adults

The 404 1,242: Where we light up the Pong (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- This is your one chance to play Pong on the side of a Philadelphia skyscraper.

- Arrested Development returns May 26 with all 15 new episodes on Netflix at once.

- Netflix also gets old cartoon shows from Adult Swim; still no Batman: The Animated Series though.… Read more

Seniors who play video games less likely to be depressed

New research out of North Carolina State University suggests a link between seniors who play video games and a healthier sense of well-being.

As reported this week in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, researchers surveyed 140 people ages 63 and older (the group's average age was 77) and placed them into one of three categories: regular gamers (at least once a week), occasional gamers (less than once a week), and non-gamers.

It turns out that those who were regular or occasional gamers reported higher levels of well-being and social functioning, while non-gamers reported higher levels of depression and … Read more

The 404 1,160: Where we turn over a new leaf (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Beyonce reacts to President Obama's re-election.

- Marijuana now legal for recreational use in Colorado and Washington.

- I'm joining the rest of the world and getting cable TV; which Time Warner package is the best deal, and are there any pro tips out there to get more for my dollar?

- Measure B in California requires L.A. porn stars to wear condoms.

- Don't forget to enter our Halloween Samsung Galaxy S3 Giveaway contest!

Bathroom break video: Horse crashes Huffington Post's election night coverage.

Episode 1,160 … Read more

Mechanized horned equine assault for Android

Although there are only two buttons available for use (jumping and dashing), players will find themselves overwhelmed by the increasing difficulty of the game as the score gets higher. As the scrolling becomes progressively faster, chain jumping and dashing is required to cross particularly difficult obstacles. Gameplay involves leaping over gorges, collecting fairies, and dashing through giant crystallized stars for further points. The points gained for collecting fairies or dashing through stars increases with every consecutive action. You are awarded with a happily squeaking dolphin rising above from seemingly nowhere every 5,000 points. You get three lives, called wishes. … Read more

Teens grab up smartphones faster than other age groups

Even though it doesn't really come as a surprise to hear that teenagers love smartphones, there's now new data to back up all previous assumptions.

Young adults aged 25 to 34 own smartphones more than any other age group with 74 percent of the market, according to a new study by Nielsen, which included interviews with 20,000 mobile users in July. However, teens aged 13 to 17 are grabbing up smartphones at a much quicker rate than young adults.

"Interestingly, teenagers between 13 and 17 years old demonstrated the most dramatic increases in smartphone adoption, with … Read more

Don't let your kids play these three awesome Rockstar games for iOS

Rockstar Games is known for not pulling any punches with its incredibly popular video games offered on consoles, desktops, and mobile gaming devices. Frequently controversial and in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, Rockstar's games are violent and give players the freedom to do whatever they want -- both good and bad.

This week, Rockstar added another of its classic games to the App Store with the same dark, compelling story lines and action-oriented gameplay that made the developer famous. So leave your morality at the door and make sure the kids are in bed, because when you're dealing with the gangster underworld in this collection of games, you often have to make deadly decisions.… Read more

Twitter's newest member: Former Golden Girl Betty White

One of the Golden Girls made it to Twitter. Rose, whoops, Betty White debuted her official page today with her first tweet reading, "Hello Twitter! And they said it would never happen. Oh wait, that was me."

The 90-year-old actor now has nearly 63,000 followers and only three tweets. Most likely White has turned to social media to promote her two new TV shows, "Off Their Rockers" and "Hot in Cleveland." She is also a voice actor in the movie "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax," which recently premiered.

Many older adults use … Read more

Become an assassin

Clear Vision (17+) offers an age-appropriate warning right in its name, but this sniper game based on a popular Flash game truly delivers with great playability, graphical style, and storyline.

Certainly not for kids, Clear Vision's storyline is about a guy whose patience gets pushed too far and resorts to the life of a sniper for hire. In the game you play as Tyler, a former clerk at a grocery store who begins to take sniping jobs for cash. Tyler is a cold-blooded killer who doesn't care who gives him the job or who he's hired to … Read more

PayPal reverses its ban on 'obscene' e-books

After vocal outrage from authors, e-publishers, and free speech activists, PayPal has shifted its "acceptable use" policy on e-books containing certain erotica content. The online payment company announced today that mostly books with images will be under scrutiny.

"First and foremost, we are going to focus this policy only on e-books that contain potentially illegal images, not e-books that are limited to just text," PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar said in a statement today. "The policy will prohibit use of PayPal for the sale of e-books that contain child pornography, or e-books with text and obscene … Read more

PayPal demands 'obscene' e-books be pulled

Mark Coker, the founder of e-book publisher Smashwords, got an alarming e-mail from PayPal's enforcement division last month. It was an ultimatum telling the company to pull certain books with "obscene" content from its inventory, Coker said in a blog post.

"Their hot buttons are bestiality, rape-for-titillation, incest, and underage erotica," he wrote. "PayPal gave us only a few days to achieve compliance otherwise they threatened to deactivate our PayPal services."

Smashwords isn't the only e-book publisher targeted by PayPal, according to the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), similar emails were also … Read more