Mills sad to miss out

Controversial ex-Canaries defender Danny Mills has apologised for the outburst which has cost him an appearance at his old hunting ground this afternoon.Mills was preparing for a red-hot reception when Charlton step out at Carrow Road this afternoon - instead he will be starting a three-match ban after picking up a straight red card for foul and abusive language during the match against Hull on Saturday.City fans have been waiting a long time to vent their anger at Mills after the Canaries visit to Charlton back in mid-September, when he had a running battle with City winger Darren Huckerby and was involved in the incident which led to striker Dion Dublin being sent off. But that much-anticipated showdown is off - much to Mills' regret.“I am, of course, very disappointed, not just for myself, but more importantly for the club and the fans,” said Mills, on loan at Charlton from Manchester City. “If that was to be my last game at The Valley, I had hoped to sign off from my loan spell with a good performance and three points in the bag - but football is a funny game and just when you're preparing yourself to go one way, you get completely turned around in your tracks and sent in the opposite direction. “In this case not one of the better directions. Using that wonderful word hindsight, I know perhaps what I said was not correct, particularly in that situation, and I'm sure if I could turn the clock back I would react differently. But turning the clock back is something we cannot do and I am really sorry for losing my self control and discipline and I just hope that those final few moments are not what the fans will remember me for. “In my defence I will say that the challenge that led to the sending off left me with a bruised eye and that three of their four players booked were for fouls on myself. However, I am not looking for excuses.”Charlton boss Alan Pardew is keen to sign Mills on a permanent basis, but admits he is now weighing up his options. Mills is never far from controversy. After the events at The Valley City fans were clearly in no mood to forgive a player who has made an art form out of being booed at football grounds around the country. ToMills says it's just business. “It happens to me at every single away game you go to,” he said. “That's life - you just take it with a pinch of salt.“You have to respect those people's opinions on football - sometimes I just wish they'd use a little more imagination in what they're shouting.“You just take it on the chin - and I'm used to it. I got it against Ipswich the other week. I haven't played for Norwich for nearly 10 years and the first time I touched the ball they started at me. I thought, 'hang on a minute, that's a bit rich'.“My job is all about professionalism and going out and getting all three points, winning games. If on the way I upset a few people that's not my problem, that's the way I do things.”Mills was furious when Grant labelled him a cheat and insists he was the innocent party.“I have no idea why it blew up with Hucks - I know him from Leeds and Manchester City,” Mills said. “He came in with a late challenge. I jumped out of the way and he got booked. What was I supposed to do - stay and get caught by him?“The ref booked him - I didn't.“Then the Dion situation - I don't know what people are complaining about. Dion charged into me. I didn't stay down and roll about or anything like that. The ref made his decision and the FA upheld it.”While Mills misses out on a rare return to Norfolk, he had some advice for fans: be patient.“At the start of the season I certainly expected Charlton to be up towards the top end of the table, but I thought Norwich would be mid-table or pushing for a play-off spot,” he said. “I think with Glenn Roeder coming in it will take time for him. It is never easy when a new manager comes in - he has to bring in his own players and staff so the fans have to be patient and give him time.”

Pinkel watches Braggin’ Rights game and relaxes — even if he looks tense

Pinkel, the Missouri football coach, leans forward in his seat. Praying hands clasped over his mouth. Eyes focused on the hardwood where the Tigers are trailing Illinois in the Braggin’ Rights game. But just as the Tigers get a bucket, cutting into the double-digit, second-half deficit, Pinkel claps loud and proud.
Life is so much more fun from the good seats.
On Saturday evening, while his buddy Mike Anderson is sweating through his pinstriped suit and stomping a hole through his leather shoes, Pinkel’s chilling with a beer on the south side of Scottrade Center. And although he studies over the MU basketball program like a playbook, this is the relaxed Gary Pinkel. The guy whose breath smells like peanuts. The one who text-messaged Anderson on Saturday afternoon, “Good luck to you and your team.” Here’s he’s just a fan with friends in high places.
“We do that all throughout the season,” Pinkel says of his and Anderson’s pre-and post-game texting rituals. “He’s a great guy. We have a real good relationship.”
There you have it. Anderson and Pinkel, BFFs.
The two stay in contact. Pinkel tries to attend Anderson’s games when he can. And of course, sending those texts. During the fall, Anderson has the encouraging words.
“After a tough game he may say, ‘Get the next one,’ ” Pinkel says. “It’s kinda funny when you win or you lose, to get a note from somebody you care about, even though it may be very minimal, it means an awful lot. Especially from somebody who’s in the same arena as yours, because they understand.”
And in the same arena on Saturday night, Pinkel is clearly the most popular guy in the house.
Pinkel receives a loud ovation from the black-and-gold faithful when his smiling mug flashed over the megatron. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill has better seats, but she dosen’t have smiling strangers walking up to her saying: “Merry Christmas, coach! Go get ’em!” And yes, even McCaskill holds up the line to concessions to shake Pinkel’s hand. Pinkel greets all his fans with eye contact and a smile, clearly appreciative of the good will.
“They’re thankful to me, but my whole thing is it ain’t about me. It’s about my players, my staff and everybody else,” Pinkel says. “Everybody directs everything to me like I’m the wizard here. I’m not the wizard. I’ve got good people around me, and that’s why we have success.”
Pinkel and the football Tigers will reconvene in Dallas on Dec. 26. Till then, Pinkel gets to be a normal guy. And a Tiger fan.
During the game, Pinkel sits next to his wife, Vickie, who wears a gold, satin blouse. He opted for a thin white sweater but when questioned on his non-Tiger color scheme, quickly points to his black jacket. He is a bit of a messy fan. Cracked peanut shells cover the ground near his aisle seat. Can’t do that while wearing headsets.
“If I can do that in a game, guess what, that’s good. That means I’m relaxing,” Pinkel says. “Ya know what, it’s fun. My life’s not on the line tonight.”

