Fact: We love facts. And the world of gaming is absolutely littered with astonishing/pointless/obscure trivia to cram into your brain. So, not-so-hot on the trail of last year's tepidly received 101 things you didn't know about games, we bring you another staggering list of game-related info detritus for your consuming pleasure. Memorize both gargantuan lists and become the ultimate know-it-all gamer.
01. Sonic The Hedgehog isn't only the name of Sega's speedy mascot, but also a gene on chromosome 7 of the human genome. Well, it was until recently when the science community decided to ditch all of its 'comedy' names for genes. Party poopers.
02. Matt Damon refused to appear in the recent Bourne Conspiracy game because he thought it was too violent. Not fussed by the violence in the films then, eh, Matt?
03. Ever wondered what happens to Leon's cool leather jacket in Resident Evil 4? It inexplicably disappears after the scene in the village. Well, on the PS2 version, go through Ada's side-quest and one of the Ganado villagers will be wearing it.
04. In the early stages of its development, Half-Life 2 featured a friendly alien that would follow Gordon Freeman around, feasting on the bodies of his fallen enemies. It was taken out when Valve discovered that the AI would be too difficult to convincingly program.
05. In 1986, Nintendo released a special Disk System peripheral for the NES in Japan. Among its features was a microphone in the controller, which certain games used, including an updated version of the original Zelda. You could only destroy a certain enemy by shouting into the mic.
06. The famously awful E.T. game for the Atari 2600 actually sold more than its most famous game, Space Invaders. E.T. sold 1.5 million, while Invaders only shifted a million.
07. A boss character called Binbag was removed from Rockstar's Manhunt early in its development. He was a psychopath wrapped in black refuse sacks. Lovely.
08. Rockstar also removed a character from Grand Theft Auto 3, although this time it was said to be because of the terrorist attacks on September 11th. He was called Darkel, a homeless guy who'd get you to rig buildings with explosives.
09. In the video game sequel to John Carpenter's seminal sci-fi horror film The Thing, the legendary director made a cameo appearance as a character called Doctor Faraday. He also oversaw the production of the game to make sure it was faithful to his original vision.
10. In Pilotwings 64, the character Lark is actually the mascot for famous American games magazine Nintendo Power, Nester. His name was changed at the last minute, probably because PAL gamers wouldn't know who he was.
11. Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando recorded dialogue for EA's Godfather game shortly before he died, but it was deemed unusable due to the bloated thesp's ageing, mumbly voice. Instead, they hired in a sound-alike. What a waste of money, eh?
12. Vivendi's underrated Scarface game also featured a sound-alike, but this one was personally chosen by Al Pacino himself, hence the spot-on likeness. His name is Andre Sogliuzzo and he's a veteran video game voice actor.
13. DJ Atomica, the (some would say) annoying announcer in Burnout Paradise, is the same guy who provided the commentary for SSX 3. In Paradise, he makes reference to SSX several times, suggesting it's supposed to be the same character.
14. The Little Sisters from BioShock didn't start their life as little girls at all, but rather tiny mole-like creatures who scuttled around Rapture collecting Adam. Early concept art also shows them as retro '50s-style robots, too. We think they made the right choice.
15. UK Radio One DJ, Chris Moyles, was an enemy in the game spin-off of hit TV show 24. He played an Eastern European terrorist, who Jack Bauer found himself fighting at the end of an early level. It was only his face however; the voice was provided by another actor.
16. Another unlikely celebrity cameo is UK chat show host Jonathan Ross, who 'starred' in Halo 3. He supplies the voice of one of the marines who helps Master Chief, although it's very rare that one of his lines comes up -it's a totally random, and rare, occurrence.
17. In The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening, the advisor from the SNES version of Sim City, Dr Wright, appears in a house. He's named after Will Wright, the creator of the Sim series.
18. In Fallout 2, there's a hidden room in Junktown, in the Cafe Of Broken Dreams, where you can find Dogmeat, the Vault Dweller from the first game's faithful hound.
19. In the original Super Smash Brothers Melee, the Princess Daisy trophy had a mysterious third eye on the back of its head. Unfortunate glitch? Or something more sinister?
