In a word: Gaming

Still more from yesterday's Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday, the body of which concluded with a series of articles on video games from Michigan State University and Indiana University.

( Michigan State as a video game design center, Guitar Hero as a way to teach kids to create art, and another installment of 'While the World Burns, Farmville thrives' behind the cut. )

Speaking of the connection between video games and the world burning, the servers for Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV, and Metal Gear Online are shut down because of the earthquake and tsunami near Sendai.

As part of the efforts to conserve Japan's electricity usage in the wake of the Sendai earthquake and tsunami, Square Enix and Konami are temporarily shutting down servers for Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV, PlayOnline, and Metal Gear Online.

Final Fantasy XI and FFXIV's servers were shut down at 3 p.m. PST on March 13 and are scheduled to be down for a week. In addition, players won't be billed for the April billing cycle. The FFXIV Lodestone site, official game forums, and Square Enix support center will provide updates when available.

Metal Gear Online servers have been down since March 12. Kojima Productions is unsure about when they'll be brought back online.

Those games aren't thriving while the world burns!

SPLITTERS!

Five conference calls in one week all related to my activism totalling at least eight hours have left me in a goofy mood. To counteract all the SRS BZNS, here's a video of how activist groups should not act.

I plan on taking my own advice. I hope my fellow activists do, too.

Happy Pi Day!