As Halo Wars gets closer to its February release, details are gradually emerging about the game. In an interview with CVG, lead designer Graeme Devine claimed that the controls are actually better than those of a PC RTS, and said the downloadable content for the game is mostly done already, but will be held back until well after the release. Giant Bomb got some hands-on time with the game, and said the controls the controls "do work well enough, even if they're geared more toward broad tactical strokes than intensive small-group micromanagement." Kotaku has further details about the game as well. A video showing some of the gameplay is also available. Ensemble Studios has explicitly denied the possibility of a PC port.

will_die writes "The SciFi Channel's Battlestar Galactica will be holding multiple auctions to sell off props and costumes. The first auction will be Jan. 16-18, with a print and online catalogs coming out in December; the second will be in April, catalogs at a future date. The auction site is the Pasadena Convention Center but they will be offering Internet bidding, with live Internet broadcasting, and will handle world-wide shipping at extra cost. These auction are for the key items on the show such as Adama's lighter, Arrow of Athena, and maybe even a Viper. During the final ten weeks of the show they will be holding Internet auctions on items of lesser importance (and price). Until the auction begins, they are highlighting items as they catalog them and posting them on the website where you can subscribe to receive notifications by RSS feed or email. So far the posts have been interesting, with pictures of the items, screenshots of the item in the show, a history of the item, and how it was made."

A University of Texas poll has found that 23 percent of Texans are convinced that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is a Muslim. Only 45 percent of the people polled correctly identified Obama as a Protestant Christian. Nationwide, the number of people who believe in the "Secret Muslim Conspiracy" is about the same as those who believe that the moon landing was faked (5-10 percent), which makes the high numbers in Texas unusual.

I'm not sure how many electoral votes Azeroth has, but it could be a key battleground state.

Scorpinox writes "According to Sony Online Entertainment, the latest 2.50 update to the Playstation 3, which added Flash 9 support, is 'not up to the level of Google Chrome,' but 'beats Internet Explorer 7' in Javascript performance. The article goes on to say 'Sony has actually been working on Flash 9 support for quite some time — as far back as late last year. To get it running on the PS3, Sony ended up customizing a separate Flash implementation that was provided to it by Adobe.'"

The LA Times has a story about the increased interest in learning how to make video games amongst college students, and the subsequent rise in game-related education as the schools respond to that demand. Some programs are gaining legitimacy, while others do perhaps more harm than good. Quoting: "The surge in interest has led schools to add games to their menu — but not always to the benefit of its students. Recruiters say they often see 'mills' that run around-the-clock sessions to quickly churn out as many students as possible. Other programs teach specific skills but not how games are pulled together. 'It's a very hot academic growth area,' said Colleen McCreary, who runs EA's university relations program. 'I'm very worried about the number of community colleges and for-profit institutions, as well as four-year programs, that are using game design as a lure for students who are not going to be prepared for the real entry-level positions that the game industry wants.'"