Goodbyes are never easy, but it ain’t so bad when you’re leaving for a three-week holiday vacation to Huntington Beach, Calif. On today’s episode of CNET’s The 404 Podcast, the dudes celebrate Justin’s last show in 2009. To everyone’s disappointment, he’ll back back in January 2010 for one episode, and then the dudes are off to CES for four shows from the CNET stage!

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(Credit:

Flickr/Justin_Levy)

It’s hard to believe that 2009 is almost coming to a close, but it’s been a fantastic year of growth for the show. We’re very excited to see what 2010 has in store for us, but this year won’t be over until we get through the dreaded holiday shopping season. With Hanukkah starting tonight and Christmas just around the corner, there’s not a lot of time left for us to head to the store or order gifts online. Then again, there’s always the wonderful gift of debt relief!

We also can’t officially wave goodbye to 2009 until we finally see “Avatar.” In an unexpected twist, apparently someone at the movie studio leaked the film to a few critics who had surprisingly positive reviews!

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter assures us that “every bit of technology in Avatar serves the greater purpose of a deeply felt love story,” which should come as a relief the film’s detractors. Wilson also brings up a good point about Cameron’s depiction of independent women that reinstates our confidence as well. Plan on watching the movie during the holidays? Let us know what you think!

There’s still a full spread of 404 episodes next week featuring special guests Russ Frushtick, Bonnie Cha, Natali Del Conte, and more, but I want to wish everyone an amazing holiday and a super green New Year, see you in Vegas!

EPISODE 485

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Originally posted at The 404 Podcast

(Credit: Rx Bandits/Last.FM)

It’s only been about a week since the release of Sony’s PSP Go, but hackers are already ahead of the game, despite Sony getting rid of the removable battery in an attempt to stop the siege. We don’t have a link to the actual game you have to use to release the exploit, but hackers are using it as a proof-of-concept for future homebrews and pirated gaming. As usual, these guys are ahead of the curve, as we’ve seen before in Sony’s previous PSPs. Of course, you can always get free games if you can somehow get a job reviewing them for a big Web site…right, Jeff?

In other news, Facebook can now measure what they’re calling the GHP, or the Gross National Happiness. The popular social-networking site is using text analysis software to index how its users are feeling based on positive or negative words in their status updates. You can see on this chart that there were major spikes last year around November 23rd for Thanksgiving, as well as in December for Christmas and New Years. Check out the podcast to hear Jeff’s reason why Hanukkah is nowhere to be found.

The Rx Bandits' newest album, "Mandala"

It’s also time again for the Beck’s Beer semi-weekly Audio Draft! Jeff’s pick for today is an oldie but a goodie, The Rx Bandits! Jeff and I are huge fans of the bands from when we were wee lads. They’re rooted in Seal Beach in Southern California, and while their ska sound grew popular in the early ’90s, they have successfully pulled out those roots and progressed into a super eclectic alt/prog/rock/reggae sound. They just released another full length entitled Mandala, which also includes one of today’s featured tracks, “Bury it Down Low.” Here’s to many more years with the Rx Bandits!

Oh yeah, everyone’s password got hacked.

EPISODE 439

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Originally posted at The 404

Getting porn as a kid in the ’70s was hard. You had to be part 007, part Pee Wee Herrman and part Rocky (specifically, the meat beating training scene). In short, there was no internet. How’d they do it?

They had their ways. Although old-timers may tell you they had to wank uphill both ways in the snow, there was porn to be had. It might not have been great porn, but mankind got off before there even was porn.

The only odd part about many of these methods is that you had to interact with somebody to get your porn. An oddity in today’s one-man private show in front of the computer.

Gizmodo ’79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born.

Thanks to Noobs-R-Us in sparking the idea for this post

Sneaking into porn theaters. Yeah, there were porn theaters. These looked like regular theaters on the outside, but on the inside there were many, many more penises and vaginas. If you were underage but clever, you could somehow sneak into the theater via an older brother, a friend working at the theater or a fake mustache.

Of course, once you were inside and watching the movie, you still had to hold it until you got home. Despite it being a communal function, it was still generally frowned upon to pull one out while other dudes were sitting next to you.

Porn quality: 10
Privacy: 5

Using lingerie and clothing catalogs: Various women’s undergarment catalogs like JC Penney provided ample material for the youngsters of the 70s. What they lacked in actual nudity they made up for in quality of models (sometimes).

Although guys (especially young ones) had easier access to these catalogs than more mature fare like Playboy or Penthouse, it was just as hard to explain away why they had one of these stashed under your bed. The excuse of shopping for a birthday/Christmas/Hanukkah present would be tenuous at best.

But, the fact that the models had most of their clothing on provided a great imagination-building exercise that strengthened minds for the future. This explains why movies today are just uninspired rehashes of what we already saw in the ’80s.

Porn quality: 3.5
Privacy: 8

Image credit

Mental spank bank: The ultimate in bare-bones beating, this required you to be ultra-vigilant during your day in order to store images for later use. Trips to the beach, the department store changing room, the food court at the mall, the post office, the pool, the dentist’s office, the Grand Canyon and the polling booth could all obtain lucrative deposits for your bank.

The downside, of course, is that this relied solely on your memory. So any errant noise or smell could interfere with the delicate recollection process, making an already longer-than-usual activity take even longer.

But, the fact that you can do this anywhere, in any position, trained you well for life down the road. If you can squeeze one out standing up in the shower, lying down in bed, squatting in the woods, kneeling in your neighbor’s bushes or face down in your backyard, you could literally squeeze one out anywhere. At work, during your lunchbreak? No problem. At night, while you were visiting grandma’s smelly apartment? Cake. In the car, waiting for your old lady to pick up the dry cleaning? Done and done.

Porn quality: 0-3 (Depending on how well your imagination worked)
Privacy: 10

Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler: As a teen, you may not have legally been able to get these magazines, but when has that problem stopped any kid from getting anything? You could bribe the guy at the corner store, swipe your dad’s when he wasn’t looking, borrow one from your friends, ask your older brother to buy one for you, or just plain steal one.

Although the more commonly available magazines didn’t show hardcore penetration, it was usually enough for kids in the ’70s to get the job done. If you somehow froze that same kid in 1979, unfroze him in 2009 and showed him YouPorn, he would simultaneously masturbate while holding up his other hand to shield his eyes in disgust. It’s a new world, my friends.

Porn quality: 7
Privacy: 3

Nude scenes on TV: Before VHS (or Betamax) became common, people had to stick to their programming schedules. As Adam Carolla (a man who was alive and masturbating during the ’70s) says, they had to time their diddling sessions in accordance to whatever movie was airing.

If something had a nude scene 57 minutes into the film and started at 11:00 PM, you would do the mental calculations and turn on the TV at 12:25 (accounting for commercials) and see maybe a boob and a half. That would have to last you for a week and a half.

Porn quality: 3
Privacy: 2