The AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! Website now offers downloads of a playable alpha demo of Dejobaan Games' upcoming base-jumping game. Word on the game is: "In AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!, you dive off of a building and rely on quick reflexes to negotiate the intricate tangle of girders that make up the City. You perform aerial stunts at terminal velocity before parachuting into the arms of your cheering fans. While other skydivers have it easy, you have to earn the adoration of the crowds by gliding within an eyelash of that glass super-skyscraper at 91 miles per hour." The alpha demo is mirrored on AaaaaAtomicGamer, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell.

Impulse is offering weekend sales on Making History Gold Edition and Age of Booty for half off, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Bundle Pack for $10.00 off, and the Hack and Slash Bundle for 75% off at $5.00. Meanwhile, Steam is offering Defense Grid: The Awakening for 75% off until May 13. Finally, Linux Game Publishing is holding a 24-hour sale on their penguin-friendly offerings (thanks Ant and LinuxGames).

The Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Website is serving up a new video showing off Skira, the 220 square kilometer island that will serve as a battlefield in the upcoming military shooter. The clip is mirrored on ActionTrip and Gamer's Hell. Also, though the bottom of the page with the video still says "coming in summer 2009 for major console platforms and PC," the clip reveals a delay, as it concludes saying "Autumn 2009."

ijji's Huxley Website is now accepting signups from those interested in beta testing this upcoming Unreal 3-engine MMO-FPS. Registration is being accepted over the next two weeks for testing that's scheduled to run in the beginning of June. Thanks Mike Martinez and 1Up.

In case yesterday's story about the new StarCraft II Beta opt-in form did not inspire you to register, the World of Warcraft Website lays it out for you, and OS X Reality reports that during the Activision earnings conference call Blizzard's Mike Morhaime said testing will begin "this summer." Here's word from the site:

The StarCraft II beta-test period is coming in the months ahead! If you'd like a chance to participate, now's the time to let us know. Simply go to the "Beta Profile Settings" page in Battle.net account management to go through the new beta opt-in process and upload a snapshot of your system specs. During this process, you'll also have the opportunity to opt in to future betas for other Blizzard Entertainment games. Please note that even if you've opted in to our betas previously, you'll need to complete this new process and upload your current system specs to have a chance to be invited.

For more information, see the FAQ -- or create a Battle.net account to opt in now. If you have an unused beta code from BlizzCon 2008 or WWI 2008, visit this site to enter your code.

Two new maps for BattleForge are now available, which represent the beginning of the Renegade Campaign, the first free content pack for the collectible card-based RTS game. Here's the party line on this: "The new live campaign will have players traveling south, deep into the Wastelands where they will follow the adventures of the white Juggernaut Mo – a monster with a dry wit and a heart as big as his appetite. He searches for his only friend, the savage orc Twinaxe, while his arch enemy, the vicious Captain Blight hunts him across the Wastelands, obsessed with taking down the White Juggernaut Mo. Along their adventure, they come across the trail of the greatest treasure ever known, the stolen treasure horde of the giants. With ogre witch doctors, flying ships and one angry Juggernaut, the Renegade Campaign is filled with adventure at every turn."

A new patch for Need for Speed Undercover is now online to update the racing game to version 1.0.1.18. The patch is available from the Need for Speed Website, and some or all of the localized patches are mirrored on ActionTrip, AtomicGamer, FileFront, and The Patches Scrolls.

Space Empires Universe now features a new patch for the US edition of Space Empires V to bring the space combat sequel to version 1.79. The new version tweaks stealth armor, adds a self-destruct function, and fixes a couple of bugs. Mirrors can be found on AtomicGamer, FileFront, and The Patches Scrolls.

Activision beats earnings targets on strong sales has results for Activision Blizzard's first quarter of their fiscal year, where they report net income of $189 million (14 cents a share) and earnings of $111 million (8 cents a share), though comparisons to the same period last year are not available because of the whole Blizzard acquisition dealie.

The DiRT2 Website has a new movie for Colin McRae: DiRT 2, revealing some DiRTy secrets about the rally racing sequel via a studio tour. This clip can also be found on ActionTrip, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell.

A new movie from All Aspect Warfare called "Sunset Rush" shows off 18 minutes of fighting from 3000AD's upcoming open world sci-fi combat game, shown from the perspective of the Gammulan Force Recon Marine. Some new screenshots from the game are online, and the movie is posted on AtomicGamer, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell.

• Ubisoft Plans Star-Studded E3 Press Conference Extravaganza.
• Paradox Interactive Announces Product Line-up for E3 2009.
• Jade Dynasty Beta Key Giveaway on Ten Ton Hammer.
• Rockstar Leeds, CCP and IO Join Nordic Game 2009.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero arriving this autumn.
• Guitar Hero- Van Halen officially official. Thanks Ant.
• 1 vs 100 Beta is on in Canada.
• Astro Boy movie adaptation coming to Wii, DS, PSP, PS2.
• Judge Dredd coming to LittleBigPlanet.
• Game Maker THQ Stakes Revival on UFC’s Choke Holds.

Thanks Ant.

