All you parents out there know that instant messaging isn't just text anymore, right? It's games, bots, videos, photo-swapping, tune-sharing, ringtones, individually customized "skins," etc. All of which makes it really attractive to kids and therefore yet another thing on which parents need to be up to speed. The BBC recently published an update on some of this, including a little history on this … [Read more...] about IM has grown up
File-sharing realities for families
There's no question about it: file-sharing comes with risks. Beyond the lawsuits (the RIAA this week announced its latest round of nearly 500, bringing the total to about 3,000 sued among the 100 million+ file-swappers worldwide, Reuters reports)... Here are the risks the average family is more likely to encounter: Porn. The P2P services allow for sharing photos and videos, as well as music and … [Read more...] about File-sharing realities for families
Google, Jeeves, Yahoo: How are they doing?
Even though most people use Google these days, its search results aren't much different from what you get at other search engines, a study found. The study, conducted by San Mateo, Calif.-based market research firm Vividence, surveyed and monitored 2,000 people as they used Google, Ask Jeeves, Lycos, Microsoft's MSN, and Yahoo, CNET reports. It found, for example, that in a search for the leading … [Read more...] about Google, Jeeves, Yahoo: How are they doing?
It’s elementary, my dear parents
Kindergarteners and first-graders are now using technology to design things the way graphic designers, businesspeople, and scientists do, USA TODAY reports in an article about small technophiles in Arizona. In one class in Tempe, first-graders "learn terms used in geometry by first shooting everyday shapes in the classroom and playground with digital cameras, then loading the pictures in … [Read more...] about It’s elementary, my dear parents
Mac patch flawed
I mentioned earlier this week that Apple had issued an unusual patch to fix Mac security problems that have come up recently. Well, CNET cites security experts at several different companies as saying it "failed to fix the underlying problem." And that security problem allows a hacker to upload and run a malicious program on a Mac - if the owner can be "enticed to go to a fake Web page on which … [Read more...] about Mac patch flawed