president obama
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Obama inauguration takes the Spotlight on Xbox Live
Log into Xbox Live tonight and the first thing you'll see is ... a photo of President Obama from today's inauguration. Indeed, the spotlight of the Spotlight channel is today's ceremony, including video of Obama and Vice President Joe Biden being sworn into office, the 44th President's inaugural speech and more.Even the Movies and TV Shows categories have taken on the theme, featuring the likes of The West Wing and -- wait a second -- Mars Attacks? Yes, the Tim Burton camp-fest is inexplicably among the inaugural offerings. In any event, it makes sense that Microsoft would make a rather big deal about today's momentous occasion, having already urged users to Rock the Vote and conducted an informal election survey last fall (which now-President Obama and his running mate handily won).[Thanks, Clayton]
President Obama's official portrait: the first ever taken with a digital camera
You're now gazing at President Barack Obama's just-released official portrait -- the first of a U.S. president ever taken with a digital camera. That means we can peek at the EXIF data -- this fine specimen of portraiture was snapped with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II on January 13th, 2009 at 5:38 pm with no flash, using a 105mm lens stopped to f/10 at a 1/125 exposure, with an ISO of 100 by newly crowned official White House photographer Pete Souza. Nice work, Souza -- but we think it could use a few lens flares.[Thanks, Penny]
The First Wii: Obama brings video games to the White House
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/The_First_Wii_Obama_brings_video_games_to_the_White_House'; When Barack Obama takes office on January 20th, he'll not only be the most powerful man in the world, but also the most powerful gamer. (Nintendo did give outgoing President Bush a DS and Brain Age some years ago; it's up to you to decide if he ever played it.)The New York Times reports that the President elect -- who even took his campaign to the streets of Burnout Paradise -- gifted his daughters, Sasha and Malia, with a Nintendo Wii for Christmas ... but the head of the First Family has been playing with it, too. Apparently, Obama has been working on his bowling skills by playing Wii Sports. The President-in-waiting bowled a lowly 37 in the real-life sport while on the campaign trail, but tells the paper that he "performs better in the video game." Being the leader of the free world probably won't leave President Obama with much time for gaming, but we'd like to hear your suggestions for Wii games he should play, given the chance. (Oh, and Mr. Obama, if you're reading this, we'd like to talk about that Video Game Czar position ... )[Via GameCulture]
FCC commissioner Deborah Tate resigns
The Huffington Post (among other sources) is reporting that FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate has resigned. This is the woman who, less than a month ago, said that World of Warcraft was one of the top reasons for college drop-outs. Now, I can't entirely blame someone for seeing MMOs as a bad thing, there are certainly a lot of people who don't seem to have the ability to throttle their playtime, but that really wasn't her first silly act or statement while she held her position (taking advice from corporations is bad, mmkay). A lot of people will take this news as a godsend.Of course, that doesn't mean she didn't do any good at all. Your personal views may differ from hers depending on the topic, but she's generally pretty well regarded for her efforts when it comes to issues regarding children and their protection. Personally, I don't agree with the extreme 'think of the children!' mentality (or Tate's approach to it) that's become increasingly common, but again, my opinion doesn't represent a nation. A few out of line comments don't negate her efforts entirely.
