Video games getting the negative attention of mass media again.

Gamers are no stranger to the mass media painting a horribly inaccurate picture of their pastimes. While things have improved slightly since the Jack Thompson era and the Mass Effect sex scandal days, it seems that traditional reporters still have a lot to learn.

Fox's KDVR of Denver, Colorado today ran this news report in video form as well as a transcribed version on its website.

The story, which incorrectly makes use of a picture of the original Xbox console, paints the online gaming worlds offered by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony as a sexual predator's playground. The report says that the problem is "often times the players are adult posing as kids, luring children through headsets and instant messages," making it "one of the fastest growing crimes."

While sexual predators have used online gaming services, the report fails to fill in key details such as what parents can do to protect their children. All three online consoles offer parental controls that can help protect players against sexual predators. Like in many things, sometimes educations and awareness are the best ways to stay safe. Instead, Fox's KDVR allows the sensationalist report to leave parents everywhere terrified.

Could there be a second accelerator problem plaguing Toyota Owners?

Toyota has made headlines over the last two weeks because of a huge recall that was issued due to faulty accelerators. However, while millions of vehicles have been recalled because of sticking gas pedals, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak reports that the gas pedal on his Toyota is suffering from another issue; one he's insisting is software related.

Speaking at an event in San Fransisco, Wozniak claimed to be having a "very scary" problem with his 2010 Toyota Prius.

"Toyota has this accelerator problem we've all heard about," CNet quotes Wozniak as saying. "Well, I have many models of Prius that got recalled, but I have a new model that didn't get recalled. This new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again--safely. This is software. It's not a bad accelerator pedal. It's very scary, but luckily for me I can hit the brakes," he said.

"I don't get upset and teed off at things in life, except computers that don't work right," Wozniak said before adding that he had been trying to get through to Toyota and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) for three months but could not get anyone to explore an alleged software-related acceleration problem.

A Toyota spokesperson said they hadn't heard of such a problem. "We're in the business of investigating complaints, assessing problems and finding remedies," John Hanson, national manager environmental safety and quality communications at Toyota, told CNet. "After man years of exhaustive testing we have not found any evidence of an electronic [software] problem that would have led to unwanted acceleration."

Chinese consumers were more upset over the termination of World of Warcraft than a possible Google exit.

The Associated Press reports that China consumers are unfazed by a possible Google exit. In fact, the search giant's threat to pull out of China over censorship has drawn virtually no reaction from the people. The AP even quoted one web surfer, saying that if Google actually does leave China, then the country will have only “lost one search engine.”

Unlike World of Warcraft, the Chinese consumer rights agency hasn't seen a flood of complaints in regards to the search engine giant. However, tens of thousands were received the day Blizzard's MMORPG was taken offline last year. Many believe that search engine Baidu is enough for locals, others say that another search engine will come in and fill the gap left behind by Google.

But even if Google refuses to bow down to censorship, Google-related sites will remain blocked by the Great Firewall of China. Many Chinese consumers won't care--others will seek ways to scale that wall and access Google's content much like they did when World of Warcraft was hosted by Taiwanese servers (although the game was sold by Chinese retailers).

Last month, Softpedia reported that World of Warcraft may actually come back to China. NetEase, the company that provided the servers and subscription-based service, was forced to discontinue the MMORPG based on a ruling by China's General Administration of Press and Publications and the Ministry of Culture. NetEase must pay China a "gigantic fine" in order to re-launch the online PC game.

Yahoo has renewed its licensing deal with the Associated Press, however there's no sign of Google or Microsoft.

Both Yahoo and the Associated Press announced on Monday that the search engine company has renewed its licensing deal to post articles from the global news service. Content from the Associated Press—articles, images, and videos—will appear on the Yahoo News Site. According to the Wall Street Journal, the agreement could help define a core issue facing news organizations: how to deal with aggregators.

Although the financial deals were not disclosed, the non-profit news source may or may not have gained additional funds from its new relationship with Yahoo. Research firm Outsell said that AP was asking websites for more money, however aggregators have argued that news content is currently less valuable now that advertising revenue is down. The firm also added that there's been a lot of debate about "different pricing on different devices, or different content niches."

"There’s not a whole lot we can say, given the confidentiality of the agreement,” said Carrie Davis, a spokeswoman for Yahoo, in a statement to the New York Times in regards to the new deal.

Currently there's no indication that Google or Microsoft will renew their licensing deals with AP. Computerworld reports that negotiations have either stalled, or have not progressed according to schedule. Unlike Yahoo, Google stopped hosting AP stories in January--articles dated after December 23, 2009 no longer appear in its search engine.

But as The New York Times points out, Yahoo's news site attracts more traffic than Google News. Google, on the other hand, is much more popular with its search engine.

