Today Facebook announced to brand marketers the world over that, within the month, everything they knew about fan Pages on Facebook would be overturned. While you get your brand ready for the new Timeline format, here are six important changes to keep top-of-mind.

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1. Updated Look and Feel

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What’s new: The format of Timeline for brands is quite similar to Timeline for personal profiles. It employs a cover photo at the top of the Page, and the Page is separated into two main columns by a dividing line, which represents the passage of time. This format provides brands with new options for self-expression: They can outline their corporate history with milestones (such as product launches, store openings, etc.) to construct a narrative for their audience. 



Recommendation: Milestones present an important and dramatic opportunity to educate the public, humanize the brand and remove a perception of corporate anonymity. Our analyses of Page engagement have continually shown that brands posting content that depicts behind-the-scenes activities, exclusive updates or promotions encourages user interactions and promotes higher engagement rates. Using interesting milestones to craft the story of the brand over time (and updating the Timeline with new milestones as they happen) can help to stimulate conversations around major achievements.

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2. Reduced Tab Visibility

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What’s new: The new Timeline format does not have the left-side panel of links, which could include hundreds of different tabs. While applications still exist, they’ll display differently, in rectangular panels underneath the cover photo. The width of the Timeline and the space allocated for native apps like Photos means that only three tab panels are viewable at any given time. To see more, users must expand the tab panel by clicking a drop-down box. 


Recommendation: For marketers, this major change means that the three above-fold tab apps need to be considered carefully — this will be one of the first things users see when interacting with your brand on Facebook. Brands will want to switch up which tabs are visible “above the fold,” according to current company objectives or project popularity. A good Page analytics tool will be useful for determining which tab to promote on a day-to-day basis.



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3. No Default Landing Page

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What’s new: With the new Timeline Page format, you will no longer be able to set a default landing Page, a favored feature for many savvy brands. The option was one of the primary ways to control the first (branded) impression a user encountered. Since there are no more tab Pages, there is no way to set one as a default. This will drastically change user impressions when they first visit a brand’s Timeline Page. 



Recommendation: You will need to apply new and careful attention to all the top messages in the Timeline, as they will be the first objects seen by visiting users. Likewise, Facebook ads for brands will become ever important, as ads will be one of the major ways brands on Facebook can control a user’s experience. Setting up an advertising campaign for a Facebook promotion or new application will be the only way to guide new and clicking users directly to that application (as landing on this Page cannot be achieved by default). 



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4. New Way to Feature Content

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What’s new: One major new feature that marketers will love is the ability to “pin” certain posts to the top of the Timeline. Similar to marking a blog post “sticky,” so that it remains at the top of a blog for a specified period of time, pinning a post to the top of Timeline allows it to precede any other content. A pinned post is distinguished by a small, orange flag. Brands can pin only one item at a time, and the pinned item then exists in two locations — as the top item on the Timeline itself, as well as within its chronological place. Once unpinned (which happens automatically when a new item gets pinned, or the item has been pinned for more than seven days), the post remains in the chronology of Timeline posts, but there is no visual history that it was pinned in the past. 



Recommendation: Since you can no longer create a default landing Page, pinning items to the top of the Timeline will become every marketer’s go-to strategy for highlighting new and interesting content. We will begin to see savvy brands design posts specifically to be pinned, whether images, a well-designed call-to-action, a statement about brand value, or a message calling for the user to click one of the tab panels under the cover photo. 



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5. Current Tab Content and Applications Become Outdated

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What’s new: The new Timeline layout displaces Facebook’s existing Page tab configuration (including a tab’s 520-pixel width), and replaces it with a new 810-pixel layout. As a result, existing Page tab content will look centered in the middle of the 810-pixel layout without any adjustments. All applications that remain on a brand’s Page will need new application icons (the new dimensions are 111×74).



Recommendation: The most pressing updates for brands will be to update the images and tab functionality of the above-fold two apps. As these are the first tabs users will see, they will likely be the first to be interacted with, or entirely ignored if not optimized for the new experience.



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6. Private Messages Between Brands and Users

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What’s new: Finally, brands will be able to send and receive private messages with users. This allows for much deeper consumer interaction, and will also enable Page managers to take extended customer inquiries off the Timeline and into a private message. 



Recommendation: Be mindful of noise in the Timeline. Since the real estate allocated to each post depends on how engaging it is or how much interaction it has received, it can be easy to clutter your Timeline with customer inquiries. When these inquiries can be better serviced in a more one-on-one manner, reach out to the consumer with a private message and resolve her question. It’s a good opportunity to yield both a happy user and a clean Timeline.



