Schools counter cyber bullying in class

SCHOOLS are being forced to give students special lessons on how to treat each other with respect when communicating online amid an explosion of cyber bullying among teenagers.

The "cyber citizenship" courses based on an American idea aim to promote more harmonious relationships between high school students in class and at home.

Riverside Girls High School at Gladesville in Sydney's Northern Suburbs will lead the way this year in curbing nasty exchanges between students in cyberspace.

Principal Judy King and her staff have written programs for the harmony courses which initially will be aimed at students in the early years of high school.

A survey of Riverside students found some spent up to 30 hours a week networking on the internet.

One senior student spent four to five hours every night on social networking website Bebo when her mother thought she was doing homework.

"The intensity of the friendship groups and the fallout is worse in all schools because of cyberspace," Ms King said.

"So... we are going to concentrate on cyber citizenship – that's what the American teachers call it. And we're going to incorporate that into Year 7 and Year 8 ICT (Information and Communication Technologies)."

Cyber bullying is reaching epidemic proportions in schools with bullies and victims using websites such as Facebook and MySpace to trash other children's reputations, research has found.

A national study of up to 7500 students across 100 public and private schools commissioned by the Federal Government is about to lift the lid on "covert bullying".

The research shows families have been forced to move home because of the damage done to their children's reputations.

One teenager in the survey said: "I feel like sharks are circling me."

Dr Barbara Spears of the University of South Australia's School of Education said: "They are manipulating MySpace and Facebook to denigrate, exclude, isolate and humiliate. Kids feel unsafe, violated, threatened and powerless because of this – they are bewildered."

Education Minister John Della Bosca acknowledges this bullying is an issue for the entire community.
Character assassinations

The worst of cyber bullying:

A FIGHT between a high school student and a 15-year-old ex-pupil, which led to a brawl involving 15 students and watched by about 150 others, was recorded with a mobile phone and posted on YouTube

ON Bebo a Year 11 girl made death threats towards another girl, including bringing weapons to school

A WBESITE set up by two Year 7 students made derogatory remarks about pupils and teachers

A FORMER teacher at elite public school Hurlstone Agricultural High sued when a hate-filled website accused him of being a paedophile

Xbox 360 could get Blue-ray player

MICROSOFT could introduce Blu-ray support for the Xbox 360 gaming console if consumers wanted it, an executive said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The Xbox 360 currently supports HD-DVD, the rival to Blu-ray in the high-definition DVD format wars. A HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 can be bought separately to the console.

Group marketing manager for Xbox hardware Albert Penello said Microsoft would have to consider introducing a Blu-ray accessory in the event that HD-DVD failed.

"It should be consumer choice; and if that's the way they vote, that's something we'll have to consider," he said.

The surprise decision last week by Warner Bros, the top seller of home movies, to abandon the HD-DVD format in favor of Blu-ray should not affect sales of Xbox 360 consoles, Mr Penello said.

"I fundamentally don't think... this has a significant impact on Xbox 360 versus (Sony's) PlayStation 3," Mr Penello said.

"With the PlayStation 2, DVD was a big part in the beginning, but over time, people were not buying it as a DVD player after first year or two."

The Xbox 360 supports a plug-in HD-DVD accessory that is bought separately, while Sony, hoping to give its next-generation video format a leg up, built a Blu-ray player into its PlayStation 3 machine.

"You can't say it's not a bummer, not a setback, but I've seen this battle declared over so many times," Mr Penello said of the Warner Bros decision.

"I want consumers to have a voice in this and I think there are a lot of consumers who bought HD-DVD who are going to have a say in how this shakes out."

Warner Bros is the movie division of media conglomerate Time Warner Inc.

With Reuters

iPhone 'not arriving any time soon'

THE iPhone will not be arriving on Australian shores any time soon, according to an independent phone retailer that has reviewed the product.

Crazy John's, Australia's largest independent phone retailer, reviewed the iPhone in a recent promotional magazine distributed in Australia.

Unfortunately the reviewed device does not indicate an impending release, according to Crazy John's head of sales and marketing Stephen Morley.

"I don't believe the product is imminent here in Australia," Mr Morley said.

Mr Morley said the handsets reviewed were not Australian models and that they were sourced from "partners in other markets".

"We've had several staff testing the product over the past 6-8 weeks.

"We test lots of products, regardless of if we'll be selling them or not."

The iPhone is already in Australia unofficially, due to consumers importing the device and performing unauthorised modifications for use on local networks.

In most countries where the iPhone has been released, Apple has chosen a single phone network to provide service for the handsets. iPhones can be "unlocked" to work on other networks, but doing so will void the phone's warranty.

Another type of software modification, known as a "jailbreak", allows users to install non-Apple software such as games on their iPhones – but also voids the warranty.

The handset pictured in the Crazy John's review appears to have been modified, as it has third-party applications on the screen and displays "Vodafone" in the status bar.

Apple has confirmed the iPhone will be released in Australia this year, but no further details about the date or the network have been provided.

The company is currently working on a second-generation 3G iPhone which would offer faster data transfer on local high-speed networks.

Vodafone said it expected the Australian release date to be delayed until the 3G model was available.

"Most handset manufacturers’ range of devices in market are designed to provide customers with high-speed access to content, such as mobile music, mobile TV and entertainment, within coverage areas," Vodafone said.

"Vodafone would be surprised to see an iPhone released in Australia before a 3G or HSPA-enabled model becomes available."

Last October Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo said the carrier had been in talks with Apple, but there have been no confirmations from Apple or other networks about an Australian deal.

"Almost every supplier has big plans in the next six to 12 months with their version of an iPhone in response," Mr Trujillo said.

Spokespeople for Telstra, Optus, Three and Apple had no further details.