And the Award for Longest In-Game Cut-Scenes Goes To...

Metal Gear Solid 4! According to CSG, MGS4 has multiple cut scenes approaching the 90 minute mark, twice as long as the near 45 minute story sequence found in MSG2. Gamers can opt to skip the feature-length exposition, or pause them for a bathroom (or popcorn) break.

Q: How Many Consoles Does it Take to Win a War?

A: One hundred million, according to Shane Kim, corporate VP of Microsoft and head of the company's internal games studios. In an interview with Wired, Kim answers a barrage of questions relating to the console wars, including whether or not Microsoft plans to release its own motion-sensing controller (it's not under development). Read more of what Kim had to say here.

Email Not Private

Maximum PC readers know better than to send confidential information from a work-bound email account, but you may be surprised at just how prevalent cyber-snooping has become. In its fifth-annual study of outbound email and data loss prevention issues, Proofpoint found that 44 percent of U.S. enterprises surveyed admit to investigating an email leak of confidential information in the past 12 months. And 41 percent said they have a staff specifically employed to monitor outbound email. Food for the thought the next time you're composing an email from work...

ABC Ups the Online Viewing Ante

"Having come out of the gate with the first player in the space, we're continually looking at how we expand and provide a better experience from our users," said Alexis Rapo, VP digital media at ABC. Rapo's referring to ABC.com's broadband video player, which will undergo some changes this fall. Full-screen viewing, closed captioning, and the ability to send video links that can be embedded on blogs and social networks are all additions expected in the coming months. The new player will be tested in a closed beta over the summer before launching ahead of ABC's premiere week in the fall.

Indiana Jones and the Computer Generated Jungle

Indiana Jones and the Kingdome of the Cyrstal Skull certainly sounds sexier, but an underlying sub-plot (for geeks) is Dr. Jones' journey through the lobby of Industrial Light and Magic. Whereas the previous three adventures took place in mostly real-life locales, the newest Indy movie makes liberal use of "digital tools, joining the ranks of Jurassic Park and, more recently, the robots in Transformers. All counted, the newest Indy flick contains 450 effects shots.

Getting Paid to Surf

The web, that is. Microsoft this week announced it will offer ad-funded cash rebates to customers who find and purchase products through a new program called Microsoft Live Search cashback. The new initiative comes as Microsoft tries to negotiate a deal with Yahoo that will provide MS with a larger audience and put it in position to compete with Google. Over 700 merchants accounting for 10 million products are participating. More details here.

MacBook Air, Now with More F10 Keys

Two of them, to be precise...

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend!