Posts by Steve Kay

CIA demands UK halts interrogation tactics

Chortle

Anne L Proeb? Must be those damn rainbows - I hate those things.

Ofcom climbs on Byron bandwagon

@AC with the 16 year old

If he has a PC in his room, it is because you allow it.

If that PC has internet access, it is because you allow it.

You - in effect - declare "I have considered the risks of unaccompanied internet access and have decided in my view that they are small enough to allow it".

You will live with the consequences of those decisions.

I do not need to understand "what it's like having a 14-16 year old, computer literate, `young adult` in the house". It's hard, and for the trials and tribulations it brings, I hope he goes on to make you very proud. However, the state cannot make the internet safer. The technology companies cannot make the internet safer. The only people who can reliably and effectively control a child's online life is that child's parents. That is the nature of the network. You may not like that, but it is true.

My parents knew what I was up to, what I could get up to, and if they didn't know they took time to find out. They invested the time in ensuring that Dad's naughty videos were under lock and key. They inconvenienced themselves to make sure that the shed had a locked cabinet containing the petrol and saws. No matter how much I kicked and screamed (and I was a 6'1" 15 year old in the school rugby team, I could kick pretty well), I wasn't allowed to go to the nearest major city unaccompanied until I was 16. When I did at the age of 15, I didn't see the outside for a month. Perhaps my parents were better at saying "no". But they did. And it worked.

And as for "the msn logs are the only source of finding out what the kids are up to these days", ever heard of Wireshark?

Listen up, parenting types

Repeat after me, parents:

"The Internet is not the television"

"The Internet is not the television"

There is no central management of the internet.

There is no single set of rules regarding what can be said or depicted.

There is no regulator controlling the content.

You should no more leave an unaccompanied minor in front of an internet connected computer than you should leave an unaccompanied minor in the street.

Yes, I know you want your children to be "on the internet" and "safe" at the same time. It cannot and will not happen. The internet is not like that. And it won't be. Ever. No matter how much you want it to. No matter how much you stamp your feet and write letters and complain to people.

Let me introduce you to a concept you may find helpful to employ as a parent.

"NO".

Byron review calls for computer game ratings

A not wholly bad thing

Much as I can't stand anything which treats the internet like centrally-governed television, Byron raises an interesting point regarding game purchasing.

Simplify the procedure for identifying the "SHIT PARENTING" identified by NB above: one rating standard, just like the BBFC, with penalties for both retailers and purchasers, that are painful and enforcible.

If little Kemal talks about how he plays "Manhunt 2" at home, bingo - shit parenting alert! Go go go social workers in a dawn raid - shoulda learned the power of the word "no", eh?

If Bob in HMV sells "Drillfucker 3" to a kid with no proof of age, bingo - Bob has no job.

Face facts, the complexities and vagaries of warezing games are harder to enforce, so put those further back in the queue, and let's concentrate on the things for which there's already a substantial legislative framework in place. If parents agree these games are so damaging to children's minds, then clearly the punishment for allowing your child to play them should be commensurate. Petard, anyone?

Then, this 34 year old male can play "Chisel Rape 4" because it'll be available to me on the shelf when I want it to be there, and the Daily Mail can't do a thing about it...

High Court orders Manhunt 2 release to be re-evaluated

"Big Babies"...

I've read "Big Babies" and whilst it's excellent, to quote it in re: BBFC is a bit mad, because it talks about the "I want it NOW, s'not fair!" generation, which sounds an awful lot like some of comments on the intertubes about this game!

How to be a failure at Guitar Hero III

Spot on

I can play a good 30% of the songs in GH3 note perfect on a real guitar, and another 40% I can play fairly well just by ear, and I've got to say this article "hits the right note" (ba-doom-tish).

Rather like the "Dance Dance" style games, where the skill in the game is mechanical (land on mat sensor at right time, regardless of whether you actually danced it or just lumped your feet correctly), GH3 is - unlike playing the guitar - a bit of a spiritless affair.

That said, it's still great fun, and as a guitarist of 20-odd years, it sure as hell is a lot more fun than holding a standard gaming controller playing yet another FPS.

Also, the freeware clone "Frets on Fire" (which turns your keyboard into an axe - seriously) is a lot of fun too.