Activision knows it's more fun to blast on-screen enemies into oblivion with friends, so this fall it's launching an online service for its "Call of Duty" games that's part Facebook, part player matchmaker and part organized sports.
It's the logical next step for Activision Blizzard Inc., whose "Call of Duty" franchise has enjoyed unprecedented success. The latest title, "Black Ops," has sold 22 million copies worldwide since its November launch. More than 7 million people play every day online.
Full StoryThe world's strongest winds race high in the sky, but that doesn't mean they're out of reach as a potentially potent energy source.
Flying, swooping and floating turbines are being developed to turn high-altitude winds into electricity.
Full StoryUnderneath the crowded alleys and holy sites of old Jerusalem, hundreds of people are snaking at any given moment through tunnels, vaulted medieval chambers and Roman sewers in a rapidly expanding subterranean city invisible from the streets above.
At street level, the walled Old City is an energetic and fractious enclave with a physical landscape that is predominantly Islamic and a population that is mainly Arab.
Full StoryEthnic demonstrations in Inner Mongolia will be handled according to the law and the government will respond to "reasonable demands" from protesters, a Chinese government spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The Foreign Ministry's Jiang Yu said the government would take necessary measures to protect the interests of all groups, but would also act against troublemakers.
Full StoryU.S. President Barack Obama announced Army General Martin Dempsey as his choice to succeed Admiral Mike Mullen as chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff Monday, rounding out an overhaul of his national security team in his third year in office.
Marine Gen. James Cartwright had long been rumored to be Obama's favorite, and the president singled him out for praise at Monday's Rose Garden announcement. But he turned instead to Dempsey, an accomplished veteran of the Iraq war, to succeed Mullen.
Full StoryThe 'lucky' sweater worn by Germany coach Joachim Loew at the 2010 World Cup is heading to the country's football museum.
The German football federation says the blue V-neck garment will be one of the exhibits when the museum opens in Dortmund in 2014.
Full StoryInstead of paying attention in high school, Nick Cammarata preferred to read books on whatever interested him. He also has a gift for coding that got him into Carnegie Mellon University's esteemed computer science program despite his grades.
But the 18-year-old programmer won't be going to college this fall. Or maybe ever.
Full StoryA growing shortage of medications for a host of illnesses — from cancer to cystic fibrosis to cardiac arrest — has hospitals scrambling for substitutes to avoid patient harm, and sometimes even delaying treatment.
"It's just a matter of time now before we call for a drug that we need to save a patient's life and we find out there isn't any," says Dr. Eric Lavonas of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Full StoryHollywood's hangover is a lot bigger the second time around.
"The Hangover Part II" hauled in $86.5 million in its first weekend, putting Hollywood on course to set a new revenue record for the long Memorial Day weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Full StoryComputer manufacturers of all sizes and descriptions have been pushing to get a piece of the ever-expanding tablet market created by the launch of Apple's iPad in April 2010.
The obsession with tablet computing will be on full display Tuesday as Computex, the world's second-largest computer show, begins its annual five-day run in Taipei. The prominence of tablets underscores a dramatic shift under way in the personal computer industry — and keenly felt in Taiwan, which is home to some of the world's biggest PC manufacturers — as many consumers opt to buy a tablet rather than a new PC.
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