Ep. 1259: No, YOUR mom plays FarmVille Video
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AT&T has a MiFi to call its own, a Japanese vending machine uses facial recognition to sell you a soda, and the makers of FarmVille are set to launch CityVille, a social game that lets you build a metropolis of your own.
Ep. 1289: Facebook's momentary lapse of evil
The social network stands up to Googlezon's Net neutrality proposal, and meanwhile plots Foursquare's demise. Also FarmVille pulling up stakes at MSN, and your car's tire pressure sensors can be hacked by drive-bys. Everybody panic!
Ep. 14: How to go off the grid
Heading out of town? What are you going to do about e-mail, your Facebook followers, and your Farmville account? We have tips. Also: Your questions answered, including how to extend WiFi range, and fix a Droid's messed-up contact list.
Tekzilla Daily: Ultimate tab control
We've been overwhelmed with e-mails about this sweet Firefox add-on. Everything you wish Firefox could do, this little extension can!
Ep. 1411: Don't Hate the Zynga, Hate the Game!
Zynga could be worth $10 Billion dollars, which means more CityVille spin-offs. Apple's new subscription policies are getting the attention of U.S. antitrust enforcers, all we want to do is dance, dance, dance and mice might be the key for Brian to keep his hair well past his 60s. Plus, Computer Love! Awwwww Yeah.
Outtakes from episode 1259.
Tom Meighan / Sergio Pizzorno / Chris Edwards / Ian Matthews Stardate: Summer 2006. As these words are being written, Kasabian are jetlagged, but happy. Three days ago, they returned from Mexico City, where a disused supermarket full of saucer-eyed devotees treated them like returning heroes. "They even sang along to the keyboards in Processed Beats," exclaims Serge Pizzorno. And then when we did the new stuff. It was..." Pizzorno is rarely lost for words. When he is though, here's Tom Meighan to pick up the baton "...legendary. I've never felt a force like it." Can a record be legendary before it has even come out? You might think you know Kasabian. After all, the dissolute Glimmer Twins of the post-Britpop firmament made no secret of their sources on that eponymous first album. A couple of years after Meighan and Pizzorno met in Leicester, aged 11, it was 1993 and Oasis were making the rock'n'roll dream seem like a goal attainable to a generation of schoolkids. Recorded at the now-mythical farm where they arrived for a party and never got around to leaving, Kasabian's eponymous debut bypassed most critics and connected dramatically with an audience that recognised them as one of their own just as Oasis had done with Meighan and Pizzorno in 1993. Kasabian sold over 700,000 in the UK and the band were the undisputed victors of last year's festivals, putting in bristling performances at Glastonbury, Reading/Leeds and T In The Park. But if a debut album is all about showing your influences, this is the point where Kasabian truly show us who they are. The first thing you'll notice about Empire is that no other band in the world could have created it. The confidence is perhaps understandable given the lack of fanfare with which they managed to instantly shift 8000 tickets for their Ally Pally show last year. But the scale of its vision though is something else entirely. Asked a while back to describe the album's eponymous opener, Meighan's instant response was, "Marc Bolan smoking crack with Dr Who." "No other band apart from Radiohead would have the balls to put in a tempo change like that," adds Pizzorno. Under the circumstances, you decide it's impolite to tell him that Radiohead didn't get actually around to it until their third album. This time around the demonic amyl throb of Serge's electronic soundscapes feed into the very core of Kasabian's music. The flood of ideas is unstoppable. Propelled along by handclaps and Ian Matthews' inspired Studio 54 style drum fills, the filthy analogue glambience of Shoot The Runner will be inescapable between now and Christmas. Last Trip, appropriately, comes on like a postcard from the furthermost outpost of a 4am bender Meighan's brittle, anxious exhortations leading the way over an arrangement which recalls a beefier version of Suicide's primitive electro-pulse. Three songs in and Empire already sounds like an index of rock'n'roll possibilities. When it comes to taking the credit for their music, Kasabian rarely need to be encouraged. In this case though, they're swift to acknowledge the invaluable input of producer Jim Abbiss who, according to Meighan, "was very good at dealing with situations in the studio." Was that necessary? One imagines that when a double act like Meighan and Pizzorno disagree, they must really disagree. "Actually, we bicker," says Meighan, "But it's only ever when we're drunk. You know that Hot Chocolate song, It Started With A Kiss? Well, with us, it ends with a kiss, but starts with a bottle. But Jim kept our heads clear, so that there was no anxiety, like 'what the fuck are we gonna do next?'"
There is no joy in Jet-ville, plus, we delve deep on the latest Apple tablet rumors.
Ep. 1102: We're blocked in China! We made it!
We received an e-mail telling us that our podcast RSS feed is being blocked in China after we talked about the dispute over World of Warcraft between two Chinese government departments. Really? That is what got us blocked? We also get a kick out of good old Grandpa Murdoch's latest ramblings. And happy birthday Firefox--you're vulnerable.
Biopesticides: little organisms solve big problems
CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos explores a rapidly expanding sector in the world of green tech. It's biopesticides, which refers to the use of helpful microorganisms to fight those that damage farm or garden products. Kanellos spoke with the president of AgraQuest, one of a rising number of companies promoting biopesticides.
