families
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Uber is reportedly launching a family-friendly ridesharing service
Uber's ridesharing service has primarily catered to an adult crowd that rarely needs to bring more than a suitcase, but it may soon offer a solution for those whose kids have to tag along. VentureBeat hears from a source that the company is near launching Uber Family, a premium option for parents. Reportedly, you'd pay a $10 premium to guarantee both a trustworthy (that is, highly rated) driver and a pre-supplied child's car seat. We've reached out to verify the claims, but you may not have long to wait; Uber Family is supposed to be launching in New York "soon."
A comprehensive list of developers who make apps for kids
Apps are wonderful tools for learning and fun, but sometimes it's hard for parents to find companies that make kid-friendly apps. Sometimes those recommendations come from odd places, like a random tweet invoking Oskar Schindler. Today's tip comes from just such a tweet, sent by Twitter user @bmf. You know else makes lists, besides Oskar Schindler and myself? @chrisoshea lists who makes apps for kids: http://t.co/Z2cFH7tphU - Mike Lee (@bmf) October 8, 2013 What you'll find at Chris O'Shea's link is a staggering list of developers from around the world who specifically develop apps for children, including links to each of their websites for further exploring. So get looking, parents! You never know how far down the list your child's new favorite learning app might be.
Storyboard: Brother from the same mother
An awful lot of characters seem to be only-children. In some countries this is pretty normal, but it's certainly not normal where I'm living. Pretty much all of my friends and contemporaries have at least one sibling. So it seems a bit odd that your roleplaying characters don't have any fellow family members to talk to. The realistic reason, of course, is that most of us don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about those siblings. And in some cases it's entirely reasonable to say that your character might not know her several half-siblings. But in the interests of verisimilitude, it's worth thinking about this, even if you never want siblings to become a major focus of roleplaying. You can come at this topic from two angles. You can talk about how to handle siblings, or you can talk about the impact of siblings. For this column, I'm going to focus on the former. What are the options for including your character's siblings?
Microsoft to offer discounted hardware, software to students from low-income families
You don't need a PhD in economics to realize that times are pretty tough right now -- especially for those at the lower end of the income ladder. Fortunately, though, Microsoft has announced a new initiative aimed at providing one million students from low-income families with discounted hardware, software and broadband service. This three-year digital inclusion program is an extension of Redmond's Shape the Future campaign, which, over the course of five years, has already put computers in the hands of more than 10 million underprivileged children around the globe. Under this public-private partnership, Microsoft will work with a variety of nonprofit, corporate and governmental organizations to provide low-cost PCs, educational software, job skills training and high-speed internet to those who need it most. The ultimate goal, of course, is to bridge the achievement gap dividing students with at-home internet from their less digitally-equipped peers. According to the Federal Reserve, children who don't have online access at home graduate high school at a rate that's six to eight percentage points lower than those who do. Inflating national poverty rates and widening income gaps probably won't do much to remedy that discrepancy, but we're certainly hoping that Microsoft can make a difference. Find out more in the full PR after the break, or at the source link below.
Nissan Leaf gets the 'family' review treatment, earns high marks
The writers over at Busy Mommy Media have run the Nissan Leaf through a special battery of 'family' tests to produce the kind of review of the EV that we don't see every day around here. Still, the family perspective is an especially interesting one for the electric vehicle, since widespread adoption will largely depend on how it fares in just such lifestyles. So how did the Leaf fare? Exceedingly well, it turns out, getting high marks for performance, cargo space, and interior space. The only problem raised was the fact that the reviewer could not fit all three of her required car seats into the back seat, but was able to change them out for slimmer models which did, in fact, fit. Check out the video after the break for the full mommy (and daddy) treatment.
