Hijinks Inc.

Category: News

  • Nothing like a good… coffee nap?

    I can’t believe I beat Aaron to a post that is even remotely related to coffee, but I found this to be somewhat interesting. Check out this article on how to Cheat on the Need to Sleep

    Scientists say that a successful midday nap depends on two things: timing and (no kidding) caffeine consumption. Experiments performed at Loughborough University in the UK showed that the sleep-deprived need only a cup of coffee and 15 minutes of shut-eye to feel amazingly refreshed.

    1. Right before you crash, down a cup of java. The caffeine has to travel through your gastro-intestinal tract, giving you time to nap before it kicks in.

    2. Close your eyes and relax. Even if you only doze, you’ll get what’s known as effective microsleep, or momentary lapses of wakefulness.

    3. Limit your nap to 15 minutes. A half hour can lead to sleep inertia, or the spinning down of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which handles functions like judgment. This gray matter can take 30 minutes to reboot.

    And that’s not all, there’s some stuff in the article that I never had really thought about before. Not saying it’s guaranteed to work, but it’s worth a shot, right?

    Read the Article

  • The Market is Up

    The Dow closed at 14,087.55 today, which is a smashing start to the month of October. But will it stay above 14,000 for long? I highly doubt it. Even if you don’t follow the market you’ll probably remember the buzz the Dow generated when it touched on 14,000 briefly in July, only to drop below 13,000 during August. And now the housing market is in shambles, banks are facing huge declines in earnings, and we’re quickly approaching the 20th anniversary of the market crash of 1987.

    Interestingly, on the day that investors are celebrating the surging Dow, people are remembering the 20th anniversary of the 1987 stock market crash. People, though, shouldn’t avoid the markets just because times are uncertain. MarketWatch points out that “$10,000 invested in the Dow on Friday, Oct. 16, the last trading day before the crash, and held until the present would still have more than quintupled.”

    Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in an interview that there was less than a 50-50 chance that the US economy would slip into a recession, he also believes that the current credit slump may be ending.

    Is the worst behind us, or is it yet to come? Thoughts, anyone?

  • Therepists agree, “Play with your Wii!”

    While I’m sure that headline might get changed if either of my co-editors have anything to say about it, it’s still true. There’s a new report that some physical therapists in Minnesota have started using the Nintendo Wii to help stroke patients recover. I guess this makes sense since the Wii does a good job of making you use all your extremities. I’ve watched people boxing each other in Wii Sports (and if you haven’t watched a match yet, you really have to see it, it’s hilarious) before, and it ends up being a pretty good workout… in addition to making them look like a fool.

    So now my question is this. Since I’ve reviewed some games here, I have been able to use the excuse that I’m “researching” games when I play them. If I buy a Wii, can I use the excuse that I’m exercising as well? Hmm… let me look into this further.

    Read the story

  • Next up…

    Now that the much anticipated release of Halo 3 is over, and Grand Theft Auto 4 has been pushed back till next year, I think it’s safe to say that Rock Band is now the highest ranked game on just about everybody’s wish list for this holiday season. And today it was announced (and relayed to me by Fred, thanks for the tip, and sorry for stealing a post from ya!) that the release date will be November 23, and it will only cost $170.

    Estimates for the cost of this game put it upwards of $200, so the fact that it can be bought for $170 isn’t too bad, considering you’ll get the game, one microphone, one guitar and drum kit. Considering Guitar Hero 2 is still selling for $80 and all you get is the game and one guitar, that’s not too bad of a deal. I know I’ll be willing to cough up the dough, and better yet, I think I’ll be able to get my wife to help me! She had alot of fun with GH2, I’m sure she’ll be excited about Rock Band as well since she loves to sing. It’s starting to sound like the only bad part of this story is that the Xbox 360 version won’t sell with wireless peripherals, what’s that all about?

    If you are one of the few unfortunate people who are still asking “wait, what’s Rock Band?” then check out this Q&A with one of it’s producers. Oh, and I gotta add, “for those about to rock, we salute you.”

  • Biggest Launch… Ever

    I’m doing my best to throw out as much Microsoft news as I can to sorta offset all the Apple news you get on this site. It was only a matter of how much, rather than if Halo 3 would break the record for highest grossing sales in a 24 hour period. Well, they pretty much shattered the mark. I believe it was Spiderman 3 that held the old record of something like $150 million, Halo 3 just opened with $170 million in the first 24 hours. That’s freakin’ ridiculous. Follow the link for more details

    Biggest Launch… Ever