FTC’s New Rules on Web Advertising to Kids

Posted on August 2, 2012 at 2:21 pm

The Federal Trade Commission is proposing new rules to better protect kids online, closing loopholes that still permit companies to gather personal information about kids despite a 1998 law that was supposed to prevent it. According to the Wall Street Journal:

The rules could affect popular features such as Facebook Inc.’s “Like” button, as well as new social networks for playing games on smartphones. Websites aimed at children already have to get parental consent before gathering information—such as name and email address—from users under 13 years old. But the original law, known as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, hasn’t adapted to advances in Web technology and marketing. Those advances have allowed so-called third parties to gather data without parents’ knowing. For example, some iPhone games popular with kids, include the option to join social networks that collect personal data from users without asking for a parent’s permission. An investigation by The Wall Street Journal in 2010 found that popular children’s websites installed more data-gathering technology on computers than websites aimed at adults.

The Commission is asking for comments and is certain to get many from companies who want to continue to have access to this lucrative data from children. I hope they get some from parents, too.

Dr. Toy’s Recommendations for Vacation Play

Posted on June 26, 2012 at 3:56 pm

Dr. Toy’s Best Vacation Children’s Products for 2012 report is now available to parents, teachers, caregivers, grandparents, and others responsible for children. As children enjoy the summer, these toys will help them play safely with toys that stretch their imaginations and curiousityat home, when traveling, and while on vacation.

Dr. Toy’s Best Vacation Children’s Products Awards were developed by noted child development authority, Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. (a.k.a. Dr. Toy) to help consumers purchase safe, affordable, educationally-oriented, stimulating toys and play products for children for vacation time for use at home or on the road.

Dr. Toy says, “The Best Vacation Products 2012 are an excellent selection from large, small, new and established, companies across the U.S.A., Canada, and around the world and will provide children with exciting new learning tools that will help them not only do better in school, but also will provide more constructive activities while at home, traveling or at vacation destinations. Parents need more help to get a head start locating new, quality, diversified products that children will enjoy as they increase learning skills and expand creativity.” The products range from low to high tech for “hours of constructive, educational, and stimulating fun. Children learn best through play,” says Dr. Auerbach, “and these Best Vacation Products encourage children to maximize their potential and make the most of Smart Play. By making a renewed focus on Summertime as a special time for choosing new products for children, parents help to improve their children’s development. This is a perfect time for parents to ‘take stock, ‘ do an inventory of what their children are playing with, what is not being used, and what they need next in their development.”

I especially enjoyed reading about Chef Cuckoo!, a board game that is fun to play as it helps kids learn about healthy food choices while they compete for the tastiest — or yuckiest — meals.

The toys in the report are reviewed for: safety, age-appropriateness, design, durability, lasting play value, cultural and ethnic diversity, good transition from home to school, educational value, learning skills, creativity, improvement in the understanding of the community and the world, good value for price, and, naturally, fun. There are products suitable for babies to older children, products from hand-crafted to hi-tech, ranging in price on the average from $10 to $50. The winning vacation products are affordable, well designed, and reflect the wide range of children’s interests. And she has an iPhone app to help shoppers, too.

Reading Rainbow is Back — As an App

Posted on June 22, 2012 at 3:30 pm

One of my all-time favorite television shows for children was the PBS series “Reading Rainbow,” with LeVar Burton and a bunch of kids talking about the books they loved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6j8EiWIVZs

It’s back, now as an app that encourages kids to read and provides them with access to e-versions of some of the best in children’s literature.

Designed for children 3-9 years of age, the App delivers a library of hundreds of curated books and all new videos presented in a world of adventure and discovery. Traveling to themed islands, such as Animal Kingdom, My Friends, My Family and Genius Academy, kids find a variety of books and videos customized to their age and interests. The App brings together books from numerous acclaimed children’s publishers. Each book comes alive with audio storytelling by celebrity actors, including spoken word Grammy winner Burton himself, and features light animations and related activities to enhance the story. Similar to the original series, children journey with Burton on exciting real-life adventures. These in-app video field trips connect the stories children read to the world they live in and use a combination of newly produced video as well as classic segments from the TV show.

