It is a tough time to be online right now. We are watching as a whole race rises up against the systematic oppression they have experienced for years. It is hard not to be upset and the urge to help is strong. If you are in Australia you may feel like helping is too hard, the distance too great. Player 2 would like to remind you all though that Australia is by no means innocent. Indigenous Australians have been victimised and silenced by ingrained systemic racism and police brutality for generations. We, as a nation, have treated them in such a bad way for so long their voice is no longer even acknowledged let alone heard. So helping starts at home. Write to your local state or federal MP. Donate or assist a charity that works with the Aboriginal community. Educate yourself about the traditional owners of the land you are now sitting on. These are just some of the small but important steps each and every one of us needs to take to make Australia and, by extension, the world a better place. Player 2 would also like to say it is important to recognise all marginalised voices in this country, from the LGQBT+ community to disabled Australians to other minority ethnic and refugee groups, and work together to make this a truly equal place to live.
Keep an Eye on Your X-Tykes Thanks to New App
If there’s one thing we all crave in this age of technology, it’s more apps. And Microsoft has delivered, offering another shiny square to add to our phones. This one is actually a pretty worthwhile one, though, especially if you want to keep a lid on and track the gaming activity of your kids. Called the Xbox Family Settings app, this fingertip-tapper aims to empower parents to manage the gaming activity of their children through the portal of a mobile device. Below are some of the features offered in this preview build, which is available on both Android and iOS. However, only the first 10 000 people will get a look at iOS.
- Screen time limits: put a lockdown on which days of the week your kids can play.
- Content filters: whack up filter gates based on ratings. EG, your 35-year-old uncle can only access E-rated games, because we all know how sweary Uncle Ben gets if he is allowed to play anything over.
- Communication limits: set the level of openness for communication, such as “friends only” or “everyone”.
- Activity reports: daily and weekly reports for each child so you can gasp at how many times they tried to guess the password.
- Real-time changing of permissions: want to give them another ten minutes on Minecraft? The app allows you to extend the time limits as requests come in. No, Uncle Ben, you are not playing Gears of War 5!
Additional features will be available when the app launches later in the year, including viewing each child’s friends list and being able to accept or deny friend requests on their behalf.
If this sounds like heaven in an app, get on down to the Android or iOS market place and hopefully, you’re one of the first 10 000 to do so.
