Judge orders unsealing of affidavit in iPhone raid
REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. — A judge has ordered officials to unseal an affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for the home of a popular tech blogger who posted images of an Apple iPhone prototype online.
Read more on Asbury Park Press

Thompson running for re-election as HC Recorder
Biography My husband Bob and I live on a family “Century Farm” between Woodbine and Logan. We will be married 30 years this year. I am currently in my 16th year serving as Harrison County Recorder. Bob works for the Iowa D.O.T. and we also farm and have a cow-calf operation. We have three sons. Cody and his wife Emily live in Lubbock, Texas. Cody is a PhD. Student of Zoology at Texas Tech …
Read more on Logan Herald-Observer & Woodbine Twiner

Gulf of exasperation
Americans emerged from the Memorial Day weekend facing the disheartening prospect that the BP oil spill could continue for months.
Read more on USA Today

Madison Company’s Technology Estimates Travel Times
MADISON, Wis — Over this Memorial Day weekend, many drivers will likely face delays. But a Madison company is using technology to estimate travel times for motorists.
Read more on WISC-TV Madison

Unplugged: Connecting with the past and present without technology
What was I doing without the Internet? Reading “Huckleberry Finn” to my 9-year-old son, snuggling with my 7-year-old daughter and bathing my 3-year-old girl. History – United States – Dog – Technology – Recreation
Read more on Washington Post

Technology: The rivalry between Apple and Microsoft
Interactive graphic on IT rivals Apple and Microsoft, as Apple, maker of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, overtakes the software giant as the world’s biggest technology firm in terms of market value for the first time.
Read more on AFP via Yahoo!Xtra News

Just a quick heads up to anyone looking to try out Sirius XM. There’s a free seven-day trial you can sign up for that, among other things, Opie and Anthony trash Memorial Day weekend radio, and Ron and Fez debate which animal Fez could beat in a foot race. Oh, and knissors.

There’s more than 120 channels to choose from, including the Howard Stern channel (he’s still around?), and America Right and America Left. Because all political opinion in this country can be expressed in simple binary: yes or no, good or bad, go or stay.

That’s it!

The Best $600 Acoustic Guitar, Period.

Not too long ago I decided to purchase a new acoustic guitar. I’d grown tired of my 7-year-old Ovation Celebrity Deluxe – the shallow-bowl Lyrachord backing makes for a plastic-sounding attack. I gave myself a budget of $1500 and set out to find an all-wood guitar that would meet all of my criteria: a natural, woody sound; even tone between strings and throughout the higher registers; and a great playability. My main buy targets were Martin and Taylor guitars, both well-respected guitars.

Down in Florida for Memorial Day weekend, I decided to hit the local guitar center to sample some guitars, figuring I would get a taste of what I wanted and refine my search later back in my home state of Tennessee. I found the acoustic section and began to look around. Since a clearly deranged individual occupied the “expensive” room, yowling and banging away on a two thousand dollar guitar, I decided to sample the budget guitars first just to get warmed up. The first guitar I picked up was a Taylor 110 acoustic guitar, which I eventually took into the classical guitar room in hopes of escaping the sounds of the Lithium-deprived individual and some nu-metal kid playing the same riff over and over.

What struck me right away, even before moving out of the noise, was how easy it was to play the Taylor 110 Acoustic Guitar. I knew the strings were mediums (I had played custom lights on my Ovation), and I had been out of practice, but it was still easy to play all my songs, even the technically difficult ones. Jumps from 1st to 5th position were just as easy as on my Ovation, and the narrower neck kept my hand from getting fatigued when playing hand-stretching chords.

After playing the Taylor for a little while, I picked up a Martin of a similar price and went back to my sanctuary. I was surprised to notice that the build quality of the Martin seemed inferior to the Taylor – there was a fair amount of buzzing on the frets (although the intonation was fine), and the Martin just felt more clunky than the Taylor 110 acoustic guitar for some reason. The strings unfortunately were rather dull – Martin strings their guitars with their own strings; Taylor uses Elixir Nanowebs, which in combination with the Martin’s darker, woodier tone made it difficult for me to get even sound on the higher strings, particularly in higher positions on the fretboard. I tried a more expensive Martin ($1100) that had less of the same issues but enough that I felt a bit disappointed.

By this time the psycho’s girlfriend or sister (or maybe his parole officer) had convinced him to leave, and I was able to venture safely into the “expensive” room. Unfortunately there was only one guitar in there below my budget of $1500, another Martin. I played it for a bit, but it just didn’t have the same feel as the Taylor 110 acoustic guitar and suffered from dull string syndrome as well. I went back to the Taylor, having fallen for its simple beauty, nice sound, and excellent craftsmanship.

I was a little shocked that the Taylor sounded and played better than a guitar more than twice the price and pretty excited about shaving $900 off my budget. The store sale actually pushed the price down even further on an already on-sale guitar, so when I added an SKB hard case, the total came close to $600 including tax – a steal by any definition.

To be fair to the other acoustic guitars, the Taylor 110 Acoustic Guitar isn’t perfect – it’s got a Sitka spruce top with Sapele laminate sides and back, which combined with the Elixirs creates a tone that’s almost a little too bright. The finish and inlays are really plain, and for this price you don’t get a preamp. However I couldn’t argue with the sound – I had a friend play the guitar for me, and it was “that sound” – the sound I’d come shopping for.

For around $600, you simply can’t buy a better guitar than the Taylor 110 Acoustic Guitar.

After a very relaxing three day weekend, we’re back for a fresh start and a hilarious show. Today, we recap our appearance on Fox News and our weekend exploits, debut a few excellent logo submissions, and reveal Wilson’s secret shame.

Sick camera face, Wilson

(Credit: Justin Yu/The 404)

Welcome back, everyone! Hopefully your weekend was as relaxing as ours was, although sometimes a three-day weekend can be more tiring than a whole week of work ! Let’s just say that seeing the sunrise as you go to bed can be beautiful and tragic at the same time. We kicked off our Memorial Day weekend with an appearance on Fox News’ “Strategy Room” with our buddy Clayton Morris. Most of you have already seen it, but check it out if you haven’t and let us know what you think. Were we too serious for our own good? More bathroom humor, perhaps? I’ll try harder next time.

In related 404 news, Wilson discovers that Dave Matthews Band is using the REMIXED version of our theme song in a promotion on its Pandora channel. What the crap is that all about, DMB? We’re calling you guys out on stealing the song from our buddy Jamie Lewis, and we’re extra protective since we consider him the unofficial voice of the show, so expect that subpoena in the mail immediately. And Jamie, if you’re reading this…we’ll be looking for our commission check soon, too.

Aside from us tearing apart some d-bag that broke the Rock Band 2 world record, we also have a hilarious call from the public and show off more submissions for our “Design The 404 Logo” competition. Watch the video for today’s show to check them out, or see the slideshow below for high-res shots. Send your high-res submissions to the404[at]CNET[dot]com and we’ll show them on the air for the chance to win a gigantic prize package that includes a copy of “The Back Book,” Anna David’s “Bought,” and more!

EPISODE 349

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Originally posted at the 404