kids

At two-years old, my son is already obsessed with the gadgets I bring home from work. He knows my iPod Touch can play Elmo songs and has a Sesame Street app. He knows the Chumby I use as an alarm clock also has games on it. But nothing prepared me for the day I brought an iPad home. He went nuts.

Years from now there will probably be a study detailing how much damage I'm doing to my kid by letting him play games and watch Sesame Street on my iPad, but for now, it's great to watch … Read more

I have barely come to terms with the idea that someone at a school thought it appropriate, wise, or even sane to spy on kids via Webcams on school-issued laptops. Has technology really taken over human thought processes quite so much?

So I temporarily lost the ability to spell my own name when I was confronted with the rather heartening news that a school principal has asked parents to get their kids away from Facebook and any other social-networking site.

I don't know whether the emission of a show called "Jersey Shore" has enlivened school principals to … Read more

Hoo boy! This design for "Pod Cribs," spotted on Yanko Design, is as bad as it gets. Not only does it look like something out of some sort of tube-baby-growing dystopia, but it's almost designed to make sure babies fall out of it.

I mean, really. You design a crib that's open on one side? Do you know how babies work? And how often do people need an interconnected crib system that can hold eight babies outside of a maternity ward? Also, they are stupid looking. Back to the drawing board with you, Pod Cribs.

This … Read more

Take note all you DIYers and parents with creative kids. If you don't want to shell out $40 for a high-tech iPad stand, you can make your own--or have your kid make one.

With the help of his father, my 10-year-old nephew Brett went to Home Depot, got a piece of wood, a hinge, and a couple of knobs, and presto, instant iPad stand. I'm not sure Brett's going to win any design awards, but the thing does look pretty sturdy and only cost $12.40 plus tax. That may not be as cheap as Case-mate's … Read more

You know what they say about parenting: It's the hardest job you'll ever love. Of course, you might love it a little more if it weren't so flippin' hard all the time. So let's hear it for all the iPhone apps designed to make parents' lives a little easier.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of such apps in the Store, but I've rounded up five that I consider essential--starting with one that can make injuries and illnesses a little less scary (for you, anyway):

1. Kid Care Your toddler is running a fever of 103. Should you call your pediatrician? Head for the hospital? Wait it out? Kid Care offers medical advice for dozens of common symptoms--everything from bee stings to headaches to wheezing. Based on proven clinical protocols, the app provides symptom definitions and images, care advice, medicine dosage information, and helpful reading material such as "Fever--Myth Vs. Facts." There's also a handy dial-your-doctor button and a location-aware emergency-services finder. My only wish is that I'd had this incredible app at my fingertips when my kids were younger. Amazingly, it's free.

2. Tales2Go A new favorite in our house--make that our car--Tales2Go streams on-demand audiobooks for kids. The collection now exceeds 1,000 titles, including such well-known series as "American Girl," "The Boxcar Children," "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," and "Junie B. Jones." The app is free, as is a 30-day trial of the service. After that, you pay $24.99 for a year of unlimited listening. As someone who's spent that much on a single audiobook CD, I consider that the bargain of the century.… Read more

Pedal or push? Transforming Dutch vehicle Taga lets you do both, going from a bike--well, trike, really--to a stroller in 20 seconds with a few twists and a flip. It's set to hit North America next month.

The Taga's intended to be more convenient than just a stroller because it allows parents to go farther with kids when they leave the car at home. You don't have to lock it up--just transform and push it into a shop, restaurant or elevator. Your kid can keep napping all the while. You can also use it as a jogging … Read more

Today's episode of The 404 Podcast deals with a lot of movies, which makes sense after last night's utterly forgettable Academy Awards ceremony, or so Wilson claims, because he forgot to watch.

The awards committee certainly wasn't lacking a sense of irony after selecting Sandra Bullock for the best female performance in "The Blind Side." The actress also won the Razzie for worst female actor in "All About Steve." Audience members were also surprised to see "Avatar" lose the best picture award to "The Hurt Locker," despite the questionable activity of one of its producers prior to the event. It's also interesting to note how the same movies in the best picture category ranked on BitTorrent, with "District 9" earning the most at more than 12 million downloads since its DVD-quality release last September.

Tim Burton's adaption of "Alice in Wonderland" came out last weekend, and Jeff went to check it out with his fiancee, who festively dressed up as Alice for the showing. Don't get your hopes up though; Jeff sadly left his White Rabbit costume at the dry cleaners. I won't spoil Jeff's personal review of the movie, but let's just say that 91 other movie-goers on Rotten Tomatoes agree with him.

No matter what you think of AIW, we can all agree that Zach Snyder's new movie "Legend of the Guardians" will win next year's Oscar for best comedy. Based on the novel "Guardians of Ga'Hoole," the teaser implies that the movie is about talking owls...fighting in the sky...wearing Elven face masks. Check out these screenshots and join us as we purchase advanced screening tickets live on the show.

All these stories plus some a near-expired batch of Calls From the Public and a news piece about your grandmother DJing Parisian nightclubs, all on today's episode of The 404!

Slide-a-ma-jig gives the iPhone treatment to a popular children's board-book format, with a touch-screen app that lets children create a huge variety of comical characters by mixing and matching different heads, torsos, feet, and so on.

It's not really a game in the sense that there are no rules or points to score--but that's perfect for the intended audience of young children. The interface is easy to master, accompanied by satisfying sound effects: you start with a silly character (30-odd in all, anything from a hulked-out bodybuilder to a self-repairing robot to a badger-loving fairy), and you … Read more

There are any number of ways to childproof your PC, to rope off the objectionable areas of the Internet. But what about the kids' iPhones and iPod Touches? Safari offers no parental controls to speak of, no filtering or monitoring or search guards.

Enter Mobicip Safe Browser ($4.99), which offers a familiar Web interface, but with a raft of protections designed to keep kids safe.

The app looks and functions almost exactly like Safari, so there's almost no learning curve for kids already accustomed to the built-in browser (which, FYI, you can lock out by venturing into Settings &… Read more