Boston - A multi-city advertising blitz for the Cartoon Network TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" that employed electronic displays placed in conspicuous public spots led to the shutting down of a highway and the deployment of bomb squads throughout Boston on Wednesday evening. [more..]

Charleston, W. Va. - Children who consistently play Konami's "Dance Dance Revolution" (DDR) dance-based video game have shown improvements in health, attitude and behavior, according to a study conducted by West Virginia Games for Health, a research project of West Virginia University and the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency. [more..]

New York - With the Super Bowl set for Sunday, advertisers can expect huge bumps in their online traffic, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings. [more..]

Mountain View, Calif. - Hoping to capitalize on the fervor surrounding Super Bowl XLI but unwilling and unable to shell out millions of dollars for network TV commercials, several Bay Area tech companies have decided to shoot their own low-budget ads and post them on YouTube, the video sharing site owned by Google. [more..]

New York - Technology bloggers Michael Arrington (TechCrunch) and Jason Calcanis (Weblogs, Inc.) have announced plans to launch a new DEMO-style conference where companies will pitch new products and services -- without paying to participate. [more..]

San Francisco - Wired News reported on Thursday that a stealth-mode company called Broadband Instruments, founded by former executives at Musicmatch, iRiver and Rio, is developing unspecified digital music technology that may include a consumer device and wireless functionality. [more..]

San Francisco - Flixster, an online social network for movie fans, has raised around $2 million in a new round of venture capital financing from LightSpeed Ventures, TechCrunch reported. [more..]

New York - Serious, a developer of interactive CD and DVD-based gift, loyalty and trading cards, announced on Thursday that it has raised $14 million in a new round of venture capital financing, led by Greenhill SAVP and North Hill Ventures. [more..]

San Francisco - Vizu, a developer of online polling technology for publishers, announced that it has raised $2.9 million in a new round of financing, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson. [more..]

San Francisco - Desi Hits, a multimedia entertainment portal focused on South Asian pop culture, announced that it has raised $1 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Trident Capital. [more..]

Washington - The U.S. Copyright Office announced that it has posted records for "preregistered" copyright claims on its website, which include certain types of unpublished works (like movies and albums) that have had a history of prerelease infringement. The site also includes a tutorial providing basic information on preregistration and search methods. [more..]

Chicago - Ocean Tomo Auctions announced on Thursday that it has added a catalog of over 30,000 master recordings, including 500 Top 40 Billboard charters, from Creative Sounds, Inc. to its Spring 2007 Live Intellectual Property Auction in April. In addition to the masters, the CSI catalog includes rare live recordings from artists including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and The Grateful Dead, and master recordings of vintage radio show appearances by Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson and others. "Catalogs of this quality are generally only offered to and purchased by the major labels," said CSI curator John McIndoe. "However, digital distribution has changed the ways in which the music industry can be profitable." [more..]

Washington - The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced on Thursday plans to add a new conference series and exhibition for telecom professionals and network operators as part of its annual NAB trade show. Co-produced by NAB and Lightbulb Communications, Telecom@NAB2007 will focus on video deployments by telecom operators, including IPTV and other broadband video. The event is scheduled for April 16-18, in conjunction with NAB2007 in Las Vegas. [more..]

Dearborn, Mich. - Automaker Ford on Thursday announced the launch of a free, monthly music video podcast series to promote its Ford Edge SUV. The series will feature full-length music videos from artists including Cat Power, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolfmother and Gomez. [more..]

Sacramento, Calif. - Digital Music Group (DMGI), a distributor of independent music, TV, film and video, announced on Thursday that it has signed agreements with new video channel partners In2TV, BitTorrent and Movielink. DMGI titles that will be distributed on the services include "Gumby," "I Spy," "The Invisible Man," "Peter Gunn" and "The Mr. Bill Show." [more..]

Owings Mills, Md. - Maryland Public Television (MPT) said on Thursday that it has hired Boston-based educational media producer FableVision to develop an online math and literacy game aimed at students in upper elementary and middle school grades. FableVision is collaborating with MPT and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to produce the software game, which is part of MPT's Learning Games To Go initiative -- the centerpiece of a $15 million grant awarded from the U.S. Department of Education Star Schools program. [more..]

San Francisco - Sega of America announced that it has shipped its "Sonic the Hedgehog" title for PlayStation 3 to North American retailers. Developed by Sega's Sonic Team, the next-generation installment of the company's flagship franchise will offer downloadable content like new missions via the online capabilities of the PlayStation 3. [more..]

London - An inventor in Salt Lake City, Utah has submitted a patent application for a personal TV censor that works with computers connected to personal video recorders, NewScientist.com reported. The system described in the patent monitors the electronic program guide on a digital video recorder and closed-captioning text that accompanies programs. Users can then input specific terms, like "damn" or "bitch" or "Pamela Anderson," and the system would either block the entire program, or briefly mute the sound in the program. [more..]