Digital Kids

After a long silence from Google on the kids front, the search giant is now regularly raising its hand to help children's advocates on the Internet.

Google said Monday that it has built custom video and image search technology for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The organization will use the technology to help identify and track down child pornographers at a faster rate, according the nonprofit. The group's analysts will use the technology to "sort and identify files that contain images of child pornography victims."

"Criminals are using cutting-edge technology to commit … Read more

The rules that limit Web sites and marketers from collecting data on kids under 13 may spread to teens as old as 18 if a group of child advocates has its way.

The group--which includes the American Academy of Pediatrics, Children Now, and the Center for Digital Democracy--plans to ask the Federal Trade Commission on Friday to establish rules that will help protect teens from data collection and targeted marketing while they socialize on sites like MySpace and Facebook.

If heeded, the proposal could put a crimp in social networks' plans to tailor online advertisements to teen behaviors. Facebook, for … Read more

For parents, enticing kids to do their chores is often about making deals--a trade of sorts, like taking out the trash for extra time watching TV.

For George Zachary and his 10-year-old stepdaughter, that real-world exchange happens online through a site called Handipoints, a digital chore-list manager for parents and their kids. The Web site lets parents set a list of tasks for their children--like washing the dishes or filling the dog's bowl--and kids can rack up points for completing the list. With enough points, children can cash them in for digital gear in the site's virtual world, … Read more

Google is making its first public relations play for parents.

On Tuesday, the search company will unveil a new Family Safety Guide, a parent's resource for kids' safety online. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google also teamed with the media-awareness group Common Sense Media to produce an online video called "A common sense approach to Internet safety." The video will be featured on the guide page, on YouTube, and throughout the video-on-demand services provided by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox (which are partners of Common Sense.)

Of course, Google has long offered technology and resources for parents. … Read more

Few YouTube videos are age-appropriate for a toddler or a pre-teen. And even fewer parents will take the time to find that dinosaur-related clip amid a slew of music and college-partying videos.

But a new Web company aims to do the work for parents. KidZui, a subscription-based browser that will cost parents $9.95 a month or $99.95 a year, offers a cordoned-off Internet for kids that features hundreds of thousands of reviewed sites, images and video for kids age 3 to 12. KidZui (pronounced kid-ZOO-ee) plans to open its service Wednesday after roughly three years of development.

"… Read more

Brazilian schoolchildren aren't the only ones not waiting around for the much-delayed One Laptop Per Child computer--many kids are turning to alternatives right in the USA.

Non-profit Innovations for Learning today launched the "Teachermate" in Chicago public schools, a $50 handheld device that it calls "the world's most affordable solution for providing one computer to every student in a classroom." It's obviously not the most powerful handheld, but it should be plenty for the kids in kindergarten through second grade for whom it is intended, with a 2.5-inch color LCD, built-in microphone … Read more

In the wake of a nasty spat with former partner Intel, a reorganization, and mounting criticism, Nicholas Negroponte is looking for a chief executive for his One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization, according to BusinessWeek.

He wants someone to help manage the organization "more like Microsoft," according to the article, rather than like the "terrorist group, doing impossible things" it's been until now.

"I am not a CEO," OLPC Chairman Negroponte said in an interview with the magazine. "Management, administration, and details are my weaknesses. I'm much better at the vision, … Read more

I have always enjoyed and admired David Pogue's tech journalism at The New York Times, but I was disturbed by his recent piece "How Dangerous Is the Internet for Children?" which I believe dangerously minimizes the seriousness of the challenges that online life poses for families.

Pogue sets out to write a corrective narrative to what he perceives as a media-overhyped fear of online pedophiles luring children out of their homes, but in the process he discounts other reasonable concerns. The resulting commentary overreacts to the overreactions.

He talks about a mother becoming "hysterical when her 8-year-old stumbled onto a pornographic photo," and reassures us that his 7-year-old was not harmed by accidentally finding doctored "naked" photos of the animated characters The Incredibles.

"Naked pictures" covers a lot of ground, from a National Geographic photo to hard-core pornography. The type of image, extent of exposure, and intent are all relevant in deciding how harmful the experience has been. Pogue's example is not necessarily typical. As I have reported previously, I have spoken to several families whose young sons have been shown explicit, violent pornography by their 8-year-old peers. This was an incredibly upsetting experience for everyone involved.

Additionally, molesters use pornography and exposure to sexuality in many forms, including explicit online conversations, to desensitize and groom their victims.… Read more

DUBLIN, Ireland--It knows when you are sleeping. It knows when you're awake.

"It" is neither Santa Claus nor a monster in the closet. Rather, it's technology from Dublin-based BiancaMed that can track and analyze a person's sleep and night-breathing patterns without disturbing the sleeper, said CTO Philip de Chazal. In contrast with some sleep analysis systems used in laboratories, the person doesn't need to wear electrodes or lie on a plastic pad. Instead, a wireless device tracks the sleeper's movements.

Software devised by BiancaMed separates the signals corresponding to breathing and other body … Read more