Timeline for brands will certainly shake things up for social media marketers who seek to make an impact on Facebook. One thing is for sure though: The way content is shared and viewed within a Timeline Page is incredibly important. Brands that constantly create engaging updates and share important milestones will stay at the forefront of users’ attention. Create and rotate new apps for engagement, pin relevant and timely content, and update the feed with user-friendly dialogues to stay relevant in this new space. 



Some photos just don't need to see the light of the next day.

Facebook is still working on deleting photos from its servers in a timely manner nearly three years after Ars first brought attention to the topic. The company admitted on Friday that its older systems for storing uploaded content "did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," but said it's currently finishing up a newer system that makes the process much quicker. In the meantime, photos that users thought they "deleted" from the social network months or even years ago remain accessible via direct link.

The problem: "deleted" photos never go away

When we first investigated this phenomenon in 2009, we discovered that photos "deleted" from Facebook seemingly never go away if you have a direct link to the image file on Facebook's servers. Users who might have had second thoughts about posting a photo—whether it was because they didn't want retaliation from an employer, wanted to avoid family drama, or uploaded a photo of a friend without their permission—could certainly remove the image from Facebook's main user interface, but as long as someone had a direct link to the .jpg file in question, the photo would remain accessible for an indefinite amount of time. When we asked Facebook about it, we were told that the company was "working with our content delivery network (CDN) partner to significantly reduce the amount of time that backup copies persist."

But when we followed up on the story more than a year later, our "deleted" photos were still accessible via direct link. That's when the reader stories started pouring in: we were told horror stories about online harassment using photos that were allegedly deleted years ago, and users who were asked to take down photos of friends that they had put online.

There were plenty of stories in between as well, and panicked Facebook users continue to e-mail me, asking if we have heard of any new way to ensure that their deleted photos are, well, deleted. For example, one reader linked me to a photo that a friend of his had posted of his toddler crawling naked on the lawn. He asked his friend to take it down for obvious reasons, and so the friend did—in May of 2008. As of this writing in 2012, I have personally confirmed that the photo is still online, as are several others that readers linked me to that were deleted at various points in 2009 and 2010.

(Amusingly, after publishing the 2010 followup, Facebook appeared to delete my photos from its CDN that I had linked in the piece. The company never offered me any explanation, but my photos were the only ones that were deleted at that time. Other "deleted" photos that I had saved links to—ones that weren't from my account and were deleted even earlier than mine—remained online.)

It's 2012, and things aren't much different—yet

After confirming once again that all the photos that my friends and Ars readers had sent in were still online, I reached out to Facebook once again, looking for an answer as to why this is still going on nearly three years after the company first promised it was "working" on the issue.

"The systems we used for photo storage a few years ago did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," Facebook spokesperson Frederic Wolens told Ars via e-mail.

Wolens explained that photos remaining online are stuck in a legacy system that was apparently never operating properly, but said the company is working on a new system that will delete the photos in a mere month and a half. For really real this time.

"We have been working hard to move our photo storage to newer systems which do ensure photos are fully deleted within 45 days of the removal request being received," Wolens said. "This process is nearly complete and there is only a very small percentage of user photos still on the old system awaiting migration, the URL you provided was stored on this legacy system. We expect this process to be completed within the next month or two, at which point we will verify the migration is complete and we will disable all the old content."

Long story short, Wolens claims that Facebook is on the verge of fixing up its content systems so that "deleted" photos are really, truly deleted from the CDN within 45 days. But with the process not expected to be finished until a couple months from now—and unfortunately, with a company history of stretching the truth when asked about this topic—we'll have to see it before we believe it.

It's hard to believe that we've been following this story over a period of years and the problem hasn't been fixed yet. But unlike the past, we do have some semblance of confidence that Facebook might actually be working on it this time. We'll continue to follow this story until the new changes are actually in place. In the meantime, does anyone have any new Facebook horror stories to share?

Photo illustration by Aurich Lawson

Later this week, Facebook will file documents with the SEC to announce its intention to go public. 

People close to the deal expect the company to be valued somewhere between $75 billion and $100 billion when shares finally begin trading in late May.

Facebook is so valuable mainly because more than 850 million individuals use the product each month. Half that number come back every day. 

In hindsight, something so massive and valuable as Facebook can seem almost historically inevitable. 

But the truth is, Facebook's creation—and even its sustained development—was anything but a foregone conclusion.

We know this because back in college and in the year or so following, Mark Zuckerberg held lots of instant message conversations with friends and confidants about his plans for life and work. Due to a lawsuit or two, these instant messages were preserved.  We have viewed some of them.

