I’m not what you’d call an environmental role model. I have no idea how big my carbon footprint is, but I doubt I’ve shed the wasteful habits learned in 30 years of life in America, so we’re probably talking Sasquatch proportions. Air conditioning, beef consumption, incandescent lighting – my sins against Gaia are numerous.

Back when games like Pacman and Frogger ruled the arcade, game geeks spent long hours trying to beat the “high score” that was usually displayed on a static screen between bouts. Nowadays social gaming connects players across the planet bringing the action to real time – technology that makes console-based games seem as arcane as Pong. Agenda interviewed David Fallarme, Marketing Manager of Playfish, a leading social gaming company owned by Electronic Arts with a development studio in Beijing, about how his company is leading the charge in this dynamic industry.

Read the full interview with David on gaming in China and who's the average gamer now at Agendabeijing.com.

The same technology that feeds your cell phone signal has also devastated Chinese villages. We rely on satellites for telecommunication, but the faultiest of those orbiters have turned into lethal projectiles, pulverising Jiangsu’s Suining County – as seen in the documentary Falling From the Sky. Director Zhang Zanbo shot the film in villages draped in the shadow of a government launch pad that scrambled to provide IT infrastructure for the Beijing Olympics.

Viewers can glimpse the smouldering rubble and interviews with the victims during the movie’s Apr 27 Culture Yard screening. Below, the director answers our questions about how to cope with a falling sky.

Sandstorm season is upon us, so it’s crucial to start preparing ourselves for all the flying particles. Maybe you're thinking of a small face mask or a pair of cool sunglasses, but for Beijing’s not-so-gentle spring, your protective gear should always start with a see-through scarf.

Are you a nyctophobe? If so, get out of Beijing this weekend, because there'll be nowhere to hide. Earth Hour is back this Saturday (Mar 31), and as in previous years a number of notable Beijing-based institutions will be marking the event by turning their lights off for 60 minutes between 8.30-9.30pm. Earth Hour always sparks a bit of debate, both about its own effectiveness and about climate change in general, and we expect this year to be no different, so to get the ball rolling, we've got details on who's taking part in Beijing and how you can get involved.