Filters tested in the UK

Computing Which magazine tested six brands of what's called "nanny software" over there and found the filters wanting. Part of the reason for their low scores was that "most of them were beyond the comprehension of parents, thereby preventing them from fully utilizing the [product]," reported ABCMoney.co.uk. "The magazine said that Apple's Tiger operating system was the only one which exercised some degree of control over unsafe content." Tiger got "top marks" for ease of use, but none of the products did terribly well. Norton Internet Security 2005 was at the bottom of the list with an overall rating of 31%, The Telegraph reported. CyberPatrol 7 got 61%, but nothing should replace parental involvement, Computing Which's editor was quoted as saying in all the coverage. Here's The Guardian and News Factor. Which, like the US's Consumer Reports, only allows subscribers to view its product tests. Which, like the US's Consumer Reports, only allows subscribers to view its product reviews - though CR did make its latest report on Web filters available to the general public last June.

Students' dream (tech) set-up

As a new school year begins, it's interesting to look at education technology from students' perspective (we hear so much from grownups!). Thanks to NetDay, a nonprofit organization supporting smart use of ed tech, the Departments of Commerce and Education, and their just-released joint study, "Visions 2020.2," we now have a clear, very interesting picture of kids' expectations of technology in school. More than 55,000 students in grades K-12 in all 50 states responded to the question: "In the future, you will be the inventors of new technologies. What would you like to see invented that you think will help kids learn in the future?" Please click to this week's issue of my newsletter for their response.

12 of 'Kutztown 13' get a break

They didn't get off too easy, but felony charges were off the table for most of the 13 high school students in Kutzdown, Pa. (see "Student hacks: Criminal?" for the original story). For using school-supplied laptops (with easy-to-guess passwords) to download chat programs and monitor school administrators online, they'd been "charged as juveniles with computer trespass and computer theft, both felonies, and could have faced a wide range of sanctions, including juvenile detention," the Associated Press reports. What most of them got was the requirement of 15 hours of community service, a written apology, a class on personal responsibility, and a few months' probation. "One student who has had prior dealings with the juvenile probation office was not offered a deal and the case was expected to proceed," the AP added. [Thanks to BNA Internet Law for pointing this news out.]

Music-player virus

We're seeing the future, and it's not pretty. Cellphone viruses have been in the news, but this is the first report I've seen of MP3 players getting infected. It's not good because people connect their computers and music players to move music around. The news, however, comes from Asia, and this time the problem is restricted to a player, the 5BG Creative Zen Neeon, that's only sold there. The virus is Wullik.B, which first appeared early last year, spreading through Windows PCs via email, CNET reports. "According to antivirus companies, it's unlikely - although not impossible - that users will transfer the worm from an infected Neeon to their computer. For a PC to be potentially infected, a Neeon user would have to connect their MP3 player to the computer, browse the files and copy the worm to the PC's hard drive." On the phone front, the BBC reports that anti-virus protection is coming. Finnish security firm F-Secure has created the software for cellphones, which will soon go on sale in the UK. "In recent months, more viruses for mobile phones and variants of old ones have started to appear," says the BBC, but so far only on about 10% of them - on smartphones using the Symbian operating system and spreading via the Bluetooth short-range radio system on these phones. "Infection can be avoided by turning off Bluetooth on smart phones." [Smartphones are next-gen phones with multimedia features, e.g. email, Web browser, camera, calendar, music, etc.]

iTunes phone

Hmmm. Tunes on phones. I can just hear it: "But, Mom, then I won't need an iPod." Yeah, right. It will store a decent number of songs, according to the BBC (with two models, 512MB or 1GB of storage, the latter holding up to 240 songs), but I hope the sound quality will be better than that of my Samsung's ringtone! "The handset due to be unveiled will reportedly be the first in a series of iTunes equipped phones made by Motorola that will be given the name 'Rokr," the BBC reports, adding that "what is unclear as yet is whether the phone will allow for music to be downloaded via wireless services or only when the gadget is connected to a computer." The UK's Times Online reminds us that there are other tune phones on the market. "Earlier this month Sony released its first Walkman phone, an attempt to revive the iconic brand that dominated the 1980s in the same way as the iPod has become the must-have gadget of the 2000s."

Katrina disaster: Help *carefully*

Victims of the disaster deserve so much help, but anyone wanting to provide it via the Web needs to make sure it's a legitimate charitable Web page before acting. The Washington Post reports that there are already plenty of phishers and other online scammers preying on people's good intentions. Avoid Web sites with names like Katrinahelp.com, katrinadonations.com, katrinarelief.com, the Post says, and other sites that "ask for money to be sent through Paypal, [where] there is no way to verify who is getting the money." Also beware "phony e-mails pretending to solicit money from well-known charities." A good list of charity links is provided at Investors Daily, and there's advice at CBS News.

Phones & kids 6-12

It seems to be a trend: kid surveillance. MSNBC.com takes a sweeping look at all the options, from RFID chips in amusement park wristbands to monitoring their every keystroke in cyberspace. The New York Times reports on GPS on schoolbuses and Webcams at school, and the Christian Science Monitor editorializes on how much surveillance is too much. More and more the focus seems to be on keeping tabs with phones. Even the Wherify people, who had put GPS-tracking in kid wristwatches, have shifted the technology to phones. After all, 57% of US 15-to-16-year-olds and 18% of 12-year-olds have cell phones, according to Pew Internet & American Life figures MSNBC cites. Then there are parents who get their kids phones for a different kind of peace of mind: no more begging. Take for example Jennifer Walker finally giving in to her 10-year-old, referred to in the San Francisco Chronicle, or the 7- and 8-year-olds who got phones, mentioned at JournalNow.com, which added that "in the 1990s, the debate was whether high-school students should own cell phones. Today, the buzz is all about keeping grade-schoolers connected." The Wall Street Journal suggests that phones and "talk time may be about to replace the weekly allowance as a reward for good grades and clean rooms." The Arizona Republic also looked at the 6-to-12-year-old phone "market." If parents want more control over kid talk time than the family plans will allow, here's a New York Times survey of the prepaid phone plans available. Here, too, are ClickZstats on high school and college student cellphone use.