Drag racing. Weekend parties. Sneaking out at night. Ah, the joys of being a rebellious teenager. Not anymore. The digital revolution that brought kids MySpace, IM, and cell phones also gave their parents GPS trackers, Web monitoring, and online spy services. Mom, the 21st century is soooo lame!
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Screen Lockout C'mon… just one more level!? No! Hopscotch Bob is one cold-hearted babysitter. This device lets parents limit TV, computer, and videogame time. When the distracting devices are plugged into Bob's locked cabinet, kids need a four-digit PIN to turn them on. When their allotted time is up, the juice cuts off.
| Copycat Catcher It's the latest in plagiarism prevention: Turnitin.com. The service compares an "original" student work to previously submitted papers, online sources, and commercial databases of journal articles. Matches are highlighted in a report that shows what was copied and from where.
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hol Tests</stdents at New Jersey's Pequannock Township High School may want to skip that Friday night kegger. Campus administrators collect random urine samples and send them to Western Slope Lab in Troy, Michigan. The lab uses liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry to detect ethyl glucuronide, an alcohol metabolite that stays in the body for up to 80 hours.</p>
<p><Phone Spies</st phones come equipped with location tracking – and telecoms are cashing in on the feature. Sprint's Family Locator lets Mom and Pop go online to see where their mall rats are. Verizon Chaperone sends text messages if offspring leave a designated zone. Disney Mobile is an even bigger buzz kill: It not only locates a minor's phone but also allows the 'rents to limit minutes and block specific phone numbers.</p>
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ney Monitor</strongPlus is a Web-based service that helps parents control children's cash flow. Parents load a debit account, and the kids use a card or a PIN to pay for cafeteria grub. Sure, it can help thwart lunch-money-hungry bullies, but it also stymies covert comic book and cigarette purchases. All transactions can be accessed online, so Dad will know if you skipped the mystery meat.</p> |
<stroeillance</strong can pimp their kids' rides with GPS-enabled black boxes. Alltrack USA's Real Time tracker, for example, connects to a car's onboard diagnostics system, recording speed and length of time parked at any given destination. The device even narcs via email or text message whenever the speedometer exceeds a preset limit or when the car enters a no-go zone. Busted!</p> <p
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