Leo DiCaprio gives some love to YouTube froggy style

Leonardo DiCaprio, who is starring in Sam Mendes’ adaptation of the classic Richard Yates novel "Revolutionary Road," gave popular video-sharing site YouTube some love in the December issue of GQ.

"How great is YouTube?" he asked rhetorically. "Endless entertainment. Endless! Every day. What the hell? You can type in anything, like 'frogs getting laid,' and they have, like 70 clips. It's fabulous."

The shout out (not the amphibian mating reference) made our favorite YouTuber Hunter Walk blush -- and quibble just a little.

"I admit we really don't have great results for the query, 'frogs getting laid,'" blogged Walk, a director of product management.

Something to do with that new spic-'n'-span no-pornography policy, perhaps? Maybe there's a Wild Kingdom exemption. So get busy, Kermit.

-- Jessica Guynn

Photo: A group of swimmers pose with a giant frog puppet during a Christmas race in Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Credit: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP/Getty Images

Let this be the last list of 2008 ... please

In the last three weeks, I have read more lists listing the best, worst, weirdest, most memorable, forgettable events, feuds, quotations, blunders and triumphs of men, women, criminals, movies, albums, politicians, companies, animals and things than I have read in all my previous years combined.

Are we listed out yet?

I would consider circulating a petition to end year end listing if I thought anyone would read it (it being another list, after all). And it's too late, anyway.  There are only a few hours until Jan. 1, at which point the lists magically vanish, gone for another 48 weeks into hibernation -- waiting until late in the year when the world has become just listless enough for them to strike anew.

Well with my cynic's goggles on, I see the phenomenon of prolistferation as an effective way for bloggers and news sites to score lots of easy page views. (Hey, I did one myself). All ya gotta do is come up with a conceit -- say, the awesomest rhino videos of 2008 -- Google around for an hour or so, and kaboom! Another list. 

Seriously though, aren't year end lists a relic of older, slower media, anyway? Before the Web, it was nice to get a reminder of all the things that had happened throughout the year. But there's something about the Web that keeps information and images alive for much longer. Take Jesse Jackson's untoward comment about Barack Obama, which is making all kinds of political lists. It happened six months ago, sure, but has anyone really forgotten? Getting a refresher about these things seems as unexciting as being reminded of your last visit to the airport. 

All that said, Techmeme's list of the 10 "objectively biggest tech stories of 2008" bucks the trend, eschewing individual judgment to pick its winners algorithmically. Techmeme decides which stories are hot based on how much coverage they're getting, and from whom. So if you click on its No. 1 story -- Microsoft's plans to buy Yahoo -- you can see the dozens of outlets that wrote about it at the time -- a solid measure of a story's impact. Calling its list "objective" is Techmeme being tongue-in-cheeky, of course, because in popular culture, popularity means something different than importance. So just because a story was covered widely doesn't always mean it was legitimately big.

Still, it's useful to know which stories the media decides to focus on, so we can figure out which ones they decide to ignore.

-- David Sarno

Microsoft to Zune 30 owners: It's a leap-year problem. Wait until tomorrow

UPDATE: Many Zunes appear to be working now. Read the full story.

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Microsoft this afternoon sent out a message to frustrated owners of its Zune 30 digital media player: Wait until tomorrow.

An estimated 1 million owners of the 30-gigabyte Zune woke up this morning to find their devices inoperable. They quickly dubbed it the "Z2K" problem, after the dreaded Y2K computer bug that never materialized to the extent feared. After deploying a team of engineers to investigate, the Redmond, Wash., company said its engineers had discovered that the problem was related to the Zune's inability to handle the extra day in a leap year (this is the first one since the Zune was introduced in 2006).

Turns out, Microsoft's remedy for Z2K bug is similar to what a doctor would prescribe for the 24-hour flu: Just wait a day, and it will go away. Here's the full statement:

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you are a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.

Here's a Q&A about the Zune problem that Microsoft recently posted.

How do you feel about Microsoft's explanation and proposed solution? Sound off in the comments below.

UPDATE: Many Zunes appear to be working now. Read the full story.

