We knew this already, but here is more proof

I never agreed with violent video games. I simply don't understand why someone would want to chase or impersonate zombies, decapitate 'enemies,' or shoot 10 different weapons at the same time (virtually)
Even though we all know violent video games positively influence aggressivity, apparently we never had enough proof. Most likely the companies that make these games will never consider such research valid - after all, money comes first - but it's nice to read this; it gives me hope that one day we won't have these games on the market.

It's Conclusive, Claims Professor, Violent Video Games Make Us Aggressive
Matt Peckham Matt Peckham - PC World

An Iowa State psychology professor is claiming--not for the first time--that his latest published study offers irrefutable evidence that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior. And a Texas A&M psychology professor has responded--in the same publication--claiming that the Iowa State study is methodologically flawed.
Published in the March 2010 issue of APA journal Psychological Bulletin, the study by Iowa State professor Craig Anderson, director of Iowa State's Center for the Study of Violence, concludes that exposure to violent video games leads to an increase in aggressive thoughts and behavior, as well as decreased empathy and favorable social behavior in children.
"We can now say with utmost confidence that regardless of research method--that is experimental, correlational, or longitudinal--and regardless of the cultures tested in this study [East and West], you get the same effects," said Anderson. "And the effects are that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in both short-term and long-term contexts. Such exposure also increases aggressive thinking and aggressive affect, and decreases prosocial [sic] behavior."

Read the rest at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100303/tc_pcworld/itsconclusiveclaimsprofessorviolentvideogamesmakeusaggressive

Adina's podcast - 'Odd News Report'

http://adyna30.podOmatic.com/entry/2010-03-07T14_45_02-08_00

Running out of time...

I have always wanted to be an independent woman, have a decent job and no matter what might happen to know that I can rely on my own forces. To most degrees I believed I have achieved all that, but sometimes I wonder - at what price? Having a full-time job and acting 'responsible' in so many ways took away the time for other things that make me happy but don't really pay.
How can someone travel and see the world when he/she has to work 40+ hours a day? Not to mention certain time-consuming hobbies such as writing, painting, reading that the working person has to give up to certain extent in favor of money-making activities.
One might say, 'well, if you have talent, and you truly want it, you will find a way.' Maybe for some people is true; but for someone like me, who needs a minimum of eight hours of sleep at night, does groceries and watches for a dog, the time just isn't there anymore.
Thus I wonder - sometimes - how it would be not to have to work (for money in particular) and just enjoy doing the things that make me happy. Even though I do love my job I often feel it's just not enough.
But since I do have to wake up early and take care of so many things during the day, in the end, I do not have that much time to think of such things. Sometimes even thinking becomes the luxury of people who have enough time...