common

Jim Steyer on Common Sense Media curriculum (podcast)

A new curriculum being developed by Common Sense Media is intended to help middle school teachers, parents, and kids themselves "raise a generation of responsible, smart, and safe digital citizens."

The curriculum is based on the digital ethics framework developed by the GoodPlay Project, led by Harvard School of Education professor Howard Gardner.

The curriculum has been tested in pilot programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Omaha, and New York and will be rolled out nationwide in the fall.

To learn more about this curriculum, I spoke by phone with Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer. You … Read more

Curriculum teaches digital literacy and citizenship

commentary In my more than 15 years in the Internet safety field, I've seen a lot of programs designed to teach children how to use the Internet safely, but many have missed the mark because they too often focus on children as victims or at least passive consumers rather than as participants in our digital culture. But in this Web 2.0 world, kids aren't just consuming media, they're creating it and they have collectively embraced social media as a part of their lives. They don't go online; they are online--whether on a PC, a mobile … Read more

Turning smartphones into air quality monitors

Intel Labs is showing off technology that could make smartphones a lot smarter by integrating technology that monitors ambient air quality.

As part of an annual Open House on Wednesday at the UC Berkeley campus, Intel Labs Berkeley is demonstrating the most tantalizing fruits of its research, including Common Sense, a technology that would allow consumers to collect and analyze environmental data and then share it over the Internet.

"It's about air quality," said Anthony Joseph, director of Intel Labs Berkeley. "We've developed a portable device a little bit larger than a cell phone (see photo) and it collects information about nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone."

Joseph said it also has a GPS sensor and GSM radio to send back geolocated data.

"As you go about your day, it can monitor the air quality around you," Joseph said. "You can collect all of that data, process it, and then share that data with users."

The technology offers more granular data compared with the "coarse-grained" readings provided by devices deployed the California Air Resources Board or the Environmental Protection Agency, Joseph said. "This gives you block by block (environmental) information," he said.

And Intel Labs is already seriously considering practical application. "We are looking at a number of different options," he said. "One would be to produce a large run of these. We've had a lot of requests to purchase these." Intel Labs already did an experimental deployment on street sweepers, according to Joseph.

And smartphones? "Another long-term idea is embedding these sensors in cell phones," he said. "The phone has communications, it has GPS, and you're just adding a few sensors… Read more

List of 10 games not kid-friendly shocks no one

Straight from the No-Brainer Department comes a list of games that parents should not buy their children this holiday season. The New York Times has republished a collection of 10 titles deemed totally uncool for kids to play by the media watchdog group Common Sense Media.

While we're all for educating parents about the naughty video games their children want to play, we can't help but slap our foreheads at how obvious some of them are. Besides, all a responsible parent needs to do is stray away from the big fat "Rated M for Mature" logo on the box art of such titles.

We wouldn't disagree with any title on the list, but some of the suggested alternatives for these titles are a bit suspect. For example, replacing Modern Warfare 2 with Battlefield: Bad Company only brings the blood level down a bit--the war combat and violence are still present in Bad Company. We absolutely loved Uncharted 2, but there's plenty of gunplay and headshots in the T-rated blockbuster as well.

Ideally, we'd love to see parents become more involved in their child's gaming habits. The only way to make sure a game is right for the younger ones is to have Mom or Dad sit in on a few sessions.

Click over for the full Common Sense Media list of unfriendly titles along with their alternatives.… Read more

Online places to find public-domain multimedia

If you're a blogger, you know that finding images, videos, and audio for your blog without worry of copyright issues can be difficult. Either the content is copyrighted, or you need to pay for it. In either case, it's not as tempting as freely available, copyright-free media.

Luckily, there are resources across the Web that allow you to use multimedia content for free with some simple attribution. It's a great way to add interesting flavor to your blog without worry of copyright issues.

Let's take a look:

Go public

Creative Commons A search for public-domain multimedia content usually starts with Creative Commons. The site is one of the best places to go, if you're looking for content to add to your blog.

When you get to Creative Commons, you'll find a search box where you can input a query. From there, a handy tabbed-browsing interface is shown, allowing you to send your query to Google search, Google Images, Flickr, and more.

Creative Commons' site is quick to point out that all the searches bring you to third-party sites, and there's no guarantee that the content is free to use, but you'll notice under the search box that the page automatically searches for content that's "free to use, share, or modify, even commercially."

I've used the search engine on numerous occasions and had some success using it. Try out Creative Commons, if you want to search several sites for some photos.

EveryStockPhoto EveryStockPhoto is a search engine for those who want free, public-domain photos to use on their site.

Overall, I was really impressed by EveryStockPhoto. When you get to the site, you have the option of viewing photos in popular categories or using the page's prominent search box to find photos. When you search the site, it finds images from several resources, including many of those mentioned in this roundup. Flickr is one of its most used sources.

When you click on an image in EveryStockPhoto, you can see who owns it, the licensing rights associated with it, and more. I really liked EveryStockPhoto. Check it out.… Read more

Google co-founder, wife give $500K to Creative Commons

Copyright reform advocacy group Creative Commons announced on Thursday that it has received a gift from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife, Anne Wojcicki--to the tune of $500,000.

"This gift--made in addition to the financial support that Google offers CC annually--will be used to support Creative Commons generally," a blog post from Creative Commons read, "with a focus on developing our Science Commons project, which Wojcicki and Brin are particularly excited about."

Wojcicki is the co-founder of genetics start-up 23andMe.

Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig stepped down from the organization last year in order … Read more

BOL 1042: Attack of the BelBots

We learn that not only is a botnet using Twitter to store some of its data but that botnet follow Veronica. Who is a bot herself. We also ponder why leaked pictures of the Dell smartphone are so blurry. And bad news folks. Looks like no tablet for the Apple announcement, but it sounds like it will be in September.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1042

Dell’s first phone spied on web http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/08/14/dell_smartphone_pictures/

Apple planning September event? http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10309110-37.html… Read more

Google image search gets usage rights filtering

In an effort to keep people from incorrectly reusing or repurposing images found on its image search tool, Google has added new options that let users filter results by usage rights. Users can now filter photos by whether they're available for reuse, commercial reuse, reuse with modification, or commercial use with modification.

Google is including a variety of licensing methods including Creative Commons, GNU Free Documentation license, and items that are in the public domain. Its system for determining the rights on various shots is not foolproof though, and as such the company is recommending that those who are … Read more

Kids cheating with tech but are schools cheating kids?

The results of a survey showing that 35 percent of middle school and high school students with cell phones have used them to cheat at school is indeed alarming. And perhaps more alarming is the finding that nearly a quarter of the students don't even think it's cheating.

Cheating is cheating regardless of whether you use technology or old-fashioned paper notes. I'm appalled that kids may be using technology to cheat in school, but I'm just as appalled at how schools are cheating kids when it comes to technology.

But in addition to admonishing kids about … Read more