November 2008 Archives

Well known ebay - linked payment method paypal recently asked me if anyone owed me money.

You see, they have had an idea to squeeze a few more quid out of their users.

The email said: "Is it somehow always your round? Are you the one who always ends up buying dinner for your friends? Or have you organised a group holiday or activity and everyone's forgotten to pay you back?

"PayPal Send Money is a quick and easy way for your friends to pay you back - and they don't even need to know your bank details, only your email address. So no more excuses!"

To do this you can create a 'light hearted' charity campaign - with YOURSELF as the charity (geddit?).

You can send out posters apeing those other non-vital charities like Save the Children and Famine Relief - with poor old you as the needy party.

Now, leaving aside the taste problem of fake charity campaigns, there is one tiny issue which isn't highlighted.

If your friends laugh at your hilarious attempt to get them to pay you back, don't thump you, and pay up, then Paypal takes its slice too!

Yes, it's almost impossible to have a non fee paying paypal account so you will also be helping paypal through this difficult financial time!

Get updates by following me at http://twitter.com/BenHurst

JUST arrived in my email inbox - a survey carried out into the thoughts of Birmingham parents into kids and their tv watching habits.

Now I won't bore you with a rant about surveys from PR companies - let's just say we get a lot and leave it there.

This one came up with surprisingly pro-TV responses - for example 84 per cent of parents in Birmingham supposedly believe it has a "positive effect on their child's development".

Those parents surveyed said it helps them to expand their imagination (59 per cent) and broaden vocabulary (65 per cent).

The press release adds: "These findings form part of an independent report by Dr Tanya Byron which looks at the effects of TV viewing on young children."

A quick shifty at Dr Byron's wikipedia entry reveals that amongst her many talents are "hosting and co-writing TV programmes".

And who has put out the research? Er Freeview. Who some recall may have an interest in studies which say kids watching tv is 'beneficial'.

Oh well. I'll chuck their books in the bin, stop talking to them and leave it in the hands of cbeebies then!

Below - this is what your child should look like!

The trouble with some games is that there's never a good time to stop playing.

By that I mean a natural break in the gameplay, finishing a level or similar.

Online role playing games fit into that category - and one 15 year old paid the price.

Somehow he managed to keep going for a 24-hour marathon session, and ended by collapsing with some kind of seizure.

The Swedish lad was playing the new World of Warcraft Lich King add on and after buying it embarked on the spree.

His dad subsequently said he plans to limit the time he was allowed - like only maybe 23 and a half hours straight next time.

When I was younger and really got into playing something I had to be dragged away - and there weren't even games specifically designed to be semi addictive around at that time.

But if I was on for more than an hour my mam would soon be on at me.

According to the report it's not unusual for teenagers to play 14-15 hours in a row.

It certainly explains one thing - why everyone online is always impossibly good at games - it's because they do nothing else with their time at all.

Below - the end of a long gaming session...

A recent article predicted the rise of computing power so that by 2030 a 'significant' machine intelligence should emerge.

It's not just about pure processing - the real key is how the computer 'senses' the world and what is going on, in essence the basis for that decision making.

Rather disconcertingly Peter Cochrane, the former head of BT's research labs, said: "I reckon we're looking at the 2020 timeframe for a significant machine intelligence to emerge. By 2030 it really should be game over."

Game over indeed. At this point I feel obliged to quote the Terminator 2:

TERMINATOR: "Basically. The Skynet funding bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn, at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. eastern time, August 29. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.

SARAH: "And Skynet fights back."

TERMINATOR: "Yes. It launches its ICBMs against their targets in Russia."

SARAH: "Why attack Russia?"

TERMINATOR: "Because Skynet knows the Russian counter-strike will remove its enemies here."

Video games have become the most popular form of home entertainment, it was revealed today.

People are set to lash out £4.64 billion on games this year, with home video (dvds blu ray et al), and cd sales accounting for £4.46 billion.

Of course you read it here first! When Grand Theft Auto IV came out with a record selling weekend, I commented on how games were still in the ghetto as far as the mainstream press were concerned, receiving drastically less coverage than films and music - even though more was being spent on them.

I suppose the thing to consider is that DVDs cost an average of maybe £8, cds less, so although more is spent on games, volume-wise the traditional forms of entertainment are still top.

Still, I await the day a national newspaper produces a games supplement, as they do frequently with films and music!