Humble LB doesn't believe he belongs among Ohio State's greats

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Before he leaves Ohio State - after one more game or one more season - James Laurinaitis will undoubtedly rank among the school's top linebackers ever.
This astounds Laurinaitis, the son of a WWE icon who still thinks of himself as a work in progress despite winning the Butkus Award earlier this month and the Nagurski Award a year ago.
``It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable to be mentioned in the same category as A.J. (Hawk) or Chris Spielman,'' he said during the Buckeyes preparations for their BCS title game showdown with LSU on Jan. 7 in New Orleans. ``To be honest, I don't even feel like it's necessary yet. I'm so humbled to even be up for these awards and to think of the past players that have been up for the awards. It's so humbling and such a blessing. I still don't feel like I'm on the same level as those same players.''
Others disagree.
For instance, LSU coach Les Miles has no trouble putting Laurinaitis among the best players in his position, at Ohio State or any other school.
``I watched Laurinaitis' highlights and no guy should be allowed to have that many highlights,'' he said. ``He is one of the finest players in college football.''
Ohio State has churned out several quality linebackers, including Randy Gradishar, Tom Cousineau, Bob Brudzinski, Stan White, Marcus Marek, Thomas ``Pepper'' Johnson, Spielman and Hawk, who now plays for the Green Bay Packers.
Coach Jim Tressel was an assistant coach at Ohio State when Johnson and Spielman, who both went on to glittering NFL careers, were Buckeyes. During his seven years as head coach, Hawk, Anthony Schlegel, Bobby Carpenter, Robert Reynolds, Cie Grant and Matt Wilhelm have played for him. But he distances himself from drawing any conclusions about where Laurinaitis ranks with those players.
``In the midst of someone's career, I hesitate to compare them,'' he said. ``I think James really enjoys the fact that there is that tradition of people that weren't just great linebackers but they were great people and they've gone on and done excellent things after (their playing careers).''
Laurinaitis, a two-time first-team All-American, is the face of the current Buckeyes. Quiet and unassuming, humble to a fault, he prefers his actions to do the talking. He leads the Buckeyes with 103 tackles and is among the leaders with 5 sacks, 8.5 tackles for minus yardage, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Although he's not screaming at teammates, he sets the tone for the defensive unit.
``With James, the things you're going to get out of him are energy and effort,'' said defensive end Vernon Gholston, also an All-American. ``He will run to the ball and come up with big plays. It's been great for us to have that aspect for our defense.''
Based on his background, not many would expect Laurinaitis to be so humble.
His father, Joe Laurinaitis, was ``Animal'' from the WWE's Legion of Doom and Road Warriors. He and his tag-team partner wore Mad Max-inspired spikes, face paint, tights and body armor that several Ohio State fans wear as an homage to the player they call ``Animal Jr.''
Laurinaitis grew up in Minnesota and disdained a scholarship offer from his home state Big Ten school to come to Ohio State. His parents make it to most of his games. When it comes to expecting a lot out of him, James says his mom, a body builder, is harder on him than his dad is.
``My mom will be more of the, 'Oh, good job, but you could have had way more tackles ...''' Laurinaitis said with a laugh. ``They're both perfectionists in their own right, the way they used to train and diet and stuff like that. They passed that on to me.''
Laurinaitis has filed the paperwork to the NFL to get an evaluation of his draft status. He says he has no plans to leave Ohio State early, but all the mock drafts have him going in the top few picks as the No. 1 linebacker available.
He speaks regularly to Hawk, who faced a similar decision after his junior year.
``I don't think information can hurt,'' he said. ``A.J. Hawk, it came back that he was a first-round talent, but he came back (for his senior season). It just lets you know where you stand.''
The immediate objective is the national championship game. Laurinaitis will likely be the center of attention when Ohio State's defense is on the field.
Funny, he enjoys that; it's being a focal point off the field that still floors him.
``I'm not going to lie to you, it still surprises me and it's still overwhelming to me,'' he said of all the attention he has received. ``It's crazy. But as an athlete, it's kind of a dream come true on one hand and on the other you don't believe it's you. You work hard to be able to talk in front of the media like you see all your favorite players as a kid do. Just to represent this team and this university is an honor.''

C'mon Lleyton, thats a bit rich

The former Wimbledon champion is understood to have pounced on the rights to the distinctive celebratory gesture after former Swedish pro Niclas Kroon inadvertently let it lapse.
Kroon, 41, and former world No1 Mats Wilander held the rights from 1988 and often used the signal when they won a point or game.
Broadly meaning "for sure", it is now widely used by athletes from other sports, including Australian swimmer Grant Hackett.
"I wish he had called me first," Kroon said from Houston, Texas.
"I don't know what to say. It's all about business and making money. I'm so sick and tired of sh-- like that.
"He's surrounded by people who are probably going to make money from this.
"The thing about using the word 'mate' in Australia ... it probably doesn't sound so good any more."
Kroon conceded the trademark may have lapsed several months ago when his father, who handled all his business affairs, died.
"My dad just passed away and I haven't got the papers here, but I'm going to check all this out in the next few days," Kroon said.
He believes Hewitt's advisers were aware the trademark due date was looming and waited to see whether it would be renewed before pouncing.
It's not the first time people have tried to claim use of the signal, which he and brother Michael first started using when playing games in the 1970s.
"We were fighting with some people in Sweden a long time ago," he said.
"But Mats and I had the patent. We were paying (the fees for the trademark) even though we weren't using it.
"I've been doing stuff with it for years, even here in the States, for a small market. It's funny that it (Hewitt's move) happened now, because I was just about to launch it here in the US and put it online within half a year."
Kroon said he had planned to launch a boutique brand of vicht clothing at a tennis and fitness club in Houston. Eventually he intended to market the brand more widely because of its popularity - similar to golfer Greg Norman's famous shark logo.
Kroon, a popular tennis journeyman who won an ATP title in Brisbane and reached a career-high ranking of 46, said he recalled Hewitt using the gesture at the 2004 Masters Cup in Houston.
"He said it was Mats Wilander who started it, but a friend I was with told him that I was the one who started it," Kroon said.
"Every time he was walking off the court during his game I'd do the vicht sign and he'd be responding. We were doing it for fun, there was no big deal."
Kroon said he would consult lawyers over his rights.
"We paid a hefty amount to get the rights years ago but back then Wilander was on top of the world, making money out his bum and not thinking about the future," Kroon said.
"Neither was I. You're living in a dream world on tour so you don't think about making money from something like that."
Hewitt's manager David Drysdale said the gesture and the accompanying "C'mon" was widely known as "doing a Lleyton".
"It's unique to him," he said.
Hewitt has already begun wearing clothing with a stylised vicht signal. It is understood to be part of a major marketing push by his team and will involve casual and sports shirts and shorts.

