Elderly Amish Man Caught on Film With Prostitute, Blackmailed
When a 75-year-old Amish widower slept with a prostitute, he -- we feel certain -- felt pretty bad about it the next morning. As if that guilt weren't enough for the old man, the prostitute and her boyfriend demanded $67,000 from him, claiming that they had filmed the scene with wall-mounted cameras and would upload the recording to the Internet. The pair was later arrested and, we can only imagine, the Amish man abhorred technology more than ever.
Bank Robber Gets Away With the Help of Craiglist
In October, a bank robber -- wearing a safety vest, blue shirt, face mask and goggles -- eluded police with the help of Craiglist. Just outside the bank, while the robbery was in progress, stood a group of men who were responding to a Craiglist day labor opportunity. As the advertisement required, they were all wearing safety vests, blue shirts, face masks and goggles.
Nude New Zealander Arrested After Responding to Fake Sexy Text Message
Late in 2007, a Wellington, New Zealand man received a racy text message from two anonymous "ladies," giving him only an address and a request that he show up naked. Well, he indeed showed up naked... at the home of one appalled, unsuspecting New Zealander. Both the nude Romeo and the sadistic texter were arrested, though neither were prosecuted.
Fake Craiglist Ad Costs Man Most of What He Owns
Last Spring, a post appeared on an Oregon Craigslist board stating that the owner of a specific house was leaving all of his worldly possessions (still in said house) to whoever wanted them. When homeowner Robert Salisbury rushed home -- on a tip from a woman suspicious about the offer of a free horse -- he found his house being ransacked by 30 strangers. We suggest he take that horse and collect some vengeance Clint Eastwood-style.
17-Year-Old Jailed for Stealing Virtual 'Furniture'
When a 17-year-old Dutch boy hacked into several accounts on the Second Life-style site 'Habbo' in 2007, the the law got involved. The boy was discovered to have stolen $5,800 worth of virtual furniture and knick-knacks. Apparently, crime -- whether actual or virtual -- does not pay.
Phishers Going After Your Phones in New 'Vishing' Trend
Over the past year, sneaky spammers have begun to forsake the worn-out territory of e-mail in favor of cell phones' fertile frontier. The result? "Vishing." Get it? Voice mail phishing. It might be more ominous if it didn't sound like a James Bond villain saying, "Wishing."
Burglars Break Into Restaurant, Steal HDTV, Leave Money / Food Behind
Around Halloween of last year, a truckload of thieves drove into -- that's right, into -- a Pennsylvania Mexican restaurant, where they -- apparently uninterested in the cash register -- stole a mid-grade 47-inch HDTV and fled the scene. We've all heard about how this generation is lacking in ambition, but this generation's thieves, too?
Online role-playing games are often seen to be detrimental for children -- at best a waste of time, and, at worst, an addictive scourge -- but a new study is showing that this may not necessarily be the case. The study calls one such world "powerful and engaging" for children aged six to 12.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jerry on a Journey said 7:14PM on 5-26-2008
I'd love to see my son experience a game like this rather than the shooting games that I have been allowing him to play. I guess I haven't been the best role model.
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Dru said 3:28AM on 5-27-2008
Don't beat yourself up about it. Any game is going to allow your kid to see the consequence of different choices, .. and if you raise him correctly, then he'll be able to judge these consequences of their own accord. Even in shooting games, the choices you make, good or bad, reflect on the game-play. If your kid is playing Call of Duty online, the best plan is to work as a team, develop a strategy, and problem solve, .. even if the conclusion is the enemy getting shot. Just because a game is violent, it doesn't necessarily show a "bad" image. This is just where parenting steps in, letting him know virtual violence is different than real violence. But just by playing those games, they'll increase their capacity to solve real life problems, intelligently.
kpilker said 10:14PM on 7-02-2008
I had been a video game salesman for three months before I quit. I was going to school at the time and studying computer programming and become a video game programmer. My result from working there was this:
1. I was more for nintendo games for younger people because they do not have the violence that the other game platforms have.
2. I heard children as young as 6 saying they liked the games where they got to kill and see body parts fly around the screen.
As a result, I changed my major from programming to networking because I would be forced to make games that encouraged all of that stuff. I do not like blood and guts in a video game. Yes I do own several games that some may deem as violent: doom, resident evil, etc. But the games I like the most are about problem solving. I agree that violent games are ok when a parent is there to explain to the child right from wronge. But when I hear little kids saying they like to kill (even in a video game) I question what the parents are doing to say that killing is wronge.
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