In its ruling the PCC said the police officer’s privacy had not been invaded because the reporting of this comment was in the public interest.

After the death of Tomlinson during the London G20 protests in April, the officer posted an update stating: “I see my lot have murdered someone again. Oh well, shit happens.”

The People ran a story about the Facebook comment and another comment the officer made on Friends Reunited.
“The commission has recently made clear that it can be acceptable in some circumstances for the press to publish information taken from social networking websites, even when the material is originally intended for a small group of acquaintances and not publicly accessible. However, this will generally be only in cases where the public interest overrides the individual’s right to privacy,” the PCC said.

“The commission was persuaded that this was such a case. The individual in question was a serving police officer, commenting on a matter that was the subject of considerable media and public scrutiny. He had done so in a way that made light of a person’s death and the role apparently played by the police. There was a clear public interest in knowing about police attitudes, whether publicly or privately expressed, towards the incident.”

A picture of the officer on his private driveway and a picture taken from his sister’s Friends Reunited profile showing him in uniform were published by the People, but the PCC rejected complaints that the images were an invasion of privacy.

The MBTA yesterday asked Clear Channel to remove the mannequin from a billboard located on the Somerville-Boston line for heating oil company Clickfil, said T spokesman Joe Pesaturo. Clear Channel manages the T’s billboard program.

“We received complaints about it, and we agreed it should be removed to avoid unnecessary confusion,” Pesaturo said. The billboard is located on T property.

At least three calls were placed to fire departments in Boston and Somerville about the mannequin yesterday.

Clickfil is a part of the Fort Reliance Company, which is the parent company to Irving Oil, according to its Web site. A message left for a company spokesperson was not immediately returned

PC gamers have been most shocked by the relelations to come out of Infinity Ward. During an online chat session, the following new news about the game was discovered:

Of course, people understand by now that PC players will not have dedicated servers. In addition, however, Modern Warfare 2 will not have the ability to vote-kick players from a match. When pressed about the issue, Infinity Ward has stated that they’ll be taking action against hackers that make their way past VAC (the anti-cheating system). Infinity Ward has confirmed that gamers cannot opt-out of hosting matches, a concern for those players that are on ISPs that don’t allow dedicated servers. With all of these limits, it’s hard to imagine more, but… Modern Warfare 2 is also limited to 9 vs 9 matches, only 18 total players on a map.

One last kick to the PC gamers is the lack of a Console Mode (a mode where PC gamers are able to enter commands directly into the game). When asked if Modern Warfare 2 was simply a console port, Infinity Ward said “No, PC has custom stuff like mouse control, text chat in game, and graphics settings.”
Apparently, they have absolutely no idea what was meant by the question. And the real answer is “Yes, why the hell would we develop 2 games, when we can just make one and get the same amount of money?”

It cites long-term research that correlates an increase in television watching with the prevalence of attention disorders, such as ADHD.

What do you think?

Here’s my take. Yes, there is an abundance of television programming geared at getting those who are still on the boob into the tube. But at the same time, this is the age of hyper-parenting, at least among relatively affluent social stratas, where you’d be hard-pressed to make the point that kids are babysat by television. On the contrary, they’re likely carted around to Gymboree and parent-and-tot music and introduction to origami.

If anything, companies like Baby Einstein have capitalized on the whole “Years before five…”/”Mozart effect” phenomenon by convincing consumers that they’re actually giving their children a leg up in life by exposing them to colours, numbers, the alphabet, in DVD form, all while they’re still in nappies. They’re tapping into a marketplace that would rather know what they’re putting into the DVD player than pop their kids in front of whatever is on Treehouse.

I guess what would be dangerous is lulling ourselves into a false sense of the enrichment that so-called “educational” programs provide. A baby’s best entertainment is the face of a parent or other loving caregiver, so substituting hours and hours of tri-lingual puppets for old-fashioned interaction would be a shame. It’s likely the most isolated parents — with fewer resources for classes — that are most likely to lean heavily on these products.

But every so often, we all need a little help from Treehouse or TVOkids or Baby Einstein. I wish I could say that I never get to a point on a long, cold January Sunday afternoon when we’ve all been cooped up inside and say, both boys have suddenly gotten bloody noses at the exact same time (separate incidents – true story), and I’m tired of plucking my toddler off the dining room table. Those are moments when I’m going to say yes to TV or a short DVD. Because they seem to need some “down time,” as my five-year-old has taken to spinning it, and we need them to leave us alone for five minutes so we can do the dishes or shower and stuff. (And if I can get through a cup of tea without having to warm it up twice in the microwave, that is a complete luxury for me.)

My takeaway from this is pretty commonsense: don’t think of educational programs like a visit from the Mensa fairy, use them — and all kids’ TV — in moderation, and make sure your kids get exercise. Then, when you do plunk in the Backyardigans as an alternative to losing your temper or crying more piteously than the baby, do it without guilt.