to-text audio, and written notes, making it more of a digital scrapbook than a simple journal.… Read more