Computer game to help kick smoking addiction

WASHINGTON -- Smokers are about to get help kicking the tobacco habit: an interactive computer game that aims to "coach" cigarette users away from their addiction.

Based on the successful "Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking" method which reportedly has helped more than 10 million smokers to stub out their cigarettes once and for all, the game, designed for Nintendo DS, will be developed by the Quebec bureau of California-headquartered Ubisoft.

It is expected to go on sale in November.

Ubisoft is the company that has brought the world games that pit players against an invasion of demonic rabbits or allow them to learn a foreign language using the Nintendo DS, with its interactive touch screen.

In the smoking cessation game, players enter a brief personal smoking history and their tobacco habits and choose a personal coach to guide them through the process of quitting, according to a press release issued by Ubisoft.

Fifteen mini-games help to "dispel the illusions about nicotine addiction" and players can track their progress in kicking the habit using the "Path to Freedom" meter.

And even after that last cigarette butt has sullied the ashtray, "you can still play the game and measure the daily benefits you get from your new life without cigarettes," Ubisoft promises.

"The player experiences a truly interactive engagement with the game, through which he or she learns that it can actually be enjoyable to quit smoking," said Christian Salomon, vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft.

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It's a news of cigarette quitting. How amazing that playing game can help you kick smoking addiction.

tobacco
bureau
pit
invasion
demonic
cessation
dispel
illusion
butt
sully
ashtray
engagement

I love playing games and I also have a Nintendo DS. So this news is really catching my attention.
Let me very concern about it.

Iron Man

He speeds into battle in a fiery flash, laying waste to all challengers. That's not just "Iron Man" but the film's likely box-office outcome too.

From a surprise sneak peek at July's Comic-Con convention through its teaser trailer launch in October and TV spots during February's Super Bowl and "Lost" premiere, "Iron Man" has been assembling a towering wave of momentum. But is it a tsunami? When the first meaningful audience tracking surveys rolled in early last week, Paramount and Marvel Studios had to say "Iron Man" sure was looking like one.

Movie studios and exhibitors are desperate for a hit, with 2008 attendance down more than 6% compared with a year ago and last weekend's total grosses down almost 20% versus the same weekend in 2007, according to the research firm Media by Numbers. Several of the year's higher-profile releases, including films from George Clooney ("Leatherheads"), Will Ferrell ("Semi-Pro") and Jodie Foster ("Nim's Island"), all faltered. Relief from some of the summer's biggest guns -- "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" and " Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" -- won't come until mid- and late May.

But when "Iron Man" hits theaters on May 2, it may single-handedly launch what is Hollywood's most important (and profitable) season and help lift the business out of its doldrums.

As is the industry habit, both Paramount and Marvel are trying to manage expectations downward. They note (accurately, as it turns out) that Iron Man is hardly as popular a comic book character as Spider-Man or Hulk, that almost all school-age kids will still be in classes when the film opens and that this weekend's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and May 2's "Made of Honor" will grab some of "Iron Man's" harder-to-get female patrons.

That said, some rival studio executives and producers -- having looked at "Iron Man's" strong tracking numbers ¡X are now saying the film could be one of the summer's top hits, especially since Paramount and Marvel have spent only 30% of their advertising dollars so far.

Directed by "Elf's" Jon Favreau, "Iron Man" stars Robert Downey Jr. as arms manufacturer Tony Stark. Captured by Middle Eastern guerrillas who force him to build a missile, a wounded Stark instead constructs a protective iron suit that allows him to escape. Once free and back in Malibu, Stark secretly refines his design, turning himself into a more peace-minded crusader. His about-face might worry longtime assistant Pepper Potts ( Gwyneth Paltrow), but it really ticks off business partner Obadiah Stane ( Jeff Bridges). Before long, Stark's Iron Man faces a very bad boardroom revolt.

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It is a movie preview about "Iron Man" the movie what I've seen recently.

fiery
convention
teaser
assemble
momentum
exhibitor
crystal
doldrum
guerrillas
refine
crusader

"Iron Man" is the best movie I had ever seen before. It is also the kind of heroic movie I like very much. The story is so funny and exciting to tempt me seeing once again.

