Sending texts with explicit images to one another is a common phenomenon among teenagers.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)Editors' note: The original headline on this story was changed at 4:19 PST to more accurately reflect the story.
Remember when we were all crying about the fact that AT&T delayed the rollout of multimedia messaging on the iPhone? Well, some parents may now be wishing the feature wasn't available at all.
Sending explicit content, such as naked or near-naked photos, via text message--a phenomenon also known as "sexting"--is a familiar phenomenon among some teens, according to survey results released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.
The survey, conducted from June 26 to September 24 with the participation of 800 teenagers, is part of the research center's Internet and American Life Project, which tracks the effect of the Internet on American life. It found that 4 percent of cell-owning teens ages 12 to 17 say they've sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of themselves to someone else via text. Fifteen percent say they have received such material.
Older teens, especially those who foot their own cell phone bills, are much more likely to send and receive these images. While 8 percent of 17-year-olds with cell phones have sent a sexually provocative image by text, this number goes up to 17 percent among those who pay their bills themselves. In all, 30 percent of 17-year-olds have received explicit images on their phones.
The survey also shows that while the exchange of nude images mostly takes place among romantic partners or potential partners of the same age, these images are also forwarded to non-partners or people in different age groups. And this is where things can get really ugly.
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(Credit:
ESRB)
Straight from the No-Brainer Department comes a list of games that parents should not buy their children this holiday season. The New York Times has republished a collection of 10 titles deemed totally uncool for kids to play by the media watchdog group Common Sense Media.
While we're all for educating parents about the naughty video games their children want to play, we can't help but slap our foreheads at how obvious some of them are. Besides, all a responsible parent needs to do is stray away from the big fat "Rated M for Mature" logo on the box art of such titles.
We wouldn't disagree with any title on the list, but some of the suggested alternatives for these titles are a bit suspect. For example, replacing Modern Warfare 2 with Battlefield: Bad Company only brings the blood level down a bit--the war combat and violence are still present in Bad Company. We absolutely loved Uncharted 2, but there's plenty of gunplay and headshots in the T-rated blockbuster as well.
Ideally, we'd love to see parents become more involved in their child's gaming habits. The only way to make sure a game is right for the younger ones is to have Mom or Dad sit in on a few sessions.
Click over for the full Common Sense Media list of unfriendly titles along with their alternatives.... Read more
404 Hoverboard!
(Credit: CNET/The 404)There's so much to do on today's episode of The 404 Podcast that I'm surprised we were able to fit it all into half an hour--we've got 404 listener Leopold's take on our theme song, Back to the Future/The 404 mash up fan art, and a prize giveaway courtesy of Otterbox!
Before we get into all of that, we have to make fun of the new Karate Kid movie coming out next year starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. Slashfilm just released four official photos from the next film in the franchise, and already we're seeing glaringly obvious cultural mix-ups. For instance, one of the training scenes features the young Karate Kid practicing on the Great Wall of China. Karate = Japanese, Great Wall = Chinese. Come on!
And speaking of mistakes, the third installment of "Jackass: The Movie" will premiere in 3-D. Don't get us wrong- The 404 is no stranger to the Jackass movies, but a 3-D view of Chris Pontius' Speedo we do not need!
A big thanks goes out to 404 listener and music student Leopold, who sent in an amazing new theme song for The 404--we'll definitely put it into the song rotation, great work, Leopold! Jim, another talented 404 listener, also deserves our appreciation for the Back To The Future hoverboard mash-up you see up there! Judging by the DeLorean in the background, Jim is obviously a big BTTF fan and so are we, so check out the slideshow for more pictures of The 404 hoverboard, and don't worry--it's got POWER.
Otterbox Defender case for iPhone 3G/S
(Credit: Otterbox)Finally, the good folks at OtterBox hooked it up with 10 of their Defender and Commuter cases, so if you have an iPhone and need a case, leave a comment on this blog and tell us why you deserve to win!
Here's what you need to do:
- Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.
- Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.
- Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.
