| Free game for Xbox Live downtime? Xbox Live crashes
Today was supposed to be the day that Microsoft released the free download of the Xbox Live Arcade original Undertow to make up for those days of system downtime and instability Xbox Live users suffered through over the holidays. Which makes today the perfect time for the system to come crashing to its knees again. When many gamers tried to retrieve Undertow this morning, they got a message telling them the system "can't retrieve information from Xbox LIVE. Please try again later." The message also helpfully points out that this is a status code: 8015000a. I've been trying to grab the game myself, and I'm also suffering from this error message. I'm not quite sure what to say about this; if Microsoft had any doubts at all about its ability to serve the free game, they should have released a message saying the release was bumped back a few days.
Janet’s new album out in February
Remember that new album Atlantan Janet Jackson is working on here? According to Billboard.com, the follow up to the singer's 2006 "20 Y.O." will be out in February via Island Def Jam. The trade publication reports that the singer and actress also is prepping for a worldwide tour to coincide with the new disc. While the "Why Did I Get Married?" star recently hinted on Q100 that her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri will be helping out on the new studio project, the as-yet-unnamed album is being executive produced by Def Jam CEO and former Atlantan Antonio "L.A." Reid. Billboard reports that Dupri currently is busy working on fellow 1980s hitmaker Mariah Carey's new album, also due early next year. Explained Dupri in an interview with Billboard earlier this year: "We're going to make it seem like we're in competition to see who's going to have the biggest album of the year." At presstime Thursday, Buzz was managing to somehow suppress the urge to place a glass and our ear against a wall outside the couple's Atlanta residence so we could accurately report Miss Jackson's response to that.
Venture capital investments hit 6-year high of $29.4 billion in 2007
Venture capital investments hit 6-year high of $29.4 billion in 2007 This time, experts say, any recession is unlikely to stall that activityMICHAEL LIEDTKEAssociated Press SAN FRANCISCO --Venture capital investments in U.S. startups climbed to a six-year high of $29.4 billion in 2007, raising hope that ample money will still be available to back promising new ideas even if the economy falls into a recession. The amount of venture capital spread across 3,813 deals represents the industry's busiest year since $40.6 billion went into nearly 4,500 U.S. startups in 2001, according to data scheduled for release today by Thomson Financial, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. The $29.4 billion invested last year marked an 11 percent increase from $26.6 billion in 2006.
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Microsoft's Larry Hryb detailed in his blog that Call of Duty 4 was the third most played game on Xbox Live, behind only Halo 3 and Gears of War. Even with the success of the console versions of Call of Duty 4, the developers of the game continue to put effort into extending the life of its work for the PC audience. Coming soon are mod tools for hobbyists to create new game modes, as well as a map editor to make new environments. Sadly, one issue that plagues PC gaming far more than consoles is the issue of piracy. Robert Bowling of Infinity Ward wrote in his fourzerotwo blog under the heading "They Wonder Why People Don't Make PC Games Any More" a particularly disturbing note commenting on the "astounding" number of people who have pirated Call of Duty 4 and play online. "On another PC related note, we pulled some disturbing numbers this past week about the amount of PC players currently playing Multiplayer (which was fantastic)," wrote Bowling.
U@Play: 'WolfQuest' is a free game that combines fun with learning
One of the things that video games can teach is a point of view. For example, from my experience playing "Everquest," I've got a pretty good idea of what life is like as an elf. He has pointy ears and gets beat up a lot. Maybe that's not a good example, but in the free, downloadable computer game "WolfQuest: Amethyst Mountain," you'll get a realistic gander at what it's like to be a wolf on the prowl in Yellowstone National Park. Kids will be tricked into actually learning about nature, conservation and the inner workings of the pack. The game is intended for children 10 to 13 years old, but it's also fun for teens and adults. "WolfQuest" is the first video game funded by the National Science Foundation, and it was created with the goal of showing our video-gamer generation how wolves hunt and socialize in the wild.
Budget entertaining: A make-your-own pizza party
The party plan: Everyone can construct pizzas simultaneously, if you have enough space and baking sheets. If not, stagger guests at a central workstation, preparing one or two pizzas at a time while other guests watch, talk or play games. Mr. Silva recommends having a stash of spare snacks, drinks and ingredients in case a guest forgets to bring a contribution. "You can always freeze the dough later, or chuck the vegetables," he says. But if you run out of food, your party's over. What guests should bring: It's like a potluck, but with a savvier plan. You provide the pizza basics – crust, sauce and cheese. Let your guests supply the rest: -Veggie and meat toppings. -Baking sheets – the flat ones with a single lip on one end.
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Equity exchanges are excitable. There's a new adventure every week, whether it's NYSE (NYSE: NYX) bidding for Euronext or Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) chewing on a chunk of the London Stock Exchange. Bond life is a lot less exciting. But as equity markets stutter, a big opportunity appears for boutique bond exchange MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTX). Can it grow beyond a boutique, and become The Archipelago of Bonds? Bonds as an asset class are back. Interest rates are rising, and there's more value in taking corporate credit risk, as credit spreads -- the difference between corporate bonds and risk-free U.S. Treasuries -- rise. The U.S. bond markets are huge -- a total of $25 trillion outstanding, compared to a total value of $14 trillion for all the stocks in the Russell 3000. The corporate bond market alone is worth around $5 trillion.
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Last month The Cape Codder featured an extensive story about Sarah Peake's splash into the Massachusetts House of Representative. The reporter, Stephen Desroches, lives in Provincetown, is liberal, supports same-sex marriage and is gay, just like Peake (shown on right with Ted Kennedy's "go-fer"). So I wasn't surprised to see 5 pages of ink lionizing Peake that included a pic of the Representative smooching her lesbian lover. The Cape Codder's agenda, as it seemed at the time, was to normalize gay marriage by showing Sarah Peake giving her woman a kiss before heading off to her first day of "work." I was disgusted by the fact that the gays at the Cape Codder were using the newspaper to boost their buddy Sarah Peake's image and trying to shove homosexuality down people's throats. (Ok, for those of you who are ready to jump on me and vilify me as a right wing-extremist homophobe, please withhold your impulsive judgment until you hear me out for once).
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