PPH: A New Can Of Worms

Ever wonder why you get sores on your palms? If you are a gamer you might have a newly discovered skin disorder called PlayStation Palmar Hidradenitis (PPH). Yes, you read that right. A recent study has discovered that the sores were caused by "tight and continuous grasping of the console's hand-grips, and repeated pushing of the buttons, alongside sweating caused by the tension of the game". The cure? Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists recommended that "If you're worried about soreness on your hands when playing a games console, it might be sensible to give your hands a break from time to time, and don't play excessively if your hands are prone to sweating". No kidding? I would have never thought of that. One other interesting piece of information from this study is that they consider these symptoms to be unusual stating that "for the disorder to only affect the hands is very unusual". This statement got me wondering what else they do with a controller . . .

The list of video game inflicted disorders just keeps on growing. In addition of PlayStation Palmar Hidradenitis, there is also Wiitis (also known as Acute Tendonitis) and Video Game Addiction. Are video game inflicted disorders now becoming an epidemic? I don't think so but many different activist groups have taken this disorder and others as a serious problem and wish to impose health warnings similar to those you find on alcohol and tobacco products. This is opening a whole new can of worms for activists to use against the video game community. Coupled with the increase demand for video game violence laws, I'm starting to feel like a mutant trying to fight the "Mutant Registration Act". Where is Jean Grey when you need her?

Luckily for me, California (that's where I live), had its video game law struck down by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If passed, it would ban the sale and rental of "M" rated video games to minors and also implement a strict warning/rating system. It even went as far as to try and make "M" rated games equivalent to adult entertainment. That means, I would have to go to an "XXX" store to buy games like Oblivion, Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid 4, and so many others (Just as a note, I don't even know where a shop like that is let alone been in one before). Though I agree that kids shouldn't be allowed to buy "M" rated games, I believe that it is really up to the parents to decide what is best for their children. Just like anyone can go in an buy "R" rated movies, explicit music, and even horribly graphic books - why should video games be any different. Again, this is government coming and deeming what is good for a person, something I take great offence to since those are my rights and mine alone.

So, is PPH and other video game related disorders a serious threat? I think most of us know when gaming too much becomes a hazard to our health. I am worried about the implications that this could have on the war to censor and control video games as a whole. I will definitely be keeping my eye on this and other topics and wait to see what the next video game law will look like.

As for PlayStation Palmar Hidradenitis, I see my dermatologist next week. So, I'm going to try and throw her a curve ball by mentioning that I think I have PPH and see what she has to say, lol. And if you have PPH and don't think you can handle taking a ten day break from your controller, here is something that might comfort your hands without irritating them even more.

Why not try some soap in the form of a PlayStation controller. That's all from me today, みな (mina - everyone), I'll catch you all on the flip side. またね (matane - later)!

Sony Reader Digital Book PRS-700BC

My mother has always been hard to shop for. Usually, when she wants something, she just goes out and buys it. So, when it came time for her birthday to roll around, my father and I were at a bit of a loss for ideas. Then my father and I saw a demo for Sony's newly designed Reader Digital Book at our local Borders. My mother has always been an avid reader, so we thought that we would have a look and see if it would be worth getting it for her. I've seen different eReaders out there before, especially Amazon's Kindle, but I was always a bit skeptical about them. We weren't sure that my mother would actually like it since it is an electronic device and she's not too big on tech stuff. But it was so easy to use, that we decided to give it to her for her birthday. She loves it . . . and so do I.

Okay, I know, it's her birthday gift, but I couldn't help but give it a test run after she had a chance to look at it. It's very easy to use, you charge it through the USB cable provided (though you can buy an AC Adaptor for it), download the Sony eBook Library software, and then go to store via the eBook Library. Since we bought it during a promotion, we ended up getting 100 classic books free, about a $199.00 value. Unfortunately, unlike the Kindle, it cannot connect to the internet without a computer. But one thing that made me lean towards the Sony Reader (other than it's a Sony product) was the fact that you can share the books you buy. Up to 5 other Readers and/or computers can be added onto your account, allowing multiple devices to read the books you have already purchased. So, I can read all of her books on both my desktop and laptop, which is a great feature. And, since I'm thinking of picking up one myself, I won't have to re-buy any of the books she already has.

As for more on the specs. It has a great battery life! We've been using it pretty consistently since my mother's birthday (February 6) and we've only had to charge it once so far. It has 20MB of internal memory but it also supports both Duo and SD Memory Cards. It's pretty light and is decently sized. Has a built in light that sort of works, lol. The screen is really nice and doesn't give off that monitor glow like a lot of screens do. My only complaint about the screen is that it has the tendency to cause a bit of glare. It hosts a wide range of supported formats including Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word (through a conversion tool), MP3, and JPEG to name a few. It also supports most other common eBook, music, and photo formats. Overall, I'm very pleased by the Sony Reader and find it a great portable reading device.

Another thing I find great about the Sony Reader is that it has reignited my interest in reading. I have never been much of a reader since I usually get bored or decide to go and write my own stuff. So, most of the time, books don't ever hold my interest long enough for me to finish them. But with the "100 free classic books" deal that came with the Reader, I was able to pick up a lot of the works from some of my favorite authors. Including Edgar Allan Poe and George MacDonald. If you have ever read anything from these two authors, then you know that they are almost perfect inverses of each other. Poe of course having a very Macabre style and MacDonald writing many fantasy and children's books (Just a note, but MacDonald is credited to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis). If you haven't read much by either of these authors, let me recommend two of my favorites - The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Poe and At Back of the North Wind by MacDonald. They are both really great reads and not horribly long either, which is nice since I have been pressed for time as of late.

I'm really glad my father and I decided to pick up the Sony Reader for my mother because it has turned out to be such a great device that everyone in the family can enjoy.

So for now, I'm going to go back and read another book. Until next time! またね (matane - later)!

Time To Start

こんにちは (konnichiha - hello)! I always find it hard to start a new blog. Sometimes I blog about myself and other times I just jump right in. I think I'm going to do a mixture of both this time. I have a vast and varying array of interests and hobbies which are usually the subject of most of my posts. I also love to be organized and I usually write with a theme in mind. So, going off of all of this, I decided to set up this blog a little differently than from some of the others in my past. I have some different themes to hopefully write and expand on. And through them be able to share my thoughts, ideas, and most of all - my opinions, lol. As for the themes themselves, I have narrowed it down to ten specific topics. Ten you say? Yes, I know, I wasn't expecting to have so many but I just couldn't let go of a few of them. So here are the main seven themes that I will be writing on most of the time -

• FlOw Freely: Because Life Could Be Simple, But It's Not.
• Gamer Gab: You Can't Always Be Playing.
• Gizmodo Goodness: Rejoice, Tech Lovers, Rejoice!
• Media Mainstay: Music, Movies, And So Much More!
• Nippon Nation: From The Country That Brought Me To You.
• Tracking Totsuko: Stalking Is Not A Crime, It's A Passion.
• Winning Words: The Best Sports Have Goalies, Period.

As well as an additional three special edition themes that I will break out for special occasions -

• ~Qwarktastic Qwests~ Games That Are Better Than Awesome!
• ~Subderisoriously Schooled~ Didn't Know That, Did You?
• ~Three Things~ Randomness Always Comes In Threes.

So there you have it! I'm sure you can figure out by some of the topics, what my hobbies and interests are. If not, I am sure you will find out in the near future. I also like to include links to expand on some of the things I've mentioned, including my post header picture.

Until Then! またね (matane - later)!