We understand why some parents are not too keen on letting their children tinker with gadgets. There’s always that fear of ruining their kids’ attention span, creativity, and so on. Long term gadget use has also been pinpointed as a culprit in the promotion of a sedentary lifestyle, which is said to increase the risk of childhood obesity. Unfortunately, there is no escaping the fact that "gadgets such as smartphones and tablets are becoming more and more embedded in kids’ lives." And as such, the best parents and guardians can do is to place limits on the amount of time their children can spend in front of the screen every day. Based on the recommendation of experts, screen time should be no more than two hours a day and that includes the TV, smartphones, computers, tablets, game consoles, and so on. For kids under five, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests keeping technology away as much as possible, as young children "develop better if they spend more time playing, being with adults and other children, and having books read to them."
Tag: internet
People who invest in different kinds of sales and marketing manages most of their files in their computers or tablets to make it more organized. When we say organized it means that one can easily find, view and scan files for business or personal purposes. Sometimes, personal videos and photos gets in the way or the documents get mixed with business matters.
In the same under-the-radar maneuver that allowed the controversial bill to pass the House of Representatives, CISPA was rejected for a second time on a senate vote. According to the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation , which had been tasked to take on the bill’s second attempt to land in the oval office desk for signing, the bill would be shelved and it had been. The bill, after all, is still missing four incredibly vital privacy amendments aimed to protect Internet users from what would certainly be an excess of censorship and moderation from government entities, big companies, and service providers.
The announcement of Google Reader’s impending death early in March shook the World Wide Web and elicited violent reactions from its loyal users. From social networking sites to blogs and online journals, people were protesting against Google’s recent decision and expressing dismay over the killing of their beloved RSS platform. Citing the declining number of users as its primary reason for shuttering Reader, Google is turning a deaf ear to the barrage of protests and standing firm in its decision. Come July 1st of this year, Google will permanently shut down Reader. At least the search-engine giant was kind enough to set the shutdown date a few months away, as this will give users plenty of time to search for alternatives.
Facebook is set to unveil a new look for its News Feed feature, with an aim to add new information streams to each user’s home page, plus the intent to launch new ways to ‘filter’ the contents of the feed. To some, the upcoming change also means that creator Mark Zuckerberg is deliberately making users spend more time looking at more display ads on the service.
Megaupload is back! Well, not really—Kim DotCom, founder of the most famous file sharing site taken down by U.S. law enforcement, launched a new site called Mega last January 20, 2013. Now based on New Zealand and out on bail, DotCom launched a new-concept iteration of the massive Megaupload, but this time, he’s more cautious when it comes to illegally distributing copyrighted materials over the Internet. To circumvent the risk of running against U.S. and global Internet authorities, he now claims that whatever users store in their accounts will solely be their responsibility. He said that with enhanced security, only the registered users can access their files. Mega can’t see what’s inside the storage locker, so DotCom and his company won’t be, in any way, responsible for illegal distribution of files.
Keeping it “Legit”
Now, there’s no argument about whether illegal file sharing is good or bad—piracy hurts every industry it plagues. It’s good to know that Kim DotCom has found a way to wash his hands clean of the “dirt” that has led to his indictment. It’s now up to the users to be more responsible when it comes to handling and sharing their stored files. DotCom’s Mega now functions like Google Drive or Dropbox, so it’s hard to say that the new file sharing hub is just a rebranded Megaupload. In his defense, DotCom expresses his genuine intentions by saying that the increased privacy feature is really for the users. This cloud storage service that offers encryption intends to protect users and their files.
Mega is well-received
In the first two hours after the initial launch, more than 250,000 users already signed up for the service. Within 24 hours, it already has a booming one million user base, increasing by the thousands in just a few minutes. While these figures doesn’t really reflect how good the product really is, it just goes to show how many people still think highly of DotCom’s file sharing ways. By offering 50 gigabytes of free storage, Mega is no different from other cloud-based storage services. The real draw of this site is the encryption capability it offers, giving users, the real uploaders of the files being shared online, total control over the content they wish to share. Upon upload, they’ll be given an encryption key that gives them the only access to their files—not even Kim DotCom or the authorities will know about what you put up in the cloud.
Will this change the Internet landscape?
There are a lot of innovations that changed the way people operate online. VoIP service allowed people to transmit calls over the Internet; mobile banking made online transactions a breeze. This time, Mega’s file sharing structure could totally change the way we share files online. The added security takes the responsibility off the hands of Kim DotCom and his website, and puts it solely on the hands of the user. This could easily create a ripple effect, affecting copyright laws, Internet ethics, and other issues that could arise from sharing a single file to millions of users worldwide.