The Vietnam war is sometimes described as the first TV war.  By this they mean it is the first war that was heavily influenced by TV.  The standard analysis goes like this …  The Americans at home could see what the war was like, in horrible technicolour – and they didn’t like it. A lack of [...]

I recently provided some information for an article in a weekend paper, which I’ll reproduce in full here. The question was basically – at what age are young people ready for different technologies. Its a good question, and one that many parents would be asking themselves. The problems is – its not possible to create a technology vs age readiness table that has any real value.

Symantec released some research today. Whenever you release something like that , you pray for a slow news day so that you might get decent media coverage. The All Whites drew at the World Cup – so nobody cares about anything else.  The research was released worldwide, and we know they’re already trying to forget the [...]

A few days ago, I was on the verge of quitting Facebook. This was not about privacy. Facebook was in the throws of more bad press related to privacy, but it wasn’t that. The problem is, it’s all a bit – well, not what I want.
Maybe its my fault.  I’m hardly ever there. If my Facebook [...]

This is my message to Farmvilleplayers. I see how much you like Farmville. I see you fitting your other activities around the needs of your virtual farm.
I see you have become the people you used to mock.  
I’m not going to take this opportunity to explore what exactly attracts you to a gardening simulation game. Its [...]

Today, Hectors Worldlaunched a new resource. A paper webcam cover. Two actually. One for external webcams and one for the type that is built into screens.
At this point you may be wondering why you’d have a paper webcam cover.
Well. Firstly, I can explain why they’re made of paper. It takes kids too long to crochet. The Hector ones [...]

A report from Becta looks at how computer games can be beneficial and what needs to be done to maximise that opportunity.

Last week, two interesting things happened on the filtering front. Firstly, the NetSafe group held a meeting which included presentations from the DIA and InternetNZ about how the DIA’s filter might impact safety. Two days later, Tv3 ran a story about the results of the filter trial (which they had obtained through an Official Information Act Request) [...]

The activation of a high level Child Abuse Imagery filter almost certainly changes the cyber safety landscape. In our role as cyber safety community coordinator, we need to get a better handle around what those changes will actually be.

Consumer Focus, the UK government-backed watchdog is critical of the music industry for failing to promote legal music download services – and linking it to high rates of music piracy. I think they’re wrong.