The White House is announcing today a program to improve science and math education with a variety of Entertainment Software Association-backed initiatives including a program to put LittleBigPlanet in libraries as well as a $300,000 game design challenge.

President Barack Obama announced the overarching directive that the gaming plans are part of at a White House press conference that furthers the Administration's commitment to its STEM program, an initiative for focusing on science, technology engineering and math education. The new push is dubbed "Educate to Innovate."

Among the participating private-backed initiatives that are part of the program, according to a run-down in the New York Times, is a two-year focus on science on Sesame Street, a commercial-free science programming commitment by the Discovery Channel, a new website backed by Time Warner Cable, as well as a variety of video game initiatives.

"Our industry's lifeblood is the energy and innovation of new, emerging developers," Michael Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association, the industry's lobbying group, said in a press release today. "To create the next generation's epic titles and incredibly immersive storylines, we need America's youth to have strategic and analytic thinking skills along with complex problem solving abilities. It is my hope that it will produce games that will have a lasting impact on the STEM skills our nation's students so desperately need."

The Sony LittleBigPlanet initiative, Game Changers, is part of a $2 million 2010 Digital Media and Learning Competition funded by the MacArthur foundation. It involves Sony donating 1000 PlayStation 3s and copies of LittleBigPlanet to libraries and community organizations. Participants will strive to create levels that involve science, technology, engineering and math.

A second program, called the Stem National Video Game Competition, was also announced. It is a three-pronged $300,000 contest encouraging entrants to create the best browser video games that teach the STEM disciplines for a trio of age ranges: 4-8, 8-12 and 12-16. This competition is intended to reach "historically underserved populations including girls and minority students," according to an ESA press release. Specifics for this contest will be announced in early 2010, with winners showcased at E3 in June.

The gaming initiatives announced today are backed by the Information Technology Industry Council, an advocacy group. Microsoft and the Games4Change group are also both involved in these plans, according to the ESA release.

I have heard of a musical tie before but this is just ridiculous

Called "Coral," this concept pot is coated in thermochromic spots, highlighting sectors in the pale blue design with fiery orange and red as the pot heats

Microsoft announced earlier today that the Xbox 360 has passed the 10 million-sold mark in the EMEA region, which includes Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In other words, it's the PAL market, sans Australasia (which would contribute another 700,000 or so).

To go with the statement, Microsoft provided some statistics, some old (20 million Xbox Live users), some boring (60% of Xbox 360s are used in the living room!) and some actually interesting (35% of Xbox 360 customers are apparently women).

Jobs could sell fried chicken to a vegan

Apple brought Steve Jobs back to the company in December 1996. Since then, he's been building a massive pile of cash, rolling out new product after new product.

On December 27th, 1996, Apple had $1.8 billion in cash and securities. Today it has $34 billion.

So Wait, What Is Android, Exactly?

In Google's words, it's "the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices." That doesn't mean much, so here's a breakdown: It's a Linux-based, open-source mobile OS, complete with a custom window manager, modified Linux 2.6 kernel, WebKit-based browser and built-in camera, calendar, messaging, dialer, calculator, media player and album apps. If that sounds a little sparse, that's because it is: Android on its own doesn't amount to a whole lot; in fact, a phone with plain vanilla Android wouldn't feel like a smartphone at all. Thankfully, these phones don't exist.

Im staring to lose faith in xbox

The crux of the matter is that the warranty on an Xbox 360 "is not transferable," so if you buy a used console "that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox LIVE." So if you buy a used Xbox 360, make sure it's from a less-than-shady party—and if you buy from a used games shop, make 'em connect it to Xbox Live so you know you're getting something that works.

The Roca Active & Relax has floor-to-ceiling "mirror-screen LCD plates" that act as either windows, monitors, or mirrors, a floor that moves at the command of your voice to convert the bath into a fitness facility, and hidden features galore.