Online addict dies after "marathon" session

Online addict dies after "marathon" session
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070228/wr_nm/china_internet_addiction_dc_1

An obese 26-year-old man in northeastern China died after a "marathon" online gaming session over the Lunar New Year holiday, state media said on Wednesday.
The 150-kg (330-lb) man from Jinzhou, in Liaoning province, collapsed on Saturday, the last day of the holiday, after spending "almost all" of the seven-day break playing online games, the China Daily said, citing his parents.
Xu Yan, a local teacher, said the "dull life" during the holiday prompted many people to turn to computer games for entertainment.
"There are only two options. TV or computer. What else can I do in the holiday as all markets, KTV and cafeterias are shut down?" the paper quoted Xu as saying.
China has seen an alarming rise in the number of teenage and young adult Internet addicts in recent years, despite attempts to restrict minors from cybercafes and limit online game playing times.
About 2.6 million -- or 13 percent -- of China's 20 million Internet users under 18 are classed as addicts, state media have reported.

Super Boweled Grammys

Well, the music industry has been in the spotlight recently. Let's review:

The Super Bowl -

• Prince put on a pretty damn good half-time show. This guy is one of the true musical geniuses of our time. Of particular note (pay attention Mr. Hansen), his choice to cover a Foo Fighters song ("Best of You") is further validation that Dave Grohl trumps Kurt Cobain as a songwriter. End of debate.

The Grammys -

• Yes, I would probably pay $150 to see The Police live. This is the only reason I watched the Grammys. Only meant to watch these first 5 minutes, but somehow or another, ended up watching the whole damn thing and... Shakira's hips don't lie.
• Have you ever seen a more narrow field of nominees for an awards show? Dixie Chicks, RHCP, Mary J Blige and John Mayer were the usual suspects for almost every category. Sprinkle in some obligatory picks, let stand for 30 seconds. Pick the one you were "urged" to vote for.
• The narrow field is further proof that the record companies are killing themselves (cue the M.A.S.H. theme). Do you know how much a typical artist will earn for an album that sells 500K copies (gold certification)? $40K. Do you know how much an independent artist needs to sell to make $40K? Probably between 5-10K copies. You tell me which path sounds more appealing to you?
• Dixie Chicks - what a sham. This is exactly what's right and wrong with the music industry. Right - the public chooses what they like/dis-like (their CD has sold almost 2M copies despite the backlash, but nowhere near prior CD sales; but kudos nonetheless). Wrong - the "academy" gives them 5 awards based upon political principle/artist vindication, not strength of music. C'est merde.

Willy Porter is a Liberal

Just thought you should know...

Groundbreaker

OK - What if people took funny lines from a TV show...for example the Colbert Report and added them to their blogs.

Well - I'll tell you, you would have the funniest thing since Calvin took a piss on a Ford logo.

Here is the opening salvo of what is sure to take off in the Blogging world - quoting Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert....

"Now, I don't see race; people tell me I'm white and I believe them, because I belong to an all-white country club."

"Now, I don't see race; people tell me I'm white and I believe them, because the police call me 'sir.'"

Your blogging progress is impressive - but please slow down, you are making me look a little slow.
Warm regards,
Iraq Reconstruction