Dear Subscribers:
Because we suspect many of you, like us, will have a few turkey-related things on your mind next week, the newsletter will be on vacation for Thanksgiving. We'll be back in your email box December 3. Until then, here's wishing all the American Thanksgiving-celebrators among you a wonderful holiday. (We have subscribers in more than a dozen countries!) Here's our lineup for this third week of November:
- Web News Briefs: Bubbleboy; AOL's online family findings; Twist on political ads; Web convergence; Top-drawer distance learning?; Access to record moguls; Bill's box
- Talking Turkey Day
- For aspiring e-shopkeepers
- PBS's teacher resource: A followup
- From subscribers: Pokemon answers
* * * * Web News Briefs
- Bubbleboy
You may have heard about this new computer virus that can establish itself even before the email in which it arrives is opened. Well, this useful Wired News piece sheds light by explaining how it works and even telling us what we need to do to immunize.
- AOL's online family findings
Sixty-three percent of US 9- to 17-year-olds prefer going online to watching TV, and 55% to talking on the phone, according to a new AOL/Roper Starch survey. And 79% say that, on average, they're online at least an hour a day. They do so primarily to communicate, the study shows:
- Letters or notes to friends (must be via email, though the wording's confusing) - 59%.
- Instant messages - 52%
- Letters or notes to relatives (36%)
Young people's other favorite online activities include playing games (48%) and researching "rock stars or music groups" (35%). The study, which can be downloaded in full from the AOL site, says that "the online world is emerging as a central part of family life," and more than 80% of parents have gone online with their children. Other findings in the grownup part of the survey: 83% say that if they no longer had online access, they would miss it; 75% say that being online has made their life better; 77% report that they have encouraged family or friends to join them online; and 73% say it is important for adults to know how to go online and use the Internet.
- New twist on political ads
The Freedom Channel just might be appropriately named - if it means freedom from the usual paid-political-advertising fare. According to the New York Times, it is the brainchild of a man who spent 20 years making political candidates' TV ads - sometimes the nasty kind. Now, Republican political consultant Doug Bailey has teamed up with Democratic consultant Roger Craver to harness the power of the Internet and create a service that can really help voters make informed decisions. They're putting "no-frills video clips of candidates calmly stating their positions" in a Web site. Backers include the Freedom Forum, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, and the Carnegie Foundation, and funding collected so far will keep the site up through the 2000 election season.
- Signs of convergence
A landmark case for both the Internet and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was filed last week. According to the New York Times, it asks the tough question of whether cyberspace - and specifically AOL - represents a "place of public accommodation" under the law that protects the rights of the disabled. If the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston decides the answer is yes, then AOL and maybe other ISPs and Web sites will have to follow the ADA's strict rules for accommodating the blind and other disabled people. The case was brought by the National Federation of the Blind. It will be fascinating to see if the law applies to non-physical spaces. Stay tuned.
In other AOL news, a sign of media convergence: "Television viewers think more highly of Internet service America Online than they do of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox," according to a study cited in USAToday.
- Top-drawer distance learning?
You might call it a distance-learning aggregator. Or an Ivy League portal? The site is called UNext.com, for the next version of a university education, we suppose. "Cardean," an online MBA program to be unveiled early next year, is its first project. UNext president Donald Norman, a former professor in the U. of California system, is collaborating with professors and schools the likes of Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Chicago, and the London School of Economics to develop this online business curriculum, according to Wired News. What the partner schools get out of this, apparently, is the opportunity to "supplement their catalogs with point-and-click courses" and "market their distance-learning programs to larger audiences."
In other ed news, the New York Times reports that "all over the country, student sites created off-campus are setting off disputes between educators and students." One example is a case in which a student and his parents are suing his high school for expelling him. He was expelled because of the contents of his personal Web site, which he created at home, the Times reports. They're asking for "at least $1 million in damages."
- Access to record moguls
First there was GarageBand.com (see our item about it), soon there'll be FarmClub.com. It's a "new digital record company launched by Seagram's Universal Music Group," according to the New York Post. Fresh evidence, perhaps, that the data AOL's survey turned up - that "online music attracts nearly two-thirds of 18-24-year-old Net consumers" - is true. And in other evidence, FarmClub.com CEO Jimmy Iovine is co-chairman of Interscope, Geffen, and A&M Records (whew!). Iovine says the site will actually be a hybrid Internet company/record label/TV show. Due to launch February 1, the site will allow artists to digitally submit their recordings to Universal record executives. The Post says Universal will choose who it wants for the regular record company or the "cyber label," then pick a few to be showcased on a USA Networks weekly TV show and promoted on AOL and MTV.
And mega-music sites are beginning to pay musicians whose music they provide. According to the New York Times, a new business model is afoot to pay musicians a few cents every time their piece is downloaded. Mp3.com and a new site called AMP3.com are leading the charge. The move "highlights the scramble for a viable business model in the online music scene, one of the most dynamic areas of the Internet," the Times reports.
- Bill's box
Gates/Comdex/Internet box (MS's "Web Companion"/Internet box/"appliance") "Internet appliances" - cheap or free computers that do virtually nothing but connect people to the Net - come and go in the US media. They were back in the spotlight this week, with an announcement by Bill Gates at the huge high-tech industry Comdex conference in Las Vegas this week. According to CompuServe News, Gates said Microsoft's "Web Companion" Internet box will come out late next year. It will be most useful, he said, in homes that have "multiple devices accessing the Internet from every room." CompuServe quotes analysts saying the Internet box will follow the old cellular-phone-service business model, where the appliance is free to the consumer and basically sells the service it access. So it would follow that Microsoft will use its Web Companion to pump life into the Microsoft Network.
