Category: News & Trends

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Teaching Your Kids About Piracy

I just found out this weekend that two of my kids had just started to download named star’s music from YouTube.com. They had found music videos and had used YouTube MP3 converter software, which they had downloaded free, to strip the music file from the video; essentially getting music for free. Yikes! Not only is downloading anything from the YouTube.com website a direct violation of YouTube’s terms of service, but it is plain and simple stealing song revenue from the artist.

I took immediate action and removed the software and removed the songs from their music players and computers. As I had a talk about piracy with all four of my kids and the reality of what could happen, some topics came up which I thought I would share as you consider if you should have this same talk with your kids.

1. They all said they did not know this was a violation on YouTube.com. I took time to show all four kids where to find the terms of use in the footer and encouraged them to always take time to read this before they assumed that they could do anything they wanted with the content.

2. One child asked “if is is illegal, why did the software maker create a program that allows people to do something illegal?” Well, that actually is a very good question, and truthfully I don’t know why YouTube and other sites don’t make a real effort to squash this type of free software. My question back to my kids was “just because you can, doesn’t make it right does it?”

I made a deal with my kids that I would help them buy music in a legitimate way and that music piracy keeps our favorite artist from making more music that we will love when we steal music from them. That’s what piracy is, it is stealing and our kids need to know that. For us music piracy simply does not match our family values.

Do you know how your kids are getting their music? If you haven’t asked, it’s time that you did. You may be as surprised as I was to find out that they thought what they were doing was okay.

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MySpace Vs Facebook

MySpace is a favorite for most high school kids. I was there once but now that I am in college I seem to use MySpace less and less and spend most of my time on Facebook. I used to like MySpace because you could have a fancy background and put your favorite songs on your page.

As I have come to see, it is MySpace that’s struggling to keep up with Facebook, especially in the games and application department. Facebook has always had games and cool features, but when I first made an account on Facebook back in the 11th grade I found it to be more complicated and confusing and stuck with Myspace. But I could only notice that less and less of my friends were using MySpace and had all moved to Facebook. So I made the move as well.

Once I got used to Facebook I noticed all the great features that MySpace was lacking such as, the easy to use chat window and the ability to tag photos of friends. MySpace has tagging photos available now, but it doesn’t matter I never use MySpace.

Also Facebook had entertaining little games you could play like Mob Wars and Speed Racing. When I made the move to Facebook I found so many more people I knew because they were older and didn’t use MySpace. All the kids I knew that went off to college were on there. Adults like family members were on Facebook as well.

I think my favorite tool on Facebook is the networking tool I used it to join my college network and it helps me find people I know that also attend my school. And now you can put your favorite songs on Facebook just like MySpace, so it is all around better in my eyes.

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Grand Theft Auto 4, Is It Appropriate For Kids?

Grand Theft Auto 4 is a fun game if you’re the right age. Most parents care if their children are playing games with violence, sex, cursing, and drugs so I feel it is good idea to let people know that Grand Theft Auto 4 has all of these aspects.

These aspects do not occasionally pop up, but are present at all times in the game – they are inescapable. In the game, you are a Russian mobster that has many jobs, from selling drugs to being a hit man. Your player does refuse to use drugs when presented, but he does sell drugs to others. When you are walking the streets you can kill any civilian or steal any car. The game also encourages you to kill police officers.

Grand Theft Auto 4 also allows you to get drunk, fall over, and have all the effects of real drinking including the ability to drive while drunk. As in real life, the effects of drinking impair your driving skills. You automatically swerve and hit people walking on the sidewalks.

I do not feel that video games affect children’s actions adversely although some people may disagree, as when I was a child I would play games with these themes. I never had the impulse to go kill anyone or do drugs. But, I do understand that if a parent feels that a game will influence their child they should know about the game before they buy it or allow it to be played.

I would strongly caution parents to play this game before their children do just to be sure that they know what is going on first.

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What I Like About Xbox Live

Xbox live is something most every Xbox and Xbox 360 owner has or if they don’t should have. It’s a fun way to meet new people and show your skills in specific games online. It allows you to compete with others, and prove you are the best. Everyone loves a little competition, right?

I happen to love playing Halo 2 online and when I’m at my friend’s place I play Halo 3. I love the competitive nature of the game and the “trash talking” that takes place before and after a game. You can hear some pretty outlandish things! People are always trying to come up with a logical reason for why they lost that excludes the other opponent simply being a better player.

Xbox Live has many features for you to enjoy including the microphone so you can talk to other players. Xbox Live for old Xbox is different than Xbox Live for the 360. The old Xbox Live is much simpler but has less features.

Xbox Live for 360 has options including a new point system called Microsoft points. These points can be bought with money and allow you to make new gamer tags and download new demos for up and coming games. Also all games for Xbox 360 are Live compatible unlike the old Xbox. This means you can talk with friends and receive messages on the game, even if you are unable to play the game online.