Japanese pop star Leah Dizon joins the guys on today’s episode of CNET’s The 404 Podcast, and Mark Licea also joins the fun to talk about his personal history with the international sensation.

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Leah Dizon with Mark Licea and The 404.

(Credit:
CNET/The 404)

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(Credit:
Leah Dizon)

It’s not every day we get a chance to interview a Japanese pop star, so when we found out that Mark Licea of CNET’s The Green Show grew up with host/model/singer Leah Dizon, we booked her right away. Mark hangs out in the studio as well and we get the inside scoop on their childhood friendship, Leah’s rise to fame in the States and abroad, and Japan’s advanced technology that makes our iPhone look like the Jitterbug.

In the second half of the show, Wilson tells us a strange story about a man who claims that a booty call cell phone ruined his life. Apparently a Canadian woman found a series of lewd photo messages on her boyfriend’s phone. After she confronted him about the pictures, the guy blamed Virgin Mobile for selling him a used phone with preloaded media. Nothing fishy here…

We also can’t ignore the big news of the day: Google is testing out its new Internet service that promises speeds of 1Gbps. The fiber-optic network is set to humiliate Verizon FiOS, but at a more “competitive price,” whatever that means. If you want Google to test out the service in your home town, you can sign up online anytime before March 26.

Thanks to Leah Dizon for chatting with us today! Check out her Web site and buy her music! Also, be sure to send your Valentine’s Day questions to the404(at)cnet[dot]com, because the girls of Sugar Rock Catwalk will be in the studio tomorrow to offer tips on how to impress your boo bear this Sunday!

EPISODE 517

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Originally posted at The 404 Podcast

A Canadian woman suffering from depression goes on holiday and puts some cheery photos on Facebook. Her insurance company withdraws her sick-leave benefits.

Originally posted at Technically Incorrect

Maybe someday a human will walk on Mars. The last couple of generations has always told their children that they will be the ones to do it, but we’re still stuck on this planet. Anyway, 6 crazy Ruskies just emerged from a 1970’s Soviet-era testing facility after spending 105 days in isolation to simulate the voyage to Mars. I don’t know why some random Russian government agency spent so much money conducting this probably expensive experiment though. Don’t they get the reality TV show Big Brother over there?

All they had to do is turn on the crappy show Big Brother to find out what happens to people when they are isolated from the outside world and stuck with each other. They fight, throw food, and sleep around. That’s it. Money saved.

I’m mean, this test sounds just like the show.

They are locked in a wacky environment,

The interiors had hatches similar to a submarine’s and were paneled in faux wood according to Soviet style of the 1970s, when the structure was originally built for space-related experiments.

that’s equipped with everything needed to survive.

Common facilities included a gym and a small garden, and the modules were equipped with the new European and Russian exercise and training equipment for biomedical research. The crew also specially prepared meals and used toilets closely resembling those on the space station.

Plus, communication with the outside is limited.

They had no television or Internet and their only link to the outside world was communications with the experiment’s controllers — who also monitored them via TV cameras — and an internal e-mail system. Communications with the outside world had 20-minute delays to imitate a real space flight.

And just like the real Big Brother, they fight and sometimes fool around.

The experiment was the second for the institute, whose previous effort in 1999 ended in scandal when a Canadian woman complained of being forcibly kissed by a Russian captain and said that two Russian crew members had a fist fight that left blood splattered on the walls.

And who says that watching TV doesn’t teach you anything?

[Photo credit: AP]