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South Korean psychiatrists treating StarCraft 'addiction' with drugs
A study recently conducted by the Department of Psychiatry at South Korea's Chung Ang University has found that StarCraft "addiction" can be treated with Bupropion, an antidepressant and anti-smoking aid. According to Wired, the study found that individuals who took the drug for six weeks saw their average StarCraft playtime decrease by 35.5 percent. Also -- we swear we're not making this up -- MRI scans showed that participant's brains reacted less strongly to pictures of Zerglings after the treatment. Treating someone's obsessive behavior towards a video game with real-life pharmaceuticals is a fairly heavy prescription. Then again, out of the survey's eleven participants, six had dropped out of school for two months due to the amount of time they put into StarCraft every day. Two participants were divorced due to their demanding StarCraft schedules. Isn't it possible these people are suffering from depression because of their obsession with a video game? Or, rather, couldn't they have become obsessed with a video game because they were depressed? In either case, doesn't it kind of make sense to treat them with antidepressants?
Drug vending machines start trial in UK, allow awkward videophone conversations with your pharmacist
You've got to imagine the Japanese are green with envy right now, as the BBC report not one, but two different drug vending machines are being tested out under Her Majesty's watchful eye. The first of these experiments is run by supermarket chain Sainsbury's, which has installed a pair of drug dispenser machines in its stores. They identify users by their fingerprint or a unique number, demand PIN verification too, and then finally accept your prescription. Then -- and this is the really silly part -- a pharmacist comes along, picks up your prescription, fills it out, and deposits it in the machine for you to pick up. So it's impersonal and unnecessarily convoluted, great. PharmaTrust seems to have a slightly better idea with its videophone-equipped, ATM-style robo-vendor: it's intended to allow pharmacists to approve prescriptions off-site and out of usual working hours by letting them speak to you via videophone. It could in fact be a big benefit in more remote areas, depending on how patients take to it -- we'll know more when the trial starts up in participating hospitals this winter.
AT&T hacker's home raided, drugs found, dude detained (update)
Man, one day you have the whole world's ear to talk about slack network security, and the next you're in the joint. Andrew Auernheimer, Goatse Security's hacker-in-chief and a key player in the unearthing of a major security flaw exposing iPads surfing AT&T's airwaves, is today facing felony charges for possession of a variety of potent drugs. That wouldn't be such intriguing news by itself, but the discovery was made by local law enforcers who were in the process of executing an FBI search warrant. Hey, wasn't the FBI going to look into this security breach? Yes indeedy. While nobody is yet willing to identify the reasons behind this warrant, it's not illogical to surmise that Andrew's crew and their online exploits were the cause for the raid. So there you have it folks, it's the first bit of advice any publicist will give you: if you're gonna step out into the glaring light of public life, you'd better clean out your closet first. Update: Before y'all get in an uproar about "white hacker this" and "Police State that," let's keep in mind that this Andrew Auernheimer character (a.k.a. "Weev") is one unsavory dude (not to mention a raving anti-Semite): check out this New York Times piece on Internet Trolls if you don't believe us. After all, it's not really a stretch that law enforcement might be after someone who's in possession of ecstasy, cocaine, LSD, and various other pharmaceuticals.
P.L.E.A.S.E. is the polite and painless way to deliver drugs with lasers
Needles? Ouch. Pills? Yuck. Lasers? Awesome! This, we figure, is how a new means of delivering drugs was born. Pantec Biosolutions AG has created a device it calls the Painless Laser Epidermal System, or P.L.E.A.S.E. (We're not sure where the last E comes from, either.) P.L.E.A.S.E. is a means to deliver drugs via laser, effectively blasting tiny holes in your skin through which medication is absorbed, as demonstrated in a soothingly orchestrated video. The process is, apparently, completely painless both for the recipient and the deliverer too, thanks to a fancy touchscreen UI. The device has received marketing authorization, meaning it's able to be sold in Europe, but there is naturally no price or availability listed, so for now you'll just have to take your medicine the old fashioned way.
Duck Hunt's workplace violates most HR guidelines
On first blush, the workplace behind the scenes of the "increasingly frustrating action" game Duck Hunt doesn't seem so bad -- the boss is smart and organized, the space is very modern and clear of cubicle clutter, and all the worker ducks get free drugs and junk food! We have to pay for our meatball subs and cocaine here at Joystiq. But then you start to realize, thanks to this hard-hitting expose from the folks at College Humor, that the pressure can get to you after a while, especially when the players you're meant to be entertaining start bending the rules. Watch the full short (which is NSFW thanks to language) after the break. [via GoNintendo]
The best of WoW.com: December 30 - January 5, 2010
Between Blizzard lending a helping hand in a drug bust and the WoW-playing cougar meeting her teenage soulmate, World of Warcraft spent a not insignificant amount of time in the news this past week. In the game itself, players continue to ride the waves of last month's release of patch 3.3 and Blizzard tries its hardest to bribe players into running one of Wrath of the Lich King's worst dungeons. Continue reading to see the best that WoW.com had to offer in the kick off of 2010.
