| 'Playground,' 'Carnival Games' fail to impress
The Wii has been touted as a system that's great for the whole family to play together. So it makes sense that collections of mini-games would be a good choice for such gatherings. And there are a few games out there that do it well --- ''WarioWare: Smooth Moves,'' for example.It's too bad that two recent offerings just aren't very fun.Let's start with the one I had a little bit of fun with: ''EA Playground.'' ''Playground'' is a compilation of playground games: dodgeball, paper-plane races, tetherball, etc. You can play it alone or with a group of friends.The single-player mode has you roaming around the school challenging other kids to their game of choice. If you win, you earn a sticker. The ultimate goal is to challenge the king of the school: The Sticker King.Most of the games I didn't find particularly interesting.
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Welcome to the Nationwide Tour, circa 2008, where the first month of the schedule would daunt the most resolute jet-setter. While most Nationwide Tour stops are in small U.S. cities and towns such as Boise, Valdosta, Knoxville and Omaha, the first four tournaments this year are in the far-flung venues of Panama, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia. Later in the season, there is a Nationwide Tour event in Canada, giving the developmental tour nearly double the number of international stops that are on this year's PGA Tour schedule. "This time of year, when you land at LAX [Los Angeles International Airport], you think you're almost home," said Nationwide Tour director of player relations Marty Caffey. But for players who compete in the four events, the benefits are real, even if the trips are a hit on bank accounts that have yet to be fattened on PGA Tour bucks.
Study: Casino plan overstates jobs
We cannot improve or build a region's economy based on an industry that depends on our citizens losing billions of dollars every year," Bailey said in a prepared statement. Meanwhile, Rep. Daniel Bosley, D-North Adams, sent out a position paper disputing the governor's claim that casinos are "inevitable." In it, Bosley argues that the tribe's plan to build a $1 billion Indian casino in Middleboro faces bureaucratic hurdles. "There are so many hoops that the native tribe would have to jump to get to a point where the governor thinks they would be," he said. Patrick has hired Spectrum Gaming to do an analysis of his plan. That $189,000 study won't be done for another two to three months, perhaps after the issue is decided. "I think a lot of people have their minds made up," Bosley said.
Internet Family Sues MySpace After Teen Commits Suicide
While the Internet has a wealth of good things going for it, there are some bad points as well. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook illustrate these points well. Most users of MySpace and Facebook use the sites as they were intended -- a place to meet friends and find like-minded people to chat with and make new friends. However, both Facebook and MySpace have had problems with sexual predators preying on unsuspecting children using the sites. DailyTech reported earlier this month that Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl, had committed suicide after a cyber-bully tormented her on her MySpace page. In the case of Meier, the local district attorney said charges were unlikely to be filed. The Dallas Morning News reports that another young girl, a 14-year-old identified only as Julie Doe from California killed herself in July of 2006 after being sexually assaulted by a 30-year-old man that she had met on MySpace named Kiley Ryan Bowers.
Baranco ends career as officer, counselor
Cpl. Dick Baranco is retiring after 29 years with the Boise Police department. He spent nearly two decades as a school resource officer, including 13 years at Capital High School, where he enjoyed working with high school kids. "Very challenging. Very rewarding," he says. "It was a great opportunity to help them re-think the position of a police officer —and their role in assisting him keeping their community safe." .
Sprint offers two new unlimited service plans
It is about data services — texting, e-mail, video, pictures, music, navigation, surfing the Web and more. Customers want these applications, but without complexity and without having to worry about their bill.”</p><p>Wall Street, however, was less than impressed.</p><p>“I'm not seeing anything here that's going to change the trajectory much,” said Timothy Horan, an analyst with <strong>Oppenheimer & Co.</strong></p><p>Horan noted that T-Mobile has a plan that offers 1,000 minutes of talk, 1,000 text messages and e-mail for $55.</p><p>John Garcia, Sprint's acting chief marketing officer, said services offered by Sprint and T-Mobile aren't comparable.</p><p>“They are still in a fairly slow network and their data offering is primarily just text and e-mail,” Garcia said during a call with investment analysts.
OPINION LINE EXTRA
Where has all the money gone that the Wichita school district has had over the years? It has let the schools run down and gotten us deeper in debt. • • • You can make a shirt saying you are proud of whatever race you are, as long as you're not tearing down another race. • • • Prices have gone up everywhere, but my paycheck hasn't. • • • From the looks of those state test scores, I am sure glad I took my son out of the public schools and put in him in a private one. • • • It seems to me that George Bush thinks the job of government is not to provide opportunity for families but to provide profits for his business cronies.
Georgia: Thousands suffering in silence: Violence against women in the ...
When the family had severe money problems Nino's husband sold her violin. "He phoned me all the time to make sure I was at home. At the same time he allowed himself everything; he always had new girlfriends," Nino told Amnesty International. She reported that her husband did not give her any money. "He bought food for us but he forgot that we also needed clothes. My parents helped me with that," she said. She told Amnesty International that her husband beat her frequently and when he lost his job he started to drink heavily and the beatings intensified. When Nino was pregnant with her second child her husband reportedly hit her in the stomach. He said he did not want the child and would move to live with his lover unless the child was a boy. However, she said that when she gave birth to a boy, the beatings continued.
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