20. Sony's beautiful monster-toppling adventure game Shadow Of The Colossus was originally going to feature groups of characters on horseback working to take down the colossi cooperatively. This proved too taxing for the PS2's hardware, sadly.
21. There are currently over 100 million Game Boys in the world; both the original and the colour variant. 32 million of them are in Japan, and there are 44 million in America.
22. Before they settled on its unique, painted look, the developers of Okami, Clover, originally intended the game to look realistic. You can unlock a concept video of this by finishing the game. It was changed because the PS2's hardware wasn't sophisticated enough.
23. Online gaming isn't as recent a development as you may think; in the '90s, a modem peripheral called the Satellaview was released for the Super Nintendo. It let gamers download gaming news and specially-designed games. They were mostly remakes of retro classics.
24. Early iterations of Nintendo's failed Virtual Boy console included a gun you'd set vertical on a flat surface that would project a 3D image into the air.
25. GoldenEye's famously brilliant multiplayer mode originally contained three Bond actors as playable characters; Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton. Their data was left on the cartridge, but you couldn't select them without using a cheat device.
26. Namco developed a special PSone controller to be used with Ridge Racer Type 4. It was called the Jogcon and had a wheel in place of the analogue sticks.
27. In critically panned crime caper Driv3r, there was a Hawaiian shirt-wearing character called Timmy Vermicelli - a clear parody of the star of GTA: Vice City, Tommy Vercetti. The character wore swimming bands, poking fun at the GTA hero's inability to swim.
28. In Grand Theft Auto 3, one mission saw you chasing a "badly animated" (in the words of Asuka) character called Tanner, who bore more than a passing resemblance to Driver lead character of the same name.
29. The PSone was originally planned as a Nintendo console, with Sony set to design its electronic components. When Nintendo ditched the project, Sony decided to make a console anyway.
30. The death screams of the bad guys in the original Golden Axe are digitized from screams used in the films First Blood and Conan The Barbarian.
31. Star Fox Adventures originally started life as Dinosaur Planet, a game developed entirely by Rare. It starred a blue fox called Krystal, who later became part of the Star Fox crew.
32. The damsel-in-distress that Mario rescues in the original Donkey Kong is called Pauline. In the Japanese version she was known simply as 'Lady'.
33. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith wasn't the wrinkly rockers' first videogame appearance. In 1994 they starred in an on-rails shooter called Revolution X where you had to rescue the band from kidnappers in a dystopian future. No, really.
34. In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty, a scene was removed from the final game where Snake is chased through the sinking tanker by a rush of water. Kojima said it looked good, but wasn't fun to play. Footage still exists of this in early trailers.
35. The first western-developed Xbox 360 game to break into the top 10 of the Japanese game chart was Gears of War. It made its debut at number seven after selling 33,000 copies. It charted in January 2006, over two years after the Japanese launch of the console.
36. Attacking the fat, black pig on Outset Island in The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker will eventually cause it to attack.It's 100% invincible, though, so watch out.
37. Mega Man is known as Rock Man in Japan. This was changed in America because 'rock' is well-known slang for crack cocaine, and the name stuck.
38. The name Atari comes from the Chinese game Go. 'Atari' refers to a situation where a stone or a group of stones is in imminent danger of being taken by another player; a state Atari ironically found themselves in when the brand was bought by French company Infogrames.
39. The Xbox was originally named DirectXbox, as it was initially designed to show how Microsoft's Direct X graphics technology could benefit the console market.
40. The Texas TI-83 calculator has more graphics processing power than the Commodore 64. Amazingly, some basic C64 games can even be programmed into it.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Dark Knight Probably Not Going To Win All The Oscars Now
The Dark Knight is a sensation - the second-biggest movie of all time and easily the best film about a gimp punching a clown ever.
So, come Oscar night, you’d expect that The Dark Knight would wipe the floor with the competition - especially since the competition seems to be a million underperforming films about gloomy people from 35 years ago - but you’re wrong.