New Year’s Resolutions for the Best New Yorkers

Recently, we were watching John Waters' 1998 movie Pecker, which starred all kinds of great people like Martha Plimpton and Lily Taylor and Edward Furlong, before he got weird and started getting arrested and dating his manager. Anyway, as in all John Waters movies, there were about five really brilliantly funny parts in it, one of which was a game the characters played called "Shopping for Others," in which they'd go to the supermarket and sneak things into the shopping carts of fellow shoppers when they weren't looking. (Like a long phallic gourd in the cart of a mousy single woman or a stack of Depends for smarmy dude in tight jeans, etc.) Anyway, we got to thinking: How about if this year, we make New Year's resolutions for others? We've never made New Year's resolutions ourselves — it's weird, every year New Year's Eve rolls around, and we realize we're still kind of perfect! — but we've always felt we were missing out on that great American tradition. Not to mention, frankly, there are people that could use our assistance. So. To celebrate the great New Yorkers who make this blog possible, and to help them continue their gloriousness into 2008, we've generously ginned up some resolutions for their benefit.
The Olsen Twins: Keep dating older (or at least grotesquely larger) men. We still need things to write about. Lance Armstrong: Find someone new and hilarious to make out with in public. We hear Abigail Breslin is single.Nello Balan: This year, you lashed out at artist Jerome Lucani for talking back when you tried to take credit for his work and model Le Call for stealing your umbrella. Next year set your sights on bigger, awesomer targets. Like Spike Lee. Or Brooke Sheilds.Anderson Cooper: Work out another body part. Sure, it's great to have huge biceps, but what news anchor has great pecs and abs? Oh, right, Thomas Roberts. Maybe you can work out with him? And maybe air that on CNN so we can watch it?Hillary Clinton: Get some sleep.Bill Clinton: See above. And don't try to split it into two sentences. Alan Cumming: Actually, like us, you're kind of perfect. Keep talking to us about your sex life.Jimmy Cayne: Do not let those bastards push you out of your job. You're a 73-year-old, cigar-chomping, pot-smoking possible naked dancer, and Wall Street needs you. We need you.Julian Schnabel: Last night we woke up in a cold sweat, thinking, what New York would be like without Julian Schnabel? The answer was: It would be thin and clean and cold and artless. Which is why it's time, Julian, to really cement your legacy. The Diving Bell was a fantastic film, but we need something with a little more you in it. Do you know where we're going with this? That's right, we're talking, again, about Schneighbors. I know that a reality show is not the sort of trip you usually go on, but a show following the foibles of the aging residents of Palazzo Chupi could be your next masterpiece of the human condition. Or even better: The next Hills.Lydia Hearst: Since it didn't work out with pointlessly famous Cisco Adler, we're thinking maybe you should start dating Zach Braff?Zach Braff: Since it didn't work out with Arden Wohl, We're thinking maybe you should start dating Lydia Hearst? That way, when Scrubs ends and everybody forgets about you, you'll still have a career as the new Cash Warren!Rudi Giuliani: In 2008, get a flu shot. You're never going to get the hang of this "setting an example" thing, are you?Eliot Spitzer: It's hard to say this, because we do love you? But it's time for that really, really short haircut.Michael Bloomberg: Shit or get off the pot.Jared Kushner: Stop embarrassingly and publicly horning all over Donald Trump.Ivanka Trump: See above resolution. Vikram Pandit: Don't let them tell you you're not good enough! You're the man now! Fire some people! Daddy loves you.Tory Burch: You've dated Lance Armstrong, Brad Grey, and Katie Couric's ex-boyfriend, proving that fortysomething blonde socialites are the new twentysomething blonde socialites. Which means in 2008 we have two words for you: Sex. Tape.Kevin Sheekey: Stop fucking with us.Gossip Girl: See above resolution, and do the opposite. A-Rod: Stop fiddling around with different people and finally settle down with the one you were meant to be with: your wife, Cynthia. We mean settle down with her as your manager, of course. You're a ballplayer, you can sleep with whoever you want.James Dolan: Get over Isiah Thomas. He's just not that into you.Isiah Thomas: Run for your life.Anucha Brown Sanders: Chase.Graydon Carter: Write one Vanity Fair editor's letter, just one, that isn't a boringly hysterical screed against George Bush. Also, shut up about Christopher Hitchen's balls.Christopher Hitchens: Just shut up.Brooke Astor: For the love of God, un-die and slap your bitch of a son into shape!
That's all for now. See you next year, queers!

What Is Your Game of the Year?