Exploring a waterfall in southernmost Taiwan

To many locals and foreign visitors alike, Taiwan's southernmost county of Pingtung, which covers nearly 2,800 square kilometers of the island's southern extremity, is best known for the beautiful beaches of Kending; there's plenty to discover in this voluminous area of high mountains, extremely long coastline and flat coastal plains.

For hikers, a major attraction is the magnificent peak of Mount Beidawu (北大武山, 3,092 meters), where the Central Mountain Range enjoys its last moments of glory before sinking into the Pacific, while there is no shortage of beautiful waterfalls to explore, such as the remote but spectacular Yuanyang Waterfall (鴛鴦瀑布), a tall and dramatic twin fall thundering into a deep, very narrow canyon on Beidawu's western flank.

Several of Pingtung's best and tallest falls -- like Yuanyang Waterfall -- do, unfortunately, take a fair bit of determination and a fit pair of legs to reach, but lovely Dajin Waterfall (大津瀑布), which falls into a ravine in the mountain foothills in the extreme north of the county, is a family-friendly outing. The waterfall is a great short trip for its own sake, or a brief detour while heading to a more prominent destination such as the popular Rukai indigenous village of Santimen, not far to the south.

Dajin itself is a nondescript township on provincial route 27 -- which leads north from Pingtung City to Liuguei, across the border in Kaohsiung County -- so waste no time there and turn right off the main road there onto local route 185. Cruising along this pleasant wooded stretch of byway, it's impossible to miss several recently built temples, each one large and ostentatious. These recent contributions to the landscape have become as popular for the weekend crowd as the beautiful Dajin Waterfall, which lies hidden in a fold of the mountains above.

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This is a travel article introducing the beauty of southern in Taiwan.

voluminous
magnificent
spectacular
flank
ravine
foothill
detour
prominent
destination
indigenous
nondescript
byway
ostentatious

Southern part of Taiwan has beautiful mountains and beach attracting many people to visit it. I plan to go there taking a vacation for several days in summer.

Death Toll at Least 10,000 From China Quake

Collapsed building from earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province 12 Apr 2008

Thousands of Chinese troops and medical teams have been dispatched to areas of Sichuan province, where the country's worst earthquake in decades struck Monday.

Authorities say the quake killed at least 10,000 people in western China and that thousands are still buried under collapsed buildings.

The state-run Xinhua news agency says an official near the quake's epicenter in Wenchuan county managed to appeal for help using a satellite telephone, nearly 11 hours after the quake cut communications.

Xinhua reports that the official sobbed as he described the devastation and requested that relief supplies be airlifted to the area as soon as possible.

Xinhua also reports that relief teams are headed to the area on foot, but are still nearly 70 kilometers from their destination as of early Tuesday. There is still little information on the scale of the destruction in Wenchuan county, home to more than 100-thousand people. Xinhua says storms have prevented military rescue helicopters from reaching the site.

Nearly 100 kilometers away in the city of Dujiangyan, Xinhua says rescue workers pulled 60 bodies from a collapsed school where 900 students are believed to have been trapped.

Speaking from a disaster headquarters in Dujiangyan, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told state media it is essential that the road to Wenchuan be cleared because delays will cause more lives to be lost.

Xinhua says nearly 10,000 people are feared dead in Sichuan province alone, and more than 200 in three other provinces and the city of Chongqing.

Authorities estimate that at least five thousand people died in Sichuan's Beichuan county. Local officials say at least 80 percent of the buildings there have collapsed, and 10-thousand more people are feared injured. Beichuan is about 160 kilometers north of Sichuan's capital, Chengdu.

Thousands of people in Chengdu slept outside overnight in fear of aftershocks and collapsing buildings.

Two chemical plants in Sichuan also have been damaged, burying hundreds of people and forcing the evacuation of several thousand others.

The United States and the United Nations have offered condolences to victims of the tragedy, and both say they are willing to help in any way possible.

