Games

20070815
• US - Iraq - Military - Religion - Terrorism - Computer - Entertainment - Games - "DOD Stops Plan to Send Christian Video Game to Troops in Iraq." ... "Plans by a Christian group to send an evangelical video game to U.S. troops in Iraq were abruptly halted yesterday by the Department of Defense after ABC News inquired about the program." ... "Operation Start Up (OSU) Tour, an evangelical entertainment troupe that actively proselytizes among soldiers, will not be sending the "apocryphal" video game in care packages as planned, according to the department." ... ""Left Behind: Eternal Forces" was inspired by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' best-selling book series about the battle of Armageddon, in which believers of Jesus Christ fight the Antichrist." ... "The game has inspired controversy among freedom of religion advocates since it was released last year." ... ""It's a horrible game," said the Rev. Timothy Simpson of the Christians Alliance for Progress. "You either kill or covert the other side. This is exactly what the Osama bin Ladens of the world have portrayed us."" -By Anna Schecter -ABCNEWS.com

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20070808
• Sports - Drug - Law - San Francisco - California - "Bonds Sets Baseball's Home Run Record: Giants Slugger Passes Aaron With No. 756." ... "Seven fifty-five, the most cherished number in baseball if not all of American sports, lived a good, long, noble life. Spawned from the powerful bat of an aging slugger named Hank Aaron on July 20, 1976, it grew in stature over the years, surviving the occasional challenge and ruling over the record book even as other, lesser records fell. But on a cool Tuesday night near the shores of San Francisco Bay [San Francisco, California], 755 finally perished at the hands of a relentless, controversial invader from the west named Barry Lamar Bonds. Seven fifty-five is gone. Behold, 756." ... "Only three players in the last 86 years have held the sport's signature mark. Babe Ruth first captured it in 1921, then surrendered it posthumously to Aaron in 1974. And now, for better or worse, it belongs to Bonds." ... "Across the land, baseball fans, including many who play and run the game, are unsure what to make of 756 because of the player who struck it. Bonds is alleged to have used steroids beginning in the late 1990s, fueling a late-career explosion in offensive production that is unparalleled in baseball history. Even as Bonds took aim at Aaron's record this summer, a grand jury continued to investigate him for possible perjury and tax evasion charges stemming from his involvement with an alleged steroids ring." ... ""This record is not tainted," Bonds said in his postgame news conference. "It's not tainted at all. At all. Period. You guys [in the media] can say whatever you want."" -By Dave Sheinin -WashingtonPost

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20070729
• Iraq - Saudi Arabia - US - Military - "Inspired Iraq claims Asian Cup crown." ... "Iraq won the Asian Cup for the first time Sunday, a beacon of hope for a nation divided by war." ... "Iraq's 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on a 71st-minute header by captain Younis Mahmoud was an inspirational triumph for a team whose players straddle bitter and violent ethnic divides. After the game, Mahmoud called for the United States to withdraw its troops from his nation." ... ""I want America to go out," he said. "Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but out. I wish the American people didn't invade Iraq and, hopefully, it will be over soon."" -By Chris Lines -AP via -Yahoo

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20070613
• China - Sports -Business - Child - Poverty - Human Rights - Law - Politics - "Ahead of Olympics, China faces charges of child labor: The negative publicity comes at a sensitive moment for Beijing as it seeks to burnish its international image." ... "When a British-based labor consortium charged this week that factory workers as young as 12 are toiling to produce gear and souvenirs licensed by Beijing [China's capital] for its 2008 Olympics, China's reaction was swift." ... "Beijing officials announced they would deal "seriously" with factories that violate China's "very strict" labor codes. But the negative publicity – along with other reports that the problem goes beyond production of Olympic-related memorabilia – comes at a sensitive moment for Beijing as it seeks to burnish its international image ahead of the games." ... "Some observers say that the latest reports represent a weak point in China's otherwise strong record of enforcing child labor laws – especially at a time when child labor is on the decline worldwide." ... "Playfair Alliance, which targets sporting goods and athletic merchandise, reported this week that child labor in China is not limited to a few factories making Olympic souvenirs but may be a growing, potentially widespread problem spurred by increasing labor shortages and rural poverty." (1, 2, 3) -By Kathleen E. McLaughlin -CSMonitor

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20051116
• Labor - Drug - Politics - "Baseball Backs Stiffer Penalties for Steroid Use." ... "Reacting to Congressional pressure, Major League Baseball announced yesterday that it would again toughen the penalties for steroid use and for the first time establish testing and penalties for the use of amphetamines." ... "Under the new agreement, players who fail a test for steroids next season will be suspended 50 games, with the penalties increasing to 100 games for a second offense and a lifetime suspension for a third. A three-time offender could seek reinstatement after two years." ... "Baseball currently mandates a 10-day suspension for the first positive test, a 30-day suspension for the second, a 60-day suspension for the third and a one-year suspension for the fourth. A fifth failed test would result in a penalty at the commissioner's discretion." (1, 2) -By Jack Curry -NYTimes

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20051027
• Illinois - Texas - History - "Chicago White Sox relish first World Series title in 88 long years." ... "Chicago [Illinois White Sox] completed a World Series sweep with a 1-0 victory over the Houston [Texas] Astros on Wednesday night, becoming the second consecutive set of Sox to end a title drought that dated all the way back to World War I." ... "Their first title in 88 years certainly didn't come easily, even in a four-game sweep. The gritty White Sox had to scratch and claw for every win all year, and October was no different." ... "That's what makes their dominant run through the post-season so remarkable." (1, 2) -Canada.com