-- Alex Pham

Photo credit: Peter Adams / Los Angeles Times

Z2K? Reports pour in of frozen Zune media players*

UPDATE: Many Zunes appear to be working now. Read the full story here.

 

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For many people who own the Zune digital media player, New Year's Eve is the day the music died.

Internet message boards are lighting up with reports that 30-gigabyte models of Microsoft's Zune digital media player froze up shortly after midnight today.

The players seem to be getting stuck with the Zune logo on the screen (see the photograph to the right uploaded to Flickr), and simple resets won't fix the problem.

Angry users are dubbing the problem "Z2K" and "Z2K9" -- plays on the much-feared Y2K glitch that never quite materialized at the turn of the millennium.

"We've been flooded with tips about users whose 30GB players started locking up at midnight last night, essentially bricking themselves without any help from their owners," Engadget reports.

According to Gizmodo:

The proximity of the events to the New Year, which inspired the Y2K9 moniker, provides little more than a colorful backdrop; it's unlikely that the switching of years in the Zune's internal calendar has anything to do with the failures (besides, it hasn't even happened yet).

If not for the uniform representation of events across the Internet, I'd be tempted to suspect this as a hoax, but it just doesn't look that way. The story, assuming the described problem is of the magnitude reported, will probably take a turn for the large when the majority of Zuners start waking up.

Responding to the situation, Microsoft issued this statement: "We are aware that customers with the Zune 30GB are experiencing issues with their Zune device. We are actively working now to isolate the issue and develop a solution to address it. We will keep customers informed on next steps via the support page on zune.net."

The Redmond, Wash., company said that it has sold 3 million Zunes since ...

Around the Web 12.31.08: Dell management shake-ups, yogurt clerk weighs in on Jobs' health

-- Hundreds of Zune 30s up and died at once. It's the sign of the apocalypse! Gizmodo

-- Dell will shake up its management, with some top execs stepping down. WSJ

-- Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, is buying the blog Consumerist from Gawker Media. NYT

-- Viacom may pull its properties off of Time Warner Cable tonight if a contract dispute isn't resolved. Bye bye, Sponge Bob Square Pants. Bye bye, Jon Stewart. LAT

-- Wikipedia is once again begging for funds, this time with a personal plea from Jimmy Wales. Ars Technica

-- A Chinese court jails 11 for manufacturing and distributing pirated software from Microsoft. NYT

-- China finally approves the licenses for two 3G standards, plus its own homegrown version. WSJ

-- A frozen-yogurt clerk assures everyone that Steve Jobs is doing just fine. Silicon Alley Insider

-- A really big iPod touch could be available in the fall of '09, with a screen as large as 9 inches. TechCrunch

-- Facebook removes pictures of people breastfeeding. Revolt ensues. USA Today

-- New Year's Eve revelers in Times Square can text pictures of themselves to be displayed on giant screens in the square for all the world to see. Wired

-- And finally, Wired gives us 11 gadgets to improve your New Year’s Eve. That is, if your New Year’s Eve can be improved by a giant iPod closet or a dancing egg. Wired

-- Alana Semuels

Photo: How would you like a picture of your face displayed on those billboards tonight? Credit: bgilliard via Flickr

Appiphilia: Top 5 iPhone apps for New Year's resolutions

When it comes to New Year's resolutions, we all know how easy it is to see that resolve fade from determination to a distant memory as we shrug it off with a defeated "Oh well, I tried."

But Jedi Master Yoda had it right: "Do or do not. There is no try."

Your iPhone could offer a little hand-held help in really doing it this year. Heck, you might consider your device a changing, er, force (sorry) that could be your greatest tool or fiercest tormentor. 

The resolutions themselves haven't changed much over the years. You know the ones: be better with money, get organized, live a healthier lifestyle, become more environmentally conscious, be sure not to break new laws. (OK, so maybe being a law-abiding citizen isn't really on your list, but it should be!)

Here are apps we think are the best to give you a fighting chance in making changes that stick. 

In search of the perfect video game

Of the hundreds of games that came out in 2008 -- and of the dozens of truly great games we played at Gameday HQ -- each was flawed.