The App’s many features include a reward system in which children earn digital stickers to motivate a continued exploration of books and frequent reading. For parents, ReadingRainbow.com offers a companion website and dashboard to get updates regarding time their child spent reading, books read and suggestions for new stories based on the child’s interests. “Family Reading Time” hints provide opportunities to discuss themes and lessons explored in each book.

At launch, the App will include 150 books and 16 video field trips. New content will be added to the service on a regular and frequent schedule expanding the library, themes and topics children can explore.

“We’re excited to offer a safe experience designed just for kids,” notes Asra Rasheed, RRKidz CEO. “We’ve created an easy-to-use subscription service for parents, allowing them to unlock the extensive Reading Rainbow library books and videos without the worry of approving and purchasing each item separately.” The Reading Rainbow App is free for download on the iPad and includes the ability to fully explore the App, the islands, videos and to select one book to read. The subscription is now available for a limited-time introductory price of $9.99 a month or $29.99 for six months at the App Store.

Kevin Smith’s new “Spoilers” Show on Hulu

Posted on June 5, 2012 at 8:00 am

Writer/director/actor Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Life Free or Die Hard”) has a new web series about movie on Hulu called “Spoilers.” He brings a group to a new movie and they discuss it, and he also interviews guests and does some animated skits. For the first episode they saw “Snow White and the Huntsman” and Carrie Fisher comes over to sit in “the high chair” and talk about how much fun she had decapitating Jabba the Hutt. Smith is a huge movie fan and he loves interacting with the crowd. And yes, Jay (Jason Mewes) shows up, too. NOTE: as its title suggests, the show is best watched after seeing the movie.

Related Tags:

Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps

Fandor’s Primer on Horror

Posted on May 14, 2012 at 8:00 am

Fandor, the terrific new site for watching “essential films instantly” has a great primer on horror by Dennis Harvey, which reminded me of the superb exhibit on the history of horror film I saw at the EMP Museum in Seattle earlier this year. I’m not a fan of watching horror but I do enjoy the theories and history of the genre and Harvey’s essay on “bringing the uncanny to celluloid life” is lively, insightful, and a lot of fun to read. He puts the films of each era in the context of their time and describes luminaries like Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff, along with the monster films of the atomic/drive-in era. psychological thrillers like “Psycho,” slasher films, vampires, and zombies.

More horror films are produced each year today than probably ever before. From major studio releases to the most shoestring direct-to-download fan project, a majority are clock-punching exercises that recycle familiar ideas without much inspiration—and sometimes without much competence, either. Still, there have been encouraging signs, like the deployment of horror tropes in critically lauded, genre-defying films from around the world like del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Lars von Trier’s Antichrist and Chan-wook Park’s Thirst.

Then there are the number of talented rising directors who’ve emerged from indie roots and so far managed to avoid being homogenized by their variable degrees of commercial success. That would include Brits Neil Marshall (The Descent, Doomsday), James Watkins (Eden Lake, Woman in Black) and Christopher Smith (Severance, Black Death). Yanks worth watching include Ti West (House of the Devil, The Innkeepers), Adam Wingard (Pop Skull, You’re Next) and the three writer-directors behind The Signal (David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry). Farther afield, Australia’s Sean Byrne and Mexico’s Jorge Michel Grau have made such promising first features—The Loved Ones and We Are What We Are, respectively)—that one can hardly wait to see what they do next.

Cinematic history has seen a few once-invincible genres fade from favor, like the musical and western. Yet it seems safe to say that horror will endure as long as the medium itself exists. At the very least, it offers the comfort of schadenfreude in bleak times: No matter how bad the environment, economy, political landscape and whatnot gets, there will always be celluloid monsters and madmen to reassure us that things could indeed be even worse.