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Dear Subscribers:

Here's our lineup for this final full week of February:

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Web New Briefs

  1. Michiganders' library filtering vote

    The Republican presidential primary wasn't the only decision voters in Holland, Mich., faced this week. Holland (pop. 30,745), was the first city in the US to vote on library filtering. And the Associated Press reports (via Newsday.com) that this city in "a staunchly Republican area with a strong evangelical Christian influence" voted down a proposal that would force the local public library to install Net filtering software on its computers. Proponents said the defeat won't end their efforts to get filters installed. Opponents said that people and groups from outside Michigan were "using Holland to promote a national agenda." In its version of the story, the New York Times describes Holland's public library in some detail, reporting that none of the computers in the children's area are connected to the Net and that the screens of all the connected computers are within view of the reference librarian's desk.

    What are your views on filtering in public libraries? How do you feel about the Holland, Michigan, results? Do let us know - via feedback@netfamilynews.org.

  2. Gen Y + Gen X = 'Gen i'?

    They're talking about our kids again - about how wired they are. As ZDNet puts it, they're "tuned in, logged on, and cashed up." Does someone in your house or classroom fit Alex Greco's profile? The article leads with Alex's Web surfing habits, summing them up in two activities: downloading MP3 music files and chatting with ICQ instant messaging. According to ZDNet, Wall Street and teen Web sites - such as Snowball.com and Bolt.com now planning their IPOs - are banking on these 13-to-29-year-olds being called the "i-Generation." The US Census says a subset of this group, 15-to 24-year olds, consisted of 67.7 million people in 1998 (latest figures available) and had combined disposable income of $302.4 billion. And market researchers Forrester Research say 16-to 22-year-olds will spend roughly $4.5 billion online in 2000, ZDNet reports. Ironically for sites specifically targeting this group (Bolt, Snowball, iTurf.com, Alloy.com), teenagers may not deliver on expectations - if they're anything like Alex and prefer to go to more general sites that don't target teens.

    NUA Internet Surveys has an editorial this week on just how wired this generation is and what role parents now need to play. Referring to "Gen i," NUA points to research by Don Tapscott, chairman of the Alliance for Converging Technologies, saying that wired kids "are more likely to have informed opinions and be able to express them clearly. They like to participate, rather than just observe. They are socially conscious, accepting diversity in all its forms and campaigning for equal rights on behalf of those who lack the tools to campaign." Do you see signs of this among your wired kids? Share your own observations.

  3. High-speed users take note

    More and more Americans want high-speed Internet connections at home. Some 2.2 million US homes have "broadband" connections now, and the number is expected to grow to more than 10 million in two years, reports the Boston Herald. But there's a downside to DSL and cable modems, and the Herald article is one of the best we've seen of spelling out the security risks. Even more welcome is an Associated Press article (via the New York Times) that offers some solutions.

  4. 'Digital divide": Dueling statistics

    Remember the Stanford University survey we reported on last week? It said Internet use is having an isolating effect in people's lives. The New York Times has since pointed out another "striking finding" of the survey that got lost in the media shuffle: The Stanford survey found that the digital divide is largely a myth. Later this week another Times story challenged that finding with both anecdotal and statistical evidence. It quotes a survey about classroom connectivity by the US Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics. This survey shows that, nationwide, 63% of classrooms have Internet access. In poorer schools, though - schools where 71% of students are eligible for free or discounted school lunches - only 39% of classrooms have Net access.

    Here's a report in CyberAtlas specifically on the Education Department survey. Parents and teachers, what is your experience? If any of you are working or volunteering at schools in lower-income areas, what has been your experience Internet access in classrooms? We'd love to hear your stories.

  5. A hard look at chat

    Is electronic communication better or worse than the in-person kind? Well, it depends on what people want to get out of chat and discussion boards. Some users like the chaotic style of chat that bounces randomly from topic to topic. Other people want to come away feeling like they've learned something. If you're in the latter group, a recent study covered in Wired News offers new rules for achieving high-quality electronic discourse. The foundation-funded study, which used WebLab.org's new kind of discussion technology, found that - when given certain constraints - chat improves the quality of conversation or debate. It found that, as the size of an e-discussion group goes down, the quality of interaction goes up; less anonymity (a hallmark of Internet chat) actually breeds more trusting interaction; and chat groups work together better and learn more when they're self-policed rather than moderated.

