Alex Reid

So far, the upcoming 2008 election in the US, looks exciting with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (Gallup polls put them at 33% and 20% support, respectively) leading the democratic pack – both US political minorities, and Rudy Giuliani and John McCain (Gallup polls put them both at 28% of support) on the Republican side.

I really admire John McCain – even if I don’t agree with most of his views – and also, I think that it would be amazing to have a first woman President in the US.

It’s the first election in 80 years to not have an incumbent – that is to say the Vice President is not running for a seat. And it will be the most expensive election to date. A recent article in the New York Daily Times, quotes Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael Toner saying that the 2008 U.S. presidential race will be “the most expensive election in American history.”

Toner estimated that the 2008 race will be a “$1 billion election,” and that to be “taken seriously,” a candidate will need to raise at least $100 million by the end of 2007.

The US Video Game market earned $12.5 billion last year, a 19% jump from 2005. December pulled in $3.7 billion alone (or 28% of the total annual sales). No doubt this is because of the big three video game companies released their new consoles all in mid-November (Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360).

Retail sales of computer games reached nearly a billion dollars in 2006 (only a 2% bump from last year). World of Warcraft clearly owns the market, but surprisingly the Sims dominated 2006.

My favourite PC game, Civilization IV is on the list at #9.

Here is the complete list:

1. World of Warcraft–Vivendi Games
2. The Sims 2–Electronic Arts
3. The Sims 2: Open For Business Expansion Pack–Electronic Arts
4. Star Wars: Empire At War–LucasArts
5. The Sims 2: Pets Expansion Pack–Electronic Arts
6. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion–Take-Two Interactive
7. Age of Empires III–Microsoft
8. The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff Expansion Pack–Electronic Arts
9. Civilization IV–Take-Two Interactive
10. The Sims 2: Nightlife Expansion Pack–Electronic Arts

Note these rankings/sales do not include distribution fees, which is a great new revenue streams for gaming companies.

Four Eyed Monster is an indie film based on the courtship between Susan Buice and Arin Crumley. When they first met, shy and tired of the inanities of dating, they decided to only communicate through art.

I don’t play Warcraft, but the SouthPark boys do.

Rogers Cable Canada ranked number nine in a new worldwide list by Phishtank for hosting phishing web sites.

Shameful.