The 7.8 magnitude quake hit in the afternoon local time or 0628 UTC Monday and was felt as far away as Taiwan and Bangkok.

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1.This is a damageable disaster in Asia recently.

dispatch
authority
epicenter
sob
devastation
helicopter
evacuation
condolence
magnitude

The disaster is the national issue that everyone should concerning. And we have to pay our compassion considering if one of us under that situation.

Australia, New Zealand Lead Earth Hour Environment Campaign

Australians switched off their lights for 60 minutes Saturday to mark "Earth Hour," a campaign by environmentalists to raise awareness about global warming. The event was started a year ago in Sydney by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The campaign has spread to major cities worldwide - from Dublin to Chicago and Bangkok to Manila - making Earth Hour 2008 a global movement. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Fireworks explode near the Sydney Opera House at the conclusion of Earth Hour in Sydney

Sydney's symbolic act of switching off some of its lights has caught on.

Tens of thousands of people have taken part in the event in Australia and across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand.

Environmentalists say more than 370 towns and cities across Asia, Europe and North America will also take part in Earth Hour this year.

Organizers say the purpose of Earth Hour is to show that communities care passionately about climate change and want to keep pressure on governments to act decisively.

Critics though have dismissed the event as simply a gimmick that will not make any difference.

That is a charge rejected by Andy Ridley from the World Wildlife Fund, who says interest has been immense.

"We're aware of villages in Norfolk in England that are doing Earth Hour and we're aware of the big cities like Chicago and Sydney that are doing it," he noted. "But I think another amazing thing about Earth Hour that surprised us is that it seems to have transcended across borders. It seems to be really popular in South America. You know, places like Vietnam, we've got Seoul on board as a supporting city. You know, that's an amazing side of it, I think, that it does seem to transcend politics and cultures."

There have been a host of celebrations across Australia to mark Earth Hour, including traditional Aboriginal torchlight performances, environmentally friendly dinner parties and special candlelit evenings for single people.

Some nightclubs have also operated without lights while many Australians have marked the occasion quietly in the darkness at home.

Lights on iconic landmarks like the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House have also been dimmed.

Global warming is a big issue here with good reason. Australia is one of the world's worst per capita emitters of greenhouse gases. Many believe that recent droughts and floods are the result of man's destabilizing influence on the climate.

Environmentalists say last year more than two million people and two thousand businesses turned off their lights for one hour in Sydney, cutting energy consumption by 10 percent.

Other cities officially involved in "Earth Hour" include Atlanta, Montreal, Odense and Tel Aviv along with communities in the South pacific island states of Tuvalu and Fiji.

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1. This is a news about reducing the energy consumption. The campaign was held by arousing awareness of global warming.

2.
decisively
dismiss
gimmick
transcend
iconic
dimmed
capita emitter
destabilize

3.
dismiss
gimmick
reject
immense
transcend
occasion
dimmed
consumption
involve in

4. Global warming is a worldwide issue that everyone should be concern. I think the " Earth Hour " is a good idea to cut energy consumption.

Zimbabwe Waits to Learn Outcome of Election

Zimbabweans are anxiously waiting for the results of four elections held Saturday. Election monitors in say tensions are rising as people wait for the release of official results. Peta Thornycroft reports from Harare that political parties have been announcing the outcome at many individual polling stations around the country. The chairman of Zimbabwe's election commission says results from Saturday general elections will be announced early Monday.

Zimbabweans look at election results taped onto the wall of a tent in the surburb of Mbare, in Harare

With the exception of the presidential election, the outcomes of the parliament, senate and local government polls have to be collected at the regional level and then transmitted to the Zimbabwe Election Commission in Harare.

Some rural telephone lines are not working and mobile networks are barely functioning. Some results in remote mountainous areas will have to be taken by foot or vehicle to the nearest urban center.

The results for the presidential vote go directly from the polling stations to Harare.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change claimed victory early in the day, based on what the party says was a clean sweep in the second city, Bulawayo, and in the urban areas of the three Mashonaland provinces in central Zimbabwe, traditional strongholds of the ruling ZANU-PF.