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20051019
• Fashion - "N.B.A. Dress Code Decrees: Clothes Make the Image." ... "On Monday, the National Basketball Association completed details of its new "business casual" dress code, which goes into effect Nov. 1, or opening night." ... "Though still vague in some areas, the final version of the dress code was toned down from an initial proposal that called for players to wear suits at all team functions, including games and flights." ... "The dress code, coupled with N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern's announcement yesterday that the league would start N.B.A. Cares, a vast public-service initiative, highlight the N.B.A.'s latest push to look a little less gangsta and a little more genteel." -By John Eligon with contributions by Liz Robbins and Howard Beck -NYTimes

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20051011
Washington - Microsoft - Computer - Music - Business - "Microsoft to Pay RealNetworks $761 Mln in Settlement (Update4)." ... "Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, agreed to pay RealNetworks Inc. $761 million in a settlement that removes the last major antitrust lawsuit brought by a Microsoft competitor." ... "RealNetworks shares surged as much as 48 percent after Microsoft said it will pay $460 million in cash and provide services worth $301 million to promote RealNetworks' Rhapsody online music service and digital games, the companies said today." ... "The agreement silences one of the most vocal critics of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, which has agreed to pay more than $4 billion to settle antitrust cases." -By Rebecca Barr and Matthew Newman -Bloomberg

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20050818
• -  - "China, Russia kick off first joint military exercises." ... "Russia and China began unprecedented joint military exercises involving air, sea and land forces Thursday, as commanders from both nations insisted the war games weren't meant to intimidate other countries." ... "The exercises, dubbed “Peace Mission 2005,” started Thursday with strategic consultations between commanders, and will climax next week with an amphibious and paratroop landing on China's Shandong peninsula in the Yellow Sea. Some 10,000 troops are involved, mostly Chinese and about 1,800 Russians." ... "Experts say the manoeuvres are more of a sales pitch to the Chinese of Russian-made arms -- including the country's long-range strategic bombers." -By Burt Herman -AP via -GlobeAndMail

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20030715
• -  -  - "Fellowship of the online gamers." ... "In such fantasy worlds, players who've never met in person form tight allegiances - and the ties are based on tests of individual character, not gender, class, or race. While critics decry the violence in many of these games, or worry about the social maladjustment of adolescents who spend hour upon hour playing them, the popularity seems rooted in the fellowship of the players, not in the virtual mayhem and carnage. In fact, even as video games become less violent and more interactive, more and more players are logging on." ... "This contradicts the widely held belief that violent onscreen images are what draw kids to video games." -By Elizabeth Armstrong -CSMonitor

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20030421
• -  - "Prepare to Meet Thy Doom:  John Carmack's game engines set the standard for PC graphics - and legions of gamers and the industry love him for it. Now he's brought the world to the brink of Doom III." ... "A $108 million brand (counting the first two titles and various expansion packs), Doom napalmed the path for everything that followed: the first-person shooter action of Halo, the Internet play of EverQuest, the ultraviolence of Grand Theft Auto III. Doom was the first product to invite gamers to get under the hood and fiddle around with accessible, adaptable code that allowed for modifications, or mods, and there are versions based on everything from Star Wars to Aliens. As Doom and its successors became gaming standards, companies like Valve and Raven licensed id's graphics engines to create their own shooters." ... "Eventually, Carmack says, real-time rendering will be so dynamic that animators will be able to produce films using game engines. Motivated modmakers will have the tools - for free, if Carmack has his way - to bring to life a vision as compelling as the new film Finding Nemo (see Swimming With Sharks). In his book Pattern Recognition, William Gibson writes about a "Garage Kubrick." Carmack foresees a Basement Disney." (1, 2, 3) -By David Kushner 200305Issue 11.05 -Wired -Magazine

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20030328
• -  - "US gears up for long campaign:  The US military has admitted that stiff Iraqi resistance is slowing the progress of the invasion force as battles rage around strategic towns in the south." ... "The US army's senior ground commander Iraq, General William Wallace, warned that long supply lines and Iraqi guerrilla-style tactics had reduced the chances of a swift military victory." ... ""The enemy we're fighting is different from the one we'd war-gamed against," he told The Washington Post, in comments reported to have caused some unease in the Pentagon." -BBC/News

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20030311 -  -  -  -  - 
• "MLB.TV Puts Live Games Online." ... "Looking to cash in on the popularity -- and exclusivity -- of online audio broadcasts of baseball games, Major League Baseball's Web portal on Tuesday launched a new MLB.TV service that offers on-demand and live access to pay-per-view video feeds." ... "The MLB.TV service, an extension of a three-year exclusive deal with Seattle-based RealNetworks (Quote, Company Info) will employ IP tracking to protect network television rights of local games but, because the technology has been unreliable as a geo-location tool, it's likely to raise the ire of MLB's television partners that shell out billions of broadcast rights." ... "According to Arbitron's Webcast Audience Profiles, fans who tune in and pay for baseball Webcasts were a prized lot." -By Ryan Naraine -InternetNews.com

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20030227
• -  -  - Microsoft News - "Report: Microsoft, EA Mull Bid for Sega." ... "Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Electronic Arts Inc ERTS.O are separately exploring the possibility of buying all or part of Japanese videogame maker Sega Corp 7964.T, the Asian Wall Street Journal said on Friday." ... "The paper, quoting people familiar with the situation, said the two U.S. companies have yet to hold formal talks with Sega and that no deal was imminent."-Reuters/Business

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