I just tested a product that I love, but there’s no way that I’d recommend it unless you have more money than you know what to do with.The product is the Panasonic DMP-BD10 — a very nice Blu-ray high-definition DVD player. The picture quality is incredible, especially if you’re watching DVDs encoded for Blu-ray on a 1080p high-definition TV, but even standard DVDs look a bit better because of the way it “up converts” the resolution.

However, there are two major problems. It’s overpriced and there isn’t yet a single industrywide standard for high-definition DVDs.

As anyone who follows the high-def DVD market knows, there are two competing standards — Blu-ray and HD DVD — and, with one exception, players designed for one format don’t work with discs encoded for the other format. (more…)

As this BBC story explains, social networking is going mobile.  This has interesting implications when you consider that people have their cell phones with them at all times.  Expect less text and more graphics, video and audio as people find ways to update their profiles from bars, amassment parks or wherever they happen to be.

There are some interesting safety implications, of course, but also some very exciting opportunities.  If you think MySpace made a stir, wait till Congress figures out that kids can blog from wherever they happen to be, usually far from adult supervision.

Link to BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click | Mobile talk moves to Web 2.0

This is a long way from being major competition for Microsoft, but it certainly is an example of how the web can change everything. The days of “big software” probably are limited though it will be awhile before people are weaned off Microsoft Office.

Link to Google to sell online software suite - Yahoo! News

NetSmartz411.org advises parents

by Larry Magid
Special to the Mercury News

Most of the time I write about gadgets or fun Web sites, but today’s column is about a more serious topic: Keeping your kids safe on the Internet.

While I think that some of the “online predator” dangers have been overstated, there are nevertheless risks that every parent should consider before they let their children or teens surf the Web or even carry a cell phone. No reason to panic, only a tiny number of children each year are victimized by adult predators. (more…)

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is launching a new Web site to answer parents’ questions about Internet safety and computers. The free service features an interactive knowledge-base where parents can use natural language search to find information. If that’s not enough, there’s an “ask the experts” button that lets parents type in a question which will be answered by e-mail by real-life analysts at the center’s Alexandria, Va., headquarters.

Separately, the organization formerly known as ICRA — Internet Content Rating Association — announced on Tuesday that it’s re-launching itself as the Family Online Safety Institute, a Washington and London-based think tank to promote research and discussion about keeping kids safe online.

In the interest of disclosure, I am involved without compensation with both these groups. I serve on the advisory board of FOSI and spoke at its launch event in Washington this week. I’m also on the board of directors of NCMEC. (more…)

My good friend Anne Collier, my co-author of MySpace Unraveled and my co-director of BlogSafety.com publishes a very nice newsletter about family tech news. Here’s the TOC of her latest issue.

• Teen child-porn convictions upheld
• Court dismissed suit against MySpace
• Two new online-safety projects
• Proposed IL law: Ban social sites
• Teacher’s controversial porn conviction
• Teen dating abuse: Study, hotline
• Acting out for the videocam
• Social media in the biz world
• Get the family PC patched
• New site for girls
• Mobile-socializing numbers

Read the 2/16 issue in full

Subscribe to email newsletter

I’m in Washington DC today helping to launch the Family Online Safety Institute. For details, see this AP story

By DIBYA SARKAR
AP BUSINESS WRITER

WASHINGTON — The explosion of social networking sites such as MySpace.com and Second Life, along with free video sharing sites like YouTube.com, is making it increasingly difficult to protect children surfing the Internet, says Stephen Balkam, who founded a voluntary Web site rating system seven years ago.

by Larry Magid
Special to the Mercury News

With the explosion of services like YouTube, video is all the rage. But few of us are ambitious or outgoing enough to create and post our own on the Web.

Let’s face it, creating and editing video is hard, especially if you want it to look even remotely professional. Of course, YouTube has taught us that video doesn’t have to be professional to get attention. From a production value point of view, many of the most popular videos are downright terrible.

Also, not all of us want to create video for the masses. We might just want to share it with a single person or a small group of friends and family.

Eyejot, which debuted at the DEMO Conference earlier this month, is offering a free and easy-to-use service that lets anyone with a Webcam instantly create, send or even post their own video. It can be used for personal messages or to create a video message to post to a MySpace profile or a Web page.

(more…)

More than a dozen years ago I wrote a booklet for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children called Child Safety on the Information Highway. Millions of copies are in print and countless people have seen it online. The first item in the child safety rules was “I will not give out personal information such as my address, telephone number, parents’ work address/telephone number, or the name and location of my school without my parents’ permission.” But new research suggests that my Rule No.1 may have been an overstatement.

I still don’t think anyone should give out their home address or phone number in a public forum, but it’s also important to face the reality of how today’s youth are using social networks and consider new data that suggest that as far as sexual solicitation is concerned, there are greater risks than disclosing personal information.

David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes against Children Research Center
at the University of New Hampshire, said that a recent study conducted by his center “suggests the need for a somewhat different approach to Internet safety education.” The study, said Finkelhor, “finds that giving out personal information online (one of the key prevention strategies emphasized in safety education) does not really increase a youth’s risk for sexual solicitation.” The emphasis, instead, should be about “making a lot of online acquaintances and talking with them about sex.” The study appeared in the February issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

(more…)

Samsung has introduced a phone that looks a lot like the Apple iPone with the added advantage of having a pull out keyboard. It’s unclear to me whether this is a copy or if they were working on it before Apple announced. It would be hard to imagine a company like Samsung being able to copy Apple so quickly so I’m guessing this was in the works. For details see this AP story

photo provided by Samsung