OverTheLimit

Washington (OTL) - Electronic Arts is apparently set to stop the push to get Take-Two to accept a takeover bid.

EA sent in their first takeover bid to Take-Two not too long ago, and has since been pushing to get a deal done.

EA was nearly set to make it official, as they were hoping to takeover the publisher of the Grand Theft Auto game series.

They have since failed though, and EA appears set to back down, as they will not extend their bid,

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello made it clear the company will not extend the bid, writing to  Executive Chairman of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick.

The plan right now is for EA to re-evaluate their bid and then move forward from there.

Boston (OTL) - According to researchers in the U.S., two gene variants may be the cause of bipolar disorder.

For their research, they have been working to carry out what they touted as the world’s largest-ever genetic analysis into the disorder.

The idea behind the research is to see what causes the disorder.

The found two gene variants, which balance both sodium and calcium in the brain, which may be a cause of the disorder.

Researchers plan to conduct more tests, as these variants are believed to be the targets of current bipolar disorder medications.

The study has been published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Washington (OTL) - A new study has found that antidepressant drugs make people bad drivers.

Researchers were led by Holly J. Dannewitz of the University of North Dakota, looking into how antidepressants impacted the ability of people to drive.

They used 60 volunteers, putting them into a driving simulator.

They split them in half, with half taking antidepressants, and the other half on no medication.

Those who were taking antidepressants were found to be far worse drivers than those who were not taking the drugs.

The finding were shown at the American Psychological Association annual meeting in Boston.

Boston (OTL) - Researchers have reported that air pollutants known as free radicals can lead to lung problems, including lung cancer.

Researchers for the first time were able to find a link between lung problems and these air pollutants.

The problems caused by the air pollutants are very similar to problems caused by smoking cigarettes.

The air pollutants can cause great damage to the lungs, with effects very similar to those suffered from smokers.

For the longest time, the belief was that they posed no health risk.

Now researchers believe that they may be why non-smokers develop lung problems.

Washington (OTL) - For the past months, Google has been working their tail off to get a mobile version of YouTube in just about every handset they can.  Following their hard work, they are now ready to begin rolling out advertisements.

Google is going to begin the process of rolling out advertisements while you watch your favorite YouTube videos, in an effort to further expand their advertising set-up.

Product marketing manager for YouTube, Christine Tsai wrote in a blog post Apple released the latest update to the iPhone this week, and reports state that problems with 3G for users still persist.Our test advertisers will also have an additional branding tool at their disposal and the opportunity to reach the millions of people who visit YouTube every day on their phones.”

Google stated that they will look over results from their tests in a few weeks.

The first ads will run in the U.S. and Japan only.

Washington (OTL) - The end may be near for the Pandora internet radio service, due to new fees.

Pandora, according to reports, is set to shut down for good due to the fact that royalty fees and such continue to rise.

For those who do not know, Pandora is an extremely popular internet radio service, which is offered on the iPhone and PC.

It works by allowing you to choose an artist or song.

From that choice, Pandora creates a personal radio station just for you.

Pandora founder Tim Westergren is hopeful a deal is reached to keep royalty fees down.

Boston (OTL) - Toshiba has revealed a new DVD player called the XD-E500, which aims to make your current DVD collection go high-def.

This new product works on new technology developed by Toshiba, which will act as an 1080p/24fps upscaling DVD player.

This comes after the failure of the HD-DVD format from Toshiba.

The player will have processing modes which will improve color, shapness, and contract.

It will  DVDs look nearly as good as Blu-ray or HD-DVD, and for only $149.

Boston (OTL) - Though Microsoft originally announced that they were in the HD-DVD camp, they have come out and stated that they will support Blu-ray.

Microsoft Windows will be receiving an update to allow users to burn optical discs encoded in the Blu-ray movie format.

Thsi is the first time that Microsoft is adding this type of Blu-ray support to the Windows operating system.

This will allow users to burn to Blu-ray discs straight from their desktops, without the need for 3rd party software.

The release is known as the Windows Feature Pack for Storage, and is currently in beta testing.

Microsoft stated on Monday that it “enables the Windows platform to do master-style optical burning on Blu-ray media.”

It will release for XP and Vista.

Washington (OTL) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have managed to acquire future hall of famer, Greg Maddux in a trade with the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers have reached an agreement to acquire veteran right-hander Greg Maddux, who had 353 career wins.

Maddux pitched for the Dodgers in 2006, and is expected to feel right at home.

The trade was announced on Monday, and all appears well.

The Dodgers will pick up the future hall of famer, who is 43-years old.

He signed after a season with the Dodgers for a $10 million contract with the Padres.

He was placed on waivers earlier in the month, and when no team claimed him, the Dodgers stepped up.

Hollywood (OTL) - Hollywood star Laurence Fishburne is set to join the cast of CSI.

Laurence Fishburne has been confirmed to be joining the cast of the CBS detective drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

He is best known for playing dark characters, such as his role in The Matrix trilogy.

The 47-year old broke the news in a conference call with reporters on Monday.

He did state that prior to signing with the show, he had never watched it before meeting with producers.

Fishburne is apparently very excited about his new role though.

He will make his CSI debut in episode nine of the upcoming ninth season.