As expected, the results are adorable.

[h/t: Reddit]

Duggar’s latest pregnancy, in 2011, ended in a miscarriage. The youngest Duggar child, Josie, was born prematurely in 2011. After a short 25-week pregnancy, Josie was born weighing just 22 ounces. At 45 years old, Michelle Duggar is past the age where doctors begin to warn that pregnancies come with serious health risks for both mother and child. It now appears that the Duggar family is considering adoption as an alternative to another pregnancy.

Duggar told People magazine this week that she and her husband, Jim Bob, may adopt children into their overpacked family, saying, “We are open to the idea of adoption.”

Michelle told People that she and her family are praying to their god about adoption, though she makes it clear her children are encouraging them to expand the family further.

The Duggar family are the stars of the TLC reality TV show 19 Kids and Counting. In addition to their 19 children, the Duggars currently have two grandchildren, with more undoubtedly on the way.

(Image courtesy Jim Bob Duggar/Wikimedia Commons)

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, followed 1,000 children between the ages of 5 and 15. Every two years their TV viewing habits were sampled. Those who watched more TV were also more likely to have a criminal conviction in adulthood and more likely “to have antisocial personality traits.” Every extra hour spent watching TV on an average weeknight corresponded with an estimated 30% increase of having a criminal conviction in adulthood.

“Antisocial behavior is a major problem for society,” said Bob Hancox, associate professor in the department of prevantive and social medicine at the University of Otago. “While we’re not saying that television causes all antisocial behaviour, our findings do suggest that reducing TV viewing could go some way towards reducing rates of antisocial behavior in society.”

Children who viewed more TV were also found to have “aggressive personality traits, an increased tendency to experience negative emotions, and an increased risk of antisocial personality disorder” as adults.

Though it was not able to prove that TV viewing caused personality problems, the study was able to rule out the idea that children who are more antisocial simply gravitated to watching more TV.

“Rather, children who watched a lot of television were likely to go on to manifest antisocial behaviour and personality traits,” said Lindsay Robertson, co-author of the study.

The Hill reports that the FTC has published a 169-page document detailing all the new rules that will be added to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act this year. The new rules represent the first major revision to the bill since its original passing in 1998. As expected, most of the additions have to deal with concerns that were not present last decade, like smartphones and social networks.

The FTC issued two major changes that will affect pretty much every service provider on the Internet that even remotely markets to children. The first is a definition change that files geolocation information under a child’s personal information. The change means that services can not track a child across various Web sites and other online services.

In the same vein, the second update extends privacy protections to modern Web applications apps, games and Web site plug-ins. The latter is the most interesting because some Web sites appeal to people both young and old. These plug-ins can be used to track the adults, but what about the children? How will a Web site know who’s a child and who isn’t?

The FTC’s response is that a Web site “whose primary target audience is children must continue to presume all users are children and to provide COPPA protections accordingly.” That’s easier said than done, however, in an age where social media is everywhere. Sure, children under the age of 13 can’t use Facebook, but some companies are concerned that they’ll be in violation of the new rules just by putting social share buttons on their Web site for teenagers or adults that visit the site.

Speaking of social media, social networks will probably be none too pleased that the new rules will be taking effect this year. Facebook has already been pretty vocal about its opposition to the new rules in a post from October of last year. The company took an especial offense to COPPA protections being extended to Web plug-ins. Here’s what Facebook had to say at the time:

As the Commission evaluates the further changes proposed in the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“SNPRM”), Facebook encourages the Commission to develop policies that take into account the significant impediments that a revised COPPA Rule could create for innovation and the ecosystem that shapes students’ online experiences. This social functionality, widely used by educational sites and apps, is dependent on plugins and could be threatened by a COPPA Rule that renders plugin providers responsible for the actions and motives of third parties and vice versa. Part of the value of many educational sites and services is that they are offered for little or no cost, which means that they often will not have the resources to meet burdensome compliance obligations.

To be honest, both sides have a valid point in this fight. Children’s privacy should be protected online just as it off. That being said, those who offer a free service to children should be given a bit of leeway so they can keep providing that service without having to ask for payment in return.

Despite criticisms from advertising and social media groups, the FTC’s new rules for COPPA will go into effect on July 1. You can expect some companies to raise a stink about it between now and then, but it’s unlikely to sway any minds in Washington. The Hill notes that the new rules are one of the few things in Washington to receive bipartisan support.

“It’s obviously about potty training your kid, and doing it in an entertaining way,” says the presenter in the video, noting that the App Store already has potty training apps.

In fact, there is one called iPotty from Wattz.

Is there anything you can’t do with these “magical” devices?

Hat tip to Wired.

More CES coverage here.

Researchers at the Machine Perception Lab have created Diego-san, a robot that’s meant to mimic a one-year-old child. The face itself is already creepy enough, but it enters an entirely new realm of fear once it starts to move:

If you’re not completely paralyzed by fear at what you just saw, you might be interesting in the actual scientific implications of this particular robot. Here’s what the creator of the face, David Hanson, has to say:

“DIEGO-SAN”, by Hanson for the Machine Perception Lab at the UCSD Institute for Neural Computation. With a face by David Hanson and Hanson Robotics, which mounts on a body by Kokoro, this robotic baby boy was built with funding from the National Science Foundation and serves cognitive A.I. and human-robot interaction research. With high definition cameras in the eyes, Diego San sees people, gestures, expressions, and uses A.I. modeled on human babies, to learn from people, the way that a baby hypothetically would. The facial expressions are important to establish a relationship, and communicate intuitively to people. As much a work of art as technology and science, this represents a step forward in the development of emotionally relevant robotics, building on previous work of David Hanson with the Machine Perception Lab such as the emotionally responsive Einstein shown at TED in 2009.

