Month: December 2010

I know I shouldn’t be surprised by this, but I am just the same. For those of you that think this is a prank or Photoshop, I assure you…it isn’t.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that strong demand over the Black Friday weekend has propelled retail sales of Kinect for Xbox 360 to more than 2.5 million units worldwide since it launched just 25 days ago.

“We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “With sales already exceeding two and a half million units in just 25 days, we are on pace to reach our forecast of 5 million units sold to consumers this holiday.”

After billions of years the Sun finally has an owner — a woman from Spain’s soggy region of Galicia said Friday she had registered the star at a local notary public as being her property.

Angeles Duran, 49, told the online edition of daily El Mundo she took the step in September after reading about an American man who had registered himself as the owner of the moon and most planets in our Solar System.

A retired electrician in southern France who once worked for painter Pablo Picasso says he has hundreds of previously unknown works by the artist — a treasure trove of 271 pieces said to be worth about $80 million.

Pierre Le Guennec and his wife for years squirreled away the staggering cache — which is believed to be authentic, but whose origin is unclear — in their garage on the French Riviera, said Picasso Administration lawyer Jean-Jacques Neuer.

The $96,824 price tag is a 10.8% jump from last year, according to PNC Wealth Management. One factor is the big rise in gold prices, which pushed the cost of five gold rings up 30% to $649.95.

The most expensive item: $6,294.03 for nine ladies dancing. But there was some good news: Four of the 12 gifts did not go up: The pear tree ($149, sans partridge), four calling birds ($599.96), six geese ($150) and the eight maids-a-milking ($58).