Ten 
million dollars for a watch? Not bad. $13.3 million for a cooler? Impressive. Still, the crowdfunding records set by Pebble and the Coolest Cooler pale when compared to the amount video-game developer Chris Roberts has raised for his next title.
Since kicking off the campaign for “Star Citizen” nearly two years ago, Roberts, the designer of the classic “Wing Commander” series, has raised more than $52 million, and he’s not done yet.
The 
key to preventing climate change might just be found in those old cell phones in your junk drawer.
Rainforest Connection, a San Francisco startup, has developed a communications device to protect rainforests (and other areas) using old smartphones and the Internet of Everything. It’s a tool that definitively answers the old adage of “If a tree falls and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”
Activision-Blizzard 
has tapped America’s favorite mayor to help defend its “Call of Duty” franchise from former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.
Bracewell Giuliani will represent the company in its defense against claims by the former ruler that the videogame publisher unlawfully used his image for monetary gain. And leading the charge is former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who will serve as co-council on the defense team. His first step: Filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Monday morning in the Superior Court of the State of California.
It’s 
midnight — and exactly 60 days before I load our family into the car and drive to Walt Disney World. And I’m already worrying about wait times.
My seven-year old, you see, is not the most patient child on the planet, but her stubbornness (and love for all things Frozen) is hard to top. That could cause problems on the trip as the reported wait times to meet Anna and Elsa at the park hit four hours at peak times. Thankfully, the Internet of Everything is about to save me a lot of grief.
For 
the past two decades, if you’ve wanted to get a video game into Wal-Mart, Target or any other brick and mortar retailer, you’ve had to go through the Entertainment Software Ratings Board first.
The ESRB isn’t just the gatekeeper of what can and can’t appear in a video game. It’s also proven to be a helpful tool for parents, a shield against those who wish to demonize an industry, and a thorn in the side of game makers hoping to reach the biggest audience possible.
It turns 20 on Tuesday, and while vidoe game ratings are now ubiquitous, that wasn’t always the case.
As 
technology and entertainment become more closely aligned, more big names in the film and television industries are launching Silicon Valley-like accelerators—short-term programs that include mentorship and education for start-ups—to get early looks at up-and-coming businesses.
Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros., along with Disney, have launched accelerators in the past few years, and more are on the way, giving entrepreneurs who focus on the entertainment space a potential head start as their businesses begin to gain traction.
“Minecraft” 
is the videogame world’s equivalent of lightning in a bottle—an indie gaming sensation that grew organically, eventually becoming one of the industry’s biggest franchises. It was a game that opened the doors for several other independent developers, who, in turn, brought a new burst of creativity to the industry.
So Monday’s news that corporate behemoth Microsoft was buying Mojang, the developer of “Minecraft,” for $2.5 billion might seem an odd fit to some, but it could be a key strategic move for Microsoft.
As 
the health and memory of their aging parents decline, many adults today feel the need to place their loved ones in homes or hire live-in caretakers — both of which are expensive and can be a very tough sell for elders who cherish their independence.
But as Internet of Everything technologies morph into myriad new applications, a handful of IOE-related products are giving seniors some tools that restore a measure of their autonomy — and may force their caregiver children to reconsider (or at least delay) the retirement-home option.
It’s 
not exactly a revelation that Facebook can be a powerful marketing tool for business. Sixty-two percent of the 1,000 U.S. residents recently polled by G/O Digital say they visit Facebook to learn more about small businesses. Beyond that, 30 percent of those people claimed they visit a company’s Facebook page several times before physically venturing to the business.
Finding a way to best capitalize on Facebook isn’t always easy—or cheap: The average price per Facebook ad increased 123 percent in the second quarter.
Not 
every entrepreneur wants to build a multimillion-dollar company. Some just want to live the dream of transforming a hobby into a career.
It’s an idea that sounds great in theory: Take something you love to do in your spare time and make it your sole business focus. And for some it works out swimmingly—it may even finally convince a spouse that there was a method to the madness behind all those bills piling up over the years for what seemed like a frivolous basement activity. For others, making the move from hobby to Hobby Inc. can prove to be a hasty decision and major life regret.
Chris Morris: Journalist 