In elections in 2002 and 2005 the party also claimed victory early on, but lost in the final outcome. International observers ruled both of those elections flawed. It is still unclear how many people voted.

Many commentators believe that even though there were more polling stations than expected, voter turnout was low. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network says it believes there was a fair turnout, but is still busy compiling its statistics.

Founding MDC legal secretary, David Coltart, who was standing for the senate in Bulawayo, says he recorded 16,000 people turned up to vote in a constituency of more than 40,000 registered voters.

And Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the Morgan Tsvangirai faction of the M.D.C., says the voter rolls have been heavily padded, creating rich opportunities for rigging the poll. The Election Commission has denied such allegations.

On the eve of these crucial elections, with Zimbabwe's economy in collapse and inflation soaring beyond 100,000 percent, security services warned they were on high alert, and would crush any protests against results.

Most election observers from African countries have said that so far their impressions on election day were that the process had gone reasonably smoothly.

President Robert Mugabe who is now 84, is seeking a sixth term in office. He is challenged by the M.D.C.'s Tsvangirai, in his second attempt to win a majority of the presidential vote; and newcomer, Simba Makoni, formerly a ruling ZANU-PF party insider and finance minister.

Some observers say Makoni's entry to the presidential race demonstrated the ruling party is deeply divided; and some analysts say votes for him and candidates supporting him, will have robbed Mr Mugabe and his party of crucial support.

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1. This is a news about the democracy election in Zimbabwe.

2.

poll
commission
parliament
senate
regional
rural
urban
sweep
flaw
commentator
turnout
statistics
constituency
newcomer
3.

transmit
rural
remote
turnout
constituency
allegation
soar

4. I don't know why I choose this article. Maybe it's based on its vocabulary.

Protecting Nature in Guinea Collides with Human Needs

Where the West African nation of Guinea meets Liberia and Ivory Coast stands Mt. Nimba, the highest point in the region. The mountain range is home to rare plant and animal species. Because it is on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of areas in danger, it is illegal for the thousands of villagers who live in the area to farm the land. Kari Barber reports from the Guinea border village Serengbara about this clash between protecting the environment and the population's need to survive.

Environmentalists and local guides enter a protected area, home to a family of 13 chimpanzees. Deforestation has separated the chimps from a larger group. They are not reproducing. Environmentalists are trying to change that. Guides from the area say the chimpanzees are important to local villagers, too.

Camera Guide, Henri-Didier says they help to care for the chimpanzees, "Before we loved the chimpanzees. If you made manioc or corn, you would leave some by the road for chimpanzees to have their part."

But now relations have become strained.

Villagers try to gain illegal farm land by burning protected areas.

In the village of Serengbara, families once cultivated fields and raised livestock.

Now village leader Bakada Siomy says that is not allowed. And feeding his children is becoming difficult, "We have problems here because we are between the savanna and Mt. Nimba. It is illegal for us to go there to cultivate now."

To replace the farmland, environmentalists have built these fishing ponds for the village.

But many villagers say they are not used to fish, and do not like to eat them.

Environmental teams are now trying to plant trees and other plants specific to the diets of chimpanzees along a corridor. Local Guide, Pascal Gomi adds, "The tree's fruit, the chimpanzees can eat and the trees grow fast."

They hope this will lead the chimpanzee family to other nearby chimps so that they might reproduce. But there have been acts of vandalism against these efforts, too.

Villagers who have been living in the area for decades say environmentalists coming in from the outside do not always understand their way of life and their needs.

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1. It’s an environmental issue how African people can take a balance between the nature and the human culture.

2.
chimpanzee, chimp
deforestation
savanna
cultivate
corridor
vandalism
acts of vandalism

3.
separate
reproduce
villagers
strained
illegal
livestocks
farmland

4. I think no one can decide what the native villagers have to do. Cause outsider didn't know the traditional life that they already used to. And we have no privilege to bother or force them how do to.