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The "Disney Dream Desk PC" will cost $599 (plus $299 more for the monitor) and be available at CompUSA stores and Disney's Web site starting September 11, the Associated Press reports. Web and email filtering from a company called ContentProtect will be bundled with it, along with software that "allows users to combine their own video clips with Disney characters and sound effects and create … [Read more...] about Disney PC for kids

Some have given up on filters because, with them, they lose important messages. Others have just about given up on email altogether. But some depend on it too much and simply can't do without the technology, spam or no, the New York Times reports. My friend Jean, who's quoted in the piece, is in that last group, because - as Net-mom - she answers a lot of people's questions about the Net. And … [Read more...] about Spam: How some people cope

The reaction of this mom and dad - Sandy and Richard Nauman of Des Moines, Iowa - to an RIAA lawsuit is far from unusual, we suspect. Sandy said she and her husband had no idea how to download music from the Internet. But, according to the Associated Press, their 15- and 18-year-old kids certainly do. The Naumans are among "a group of 90 named defendants from across the country sued [in federal … [Read more...] about Kids swap files, parents sued

This might just be a good thing for parents to know about: suicide sites and chatrooms on the Web. The Australian parliament is considering legislation to "make it a criminal offence to use the internet to counsel or incite suicide," Australian IT reports. The legislation "would also cover material which promoted and provided instruction on a particular method of suicide. Possession, production or … [Read more...] about Online suicide ‘advice’

One person commenting on a BBC piece today likened getting a high-speed Net connection more to getting a driver's license than having cable TV coming into your home. With the latter, you just turn the set on and start consuming; with the former you're only getting the privilege to figure out how to drive safely. Why the metaphors? Because so many families are now getting broadband Net access, many … [Read more...] about Latest on home zombie PCs