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NetModerator, a software tool built by Crisp Thinking, a private company based in Leeds, England, can monitor online chat “for intent as well as content,” says Andrew Lintell, the company’s chief executive. To build the tool, he says, Crisp Thinking analyzed roughly 700 million lines of chat traffic, some from conversations between children and some, like conversations between children and sexual predators, provided by law enforcement groups.

Sexual predators are always a concern, she says, though she described the likelihood of a child being targeted by an adult with malicious intent as “statistically low.”

“Imagine a thousand children, 95 percent of whom have excellent typing skills, all typing at the same time,” she says. “Now try to monitor those conversations as they scroll past you on a screen.”

SHARETHIS.addEntry({ "title": "Changes at MySpace Signal a Move Away From Social Networking", "url": "http://www.thewrap.com/article/2736", "published": "1240950792" }, { "button": true })ShareThis yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = "Changes at MySpace Signal a Move Away From Social Networking"; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = "Sign of the times: One senior executive for comedy at MySpace has 1,403 friends on Facebook."; yahooBuzzArticleCategory = "entertainment"; yahooBuzzArticleType = "text"; thewrapcom49:http://www.thewrap.com/article/27363 votesBuzz up! Slideshow Depeche Mode's Traffic-Stopping Concert Depeche Mode celebrated the release of its 12th studio album, "Sounds of the Universe," with a free concert on Hollywood Boulevard Thursday evening -- which literally stopped traffic. The performance, which also appeared on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" later in the evening, drew a reported crowd of over 10,000. (Photographs by Jonathan Alcorn) Keywords Facebook news corp MySpace Chris Van Natta

The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.

Psychologists expect to see teenagers break free from their parents as they grow into autonomous adults, Professor Turkle went on, “but if technology makes something like staying in touch very, very easy, that’s harder to do; now you have adolescents who are texting their mothers 15 times a day, asking things like, ‘Should I get the red shoes or the blue shoes?’ ”

Remember that time you got hammered, dressed up in drag, vomited on your shoes then passed out at the bar only to wake up with marker all over your face?No?Pity the Internet doesn't forget so easily.

Cybersmart Detectives is an innovative online game that teaches children key internet safety messages in a safe environment. Children work online in real time liaising with community professionals to solve an internet-themed problem. The activity is based in the school environment, and brings together a number of agencies with an interest in promoting online safety for young people, including State and Federal Police, internet industry representatives and child welfare advocates. In the scenario, children play the role of a school Deputy Principal concerned about the welfare of a new student, who may be being bullied by someone they have met in an internet chat room. Guided by a series of clues, children work collaboratively in teams to solve the mystery of what is worrying the student, and why. 'Cybersmart Guides' respond to the questions and theories posed by the students, and guide the teams through each of the 'clues'. As the scenario unfolds, the children discuss the risks of certain online and offline behaviours, and ways of managing those risks. Although the scenario presented in the activity is simulated, the sense of urgency that excites a class of children taking part is very real. By the end of the activity children will have learned some valuable lessons about some of the risks associated with internet use, especially useful tips for chatting safely online. More importantly, the issues that lie behind the story will have been discussed with professionals who deal with similar issues on a daily basis. Cybersmart Detectives was initially developed by UK-based child advocacy agency Childnet International, and until 2005, operated under the name of Net Detectives. The activity is now independently operated by E-ngagelive. The Australian Communications and Media Authority ( ACMA ), by agreement with E-ngagelive , has adapted the activity for use in Australian schools under the name Cybersmart Detectives.

Over the last four years, more than 10,000 children on five continents have participated in the project. We have demonstrated learning gains in science, language arts, and social studies, and students have completed literally thousands of Quests, some of which were assigned by teachers and many of which were chosen by students to complete in their free time.