A man was driving when a traffic camera flashed. He thought his picture was taken for exceeding the speed limit, even though he knew he was not speeding. Just to be sure, he went around the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly, but again the camera flashed. He thought this was quite funny, so he slowed down even further as he drove past the area, but the traffic camera flashed yet again. He tried a fourth time with the same result. The fifth time he was laughing when the camera flashed as he rolled past at a snail's pace. Two weeks later, he got five traffic fine letters in the mail for driving without a seat belt.

The Americans are No. 1 for next year's World Cup—when it comes to ticket sales. U.S. purchasers already have bought 93,300 tickets for next year's tournament in South Africa, the head of the local organizing committee said Friday. Danny Jordaan gave a presentation on preparations Friday at the South African Consulate General in New York, and said the 32-nation tournament already is proving doubters wrong. This will be the first time the World Cup or the Olympics will be held in Africa. "The argument has essentially been twofold," Jordaan said at the start of his 40-minute presentation. "One, that from a commercial point of view, the African continent will not realize a profitable World Cup or a profitable Olympics, and secondly that from an infrastructure point of view, that no African country will have the infrastructure or the resources and the capacity, the human capacity, to deliver these events."

It's true that few bloggers make enough to earn a living—most make nothing at all. But if you can write well about a topic you're passionate about, you may develop a following, and with enough page views you can start bringing in revenue from ads. Pick a narrow topic that you're intimately familiar with and that has a well-defined audience. For example, a site that covers the world of digital SLR cameras in minute detail has a more natural audience than a broad technology blog; likewise, a general restaurant review site may elicit yawns, while a blog chronicling the seafood shacks of New England could attract a cultish following. First steps: Begin writing and start participating in online communities where people interested in your topic hang out. Start for free on a platform like Blogger or WordPress. Time needed: Prepare to spend at least a few hours each day writing. Keep a regular schedule to make sure your blog doesn't get stale. Average sales: $24,335, based on Economic Census data.

On s'en doutait mais laisser la télévision allumée en permanence en fond sonore n'est pas ce qu'il y a de mieux pour les enfants. Une étude récente publiée dans l'édition de juin de la revue Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine démontre que les enfants exposés à la télévision auraient des retards de langage. L'étude s'est portée sur 329 enfants âgés entre 3 mois et 4 ans. On y apprend qu'un adulte prononce en moyenne 941 mots par heure et que lorsque la télévision est allumée, non seulement la fluence verbale des adultes baisse, mais également l'attention des enfants à écouter ce que disent leurs parents. Conclusion : pendant que la télévision est allumée, les enfants zappent entre 500 et 1000 mots provenant des adultes. Alors, éteignez votre télé et parlez plus à vos enfants ! C'est bon pour leur cerveau et leur développement du langage !

Sony ha sido el último en sumarse al baile, pero no se ha resistido a mover las caderas. Si Microsoft y Nintendo habían apostado en sus conferencias por la captura de movimiento, la compañía que preside Kaz Hirai no ha sido menos. Sony ha presentado hoy en sociedad un prototipo de periférico que mezcla lo mejor de su exitoso Eye Toy y una tecnología similar a la de Wii Motion Plus, con una estética similar a la de un sable láser de la Guerra de las Galaxias. A pesar de que tiene potencial, sus posibilidades y aplicaciones futuras son todo una incógnita. Lo cierto es que, a pesar de que hemos visto como la PlayStation 3 se ha apuntado a la moda del tiro con arco y el control intuitivo, el prototipo ha dejado bastante frío a los asistentes a la conferencia del gigante japonés, quizá por que le acompañaba un cierto aire de improvisación.