Video games help students in 'fire drills'

At a university in durham, they have turned a game into an educational fire drill simulator, ithe team used The Source Engine, the 3D game engine used to drive Half-Life 2, and created a virtual model of one of the university's departments.
They have planned the game so they can examine peoples behaviour towards a fire and to train people in good fire practice.
The interior of most buildings can be mimiced although modification will be needed.
Durham University's Dr Shamus Smith, who helped spearhead the project, told BBC News that that while bespoke 3D modelling software was available, modifying a video game was faster, more cost effective, and had better special effects

Facebook faces its fifth birthday

Facebook is giving its 150 million users a mystery virtual gift to celebrate its fifth birthday, The gift shop's presents usually range from cuddly bears to a pint of beer and from champagne to a four-leaf clover.

In the battle for online friends, Facebook is now the world leader, In the blog he has also taken a trip down memory lane and shared old images of how the site has changed since it was launched in 2004.
For a company that started in a dorm room, Facebook's rise has been regarded as impressive with its 150 million active users beating rival MySpace's 130 million users

Founder Mark Zuckerberg said, "In the spirit of celebrating connections between people, we encourage you to use this gift to give thanks to [those] you are connected with on Facebook."