For the Record Podcast

Man behind XXX domains says they'll help parents protect kids

After years of being debated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), .XXX was approved earlier this year and is now a reality. Approximately 100,000 XXX domains are going live on Tuesday.

The new top level domains (TLD) are not without controversy. Some free speech advocates worry that there will be governments that require the use of XXX for adult content, effectively forcing such sites into a virtual red-light district but others, including some religious groups, worry that it will legitimize or even sanction pornography.

Stuart Lawley, the founder and CEO of ICM Registry, the company more

Sexting far less prevalent than previously reported

A study published in the January, 2012 issue of Pediatrics asked teens whether they had sent or received sexually suggestive, nude or nearly nude images of themselves--a practice commonly known as "sexting."

What they found is that 2.5 percent of the 10- to 17-year-olds in the survey said they had appeared in or created images that depicted themselves nude or nearly nude. But, when the researchers asked if the images "showed breasts, genitals or someone's bottom," only 1.3 percent said they had appeared in or created such images. The "nude or nearly nude" category included youth wearing

PriceGrabber exec: Do homework before gift-buying (podcast)

It seems as if everyone is looking for a holiday gift bargain this year, but the lowest price isn't always your best choice. To help consumers navigate their way through both online and brick and mortar stores, I spoke with PriceGrabber.com President Steve Krenzer.

"The best way to take advantage of the season is to prepare ahead," said Krenzer. "Have a good sense of what your objectives are, what your budget is, what types of items you're looking to buy and what are the must-have features versus nice to have features."

Krenzer said that this year "consumers more

Most kids who break 'Internet house rules' have bad experiences

A 24-country study conducted by Symantec found that 82 percent of kids who've broken "Internet house rules" have experienced something negative online." That compares to 52 percent of kids who "follow house rules."

More than six in 10 (62 percent) of kids reported that they have had a negative experience while online. Those negative experiences include being bullied, responding to an e-mail scam, downloading a virus, or being pressured online to do something that the child thought was wrong.

Cyberbaiting
The study also found that a fifth of teachers (21 percent) have personally experienced or know another teacher who'more

Survey: Many parents help kids lie to get on Facebook

In 1998, Congress passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that requires Web sites to "obtain verifiable parental consent" before collecting personal information from children under 13.

This very well-intentioned law--enacted long before the advent of MySpace, Facebook, and other social networks--was designed to protect children from revealing information that could be used by companies to sell them products or by others to exploit them. Children under 13, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces COPPA, are "particularly vulnerable to overreaching by marketers."

COPPA doesn't prevent companies like Facebook from admitting kids under 13, but it more

An interview with Siri (podcast)

After spending the weekend with Siri, the personal assistant who lives inside the new iPhone 4S, it occurred to me that she would be a good interview subject for my CBS News & CNET podcast. So, I invited her into my studio, plugged her into my mixing board and started asking questions.

In our four-minute conversation, she explained the meaning of life, told me that the Macintosh is her favorite computer, and got a bit indignant when I asked her about her favorite cell phone. It took her awhile to answer my question about the "meaning of life." First she said more

PBS chief on child education platforms (podcast)

PBS has long provided programming for children along with "viewers like you." It's famous programs, such as "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," reach millions of children each day. But like other media companies, PBS is also on the Web and mobile devices, providing videos, songs, and learning games for kids to use at home and school.

The extensive classroom material the nonprofit broadcaster provides includes this lesson on explorer Henry Hudson, aimed at grades 3 through 12.

I recently spent an afternoon at PBS headquarters in Arlington, Va., where, in addition to interviewing PBS' chief executive, Paula Kerger (more

Ooma CEO demos VoIP device quality (podcast)

As David Carnoy recently posted, voice over Internet Protocol company Ooma is now offering a $49.99 Wi-Fi adapter that enables users to place the required Telo base station anywhere within Wi-Fi range.

I had a chance to test the system in my house, and it works fine, even though it's a few rooms away from my wireless router. Installation requires temporarily connecting the Telo to an Ethernet port of a computer to configure your Wi-Fi settings.

Listen to a call
To learn more and to demonstrate the voice quality of Ooma service, I called Ooma CEO Eric Stang

Study: Youth social media use relates to free speech support (podcast)

A study conducted by the Knight Foundation has found that "students who use social networking daily to get news and information" are more likely to agree that 'people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions'," than those who don't use social networks. And the more kids use social network, the more likely they are to hold that opinion. Fully 91 percent of those surveyed who use social networks daily agree with that premise compared to 82 percent of monthly users and 77 percent of those who never use social media, the study found.

The study included a questionnaire completed

Cyberbullying 101: Fact vs. fiction (podcast)

A great deal has been said and written about cyberbullying, but not all of it is true. As Cyberbullying Research Center co-director Justin Patchin said in an interview recently, it's "a concern that we need to take very seriously," but "it's certainly not an epidemic."

Cyberbullying, said Patchin, is "bullying behaviors carried out using or facilitated by technology," which includes "a lot of the same kind of things we see at school and in neighborhoods, such as harassment or disrespecting or rumors or gossip that are now being carried out online." (Scroll down to listen to podcast.)

Although more