Records of 26,000,000 Vets Stolen

A computer stolen from the home of Jim Nicholson, a data analyst for the Department of Veterans Affairs, contained personal information of more than 26 million U.S. military veterans. The information is said to include the names, social security numbers and date of birth of living servicemen discharged since 1975.

50,000 Internet Predators?

"It has been estimated that, at any given time, 50,000 predators are on the Internet prowling for children."

That's the claim made by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales during the launch of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood. Jason McLure has written an article for Legal Times where he tracks down the source of that 50,000 figure. It turns out the DOJ got it from TV.

The AG’s press secretary has the answer, though: "That number is actually pulled from [NBC newsmagazine] 'Dateline' and other media outlets," says Tasia Scolinos via e-mail.

Chris Hansen from Dateline, reportedly says the number comes from unnamed "law enforcement officials". But the former FBI agent he used to confirm the figure says it may just be a "Goldilocks number".

On May 20th, we aired Ric's recent interview with Robert W. McChesney, President and co-founder of Free Press. The topic was net neutrality.

- Listen to the Interview -

Our annual roundup of the Electronic Entertainment Expo was a jammed-packed show, full of gamey goodness. First, we went over some of our personal favorites. These included a new haptic controller from Novint called the Falcon, and a cute little software tutor called Piano Wizard. The Art of Gaming exhibit upstairs was pretty excellent. We also noted appearances (separately) by both Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel and Paris "What's in a name?" Hilton.

We were then joined by Tyler West, one of the artists who had his work displayed at the wonderful Into the Pixel exhibit. We talked about the part that art plays in the development of games, and how game art is finding increasing acceptance in the fine art world.

Next we spoke with James Jorris of the Get Well Gamers Foundation. They take donations of videogames, refurbish them if needed, and then distribute the games to hospitals across the nation. Their goal is to make sure children at hospitals have videogames available to them.

During the second half of the program we were joined by Ankarino Lara of Gamespot. He went over some of the highlights of the show, including the Wii controller from Nintendo, which generated lines requiring a wait of 4 hours or more. Also notable was the obvious battle between Microsoft and Sony for control of what they hope will be the 21st Century version of the Family Entertainment Center.

- Listen to Part One - Tyler West, Get Well Gamers

- Listen to Part Two - Ankarino Lara

Wii!

Wii!
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Part of Ninteno's huge display for their new controller.

Vivendi Games

Vivendi Games
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The Ant Bully

The Ant Bully
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This year's winner for my favorite name of a game.

Hello, My Name is Ben

Hello, My Name is Ben
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Obviously, advertising was everywhere. The trick was finding a way to do it when the audience is so aware of the marketing.

New 360

New 360
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From the Art of Gaming exhibit

Stewie

Stewie
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Someone needs a nap.

Gunk

Gunk
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Belgian gamers

Assimilated

Assimilated
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Yes, the Microsoft booth.

Mumbo Jumbo

Mumbo Jumbo
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A game developer from Texas.

Man of Action

Man of Action
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Saving the world from small plastic villans.

Play II

Play
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Art of Gaming

Art of Gaming
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One of the best things at E3 this year.

Panty Raid

Panty Raid
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Teaching values through video games.

Boss Fights

Boss Fights
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The secret code of gamers.

Baggy Pants

Baggy Pants
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Personal hygiene amoung male gamers was in decline this year.

Millipede

Millipede
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Downstairs in the Retro Gaming area at E3.

Talk to Me

Talk to Me
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She sat in a booth with her image displayed on a big video screen. She talked via camera and mike to people standing in line at the Nintendo booth.

Bright Little Lights

Bright Little Lights
Originally uploaded by ~db~.

Laying on the floor facing up, they were very bright and provided fancy wall lighting.

PSP Signage

PSP Signage
Originally uploaded by ~db~.

A few years ago, we marveled at how the video quality of PC games were good enough to to view on huge video screens. Now, the graphics of console games are better than those PC games. The PSP games looked very nice.

Atari Neon

Atari Neon
Originally uploaded by ~db~.

They define old school.
I don't have a clue what they are doing now.

Vortex Sky

Vortex Sky
Originally uploaded by ~db~.

A lot of the displays were more interesting than the games. I don't even remember which booth this is. Nice effect though.

XBox Live

XBox Live
Originally uploaded by ~db~.

We deliberately avoided The Borg today. I suppose we'll need to visit, but why hurry the root canal?

E3 - Play

Play
Originally uploaded by ~db~.

Sony's Playstation area was huge, but it wasn't very interesting. Nice lights though.

John Romero, of id Software and Ion Storm, has stepped into the discussion over the re-rating of the video game Oblivion. His comment that "modders are now screwing up the industry they're supposed to be helping" has received particular attention.

Ruling that Apple Computer uses its fruit logo in association with their iTunes store, and not the music itself, a british judge has ruled against Apple Corp, the record label of the Beatles. Apple Computer will be able to use its famous apple logo. The record company reportedly will appeal.

On May 6, we talked with Rudy Rucker, author of many books, stories, and other little goodies.

- Listen to the Interview -

On April 29, we broadcast live from the L.A. Times Festival of Books. During the first part we talked with David Ulin from the LA Times Book Review, Glenn Geffcken, the festival's Project Manager, Steve Salardino from Skylight Books.

Later, we spoke with Chris Mooney, author of The Republican War on Science.

- Listen to the Interview -

Our guest for April 22 was Jude Biersdorfer, co-author of Google: The Missing Manual. We talked about many of the nifty ways Google can be used to find exactly what you're looking for.

- Listen to the Interview -