It’s just been announced that The Dark Knight can’t win the Oscar for Best Score because it was composed by too many people. That’ll be disappointing for the crew of The Dark Knight, but they’ll get over it - not least because the 2009 Oscars will introduce categories for Best Irredeemably Bleak Summer Movie and Silliest And Most Indecipherable Voice Employed By A Lead Actor, which The Dark Knight is already a dead cert for.
Even before it was released, there was a heavy Oscar buzz surrounding The Dark Knight, and it was all down to Heath Ledger. By a) giving possibly the performance of his life as The Joker and b) dying young, Heath Ledger was guaranteed at least a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the get-go.
But then The Dark Knight was released, and it seemed like Best Supporting Actor would be the tip of the iceberg. The script was dark and thematically complex, the cinematography was brave and experimental, the box office numbers were galactic, the costumes were pretty and - most importantly for Oscar voters - the film went on for about an hour longer than it should have done and featured endless scenes of a frowning man gazing into the middle distance.
To the casual observer, it looked as though The Dark Knight would win every single Oscar that it put itself in for, but already that’s not the case. The bleak, creepy score for The Dark Knight has been ruled ineligible for the Oscars, and it’s all thanks to the number of people who worked on it.
Apparently, Academy rules state that only the primary composer of a film’s score should be included on the cue sheet, but for The Dark Knight the names of everyone who added pieces of music to the score were added, and now it’s been disqualified. MTV reports:
Although the five people listed as composers on “The Dark Knight” — including Zimmer, [James Newton] Howard, music editor Alex Gibson, ambient music designer Mel Wesson and composer Lorne Balfe — signed an affidavit stating that Zimmer and Howard were the primary composers, the majority of the Academy sided against the duo’s eligibility.
Now, being disqualified from the Oscars for a minor technicality like that is bound to sting, but it’s not the end of the world for The Dark Knight. Here’s why:
1 - By adding Gibson, Balfe and Wesson to the cue sheet for The Dark Knight, Hans Zimmer has ensured that they’ll all receive royalties from the score’s use, so at least he gets the moral high ground.
2 - The Dark Knight is still pushing hard in the Best Picture category - the only Oscar that people actually care about - and at this point it’s hard to see how it could lose.
3 - Does anyone go and see a movie for the score? No they don’t. A win in this category isn’t exactly going to boost DVD sales, is it?
4 - This is the main reason. If The Dark Knight has been disqualified for entering its score into the Oscars, then it means none of it can be performed in one of those interminable musical interludes that bloat the Oscars ceremony out. And you know what that means? More avant garde performances featuring Latvian women dressed as little Dutch girls singing in a made-up language and hitting bicycles for percussion. Yay for that!
So, come Oscar night, you’d expect that The Dark Knight would wipe the floor with the competition - especially since the competition seems to be a million underperforming films about gloomy people from 35 years ago - but you’re wrong.
It’s just been announced that The Dark Knight can’t win the Oscar for Best Score because it was composed by too many people. That’ll be disappointing for the crew of The Dark Knight, but they’ll get over it - not least because the 2009 Oscars will introduce categories for Best Irredeemably Bleak Summer Movie and Silliest And Most Indecipherable Voice Employed By A Lead Actor, which The Dark Knight is already a dead cert for.
Even before it was released, there was a heavy Oscar buzz surrounding The Dark Knight, and it was all down to Heath Ledger. By a) giving possibly the performance of his life as The Joker and b) dying young, Heath Ledger was guaranteed at least a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the get-go.
But then The Dark Knight was released, and it seemed like Best Supporting Actor would be the tip of the iceberg. The script was dark and thematically complex, the cinematography was brave and experimental, the box office numbers were galactic, the costumes were pretty and - most importantly for Oscar voters - the film went on for about an hour longer than it should have done and featured endless scenes of a frowning man gazing into the middle distance.
To the casual observer, it looked as though The Dark Knight would win every single Oscar that it put itself in for, but already that’s not the case. The bleak, creepy score for The Dark Knight has been ruled ineligible for the Oscars, and it’s all thanks to the number of people who worked on it.