Selling its own Internet box might be good for another part of Microsoft too: shoring up its Windows CE operating system. According to News.com, the company's efforts to spread the use of Windows CE to gadgets (like hand-held computers) is "not faring well."
And non-Microsoft Internet boxes were just as newsworthy this week, according to a Comdex report by ABCNEWS.com. ABC says that the focus for this category is ease of use - both Internet use and computer use. "One of every two American homes has a personal computer, and most of those have Internet access. At the Comdex trade show … the talk is about getting the other half online." CompuServe.com has a similar story. This might be good for all you teenagers out there who are providing tech support for your parents and grandparents! Do email us - via feedback@netfamilynews.org - is this is your family's experience. :-)
* * * * Talking turkeys
From a downloadable turkey screensaver to dinner-table games to a Thank-a-thon, FamilyEducation.com has a "Cornucopia" of pages dedicated to Thanksgiving.
The Thanksgiving Thank-a-thon is a creative way to leverage Web power. FamilyEducation will donate a nickel to Big Brothers Big Sisters America for every thank you a user sends to a friend, family member, teacher, etc. And there are "incentives" for being thankful (not sure how everybody will feel about that): The Thank-a-thon is actually a contest with prizes (only adults can submit notes written by people under age 12). Thank yous and email addresses are submitted in the site's forum area.
There's a lot to check out for anyone thinking of adding some new "traditions" to favorite family celebrations. Recipes include easy dishes for kids to prepare. And there's a "host" of links to other great Thanksgiving sites and resources on the Web.
* * * * For aspiring e-shopkeepers
Oxygen.com, the women's portal that is soon to include a cable channel, recently struck a smart deal. In a joint effort with e-commerce enabler Bigstep.com, Oxygen will allow users to build their own e-shops for free. According to News.com, it's a move by Oxygen to tap into "the largest sector of small-business owners: women." News.com cites a US Small Business Administration figure that says women own 40% of all businesses in the US. The new, co-branded service will "live" in Oxygen's Ka-Ching financial section and will enable users to build and manage their businesses, create product catalogs, send customer newsletters, analyze site traffic, and accept online credit-card payments. If any of you embark on such a Web adventure, we'd love to hear about how it goes. Just email us about it - via feedback@netfamilynews.org.
* * * * Teacher feature: A followup
Our writeup earlier this month of new Web resources for teachers was a little early for PBS Online. We included their TeacherSource, but the full upgrade only just launched this week.
Teachers, it's worth bookmarking - especially if you fold PBS television programming into your lesson plans. PBS has been smart about knitting the two media together in this site. It leverages both the global, one-stop-shopping nature of the Web and the local power of individual PBS stations across the US. One way it does that is by "providing easier access to curriculum, professional development, and community resources provided by PBS stations across the country."
TeacherSource also offers a growing database of more than a thousand free lesson plans tied to state and national curriculum standards and "Teacher Previews". The latter is a free email newsletter that lets teachers know about "educator-focused Web content" and PBS programming "with extended taping rights."
This site illustrates something we're seeing: that the best Web sites are only the "skin" of an organization or service. They sit on top of and give users access to all that's going on offline and throughout the organization. The site publishers who know that are very integrated into the business, and just get better and better at leveraging the corporate strengths that they know well. It's fun to see this happening more and more on the Web. We love it when you send us examples of your own favorite sites. Email us, via feedback@netfamilynews.org, a URL and your comments any time (always tell us why you like the site, if you'd like us to publish its address).
* * * * Pokemon: Need we say more?
Last week we published a subscriber's questions about the Pokemon phenomenon, inviting you to share your expertise and experiences. We thank Susan and Cindy for theirs:
- Subscriber Susan in California:
"This is in response to your posting about Pokemon. Pokemon started as a Nintendo Game Boy game and then later became a TV program. It has been on TV in Japan for several years or more. I don't believe there is anything 'occult' about it.
"The trading cards is really a card game. However, only kids that are about 9 or 10 and above know how to play it. The younger ones merely trade with other kids. Pokemon has been around our area for some time, so it has lost a lot of the 'shine.' Of course, with new cards coming out, the new movie and the Burger King toy giveaway, it has picked up a bit. Still, you don't see kids running around everywhere with their binders in hand like we used to (about six months ago you couldn't go anywhere without seeing kids lugging their binders around). This is a 'fad' just like Beanie Babies - do you think they are part of a cult too? I think they were a lot worse. When you have grown women begging strangers to buy them beanie babies because of the buying limits imposed, that is pretty fanatical.
"Wizards.com is a company that just purchased Gamekeepers (which was a toy/board game shop in major malls, at least here in California). I don't see anything cynical about their Web site.
"We shouldn't create problems where there isn't any. Remember, 'Don't sweat the small stuff.' There is no hidden agenda to steal our kids and turn them into pocket monsters!!! My six-year-old son loves Pokemon (and of course, my three-year-old son likes it too), but they don't beg me for the cards anymore. And when they do want a booster pack, they have to buy it with their own money. My kids love soccer, Pooh Bear, t-ball, basketball, Arthur, and Dragontales (both on PBS) - just to mention a few things. Pokemon is a small part of their lives - they have a lot of interests. By the way, my kids do not watch the Pokemon TV show. Don't make a 'big deal' out of this Pokemon craze. It too shall pass!"
- Subscriber Cindy in West Virginia:
"I believe that anything can become that way, if you as parents let it. The Pokemon are just cards and figures. Like Barbie or Cabbage Patch or even Beanie Babies, it is in how the parents deal with it. I listen and sometimes collect a few cards with him. So it is some together time. Then I spend time with my daughter and her favorite thing to do - puzzles or a book or art. God Bless. Your friend, Cindy."
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