Ryuta Kawashima has �” he’s the "brains" behind the incredibly popular Brain Age games for the portable Nintendo DS system. If you’ve ever played these addictive puzzlers, you’ve seen a digital version of the bespectacled professor, who guides you through the various mental exercises designed to sharpen your brain. The terms of his agreement with his employer, Japan’s Tohoku University, state Kawashima could take half of the $22 million royalties, with the school receiving the other half. One of the most underrated video games over the past few years can now be played free at GameTap ( gametap. While these prepubescent paranormals are training to become "psychonauts" �” secret spies who rely on their extraordinary abilities �” a mysterious scientist is abducting students so he can steal their brains and use their collective psychic power to take over the world. Aside from seeing advertisements, the only other catch is you need to be online to play �” you can’t boot up Psychonauts on your laptop while flying at 30,000 feet. read more

Technorati Tags: kawashima, �, play, , abilities, brain, psychic news

In Stephen King’s new novel, “Duma Key,” we meet the hero, Edgar Freemantle, in his third life, living in relative tranquillity in Mexico where he is writing his harrowing tale of loss and regret. He paints gorgeous sunsets as background, overlaid with surreal, enigmatic images — roses, shells, ghostly ships and tennis balls — that recall the paintings of Salvador Dali, who once stayed a turn in Big Pink. Edgar responds to his new Florida landscape — the light and weather, the sounds of surf and the lush tangle of unfamiliar plants — with a fresh, perceptive eye. When he discovers that Elizabeth, who suffered a brain injury as a child, also used art to shape-shift her world, Edgar faces the possibility that rather than controlling his supernatural power, something from another world, quite likely evil in nature, is controlling him. read more

Technorati Tags: edgar, , world, key, duma, edgars, psychic news

Frank Hsieh, from the ruling pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, is running against Ma Ying-jeou, from Taiwan�s largest opposition party the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). After a bumpy start, Ma, charismatic but not as politically savvy as Hsieh, is now leading Hsieh by 20-30%  in popularity rating as many Taiwanese, disillusioned with Taiwan�s worsening economy and strained Taiwan-China ties, want to see KMT return to power. Li Jianjun, a Chinese fortune teller who is on good terms with Taiwan politicians, predicted that Ma has the upper hand but must watch out for his safety and health. Hsieh has a bigger �posture� problem than Ma, Li warned, because when Hsieh addressed public rallies, he sticks his heck out, like a duck waiting to have its head chopped off. After a bumpy start, Ma, charismatic but not as politically savvy as Hsieh, is now leading Hsieh by 20-30% in popularity rating as many Taiwanese, disillusioned with Taiwan�s worsening economy and strained Taiwan-China ties, want to see KMT return to power. read more

Technorati Tags: hsieh, ma, li, taiwan�s, taiwan, fortune, psychic news