That there should be canned responses from Conservative MPs is no surprise. Harper has put such a stranglehold on government communications (he what, tripled the number of communications staff?) that MPs no longer have the ability to present their individual views to their constituents.

This bill is going to be introduced, debate is going to be limited again based on the argument that it's been discussed previously, it will be passed through the House and the Senate, and there's really nothing we can do about it.

I think our American neighbours would be surprised to learn how much relative power the Prime Minister has over his government, compared to their President. When that power is exercised, it's virtually unstoppable, and it's terrifying.

"as it attempts to beat the likes of Apple and Google"

A strange choice of words. I think "as it attempts to compete with the likes of..." would be more accurate and desirable - the last thing the technology market needs these days is a single, clearcut winner (at least, if you're a consumer). That aside, as a Canadian I'd like to see RIM survive on its own and if this helps to shake things up then it's a welcome move; I don't fancy the thought of the Samsung chaebol gaining even more power than it already has.

Well then it's a good thing they're only hoping to go as far as Jupiter, where "the zodiacal light is 30 times fainter than at Earth". But don't take my word for it, try reading the article.

Maybe dining on lobsters and imported cognac while up to 3.5 million of his citizens died of starvation. If that doesn't count, then I'm not sure what does.

The famine occurred only just after he took power, so I guess you can argue that the blame is on Kim Il Sung and years of juche ideology. But make no mistake, Kim Jong Il was not a naive little boy trapped by circumstance. He was an egocentric sociopath who lived a life of luxury as his country struggled in abject poverty.

I agree completely that this isn't welcome, but don't underestimate the degree to which Kim Jong Un has been integrated into the power structure. Although from April 2009, there's an excellent article on Foreign Policy about the efforts to get him and his allies into key posts.

Having lived in Korea for almost six years (but since moved away) this news is disturbing and unsettling. While I don't predict anything drastic like a war, Kim Jong Un is going to have to prove himself to the people. If that means sinking another ship like the Cheonan, or shelling another island, or worse... then everyone on the peninsula should be prepared.

After watching the video, I think you're right about the objectives. I guess the player will be given a list of scenes to capture like:
- Wounded friendly soldier
- Exploding fuel depot
- Civilian hostage

However that will mean a) the player will be more or less aware of what to look for prior to the mission, and b) stifle much creativity. Your suggestion that it involve investigative journalism through some sort of dialogue system is a good one. This could mean branching and dynamic missions, and enable the player to choose whether to be, for example, a sensationalist journalist or a more hardline reporter. Unfortunately I doubt this will be the case.

Games generally need some kind of scoring mechanic to keep players playing. If this game moves ahead, then it would require a system that scores the report based on objective criteria - the only other option would be to have a gaming community score reports (but with a niche game, and a troll-ridden community, this seems unfeasible).

So what gets the most points? Shooting video of soldiers fighting hard for their country? Or getting insider shots of blatant war crimes? Perhaps civilians cowering in fear, or mass graves? The kind of shots that a true war correspondent would want are not the kind that are suited to a game.

A clever concept, but impossible to judge the success of the player to any meaningful degree. It's more likely to be a dialogue-driven story game, with bits of running around, making "moral" choices, and shooting video that's edited together for nothing more than the pleasure of the gamer. I applaud the originality, but I'm skeptical of its appeal.

This comes as no surprise to me, having worked and studied in Korea for over five years. There was virtually no way to access any online services - buying tickets, posting comments on news sites and the ubiquitous online cyber-cafes, online gaming - without a government ID number. As foreigners, we are issued an Alien Registration Card (ARC) which ostensibly does the same thing, however in my experience this never worked. Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise, as it meant I didn't put myself in a position to be easily tracked.

That all aside, the mad cow protests of 2008 exemplify why the government wants to do this. Inflammatory comments on cyber-cafes fueled a ridiculous campaign of misinformation that led to the shutting down of downtown Seoul for months on end (not to mention riot police, water cannons, abuse of foreigners, etc). This all stems from the National Security Law, designed to prevent discussion of communist ideals, and support for the DPRK. The acceptance of that law has led to gradual acceptance of further but unrelated restrictions on free speech.

The most depressing aspect of this is that most South Koreans who I know don't see this as a problem. As long as they continue to achieve economic progress, lack of civil liberties is little more than an inconvenience. I hope the attitudes of this generation will change, but only time will tell.