Recently, I read two articles on the world of gaming (no, not the kind that is a form of gambling) and found them to be rather interesting.
The first one, “World of CEO-craft” (GigaOM) talks about a research paper published in the latest issue of the Harvard Business Review entitled “Leadership’s Online Labs“. They found that the best person who might be qualified to run an Internet startup might not need to have a MBA degree, but someone who is a Level 70 guild leader in the game, World of Warcraft.
And the second article (News.com.au | Technology) takes a look at behavioral problems and violent videogames. Two Harvard psychologists, Dr Lawrence Kutner and Dr Cheryl Olson from the Harvard Medical School have debunked the notion that parents and so-called ‘experts’ have had that violent games will lead to children becoming criminals or violent people when they grow up. Surprisingly, they found that boys who don’t play videogames are at greater risk of getting into trouble because videogames are a measure of social competence for boys in this generation. They also found that a lack of exposure to videogames is associated with problems including shoplifting and fighting. And they have published a book, Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games, based on the two-year study they did that was funded by the US Department of Justice.
You can watch a video interview done by G4-TV with the authors below:
You can read more about the study done in this article on the The Escapist.
Google just announced that you can now insert YouTube videos into any documents in Google Docs. Besides YouTube videos, you can also insert images and text captions.
What is more interesting is the ability to embed your Google Doc presentation onto your blog and it can be of varying sizes. This seems like a direct competition to the current market leader, SlideShare.
Although I haven’t tried this yet, I’m sure it will be useful for the sharing of resources.
Was reading this article on BBC News about researchers in Sweden discovering that a person’s fat cell numbers is fixed for life.
But it doesn’t mean that you can just go out and eat all the sinful things. The researchers found although the number of fat cells is constant, exercise and healthy eating will ensure that the fat cells called ‘adipoctye’ does not grow in size. When the adipoctye cells will grow in size as we become fatter, thus resulting in the expansion of our bellies and waistlines.
The other interesting finding from the report is that the fat cell numbers remain constant in adulthood. However, the fat cell numbers will increase through childhood. Though the article didn’t say whether this can be controlled, I’m assuming that it is even more critical to ensure that children eat proper and healthy meals. And that they have adequate exercise.
Like I always say, “everything must be in moderation!”
An article in BBC News has reported that scientists at the University of East Anglia are running a one year trial to see if eating chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease in women with diabetes.
However, it is not the ordinary chocolate bar that you can get from the supermarkets. The women in the trial will be consuming one chocolate bar every day for a year. The chocolate bar has been specially formulated so that it contains more flavonoids than is usual and also soy, another source of flavonoids.
It must be reiterated that the chocolate bar has been specially formulated and not just any kind of chocolate bar. Eating too much chocolate is not advisable as it is high in fat and sugar.