It's that time of year again. Last year's response to our Game of the Year post was so enthusiastic that I thought it would be worthwhile to give it another go. So, once again, some of the Slashdot folks have come together to offer up our 'games of the year'. Scuttlemonkey, Scott Collins, Chris Brown, CmdrTaco, and myself have all put together quick blurbs about the games we couldn't get enough of this year. When you're through reading those, it's your turn to speak up. What was the game you couldn't put down? The next-gen consoles really came into their own this year; was it one of those games, or something for the PC? In your opinion, what was the best game of the year?
Slashdot Engineer Chris Brown: If you read game sites at all, by now you've probably had more than your fill of cake and Weighted Companion Cube jokes. But Portal remains one of the best games to come out this year, well worth the price of the entire Orange Box just by itself. It's a darkly funny genre-bender of a game, and every minute of it is enjoyable. The only thing a reasonable person could still wish for is more of it - it's a short game by anyone's standards. And Ellen McLain's brilliant voice acting as GLaDOS makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.My only regret is not experiencing the game on my PC. The Xbox 360's controls are awkward and the general ambiance of the environments seemed pretty drab and washed out.Slashdot Engineer Scott Collins:My favorite game this year (outside of WoW, I'm required to admit) was something of a surprise. It started at a chili-dinner party when a friend pulled a deck of cards out and said "Let's play Fluxx." Everyone else seemed to know what was going on, so I didn't require any convincing. It turns out to be a pretty fast-paced card game where you play: 'Action' cards, such as 'Pick a card at random from another player's hand'; 'Keeper' cards which are assets you collect to win, like 'The Brain', 'The Toaster', 'Dreams', 'The Rocket', et al; 'New Rule' cards that change play, like 'Draw 4' which changes the initial game of "draw 1, play 1" to "draw 4, play 1"; and 'Goals', like 'Milk and Cookies' meaning that while that is the current goal, the player who has played both the Milk and Cookies Keepers immediately wins. It ends up being a very strange and fun mix, something like Nomic combined with Uno. But that's not the end of the story.The game was so much fun that when I got home I looked up the maker, Looney Labs, to buy a Fluxx deck for myself. There I discovered Zombie Fluxx.Zombie Fluxx adds a new kind of anti-Keeper: the Creeper; while the Keepers are things like 'The Chainsaw', 'The Can of Gasoline', 'The Shotgun'; the Goals are things like 'I alone survived', where if you have a Friend (Keeper), and the Car, and no zombies --- and everyone else has at least one zombie, you win. I managed to play Zombie Fluxx with all of my kids at once. At Thanksgiving, we had a game with three generations playing (just regular Fluxx though; I don't think Grandma and Grampa are ready for Zombies). The decks are designed so you can easily combine regular Fluxx and Zombie Fluxx for an even bigger game (and easily separate them again). Patrick "Scuttlemonkey" McGarry:This year saw a rather violent shift in my gaming appetites, as I decided it was time to kick the World of Warcraft habit.Any game that required too much of my time was avoided like the plague.That being said, the Wii's Mario Galaxy turned out to be my perfect game this year. So long have I been engrossed in the massive "pretty factor" of games (Quake, Doom, F.E.A.R., Warcraft, EVE, Empire at War, etc) that try to impress users with graphics, huge storylines, or tons of options that I forgot how great it could be just to find a simple game that offers a little bit of distraction and fun. Mario Galaxy really is the ultimate realization of the Mario franchise so far. It offers all of the glory of a platformer while offering several new twists.The first major expansion beyond the normal Mario world was their use of 3D and gravity. Many surfaces in the game acted as their own planet, complete with gravity well and the ability to traverse all sides of the object. There are also many fun manipulations of gravity throughout the game.Mario Galaxy also takes advantage of many unique controls available on the Wii to really make the gameplay interesting, without being overly hard. Many games I have played recently really required a great deal of time to hone your skills to that "expert" level, and while that may be fine for a game with the scope of World of Warcraft, I shouldn't need that level of dedication for a simple platformer and Mario Galaxy delivers spectacularly. There were just enough challenges in the game to make it interesting but it was easy enough I could just pick it up and put it down whenever I felt like it without getting frustrated. The other major advancement Mario Galaxy has made was in cooperative gameplay. The new "co-star" mode makes it possible for you to include even the most staunch non-gamers in the Mario Galaxy experience. The co-star is given a cursor on the screen with which they can pick up power-ups, halt incoming enemies or enemy attacks, assist with stronger jumps, and even stun enemies for easy dispatch. Keep in mind that while all of these things are helpful if you happen to have a co-star, the game doesn't require you to have one, so that helpful individual can come and go as they please.This makes it ideal for friends who drop by or loved ones that don't want to really jump in with both feet. All in all Mario Galaxy is a great casual game that can provide entertainment for just about any gaming appetite, definitely worth a look. Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda: My entry for game of the year is almost more about multiplayer gameplay. From fighters to first person shooters, there are just so many games out where I can invite a friend to join me, and then one of us crushes the other. Don't get me wrong, this is fun, but in many of those games, the person with the superior skill is bored while the less experienced player is defeated over and over again. It can get old.Enter Rock Band. It might be the perfect party game. Someone drums, another plays bass, another lead guitar. And the most daring of any you takes up the USB microphone and goes nuts karaoke style. Instead of competing, you are a team. When one person fails out, another can bring them back by pulling off an overdrive move. And with the multiple difficulty settings, I can play on hard, while a friend plays on easy, and we can both be challenged and entertained.It's hours of fun. It has problems: too many cords, not enough songs that everyone agrees on, and finding a spare guitar right now seems to be impossible. But each of those problems is addressable and doesn't take away from the fact that everyone can rock out for a few minutes. Everyone can be equals with a common goal and be challenged (well, maybe not people who have mastered expert mode, but I have no sympathy for you ;) It's got a steep price tag, but if you have 3 friends, it's worth it.Michael "Zonk" Zenke:My game of the year 2007 was decided during the 2006 E3 event.Mass Effect, at that point, was nothing more than a trailer about some space marine talking to an alien bartender. Years of patient waiting culminated for me in a 45 minute drive to the K-Mart in Portage, WI. Being able to buy a game a full week and a half before it releases generally is a special treat - moreso for me because of the chance to review the game before it came out. With a review in mind, I spent a full week leisurely exploring the world of Commander Shepherd, trying to stop Saren from carrying out his mad plot. Over the course of that week, I was deeply, fully in love with the game. Yes, it's got some major flaws. The game's UI ranges from barely passable to amateur hour, and there are some honest frustrations to be voiced about character AI. Just the same, I was hooked, happily using the conversation wheel and Paragoning my way through the game's endless content. In some ways it reminded me a lot of Oblivion, my pick for last year's GOTY, in that the story fully drew me in. I've played Mass Effect quite a bit less than Oblivion; the exploration elements are just not as engaging. But quality easily makes up for quantity, and my time with Mass Effect has been amazing. The moment that cemented this title in my personal hall of fame was actually the climax. Oblivion's ending is something of a 'whatever' - the joy there is in the journey. With Mass Effect, Shepherd's final confrontation with Saren is easily one of the most memorable gaming moments I've ever experienced. It's an incredibly fitting cap to the game's epic story and (somehow) actually makes me want to play through the whole thing over again.Blemishes and all, Mass Effect is my game of the year for 2007. It reaffirmed for me the storytelling potential of western-style RPGs, and let me put to rest a burning anticipation I've had for quite some time. And, of course, now I can get ready for the next chapter in the series. When do you think Mass Effect 2 will be out?

GameGirlz: A holiday success story

With so much gloom and doom in the world, why not consider the alternative? Here's an inspiring success story to lift your holiday spirits! My former acupuncturist Kerri Neubek of Pennsylvania and her businesswoman sister Patti of California, aka the ingenious "Sisters 2 Inc.," have actually managed to achieve the dream of a lifetime – inventing and producing their own witty board games for women – a fabulous and fun diversion for those interminably long winter evenings.
Through their new company, GAMES FOR DAMES™ – a planned "line of party games for adults of the female persuasion" – they've just released their first board game, "What's a DAME to do?!™" – literally years in the making. They promise it's quick to learn, simple to play and, yes, hilarious, too: "Requires female intuition and humor (not included)."!
Currently, they're offering "What's a DAME to do™?!" for purchase – makes a great gift, dudes – through www.gamesfordames.com their own website, with plans to appear on selected retailers' shelves in 2008. "Well, let's see. So far," Kerri catalogs, "it's in a game store in Indiana, one in California and a wine shop in California, and a comic book store in Chicago ... so we're just starting [distribution]. Not in any chains yet, although [one's] considering it. ... I'm guessing our reps will start really showing the game in January for springtime buying. ... And it will be at the N.Y. Toy Fair. So the game's BRAND NEW! Kind of like getting in on a secret before it hits the shelves. Does that help?"

