The Quest to Render Men Obsolete

“British scientists claimed Wednesday to have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells for the first time…”

I approve.

Gaming With the Power of Your Mind

“The technology involves the use of a wireless headset, developed by our strategic partner, which detects brainwaves on both the conscious and non-conscious level.”

If this is real, I am both intrigued and terrified. It could be used for some very scary purposes.

Gaming Used to Help Veterans

A veteran’s hospital in Houston, Texas is making unconventional use of technology to help its patients.

“A virtual reality program, for example, will allow veterans with substance abuse problems to practice strategies of avoiding alcohol in an imaginary bar, complete with the smell of smoke and beer. Another test will monitor veterans’ brains while they play video games in an effort to gauge their problem-solving abilities.”

The former sounds like it would be useful in rehab centers as well.

The Family That Spits Together…

Who knew there were contests for spitting cherry pits? A married couple from Arizona won this year’s championship.

“…Marlene took first place in the women’s contest, spitting a pit 36 feet, 3 inches (11.8 centimeters).”

Damn. What a great way to keep the romance alive!

Senior Citizen Gamers

“They’ve put away the shuffle board and the bingo cards and picked up a Wii controller.”

With all the news stories about the negative effects of playing video games, and all the dumb little brats who drop dead from playing World of Warcrap for days at a time, this article is a nice change of pace: a nursing home full of gamers.

“My mom is a different lady ever since this started…She was really fighting it, she didn’t want to stay here. It was hard for her to accept that she was going to be in a nursing home. Ever since we started Wii Bowling, that broke her into the bingo. My mom is probably one of the most active women in the facility!”

Best wishes to her, and all of the other residents.

MMO for Girls

It’s a Korean game called Make a Friend. Characters create their own islands, and have cute little pets. The nature of it seems a bit stereotypical, but I think it’s great that someone out there is at least trying to make a game that doesn’t feel like a boy’s clubhouse where female players are only grudgingly tolerated because their characters have been forced to wear bikini-style plate armor. Moving away from the standard lets collect uber l33t gear and kill stuff model is to be commended as well.