Apparently, Academy rules state that only the primary composer of a film’s score should be included on the cue sheet, but for The Dark Knight the names of everyone who added pieces of music to the score were added, and now it’s been disqualified. MTV reports:
Although the five people listed as composers on “The Dark Knight” — including Zimmer, [James Newton] Howard, music editor Alex Gibson, ambient music designer Mel Wesson and composer Lorne Balfe — signed an affidavit stating that Zimmer and Howard were the primary composers, the majority of the Academy sided against the duo’s eligibility.
Now, being disqualified from the Oscars for a minor technicality like that is bound to sting, but it’s not the end of the world for The Dark Knight. Here’s why:
1 - By adding Gibson, Balfe and Wesson to the cue sheet for The Dark Knight, Hans Zimmer has ensured that they’ll all receive royalties from the score’s use, so at least he gets the moral high ground.
2 - The Dark Knight is still pushing hard in the Best Picture category - the only Oscar that people actually care about - and at this point it’s hard to see how it could lose.
3 - Does anyone go and see a movie for the score? No they don’t. A win in this category isn’t exactly going to boost DVD sales, is it?
4 - This is the main reason. If The Dark Knight has been disqualified for entering its score into the Oscars, then it means none of it can be performed in one of those interminable musical interludes that bloat the Oscars ceremony out. And you know what that means? More avant garde performances featuring Latvian women dressed as little Dutch girls singing in a made-up language and hitting bicycles for percussion. Yay for that!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
14 Big Businesses That Started in a Recession
It might seem counterintuitive to start a new business when the economy is in the dumps. But a recession can actually be the ideal time for launching a company. In fact, many well-known and successful organizations were born during an economic slump.
Why do these companies succeed? Usually it's because the founders recognized a market need and filled it. Identifying that need — whether it’s related to entertainment, travel or even streamlining how businesses operate — is the key to any thriving enterprise, regardless of the economic climate in which it begins. The following major corporations made it big during recessions by doing just that.
Hyatt Corp. opened its first hotel’s doors at the Los Angeles International Airport during the Eisenhower recession (1957 to 1958). The chain rose to worldwide fame in the following decades and now operates more than 365 hotels in 25 countries with premium services such as wifi hotspots.
Burger King Corp., with its flame-broiled burgers, is another recession startup. The company began in 1954 when James McLamore and David Edgerton opened a Burger King restaurant in Miami, Fla. During another recession in 1957, the company introduced its successful signature burger — the Whopper. Today, the company operates more than 11,100 locations in 65 countries.
IHOP Corp. is another star from the Eisenhower recession. The first restaurant in the now national chain opened its doors July1958 in Toluca Lake, Calif. Owners Al and Jerry Lapin were at the helm of the fast growing company, which began franchising just three years later. Today, there are more than 1,300 locations across the U.S.
The Jim Henson Company was created by famed puppeteer Jim Henson in 1958. Henson's business was responsible for some of the best-known puppet characters of all time including Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and Elmo. Today, the privately held company is managed by Henson's children and continues to thrive by creating popular kids-friendly shows and movies.
LexisNexis is a research hub for the law, media and more. The company, originally a government contractor, began its LexisNexis computerized legal research service during the 1973 oil crisis that rocked the country into steep economic slump. The now Web-based service is used in 100 countries by individuals in law, government, education and business.
FedEx Corp. began operations on April 17, 1973 as Federal Express, a nod to the Federal Reserve, with whom founder Frederick W. Smith had hoped to get a contract. He didn't, but the company that delivered 186 packages to 25 cities on its first night of operations now manages more than 7.5 million shipments everyday worldwide.
Microsoft Corp. wasn't always the jaw-dropping enterprise it is today. In 1975, when it was created by Harvard University dropout Bill Gates, Microsoft was just a little company in Albuquerque, N.M. It dealt in rudimentary computing languages and began its climb to business stardom with the success of MS-DOS, which was sold and marketed to IBM Corp. and then-IBM clones. Today, the company is estimated to earn more than $60 billion in revenue per year and is branching into new areas including VoIP and CRM.
CNN might be a news giant now, but in recession-plagued 1980, it was a little-known station called The Cable Network News. It revolutionized how people received information when it premiered as the first 24-hour all-news channel. Today, 1.5 billion people across the globe watch CNN.