Police Wii Bowling team issued stern rebuke
You know, policing can be a tiresome, thankless task -- that's why we weren't all that surprised when Polk County's finest were caught on camera at the scene of a Florida drug raid engaging in a reported nine hour Wii Sports tourney. As you'll recall, investigators raided a home back in March on the lookout for drugs and stolen items -- which they found, along with weapons and that infamous Nintendo game console. Fans of police accountability will be pleased to note that when all is said and done, eleven members of the multiagency task force were eventually disciplined with a letter in their permanent records and a couple hours of re-training. According to Polk County sheriff's Chief of Staff Gary Hester, all of those involved "were all remorseful, upset with themselves, [and] apologetic," except one officer who finally bowled a perfect game: "It was totally worth it. The Dude abides."
Video: Drug raid turns into 9 hour Wii bowl-a-thon
Know what's more alluring to the five-O than glazed confectionary goods? Nintendo's Wii, apparently. Or at least the lure of bowling without all the heavy lifting. See, a team of undercover cops raiding the home of a convicted Florida drug dealer was smitten enough by the console to quit their search and fire up Wii Sports for a bit of taxpayer fun over a period of, oh... about nine hours -- unaware that the home security system was recording the whole thing. Your dose of self-righteous indignation can be found after the break.[Thanks, Maurice]
Microfluidic chip does 1,000 parallel chemical reactions, looks glorious
We'd never considered a career in biochemistry until we saw this wild beast of a chemical microprocessor. Microfluidic chips, used to test chemical reactions and properties, have been known to be smaller, but they've never before been quite this powerful. The result of a joint study between California State University, UCLA and China's Wuhan University, the "integrated microfluidic device" is capable of performing 1,024 in situ chemical reactions at a time, making the researcher's life, oh, about 1,024 times easier. Most importantly though, costly enzymes previously used for a single test can now be split up into hundreds and tested simultaneously, which should pave the way for exponentially faster and easier medical research. It's not clear when these will be widely available, but we're sure PhDs around the world are trying to order one as we speak.[Via medGadget]
Arcade cabinet used to smuggle pot, DEA nabs 'High Score'
Police have arrested 24-year-old Las Vegas resident Kevin Dixon with unlawful trafficking and possession of cannabis after authorities discovered 172 pounds of the substance hidden inside an arcade cabinet. According to the Daily Herald, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had been investigating possible drug activity between Arizona and Nevada, which eventually led to the interception of the arcade unit by DEA agents and the Palatine Police Department.Over $170,000 worth of the "Sticky Icky" was recovered in the bust, landing Dixon (whose mugshot is poorly 'shopped above) in a Cook County courthouse, where bail was set at $250,000. Dixon's motives are unclear, but we're sure some anti-video game activist will let us know exactly which game is to blame for the crime sometime in the near future.[Thanks, Don]
EVE Evolved: EVE's economic underworld
EVE Online's in-game economy has been the subject of intense study over the years. The markets of EVE react very effectively to accomplish goals with the same economic laws that apply to many real-life marketplaces. The game's developers CCP even hired a professional economist to analyse the in-game economy, advise them on problem issues and deliver interesting quarterly reports. The driving force behind EVE's markets is often assumed to be basic supply and demand but this isn't always the most potent component. In the hyper-capitalistic universe of New Eden, all bets are off and the only rules are those players enforce themselves with an iron fist. Cartels, market manipulation and theft run rife in EVE, with far-reaching consequences. In this succinct article, I examine the hidden forces pushing and pulling EVE's markets and show that EVE's economic sandbox comes complete with quicksand and land mines.
Corkscrew nanopropellers may one day deliver drugs internally
Clearly, vaccinations are so three years ago. As the race continues to find the best, most mobile internal transportation device for delivering drugs to remote places within the body, Peer Fischer of The Rowland Institute at Harvard University has teamed with colleague Ambarish Ghosh to concoct the wild creation you see to the right. The glass-derived nanopropeller was designed to move in a corkscrew motion in order to plow through syrupy, viscous liquids within the human frame. The device itself is fantastically small, measuring just 200 to 300 nanometers across at the head and 1 to 2 micrometers long. Fischer points out that each of these can be controlled with a striking amount of precision via an external magnetic field, though we don't get the impression that they'll be on to FDA testing in the near future. Ah well, at least our gra, er, great-grandchildren will be all taken care of.
New FpsBrain pills claim to make your eyes see games better
Listen, we're not doctors. Obviously. If we were doctors, we probably wouldn't be blogging. We'd be off doing highly lucrative doctor stuff. Still, even without years of fancy doctor schoolin', we can assure you that taking pills of any sort won't make you better at playing video games -- even when those pills are the new gamer-oriented FpsBrain Zoom "visual performance" enhancing capsules.These meds are set apart from FpsBrain's other offerings, which contain enough caffeine and guarana to allow most toddlers to tap into the Speed Force. Instead of filling you with raw energy, Zoom allows you to actually see better during your lengthy Halo 3 sessions, providing you with the ocular edge that ... aw, screw it. Taking good care of your eyes is important, but ordering dubious pills from European countries probably isn't the best way to do so. We prefer carrots! They're crunchy, delicious and American.