  6. How 'bout that White House summit?

    Two weeks ago - amid all the cyberattacks that temporarily shut down huge Web sites like CNN.com and eBAY.com - we mentioned the White House was going to hold a Net security summit. No real surprises came out of last week's meeting. In fact, the New York Times reports that the meeting "epitomized" the US government's fairly hands-off policy to date - in order to support rapid e-commerce growth. That policy, the Times points out, is increasingly being challenged, however. The article goes into some depth on how Uncle Sam's role is changing.

  7. Uncle Sam the sugar daddy?

    Well, not quite. But while we're on the subject of the government's role, ComputerCurrents.com reports that the US House of Representatives this week voted nearly to double federal spending on information technology research over the next five years. House Science Committee members called the legislation both visionary and essential to the US's long-term prosperity. Supporters are urging the Senate to introduce companion legislation quickly, so a final version of the bill can go to President Clinton before the end of the congressional session.

  8. What are our Net music rights?!

    Wired News raises the question but doesn't answer it. In fact, there's no way to answer the question right now, in these days of proliferating law suits against Internet music companies and even university students. You almost have to be a lawyer to figure out what you can legally download. Wired does a great job of looking at all the ins and outs of individual users' rights where MP3s are concerned. The article actually has four parts! It's on the third page where Wired talks about who the lawsuits are really targeting. The whole article addresses what the recording industry is trying to stop - downloading MP3s to a hard drive, sharing MP3s on a home page, copying them on a Rio player, etc. For Net music fans, it makes for interesting reading.

  9. Privacy twist

    Following up on our report about DoubleClick in the hotseat, there are definitely signs that the consumer privacy debate has moved forward. DoubleClick - which USAToday reports has lost nearly a fifth of its market value since last week - says it expects legislation governing online privacy to be enacted as soon as next year. And a Dallas lawyer is pushing the question in an unprecedented way. According to the New York Times, he is trying to apply a Texas stalking law to the use of "cookies" by Internet businesses. With a class action suit involving 50 million Yahoo! users, attorney Lawrence Friedman is saying that, by electronically monitoring users' movements around the Web, Yahoo! is violating anti-stalking laws. It's not an easy precedent to set, the Times story indicates, as one source says she's never heard of a stalking lawsuit against a corporation or one that involves 50 million plaintiffs.

  10. Looking back from 2035

    Ever think about what these roller-coaster days for the Internet-skewed economy will look like 10 (or 35) years from now? Or if/how these boom times will end? Well, science fiction writer Bruce Sterling, author of the nonfiction book, "The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier," takes a stab at these questions in Fortune.com. In a four-part "letter" to us dewy-eyed optimists of 2000, he vents about how passe the word "future" is "now" in the 2030s, which look a whole lot like the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. But that's ok, he's expecting a "major turnaround." As long as his rant is, we enjoyed it. You might, too.

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Teaching with movies (and the Web)

Our thanks to FamilyEducation.com for pointing us to Teach With Movies, a remarkable free Web service to parents and teachers that is part of the Internet's still thriving "gift economy."

The site is all about using film to introduce children to "major events of history; great achievements of civilization; extraordinary men and women who have shaped our world; works of music, dance, drama, literature and the visual arts; and ethical, social, and cultural issues facing children as they mature."

For parents, a quick perusal of one of the site's 180 Learning Guides (each film in the database comes with one) before the family sits down to watch the film on video can help you turn film-viewing into a learning experience for everybody involved. We can learn more about our kids while they learn about history, culture, or ethics.

The site's authors say all the movies described in the site are culturally significant or "on the whole" historically accurate. The site is for both parents and teachers (see the navy-blue left-hand margin on the home page), coming with the caveat that "watching movies will never be a substitute for reading, going to zoos, visiting museums, attending concerts," etc.

And who are the people offering this guidance (and making decisions about what films are educational)? They are parents, grandparents, professionals, and educators, but you'll want to read their bios and mission statement. We could find no religious or political agenda, which makes the site more broadly useful.

If you find this Web site useful (or not), do email us and tell us why. We'd also love to read a description of your family or classroom educational experience with a film.

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That does it for this week. Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Net Family News


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