Technobabble

SEX, SONGS AND … SPORE If you are exhausted from all the Second Life sex you have been having since my last column (see Technobabble, CN&R, April 27), head over to the SL island that BBC’s Radio 1 is renting and check out hip new bands such as Muse, Razorlight and Gnarls Barkley. Watch performances with like-minded avatars streamed live to virtual band shells on the island. Once in Second Life, search for Radio 1 and see if there are any bands playing. Talking about virtual realities: The creator of The Sims now brings us Spore. What can I say? You have to check it out for yourself at www.spore.com.

WHO’S GAME? E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, just wrapped up in Los Angeles, and to the surprise of many, the Nintendo Wii stole the show. Attendees stood in line for more than four hours waiting to play the new console. Is it the radically different “Nunchuck” wireless controller/remote equipped with motion sensors that attracted so many? Or maybe the speaker and mic embedded in the controller for ambient sound and voice-controlled gaming? Or perhaps it’s the ability for the Wii to put the Internet on your TV? You won’t be playing hi-def games on this console or watching DVDs, as it is not designed to be a media center likes its competitors. But with speculative prices of just over $200, compared to $600 for the upcoming Playstation 3 and the $400 Xbox 360, it might be hard to pass this one up.

Check out the Curmudgeon Gamers’ May 15 blog post to see absolute and relative costs of game consoles for the last 30 years: http://curmudgeongamer.com.

A DAY AT THE PARK In past columns we talked about entire cities having free Wi-Fi access, including the hope that Chico would soon become completely wireless and free. Just because no one at the Chamber of Commerce has contacted me regarding free Wi-Fi for all of Chico doesn’t mean it’s not happening (wink, wink, nudge, nudge CCC). While we hold our breath, New York City’s Central Park will join Bryant Park and Tompkins Square Park in offering Manhattanites and visitors free Wi-Fi. By July, there will be eight wireless hotspots offering coverage over much of Central Park’s 843 acres.

CHUCK, UP! Anything that plots the popularity of Ninjas vs. Pirates vs. Chuck Norris is something of great value to our society. Go to www.google.com/trends and type in these three topics. And if you want to know why Chuck is kicking butt, visit www.Chucknorrisfacts.com.

INSTANT KARMA’S GONNA GET YOU If anyone needs to improve their karma, please send a new 13-inch MacBook, black, to Chico News & Review, attention: Morgan Paar.