In one of these conversations, a 19-year-old Zuckerberg confers, during the fall of 2003, with his best friend from high school, Adam D'Angelo—who would become Facebook CTO and later cofound Quora—about which project he should focus on: a "dating site" he was asked to build for some Harvard seniors, or "the Facebook thing." Zuckerberg and D'Angelo discuss what "the Facebook thing" should be like.

Zuckerberg: So you know how I'm making that dating site

Zuckerberg: I wonder how similar that is to the Facebook thing

Zuckerberg: Because they're probably going to be released around the same time

Zuckerberg: Unless I fuck the dating site people over and quit on them right before I told them I'd have it done.

D'Angelo: haha

Zuckerberg: Like I don't think people would sign up for the facebook thing if they knew it was for dating 

Zuckerberg: and I think people are skeptical about joining dating things too. 

Zuckerberg: But the guy doing the dating thing is going to promote it pretty well. 

Zuckerberg: I wonder what the ideal solution is.

Zuckerberg: I think the Facebook thing by itself would draw many people, unless it were released at the same time as the dating thing. 

Zuckerberg: In which case both things would cancel each other out and nothing would win. Any ideas? Like is there a good way to consolidate the two. 

D'Angelo: We could make it into a whole network like a friendster. haha. Stanford has something like that internally

Zuckerberg: Well I was thinking of doing that for the facebook. The only thing that's different about theirs is that you like request dates with people or connections with the facebook you don't do that via the system. 

D'Angelo: Yeah

Zuckerberg: I also hate the fact that I'm doing it for other people haha. Like I hate working under other people. I feel like the right thing to do is finish the facebook and wait until the last day before I'm supposed to have their thing ready and then be like "look yours isn't as good as this so if you want to join mine you can…otherwise I can help you with yours later." Or do you think that's too dick?

D'Angelo: I think you should just ditch them

Zuckerberg: The thing is they have a programmer who could finish their thing and they have money to pour into advertising and stuff. Oh wait I have money too. My friend who wants to sponsor this is head of the investment society. Apparently insider trading isn't illegal in Brazil so he's rich lol.

D'Angelo: lol

There are two historically significant notes about this conversation:

• It seems to be the moment when Zuckerberg decides not to work for somebody else, and to strike out on his own to build what would become Facebook.
• It's D'Angelo, not Zuckerberg, who seems to suggest "We could make it into a whole network like a friendster."

In the months following his conversation with D'Angelo, Zuckerberg—along with a little bit of help from some Harvard friends, Eduardo Saverin and Dustin Moskovitz—built Facebook (then called TheFacebook), and watched it grow very popular very quickly.

By the next summer, Zuckerberg and pals moved to California and began working on Facebook full-time. By late July, Facebook had almost reached 1 million users, just 7 months after launching.

But despite that early success, a surprising instant message conversation between Mark Zuckerberg and a confidant on July 26, 2004—about who will foot legal bills in the event that Facebook were ever to be sued—reveals that Facebook was not his main priority at the time.  

Confidant: Well you should recover the shares you need to recover legal fees.

Zuckerberg: I won't pay the legal fees

Zuckerberg: The company that buys us will haha 

Confidant: Cool hopefully that'll be soon so you can move on and just work on what you want to

Zuckerberg: Well it just needs to propel Wirehog 

Confidant: So you have gotten responses to your national recognition? 

Zuckerberg: Responses from whom?

Zuckerberg: Some more VCs. Still talking to Google and Friendster.

 What's enlightening about this conversation:

• Even as a million people found themselves addicted to Facebook, Zuckerberg wasn't sure yet that it would end up being worth his time. To him, Facebook "just need[ed] to propel Wirehog," which has since been described as a file-sharing service.

• How close Google came to owning Facebook—probably for a price approximately $99,990,000,000 lower than what Facebook will IPO for in just a few months.

Related:  At Last -- The Full Story Of How Facebook Was Founded

In a comprehensive piece of reporting, The New York Times has laid out a strong case that Apple has not pursued safe and fair working conditions at its supplier factories in China as strenuously as it could have. Citing both current and former Apple executives, the NYT details dangerous labor conditions at Apple suppliers and lax oversight from Apple itself. The core of the problem stems from a fundamental conflict between Apple's demand for low margins and fast turnaround with suppliers' need to cut corners to meet those demands — often doing so by sacrificing worker safety.

In one example, after an explosion at a Foxconn factory caused by aluminum dust, Apple did not require consistent ventilation standards across all its supplier factories, which arguably allowed another explosion to occur at a different factory. A safety expert cited by the NYT called Apple's policy here "gross negligence," adding "We solved this problem [of properly ventilating dust] over a century ago."