Imagine controlling anything with your mind. InteraXon plans to show just how next week.

If there was a device that could make the kids clean up their messy rooms by thought alone, it would be bought in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, we're not at the point in technical achievement. However, there seems to be promise in recent thought-controlled computing development, and we'll see a sample of that technology next week at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Start-up developer InteraXon has installed the world's largest thought-controlled computing system at Toronto's CN Tower, Ottawa's Parliament Buildings, and Niagara Falls. Although visitors won't be able to order food or do  useful things by mere thought, they will be able to control various aspects of light displays. While that doesn't exactly sound thrilling, InteraXon says that its technology will eventually let you control almost anything using only your mind.

The secret to InteraXon's technology is that it converts brainwaves into digital signals that are then translated by a computer. The thoughts aren't actually read—they generate a specific electrical pattern that the computer will recognize. The company said that, with practice, you can learn to manipulate your brainwave pattern, like flexing a muscle you’ve never used before. Does that mean the system will know that we want a meat sandwich? We'll have to wait and see.

According to this blog, everything has been installed and the system is ready for its first demonstration. However, as a startup company, InteraXion seems somewhat nervous and a little weary. "One thing about running a start-up, there is no lack of things to keep you busy. It’s kind of like doing sound, tending bar and playing in the band all at once in a club that never closes."

The live simulcast of the world's largest thought-controlled computer system will begin on February 12, and will end on February 28. Let's hope Dr. Evil doesn't take over the system and control the entire world.

Google's operating system may feature touch support.

TechRadar reports that Anders Sandholm, Senior Product Manager of Search at Google, spilled the beans in regards to touch support in the Chrome operating system. During a conference at Google's London headquarters, Sandholm was unable to avoid a direct question about touch support without revealing a few details in the process.

Chuckling nervously, he at first said that he couldn't say anything at all. But then he reluctantly gave in after tossing the PR associate a quick glance.

"Right now we are targeting netbooks [with Chrome OS],” he said. “That's what we're focused on, but I expect it to work well. We expect it to target everything up to desktop computers.” He also added that Chrome OS will be built for a specific hardware setup.

Sandholm confirmed that the first devices to use the Chrome OS at launch will be netbook-based, however he also mentioned that Google is still in negotiations with OEMs. According to TechRadar, Chris Dibona, Head of Open Source at Google, was said to be in talks with Asus, Acer, HP and possibly MSI. There's also rumors that HTC is testing a Chrome OS tablet, while others say that the official Google netbook will have a 10.1-inch multi-touch screen.

Although an early version of Chrome OS is currently available to download and test, the final product isn't expected to officially launch until sometime later this year.

Recently Google released images and a video of a concept tablet running Chrome--both are covered in Jane's article here.

The Grammys took place this past weekend in Los Angeles and though all the women were decked out designer clobber, one dress in particular had all heads turning toward a London-born singer-song writer.

Imogen Heap – best known for the Shrek theme song when she when she was one half of Frou Frou – made headlines with her dress and purse that displayed her Twitter followers' tweets. During the awards, messages from fans tweeting @imogenheap scrolled across the collar of Imogen's dress. Not only that, but Heap was equipped with a TwitPic handbag that displayed pictures from fans on her handbag.

The singer explained she created the dress so that her fans could be part of the ceremony. “I just thought it’d be nice for them to come with me so I’ve got a live Twitter feed from them," she said, according to the Times.

The handbag contained an iPod touch running custom software and all messages were routed to Heap's collar and purse via a wireless router in the back of her dress.

This past weekend, British sports channel, Sky Sports showed the Arsenal vs. Manchester United match in 3D. Needless to say, fans were fierce impressed by the broadcast.

Nine UK pubs in total showed the match, which took place on Arsenal's home turf, the Emirates Stadium in North London. Unfortunately for us Arsenal fans, Man U stole the show and beat the Gunners 3-1; however, fans watching the game in 3D didn't seem too bothered with the loss.

The DailyMail cites 71-year-old David Wubelski as saying, 'I've been watching Arsenal for 60 years and went to a game four weeks ago and this is better."

Laura Prylls, 25, was impressed too. "The atmosphere is really good, I don't normally go to the pub for football but there's a whole group of us here and everyone's really excited. I'd definitely watch another game in 3D - it's the future."

That said, while most conceded the close-ups were amazing, a lot of people were unmoved by the wide angles. "The close-ups are fantastic but the wide angle is not quite so impressive," said Wubelski and Paul Kelly, 45 said, 'The 3D looks great close up but on the wide shots it flattens out.

ESPN is set to launch a 3D channel in June and will kick things off by airing the World Cup matches in 3D. Will you be watching?