Kabookii's whimsy wears thin fast

Any game that features a decoder mask and a blue worm wearing a red fez has got to be good, right?
Sorry, incorrect. You'll have to miss a turn. (You'll thank me later).
Based on the best-selling Cranium board game series, Kabookii features the same wacky elements - trivia, live actions, wordplay, artwork, code-cracking - but something has been lost in the translation from board to video.

The tactile quality of holding a pencil to draw pictures, molding shapes from clay, and performing charades is what drives Cranium. Shaking a controller doesn't capture that essence. In fact, it can be pure frustration. There are times during the acting challenges when players must perform the on-screen action that the game doesn't register the movement.
Kabookii requires players to spin a virtual wheel by flicking the Wii Remote controller. A series of panels representing the various mini-games will whiz by until the wheel slows and stops on one. The games fall under one of four categories: drama, art, knowledge, and word game.
At least four players have to be involved in two teams for anything to work as it should. A team member will invariably draw with virtual chalk, pencil or spray paint, pound a musical sequence out on a virtual xylophone, answer questions from a multiple-choice of answers or "true" or "false," assemble shapes to make pictures, rearrange letters, and act out prompts.
"Kabookii changes the television screen into a living canvas where teams jam, draw, act, puzzle and even crack codes to win. New questions and activities get players to spray paint the solar system on a wall (you actually hear the can shaking in your hand!)," states a Ubisoft promo.
You actually hear it? Wowee. That's like an ice cream vendor touting his product as cold. It is expected.
To keep those team members who are guessing the nature of the diagrams or shape-pictures in the dark, answers are scrambled on screen. They can only be deciphered with special (i.e. cheap) red-tinted cellophane glasses.
At first, everything seems fun and whimsical but much of the game's personality wears thin real quick. The challenges are all very similar and the narrator has a limited stock of phrases that grows tiresome.
Fortunately, his commentary can be turned down and the explanation on how to play can be turned off, but you can't improve the challenges. There's no easy-to-hard difficulty level.
To Ubisoft's credit, there is an educational component in the globetrotter challenge, which calls on players to find and identify locales. And Kabookii's start-up settings include a choice of nine languages and countries, including a distinct one for Quebec. Certain questions are specifically designed for those areas and what those folks might consider fun - and funny.
That's a judgment call Ubisoft may not be qualified to make.
Cranium Kabookii

Tiki Previews Tonight's Giants Game ? and Sets the Record Straight

When the New York Giants' star running back and biggest play-maker Tiki Barber announced that he was going to retire after the 2006 season — during the 2006 season — there were plenty of questions about his dedication to the sport and his team. All of which blew up out of control when Barber's book Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond was published in September. In it, he spoke frankly about Giants coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning. Now the guy with the photogenic smile is a correspondent for Today and a commentator on Football Night in America (tonight at 7 pm/ET, NBC, followed immediately by the Giants vs. the Washington Redskins game) — and he's setting the record straight on his Project Runway appearance, his former team and whether the New England Patriots can really go 16-0.