Although reports of poor working conditions have come out of Apple supplier factories before, now former Apple executives have come forward, albeit anonymously, to criticize the company's supply chain policies. Apple's famously strict control over the supply chain, driven in no small part by CEO Tim Cook, demands perfect products and slim margins. However, executives and workers' rights organizations say it doesn't extend into working conditions as much as it could. Citing the conditions, one former executive said they exist "because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice."

Apple claims that it works to improve and monitor conditions, most recently publishing an audit that revealed underage workers and involuntary labor. Although Apple has performed inspections and audits at an increasing rate since beginning them in 2005, the question of whether or not it genuinely would drop major suppliers — especially Foxconn — doesn't seem to have as clear an answer. One former Apple executive said, "Noncompliance is tolerated, as long as the suppliers promise to try harder next time. If we meant business, core violations would disappear." Former executives say that Apple has only terminated relationships with 15 suppliers since 2007, a claim which seems to verify the lack of teeth in Apple's compliance policies.

Foxconn, of course, denies that it has a problem with working conditions, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Although the effectiveness of Apple's policies are dubious, it does claim that it has seen improvement in labor conditions at the factories it audits. Other technology companies use the same suppliers and face the same issues, but claim they offer more transparency than Apple and, more importantly, less pressure on profit margins.

Apple has just had its greatest and most profitable quarter in history, and actually the best quarter of any tech company ever. If even a portion of the NYT piece is true, some of that profit has come at a very real, very human cost for which Apple shares culpability because of how it oversees its supply chain. Some of that blame also belongs to us, the consumers, who purchase technology products and don't demand better labor practices from the companies that supply them. As a current, anonymous Apple executive points out: "right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China." Whether that describes you or not, the full article is worth a read.

The day has come, millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod owners finally have the chance to experience the new iOS 5 software from Apple, bringing a large number of new features, services and bug fixes.

As with every major Apple release, the new software provides users with completely new but also vastly improved features and services. With the release of iOS 5, Apple brings enhanced notifications to iOS devices, iMessage, wireless updates and iTunes syncing, widgets, Twitter integration, improved camera and photo support, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, enhanced reminders and a whole host of new and impressive features.

The new iOS 5 update will most likely be one of the last people have to make via iTunes, because the new software allows users to update their iOS devices via a new Software Update feature in the iOS software itself, downloading updates via the device’s WiFi connection and automatically applying them without the need for a physical connection.

Coupled with that is Apple’s iCloud service, which will take care of all of your music, photos, documents and other important files, wirelessly syncing them between your iOS devices but also your Mac – no longer relying on a signal piece of software to store and update data and apps on your device.

To apply the update, connect your iOS device to your iTunes installation and check for updates. Do make sure to backup your important data and files before you do, just to be sure, but once you have downloaded the update, the software will take care of the rest. Once installed, you can all but kiss goodbye to iTunes for device updates, making you love your iOS device even more.

This morning Facebook announced Timeline, a crazy (and kind of creepy) omnibus look at everything that has ever happened in your Facebook lifespan. It’s like a story book of your life — or at least the online, documented parts.

Facebook said that Timeline would be on the way for everyone sometime in the coming weeks… which is great and all, for everyone else. You’re the type of person who reads TechCrunch, and are thus likely the type of person who likes their new and shiny things right now.

That’s okay. We can make it happen.

Fortunately, enabling Timeline a bit early isn’t too difficult — but it’s not at all straight forward, either.

You see, Facebook is enabling Timeline early for open graph developers. You, too, can be an open graph developer — even if you’re just looking to dabble.

A few things to note:
- You probably don’t want to do this unless you’re actually a developer. Expect bugs.
- Only you will see your timeline at first (unless you decide otherwise), but it will automatically go public after a few days. My timeline was automatically hard-set to go public on September 29th.
- It seems that if you login into Facebook on another machine, Timeline gets disabled automatically on all of your machines. With that said, it seems you can get back to your timeline (but ONLY after following the steps below) by navigating to http://www.facebook.com/YOURUSERNAMEHERE?sk=timeline
- You’ll need to have a “verified” account for one of the steps, which means you need a credit card or phone number attached to the account.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log into Facebook

2. Enable developer mode, if you haven’t already. To do this, type “developer” into the Facebook search box, click the first result (it should be an app made by Facebook with a few hundred thousand users), and add the app.

3. Jump into the developer app (if Facebook doesn’t put you there automatically, it should be in your left-hand tool bar)

4. Create a new app (don’t worry — you wont actually be submitting this for anyone else to see/use). Give your shiny new app any display name and namespace you see fit. Read through and agree to the Platform Privacy agreement. This is the step you need to be verified for.

