Online game helps children make healthier life choices

Health experts stress that attitudes and habits formed in childhood can strongly influence a person's future health. "If children learn about the benefits of good nutrition and exercise and the hazards of smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, their chances increase for longer, healthier and happier lives," said Carolyn Aldigй, president and founder of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. The need to help children make healthier choices is becoming ever more dire: The rates of childhood and adolescent obesity have doubled in the last 30 years, and as many as 50 percent of American youths do not exercise vigorously on a regular basis. Also, 4.5 million kids under 18 smoke regularly - including 10 percent of eighth-graders. With 70 percent of cancer cases directly attributable to diet and smoking, it's important to teach kids early on the importance of good health sense. With that goal in mind, the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation created "Dr. Health'nstein's Body Fun," a free, online computer game that teaches children how to make healthy choices about food and exercise at home and at school. The game gives students a chance to participate in simulated sports activities and to get advice on choosing sensible foods out of vending machines. "Dr. Health'nstein's Body Fun" is full of other important nutrition tips, too. "Dr. Health'nstein's Body Fun" produces outstanding results in schools and has a profound effect on the children who have played it, according to the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. In fact, 93 percent of teachers who used Body Fun in their classrooms said it increased their students' interest in health education. Additionally, children said that they made healthier food choices after playing the game.

Xbox 360 gaming now

With a variety of gaming consoles available today, all produced by well known and high profile corporations, it can be difficult to know which one is the best to invest your hard earned money in. The choice can become even more overwhelming as technology marches on relentlessly and consoles seem to change as quickly as you can turn around, so if you are having some trouble making a choice, here are some thoughts that might just help you out. The average lifespan, it is estimated, of a games console is about five years. That is not to say that your still working gaming equipment will suddenly and inexplicably combust after a five year period, rather that at about that time, manufacturers typically introduce a more technologically advanced version of their former console. If being at the cutting edge of technology is important to you, then purchasing a console at the start of this standard five-year period is a wise move. That’s partly why the Xbox 360 is a great choice right now. Released at the end of 2005, the technology it comprises is absolutely cutting edge, making it, according to a whole host of reviewers, the best buy available. With a wide range of features, including high quality online gaming capability and HDTV compatibility, the Xbox 360 offers a fantastic all round gaming experience. And though this version of the Xbox surpassed its predecessor after only four years, the lifespan of the previous console has been extended to a certain extent, as over two hundred of the most popular Xbox games are compatible with the new 360 version. Some gamers are holding off on purchasing the Xbox 360. Why? Because the PlayStation 3 is due out sometime this year. But while most experts agree that the PS 3 is likely to contain more technological innovation that the already released Xbox 360, the PlayStation is likely to cost up to $200 more. For the extra investment, the PS 3 will include a Blu-ray high definition DVD player – the down side of this, however, is that movies are not currently available in this format, though they are likely to surface within the next two years. There is little question that the upcoming PlayStation will be somewhat technologically superior to the Xbox 360, but with a release date still to be confirmed, many gamers prefer not to wait to enjoy gaming of the highest quality. And with technology that will be useless to the majority of consumers for the next couple of years, for many gamers, the PlayStation 3 simply isn’t worth the wait. So enjoy the moment in all its glory, and go for an Xbox 360.

A brief history of tetris

Tetris was the first computer game that involved falling tetromino pieces that the game player must align in order to create an unbroken line which subsequently disappears in order to free up more game play space. If the player is unable to make an unbroken line, the game play space quickly gets crowded until the point where no more space is available and the game is over. The game of Tetris was first programmed in 1985 in the former Soviet Union by Alexey Pazhitnov. It ran on a machine called an Electronica 60 but was quickly ported to run on an IBM PC in the same month of its initial release. One month later and the game had been ported for use on the Apple II and the Commodore 64 by a programming team in Hungary. The game quickly saw interest from a software house in the UK, Andromeda, who released it in the UK and USA in 1986 although the original programmer Pazhitnov had not agreed to any sale or licensing agreement. Nonetheless, Anromeda managed to copyright licensing for the game and marketed Tetris as ‘The first game from behind the iron curtain’. Tetris was an instant smash hit and had thousands of people hooked. A new company, ELORG, took up negotiations on behalf of Pazhitnov and eventually the licensing rights were granted to Nintendo in 1989 for a sum of between 3 and 5 million dollars. Nintendo quickly exerted their corporate strength and forbid any other company to market the game that Andromeda had given license to, including Atari. However, Tetris had become the biggest selling game on all formats at that time. Today Tetris is still hugely popular, with versions running on all formats, and still managing to get people hooked through its simple yet addictive game play.