This weekend the fine folks at Microsoft created what they claim to be the "biggest HTML5 game made.” HTML5 is the next evolution of the HTML standard and one of it’s many features is video support and the ability to create fully featured games. It basically replaces Adobe Flash, which has been the dominate player in video and gaming content online.

The game is called "The Battle for Beauty" and although I like the concept, the implementation left lots to be desired.

The basic idea was to set up some giant screens in the Entertainment District in Toronto and have people throw softballs at the screens to destroy clutter, worms, spyware, etc. At the same time, people across Canada would also be playing at home on their computers.

There’s a new currency on the Internet and it’s making quite a splash. The currency is called ‘bitcoins’ and it is currently the money of choice for pirates and other scoundrels. This is because bitcoins are secure, impossible to track, impossible to tax and extremely simple to use.

In a nutshell a bitcoin is a file on your computer that has a value. This value changes all the time but at the moment bitcoins are trading at about $7 per coin. Each coin is unique and created by a complex piece of software. If you were to try and create a bitcoin yourself it could take upwards of 5 years to make. Since they are trading at such a low rate it makes sense just to buy or earn them instead of make them.

A lot of people are opting to flat out buy bitcoins but you don’t have to. Instead you can offer a service or product in exchange for them. Many programmers will do small projects for them instead of money.

Why would you want them?

Why exactly would anyone want these coins? Can’t you just use regular money?

Sure, you could pay someone using PayPal or your credit card. The issue is that any kind of online transaction is easily traceable and taxable. Bitcoins are basically paper money that you can spend online.

This has caused them to get a bit of a bad name since people are using them to pay hackers, buy drugs and for other nefarious means. For us regular folks they are simply a great way to keep our privacy while still buying products and services online.

Are they secure?

 It depends. As mentioned above they are a file stored on your computer. Meaning if you don’t encrypt them someone could easily steal your laptop and get all your coins. Also, if your computer needs to be formatted and you didn’t back them up you could lose them all.

You can store them online but again, this means you are trusting the owner of the server you store them on.

Each coin is unique to the computer who made it. Not only that, each transaction involving the coin requires that it be modified with a special code that basically transfers ownership. A great way to think of it is like a house. You transfer ownership of your house to someone else, but with bitcoins it can be done anonymously. So there is a record that a certain coin has been traded 5 times, but it is impossible to know who those 5 people are.

There are already predictions that people will start using these at real world locations like casinos but it will probably be a while before you can spend them at your local grocery store.

You can learn more here or just watch this video.

There are two things that happen after every major natural disaster. They happened with New Orleans, they happened with Haiti and will most certainly happen with Japan.

The first is that there will be an outpouring of love. People will band together to help those in need through volunteering, money and in a million other ways. This part always makes me feel good to be human. The next part, not so much.

The second is that scammers will use the disaster to suck as much money out of innocent people as they can.

The instant a natural disaster strikes millions of e-mails are sent around the world asking for donations. Many of these are legitimate but most are from scammers trying to make a quick buck. They do this in many ways but I’m going to detail the most common methods.

Fake Charity:

This is probably the easiest for a scammer to pull off. They will create a website for a charity that doesn’t exist (think: The Human Fund from Seinfeld.) After that all they have to do is collect donations and use them to buy a new car.

How to avoid: Stick with the most well known charities. If you haven’t heard of it and no news organization has ever mentioned it, chances are it’s a scam. The BBB is another great resource.

A massive earthquake hit Japan early Friday afternoon. This and the resulting tsunami has so far caused the deaths of over 2000 people. Not only that, entire towns have been washed away by the 100 mile long wall of water and millions of people are currently without water or electricity.

It will take years of work to clean up the mess left by this disaster but you can help make it at least a little bit easier for those most affected by the natural disaster.

Below you’ll find a list of charities that are already helping the Japanese cope. Please use the links provided to donate to the cause.