5. Ensure you’re in your new app’s main settings screen. You should see your app’s name near the top of the page

6. Look for the “Open Graph” header, and click the “Get Started using open graph” link.

Create a test action for your app, like “read” a “book”, or “eat” a “sandwich”

7. This should drop you into an action type configuration page. Change a few of the default settings (I changed the past tense of “read” to “redd” — again, only you can see this unless you try and submit your application to the public directory), and click through all three pages of settings

8. Wait 2-3 minutes

9. Go back to your Facebook homescreen. An invite to try Timeline should be waiting at the top of the page

And you’re done! We’ve seen this work quite a few times now, so it should work without a hitch for just about anyone.

The issue of violence in children’s entertainment has been around much longer than you think. In the Supreme Court decision that confirmed the freedom of speech to video games, Justice Scalia made the point that children’s entertainment has had violence, making reference to specific Grimm fairy tales. But violence in fairy tales has been around since the earliest folk tales in children’s literature. Remember Jack in the Beanstalk? The blood and guts date back to 1711. Little Red Riding Hood — 1729. And, Grimm’s Fairy tales? 1812. Here’s a sampling of the extreme violence you have grown up with in these fairy tales:

• For trying to poison Snow White, the wicked Queen is forced to dance in red hot slippers until she falls dead on the floor.
• Cinderella’s evil stepsisters have their eyes pecked out by doves.
• Hansel and Gretel kill their captor by banking her in an oven.
• Jack (originally Jack the Giant Killer), kills the giant in a murderous rage to cover up the fact that he stole a bag of gold coins, a hen that laid gold eggs and a magical harp.
• In the Grimm version of Little Red Riding Hood, the huntsman disembowels the wolf. In the original version of the story, Little Red Riding Hood is not rescued, and dies. ​

Woodcut, Jack the Giant Killer 1840 Opie, The Classic Fairy Tales

This is bloody violent stuff, one might say. But as you will see, it does serve a practical purpose in the healthy development process of kids. And, if this kind of fantasy violence has always been a part of fairy tales, then why are parents so up in arms about video game violence? Video game violence is a huge issue with parents. And, video game violence is specifically considered “participatory violence” because the gamer is seen as directing or participating in violent actions, albeit, in-game, and albeit still fantasy violence. Adding to this misinformation, parents typically rely on the ESRB rating system. Unfortunately, it is a vague, inaccurate and inconsistent rating system that provides information on the age-appropriateness of video game content. To us as parents, violence in video games might be puzzling at best, and may also be worrisome and troubling to our ethical sensibilities at worst. However, changing our perspective may be a helpful and a cathartic move. The new thinking zen, think inductively without a box. We need to make a move towards rethinking video game violence’s helpful role in assisting healthy child development: to place video game violence in a larger psychological role, to reclaim the practical role that fantasy violence has held within fairy tales in which it’s lived peacefully for so many centuries.

Image: WB Animation – DC Comics

Allow me to share my personal story with you. Once upon a time (actually, around 2001), I had decided that I was going to be the perfect father. I wanted to rear a lover of non-violence, a boy who had no knowledge of the dark side of the force. I was on a crusade against violence in video games, videos, toys, etc. Around this time, my son played constantly with LEGO and Playmobil structures and figurines, and of course, watched age-appropriate videos. I would sift through the piles of mini-figures and remove all the “tools of violence” — plastic swords, scabbard, rifles, pistols, gun holsters, bullet belts, etc., sequestering and containing them in a plastic bag. At the time, also I “pre-screened” cartoon shows, and I was a little worried about the Batman Beyond show that my son had begged me non-stop to watch, as it seemed much darker and more violent than the other Batman cartoons. Oh, how bad could it be, really? Finally, we watched one of the videos together. There went the fists flying, the bullets ricocheting — ergo, all my suspicions confirmed of the violence whose evil I thought had crept into our cartoons (never mind that it had never left the cartoon world). No matter, I thought, my son will never find the plastic LEGO and Playmobil “weapons of doom” that I had industriously hidden away, and surely the dark Batman thing will just fade away from his memory. Moral fiber intact, my crusade still winning out over violence. One day, it all changed. A friend lent me the game Blood Wake. Bear in mind my son was still in preschool, and I was virulently opposed to video games for kids, although a hard-core gamer myself. My stream of moral consciousness tells me, ah, this is a game about boats. So they have little guns, how bad can it be. Out of pure curiosity, I decided to play the game. My son tried out the XBOX controller, and picked up the controls in a matter of minutes. I’ll never forget the unbridled delight on his face when he outmaneuvered my boats, torpedoed and blew them up. It wasn’t the dazed look of the fog of war, nor was it the gloat of  the evil triumphant, but just pure, childish delight at beating his dad.

