Fifteen-year-old Joshua has a fairly pricey Blackberry Pearl. Why? Because it runs Radar kid-monitoring software, CNET reports. “Initially, the Radar software, which costs about $10 a month on top of a wireless plan, has worked only with BlackBerry devices and other smart phones, a factor that has limited growth.” But its makers have struck deals with Verizon Wireless and Motorola that will make … [Read more...] about Monitoring kid phone use
Risk & Safety
Stickam: Reported ties with porn biz
A former vice president at Stickam.com, a Webcam social site, told the New York Times that Stickam is managed and owned by a businessman who also owns DTI Services, “a vast network of Web sites offering live sex shows over Web cameras. “[Alex] Becker alleges that Stickam shares office space, employees and computer systems with the pornographic Web sites.” Becker also said he saw Stickam staff … [Read more...] about Stickam: Reported ties with porn biz
Alleged illegal plans in virtual world
It’s probably a one-in-a-million case, but it does represent a risk to youth in virtual worlds and other online game settings where people of all ages play. A 31-year-old Australian woman faces child abduction charges in North Carolina “after trying to bring her 17-year-old World of Warcraft boyfriend back to Oz,” TheRegister.com reports. She was arrested as she stepped off a train in Rocky Mount, … [Read more...] about Alleged illegal plans in virtual world
Libraries as teen hangouts
Teens love creating and sharing digital media, and so it follows that teens increasingly love hanging out at the library, according to DailyHerald.com. Fourteen-year-old Liz and her friends love getting together, it reports, at the West Chicago Public Library, where they play video and board games, go online, and read. As media – books, movies, periodicals, etc. – get more digital, so do … [Read more...] about Libraries as teen hangouts
5 good tips for parents
…in a financial news site of all places - MarketWatch.com. It’s a good sign that intelligent tech parenting is going mainstream. I like these online-safety tips because they’re simple and smart, and they promote parent-child communication. Points worth highlighting: author and dad Adam Thierer’s “layered approach” to online parenting, layering tech tools (like Google’s SafeSearch and maybe … [Read more...] about 5 good tips for parents