More and more kids are playing online games these days, even children as young as 2 are now familiar with gaming. Kids are definitely hooked with these games – especially extreme violent ones that are oftentimes top-sellers. Children are also increasing their time in front of the computer thus ruling out other recreational activities offline. Research shows that kids are spending approximately a maximum of 13 hours per week on playing online. The sad fact is, most of these games are of violent nature and with violence comes the possibility of thrusting the child to aggression in the real world.

So what should parents do? Below are top things parents should put to mind and check before giving your child the go signal.

• Before your kids start playing online, be sure your computer has the right activated security suite: firewall, anti-spyware and anti-virus software for protection.

• Check a game’s ESRB rating before letting your child play, but keep in mind that the rating doesn’t reflect user-generated content that children come upon during online play. Stated below are rules by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board regarding video games/online games:
- EC stands for “early childhood.” This means that games in this category are suitable for ages 3 and up. Contains no substance that parents may find improper for kids.
- E stands for “everyone.” And is suitable for kids ages 6 and up. Games may include slight violence, rib-tickling mischief and/or minor language.
- E10+ stands for “everyone 10 and older.” Kids ages 10 and up can play games with this rating. In this category, titles may contain more animation, make-believe or mild aggression, trivial language, and minimal indecent themes.
- T stands for “teen.” This means that it is only appropriate for kids ages 13 and up. It could comprise content of violent nature, mild or intense language, and suggestive subject matter.
- M stands for “mature.” Games with this rating are apt for persons ages 17 and up. They may have adult sexual themes; violence is more extreme and have intense language.
- AO stands for “adults only.” Games with this rating have contents fit for adults only. They may include profane sexual innuendo. -
- RP stands for “rating pending.” This means that the games have been submitted and are waiting in line to be rated.

• Think beyond the box. It pays to read rating summaries and brief descriptions of the game. You can always look this up online and check online game review sites for reviews, feedbacks and more information about the game.

• Preview the games by yourself first. Even with the ratings and all the reviews available online, it’s still best for a parent to test the game first before letting your kids play. Game ratings may not match what you feel is appropriate for your child.

• Look for the educational value in choosing online games for your kids. It would be much better if the games your kids are playing are information rich and teach certain values and skills. Take online cooking games for example. They’re fun, educational and easy to play.

• Check if your kids have strong passwords for their gaming accounts. Passwords should be difficult to fathom. Make sure your kids know and remind them all the time that they may not send out any materials to fellow gamers that contain private information and/or data.

• Explain to your child the importance of reporting a cyberbully. Instruct them to keep a record of the conversation if they are being pestered and encourage them not to engage in a conversation with the bully.

In the end, nothing beats good parental guidance. Parental involvement in our children’s media usage can reduce the impact of media violence on our children.

This is a guest post produced by Sir Kim Tyrone Agapito of Kim of the World.

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Am I the only one tired of this? Facebook “LIKES” for contest entry, text votes for a certain contestant, wherein the winner will be determined because of the number of votes they will garner. Is this the new way of judging? Obviously, this is the era when social media is fully utilized to entice readers and supporters. Are we so inclined to social media that sometimes we have neglected the quality aspect over quantity? If you know what I mean I am pretty sure you can relate on this article.

The Facebook “LIKE” Syndrome

It is clear to me that the more “LIKES” an entry will have is a solid proof that people really liked it. But come to think of it, if entry 1 has 900 friends, entry 2 has 200 friends, and entry 3 doesn’t have an FB account who you think already have the edge in winning? It is clear to see that entry 1 has the highest chance of bringing home the bacon. The probability was decreased to each competitor because of the number of people entry 1 has. If contests will always rely on this kind of judging, then those who have few friends are doomed. It’s the end of the world for them! Actually I have this friend who kept on winning promos and contests from different sponsors because of the number of “likes” she received for her entry.

The Text Votes Fever

Should I elaborate more? I think this is somewhat the same to the Facebook “LIKE” Syndrome but I think this one is massive and someone is gaining profit from it (sorry network providers). Want an example? It was so obvious that people were so disappointed on the recent Pilipinas Got Talent Grand Finals result. By the way I want to make it clear that I have nothing against the grand winners even though none of my bets made it. Let’s face it, I know who your bets are and probably we have the same contestants in mind. But what can we do, those contestants who won have more supporters than our bets and the worst part is what if those supporters can afford lots of mobile phone loads? We all know how each contestant managed to make it to the finals, all by means of text votes.

Applying this in the blogosphere:

I had a little chat with some blogger friends and this is about our disappointment on contests which rely on Facebook “LIKES” to determine who will win. Here are their observations and suggestions:

• The quality of the post/blog is neglected, liking without reading the article
• The more friends you have, the higher your chance to win
• Someone said that when he will launch a blog contest he will organize a panel of judges which are capable or criticizing post entries
• A criteria will be formulated
• Quality of comments from that post/entry will never be set aside, this is a new challenge for participants on how can they engage readers
• If really can’t be avoided, FB likes will have a small portion on the overall judging criteria (e.g. 5%)

I wish you can find time in answering the poll provided, with this I will have an idea what most people think on this topic. You can leave your comments or suggestions after the poll.

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This Droid Bionic was announced by Motorola last January and now the release date was confirmed through Verizon Wireless’ Twitter. According to the “tweeted” post, the Motorola Droid Bionic will be released on September 8. Motorola Droid Bionic was believed to be the rival of the iPhone 5 which until now has no specific date of release. How bionic is this phone?

