This week's big iPhone tracking story offers a great example of how lawmakers don't seek out and react to the best information on kid safety available – and, of course, why parents need to take politicians' pronouncements on the subject with a grain of salt. Too often they are protecting their own interests more than they're protecting children. This week Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass) published a … [Read more...] about iPhone story & how kids’ ‘champions’ in Congress pay attention
Apple
Got a ‘jailbreaker’ wannabe at your house?
The other day my 13-year-old mentioned in passing that he wished he could figure out how to jailbreak his iTouch so he could download free game apps (I got the feeling that messing around and figuring it out with friends was kind of a game itself). It made me smile, though, that this came up the very day the news broke that "jailbreaking" is ok now (see The Independent). What does "ok" mean? Well, … [Read more...] about Got a ‘jailbreaker’ wannabe at your house?
iPhone’s safety, privacy extras
Kudos to Apple for building extra layers of privacy and safety right into the iPhones of users who use apps that reveal their physical location. "Apple has long provided pop-ups that ask users to approve an app's use of location information before that app can get access," reports New York Times computer security blogger Riva Richmond, but there will be more in the iPhone's new operating system … [Read more...] about iPhone’s safety, privacy extras
Foursquare & other geolocation apps: For young adults, not kids
More and more, I'm seeing tweets about people becoming mayors of coffee shops in my Twitter stream. They're playing Foursquare on their phones, which pushes their "checkins" or location disclosures out to their Twitter followers. Foursquare is part cellphone social-mapping game, part Yelp (another way to find food, drink, or friends using your phone's geolocation technology). "A large number of … [Read more...] about Foursquare & other geolocation apps: For young adults, not kids
A few Apple bytes for families
Some of Apple's just-announced news is good for families thinking about laptops for a new school year - now just one basic Macbook at $999 and a new Macbook Pro with much longer battery life for just $200 more, CNET reports. Apple also unveiled its new Snow Leopard operating system, to which Leopard users can upgrade for $29, the Washington Post reports, adding that "the company said it will use … [Read more...] about A few Apple bytes for families