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MP admits he was Candy Crushing it during a parliamentary meeting
We're sure there are many ways a politician can pass the time during a dull parliamentary meeting, but clearing a few levels in Candy Crush Saga probably wouldn't rank high on that list. Nigel Mills, a Conservative MP for Amber Valley, was caught doing exactly that last week, after he was filmed scooping up candies with his iPad in a Work and Pensions Committee debate. In a statement to The Sun he fessed up to the political faux-pass, but said he was always "fully engaged" with the discussion and "shall try not to do it [again] in future." The House of Commons has already jumped into action, but not in the way you might expect; it's now reportedly investigating the "breach of the filming rules" which caught the minister bang to rights. While the incident will certainly leave Mills a little red-faced, it's probably a nice bit of publicity for a UK game developer that's been struggling since its high profile IPO.
Italian Tourism official not too happy with iPhone travel app
iPhone travel app What Country describes Italy as "Pizza, Mafia, Pasta and Scooters." That isn't sitting too well with Italian Tourism Minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla, who says that the app's description of her country is offensive. She is threatening legal action against the developers, Apalon of Belarus. The US$0.99 app is rated pretty highly by users on the App Store, and it's described as having "a light-hearted and funny view of the world." The Minister, for her part, says that "Italy is a beacon in the world for its history, culture and style, and as a citizen and minister, I cannot allow that our country is discredited by the use of a criminal organization as its testimonial." But Italy isn't the only country with a less-than-complimentary description. The app describes Germany as "Beer, discipline and autobahns." I can't see a lawsuit in a case like this getting too far, but the publicity probably won't hurt the app any, either.
German Social Affairs Minister wants WoW classified 'Adults Only'
We've been reporting more and more lately on MMO censorship and legislation abroad, most recently with the troubles World of Warcraft faces in China. The latest news that we've come across comes to us from Germany where the Minister for Social Affairs in Lower Saxony, Mechtchild Ross-Luttman, wants to restrict sales of violent video games to minors in general, imposing fines of up to €50,000 for those caught selling these titles. She also wants to give MMO titles like World of Warcraft an "adults only" rating. This reaction to violence in video games comes in the wake of the tragic school shootings which occurred recently in Germany. GameCulture reports: "The proposals come on the heels of a survey by the Kriminologischen Forschuginstituts Nidersachsen (the criminal research institute of Lower Saxony), which reported that 14,000 9th graders in Germany are addicted to videogames, particularly World of Warcraft and first-person shooters."
Culture Minister speaks in Second Life
Following earlier reports that David Milliband MP, the Foreign Secretary in the British Government, has a Second Life avatar The Times and Tameside Eye both report that James Purnell, Minister of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, gave a seminar at the Serious Games Institute in Second Life. There is a video of the presentation available here - be warned, although he is a politican, he isn't the most gripping of speakers, plus the video is home movie quality.Second Life is seeing campaigning and the like increasingly often of course, but I believe this is, however appropriate it may be, the first time a politician has come into Second Life for a routine presentation as part of his or her day to day duties.
Australia to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2010
While some US cities like Raleigh are already planning steps to cut back on energy wastes by converting to more efficient lighting systems, it looks like the entire continent of Australia could be following suit. Claiming to be the "world's first" national government to phase out incandescent light bulbs in favor of the more "fuel-efficient, compact fluorescent bulb," environment minister Malcolm Turnbull is hoping to "cut Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by four million metric tonnes a year by 2015." Citing the "climate changes" the world is facing as a "global challenge," Turnbell also urged other nations to follow suit in making a difference, but didn't exactly open up his personal wallet to stock our households with those uber-pricey bulbs. Interestingly, some environmentalists feel that the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions come from government and business-related activities, which should presumably take priority over swapping out a country's light bulbs. Still, we've got no complaints with hooking homes up with LED / fluorescent options to help Mother Earth, but shouldn't Australia (and America, too) ink its name on the Kyoto Protocol before getting all high and mighty about saving the planet?