- The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive (1) Otter Box case for the iPhone 3G/S. Retail value is ~$50.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
- Entries can be submitted until Friday, December 4, at 12 p.m. EST. Full rules after the jump.
EPISODE 478
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As MP3 players become more popular, the age at which a child is introduced to them continually decreases. And finding appropriate headphones for youngsters presents a few unique challenges.
First and foremost, any responsible parent wants to ensure that any sounds being piped into their little ones' ears are coming through at safe listening levels. While it's important to consider music volume and hearing protection at any age, kids' ears are more sensitive the younger they are, which is why it's important that their headphones employ a volume limiting feature. And then there is the lesser--but still important--issue of fit, as children need smaller-size earphones.
All of the models here take both concerns into account, and a few of them even offer fun design considerations for the younger set. And perhaps best of all: none of them will break the bank, making any set a great stocking stuffer option.
Read our roundup of kid-friendly headphones.
Kenley Bradstreet and Mark Licea join the show today because Justin Yu is still battling with SARS. We wish him a speedy recovery, but in the mean time, we welcome the presence of two beautiful people. Plus, it's just fun to watch Kenley rock out to today's Audio Draft pick.
(Credit:
Kenley Bradstreet and Mark Licea)
On today's show, we recant what we said about Sony yesterday. The company managed to botch up a feature that would have leveled the playing field with the Xbox 360. For those of you who didn't listen, Sony and Netflix announced the arrival of streaming on the console. Sounds great? Not so fast. Apparently, you'll need to plug in a BD-Live disc every time you want to watch Netflix. We know it's only temporary, but come on! It's accessible from the dashboard on the Xbox 360, and you don't need no stinkin' disc.
It's Jeff's pick today for the Audio Draft, and while traditionally we usually pick smaller bands or unknown acts, Jeff has decided to go the other way and picked Rancid. They've been around for a while, and released a couple of albums. According to Mr. Bakalar, their latest is turning heads. We play "The Bravest Kids" and "L.A. River" from their latest album. Stay tuned for the last Audio Draft pick of the month on Friday from Wilson! It won't be country music this time.
To round out the show, we talk talk a little bit about Droid from Verizon, the company's first Google Android phone. Wilson still thinks the phone is a pretty ugly design, but that it may change the market around considering it's the first non-BlackBerry-Storm smartphone on the network. Still, Apple seems to be the one still innovating in the smart phone market.
In other news today, Kenley tells us that it's the 15th anniversary of the birth of Internet advertising. That's right on October 27th, 1994, Hot Wired ran the world's first banner ad, and surprisingly, it was pretty effective! Mark gets excited about the Tekken 6, while Wilson can't really tell the difference between Tekken 5 or Tekken 6. Jeff adds snidely, "Tekken 4." Think it's hot that Kenley likes to watch guys play videogames? Well send her a message as usual through voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638).
EPISODE 454
Listen now: Download today's podcastSubscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video
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Samsung Corby
(Credit: Samsung)Cell phone for tweens have never really caught on, not least because many kids reaching their preteen years these days have used cell phones since birth. Also, though parents may love the cost-saving features on the handsets, kids want something that's cool in the schoolyard.
Samsung, however, is undeterred in this quest. And to its credit, the new kid-friendly Corby may pass the coolness test. The design is very much a smaller version of Samsung's recent crop of touch-screen phones. You'll find a similar shape and a 262,000 touch-screen with Samsung's TouchWiz interface and a virtual keyboard. The Corby's front face is basic black, but it comes with interchangeable rear covers in yellow, white, orange, and pink for a bit of personalization.
Features include a 2-megapixel camera, a music player, messaging, a browser with one-finger zoom, a speakerphone, a MicroSD card slot, and apps for social-networking services like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.
The Corby is GSM quadband with support for EDGE, though Samsung is only releasing it in the European market at the time of this writing. Its initial price is 150 euros, or approximately $213.
(Source: Samsung via Phonescoop)
Badassery.