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TVGuide.com: So how are you liking your first year in retirement? It's funny that it's "retirement," when you're clearly doing a lot of working....Barber: I know, that's what I tell people when they ask, "How's retirement?" I'm not retired! I love it though. It's very engaging, and I'm finding out how to work in the real world. I have a fun job. I'm much busier, but doing diverse things. Sports are fun and passionate and exciting on Sundays, but for most of the week... I used to say they paid us for Monday through Saturday; Sunday was fun.
TVGuide.com: Do you have more time to spend with your wife and kids now that you're not playing football?Barber: Completely. At Today, I'm only in the office infrequently. I've been home all day. I went into the office for only about two hours to get some information on a story I have tomorrow on the 8 o'clock hour. If I need to do anything, I can work from home. I went to Kids in Sports class with my son, and I went to lunch with my wife. I have two boys, 5 1/2 and almost 4. They love sports, obviously. And they're big into the holidays right now. They go to a Jewish preschool, and they teach a lot about Judaism there. And we're putting up a Christmas tree [at home] and taking them to see Santa, and my kids are singing Hanukkah songs. [Laughs] That's the great thing about New York.
TVGuide.com: It always seems like you, Jerome Bettis and Cris Collinsworth are having the best time in the "player's corner" over there on Football Night in America. Is that show as much fun to do as it is to watch?Barber: It absolutely is. [Laughs] Literally what we're doing is what three guys who go sit in a bar all Sunday and watch football do. And they pay us for it! We watch television for five hours, they put us on air and say, "OK, you have two minutes to talk about this." And then we just go talk, like we're a bunch of friends hanging out. It's not scripted at all. It's just Cris saying, "What do you think?" And then we start talking. We figure out the subjects — so let's say we're watching the San Diego [Chargers] game. Last week against the Tennessee Titans, LT [running back LaDainian Tomlinson] on the sidelines got up in disgust and walked away from [quarterback] Philip Rivers. So 30 seconds before the segment, Cris is like, "We're going to talk about [that]." And then we just come out with a spontaneous reaction. We bounce off each other.
TVGuide.com: You and your wife both appeared on the Project Runway episode where the challenge was designing a look for you. What was that like?Barber: It was great — I know they edited down what I said, when we were judging. But my wife was in the fashion industry for seven years, and so I know they edited down what she said. [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: Meaning you both said some things that were a bit more brutally honest than what they showed on the episode?Barber: Yeah, a little bit. [Laughs] Quite honestly, it was an unfair challenge for the group, because most of them have never done men's clothing, and I'm not easy to fit, and I'm not wearing something that's "fashionable," that you would wear walking down the runway. And the guy who won, Jack [Mackenroth, who left the show this week], he did the easy thing, he kept it simple. And that's why he won.
TVGuide.com: Do you miss football at all?Barber: I don't, not at all. The only thing I miss, and I get this still because of the industry I'm in, is the stage, performing. There's something about performing, putting yourself out there, that's hard to replicate. Though I get that on television, there's nothing like the immediacy and the energy of the stadium. But I don't miss the game.
TVGuide.com: With the injuries suffered by the Giants' running-back core this year, people have said the team sure could use you... you've never been tempted?Barber: It's never crossed my mind. Even when my brother [twin Ronde] started lobbying me to come down to Tampa Bay when all their running backs got hurt. I told him, "You know what, dude, that mentality has passed me by." It's a mentality to make yourself want to do that. I don't have that anymore. Not to mention that I've lost about 15 pounds of muscle mass.
TVGuide.com: The Giants are in a good position to take the first Wild Card spot in the NFC. But it's been another season of ups and downs for the team. Are you surprised that they're doing this well?Barber: They've ridden the roller coaster this year. But they are right where I expected them to be — they have a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator. I'm not in the locker room, but I've heard that Coach Coughlin has changed to the benefit of the team. He listens to the guys now. Whenever decisions need to be made, he sits down with his veteran leaders and asks their opinions. He may not use them, but at least he asks. People will look at the Giants at 9 and 4 and see their kind of inconsistent play and say, "They're no good." But it's all about winning — that's all that matters.
TVGuide.com: What about Eli — do you see any changes or progress in him?Barber: Eli is what he is — people expect this magical transformation into his brother [Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning] or whatever all of a sudden.... He's not going to be the emotional guy, he's going to try to be that steady player who does his job well. The team accepts that. There's a resiliency there that comes from having to deal with all the criticism he gets, every week. Even when he plays pretty decently, he gets criticized, but he sloughs it off really easily. It may not be what fans want to see, but it's valuable for him.
TVGuide.com: How far do you think the Giants can realistically go into the playoffs?Barber: Honestly, the Giants can go to the Super Bowl this year — they have to find a way to beat Dallas in Dallas, but every other team in the NFC is the same.
TVGuide.com: What about the Packers?Barber: Maybe Green Bay. Dallas and Green Bay are above everyone else. But if the Giants can find a way to catch lightning in a bottle and beat one of those teams, they can go to the Super Bowl, because they could beat any other team in the playoffs.
TVGuide.com: What's your take on this week's game against the Giants' divisional rivals the Washington Redskins?Barber: The Giants are very fortunate they're at home. They're going to have great energy from their fans, since it's December, it's playoff time. But the Redskins are a dangerous team because they can score points and they may rally around [backup QB] Todd Collins, now that [starter] Jason Campbell is out [due to injury]. The Giants should win, but they can't assume that — they have to play to a high level.
TVGuide.com: Plus the Redskins just went through this tragedy with Sean Taylor.Barber: That story was horrible, because it seems to be a random act of someone trying to take advantage of Sean. You know, I played against Sean for four years, and I hated playing against him, because he would literally cuss at me for 60 minutes. And then I met him in Hawaii [at the Pro Bowl] last year, and he was a completely different guy. He really was a good guy who made himself hate his opponents so he would play well against them. But I think there's a lesson to be learned in how this was covered. A lot of people jumped out and said, "He grew up in this certain way, he had bad dealings with people, this was a vengeance thing." It's smarter to sit back and let it work itself out, let the police do their job before jumping to a conclusion.
TVGuide.com: Are you still in touch with your former teammates?Barber: I keep in touch with a few of them. I took my running-back coach, Jerald Ingram, out about two weeks ago. We've been very close over the years. He calls me now and then for advice on how to deal with some of the guys. He's like, "Tiki, you're retired now, but I'm still going to use you as a coach." So when [featured back] Brandon [Jacobs] had a bad day, he's like, "How should I approach this?"
TVGuide.com: Since you have such natural coaching ability, is that something you would ever consider doing?Barber: Maybe when my kids get to that age... when they get to 13 or 14 and in junior high school or high school, I would think about it. Not head coaching — assistant coaching. Head coaching is too much work. [Laughs] It's obviously something that was deeply embedded in who I am; I have a knowledge that could be valuable.
TVGuide.com: So I have to ask you: Do you think the Patriots will go 16-0?Barber: I think they will, but I can't predict it, because I was playing in 1998 when the Denver Broncos were undefeated and had two more games [to win] to be the first to do it since the 1972 Dolphins. They came into Giants Stadium and we beat them, and we were horrible that year. So I know better than to predict. Because of the unprecedented, ridiculously exceptional year the New England Patriots are having, that is the standard that every team is being compared to. I think it just kind of feels good to think that it will happen. People want to see something spectacular. They want to see Tom Brady throw it to Randy Moss for a 75-yard touchdown; that's why you watch sports, because it's exciting in a way that most of life is not.

Lions midfielder maturing with games

HE'S already played 21 times for the Lions and scored twice. But Ali Fuseini finally passed a bigger milestone last week - though he couldn't celebrate.
The midfielder turned 19 the day before Millwall's abortive trip to Luton last weekend.
"Having a game the day after meant I could not celebrate so I had a quiet night,"he said. "But the game got cancelled so I could mark the occasion with my family.
"As a player you look forward to every game. You don't want to turn up and not play - and we all did, including the Luton players.Obviously,it was the ref's decision that the pitch wasn't good enough but we were disappointed.
"But having the game later in the season gives us the chance to get some of our injured players back - it will be good to have David Brammer returning. He gives a lot of information and has really helped me improve."
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Fuseini's performances so far have probably caught the eye of a few scouts from clubs higher up the league pyramid.
But the teenager has his eye on other teams - England and Ghana, for example. Fuseini could play for either,because he was born in Africa and has a British passport. So it will probably depend on who calls first. "I have talked about it with my agent and my family but it's better that I bide my time and focus on my club football,"he said.
"Getting called up could come later, if I am good enough. But if the call did come,I would not hesitate. It is a big honour to represent your country but I will have to keep working hard if I am to achieve it.
"I am pleased with the way things are going at the moment. Regular football makes a big difference to a professional. The experience I am building up is improving me as a player and I want to get as much out of it as I can."
Fuseini's two goals have both come from distance - something that's been a bit of a speciality of his during his time in the reserves.
"I like to shoot," he said. "Sometimes I am going to miss but sometimes it goes on target and then you never know what can happen.
"The gaffer Kenny Jackett and coach Colin West have both told me to keep trying it. I prefer to keep it on the ground because it is more difficult to predict where the ball will bounce and where it will go.And if it is heading towards goal, you have a chance - it could even take a deflection and go in - you just never know."
Fuseini is seen as a passing midfielder, but, with another rising talent, 20-year-old Bryan Hodge, alongside him in the engine room, the pair have both had to do their fair share of the ball-winning in the middle.
"We both know that's what we have to do for the team," said Fuseini. "I can do that side of things - it is not a hardship. If that's what the manager wants me to do for the team, and if that's what it takes to get to play, I will do it gladly. I'd do anything to be playing for Millwall."
Fuseini is the first of a new generation coming through from Joe Little's Millwall Youth Academy - which has had a reputation for turning out talent for decades.
The youngsters around Fuseini in the reserves early in the season look to him to lead the way - and not just on the field. "Some of them ask me to talk to Joe if they don't want to approach him, which I am happy to do," said Fuseini. "Sometimes people will ask me what the younger players are thinking, too.
"I am still young, so it feels funny to be thought of in that way. But if I can help out in any way, I will. I hope I am a friendly person who gets along with everyone - and that no one has ever had any trouble with me."
As for the immediate future,Fuseini is looking forward to the Christmas rush of games."I want to get my tally of goals up," he said. "I won't set myself a target for the season but I do want to play as much as I can and hopefully that will help me improve."
Fans have been encouraging him to shoot from distance recently. They will relish seeing him have a crack tomorrow against Oldham - and seeing his exuberant West African Aile de Pigeon dance again, if he does hit the net.