EVE Evolved: Combat boosters
The drug trade has been a part of EVE since the very beginning. Originally, drugs were nothing more than a trading commodity occasionally demanded by agents in low security space. The old drug trade goods still exist in EVE, a non-functional relic of years gone past. A new drug trade has taken its place - the black market for performance-enhancing combat boosters. If you want to push your ship to the absolute limit of its abilities, whether it's for PvE or PvP, you're definitely going to want to get your hands on some combat boosters. In this article, I take a look at the drug trade in EVE and the different kinds of performance-enhancing combat boosters that are available.
Researchers in the Netherlands develop a microfluidic chip for testing drug reactions
Researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands have developed an extremely small microfluidic chip that simulates chemical reactions commonplace in the human body, for testing drug reactions. The device is around a thousand times smaller than the usual electrochemical cell (the volume of the chip's main fluid channel is a mere 9.6 nanoliters) and uses electrodes to control the chemical reactions. It's already been used to conduct tests on Amodiaquine, an anti-malarial drug, with more studies sure to follow. While this is great news for medical science, we have to wonder what the small army of slackers, malingerers, and college students are going to do when they're no longer able to make money as human guinea pigs. Become bloggers?[Via PhysOrg]
Mizzou prof receives $1m grant for anti-drug game
University of Missouri Associate Professor Joel Epstein has received a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse to make a game about addiction. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Epstein is looking to make a game that focuses on what happens to a person using drugs. The gameplay will approach genders differently, with the boys' version being more competitive, and girls receiving a more socially engaging experience.The four-year project will spend the first two years developing the game, and another two years testing in schools around the St. Louis area. Development will take input from fourth- and fifth-graders, educators and the NIDA. No word yet if Blizzard and PopCap will give input on creating an addictive game to keep kids from becoming addicted to drugs.[Via Gamespot]
Neuroscientists in Brooklyn successfully erase memories with drugs
Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have apparently been tinkering with selectively erasing the memories of rats with a mysterious drug they call ZIP. In the trial, mice who had learned to avoid an electrified area of their cage, once injected with ZIP, appeared to have forgotten about the electrification, and ceased to avoid the area. They have also successfully made the rats forgot about their distaste for a substance that had previously made them sick. Dr. Todd Sacktor, head of the project, believes that the drug may be used in humans one day, and that it may also help enhance memories as well. We don't really have any specific info about the drug itself, or how it works, so until then... we'll just have to keep hoping that the lyrics to Use Your Illusion II fade on their own.
UK man finds ecstasy tablets in used copy of GTA
A UK father of two said he found four tablets, which police say is likely ecstasy, within a used Grand Theft Auto game that he purchased at a Gamestation in the county of Gloucestershire. Richard Thornhill, 34, found the pills wrapped in plastic and hidden inside the instruction manual of one of two unspecified GTA games when he returned home from the store, reports the Telegraph. While still shocked at the incident, Thornhill was thankful the pills were discovered by him, dreading to think "what the consequences" would be, had his children found it. In the wake of the strange discovery, Gamestation reps maintain the company's policy is for staff to follow "rigorous procedures" when accepting trades. Perhaps the new company policy would add a four-legged employee into the mix to sniff out any future issues. Both Gamestation and the Gloucestershire Police are investigating the incident. [Via GamePolitics]
Bavarian Minister compares violent games to drugs, child pornography
Following last month's tragic shooting rampage in Winnenden, Germany, the target of which was a local secondary school, criticism against violent video games from German politicians has strengthened drastically. The most passionate denunciation thus far recently came from Bavarian Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrmann, who accused violent games of being "one of the causes for youth violence and also for school shootings, where images from killer games become reality."However, Herrmann's condemnation peaked when he claimed violent titles are "on the same level as child pornography and illegal drugs, the ban on which rightly is unquestioned." Herrmann released his statement on the same day as the first-ever German Video Game Awards ceremony, many of the attendees of which responded with demands for an apology from the Minister. If you're also looking to get your dander up, you can read Herrmann's (Google translated) press release here.
Achievement unlocked: You're a stoner with a destroyed Xbox 360
We all know drugs are bad, and nothing proves it more than this Xbox 360 that's been converted into a bong. You'd have to be pretty high to cut apart an expensive gaming console ... and that's just what one individual did. But instead of waking up the next day and feeling alone and embarrassed, the individual sent pictures to Gizmodo so we could all enjoy it.Of course, one could smoke tobacco out of this thing. It's not totally unheard of, but we're inclined to think this has more illegal uses ahead of it. Oh well. At least it's not a smoking PS3.