MTV Networks brought something new and different to the music scene when it debuted in the economic slump of 1981. Intended to be an all-music-video channel, MTV used VJs (video jockeys) to host programs and facilitate transitions between videos. Today, MTV is a global brand with dozens of shows, music-related and not.
Trader Joe's started as a chain of convenience stores called Pronto Markets in the slow financial times of 1958. In 1967, the company changed its name to Trader Joe's and began to carry unique grocery items under its own brand. The company now operates more than 280 stores in the U.S.
Wikipedia Foundation Inc. was born during the recent post-9/11 recession. Established in January 2001, the online encyclopedia had more than 100,000 entries by 2003. Today it is home to more than 2.5 million articles and continues to grow.
Sports Illustrated magazine was launched on August 16, 1954, at the tail-end of a recession. The magazine benefitted from fortunate timing as a boom in professional sports exploded soon after its founding. Sports Illustrated now sells about 3 million copies in the U.S. each week.
GE (General Electric Co.) was established in 1876 by famed American inventor Thomas Edison. In the middle of the Panic of 1873, a six-year recession, Edison created one of the best-known inventions of all time — the incandescent light bulb. In terms of market capitalization, GE is now the third largest company in the world. The enterprise has evolved from a manufacturing-strong business to an enterprise earning more than 50 percent of its revenue from its financial services division.
HP (Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP) was inauspiciously born in a Palo Alto garage at the end of the Great Depression. The electronic company, initially supported by a mere $538 investment, has grown into the first technology business to exceed $100 billion in revenue, earning $104 billion in 2007. It now operates in nearly every country in the world.
Recessions, however, aren’t advantageous only to start-ups. Pre-existing companies can also make incredible gains in years where the economy is down. Some of the most recent success stories are those of Google, PayPal and Salesforce.com Inc. From 2000 to 2001 each of these companies thrived, leading PayPal to go public in 2002, followed by Google and Salesforce.com in 2004.
Why do these companies succeed? Usually it's because the founders recognized a market need and filled it. Identifying that need — whether it’s related to entertainment, travel or even streamlining how businesses operate — is the key to any thriving enterprise, regardless of the economic climate in which it begins. The following major corporations made it big during recessions by doing just that.
Hyatt Corp. opened its first hotel’s doors at the Los Angeles International Airport during the Eisenhower recession (1957 to 1958). The chain rose to worldwide fame in the following decades and now operates more than 365 hotels in 25 countries with premium services such as wifi hotspots.
Burger King Corp., with its flame-broiled burgers, is another recession startup. The company began in 1954 when James McLamore and David Edgerton opened a Burger King restaurant in Miami, Fla. During another recession in 1957, the company introduced its successful signature burger — the Whopper. Today, the company operates more than 11,100 locations in 65 countries.
IHOP Corp. is another star from the Eisenhower recession. The first restaurant in the now national chain opened its doors July1958 in Toluca Lake, Calif. Owners Al and Jerry Lapin were at the helm of the fast growing company, which began franchising just three years later. Today, there are more than 1,300 locations across the U.S.
The Jim Henson Company was created by famed puppeteer Jim Henson in 1958. Henson's business was responsible for some of the best-known puppet characters of all time including Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and Elmo. Today, the privately held company is managed by Henson's children and continues to thrive by creating popular kids-friendly shows and movies.
LexisNexis is a research hub for the law, media and more. The company, originally a government contractor, began its LexisNexis computerized legal research service during the 1973 oil crisis that rocked the country into steep economic slump. The now Web-based service is used in 100 countries by individuals in law, government, education and business.
FedEx Corp. began operations on April 17, 1973 as Federal Express, a nod to the Federal Reserve, with whom founder Frederick W. Smith had hoped to get a contract. He didn't, but the company that delivered 186 packages to 25 cities on its first night of operations now manages more than 7.5 million shipments everyday worldwide.
Microsoft Corp. wasn't always the jaw-dropping enterprise it is today. In 1975, when it was created by Harvard University dropout Bill Gates, Microsoft was just a little company in Albuquerque, N.M. It dealt in rudimentary computing languages and began its climb to business stardom with the success of MS-DOS, which was sold and marketed to IBM Corp. and then-IBM clones. Today, the company is estimated to earn more than $60 billion in revenue per year and is branching into new areas including VoIP and CRM.
