Gametap writes "If cloud gaming works for enough genres, it can't help but find popularity. Even just a game like WoW might be enough to make it happen, and Gaikai's Dave Perry posted a picture of doing just that on an iPad. So is it the future or not? Could somebody make a tablet with nothing more than a screen, battery, network port, and video decoder, and have it be a good gaming platform? Will it change the mobile, PC, console, and TV world as we know it? Lots of questions, lots of skepticism, lots of players and money being invested — but one thing is for sure: it will be very interesting to see how this evolves."

biolgeek writes "In recent years, HIV has been managed with a collection of therapies. However, the virus will likely evolve around these drugs, making it crucially important to get a better understanding of the virus itself. An important step in understanding the virus is to get a handle on its genetic blueprint. William Dampier of Drexler University is taking a novel approach to this research by crowdsourcing his problem. He is hosting a bioinformatics competition, which requires contestants to find markers in the HIV sequence that predict a change in the severity of the infection (as measured by viral load). So far the best entry comes from Fontanelles, an HIV research group, which has been able to predict a change in viral load with 66% accuracy."

The Supreme Court of Canada decided to not hear an appeal from Canadian airlines on Thursday, effectively ruling obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one. The Canadian Transportation Agency had made a decision earlier that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare. The appeal had been launched by Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet. Now they just have to work on more leg room for tall, fat people and complimentary pie.

Honesty isn't always the best policy.

An Australian man with his penis caught in a pasta sauce jar led police on a 20 km/h car chase. The police found him stopped in a no-stopping zone, and became worried he might have a weapon after noticing he was doing something with his hands in his lap. Instead, they found him partially clothed with his genitals in a jar. After a brief chase, the man was forcibly removed from his car and attempted to continue "pleasuring himself in between bouts of wrestling." You have to admire his resolve. A search of the car uncovered pornography, a home-made sex aid, women's stockings and a Jack Russell terrier.

DeviceGuru writes "Heathkit, which produced and sold mobile robots aimed at hobbyists and students back in the 1980s, is about to reenter the educational robot business. Heathkit's new HE-RObot incorporates an onboard computer running Windows XP Professional on a Core 2 Duo Processor. It stands 21 inches tall, weighs 55 pounds, and has a built-in 80 GB hard drive, IR sensors, bright LED headlights, and lots of space for custom project circuitry." As robots go, it also looks very much like certain models of SGI workstation. Now I'll need to update my 1980 Christmas wishlist -- it's probably lost between pages of Popular Mechanics.