Not surprisingly, given how much time I spend on the computer, Sydney, my 6 year old, spends a great deal of time on the computer as well. We do try to make sure she has balance with other activities, but the last couple of days she's been home with chicken pox, so she's been on the computer more then usual. But it's given me a chance to learn more about what she does online and the sites she likes to visit. So, since we're home for the day, I decided to ask her about these sites and what she likes about them:
Me: What are your favorite sites?
Sydney: Barbie.com and pixelchicks are my favorite web sites because they have lots of games you can play. I also really like Webkinz because you have your very own, special pet to take care of and I also like it because you can buy stuff at the Webkinz, like going to the gardening store and buying seed so you can plant your very own garden. I also like the games there, especially the word find.
Me: How do you learn about these web sites?
Sydney: I learned about Poptropica and Funbrain from school, we use them in the classroom. I really just found Barbie.com and pixelchicks because there are so many other sites at Barbie.com. I learned about Webkinz from my friends having them and I saw my friends playing on Webkinz after school and that's how I learned that they weren't just stuffed animals and that you can go online and play with them.
Me: What makes these sites fun for you?
Sydney: Hmm, that's a pretty tricky question. Because you can feed your pets and give it a bed in Webkinz and because I like when we go to the clubhouse with my friends in Webkinz. We can chat with each other and we can jump on trampolines if we're outside and we can send each other notes and packages with things in them, like hats, bathing suits, sunglasses and games. My friend Annie sent me a Connect Four game and a table and chair.
Me: What about the other sites?
Sydney: The other sites are fun because on Barbie.com there's a missing bunny and you can say where you think the bunny is hiding. You get to look for clues to see where the bunny is hiding. Its also fun because you can play video games too, like Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. In Pixelchix it's fun because there's a hamster game where you have to get the hamsters across to the other side before time runs out. And because of this new mystery game. My favorite game is Monster Baby, because you have to jump over stuff and there are 12 levels in all, but I can still can only play half the game because it doesn't let me get to the higher levels.
Me: How do you learn how to play the games?
Sydney: I read the directions! But I knew exactly what do on the 2nd and 3rd levels of Monster Baby because I knew it had to be similar to what I did on the first level. The things that you have to do get more interesting and harder to do as you get higher and higher up the levels.
Me: Is it important that you can play games with your friends online?
Sydney: No, but I really like it when I get a chance to play with friends online.
Link: Poptropica.
Link: FunBrain.com - The Internet's #1 Education Site for K-8 Kids and Teachers .
Link: Barbie.com - Activities and Games for Girls Online!.
Link: Welcome to Webkinz - a Ganz website.
Link: PixelChix.com - the official Pixel Chix™ site!.
Damn, they got this before I did. Must have been sleeping on the job!
That’s where the Piss-Screen comes into play. According to the Web site, this Saatchi & Saatchi project in Germany created “a pressure-sensitive inlay set within urinals, enabling users to play while they pee. ... The game itself was displayed on a screen above each urinal and would automatically start as soon as someone began to pee. The player could then control the car whilst relieving himself.” The idea here is that said player would pee his car into a purposely graphic wreck due to his impaired reaction time, and hopefully he'd connect that result with his own fate should he drive himself home in that condition. (It's an ad for a taxi service.) What they failed to recognize was that video games are fun, so people would probably end up drinking more just so they could go play Peed For Speed in the bathroom. No, what drunks need is a game so frustrating that it sobers them up, and fortunately, such a game exists. Hat tip once again to Presurfer.
Link: adfreak: Piss-Screen debuts, sadly lacks multiplayer.
Link: PISS-SCREEN.COM — // An interactive urinary experience – not to be mistaken with the Wii.
Sounds like another competitor to the iBuzz (see Experience Manifesto: adfreak: iBuzz: This one goes to 11 ), but I guess Apple takes offense to the advertising campaign here. But isn't it nice to see so many interesting uses for the iPod?
High street adult retailer Ann Summers has landed itself in a heap of trouble with Apple. The retail chain has been promoting a 30 sex toy called the iGasm, a device which connects to any music player and offers users an erotic vibrating treat in time to the beat.A News of the World report claims Apple is furious about Ann Summer's promotion of the device, and is demanding all posters for the gadget be taken down, under threat of court action.
Link: Apple vs. Ann Summers in iGasm spat - Agenda Inc. LiveFeed.
So my buddy Tom down is PA is a huge LOST fan. And like many of us LOST fans, he was glued to the TV tonight to watch the season finale. SPOILER ALERT AHEAD -- He spotted future Jack long before the rest of us did. But Tom's no ordinary TV fan. No indeed, he's also a theatrical sort. So, for his viewing party, he made up his own version of Dharma beer. Now there's a product pacement just waiting to happen. Why didn't anyone at ABC or someone like A-B come up with a limited edition run for the series finale or for the start of the new season. Reminds me of a story we ran about fake Adidas sneakers a while back (Experience Manifesto: MOVIE PLACEMENT CREATES DEMAND FOR NONEXISTENT SHOE).
But, until someone else comes up with something authentic, I'm going to ask Tom to make me up a case for my party when LOST comes back next year!