CNN might be a news giant now, but in recession-plagued 1980, it was a little-known station called The Cable Network News. It revolutionized how people received information when it premiered as the first 24-hour all-news channel. Today, 1.5 billion people across the globe watch CNN.
MTV Networks brought something new and different to the music scene when it debuted in the economic slump of 1981. Intended to be an all-music-video channel, MTV used VJs (video jockeys) to host programs and facilitate transitions between videos. Today, MTV is a global brand with dozens of shows, music-related and not.
Trader Joe's started as a chain of convenience stores called Pronto Markets in the slow financial times of 1958. In 1967, the company changed its name to Trader Joe's and began to carry unique grocery items under its own brand. The company now operates more than 280 stores in the U.S.
Wikipedia Foundation Inc. was born during the recent post-9/11 recession. Established in January 2001, the online encyclopedia had more than 100,000 entries by 2003. Today it is home to more than 2.5 million articles and continues to grow.
Sports Illustrated magazine was launched on August 16, 1954, at the tail-end of a recession. The magazine benefitted from fortunate timing as a boom in professional sports exploded soon after its founding. Sports Illustrated now sells about 3 million copies in the U.S. each week.
GE (General Electric Co.) was established in 1876 by famed American inventor Thomas Edison. In the middle of the Panic of 1873, a six-year recession, Edison created one of the best-known inventions of all time — the incandescent light bulb. In terms of market capitalization, GE is now the third largest company in the world. The enterprise has evolved from a manufacturing-strong business to an enterprise earning more than 50 percent of its revenue from its financial services division.
HP (Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP) was inauspiciously born in a Palo Alto garage at the end of the Great Depression. The electronic company, initially supported by a mere $538 investment, has grown into the first technology business to exceed $100 billion in revenue, earning $104 billion in 2007. It now operates in nearly every country in the world.
Recessions, however, aren’t advantageous only to start-ups. Pre-existing companies can also make incredible gains in years where the economy is down. Some of the most recent success stories are those of Google, PayPal and Salesforce.com Inc. From 2000 to 2001 each of these companies thrived, leading PayPal to go public in 2002, followed by Google and Salesforce.com in 2004.
Fat parents could be paid to walk their children to school
Under the scheme people who exercise would receive supermarket-style vouchers to spend on sports gear and healthy food.
Those attending keep-fit classes or weight loss clubs could be eligible for rewards, as well as those walking to bus or train stations.
Critics claim the rewards will be a form of bribery. It is thought machines would be placed in schools or stations so parents or commuters could swipe their cards to tot up points.
The proposal will be assessed during a pilot project in Manchester, one of nine areas designated as "healthy towns".
It will be announced today by Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, who will encourage every business to take action agains obesity.
But the plans have caused controversy, with small business leaders warning that they were already too stretched and that the current economic climate was "not the right time" to ask them to do more.
Mr Johnson is expected to say that a massive effort is required to alert the nation, and especially parents, to the risks of obesity, as he outlines plans for a nationwide £325 million "revolution" on the problem.
Research for the Department of Health shows that almost nine out of ten parents fail to recognise that their children are overweight or obese.
Experts predict that half of adults could have weight problems by 2050, creating a health crisis expected to cost the NHS £50 billions.
More than 12,000 businesses, charities and local groups have signed up to help promote the Government's campaign.
But Mr Johnson has called for more to join their number.
He said: "I am today challenging every CEO of every company who can influence what we eat and how we exercise to come forward and tell us how they are going to help beat this national epidemic.
"Obesity affects us all so everyone must get involved."
But Stephen Alambritis, from the Federation of Small Businesses, said that it was "not the right time" to ask more of small employers.
He said: "If this message is targeted to the CEOs of the top FTSE companies that is understandable but at the moment many small employers are struggling to keep their staff on the payroll and it is not the right time to ask more of them."
