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DJs axed after woman dies in Wii water-drinking contest

A Sacramento, Calif., radio station has fired 10 employees after a woman died in a water-drinking contest to win a Nintendo Wii, the Associated Press and other media sources are reporting.

A preliminary autopsy indicated that Jennifer Strange, 28, died from water intoxication after participating in KDND-FM 107.9's on-air "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest Friday. The participant who drank the most water without using the bathroom was promised a game console valued at $250.

During the match, contestants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water, then given another bottle to … Read more

Wii Sports: Geeks are the new jocks

The champagne hangover's worn off, and CES and Macworld are quickly becoming memories; it's time to get serious about that list of New Year's resolutions. And though No. 1 (get more exercise) and No. 12 (master a new video game) seem to be mutually exclusive, one blogger has shown that you can game your way to better health, or at the very least, a smaller pants size. After six weeks of playing Wii Sports for 30 minutes a day--and making no other change to his diet or everyday activities--the Philadelphia-based blogger reported that he'd lost nine … Read more

'Dream Machine' is full-body gaming

If digital gaming can truly help people lose weight, as some claim, than this could be the equivalent of a personal trainer. The "Dream Machine" is a "personal simulation system powered by the computer game player's own body," according to Australian Simulation Control Systems. A better way to describe it is a cross between a game simulator and an adult version of those baby jumpers that hang from the door frame.

Either way, it's supposed to combine exercise with entertainment as you bounce and twist your way through gaming systems of any type with &… Read more

Nutty inventor creates 'Halo' suit; markets to military

I can see how the concept for the 'Halo suit' came about. A guy with some tinkering skills and an affinity for all things Xbox was watching pessimistic reports of the latest worldwide conflicts on TV. And he thought to himself: The Master Chief could solve this thing with one snap of his cybernetically-enhanced fingers.

So he got to work. He spent two years building an authentic, working Halo suit that he's hoping will eventually be used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's no Halloween costume. The $15,000 armor can protect against knives, bullets, and bombs; … Read more

Speakers designed to intimidate

We're not gaming addicts by any stretch, but we're often infatuated with stuff made by Razer because it always manages to look sleek and menacing at the same time. The "Mako" THX speaker system is no exception, looking like the best of villains in all black marked with Razer's distinctive serpentine logo while on display at CES this week.

The Gadgets Weblog cites a report that "a listener could hear quality sound across the room and right next to them" (which is why its remote comes in handy), but we wouldn't mind … Read more

Asus gives laptops a graphics jolt

Looking to upgrade the weak graphics of your otherwise rockin' laptop? Before you rip apart the machine to get to its innards in what will most likely result in a failed attempt for more frames per second, take a peek at the Asus XG Station. That's X for external, and G for graphics--the world's first external graphics-card solution for laptops. The XG Station connects via an ExpressCard slot and houses a x16 PCI Express graphics card and a sound card that supplies 5.1 Dolby audio. Asus will ship the XG Station with a GeForce 7900GS card, and … Read more

Dell overclocks, flexes its volume muscle

The Dell XPS 710 H2C, to be officially announced at CES tomorrow, isn't fundamentally that different from the old, vanilla XPS 710, but two important factors make it stand out. Thanks in part to an internally developed, hybrid liquid-cooling rig, the XPS 710 H2C will be the first desktop ever from Dell to ship with a factory-overclocked, fully warrantied CPU. The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700's stock 2.6GHz will ship to customers at 3.2GHz.

The XPS 710 H2C is also notable for its price. At $5,200 for the core configuration, it's roughly $1,500 … Read more

Macworlders, start your engines...

With Steve Jobs' keynote just a few hours away, I thought some of the recreation-minded among you might be interested in Ars Technica's "Steve Jobs Keynote Bingo" scorecard. (For explanations of the various Jobs-isms on the card, see Ars Technica's site.) All I can say is thank goodness Mr. Jobs makes this a morning or midday event for U.S. audiences, because if it were a primetime speech I'm sure there would be plenty of Macaholics playing Steve Jobs keynote drinking games. ("He said 'boom!' Take a shot!")

And on the subject of … Read more

Philips puts the wind in your hair while gaming

There's nothing like a bit of realism when you're gaming, according to Philips.

The Dutch electronics company has come out with a PC add-on for gamers that attempts to introduce a whiff of simulated reality to the experience. When you drive faster in a car game, two fans crank up faster and blow wind in your face. When you drive off the track, a rumble strip beneath your wrist vibrates. Two lights dim when you drive underneath a bridge.

The amBX system essentially tries to create an ambiance, Lucas Covers, chief marketing officer at Philips, said at the … Read more