• Windows 7 "Not Much Faster" Than Vista.
• NVIDIA, VISTA & CRT Refresh Rates.
• Microsoft discusses Windows 7 SSD optimizations.
• What You Should Expect from Fedora 11.
• OpenOffice 3.1 Released.
• Sapphire reveals the World's first 1Ghz GPU, 4890 Atomic Edition.
• PC Perspective Podcast #55 - DDRdrive X1, Thermaltake Spedo case, WD RE4 2TB…

• Flashback now available on iPhone. Thanks Mike Martinez.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Firefox, Chrome users more up to date than Safari and Opera.
• Q&A- FBI agent looks back on time posing as a cybercriminal.
• News Corp Will Charge For Newspaper Websites.
• Student's Wikipedia hoax dupes journalists.
• Dracula arrives in the blogosphere thanks to public domain.
• Muzu strives for fair music video compensation. Thanks Ant.

• Microsoft tweaks antipiracy tech for Windows 7. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• Despite pledge, researchers release VBootkit 2.0 code.
• Windows 7 at risk from legacy flaw, F-Secure says. Thanks brother19.
• Missile data found on hard drives.

• Who owns the facts? The AP and the "hot news" controversy.
• New Web privacy bill would make data sharing opt-in.
• ACTA transparency- can shame work where lawsuits fail?
• EU kills "3-strikes" Internet rule, affirms Internet is a fundamental right.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Terminal Reality frustrated by Ghostbusters merry-go-round…
• Zoo Secures Empire Publishing Rights…
• HanbitSoft Reboots Flagship's Mythos…
• MapleStory is running some special events in honor of the fourth anniversary of the launch of this subscription-free MMMORPG…

Odd Day. Thanks Mike Martinez.

R.I.P.: Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Ean Evans dies. Thanks Brad O.

Games for Windows LIVE is now offering a fixed Windows version of the Broken Steel DLC for Fallout 3, Bethesda Softworks' action/RPG sequel. The DLC was first released on Tuesday, but could not be properly installed at that time due to a problem that Bethesda says was caused by a Games for Windows DRM error. Thanks Will and Bill.

3D Realms is shutting down according to a report on Shacknews that's confirmed by a post on the 3D Realms Forums by Joe Siegler, who says: "It's not a marketing thing. It's true. I have nothing further to say at this time." 3D Realms has been otherwise silent on this topic so far, but publisher Deep Silver and newly formed Apogee are unaffected by the news, as they say: "Deep Silver and Apogee Software are not affected by the situation at 3D Realms. Development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned." According to Shack the closure is due to funding issues, and they have a statement from Take Two who claim to still own publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever, but that they have not been funding development of 3D Realms' flagship game.

• E3 Expo undaunted by Swine Flu risk.
• Eurogamer Expo doubles up for 2009.

• Ten Questions with the Academy: Shuhei Yoshida.
• Record profits once again for Nintendo.
• IGN's Top 10 Xbox Live Arcade Games.
• Massive layoff reports "are wildly inaccurate".
• Katamari Forever to be Blu-ray game in Europe.

• Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor on AtomicGamer and games xtreme.
• Plants vs. Zombies on GameShark.

• Arctic Cooling Fusion 550RF PSU on Hardware Secrets.
• ASUS EAH4890 TOP Graphics Card w/ Super ML Capacitor on techPowerUp.
• BenQ E2400HD 24" Full HD Monitor on TrustedReviews.
• Cooler Master CM Storm Scout Case on Motherboards.org.
• Coolink LapChilla Notebook Cooler on Vortez Hardware.
• Dell S2409W 24" LCD Monitor on [Phoronix].
• Dell Studio XPS 13 Ultraportable Notebook on HotHardware.
• EVGA X58 Classified Motherboard on HardwareLogic.
• GIGABYTE EX58-UD4P Motherboard on TweakTown.
• Netgear Digital Entertainer Elite EVA9150 on Digital Trends.
• Thermaltake Litepower 450W PSU on OCIA.net.
• Western Digital RE4-GP 2TB Hard Drive on PC Perspective.

The good news is the rains returned, and should help my newly patched lawn, but the bad news is I had a rough night with a panicky Hudson the wonder dog, as the thunder and lightning went on for hours. This threw off my whole updating mojo, which of course would happen right when there was a big story to report. Oh well, sorry about that.

Returning Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Spewer. Cargo Bridge.
Links:	Instruction Manuals for the USS Enterprise. Chuck Norris Protects Croatian Bakery From Burglars.
Stories:	Too Fat for the Boy Scouts? New Weight Requirement Angers Some. Hubble Repair Becomes IMAX 3D Film. Afghanistan's only pig quarantined in flu fear.
Science:	Self-Mending Concrete Bends Like Rubber, Heals Like Flesh. Tastes like chicken. DNA test could shed light on Lincoln's last days, doctor says.
Images:	8-Bit Fatalities - a set on Flickr. Thanks Digg.
Media:	Visceral Left 4 Dead. Nerd sets new WoW power leveling record- lv 1-70 - 48 hours. The Easy Way to Make Your Cat Fun Again.