Though some were lacking more than others (yes, we're talking to you, Star Wars: Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels), for every engrossing hour spent gaming there was always that errant control option or poorly rendered cut-screen that created the blemish on perfection.

So what then makes the ultimate game, one so shining that even the most curmudgeonly critic would find no flaw?

Like Dr. Frankenstein, we've assembled a list of the important qualities of the games we liked best over the last 12 months. Each possessed a trait that set it apart from all the others. And if those qualities were combined into one title, it would be as close to perfect as possible. (As the good doctor would say, "It's alive! It's alive!")

See the photo gallery here.

-- Peter Metzger

Image from God of War: Chains of Olympus. Credit: Sony

The FCC puts the MPAA on hold

Looks like Hollywood isn't going to unleash selectable output control, a controversial anti-piracy technique, any time soon.

The MPAA had sought the Federal Communications Commission's permission to use selectable output control on a new type of service to be offered by cable and satellite TV operators: movies made available on-demand shortly after they debuted in theaters, well before they were released on DVD. Studios could use the new technique to turn off the analog outputs on cable or satellite receivers, allowing the movies to be transmitted only through encrypted digital outputs. Closing the so-called "analog hole" would make it harder for people to make pristine digital copies of the movie. But it would also prevent consumers who have older TV sets, which weren't equipped with encrypted digital inputs (including early HDTV models), from taking advantage of the new service.

According to Broadcasting & Cable magazine's website, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said today that he didn't support the MPAA's petition, which means the studios will have to try again with Martin's replacement. Although Martin's term on the FCC won't expire until 2011, he's expected to give up the commission's gavel long before then. His (GOP) majority on the commission evaporated today, when fellow Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate attended her final formal meeting.

Online merchants got lumps of coal from Santa this holiday

Online sales during the crucial holiday shopping period dropped 3% this year, faring worse than expected after posting annual double-digit increases for the last six years, according to a new report by ComScore. Here's how the research firm's chairman, Gian Fulgoni, put it:

This marks the first time we've seen negative growth rates for the holiday season since we began tracking e-commerce in 2001. The combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the severe economic headwinds faced by consumers has made this a really tough season for retailers, both offline and online.

Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 23, U.S. online merchants rang up $25.5 billion in sales, down from $26.3 billion during the same period last year, ComScore reported. This was despite a 15% bump in sales on Cyber Monday, the first workday after Thanksgiving. The firm had initially forecast flat sales for the holiday period. The picture looks even worse when October sales are included. Sales declined 4% to $36.8 billion between Oct. 1 and Dec. 28, according to ComScore tallies.

Traffic to e-commerce sites, however, grew 5% in the December days leading up to Christmas, suggesting that shoppers were busy trolling the Web for deals. According to ComScore, sites that saw traffic grow include Amazon (up 7%), Apple (19%), Hewlett-Packard (28%) and Wal-Mart (4%). Traffic losers include EBay (down 4%), Circuit City Stores (21%), Overstock.com (16%) and Dell (17%).

Those sites are probably asking the same questions economists are: Where's bottom?

-- Alex Pham

Photo by Star5112 via Flickr

Now traveling around the Web: hobo code

A shout out to Cockeyed for its latest edition of "Modern Hobo Code."

As the site explains: "Hobo code" was a set of covert markings used to alert fellow hobos to good and bad situations. Cockeyed has updated the code for the modern day. Cockeyed's version was a big hit on Reddit.com. And it got some love from Laughing Squid.

According to Wikipedia: "To cope with the difficulty of hobo life, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information and warnings to other hobos. Some signs included 'turn right here,' 'beware of hostile railroad police,' 'dangerous dog,' 'food available here' and so on."

Our favorite hobo code is in flashbacks on AMC's "Mad Men."

-- Jessica Guynn

Photo: Maurice "Steam Train Maury" Graham, shown in 1989 near his home in Toledo, Ohio, was a founding member of the National Hobo Foundation and helped establish the Hobo Museum in Britt, Iowa. Credit: Scott Martin