Though reminiscent of Larry Niven’s “wireheads,” there is evidence that electrical current applied directly to the brain may help patients with depression. [mefi]

In a twist of trading virtual gold or Linden Dollars for virtual cybersex, in Korea some underage girls are trading real-world sexual services in exchange for virtual items for use in a MMORPG.

The internet has enabled new methods of distribution, as well as means for users to connect with content they might never have known existed; who knows where things may go in the coming years? Pandora is a fantastic method of finding new music that you might like, based on pattern and content analysis of music you already like. It’s fantastic. But in America a recently passed, dramatic increase in licensing fees for internet radio stations will kill it, along with most other stations. Pandora’s founder has set up a means for lobbying the politicians to get their eyes open to what this means to their constituents.

Futurismic at least in appearance, an attempt at reinventing the wheel by making it hubless is truly eye-catching. [meine kleine fabrik]

Visual, audio, and olfactory cues are all part of the way “Virtual Iraq” is employed to help soldiers recover from PTSD, but I can help thinking that it sounds like a videogame with all the action removed.