Businesses which have signed up to the initiative include ITV, which is to run a series of programmes tracking viewers' attempts to live healthier lives, and Kellogg's, the cereal giant, which will support breakfast clubs in deprived areas.
The Department of Health said that it had also come to "unprecedented" arrangements with Tesco and Asda, the supermarkets, to offer discounts on healthy food.
"Ten million people visit their corner shops every day and 36 million shop at Asda and Tesco each week - the fact that grocers and supermarkets are on board means we can really influence what goes into our shopping trolleys," Mr Johnson said.
"It's unprecedented for supermarkets to join the Government and pledge to cut prices on healthy food. But this isn't an exclusive club. Anyone who promises to help families to be healthier can join."
Mr Johnson said that research had shown that the challenge of convincing parents to change their habits would be difficult.
He said: "The message that we received from parents was clear: we recognise that obesity is a big problem, but it's not our problem."
"The aim of Change4Life is to help parents understand that obesity is a problem for all of us and that it causes severe illnesses and premature death.
"Finger wagging and lecturing won't work, that's why Change4Life is designed to be supportive and helpful."
Research commissioned for the Department of Health shows that just 11.5 per cent of parents whose children were overweight or obese children recognised that they had a problem.
Those attending keep-fit classes or weight loss clubs could be eligible for rewards, as well as those walking to bus or train stations.
Critics claim the rewards will be a form of bribery. It is thought machines would be placed in schools or stations so parents or commuters could swipe their cards to tot up points.
The proposal will be assessed during a pilot project in Manchester, one of nine areas designated as "healthy towns".
It will be announced today by Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, who will encourage every business to take action agains obesity.
But the plans have caused controversy, with small business leaders warning that they were already too stretched and that the current economic climate was "not the right time" to ask them to do more.
Mr Johnson is expected to say that a massive effort is required to alert the nation, and especially parents, to the risks of obesity, as he outlines plans for a nationwide £325 million "revolution" on the problem.
Research for the Department of Health shows that almost nine out of ten parents fail to recognise that their children are overweight or obese.
Experts predict that half of adults could have weight problems by 2050, creating a health crisis expected to cost the NHS £50 billions.
More than 12,000 businesses, charities and local groups have signed up to help promote the Government's campaign.
But Mr Johnson has called for more to join their number.
He said: "I am today challenging every CEO of every company who can influence what we eat and how we exercise to come forward and tell us how they are going to help beat this national epidemic.
"Obesity affects us all so everyone must get involved."
But Stephen Alambritis, from the Federation of Small Businesses, said that it was "not the right time" to ask more of small employers.
He said: "If this message is targeted to the CEOs of the top FTSE companies that is understandable but at the moment many small employers are struggling to keep their staff on the payroll and it is not the right time to ask more of them."
Businesses which have signed up to the initiative include ITV, which is to run a series of programmes tracking viewers' attempts to live healthier lives, and Kellogg's, the cereal giant, which will support breakfast clubs in deprived areas.
The Department of Health said that it had also come to "unprecedented" arrangements with Tesco and Asda, the supermarkets, to offer discounts on healthy food.
"Ten million people visit their corner shops every day and 36 million shop at Asda and Tesco each week - the fact that grocers and supermarkets are on board means we can really influence what goes into our shopping trolleys," Mr Johnson said.
"It's unprecedented for supermarkets to join the Government and pledge to cut prices on healthy food. But this isn't an exclusive club. Anyone who promises to help families to be healthier can join."
Mr Johnson said that research had shown that the challenge of convincing parents to change their habits would be difficult.
He said: "The message that we received from parents was clear: we recognise that obesity is a big problem, but it's not our problem."
"The aim of Change4Life is to help parents understand that obesity is a problem for all of us and that it causes severe illnesses and premature death.
"Finger wagging and lecturing won't work, that's why Change4Life is designed to be supportive and helpful."
Research commissioned for the Department of Health shows that just 11.5 per cent of parents whose children were overweight or obese children recognised that they had a problem.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
25 Years Ago Today, Bill Gates Announced Windows 1.0
Two decades and a half ago today, Bill Gates unveiled Microsoft's first operating systems. Oh, it wasn't for sale yet—no, no, it's still only 1983 and we wouldn't see Windows on store shelves until 1985. But that didn't stop the young heart throb Gates.