Image: Microsoft Game Studios

How can we, as parents, possibly rethink something so troublesome as the role of video game violence in our children’s healthy development? Again, the zen, thinking inductively with no box.The first step to understand why children tend to play violent video games. If kids are dealing with anger, chances are they will play M-rated violent games. Coping with anger and purging negative feelings is only one of many other social, emotional and intellectual reasons why kids play video games. Kids who play M-rated games in particular play to compete and win, to get anger out, to “mod” the game and because they like the weapons in the game. Let’s be frank — violent content is emotionally appealing to kids. They appreciate the tremendously beautiful graphics in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood with the grand city of Renaissance Rome and enchanting landscapes of the campagna outside the city. Kids gain achievement in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood as they’re emotionally immersed in a complex game universe with a well developed historical backdrop and complex plot line that includes (among many other elements), an ancient order of Assassin’s struggle against the Borgia papacy in Renaissance Rome.

Image: GJ Caulkins www.mightywombat.com

Yes, kids do enjoy the guns and weapons in video games. They are challenged with learning and mastering new and improved, powerful firearms and getting new ​ways of killing the in-game nemesis (soldiers, zombies, monsters) with more efficiency. It’s exciting and dare I say, fulfilling to see awesome, colorful explosions . . .” the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air” . . But these thrilling sensations are in a video game. The emotions are real, of course, but they happen in the context of a game, so they can be controlled. Children have the option to experience (or avoid) emotions by selecting different situations in the video game. Experimenting with emotions is an especially valuable experience in the teen years, where kids might be trying out different identities. For boys, it might be Ezio (ultimately the Mentor of the Assassin Order), or for girls, Kat (Kat-B320), the Noble Team’s second-in-command in HALO Reach. Or why not vice-versa. And, they can experiment to their heart’s content — XBOX live levies no value judgments or condemnations of kids’ behavior.

In short, it’s not the violence itself that is attractive to kids. It’s the opportunity to develop and master skills and have the freedom to make choices in the game universe. Again, the games with the most emotional appeal just happen to have violent content in them. When kids can have these in-game options that are enhanced by violent content’s emotional draw, it’s a powerfully seductive combination. Preteen boys tend to enjoy games with exaggerated violence that they can’t do in real life. The “can’t do in real life” realization is the key phrase here. Again, just as with the weapon in games issue, violent games attract this age group because there is more action, more challenge and more options.

So without a box, we think, and consider the greater proposition — that games have potential value in a healthy child’s development. But what is this value exactly? The first point to consider is that video games can serve the same purpose with boys as playground rumbling still does. There are fights for “who’s the best” in video games just like the rough play in “King of the Hill” crowned the top dog on the top of the hill in the park down the street. Fighting is also a way for boys testing the relationship waters with girls. Playing video games could possibly help develop boy-girl friendships.

The second point is an important one that brings our thinking full circle. The mystique of violent and scary themes draws children’s natural curiosity, and dealing with it is a part of normal child development. Experiencing these mental images in fairy tales helps children to gain control over the physical and emotional sensations of fear. Governing fear was a basic skill that preserved children’s lives through history. In Victorian England, the dangers of working in factories and mines demanded it, as well as coping with rampant disease and poor medical care.

Image: Activision

Dealing with frightening video games similarly empowers children to cope with these images when they know they are in a safe environment. Charles Perrault’s original ending (with the death) of Little Red Riding Hood served a practical (albeit horrific) purpose: to scare children away from speaking with strangers. How different are video games that continue this didactic mission in children’s entertainment? Video games deal with violence, anger, fear and sexuality. Victorian parents realized that children would face danger and fear, and therefore welcomed the practical, moral messages that fairy tales presented. Video games and fairy tales are both different forms of storytelling. As twenty-first century​ parents, we tend to protect our children from “issues” like fear and violence. But, when exposed to scary content, children can learn to cope with and overcome fear. Perhaps it’s time to allow them to teach themselves with different fantasy worlds that has similar challenges and practical, moral lessons just as fairy tales still do.

