Christmas

Tony Judt in the New York Review of Books Blog:

U.S. video game retail sales dropped 13 percent in January, another down month for the industry after a difficult 2009.

In all, Americans spent nearly $1.2 billion on video game systems, software and accessories during the month, market researcher NPD Group said Thursday.

Software sales fell 12 percent from the same month a year earlier, to $597.9 million.

January does not tend to be a big month for video games, which sell heavily during the holidays, though it is when many people trade in the gift cards they got for Christmas.

“This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel”

Harriet Harris in Broadway.com:

Pope Benedict XVI in a message issued Saturday, urged priests to use modern digital technology including the Internet, to interact with the faithful and to seek out new converts.

Jesus' "word can traverse the many crossroads created by the intersection of all the different 'highways' that form 'cyberspace,' and show that God has his rightful place in every age, including our own," the pontiff said.

The second generation of netbooks is here and they've brought more storage with them.

The pint-sized mobile computers typically now come pre-loaded with Windows 7, but consumers should remember that not every netbook running Windows 7 is quicker than older models with Windows XP. Models released onto the market in the Christmas run-up are often running on the same hardware as their predecessors.