Try to become familiar with the technology your kids use. That doesn’t mean you necessarily have to be their friend on Facebook or MySpace, but before you start trying to control how they use social-networking technology, make sure you understand it.

I think this is great advice, not just for social networking, but for everything kids (or your spouse, for that matter) are into – especially technology. I definitely have fond memories of my parents wanting to be involved in things I was excited about… especially when they would sit down for a game of Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Star Wars Battlefront or Axis & Allies. Having a common frame of reference for talking about my hobbies with my parents? Priceless. (Yeah, yeah, I didn’t include a list of things you can buy for $13 on debit Mastercard. Meh.)

Larry Magid, the author of the article quotes some great guidelines from Hemanshu Nigam, the Chief Security Officer at MySpace, for social networking behavior. It’s geared towards kids, but we all need to be reminded of these rules.

• Post with respect: photos are a great way to share wonderful experiences. If you’re posting a photo of you and your friends, put yourself in your friends’ shoes and ask would your friends want that photo to be public to everyone. If yes, then you’re uploading photos with respect.
• Comment with kindness: compliments are like smiles, they’re contagious. When you comment on a profile, share a kind word, others will too. [Note from Dwight: Speaking of Comments... I love to see them on my blog... *hint, hint*]
• Update with empathy: sharing updates lets us tell people what we think. When you give an opinion on your status updates, show empathy towards your friends and help them see the world with understanding eyes.

not bad, eh?

Mind your manners, people – a 14-year-old girl was reportedly charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to cease texting in class and then hiding the phone down her pants.

The real question here: will they forcibly collect her DNA for this misdemeanor?

For those of you who still view “over-the-air” Television and do not have an HDTV, now would be a good time to get your hands on a set-top box to act as a digital tuner.

P.S. My apologies for any “regular” readers out there who missed my regular Monday blog. “Things” have been crazy while Gwen and I ramp up our efforts to buy a home.

Mii Police Sketch

Sure, sketch artists might be able to create a more accurate likeness, but a Mii should be close enough for an arrest, right?

Apparently the Police have denied responsibilty for this poster, but… well… meh.

normally sane people have inconsistent and contradictory impulses and opinions when it comes to their safeguarding their own private information.

Today, Google announced a new service called Google Latitude – a new service for mobile devices and “iGoogle” that allows users to views the location of their friends and loved ones (who have opted to share the information). It’s a pretty cool idea – basically you (the user) can opt to other specified users to see your geographic location and vice-versa. Purportedly, this information can be adjusted per “friend” to show the best approximation of your location, a city-level view, hide your location entirely or even to provide intentional false information. “No honey, I’m not out boozing it up with the guys… I’m… at work… <typetypetype> … check Latitude.”

<keep reading after the jump!>

I like that Google is attempting to keep people safe from themselves with Latitude.

Everything about Latitude is opt-in. You not only control exactly who gets to see your location, but you also decide the location that they see.

It certainly sounds good… random people won’t be able to find out this private information about you, but what about not so random people… or groups? Google will happily keep your information to itself. It will happily track everywhere that you go, when you go there, how long you stay there and where you were before and after. They’ll track how long it took you to get there, how often you go there. Are you ready for location-based advertising? If you were a shop in New York City, wouldn’t you want to advertise to anyone walking on nearby streets? Sure you would and technology like this brings that closer and closer to reality.

Before I get you all up-in-arms over “privacy rights infringement” by Google, whether you opt-in to Google Latitude or not, you’re already sharing this information with cell phone service providers, GPS navigation companies, etc. Don’t get a privacy paradoxical on me!

Carnegie Mellon behavioral economist George Loewenstein along with his two colleagues, Leslie John and Alessandro Acquisti performed a study on the privacy paradox and found that our privacy principles are wobbly.

We are more or less likely to open up depending on who is asking, how they ask and in what context. In one experiment, one group of students was given a strong assurance that none of the information they divulged on the survey would be revealed. That should make them more forthcoming, right? Actually, the opposite was true. When the issue of confidentiality was raised, participants clammed up. For example, 25 percent of the students who were given a strong assurance of confidentiality admitted to having copied someone else’s homework. Among those given no assurance of confidentiality, more than half admitted to it.

Pretty interesting stuff don’t you think? If Google hadn’t made such a big deal about all of the privacy features of Google Latitude I (along with many others) probably wouldn’t be blogging about it. Paradox shmaradox!

Chris Matyszczyk wrote a CNET article, disagreeing with a study done by Stony Brook University, which claims that:

excessive co-rumination–perhaps you would refer to it as “chatting with your friends about your problems”–by text, e-mail and on social-networking sites leaves impressionable teenage girls more prone to anxiety and depression.

