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What To Load On a 4-Year-Old's Netbook?

nostrodecus writes "I have a nephew who is very young, but who has the techie gene — he found the Gruffalo on YouTube before anyone knew he could spell. Now he's almost 4, and I was thinking of giving him my netbook (Acer running XP), which I hardly use any more. So, of course, I will be deleting all the porn, but what should I load up on it? Are there tools/apps that I can load up on it to protect it and him from things he shouldn't see until college? Also, what apps or games could I load on it that a 4-year-old will get some use out of?"

15 of 742 comments (clear)

  1. Obvious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    An undelete utility.

  2. Re:Huh? by Lumbre · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, why would you encourage him towards a life of living in his mom's basement, fighting brain-dead management, and with a computer as a girlfriend.

    Oh, is that just me?

  3. Re:Huh? by Daniel+Phillips · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because taking apart a screwdriver is such an enriching experience.

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    Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
  4. Re:Regardless by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm going to agree.

    My 5 year old has his own account on the Vista machine at home. He knows how to load up Chrome. He has accounts on Youtube and Netflix and can watch what he wants whenever he wants.

    It keeps him occupied for hours at a stretch. It really frees me up to go shopping and other things that would have been tough with him along.

  5. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Oh, is that just me?

    Nope, not just you.

  6. FreeDOS by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Funny

    Format it, and then install FreeDOS and nothing else. Let him figure out the rest on his own. It should keep him out of trouble for quite a while. If you're feeling generous, install some sound card drivers for him (though not necessarily the best ones, or even the right ones).

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    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  7. Re:Huh? by Nikker · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey man you take what you can get.

    --
    A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
  8. Re:Hmm by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd love for you to try it.

    Number One Observatory Circle
    3450 Massachusetts Ave.
    Washington, DC 20007

    202-762-1489

    Ask for Joe.

  9. Re:Regardless by sharkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Setting the homepage to http://slashdot.org?

    --

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    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  10. Re:Regardless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Regardless of what you install there's no guaranteed way to stop your kid from stumbling upon boobs on the internet. Plus who's to say it's something to worry about at all. They certainly didn't traumatize me.

    Are you sure? I mean, you post on Slashdot.

  11. Re:Regardless by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 2, Funny

    A 4 year old should have no interest in boobs and flee from them should they be encountered.

    This isn't really true. My kid is 5 and he loves boobs. Since his mom died, our neighbor comes over once a day to breastfeed him (and has since she passed away when he was 2).

    He sees boobs on the internet sometimes but it doesn't faze him at all. He isn't looking for that. He'd rather watch Thomas the Tank Engine or Jungle Junction.

    But it's definitely not something he flees from. If anything, it probably just makes him hungry.

  12. Re:Huh? by sorak · · Score: 2, Funny

    Give him a damn baseball or something, the last thing he needs in his formative years is to vegetate in front of a screen.

    My kid learned to read the spell lists in Oblivion at the age of three, how is yours doing with the baseball?

    He can spell "spalding". He can almost spell "ambulance", but he keeps doing it backward.

  13. Re:Regardless by fake_name · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's too late. If you don't start them training with Blender before they can speak they'll never be able to master the interface.

  14. Re:Hmm by deprecated · · Score: 2, Funny

    Pics or it didn't happen.

  15. Re:Hmm by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    Few if any of those who didn't survive are posting on slashdot.

    According to a study performed by the universities of Dublin and Warsaw, sterility is genetic. If your parents don't have any children, chances are you won't either.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."