The Education Arcade - a consortium of educators, policymakers, game developers, and gaming publishers - wants to help parents looking for value beyond entertainment. The group has launched a "games for learning" seal-of-approval program, the Toronto Globe & Mail reports. "Beyond labels, the group hopes to persuade game companies to make more educational games. It could be a tough sell, though, in … [Read more...] about Checking video games’ ed value
Sasser kid: He did it for mom?!
Here's hoping no other mother's teenage son supports her career in quite this way! The Verdun, Germany, prosecutor's office said it was possible that 18-year-old Sven Jaschan's motive for creating the Sasser worm that "caused chaos around the world ... may have been to drum up business for his mother." Sven's mom and stepfather run a computer tech-support business, Reuters reports. The boy "could … [Read more...] about Sasser kid: He did it for mom?!
Rapid growth in hate sites: New study
To a parent, this means our kids can encounter hate and bigotry - sometimes graphically depicted - on the Web as easily as pornography. SurfControl, a UK-based Net-filtering company that monitors thousands of Web sites in this category, found that the number of hate and violence sites has increased 25% just since January, and 300% since 2000, The Register reports. SurfControl says it was … [Read more...] about Rapid growth in hate sites: New study
Sasser kid caught
It took a week for law enforcement to find at least one of the alleged creators (notice all those qualifiers) of the latest Net scourge, and he's a teenager. Either police are getting faster, or international cooperation better, but he appears to have been an 18-year-old German high school student was arrested last Friday and later released, having admitted to creating the Sasser worm that … [Read more...] about Sasser kid caught
No more 99 cents/tune?
Young music fans may increasingly be hitting up Mom or Dad for "legit" downloads, witness iTunes's latest news. Apple "has now signed agreements with EMI, Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), Sony, Universal, and Warner that will see prices on some songs rise from 99c to $1.25, an increase of over 26%" - lower, at least than the $2.99 the labels had been pushing for, The Register reports. As for album … [Read more...] about No more 99 cents/tune?