First Impressions: LEGO Universe
Playing. It's one of our earliest lessons from childhood, and one that we as gamers hold on to with gusto. Let's face it -- in just about every gamer out there is a kid who, at least in some small way, refuses to grow up entirely. We love to play. It's that love, coupled with childhood memories of clicking tons of brightly colored LEGO blocks together, that has made the idea of LEGO videogames a huge hit. Now have a new contender to the LEGO gaming play-space: LEGO Universe. It's a game that has the potential to offer all the things we as MMO gamers would love: an open-ended world, a great known IP that reminds us of youthful days, and the social aspects many of us enjoy. Aside from this, LEGO Universe also offers many things that parents of young gamers will value. As someone I spoke with recently asked: "What's stopping people from building offensive adult-themed content with LEGO bricks that my child might see?" The answer lies in LEGO Universe's moderation team, known as the Mythran (a shadowy group actually written into the lore of the game), which personally reviews personal free-build areas for compliance. The Mythrans also oversee character and pet names. When combined with a speedchat and whitelisted word chat system, it makes for a very workable solution to keeping kids safe online. Curious about a look into LEGO Universe? Join me behind the break as I take a more detailed look at this colorful game, and be sure to check out the extensive gallery below! %Gallery-105603%
Satire: Xbox Live prepares for its 'annual' holiday weekend outage [update]
Update: The joke's on us, folks. The source article is, of course, satirical -- something we conveyed rather poorly in the story below. We've seen no signs of Xbox Live so much as flinching this holiday, so far, and it has continued to provide us with a legitimate excuse to ignore that one cousin that nobody seems to know but someone keeps inviting for Christmas lunch. If you can give us your forgiveness for the error, that would be a really fine gift. Can't wait to get home to the family for the holiday this weekend ... and then completely ignore them with a Left 4 Dead 2 marathon on Xbox Live? You're not the only one. Microsoft is bracing itself for a flood of online gameplay this weekend, including players trying catch up on all of the games they were too busy (baking cookies and wrapping presents) to play since November, as well as all the new folks who just unwrapped new games from under the tree. It's become a holiday tradition -- last year two years, the outage lasted for 11 days, from the weekend before Christmas to the end of the year, and spawned not only a free game, but a class action lawsuit to boot. Previously, the problem was compounded by most of the tech staff being offline with their families, but this year, we're sure Microsoft has both servers and staff on notice to solve problems the second a clatter happens to arise. And if not, maybe we'll get another free game. Hopefully one better than Undertow.
Study finds explicit material for minors in virtual worlds
Along with violence and game addiction, inappropriate content is one of the bugbears that video games in general and MMOs in specific can't get away from. A recent FTC study took a look at the general safety available in twenty-seven different virtual worlds, including Second Life and Runescape, and their findings were... well, if you're at all familiar with Second Life, you can kind of guess at the results. Nineteen of the worlds surveyed featured some sort of inappropriate content. The worlds targeted explicitly at minors didn't fare a great deal better, with a full half of the fourteen kid-oriented worlds having some explicit content. The report goes on to suggest certain approaches to better handle gating content for younger children, including further prevention of children from fraudulently registering in worlds that are supposed to be exclusive to adults. However, some elements of the study's methodology are a bit questionable, especially as their list of explicit material included words common to anyone with a history of playing video games. (Or cable television.) The full report is worth looking at if you're a parent or if you're interested in the findings, and we'd be remiss not to mention our own ongoing series about playing MMOs in a family setting.
