McDonald's Blames Childhood Obesity on Videogames

Speaking to The Times Online, Steve Easterbrook, the chief executive of McDonald's UK, blamed video games for childhood obesity.

From the Times Online:

“I don’t know who is to blame,” Mr Easterbrook says. “The issue of obesity is complex and is absolutely one our society is facing, there’s no denial about that, but if you break it down I think there’s an education piece: how can we better communicate to individuals the importance of a balanced diet and taking care of themselves? Then there’s a lifestyle element: there’s fewer green spaces and kids are sat home playing computer games on the TV when in the past they’d have been burning off energy outside.

Surely, Happy Meals can share part of that blame, right?

Warner dumps HD-DVD and goes Blu-Ray exclusive

Read the press release at The Digital Bits.

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

"Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices," said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. "Today's decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner."

Also read some commentary over at Cnet's Crave blog.

Went to the Holiday Bowl

I went to the big sad game and I took only this one crappy photo. ASU lost to Texas 52-34 in San Diego, CA.

Imax to install 100 digital projection screens in AMC Entertainment Theaters

Imax's upcoming digital projection systems will start popping up in 33 major U.S. markets, doubling the company's presence in the commercial theater industry. I personally can't wait to see the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight, on a giant Imax screen. Maybe we'll get one of the new digital Imax theaters in Phoenix before the movie premieres!

[Source: forbes.com]

Facebook to let other sites access platform code

Webware.com is reporting that Facebook making its platform architecture available as a model for other social sites.

Facebook has announced that the architecture for its developer platform will be made available to other social-networking sites, potentially rendering moot the criticism that its strategy is too "closed"--and potentially dealing a huge blow to Google's yet-to-launch OpenSocial initiative.

Get additional information from webware.com

Facebook sorry for Beacon slip-ups, offers full opt-out

from Ars Technica by jacqui@arstechnica.com (Jacqui Cheng)

Facebook didn't handle Beacon's launch or criticism very well, CEO Mark Zuckerberg admits. The company has now added controls that block Beacon from reporting their activities, which has some, but not all, satisfied.

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