There's talk that Sega is launching a new console with motion-sensing controls. That's not entirely accurate.

Various sources are reporting that Sega is releasing a new console this summer in the UK. Called the Sega Zone, this new gaming rig will feature motion sensing technology much like the Nintendo Wii, and the device itself will even look like a Wii ripoff. It's reported that the new console will come packed with 20 classic Sega games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Ecco the Dolphin along with 30 additional "new" games, 16 of which are interactive sports titles using the motion sensing technology.

While that may feed the beast that's inside every Sega fanboy across the globe, there's just one problem with this picture: the console is not actually from Sega. Despite all the talk of the town, the console in question is not the successor to the Dreamcast. It is, in fact, the Zone 40 gaming unit found in most pharmacies—such as CVS and Walgreens--next to the As Seen on TV section. It currently sells for a whopping $40 USD.

Surprisingly, this Wii clone will cost gamers around $80 USD (£50), and right now it's slated to launch in the UK in Q2/Q3 2010. However it's safe to assume that the Sega Zone console will find its way here to the States (if it hasn't already). In addition to the embedded games, the console will provide two wireless remotes and the AVI cable—the device doesn't sport an optical drive or a cart reader, locking gamers to its internal library of 50 titles.

With all that said, the company behind the Zone 40 console has licensed 20 Sega games and the use of the official Sega logo, and has added the content to the Zone 40's current library. Disappointed? You shouldn't be. When Sega officially (and surprisingly) discontinued support for the gaming beast that is the Dreamcast back in 2001, it clearly stated that software would be the primary focus from then on out. With Sega's frustrations over M-rated material on the Nintendo Wii and the upcoming PC game Aliens Vs. Predator set to be one of the biggest titles in 2010, it's clear that Sega isn't looking back on its hardware days.

Still, there's no harm in dreaming of a Dreamcast 2, is there?

Check out the video below—it's a “review” of the pre-Sega Zone 40 console. You'll hear a lot of "this is stupid."

It's beginning of the end for Lost tonight.

Tonight ABC will air the first episodes of the last season of Lost, arguably the most popular prime time drama on TV of recent years.

The fan fever surrounding the series is at an all time high, so one would expect that the leak of the first episode would create a massive piracy wave of those who refuse to wait until tonight's show time, right? Not so, according to a Reuters report.

ABC held special screenings in Hawaii of the first episode. Naturally, someone thought it would be nice to share the experience with those of the internet by capturing the screening event with what seems to be a cellphone camera.

The video quickly spread to online video sites, including YouTube. But despite the anticipation behind this final season, it seems that those who are able to watch the first episode online chose to take the legit route by waiting for the official air time on Tuesday night.

Of course, it should be noted that the reason that online Lost fans are holding off aren't for reasons dealing with principles, but rather the watchability of the leak. Those who have seen it comment that the video is blurry and that the audio is nearly unintelligible.

One comment from a reader of Releaselog writes, "For everyone who does not know this was filmed on a beach in Hawaii last night, where they showed the first episode of Season 6. Many of the stars of the show were there as well.

"For all those LOST fans why not wait 2 more days until it’s out in better quality? Because this version you can hardly make out what they are saying and the video quality isn’t much good either.

"Do yourself a favor and wait, you won’t regret it!"

The Lost final season event starts tonight on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Let us know what you think of it afterwards!

Japan is getting two Sony-certified external drives for the PlayStation 3. Where's ours?

Buffalo Japan announced on Tuesday that it received the official Sony green light to manufacture two external hard drives for the PlayStation 3 console. This will be the first time Sony has granted a license to hard drive peripherals according to Andriasang. Unfortunately, the drives will be released in Japan next month, however this should open doors for Sony-certified external drives in North America.

The external HDDs will connect to the PlayStation 3 via a USB 2.0 port. The Piano Black HD-AV500U2/SC sits horizontally and features a meter on the front that displays the remaining space. The Black HD-CL500U2/SC stands vertically, and does not sport the storage space indicator. Both drives are pre-formatted in FAT32, allowing gamers to instantly plug in and back up the console's internal HDD.

Buffalo said that drives will be compatible with the upcoming PlayStation 3 DVR called "Torne." PlayStation 3 owners will be able to record and store their TV shows directly onto the external HDDs. Buffalo also added that the actual Torne device can support up to eight external HDDs, however only four HDDs can be connected simultaneously.

While PlayStation 3 owners can connect any external HDD to the PlayStation 3, Sony's magical touch on these two brands may indicate that the company may begin to limit 3^rd party peripherals. There's also no indication that Sony has added any bonus features to the certified HDDs such as a free movie or a bonus game. We're betting we'll see Sony-certified external drives—and even a NA version of the Torne—sometime during E3 2010.