Funny Money: Gaming the Game

President Bush announced a limited plan to freeze mortgage rates, mistakenly believing lower payments would allow him to continue ownership of the White House.
In related news, Florida's investment problems are threatening many school districts. Well, if we wipe out then entire public education system then, in fact, no single child will be left behind. Victory!
Of course, one Florida school district has actually been offering students McDonald's food for good grades -- you know, to make sure they're either fat or stupid -- so maybe they're getting what they deserve.
BlackRock suggested that Florida split its endangered fund into two entities. One will be secure, the other will be counted by old ladies from Boca using hanging chads to vote for Pat Buchanan. So it's less secure.
In corporate news, Vivendi acquired Activision, because "this 'game thing' might actually take off." Yes, in my world they used air quotes... out of respect for air guitar... Activision's inevitable next big hit. You know, because charging someone to play "fake life" just seems wrong.
You think games are more popular because escapism is an alluring alternative to an increasingly barbaric and pointless world? Or is an attempt to draw comparisons between wealth disparity, an overindulgent culture, global uncertainty and gaming just a way for me to avoid my own reality? PS: Anyone wanna play 'Pong'?

Just watch the games

Back when I covered Kansas State women’s basketball, it often was more fun for the reporters at the game to listen to the fans in the stands behind the media seats rather than watch the actual game.
That’s because Kansas State women’s basketball fans, at least the ones seated behind press row, were notorious for complaining about every... single... call the referees made, and it was downright hilarious listening to their heckling shouts.
Of course, they routinely brought out the classic one-liners: “Why don’t you get some glasses?” or “Are you even watching the same game?”
One old guy even came down out of his seat and held out his glasses for a referee one time, red in the face from yelling so much about a traveling call.
The fans genuinely seemed more interested in criticizing the referees than they did about the actual game.
Lately, I’ve noticed the same happening here, and it’s not funny anymore.
It’s annoying.
Too many fans are so consumed with hassling the referees that they forget that the players on the court actually do make mistakes themselves.
Take, for instance, last Tuesday’s boys basketball game between Olpe and Madison.
I’m going to tread lightly here because these are just high school kids, after all, but some of the things said in the stands by the students, fans and parents were ridiculous.
When Olpe was in the process of coming back from a 24-point deficit, the Madison cheering — er, jeering — section was more consumed by the officiating rather than the fact that the Bulldogs were in the process of committing 14 turnovers — in the fourth quarter alone.
Madison coach Alan Brown even admitted afterward that his team made too many mistakes with the basketball to win that game. The officiating did not doom Madison. Mistakes did.
Then there’s the recent hubbub about Emporia State coach David Moe’s suspension after his double technical and subsequent ejection during Wednesday’s game against Newman.
Some fans are actually blaming the officials for the ruckus, and even suggesting writing the MIAA.
I realize complaining about the officiating is something that will always happen, and referees are by no means above criticism.
The technical fouls called at the Northern Heights-Lyndon boys basketball game earlier this month, and the technical called on Emporia State’s DeAndre Townsend in the game against Newman probably — probably — should not have been called. Those calls seemed to take the outcome of the game out of the hands of the players and coaches and put it on the referees’ shoulders.
Verbal warnings in both instances were most likely the more reasonable course of action.
Regardless, the fans in the stands need to follow their own advice and open their eyes to the game being played. More often that not, the calls made are the correct ones.
Back off the refs and do what you came to the game to do, and that’s cheer for your team.
Because the heckling’s just not funny anymore.