(Credit: TechEBlog)I had a fairly good shop program in high school (what's up, Tumwater T-Birds!). Instead of making rickety chairs for our mothers to injure themselves on, or fire-prone wooden ashtrays, our class concentrated on technology. That's where I got to play with my first industrial laser, built my first robotic arm, and designed my first circuit board. It was pretty great.
But not as great as the work of this kid, who, as a side project, built a six-round, bolt-action, high-powered coil gun. For those who don't play video games, a coil gun is an electronic weapon that uses a series of magnetic coils to accelerate a magnetic projectile--like a bullet--to a fast, destructive speed.
We're not sure what school this kid goes to, but that's not important. What we'd like to know is: which teacher signed off on the project that was likely titled "Making a magnetic silent death device"?
You can see a video of the thing in action at TechEBlog.
Specifically marketed with kids in mind, PeeWee PC is a site that offers not only kid-friendly PCs, but also laptops customized for your ever-growing child.
On Wednesday, PeeWee PC is rolling out the Atom-powered PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop. The 3-pound PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop--which is more of a tablet Netbook than a laptop--sports a rotating screen that converts between a normal notebook orientation and a touch tablet.
(Credit:
PeeWee PC)
Kids can use either a keyboard or an included stylus to interact with their favorite programs or games. The unit features a rugged, spill-resistant case that's designed to endure the bumps and knocks the younger generation has to offer. So, parents, when your child goes into a temper tantrum and flings the machine around, you might be knocked on your a**, but know that your investment has sustained the fall from your head to the floor.
Kidding aside, the PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop runs Windows XP on a 10-inch screen, 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM (upgradeable to 2GB) and a 60GB hard drive. In addition, the tablet has two USB 2.0 ports, an SD/MMC media card reader, a VGA port, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 1.3-megapixel Webcam. Reminiscent of Intel's Classmate PC in 2007, the Pivot Tablet has a carrying handle that's removed by taking out the battery and then removing the four screws that affix the handle.
The PeeWee Tablet Laptop ships with game titles for pre-K, early elementary, or upper elementary students, plus a free Walt Disney Windows XP theme, and a proprietary security suite so parents have complete control of how and when kids use the notebook--parents can also view browsing histories, block sites, take screenshots, and control the system remotely.
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Inchworm uses an accordian-like technology it calls iFit to grow with your kids' feet, and hopefully save some money and even the environment.
(Credit: Solent )Here's a stretch of an idea--shoes that grow with the child.
U.K.-based Fat Shoes Day--while not exactly a politically correct shop name--may just have a shoo-in with its InchWorm trainers. Taking a cue from expandable luggage bags and my favorite Tupperware collapsible FlatOut containers, these kiddie shoes utilize a technology called (in a nod to Apple) iFit.
The middle segment works like an accordion that can be extended with a button release. The result: a pair of shoes that will grow with the little tyke, in two half-size increments up to three sizes. How cool is that? Of course, there's the question of whether these trainers can tough out junior's abuse. Though if the shoe fits, this one could grow with, and on, you.
(Source: Crave Asia via Daily Mail)
Look, Chica is now all dressed up and ready to dance!
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)If you think getting your teenage or preteen kid an iPhone will spoil them, you are right. It sure will! But if you have a preschooler, there's now a good excuse to spoil yourself with one.
An excuse of possible better parenting, that is.
PBS Kids Sprout, the on-demand TV channel and online service for kids ages 2-5 and their parents, announced Thursday its two iPhone applications for preschoolers on the go, called Sprout Player and Dress Chica. These applications are the result of the collaboration between PBS Kids Sprout and New Wave Entertainment studio.
The Sprout Player is a video player application that streams 3- to 4-minute Sprout shows. The player offers simple audio instructions voiced by Kelly Vrooman, one of the hosts of Sprout's "Sunny Side Up Show" that airs every weekday morning.
The Player also includes an area where parents can view Sprout's programming schedule for upcoming events.
The Dress Chica application, on the other hand, is an extension of a popular online game currently featured on Sprout Online's Web site. The iPhone app allows you to touch and drag items of clothing onto Chica, the bird mascot of Sprout, to get her dressed.
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