In the last 2 days since the MiniMonos Flight iPhone app went live in the iTunes store, a ton of excited messages from kids have been pouring in as they download and play it.
One player called Limey on MiniMonos, said: "It's fun and an awesome way to earn Banana Chips! The best part is being able to support a game that changes the world onto a better path".
"We had a great time adapting MiniMonos Flight to the iPhone," says Greg
Montgomery, Chief Technical Officer. "It's quite gratifying
to fly in the game by physically moving the device."
And so far, the MiniMonos Flight app is -- well -- flying! As I write this, it's currently ranked number 1 kids' app on the New Zealand iTunes store and MiniMonos fans from all around the world are quickly spreading the word as they play and bank their banana chips to their monkey accounts on MiniMonos.
We'll be continually updating the MiniMonos Flight iPhone app, as
well as launching new apps based on the other games in the
MiniMonos.com virtual world like R.A.T.S. (Recycle All This Stuff), Go
Go Green, and Monkey Fist.
You can find out more about the MiniMonos Flight app or download by clicking on the green App Store button below.
A couple of nights ago I went to a parent information evening at my
son's school about internet safety. I am in awe of the way his school handles issues
in the playground -- it's obvious they've spent a lot of time
and resources training their staff -- so I thought I could pick up some extra philosophical tips for our online moderation of MiniMonos.
The young groovy teacher, introduced as a "digital native", was no doubt a whizz on the
computer. But I was surprised to find that her advice to parents about online safety was surface level at best, and while there was lively conversation about the issues parents face, there were few useful take-home solutions.
For one thing, we heard the standard: "Parents need to be actively involved in what their kids are doing online". [Cue: parents shifting uncomfortably in their seats] Yep, another thing to add to the daily 'to-do' list, then when not ticked, the 'bad-parent' list. I have seen this advice repeated frequently in articles on internet safety and it is rarely elaborated on. What does 'actively involved' mean? As a parent, am I really supposed to know everything my child does on every game he plays -- every day? So should he stop and explain that the latest game update means his avatar can now sit down on the beach and he can say "Woohoo!" in the Monkey Fist game? