New York Town Stops Using Google Earth to Spy on Rogue Pools
Over the course of the past few months, German politicians and privacy advocates have been waging war against Google as part of an initiative to ensure that citizens' homes aren't displayed on the site's Street View feature. Politicians in small town New York, on the other hand, have Google-related issues that concern a far more global phenomenon: swimming pools.
As the AP reports, council members in Riverhead, NY have now decided to stop using Google Earth satellite images to scour the region for illegal swimming pools. Town officials had reportedly been using the service to instantly locate pools that had never been properly registered with the municipal government. Since the plumbing, electrical work and fencing of such unregistered water holes may not meet state regulations, they can often pose serious threats to public safety. Because Google's satellite images show locations that can't be easily seen from public areas, however, Riverhead's council decided that it couldn't legally use the photos to prosecute violators. Granted, the decision probably won't affect most of the town's law-abiding swimmers, but Riverheaders should feel more comfortable knowing that Big Brother won't be watching the next time they drop their kids off at the pool.
New York Town Stops Using Google Earth to Spy on Rogue Pools originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
These Budget Compact Cameras from Pentax Look Cool—You Know, for Kids… [Cameras]
Two more "fun" compact camera series has been announced today by Pentax, with my favorite being the Optio RZ10 (pictured above). For around $270, it has a 14MP sensor, and a 10x optical zoom. More
Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog… with his mind! (and you can too)
Continue reading Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog... with his mind! (and you can too)
Apples In Stereo man controls his Moog... with his mind! (and you can too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Michelle Obama Program Blames Sony PlayStation For Making America’s Children Fat
Consuming more calories than you use makes you fat. That’s a fact, Jack. Figuring out where these calories come from, OK, that’s a noble endeavor, but let’s not pretend there’s anything secret going on here. Like, you see this graphic here? It’s the winner of some Michelle Obama-headed design contest to help folks figure out how to best fight childhood obesity. And you’ll see the PlayStation completely demonized, as if Sony itself is somehow responsible for little kids packing on the pounds.
The chart, part of the Let’s Move program (and you’ll want to see the full-res version), highlights a few bad guys, including the use of high fructose corn syrup in soda, the launch of Super Size-sized foods at McDonalds, the increase in screen-watching hours, and, yes, the launch of the Sony PlayStation.
Surely Nintendo and Microsoft are thrilled with the award-winning chart.
And while it’s easy to say something like, “Well, it’s up to the parents to be parents, and to provide healthy food for their kids, and to make sure their kids aren’t spending every waking hour in front of their Sony PlayStation” how about this: it’s hard!
If Mommy and Daddy are working all day long to pay for a mortgage, they can’t exactly be there to cook a multi-course, healthy dinner for their kids. So, go to Wal-Mart, buy a bunch of microwaveable burgers (which are conveniently like 20 burgers for $10 or something ridiculous like that) and hope to God that the worst thing you have to worry about is their kid playing PlayStation in the evening and not stealing cars or doing drugs while breaking into 7-11s.
The point is, parents have it hard, too.
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Michelle Obama Program Blames Sony PlayStation For Making America’s Children Fat
Tweens Rack up $9,700 Cell Phone Bill While Vacationing at Dead Sea
They pale in comparison to the teen with the $21,000 Verizon bill, but brother and sister Sam, 13, and Sarah Ivanhoe, 11, while on vacation to the Dead Sea with their mom, amassed a cell phone bill that cost nearly as much as their trip. According to My Fox Houston, Cindy, who pays for her kids' phones, received a bill totaling more than $9,700 from Verizon Wireless upon returning home to Houston, Texas. While overseas, Sam and Sarah had racked up extra roaming charges by checking their Facebook accounts, sending text messages and playing online games. Apparently, visiting a foreign land and sleeping in bedouin tents isn't as exciting as social networking. The kids told My Fox Houston that they had received alerts about the roaming charges, which they naturally ignored, and Cindy said she had never dreamed the bill could be so expensive -- even though she had noticed her kids using their phones. Verizon has decided to knock $4,000 off the Ivanhoes' bill, most likely because Cindy claims she didn't receive any roaming alerts to her phone.
We usually leave our cell phones at home when we're taking a short trip out of the country. If we really need to communicate, computers are always available for e-mail access, helping us avoid both a hefty phone bill and constant calls from Mom while trying to relax.
Continue reading Tweens Rack up $9,700 Cell Phone Bill While Vacationing at Dead Sea
Tweens Rack up $9,700 Cell Phone Bill While Vacationing at Dead Sea originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Video: Just Some Kids And A Rube Goldberg Contraption
How did your kids spend the summer? Mine? So far by watching Phineas And Ferb about a thousand times, but this video has inspired me to build a Rube Goldberg machine over the holiday weekend. I doubt you’ll ever find a group of kids so happy about putting a beach ball in a bucket. Awesome. [via Gearlog]
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Video: Just Some Kids And A Rube Goldberg Contraption
‘Wookiee The Chew – The House at Chew Corner’ Is Star Wars & Winnie The Pooh Mashed Up In A Children’s Book
I’m in awe. There’s something wonderfully simple but yet appropriate about this concept from author James Hance. Star Wars should be as important as Winnie The Pooh in a child’s development and it’s probably best to introduce them to the lore as early as possible.
I’m ridiculously proud to announce the release of my first actual, proper, real book! It’s a tribute to the combined genius of George Lucas, A.A.Milne and E.H.Sheppard.
‘Wookiee The Chew’, in the style of the original Pooh books tells the adorkable tale of the little biped that belonged to Chrisolo Robin (and Chrisolo Robin belonged to him). 24 pages of affectionately crafted adventure, brand new illustrations and sneaky Star Wars references.
Order one. It’s only $5 with $5 for shipping and this man clearly deserves our support. I’m sure you and your kids will love it. Best of all, it seems this is just the first one and there will be more on the way later. [via Boing-Boing]
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Schools Now Tracking Your Kids’ Bus Rides Using GPS
Boxee Box Gets Priced: $199
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Hands-On With The New Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse
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Daily Crunch: Out Of The Frying Pan Edition
Commodore USA to release AROS-supporting desktops
Commodore USA's CEO, Barry, Altman, has just announced that the company will be rolling back the years in some way with an entire line of new AMIGA branded "AIO" (All In One) keyboard computers, thanks to an an exclusive worldwide license that has been granted by Amiga Inc. Basically, the company aims to release machines which will support AROS a good 100%, which is an open source variant of AmigaOS 3.1 that does have its fair share of stranglehold over the kids. What you see above is an old school image of the Amiga 3000, so we await with bated breath as to what the final computer will look like. Hopefully leaks on its hardware specifications will be released in due time to whet our appetite.
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Commodore USA to relaunch Amiga brand with series of AROS desktops
Continue reading Commodore USA to relaunch Amiga brand with series of AROS desktops
Commodore USA to relaunch Amiga brand with series of AROS desktops originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.