Funny Games

Author BioLetter to the EditorPrint This ArticleEmail This ArticleAbout RSS Feeds
TAS LiveFunny GamesBy Greg Gutfeld Published 12/3/2007 12:07:49 AM
This article appears in the new December 2007/January 2008 issue of The American Spectator, which celebrates our 40th anniversary. To subscribe to our monthly print edition, click here.AS I'VE MENTIONED before, my first job out of college was here at The American Spectator. I was a young punk at 22, with a crew cut, and I owned only one suit. The tie I brought had a pasta sauce stain, and I had just bought my shoes at Sears. They were $18, and I firmly believe they were made from the same stuff used for bumper moldings in the automotive department. I was making $12,000 a year, which, after taxes came to about $12 a day -- essentially enough for gum. I took a room in an Arlington home with two -- and then three -- old ladies. They enjoyed my company even when I snuck a girl back into my room, who later threw up in the bathroom. I worked at The American Spectator office in Clarendon, a strange amalgam of dry cleaners and Vietnamese restaurants, and not much else. There was a bar called the Keyhole, and they were known for their chili and their knife fights -- not in that order. I enjoyed working at the magazine, despite the pay and the low status (I worked in the mailroom, opening envelopes and fetching lunches and cigarettes for staffers), but that's all I really had anticipated. I didn't mind. At that age, a man wants to do everything as well as the very best around him but is terrified of the attempt. I would read a wonderful feature by P.J. O'Rourke and say, "I want to do that," but scribbling even a few sentences of advertising copy scared me.Still, every day seemed a grimy pleasure -- the mailroom stunk of mail (I can't explain it either), and the nearby Arlington YMCA where I'd work out and run into Bob, an obsessed handball player, became a second home. I met a lot of fun people while working at the mag, from O'Rourke to Ronald Reagan, and spent most of my tenure in a mild state of intimidation. At some point, I'd have to leave, though -- to find out if I could write.I always love telling people that I worked at the Spectator, just to see their response. Last Friday, I was drinking with a wonderful comedian, Will Durst, and when I told him where my first job was, his eyes nearly popped out of his head, rolled onto the floor, and got squashed by a woman in heels. The sad part about the Spectator legacy, in my mind, is that ideology is remembered more than the sheer talent of the people who worked there. The magazine was right on pretty much everything, but what mattered to me more was the people who were there making it right: the Tom Wolfes, Joe Queenans, Andy Fergusons, and so on.I drove back to California with a few hundred bucks and started sending out resumes. Peter Sussman published my conservative satire in the San Francisco Chronicle -- a parody I did on a "bacteria rights festival," and something on an illness I called Vietnam Film Stress Syndrome, a disorder caused by watching too many late-1980s films about the war -- in which everyone from a 16-year-old boy to a grandmother was convinced they were veterans of that besmirched conflict. I wrote those pieces for the Chronicle, but they had the subversive spark of good-natured menace from the Spectator in mind. I FINALLY GOT A REAL JOB at a health magazine in eastern Pennsylvania, writing about osteoporosis, hypnotherapy, and other stuff that would make your stomach turn if you had to look at the pictures in medical journals. I did, and would -- and often ran off copies of these photos at the machine for the pleasure of friends. If you ever received in the mail a picture of a man with a fluorescent light tube stuck in an inappropriate orifice, it probably came from me. Mind you, this was before the Internet -- so it took a lot of effort for me to do this. I was that bored.But during that time in Emmaus, surrounded by health nuts who ate and drank from the New Age trough, I still continued reading AmSpec, a mag that was basically a rock of sanity in an ocean of retardation.The magazine was also a way to meet other people like you. If you found a friend who read it, he became a better friend.A few years later I became editor of Men's Health, and my goal was to stay as close to its winning formula as possible -- while injecting some real journalism that revealed truths about our current cultural malaise. I wanted to make sense of the world as AmSpec did. In different features, I immersed myself in Internet porn (to emerge with a full understanding of the consequences of sexual desire detached from love), moved into a monastery to discern religious from phony spirituality, spent a week in a retirement home living among grandmothers (our forgotten commodity), and endured a week eating nothing but McDonald's (I actually lost weight, unlike Morgan Spurlock, who ripped off this idea years later). These were all stories bent on revealing unspoken assumptions about the world, something AmSpec was always good at. I lost my job shortly after publishing a feature called "the best and worst colleges for men," which showed in a clever way which colleges were so PC that being a male student made you "the enemy." One of the worst colleges listed was Georgetown -- which happened to be my boss's alma mater. Oh well.Landing on my feet at Stuff Magazine as editor in chief, I turned what was basically a beer and babes mag into a fiercely honest publication that covered "stuff" other general interest mags wouldn't touch. We did features in praise of our troops, including actual surveys asking them how they felt. We wrote about real evil -- something that Rolling Stone, once considered edgy, was too cowardly to do. I increased circulation from 800,000 to 1.2 million. I'd like to think the readers appreciated the fact that the mag said things no other mag would -- again a direct link from my experience working at AmSpec. If you combine National Lampoon with The American Spectator, and add 12 pages of hot girls -- that was Stuff. After unleashing a group of midgets to disrupt a publishing conference, I was canned. After that I moved to Maxim, followed basically the same game plan to lesser success, and ended up back here, in New York, hosting a fantastic and relentlessly surreal talk show called Red Eye.Red Eye, from a mainstream media perspective, should not exist. It's a wildly funny show that operates without a net -- and it defies cowardly conventions expressed solely by the liberal mind. Every time a lefty is on the show, he turns into a screechy prude.I call this the "Dean Wormer" effect, named after the bad guy in the classic film Animal House. Every time you get your enemy to act like Dean Wormer -- whiny and defensive -- you win. The left has always been good at portraying the right as Dean Wormer -- stodgy, repressive, and angry people who deny the right to have fun for others. But now that's changing.Now, with what I call the new right -- the rise of South Park, movies like Knocked Up, and, yes, Red Eye -- the left is the humorless folks going "tsk-tsk." They're the dipwads -- because the politically correct movement has drained them of any humor. For proof, visit the DailyKos or the Huffington Post. Both are angry graveyards of the aging and unfunny. And that's where the Spectator comes in, now in 2008.Reckless humor and the ability to lampoon your enemies are the best weapons you can ever have. Fearlessly making fun of terrorists as our military kills them is a necessity -- as is the need to make the left think we're ready to do the same to them. If there is anything I would want the Spectator to do it is to be really funny.I'd do it myself if I didn't have to write this article.

Men Dominating Women In Free Online Game For $50,000 TypoBounty.com

Men participants are beating women participants in the TypoBounty.com free online game. Women led for a brief time but men have accepted the challenge. December 2, 2007, Houston, Texas TypoBounty.com a free game online is a challenge for players both young and old. This free game online is intriguing and requires skill and attention. Players are competing to be the first to reach $50,000. TypoBounty.com is where web surfers can climb the ranks from amateur to sniper levels in competing against one another to find Internet errors first. “One difference with this free online game” says Robert Ernesto, “ is that many players can reach the $50,000 prize. Not just one person. That makes the game hot.” This free online game can be played from anywhere and since each player must use his/her knowledge, personal strategies and keen eye to outpace other error hunters, the game takes on a life of its own. As free online games such as TypoBounty.com become more and more popular, many people that normally haven't played games before are driven to give the free online games a try. “We initially thought that women would dominate in this free online game but so far the male players are leading the way. Past studies have shown that women tend to have better communication skills in many instances but the men are holding their own,” says Bill Brooks. “I personally think that the women will make a comeback.” Hunting errors online is not that different from what web surfers do daily anyway. Now users just get paid for seeing and reporting the errors. In this free online game, the number of men verses the number of women signed up is just about equal. The women have a slight edge. But when it comes to points scored and money earned, the men dominating this free online game. Join and help your gender lead the Players of board type word games and word puzzles tend to be very good at the TypoBounty.com word game. However, even if users haven't played other word games and crossword puzzles, the upside of the TypoBounty.com word game is a powerful draw. Web surfers are encouraged to join and help their gender win. It's free. TypoBounty.com is new and growing fast. Visit http://www.typobounty.com for more information.

Chimp beats college kids in computer game

NEW YORK (AP) - Think you're smarter than a fifth-grader? How about a 5-year-old chimp?
Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against human adults in tests of short-term memory. And overall, the chimps won.
One memory test included three chimps who'd been taught the order of numbers 1 through 9 against a dozen student volunteers.
They saw nine numbers displayed on a computer screen. When they touched the first number, the other eight turned into white squares. The test was to touch all these squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there.
1 of the researchers believes human ancestors gave up some of the tested abilities to make room for language development. And the 5-year old chimps had the advantage of youth. The memory for images that's needed for the tests resembles a skill found in children, but which grow rusty with age.
The results appear in the journal Current Biology.