As mentioned in the above description, here’s Hanson’s original nightmare machine – a frighteningly real robotic bust of Einstein:

The FTC’s review of the rule has been going on since 2010, and has been aimed at making sure the rule evolves along with technology, specifically with regards to mobile devices and social media.

“The Commission takes seriously its mandate to protect children’s online privacy in this ever-changing technological landscape,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “I am confident that the amendments to the COPPA Rule strike the right balance between protecting innovation that will provide rich and engaging content for children, and ensuring that parents are informed and involved in their children’s online activities.”

Here’s the list of final amendments:

• modify the list of “personal information” that cannot be collected without parental notice and consent, clarifying that this category includes geolocation information, photographs, and videos;
• offer companies a streamlined, voluntary and transparent approval process for new ways of getting parental consent;
• close a loophole that allowed kid-directed apps and websites to permit third parties to collect personal information from children through plug-ins without parental notice and consent;
• extend coverage in some of those cases so that the third parties doing the additional collection also have to comply with COPPA;
• extend the COPPA Rule to cover persistent identifiers that can recognize users over time and across different websites or online services, such as IP addresses and mobile device IDs;
• strengthen data security protections by requiring that covered website operators and online service providers take reasonable steps to release children’s personal information only to companies that are capable of keeping it secure and confidential;
• require that covered website operators adopt reasonable procedures for data retention and deletion; and
• strengthen the FTC’s oversight of self-regulatory safe harbor programs.

The final rule also comes with some modified definitions. For example, the definition of “operator” has been updated to make clear that the rule covers a child-directed site or service that integrates with outside services. This includes plug-ins or ad networks that collect info from visitors. It does not extend liability to platforms like Google Play or the App Store. The definition of a “website or online serivce directed to children” is expanded to include plug-ins and ad networks that have “actual knowledge” that they are collecting personal info through a child-directed website or online service.

The definition of “personal information” now includes geolocation info, in addition to photos, videos, and audio files that contain a child’s image or voice. The definition can also be used to recognize users over time and across different sites or online services.

These are just a few examples. You can peruse the FTC’s announcement in its entirety here.

The majority of the injuries, 43%, were caused by falls. 28% of the injuries were broken bones, and 27% were strains or sprains. However, 19% of the injuries were to the head and neck. The study’s authors say this demonstrates the danger of bouncy castles.

“The findings from this study show that there has been an alarming increase in the number of injuries from inflatable bouncers,” said Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “It is time for us to take action to prevent these injuries. Ensuring that parents are aware of the potential risks, improving surveillance of the injuries, developing national safety guidelines and improving bouncer design are the first steps.”

Smith and his colleagues point out that the injury pattern for bouncy castles is similar to that of trampolines, which already have national safety guidelines.

“The medical and public health community has yet to provide recommendations on the safe use of inflatable bouncers,” said Smith. “The growing epidemic of inflatable bouncer injuries make it clear that it is time to do so.”

The study’s authors suggest that parents consider the risks of bouncy castles before allowing their children to use them. If parents do allow their children to use bouncy castles, the recommendation is that only children 6 years and older be allowed on them, one at a time, and that an adult be present for supervision. Also, if more than one child is to be allowed on such an apparatus, the authors suggest that the children be of approximately the same age and size.

It’s worth mentioning that the increase in injuries does not necessarily mean that bouncy castles are becoming more dangerous. The increase could simply point to an increased popularity of the attractions, with no accompanying safety regulations or recommendations. 44% of the injuries cited in the study occurred in a recreational setting, such as a fair, and 38% occurred at home.

“Every three seconds the world loses a child. Again, this year many children will not see their fifth birthday. The reasons for this tragedy are diverse; hunger, malnutrition, dirty water or the absence of vaccine protection. Every single one of these problems can weaken the immune system so much that avoidable diseases lead to life-threatening danger,” says the International Children’s Fund.

The charity enlisted the German boys’ choir Wuppertaler Kurrende to perform the song with one special caveat – every few seconds, one of the boys would exit the stage. It’s a potent way to get their message across, and it makes for a pretty chilling viral video. Check it out:

The device comes with safety features and parental controls, obviously. Kids can browse the Internet, but there is a full suite of customizable parent controls. Parents can set tailored levels of security for up to eight, so kids of different ages can all use it without too having more restrictions than parents deem appropriate.

The Tabeo has its own filter, which can be set to block 27 predetermined categories of content, and parents can choose additional sites to block as well. They can also select specific online content to unblock. Kids can actually send requests to their parents to unblock sites if they come across something they want to check out.

Parents, if they so choose, can even limit their child’s online time, by setting Tabeo to allow access only on certain days or during certain hours. If kids bypass the default browser, parents will get email alerts to notify them that their child may be browsing unfiltered content.

“Over the past year, we’ve spent considerable time talking to parents and children to determine what features and functions they really want in a kids’ tablet, resulting in tabeo,” said Troy Peterson, VP, Divisional Merchandise Manager at Toys “R” Us, U.S.

“We are proud that tabeo offers robust and flexible parental controls that can help protect children as they surf the Internet, and we are pleased to offer the tabeo App Store, which features only kid-safe content carefully curated by the Toys “R” Us team,” he added.

Here’s a look at the specs:

The tablet comes with a green bumper to protect it from drops, as well as a USB cable and USB power adaptor. Toys “R” Us is also launching a suite of accessories, including different colored bumpers, cases, docks, and cables.

The Tabeo will be released on October 21, and will sell for $149.99. It’s currently available for pre-order at Tabeo.com and ToysRUs.com.