Here are some features

• Powered by Android 2.3
• 4G LTE and a qHD display of 4.3 inch 540×960 pixels
• TFT capacitive touch screen
• Weight: 158.8 grams
• Multi-touch input method
• Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
• Touch-sensitive controls
• Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
• A memory of 1GB RAM, 2 GB ROM and 16 GB storage
• 8-megapxiel 3264×2448 pixels camera along with autofocus
• LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection and image stabilization support

Motorola Droid Bionic is now much anticipated and sure people have high expectations about this phone. Will it really surpass the iPhone5? I can’t wait to know the people’s reviews when they already have this new handheld.

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Razer unveils their very first true gaming laptop and they call it the “Razer Blade”. This is the most awaited product from them after they tackled PC gaming on their website. They want to prove that PC gaming was not yet fully dominated by different gaming consoles by this “world’s first true gaming laptop”. Razer is known as the world leader in high performance gaming hardware, so I think they are very serious on their goal and serious enough to claim that they have produced the true gaming laptop.

Razer Blade’s Specifications

• 2.8GHz Intel® Core™ i7 2640M Processor
• NVIDIA GeForce® graphics processor
• 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory
• 17.3″ LED Backlit Display (1920×1080 resolution)
• NVIDIA GeForce® GT 555M with NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology
  2GB Dedicated GDDR5 Video Memory
• Built-in HD Webcam
• Integrated 60Wh Battery
• 320GB 7200rpm SATA HDD
• Switchblade User Interface
• 10 dynamic adaptive tactile keys
• Wireless Network 802.11 b/g/n Compatible
• 16.81″ (Width) x 10.9″ (Depth) x 0.88″ (Height)
• LCD with a capability of two modes
• Weighing 6.97lbs

Want to know this laptop’s price? It costs US$2799.99! Woah!

Here’s a short video featuring Razer Blade

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According to Wen Ai Yu, Google+ Team member, they are now rolling out Google+ Verification Badge so that people will be sure if the profile or member they are adding on their circles are really who they claim to be. As of now many public figures and celebrities are joining Google+ so they decided to put this enhancement, this is a good help if users are in doubt on a certain profile. To know more please click the video after the jump.

It’s a good thing that they also plan to have the verification badges to more users, as of now their priorities are for those people who are added to a large number of circles.

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Innovation, that’s what the Korea Electronics Show is all about, showcasing the technology that contributes to the rapid development of different products. Korea’s biggest electronics show is an event held every October and that’s the time they meet with buyers from North America, Europe and the Middle East. With their success in the 2010 Korea Electronics Show wherein 1, 283 representatives of IT industries who came from 23 countries participated, now this event is considered as a pilgrimage to those innovation enthusiasts. This year it was believed that over 1000 companies from 30 different countries will participate and they will present the products and brag about its functionality and advancements.

Let’s take a glimpse in the 2010 Korean Electronics Show

Source

This year’s Korea Electronics Show was organized by Korean Electronics Association (KEA) and it will be held at KINTEX (Korean International Exhibition Center), and will be hosted by Korea Ministry of Knowledge Economy. This 4-day event will start in October 12 at 10:00 a.m. and KES’ theme for this year is “Be Smart”

If you plan to check the electronics show, the visiting hours starts at 10:00 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. from October 12 to October 15, 2011. This is a great chance for different companies to impress buyers about their product, it may be cell phones, semiconductors, automotive electronics, multimedia and other forms of communication. To those who wants to participate or who wants to buy, kindly Visit the Korea Electronics Show 2011 website (www.kes.org).

Here’s a little teaser about the upcoming KES event!

Source

To know more about the Korean Electronics Show kindly check the KES Official Facebook Page or follow them in Twitter (KES Official Twitter)

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We spend so many hours online, making posts on our blogs, updating our Facebook and Twitter accounts, chatting and uploading/downloading stuffs. I bet you already experienced this incident wherein something will pop-out while you are browsing the net. Maybe you also experienced receiving e-mails that you have won from a contest or you have been chosen as one of the recipient of a certain reward. From my personal experience, I encountered an e-mail containing that I have been given this certain amount because I was chosen as a beneficiary of a millionaire somewhere in London. But I’m not that stupid to be lured on their scam. I decided to share these thoughts on how we can detect those scams/hacks. I hope this article will help you.

1. The Bait – scammers used different kinds of baits or so-called rewards to get your attention, for example “Win an Ipad2”. We all know that as of now, gadgets are the most used bait for online contests enthusiasts. Once you get hooked on their trap, they already won gaining your attention, you’ll get more curious on what else you should do to obtain the “stuff” you aim for.
2. The Confirmation – these online scammers wants to be sure how eager you are, so they will have this “frustration tactic”. How to detect this one? Usually they use some delays, a message will then be seen containing “one more step for your free…”, “your reward awaits, click here” or “you’re almost there.”
3. The Trick – after clicking the link they have included for you to be able to get your so called “free stuff”, they will direct you to a page wherein you need to log in. If you see something like this I can assure you that you are one step close from being scammed. Please keep these in mind and ask yourself, why need to log in, are you already registered, if you are not registered, how it could be possible that you may win from a contest you don’t even know. Our main protection here is… COMMON SENSE!
4. The Deception – let’s say you fill up the registration so that logging in will be possible. From the moment you input your personal details, they have finally won. Scammers and hackers used keyloggers, wherein the info you have encoded will be saved to a certain program or database. These are no ordinary keyloggers that are used to hack game accounts for valuable items.
5. The Curse – after signing up, there’s this message saying that your attempt to register somewhat failed. Did it really fail? No! The moment you verified that all the information you have included is true, they were already transmitted to their database. Now they know some of your personal details, and they might use these to gain access from your accounts. What more if they asked for your credit card number or PayPal info and you just put it on the form they provided? How chaotic it might be?

If you are in doubt if whether it might be true or not, try searching the worldwide web about the one who sent such emails or giveaways. Hackers and scammers use the net, we can also use the net as protection. But the most important thing to do in determining such scams is by using our COMMON SENSE.

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