Study Says Males More Likely to Become Video Game Addicted

Researchers at Stanford University, using brain-imaging in a study of video game players, have concluded that "the part of the brain that generates feelings of reward is more stimulated in men than in women." The conclusion is therefore drawn that this neural affect explains why men are more likely to become addicted to video games. Speaking of the 22 test subjects, 11 male and 11 female, "The females 'got,' the game..." said Allan Reiss, who headed up the study. "They appeared motivated to succeed at the game. The males were just a lot more motivated to succeed." The game played involved gaining screen 'territory' by completing simple tasks and the researchers point out the the male of our species is definitely more territorial than the female, which could explain why the men were more driven to succeed. I think we're just amused by simple games and way too competitive for our own good. The CBC has the story.

CBS Mobile & Loopt Bring Location Based Ads to Cell Phones

The New York Times is reporting this morning that CBS will announce the introduction of a new location based ad campaign customized for a person’s location and delivered to their cell phone via CBS Mobile News and CBS Mobile Sports web sites. “Mobile phone users already see ads on Web pages. But with the CBS service, instead of a more or less random banner popping up on the screen, people who have chosen to participate might see an ad from a business in the neighborhood, even one within a block or two.” The experiment is, for now, limited to two carriers that Loopt has signed deals with, Sprint Nextel and Boost Mobile. If it's an opt in service, and the result is no more ads than would normally be displayed, I really wouldn't have objections. Then again, I live in a very small market and it will probably be a very long time before this type of service makes it way here. I also don't subscribe to the privacy concerns of many... I just don't think that anyone is going to be that interested in where I am at any given time.

The Telco Strikes Back

In an attempt to stem the flow of phone subscribers away from their telco business (1.2 million to the cable companies in 3 years), Montreal's Bell has introduced a couple of new features to it's landline and cell phone clients. One new service "... allows landline customers to access their voice mail messages through any internet-connected computer. The service can also alert customers to new messages by automatically sending an e-mail or text message to their mobile phones." On the cell phone side of the equation, Bell has a new offering that "converts text messages into voice on landlines... which can be listened to on a landline by the receiving customer or sent to voice mail." Of course these new features will cost you... between $3 and $13 per month depending on your phone plan. Somethings will never change! CBC story here.

China's City of the Future, Today!

Wired describes Beijing's Skywalk-Linked Megacomplex as a City Within a City. The objective is to limit it's inhabitants foray into the real world of polution and uncontrollable climate swings by offering everything they need within a ring of eight 21-story towers, all interconnected and providing for nearly all of its residents' needs. "Galleries, cafés, bars, and shops will line these public passages. With its 82-floor hotel, the project boasts a total interior space of 2.4 million square feet, and the 15-acre grounds feature everything from a skateboard park to tai chi platforms." The project is the design of architects Steven Holl and Li Hu and is expected to be complete this summer.

Ballmer Wants to Hurry Along Consumer Version of Surface PC

cnet's News.com reporter Ina Fried is reporting that Steve Ballmer is anxious to bring to market a consumer version of the Surface PC. Reports last year were that Microsoft would unleash a commercial version by end of year 2007, but it now looks like a Spring '08 release. At the time the outlook for a consumer product was about 5 years, but Ballmer says "We're going to follow our nose," referring to the public demand that could drive an accelerated development cycle. I, for one, will be sitting on pins and needles waiting to that happen! This is much more exciting than a Yahoo! hostile takeover...

Google Takes Aim at Microsoft's Proposed Yahoo! Acquisition

A post yesterday on The Official Google Blog calls on legislators and policy makers around the globe to question the impact a Microsoft - Yahoo! takeover would have on "openess and innovation". "Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies -- and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets." writes David Drummond, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer at Google. The New York Times has additional news about Google's efforts over the weekend to mount an offense against the hostile bid. The moves apparently included Eric E. Schmidt, placing a call to Yahoo’s chief, Jerry Yang, offering the Google’s help to fend off Microsoft and “back-channel” calls to AOL and Time Warner execs. Looks like it's on now!

Navy Rail Gun Tests

Here is an interesting Discovery Channel segment on the US navy's trials of Electro-kinetic Rail Gun technology that they are developing as a mid range ship fired ordinance. The projectiles are fired at extreme speeds and the sheer impact causes immense damage meaning there is no requirement for arming them with explosive charges. Neat!

Youtube wealth of UFO video

For no particular reason other than being bored I've spent the last hour or so watching UFO and Area 51 videos on YouTube. It's fun, some of these guys are totally out of their minds while others are fairly convincing. Ever since reading Close Encounters of the Third Kind in Jr. high school I've been a closet UFO buff. Not to the extent that I'm ready to weigh in one way or the other on the topic, lets just say that I want to believe but am not totally convinced. Check out this video and some of the others and you be the judge!

Mindstorms Automated Microscope... cool!

It never ceases to amaze me when I see a story like this. Geek Dad, Wired blog network blogger, found this "... USB microscope is controlled via a LEGO framework that moves the microscope and focuses automatically by raising and lowered the sample to be scanned." It's developer, PhD student, Jamie Robinson says this about Mindstorms "[it] allows for the rapid development of mechanical solutions that may take weeks to produce using traditional manufacturing processes. The use of LEGO Mindstorms provides us with a convenient, robust, programmable controller." This is just one more reason for me to want Mindstorms!

Microsoft Makes $44.6 billion Cash and Stock Offer For Yahoo!

In a Press Release this morning, Microsoft announced the proposed acquisition of Yahoo! Inc. in a cash and share swap offer that they say represents a 62% premium on current share prices. “We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.”

The paragraph that I find most interesting, and of course this should be no surprise to anyone, is the following: "... The resulting benefits of scale along with the associated capital costs for advertising platform providers make this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today this market is increasingly dominated by one player. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a competitive choice while better fulfilling the needs of customers and partners." Looks like the first serious volley has been fired, I expect that Google's response might come from the 700 MHz auction which some had speculated Google was not really that interested in, this might make that space a whole lot more attractive now. Lead or follow?