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Software V-Chip for PC Games?
63N1U5 writes "CBS news is reporting that SMARTGUARD software is releasing a new application that will allow parents to control their children's PC gaming, a-la the V-Chip for television. The new software, called WallFly, uses the ESRB ratings database to determine if a game can be launched by the current PC user, based on the parents' preferences. Parents can also use this software to set limits on when and for how long their children can play PC games."
Its called being a parent. Dont let your little kids play M rated games, dont let them sit there for hours at a time. You can install the games to their profile yourself so that they can only play games you allow them to play.
But we cant have that, no-one wants to do their jobs as a parent anymore.
And not just any porn, hardcore midget fisting orangutans covered in porridge and cucumber chunks!
You'll never find one better than this. I dare anyone to top that one. That O-ring wasn't giving me any mercy either; I envy, sadly.
What of this gem.
Have mercy, but not here!
These classic movies, I love the 80's muffcut atmosphereover here!
Can you beat this Screem?
Look at how beautiful she is.
Thanks, and remember to cue-tip your nearest whore.
Disabling this is as simple as killing the process, then using APM to unload MadCHook.dll and createprocesshook.dll from each process. An alternative is to blank dbGames.ini, save and set "Read-Only" (though in some cases, this will not work, as the file will be set as "In-Use") Curiously, for something that is supposed to be entirely local, it frequently wanted to access the internet. Whether this was for Database Update, or to act as spyware, I haven't determined yet.
Frankly, as others said, parenting is a lot of hard work. And you must be consistent. As for them doing things other than what they were taught, get real, all kids do things that would curl their parent's hair. The best thing I've done is told the kids that if they abused their net priviledges, I would lock them out of the machine via the bios. And I've done it. I also pointed out that if the case was opened and the password cleared via jumper that the next time they went to used the computer it would have a keylock on it and the next time they used a computer in the house AMD would be marketing 512 bit CPU's
They know I mean it, because I've followed through on everything else I've said. That's the key, them knowing you will follow through, first time, every time. And that's regardless of how much they whine
And I think you're grossly underestimating them. I'll admit most of my classmates are, on the whole, rather unskilled with computers. They aren't the ones who like to play computer games though. Most gamers that I know are at least resourceful enough to fix most of their own computer problems. It may not always be the most elegant solution, but they'll use whatever works. At my old school everyone was issued a laptop. For some reason there was a policy setup through Novell that prevented anyone from booting their laptop after 10:00 at night (didn't do anything to computers already on). One of the first things I did was play around with my laptop's network settings until I found the option to enable logging in without authenticating to the network. Others figured out that if the laptop didn't have a network connection then it'd let you log in anytime. So they would take their laptop out of range of the access points, boot it, and take it back to their room. These simple solutions also tended to spread quite quickly through word-of-mouth. If there's a desire to get around something then someone will find a way and spread the word.
I'm a parent. M games and a 15 year old aren't really a problem. To be honest I don't think AO and a 15 year old are a problem. I think the bigger issue is 10 and M content.
M content can raise issues and as a parent you want to have some idea what sorts of issues are likely to come up and be able to lay the groundwork so they can integrate this stuff properly. I haven't seen anything in video games that a 15 year old couldn't handle.
any child with even the tiniest bit of smartness will know about ctrl+alt+delete and how to disable software. some might say that parents would not give the access rights for their child to turn it off, but if the parent knew about access rights in the 1st place, they wouldn't have needed the vchip.
remember back in the good old days when the favorite 2 key combo after ctrl+alt+del was alt+tab? before starting any game, i would open a word document (partially filled in, u dont want to get caught with an empty word document). whenever my parents walked in, a quick alt+tab and it'll look like i'm serious at work.
also, how will this vchip detect flash games. many of the internet games nowadays are programmed in flash.
HD Trailers
it's just not realistic anymore to expect to have a parent at home at all the same times as the children
WHAT!?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!
It is hard, to be sure, but it is absolutely realistic and possible to have one parent at home when the kids are home
(assuming a two-parent household where there's a good relationship between the parents, and both parents are physically and emotionally healthy - where healthy is defined as behavior within currently acceptable social norms)
This is about life choices, people. You (generally) choose the quality of your relationship with your spouse; you choose where to live, what kind of cars to drive, how much you spend on yourself, and what your priorities are!
Our family of six lives on my income alone. We own a relatively small home, we drive used cars, we shop for bargains - yardsales, freecycle, etc - and we have healthy, well adjusted kids where mom is home with them.
It's my job to earn an income, and then to come home and co-parent my kids. That means after a tough day at the office I come home, take the baby from my wife, and keep the rest of the kids entertained while she finishes preparing dinner. We play as a family together until time for bed when it's my responsibility to share the workload with my wife. I grocery shop after the kids are in bed or I take the kids with me so that she gets some rest.
The point is we CHOSE to live a more fiscally conservative lifestyle so that our kids could have a parent at home. Our income is above 'average' but I am sure that we could do this on an 'average' income. If it was too expensive to live in a metro area, we could move someplace cheaper. It's all a choice.
Almost everyone could choose this, too. There ARE exceptions as noted above. Some of those exceptions could be eliminated. Got a bad marriage? Work on turning it around! Bad health? Most health problems are related to lack of activity and obesity. Perhaps there's a place to start.
Let's avoid some of the knee-jerk responses, while I'm at it. If you have serious illness - HIV/AIDS, Cancer, MS, and a whole host of others, it's going to be MUCH harder to make it work having a parent at home. If you have a drug-addicted or absent partner, having a parent at home is impossible.
Let's talk about the middle of the bell curve, not the extremes. People can make financial and personal sacrifices to provide a present parent. Most are simply too selfish to do so, or they have never thought through the fact that they ARE making choices. With appropriate self-evaluation, and a willingness to do without, most two-parent families could have both parents at home. They just don't.
This is not a lack of realism, but rather a lack of wisdom.
BTW - it IS good parenting to lock away guns, cleaners, prescription medicines, etc. This software helps parents with some kids, by choice, and I consider that a good thing.
Respectfully,
Anomaly
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?