Image: Square Enix

Recognizing the practical role violent and scary content plays in our children’s development is a radical step. The fact is, kids have already made this leap without us. They are already hanging out, competing, teaching each other, making friends, leading together, regulating feelings, gaining specialized knowledge, expressing creativity, experimenting with identities and discovering new things about the real world in these fantasy worlds in which they’re immersed. And a lot of it happens within the story lines of Call of Duty Black Ops, Gears of War, Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect, Deus Ex and many more. And, because kids’ problem solving in these and many other games is connected to emotional value, they are motivated to learn by video games. ​

Image: Activision

Consider this positive statistic. The 2011 ESA report states that 45% of parents play computer and video games with their children at least weekly, an increase from 36% in 2007. This is a good sign of our participation in our kids’ gaming activities. Clearly, almost half of us are already involved. I made my own decision to leap to the new zen, and yes, it was hard at first. But I challenge you to reflect on the larger perspective that “scary and violent” in video game content may have in helping our kids gain practical skills. It’s safer than having our teens do drugs, alcohol and street racing in the real world. My son plays lots of violent video games. But he’s the world’s most sensitive football player too. Take the small step into the fantasy world where your children are already playing. Look for the constructive things it might offer you. Your kids will probably teach you a practical skill or two.

Apple’s Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of the company, reports the company. Apple’s COO Tim Cook has been named as a replacement and Jobs has been named Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.

In a publicly released letter, Jobs says that he can no longer meet his duties and expectations as CEO of the company and that he has resigned as the CEO of Apple. In the letter, he also recommended Apple’s COO Tim Cook as a successor, which does not come as a surprise to those of us who have been following the company.

As the company’s interim CEO in recent  months as Jobs has been absent due to health concerns, Cook has been the clear choice to those outside Apple for some time now, and apparently that choice had been made inside Apple as well as Jobs says that this is according to the company’s succession plan.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

Steve Jobs has been one of the most intense and charismatic executives of any company in recent years and his leadership has propelled Apple to new heights. This is a dramatic announcement and we will have continuing news on the ramifications of Jobs’ move to Chairman and the replacement of his role at CEO by Tim Cook.

Would you be able to defend yourself and your loved ones if someone were to physically attack you? It's a question most of us don't want to consider, but violence is, unfortunately, a fact of life. Thankfully, regardless of strength, size, or previous training, anyone can learn several effective self-defense techniques. Here's how to prepare for and stay safe in common real-world violent situations.

Prevention Is the Best Self-Defense

First, remember that prevention is the best self-defense. Attackers, whatever their objectives, are looking for unsuspecting, vulnerable targets. So be sure to follow general safety tips like being aware of your surroundings, only walking and parking in well-lit areas, keeping your keys in hand as you approach your door or car, varying your route and times of travel, and other personal security precautions.

Apart from avoiding confrontation, if you can defuse a situation (talk someone down from physically assaulting you) or get away—by handing over your wallet/purse or whatever they want, do that. Hand over your money rather than fight. Nothing you own is worth more than your life or health.

If violence is unavoidable, however, to really defend yourself, you'll want to know ahead of time how to fight back effectively—it's possible even against someone bigger or stronger than you. Here are some basic self-defense techniques that can keep you safe:

Get Loud and Push Back

As soon as the attacker touches you or it's clear that escape isn't possible, shout loudly ("BACK OFF!") and push back at him or her (for simplicity's sake we're going to use "him" for the rest of the article, although your opponent could be female). This does two things: it signals for help and it lets the attacker know you're not an easy target. The video at left from Rob Redenbach, a former trainer of Nelson Mandela's bodyguards, shows why this is the first thing you need to do. It may not dissuade all attackers, but getting loud will warn off those that were looking for easy prey.

The Most Effective Body Parts to Hit

When you're in a confrontation, you only have a few seconds and a few moves to try before the fight may be decided. Before an attacker has gained full control of you, you must do everything you can—conserving as much energy as possible—to inflict injury so you can get away. (This is no time to be civil. In a physical confrontation that calls for self-defense, it's hurt or be hurt.) So aim for the parts of the body where you can do the most damage easily: the eyes, nose, ears, neck, groin, knee, and legs.

Su Ericksen, who writes the very helpful Self-Defense for Women website, offers techniques for striking these pressure points so you can defend yourself and get to safety. She writes:

Depending on the position of the attacker and how close he is will determine where you will strike and with what part of your body you will employ. Do not step in closer, say, to strike his nose with your hand, when you can reach his knee with a kick.

When striking a target on the upper half of the body you will use your hand. Effective strikes can be made with the outer edge of your hand in a knife hand position, a palm strike or knuckle blow for softer targets or a tightly curled fist.

Here are some photos Su offers on attacking these highly sensitive pressure points (you can view others for additional pressure points on her website):

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Eyes: Gouging, poking, or scratching the attacker's eyes with your fingers or knuckles would be effective, as you can imagine. Besides causing a lot of pain, this should also make your escape easier by at least temporarily interfering with his vision.

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Nose: If the attacker is close in front of you, use the heel of your palm to strike up under his nose; throw the whole weight of your body into the move to cause the most pain and force him to loosen his grip on you. If he's behind you, you can strike his nose (from the side or front) with your elbow. Either way, aim for the nasal bones.

