Do you know what your kids are saying online?

 

I’ve been using the Internet now for – oh, at least ten years now, a normal progression from bulletin boards.  This love for all things Internet developed primarily because of our host Andrew McColm’s patient handholding during my initial foray into this strange new world.  “Yes, Lid, Telix will let you talk to the BBS…No Lid, Gopher is not some weird mystical creature…..Yes Lid, Unix and DOS commands are different.…”

So, you would think I should be not just okay, but pretty good with acronyms by now.  Um… NO!  What a surprise [read shock] when I came across this translator last week, did the acronym quiz – and scored three out of ten!

No.Slang. com translates acronyms and slang.  It began in 2005 when Ryan Jones, a software engineer in Michigan realized he could barely understand what kids were saying online, and realized he should.

So if you have kids, and are dazed and confused when you see them chatting online – check it out.  At least then, when you see your kid write POS or CD9 – you will know exactly what they mean.  Oh, no.slang will also explain how 133t works 🙂

Odds & Ends from Silicon Valley

ZAMZAR Free Online File Conversion 

You can convert various files, document, image, audio and video in ZAMZAR’s new free online file converter.  It will convert document types – csv, doc, odp, ods, odt, pdf, ppt, xls – image types – .bmp, gif, jpg, tiff, ps – audio types – ac3, au, m4a, mp3, ogg, wav, wma, and video types – avi, flv, gvi, mp4, mpg. Check it out here.

IE7 Keyboard Shortcuts 

Microsoft’s IE blog gives us a quick reference sheet for IE7 keyboard shortcuts.  Check it out here.

How To Embed Flickr Slideshows

Lifehacker describes how to embed Flickr Slideshows on your own web page or blog check it out here.

How safe are our kids online, and what of cyber bullies?

If there’s one thing that that will always be a part of school life, it’s the school bully. We’ve all come across them in our time, and I’m sure you can still put a name to at least one from primary or secondary school. Tonight on Tech Talk Radio, we’re going to take a look at the impact of technology in the lives of our kids. The internet, mobile phones, SMS, Instant messaging and social networking sites such as myspace are now well and truly part of their world. This surely raises serious questions for parents, teachers, students, law enforcement and law makers alike. The most insidious of all scenarios is that bully has now become faceless, timeless, and more traumatic for the victim than ever before. Are parents aware of the pranks that their children are subject to or are perpetrating on others? Are they aware of the consequences of their children’s behavior in the online world?

Joining the panel is senior constable Susan McLean from Victoria Police. Susan is based in Doncaster and is the youth resources officer for the Melbourne municipality of Manningham, Manningham comprises 8 or so suburbs to the east of the city and what would be consider to be a fairly affluent community.

To listen live and email our guest, Senior Constable Susan McLean, visit our website techtalkradio.com.au
8pm Monday Nights (GMT+11)

Silicon Valley Stuff – November 6, 2006

Bomb Explodes at eBay Headquarters in San Jose

As the trick or treaters were getting ready to go out on Halloween, PayPal employees were running out of their building in San Jose.

Story by CBS 5 here

Thanks to Valleywag – read exclusive IM’s from an eBayer inside the building here.

The United States Election 2006

Odd, but the US elections are held on a week day.  This Tuesday in fact – November 7 2006.

All you need to know from the Washington Post here. 

Ars Technica has a novel story: “How to steal an election by hacking the vote”

Defamation and the Internet

It seems that Australia has managed to make some changes to defamation law – this occured in 2006 and you can find more here at Electronic Frontiers Australia 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (USA) has a lot to say about defamation – check it out here.