Gates wasn't at all shy when promoting his debut Windows OS at New York's Helmsley Palace Hotel that day, claiming that it, powered by a unique graphical interface, would be running 90% of IBM systems by 1984 (before missing the launch date by a year, of course). To his credit, that ridiculously lofty number is just about identical to the Windows marketshare of today.
Windows 1 wouldn't be around for long, with its Windows 2 predecessor following just two years later. But if you have a fond memory of the old OS, now would be a good time to share it with the class in the comments.
Palin offered $2M to appear in porn movie
Sarah Palin has received her first job offer since failing in her bid to become vice-president of the United States -- to appear in a porno movie.
Florida-based porn director Cezar Capone has offered to pay Palin $2 million to appear in an adult film production.
Capone promises in an open letter on his website that the film would be distributed internationally, shot in high definition and feature a "beautiful mother recognized by all of America as well as the rest of the world -- the most desirable woman over 40."
To prove he's serious about the offer, Capone says he's prepared to hold the money in escrow immediately.
To sweeten the deal, Palin's husband Todd has been offered a co-starring role in the production, for which Capone would be "prepared to kick in an extra $100,000," and a new Arctic Cat snowmobile.
Palin hasn't publicly responded to the offer, which was sent to her administration office in Juneau, Alaska, on Nov. 6.
Hustler Magazine recently released a spoof Palin porn video titled Nailin' Paylin.
Solar at Sea: Chinese Cargo Ships Will Have Solar Sails
The Australian company, Solar Sailor, has signed a deal with the largest Chinese shipping line COSCO to outfit their tankers with large solar-powered sails controlled by a computer that angles them for maximum wind and solar efficiency and the company claims that the sails will pay for themselves within four years.
The sails are 30 meters long, covered with solar PV panels that will provide 5 percent of the ships' electricity and will harness enough wind to reduce fuel costs by 20 to 40 percent.
The shipping and air travel industries have been the hardest to conform to new energy efficiency demands. Planes and tankers require huge quantities of fuel, but our global economy depends on both of them to survive, so they've been difficult industries to regulate. Even the latest environmental standards set by the EU included gimmes for shipping and airline companies.
It seems as though China is slowly but aggressively moving into a position of leadership in the transition to a global green economy.
The sails are 30 meters long, covered with solar PV panels that will provide 5 percent of the ships' electricity and will harness enough wind to reduce fuel costs by 20 to 40 percent.
The shipping and air travel industries have been the hardest to conform to new energy efficiency demands. Planes and tankers require huge quantities of fuel, but our global economy depends on both of them to survive, so they've been difficult industries to regulate. Even the latest environmental standards set by the EU included gimmes for shipping and airline companies.
It seems as though China is slowly but aggressively moving into a position of leadership in the transition to a global green economy.
A Shapeshifting Skyscraper in Miami's Skyline?
A PR flak in New York left a cryptic voicemail on Riptide's machine late last week: Florence-based superstar architect David Fisher is planning a "major press conference" in Miami on Tuesday, she said, to announce plans for a project here.
The mysterious news is even more intriguing given the project Fisher's been shilling in a few other major cities for the past year: an insane-looking rotating skyscraper. Each floor in the building would spin independently, creating a constantly changing shape on the skyline.
Fisher told the New York Times a couple weeks ago that he's looking for a place in Manhattan to build a rotating tower. And he's supposedly breaking ground for another one in Dubai in a few weeks.
Could Miami be next? Has Fisher heard about the little condo bust that's left half-built towers packed with empty units up and down the bayfront?
The mysterious news is even more intriguing given the project Fisher's been shilling in a few other major cities for the past year: an insane-looking rotating skyscraper. Each floor in the building would spin independently, creating a constantly changing shape on the skyline.
Fisher told the New York Times a couple weeks ago that he's looking for a place in Manhattan to build a rotating tower. And he's supposedly breaking ground for another one in Dubai in a few weeks.
Could Miami be next? Has Fisher heard about the little condo bust that's left half-built towers packed with empty units up and down the bayfront?
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