The Girl With the Golden Thumbs

When we met Mya, we were like...wo: The 24-year-old R&B singer was sprawled out on a hotel-room floor, sporting chocolate-brown nails, multihued hair, and a black mesh dress that suggested “intimates” more than “active wear.” If her getup gave her the killer looks of a Bond girl, it was intentional: She’s one of the leading ladies in James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (Electronic Arts; PS2, Xbox, and GameCube), an original espionage adventure that lets players assume a character modeled from the current big-screen Bond, Pierce Brosnan. Since Mya does double duty within the game, portraying a Bond ally and performing the theme song, we asked her to complete one of Everything or Nothing’s top-secret missions for our eyes only.

 

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE Slipping into the pixelated tuxedo of James Bond, Mya is faced with her existentially taxing assignment: Break into the Kiss Kiss Club, maneuver through a battalion of goons, and rescue her in-game alter ego, who's tarted up in a skimpy red outfit. "I have a PlayStation 2 in the house, but I'm mostly a Tetris nerd," Mya confesses. "I'm not a fanatic or freak, so this might not be pretty."

GOLDFINGER After stumbling to find the right window to rappel to, Mya makes swift work of some thick-necked henchmen, selecting from a retinue of high-powered weapons (admittedly, she's playing at the easiest setting?it's almost impossible to be killed). "You seem in touch with your thug side," Spin tells Mya. The Chicago chanteuse, who's been romantically linked to 50 Cent, smirks and replies, "I'm very in touch with it."

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME The rescue attempt fails, but Mya remains upbeat about her involvement in creating the game. "They had me fighting for my life, kicking and screaming," she says. "I even cursed a few times?I don't know if they put it in here." But, she notes, "There's also flirtatious moments. There's a kiss that I had to do. My mom's going to be mad about that." And speaking of parental advisories: "They did a body scan, a full 360-degree virtual image of me. They can adjust it, though, so they gave me boobs! That made me happy."

Pull the Plug
By Peter Suciu

Wasn't modern technology supposed to release us from our desks and allow us greater connectivity on the go? These days, it's not the gadgets themselves that hold us back?it's all those freakin' cords that come attached to them. The latest generation of high-tech products, however, dispenses with annoying cables and wires altogether, leaving nothing for you to trip over, except perhaps the instruction manuals.