He claims that if it wasn’t Facebook it would be “bathroom gossip”, text messages, phone calls, slumber parties… you get the picture. Having never been a teenage girl myself, I can’t really attest to this (hopefully Chris cannot either?), but it seems to me that the persistent and “open” nature of Facebook goes beyond text messaging and slumber parties and is asking for trouble. Not just for teenage girls or even the female gender – I think it can be a problem for anyone.

<keep reading after the jump!>

It got my thinking about Facebook and some of its perceived effects on my relationships and the lives of those around me. All too often I’ve seen people share things on Facebook that I wager would never be said in the confines of a face-to-face conversation, a phone chat or even an email. The impersonal nature of “the internets” (lol) gives people a feeling of safety and boldness that often leads to unguarded honesty that isn’t (always) healthy. How easy is it to forget that what you’re writing on Jimmy Jimmerson’s wall – woah, I just googled Jimmy Jimmerson and he does, in fact, have a Facebook account!!!1!one! – is viewable by not only Jimmy’s ex-girlfriend Janey, but also his parents Mr. and Mrs. Jimmerson (who happen to be cool enough for Jimmy to accept a friend invite from), not to mention your boyfriend who you didn’t think ever checked his status updates. Sure, you only said “Thanks for folding my book cover in Math class today”, but they all know what you really meant! (lol)

Freeing? Totally. Fun? Yeah, sure. Usually Harmless? Prob’ly. Dangerous? Can be.

I don’t think that Facebook (alone) leads to depressed teenage girls because they’re wallowing in each other’s repeated, persistent misery – I think they (and others) are depressed because they’re forming intimate and overly-honest relationships with people that they have little (or no) physical contact with. Despite all of our technological advances we are still (hopefully always will be) physical beings. Understand that I have absolute no science to back this claim up, but I think that excessive emotional connections without any of the physical connections that go along with them is unhealthy. Perhaps the depression is a physical reaction to emotional over-stimulation?

Thoughts?

Perhaps just posting more frequently than once every 3 months? hmm…

Edit: I forgot to include a link to the list in my original post, so here it is: How to Get Traffic For Your Blog

Hmm… well, I’m not so sure now. So… I decided to Google it. The results seemed information, but not very interesting. I then proceeded to search for “change diaper” on YouTube and within say… 30 seconds? … I was rapidly closing my browser window. I then went back to “the Google” and found my way to an informative article.

Here are some of the most important steps, quoted for your convenience:

1. Make sure you have everything you need nearby to change a diaper.
2. Lay your baby on his back on the changing surface. If you are using a changing table, it’s recommended to use the safety straps.

Wait, wait, wait… safety straps? This is getting out of hand. Perhaps I will just try my luck.

Meh.

The single-player mode was not earth-shattering – the genre has not been radically enhanced as a result of this game… but I don’t feel it has been degraded either. The game play is solid enough, though the scripted “Infinite troops rushing until you reach the next checkpoint” nature does feel a bit forced on occasion.

The sniper levels were a bit too short for my liking and without any real “use” at the end of the day. No grandiose assassinations or organizations that only “I” can tumble. Still… enjoyable.

Playing “gunner” on an amphibious plane, rescuing sailors in-between gunning down Japanese “PT boats”. I can only imagine having to make the decision between continuing to fire on enemy boats or reaching down to grab the sailor in the water screaming for help… wow.

The multiplayer… meh… the leveling is almost too fast – compared to Call of Duty 4, at least. I’m already on my third “prestige level”. One thing I have enjoyed is the surprised expressions I imagine on enemy’s faces when a “Private” lead the opposing team.

The weapons are all familiar to anyone who’s playing a WWII FPS before, the BAR, the M1 Garand, the Thompson and the MP40… even the Springfield sniper rifle complete with scope. What’s new to the scene are the “perks” (introduced with COD4 I believe?) that add a new dimension to the “same old” gameplay. That… and the freakin’ dogs! Get 6 kills in a row and you’re entitled to a pack of dogs that fights for you… running around the battlefield mauling enemies who aren’t fast enough to “pump them full of lead”. The dogs are much more effective at killing that “you” are… if they get within reach they automatically kill you sending you to a quick “kill cam” shot of your death repeated for your viewing pleasure.

Summary: worth some play time, especially if you’re new to the Call of Duty series, but don’t expect it to change the first-person shooter genre.

Three weeks ago we found out that we succeeded on our first try! Haha! When we started trying, we decided that it would be really fun to surprise our family on Christmas morning before telling anyone. Wow – it was definitely tough waiting. There were definitely a lot of funny conversations during those three weeks – it’s amazing how often you notice baby conversations when you can’t tell anyone that you’re having one.

Christmas morning finally arrived and we totally surprised both of our families on Christmas days. We definitely have some incredible videos footage. (I think I’ll get a chance to upload that tomorrow).

I’m stoked!