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Mass. removes violent games from turnpike rest stops
In response to a complaint and the events in Newtown, Connecticut, the state of Massachusetts has removed nine violent games from rest plazas controlled by the state. The service plazas affected were in Charlton, Ludlow, Lee and Beverly.If you're curious, the Mass. towns of Charlton, Ludlow, Lee and Beverly are 100 miles, 83 miles, 80 miles and 170 miles away from Newtown, respectively."Bottom line is I think there isn't a person who doesn't believe that there isn't too much violence in our society, and games can glorify that," Mass. Transportation Secretary Richard Davey told The Boston Globe. "A video game in a public space could be used by anybody of any age."Meanwhile, Mayor Robert Dolan of Melrose, Mass. (158 miles), is starting an initiative to persuade families to dispose of their violent video games, movies and toys by offering deals at local businesses and maybe even "get out of homework free" coupons.Representatives from the games industry met with Vice President Joe Biden today to discuss the role of violent video games in regards to gun violence.
Apple Newton takes down the Samsung Q1 UMPC?
'Twas a bloody battle between the cult-classic Apple Newton MessagePad 2000 and the flashy Samsung Q1 UMPC, but in a 10 round bout, the Newton threw two big blows which left the Q1 reeling. The punches started flying on the issues of networking, screen beauty, and application support, where the Q1 stunned the Newton with its high-resolution LCD and Windows-based OS. When it came to usability and synchronization, the two were deemed evenly matched, rendering these two categories a draw. The Newton stole the glory on design, size, and reliability, as CNET UK editors were quite annoyed at the "crashability" of the Q1,and crowned the Newton's OS champion of stability. Although there wasn't a unanimous decision made based on these brawls alone, the Newton pulled out all the stops by landing a mean 30 hours of battery life, while the Q1 waved the white flag at 2.5 hours. To add insult to injury, the Samsung costs well over $1,000 (if you can manage to find one), while the Newton can be acquired for substantially less on the used market. While we realize it may be hard to comprehend that a portable from nearly 10 years ago could best a UMPC, there's no denying that even the most ingenious handheld in the world won't do you much good after the battery craps out, and maybe these results are just the Apple needs needs to make good on all these tablet patents, right Steve?[Via Slashdot]