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Neck: The side of the neck is a bigger target, where both the carotid artery and jugular vein are located. You could possibly temporarily stun your attacker with a knife hand strike (all fingers held straight and tightly together, with thumb tucked and slightly bent at the knuckle) at the side of the neck. (For even more injury, you could thrust your elbow into your assailant's throat while pitching the weight of your body forward. See the Target Focus Training video below.)

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Knee: Su says the knee is an ideal self-defense target, vulnerable from every angle and easily kicked without risk of your foot being grabbed. Kick the side of the knee to cause injury or partially incapacitate your attacker. Kicking the front of the knee may cause more injury but is less likely to result in imbalance.

How to Maximize Damage

Use your elbows, knees, and head. Those are the parts of the body that are most sensitive when hit. Now here are the parts of the body used most effectively for inflicting damage: your elbows, knees, and head (they're your body's bony built-in weapons). This video from Elite Defense Systems in IL explains how to defend yourself against three most common attacks by using these key body parts.

Use everyday objects. Everyday objects you carry around with you or things in your environment can also be used to your advantage as weapons. Hold a key or pen between your middle and ring finger while you're walking home in the dark for more assurance. Outdoors, you can toss some dirt or sand into your attacker's eyes. Women are often told to spray perfume or hairspray into an assailant's eyes. The point is, use what ever you can to make your defense stronger (for more inspiration, watch some Jackie Chan movies).

Leverage your weight. No matter your size, weight, or strength in relation to your opponent, you can defend yourself by strategically using your body and the simple law of physics. This is the principle behind martial arts systems like Jujitsu and other self-defense programs where a smaller person is able to defeat a larger one.

Tim Larkin teaches in his Target Focus Training self-defense system that striking is not about punching or kicking, it's about throwing your body weight strategically at someone. You don't want to be standing there trading punches or kicks with an attacker; in a violent situation, it's critical to injure him using efficient, targeted moves. Basically, target those pressure points mentioned above, but leverage your weight to cause the most damage. (Note: The video at left is a bit long, though all of it is insightful; if you want to skip to the demonstration part showing how to use your body weight in this "point of injury" technique, scrub to about the 4-minute mark. Also note that this technique, used by law enforcement agencies, can seriously injure the attacker.)

Moves for Getting Out of or Defending Against Common Holds or Attacks

Wrist Hold: Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is another school of self-defense, one that offers modified Jujitsu techniques that normal (or even weak) people can carry out. This video from Gracie Academy shows what to do when an attacker has grabbed your wrist. Instead of pulling back to try to get out of the hold, squat down into a strong stance, then lean forward and bend your elbow towards him all the way towards his forearm until he can no longer hold onto your wrist.

Front and Back Choke Holds: Similarly, this video from Ford Models suggests bending your elbow in to get out of the wrist hold, but then pushing upwards to break free. The video also offers techniques to get out of a front choke hold and a back choke hold: Swing one arm across to break the attacker's hold then use your other arm's elbow or hand in a knife strike position to hit the attacker.

Bear Hug: Krav Maga is the official hand-to-hand self-defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces, with techniques to defend against realistic grabs and holds. This video shows a Krav Maga defense for when someone holds you from behind: Drop your weight and try to hit his head with your elbows or stomp his feet with your feet. If that doesn't work, pull his fingers back to force him to release you, rotate out of his hold, and attack him with your knees/kicks. (Pulling fingers is also an effective move in a choke hold in some cases.)

Mount Position: If the attacker has you pinned on the floor, you can pivot to be on top with this Gracie Jiu-Jitsu technique. Hook onto his wrist with one hand and use your other hand to grab behind his elbow, trapping his arm to your chest. Then use your foot to trap his foot and leg, lift your hips and turn over onto your knees to get on top.

Sexual Assault: In my interview with Rener Gracie, whose grandfather established the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu method 90 years ago, he told me there are four phases to nearly all sexual attacks on women: 1) Identify an unsuspecting target, 2) Subdue the target, 3) Exhaust the target, and 4) Execute the sexual assault. We want to fight with all our might and the moves we have above in the second phase. In the third phase, however, right before an assailant executes his sexual attack, all he wants to do is exhaust the victim and gain complete control, so fighting back actually may backfire at that point, wasting energy. Gracie's Women Empowered training program teaches women to recognize when they've entered that phase where they are truly trapped and are no longer in the defensive movements phase—and to feign giving in. Pretend to be compliant (kind of like playing dead for a bear). In those split moments, the predator will think you have given up and will loosen his grip, giving you a chance get away.