Report finds British families game together, Wii very popular
A recent report conducted in Britain by research firm Deloitte says that the average Brit spends about 6.6 hours a week playing video games. As part of that report, Deloitte also found that a quarter of the individuals who were polled owned a Wii, with another quarter stating that they intend to own one in 2009. It's no surprise, if you've been keeping up with sales figures.Another aspect of the report that is quite interesting is the perception of gaming overall. Apparently, video games are considered part of "family time" over there for those between the ages of 26 and 42. It warms our heart to think of all the families getting along splendidly, enjoying gaming together. How many of you enjoy gaming with your family? What games do you all play together? Is gaming your main hobby?[Via Joystiq]
Dr. Phil confronts WoW players
Yes, Oprah's psychologist (actually, I heard just the other day on Wait Wait that Dr. Phil was originally hired as a jury consultant on Oprah's beef slander case) has turned his mustachioed and Texas-accented attention to MMO gamers, and it's the usual rundown: someone's been playing the game way too much, and it's time for Dr. Phil to draw out the stereotype to anyone who finds a little fun in the online world of Azeroth.To be fair, I haven't seen the show itself, so maybe Phil does admit that millions of people around the world play these games in their free time, and that the vast majority of them have paying jobs, lead healthy lives and have happy relationships. But he doesn't feature any of those on his website -- instead, he's got the story of lives ruined over and over again because folks without self control took their game too far. And all the usual TV culprits are there -- flash cuts of chaotic keyboard and controller pressing, blurred video, and pictures of pasty gamers playing late into the night while the rest of their lives go ignored. Worried that you might be addicted? Dr. Phil's also got a "gaming behavior audit" that will let you know, in just ten questions, whether you're an addict or not. Here's a helpful question: do you feel you play online games to deal with anxiety or depression in your life? If so, you may have anxiety or depression in your life! Thanks, Dr. Phil!In all seriousness, sure, it's possible to play these games too much, and if you're playing the game even after you've lost a job or sacrificed a relationship, it's time to get help (or even better, just unplug the computer). But it would be nice to see a healthy gamer on these shows once in a while -- there's definitely plenty of them around, too.[via BlizzPlanet]
Wife Swap seeking gamer families
WoW Insider has been contacted by a producer of the reality show Wife Swap -- apparently they're on the hunt for families who play WoW and other MMOs together, so they're sending out a casting call to the community. Any families applying should play MMOs together, have two parents and two children between 7 and 17, and live somewhere in the United States. If you're chosen for the show, you get a $20,000 honorarium, and anyone who refers a family that makes it on the show gets a grand for their efforts.Of course, you couldn't pay me enough to appear on a show like this (and there is no guarantee, of course, that the show will competently portray a family that plays games together as a healthy, valuable thing), but to each their own -- maybe this is just the opportunity you've been waiting for. If so, drop an email to the producer: gaby dot wifeswap AT gmail dot com, with a family photo and a description.It definitely sounds like an interesting experience, though. If you're willing to throw your family's hat into the ring, there you go -- throw away.
Ancient Gaming Noob talks to WorldIV about how far we've come
One of the things I love about being a gamer (and especially an MMO gamer in particular) is that we're here to see history in the making right now. We were around when Ultima was being played, and when World of Warcraft was being formed and becoming known as the first mainstream MMO. The guys writing on blogs right now and the players playing in game at this very moment are literally the pioneers of the field. And so it's exciting to see what we gamers have to say-- that's why this interview with Ancient Gaming Noob is such a great read.Not only does he talk about some of the great MMOs he's played since 1985, but you can get a real sense of how far gamers and games have come. Just thirty years ago, they were the realm of arcade games and quarters, and now, AGN is finding time for them among his family, and picking LEGO Universe as a game he and his daughter can play together. He also has some great insights on blogging about MMO gaming, and it's completely true: "more than crickets" is all you can really hope for.Nice read. So exciting to think that for all the progress and evolution online games and gaming has made, we're still living in the first generation of gamers. Us kids playing MUDs and Asteroids are grown with families of our own now, and it's amazing to look back at all the different audiences playing games nowadays and realize that it's still only the beginning.
Widget Watch: Type Cast font preview and info
This is one of those widgets that makes me wonder why Apple hasn't already made one. Type Cast is pretty simple and straight-forward: it's a font preview widget from Code Line Communications, makers of Art Director's Toolkit (amongst other things). This widget isn't short on capabilities either; you can navigate font families, styles and sizes with merely your keyboard, and you can even be taken directly to the font file in the Finder.The Type Cast widget is free and available from Code Line Communications here.
WoW: Keeping Families Together
Well, some of you spouses out there might be disgruntled, as Jennie points out, but this article in today's Washington Post has a different take; it takes a look at families, seperated by distance, who spend time together by playing WoW.I think it's wonderful thing that geography no longer has any boundaries on whether we can interact with distant relatives or not, but I'm still trying to picture my Aunt Myrtle playing WoW...she's afraid to even use the TV remote; she thinks she might miss & blow up the vase behind it or something.
