Tuesday, August 10, 2010

“Red Wave kids head to TAAF games” plus 3 more

“Red Wave kids head to TAAF games” plus 3 more

Red Wave kids head to TAAF games

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 06:57 AM PDT

El Campo will be well represented this weekend in Waco during the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Games of Texas Summer Swimming Championships.

Olympics-type opening ceremonies will be held Friday at 7 p.m., but swimming and other sports competitions begin as early as Thursday.

Eighteen Red Wave youth will compete sometime between Thursday and Sunday.

1. Krystan Espinoza, age 10: Girls 9-10 100 medley relay; 100 individual medley; 100 freestyle relay.

 2. Julia Foegelle, age 7: Girls 8 & U 100 freestyle relay.

3. Casey Green, age 11: Boys 11-12 50 backstroke; 50 butterfly; 100 individual medley.

4. Michaela Holt, age 8: Girls 8 & U 100 freestyle relay.

5. Camryn Jansky, age 8: Girls 8 & U 50 freestyle; 25 butterfly; 100 freestyle relay.

6. Macy Marek, age 9: Girls 9-10 100 medley relay; 100 freestyle relay.

7. Mathew Marek, age 7: Boys 8 & U 50 freestyle.

8. Colton Martin, age 14: Boys 13-14 100 freestyle; 50 butterfly; 50 freestyle.

9. Cailyn McComb, age 8: Girls 8 & U 50 freestyle; 25 breaststroke; 100 freestyle relay.

10. Micah McComb, age 11: Boys 11-12 100 freestyle; 50 backstroke; 50 freestyle.

11. Blythe Nava, age 17: Women 15-17 50 freestyle; 50 backstroke; 50 butterfly; 100 freestyle.

12. Jill Nava, age 11: Girls 11-12 50 freestyle.

13. Kiara Romo, age 8: Girls 8 & U 25 freestyle; 100 freestyle relay.

14. Sydney Slattery, age 9: Girls 9-10 100 medley relay; 100 freestyle relay.

15. Davis Stockton, age 10: Boys 9-10 25 backstroke; 100 individual medley.

16. Camille Thrash, age 9: Girls 9-10 100 medley relay; 25 butterfly; 100 freestyle relay.

17. Kari Wilkins, age 14: Girls 13-14 50 backstroke; 50 breaststroke; 100 individual medley.

18. Matthew Wilkins, age 12: Boys 11-12 50 breaststroke; 50 butterfly; 100 individual medley.

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of leader-news.com .

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Blockbuster adds video games to by-mail subscription program

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 05:43 AM PDT

07:43 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 10, 2010
By MARIA HALKIAS / The Dallas Morning News
mhalkias@dallasnews.com

Blockbuster Inc. is adding video games to its DVD-by-mail and Total Access mail subscription programs in an attempt to be more competitive in the nearly $20 billion a year gaming market.

The Dallas-based company also said it formed a marketing partnership with the nation's largest cable TV company, Comcast Corp., to offer its by-mail DVD subscriptions at a $3 monthly discount to cable customers.

Games are being added to all its monthly subscription programs at no additional charge, said Kevin Lewis, senior vice president for digital entertainment at Blockbuster. "We think it's a compelling value for households with kids."

Blockbuster's subscription programs range from a monthly fee of $8.99 for one DVD at a time to $19.99 a month for three DVDs at a time, including free in-store exchanges.

Blockbuster has tested by-mail game rentals in Cleveland and Seattle since last year, Lewis said.

The company will offer 3,163 game titles on Blockbuster.com, which it says represents 90 percent of game titles released since 2000 for Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Wii.

To date, the online video game rental business has been small.

Los Angeles-based Gamefly.com says it's the largest online video game rental subscription service with more than 334,000 subscribers. Gamefly.com charges $15.95 a month for one game at a time.

