Woman dies after water-drinking competition
Posted by Pud (6 Comments)	Mon Jan 15th '07 06:35:09 AM
Quote A Californian woman who took part in a water-drinking contest to win a video game system has died of water intoxication, tests have shown. Jennifer Strange had taken part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" game run by KDND 107.9 radio in Sacramento, which promised the winner a Nintendo Wii. Local assistant coroner Ed Smith said initial tests showed death was "consistent with water intoxication". Contestants were first given eight ounce (225 millilitre) bottles to drink every 15 minutes. Contestant James Ybarra told Associated Press news agency: "They told us if you don't feel like you can do this, don't put your health at risk." Mr Ybarra said he quit after five bottles but remaining contestants started on larger bottles. I have a worrying feeling that this contest was thought up by someone who thought "let's make people drink lots of water...it's totally harmless!" Poor woman
News Source: BBC	Genre: General News

Yob culture
Posted by donkey (1 Comment)	Tue Dec 12th '06 08:53:41 AM
The Right Reverend Tom Butler suffered head injuries and lost his mobile phone and briefcase after a drinks reception at the Irish embassy on 5 December. He reported the matter to police thinking he was robbed near his home in Streatham, south London. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said it was not being treated as a mugging but as a case of missing property. Paul Sumpter was playing pool in a bar on, ironically, Crucifix Lane, in Bermondsey, when he heard his car alarm sound. "I rushed out there and I saw an old looking guy with his legs hanging out the back of my car," said the property developer. "My baby's toys were in the back seat and I could see him chucking them all about the place."
News Source: BBC NEWS	Genre: Religion

Kazakhstan to get new tent!
Posted by donkey (6 Comments)	Sun Dec 10th '06 02:24:07 PM
...and a mighty fine tent at that. Borat would be proud! Kazakhstan has unveiled a new architectural project for its capital Astana - a giant transparent tent that will contain an indoor city. The 150m-high (500ft) dome, designed by UK architect Norman Foster, will be built in just over a year. The tent is being made from special material that absorbs sunlight to create the effect of summer inside. Underneath, in an area larger than 10 football stadiums, will be a city with squares and cobbled streets, canals, shopping centres and golf courses. Astana lies in the very heart of Central Asian steppe. Temperatures there often drop to -30C in the winter.
News Source: BBC NEWS	Genre: General News

CNET editor dies trying to save his family
Posted by mrplow (2 Comments)	Fri Dec 8th '06 10:43:46 AM
This is pretty sad news Rescuers have found the body of a US man who set off on a solo trek to find help for his family, trapped in a snowbound car on a remote Oregon road. Mr Kim's wife, Kati, 30, told police they made a wrong turn and became stuck in the snow with their two daughters, Penelope, four, and Sabine, seven months. The family ran the car's heater until the vehicle ran out of petrol, then burned tyres to keep warm and attract attention. When their limited supplies of food ran down, Mr Kim set out on foot to find help in what rescuers described as an extraordinary effort to stay alive. The officer said Mr Kim had walked through "tremendously rugged terrain," dressed in trainers, trousers, shirt and a medium-weight jacket. He had walked a circuitous route and his body was found little more than a mile from the car. An autopsy is being carried out to determine how he died.
News Source: news.bbc	Genre: General News

IRS to tax your in-game gold inevitable!
Posted by joe (0 Comments)	Tue Dec 5th '06 11:08:26 PM
NEW YORK--If you are a hardcore player of virtual worlds like World of Warcraft, Second Life, or EverQuest II, IRS form 1099 may soon take on a new meaning for you. That's because game publishers may well in the not-too-distant future have to send the forms--which individuals receive when earning nonemployee income from companies or institutions--to virtual-world players engaging in transactions for valuable items like Ultima Online castles, EverQuest weapons, or Second Life currency, even when those players don't convert the assets into cash. Most governments are only beginning to become aware of the substantial economic activity in online games, but the games' rapid growth and the substantial value of the many virtual assets changing hands in them is almost certain to bring them into the popular consciousness. "Given growth rates of 10 to 15 percent a month, the question is when, not if, Congress and IRS start paying attention to these issues," said Dan Miller, a senior economist with the Congress' Joint Economic Committee, who is also a fan of virtual worlds. "So it is incumbent on us to set the terms and the debate so we have a shaped tax policy toward virtual worlds and virtual economies in a favorable way." Miller's comments came during a Saturday panel called "Tax and Finance" at the State of Play/Terra Nova symposium, the fourth annual gathering at New York Law School of academics, lawyers, and other scholars to talk about the legal, social, and economic issues surrounding virtual worlds. The panel was formed in the context of recent questions--first raised by author Julian Dibbel in his book Play Money and in an article he wrote earlier in Legal Affairs magazine--about whether the transfer of virtual assets, or players' acquisition of virtual loot by, for example, killing monsters, creates taxable events. "If you haven't misspent hours battling an Arctic Ogre Lord near an Ice Dungeon or been equally profligate spending time reading the published works of the Internal Revenue Service," Dibbell's article began, "you probably haven't wondered whether the United States government will someday tax your virtual winnings from games played over the Internet. The real question is: Why hasn't it happened already?" And while Miller's committee began examining these issues in October, his comments Saturday suggested there could be wider future congressional oversight and a revised IRS tax policy. That's in spite of the fact that Miller said his committee, and Congress in general, is not out to gouge virtual-world players. "The Joint Economic Committee is not seeking to impose a new tax on virtual economies," Miller said. "We have a very clear record of supporting lower taxes in free market." Meanwhile, Miller's fellow panelists also weighed in Saturday on Dibbel's question, and came at it from several different perspectives. First up was William LaPiana, a wills, trusts, and estates professor at New York Law School. He approached the question by examining whether estate taxes would accrue on the transfer to an heir of a sizable collection of valuable virtual assets. LaPiana said that there is little question that the transfer of such assets could be taxable, since it is property. However, he did say that the taxes would accrue only if the total value of the estate's assets, at the time of death, exceeded the limit set by the state in which the deceased had lived. In most cases, he said, that amount is $2 million, though some states, like New York and New Jersey, have lower limits... Read more: Gamespot
News Source: Gamespot	Genre: Gaming

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