Gadgets, Google and Child-Proofing the Computer
by Liam Bailey
2008-04-05 18:30:36 **news**
Gadgets: Sony Announce Smallest ever Camcorder
Sony releases smallest ever camcorder and at the same time proves that size doesn't matter and small is beautiful.
The tiny 33 x 119 x 63.5mm, 283g camera is capable of taking 4mp, 1080p video and has many of the bells and whistles found on Sony's premier camcorders, including:
A ClearVid CMOS Sensor with 'Exmor' (whatever the hell that is, sounds expensive anyway), Intelligent face detection and autofocus in still and video modes, and sound is recorded in 5.1 channel digital surround sound, from an auto-zoom mic than homes in on the foreground subjects.
The camcorder is expected to be launched in the UK around May and at a price tag of around £500-£600.
Hydrogen Power Aircraft Could Mean Greener Skies
A new hydrogen power air-craft has been successfully tested in the skies above Spain by air-industry giant Boeing. The small single propeller manned aircraft, which flew three successful take-offs, flights and landings, is being heralded as a massive step towards green air-travel, because hydrogen and water are the only two exhaust products, neither of which are as harmful to the environment as current airplane exhaust fumes.
The two-seater light air-craft is powered by futuristic fuel-cells that create electricity by combining oxygen and hydrogen. The fuel-cell technology was developed by UK company Intelligent Energy, and I for one am glad there are company's out there trying to do something about global-warming, and find new sources of fuel for when the oil inevitably runs out, as oppose to many others spending billions to secure their place near the top of the food chain for the oil that's left.
Computers are Good For Kids - Supervision Necessary
Computers often catch bad publicity, for exposing children to an unsafe environment filled with Pedophiles and pornographic images. I won't deny that both elements exist on the web, one to what extent I don't know, and the other certainly in abundance; Angelina Jolie naked adverts everywhere, and on sites with no adult warning. But computers have so many benefits for Children that it is impossible to suggest we should ban them.
The government's plans just shows how inadequately prepared and ill-informed they are to put protection in place for children's safe browsing.
Making registered sex-offenders provide police with their email address so they can be banned from sites frequented by children, is the stupidest idea I have ever heard, people can create a new email address in a matter of minutes online, so this would not keep one pervert away from our children in their social-networking environments -- it would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. You could suggest using IP addresses instead, but even then they are often dynamic (generated on connection and always different), and in any case are provided by the Internet Service Providers, so if they changed their ISP they would be back online.
The only real way to ensure our children are safe online, is to keep their computer in the living room, where you can take a peek over their shoulder from time to time, might seem a bit of an invasion of privacy but not as bad as the invasion of privacies those who we seek to protect them from have in mind. In such an environment a computer would be a lot safer, and now for the benefits a computer should be used for.
A computer puts the world at a child's fingertips; there is nothing they cannot research in minutes using their favorite search engine Google. With computers now commonplace in the school and the home, the computer in the living room with a no BEBO till you've done your homework ban should certainly take GCSE pass rates to an all-time high.