It's difficult to make money on the game-by-mail rental business model, said Arvind Bhatia, a Sterne Agee & Leach analyst who covers GameStop. "Otherwise, Netflix would have been in it many years ago.

"The issue is the cost of a game is so high ($50 or $60) that a monthly subscription charging $15 does not recoup the money on the game fast enough," he said.

Grapevine-based GameStop Corp., which doesn't rent games, last month acquired an online video game downloading company to get its digital strategy moving.

For Blockbuster, the decision to add games to its DVD-by-rental subscriptions is the fastest way that it can join the move online by video game consumers.

The number of game console owners who are spending money on a monthly basis to download games jumped to 29 percent this year from 8 percent in 2008, according to consumer research from Dallas-based Parks Associates. The percentage of game consoles connected to the Internet also took a substantial leap, rising to 51 percent this year from 33 percent in 2008.

Broadband connectivity has served as a "game changer" for the gaming industry, said Pietro Macchiarella, research analyst at the firm. Although retail sales still account for the majority of gaming industry revenue, other casual games such as FarmVille on Facebook, online console gaming, games on demand and download portals are moving the industry toward digital distribution.

And it may be happening faster than movie downloads.

Last week, Activision Blizzard Inc.'s sales through online channels, such as downloads, sales of digital add-on content for games and subscriptions, for the first time surpassed retail sales in the second quarter. The company publishes popular titles such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

As part of the marketing agreement with Comcast, the cable company will direct customers to Blockbuster if a movie isn't available on its own free or pay-per-view services.

Cash-strapped Blockbuster hasn't had funds to spend on advertising. On Thursday, Blockbuster is scheduled to report second-quarter results. The company has warned that it may have to seek bankruptcy if it can't refinance its debt. On Friday, its extension on a $42 million debt payment expires. It's expected to get another extension.



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Kids need a kick in the lazy butt

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 12:16 AM PDT

Kids need a kick in the lazy butt

Last Updated: August 9, 2010 2:00am

The kids are all right? Bull. They're not and we're to blame.

For years now it's been plain to anyone with eyes that children and teenagers are gradually getting lazier, fatter, less respectful of authority and narcissistic.

The evidence is everywhere: In schools, playgrounds, on the ice and in the courts.

Academics have had a field-day with this. They churn out study after study linking excessive screen time -- TV, web networking and video games -- with a slew of emotional, behavioral and physical ailments, led by obesity.

It's a worldwide problem. Researchers in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou recently found 13-to-18-year-olds who spent more than five hours a day on the Web were one-and-a-half times more likely to suffer depression than moderate users.

No wonder they're depressed. Who wouldn't be, staring at a screen all day, lost in a world that isn't real.

This epidemic is turning us into a society of brain bugs. Except these brains can hardly spell. OMG.

Col. Dave Grossman, former U.S. Army psychiatrist and world-leading author on the effects and causes of violence, argues video games are teaching U.S. teens to kill -- without pity and without remorse, while at the same time turning them into couch whales.

That bodes well for the future, eh? But it makes sense.

Violent e-games bypass the brain's fight-or-flight response and cause it to pump endorphins and adrenaline directly into the bloodstream -- with no physical effort or risk.

For a teenaged boy it's a high-octane cocktail as addictive as any drug.

Coupled with this we have a school system that drills children with the mantra they can do no wrong. So when a parent or teacher comes along and says get off your behind, go kick a ball, they're met with blank stares -- at best.

Wringing our hands and saying there's no solution is a cop-out. Our kids deserve better. The Conservative government's child fitness tax credit is a great idea, naysayers be damned, but it doesn't go nearly far enough.

Let's pressure the school boards to re-introduce deportment and basic discipline as core objectives of education. And let's talk about a year of compulsory military or community service at age 18.

Most of all let's stop pointing the finger and get off our own lazy, lard-layered butts.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Kids start kickinâ it

Posted: 09 Aug 2010 08:29 AM PDT

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Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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