My son enjoys watching YouTube videos, but unfortunately you can’t leave kids alone with YouTube because you never know what they’re going to click on and end up watching. I was excited when I found out about the Kideo Player because it’s all the fun of YouTube with none of the junk!

The videos play automatically and if the current one isn’t entertaining, all the kids have to do is hit the space bar to go to the next video.

( I have found that every once in a while the player seems to get “hung” and you have to reload the page, but if your child knows how to use the mouse it’s easy to show them where the refresh button is.)

Iranian protesters have showed the world what a powerful tool the Internet can be against oppression. On the other side of the world we've seen the other end of this tug-of-war, as Chinese censors have had to admit the failures of their plan to impose Internet censorship by fiat.

We're referring to "Green Dam," spy software that Beijing was poised to mandate for all personal computers in China. That order was supposed to go into effect today, but last night state media announced it was "delayed." We hope that's code for "will never be implemented," but it's too soon to say.

Green Dam was billed as antipornography software, but it actually does much more. It censors political speech, stores screenshots of users' computers and has the ability to shut down non-Internet applications if a user is typing something it doesn't like. A California-based software company, Solid Oak, says the software copies portions of its proprietary code and has threatened to sue computer makers that install it. Green Dam is also poorly designed: The porn filter doesn't work well and it has programming flaws that make users of the program susceptible to hacking.

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A new software program launched by a Canadian company will soon allow parents to block access to gambling sites on their children’s computers. The software is predicted to be so successful a deal has already been agreed between the company and the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation.

The program called ‘BetStopper’ is the first of its kind to completely block online gambling. It is also being further developed to help parents block all adult content on the web as well as other social networking sites in order to monitor children’s activity online. The application is free and enables parents to choose specific days and times that their children can gain access to the internet.

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SAP (SAPG.DE), the world's biggest maker of business management software, expects to double software and software-related sales by 2014 and is aiming for an operating margin of at least 35 percent, a newspaper reported.

The Financial Times Deutschland said on Monday, citing company sources, that SAP management had presented its mid-term strategy to 2014 in an internal document.

A spokesman for SAP said: "This is not a guidance." It was an internal strategy document that was still being discussed, he added.

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Do you like bowling? There’s a great free bowling program you’ll want to take advantage of over the summer for families and you can find out about it at KidsBowlFree.com. Kids get 2 free games of bowling every day, and all you have to do is rent the shoes. On the site you can easily search by state to find a location near you that is supporting this program. Thanks to Raising a Healthy Family for giving me a heads up on this freebie!

There are several ways you can play against other players, the simplest way is to connect two PCs for head-to-head play with a null-modem cable. Most games have a built-in serial link option for this setup. It's fun and you don't have to worry about skyrocketing phone bills. Other option is to play head-to-head over a modem. Most games also have built option to do this. But if you want to play with people from separate parts of the country or the world, or against more than one player at a time, you can turn to the internet - unless, you have local area network (LAN) in your house.

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Chatting rooms are dynamic virtual venues where people can interact with each other. The Internet revolution has literally changed the face of communication as we know it. Chatting rooms are commonly known as chat rooms and, you can either use text, sound or video to chat with other people. Because of the ease presented in this form of conversation, more and more people are embracing making the rooms more popular than ever. There are thousands upon thousands of people who engage in chats everyday and, the world has truly changed for the better and, this is just one way of how we are becoming a global village. Rooms for chatting are easy to use and, if you have never been to a chat, pay close attention to the following information. You need to have access to Internet. Spare some time and you are good to go. Time is never enough but, if you choose to chat, you might be surprised at the gains you make.

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Celebrate dependence Day this year with the following online and offline Fourth of July games.Independence Day Online Fun and Games:4th of July Game -  Guide the rocket and find the hidden egg in this online game from EZone.
Fireworks - Create your own fireworks display online.
Jigsaw Puzzle - Play this fun July 4th jigsaw puzzle online.
Capital Field Trip - How well do you know the state capitals and where they belong on the map?
Word Search – Find the States in this online word search game.13 Colonies Word Search - Find the 13 colonies in this word search game.

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The 2009 Voke Innovators announced Tuesday were the choice picks by analyst firm Voke Inc. of companies showcasing innovation across the software lifecycle through ongoing communication, collaboration and connectivity between stakeholders.

"We are looking at what types of companies are really making a market impact and really helping people transform the traditional linear application lifecycle to a global lifecycle," said Voke Inc. founder and lead analyst Theresa Lanowitz.Modern IT organizations must operate in a collaborative manner, said Lanowitz, so it's necessary to break down those silos that exist within IT, between IT and other parts of the business, and between the organization and others. "And, that is really going to help people function much better," she said.

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All those hours spent by MIT students logged on finally paid off. Yahoo Internet Life magazine ranked MIT first among the nation's most wired colleges in its May issue.

Northwestern University, Emerson College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Dartmouth College rounded out the top five.

Harvard University finished 64th, the California Institute of Technology placed 25th, and Stanford University came in 84th.

"We are pleasantly surprised by the ranking," said Director of Academic Computing Vijay Kumar. "As a general statement, it can't be far from the truth." However, "we don't know about the accuracy of the data."

Displeased with their low ranking, computing officials at Harvard have also questioned the validity of the rankings.

The survey put too much emphasis on having course-oriented World Wide Web pages, which may or may not be useful, and too little emphasis on access to the Internet, said Harvard Dean Harry R. Lewis in The Harvard Crimson.

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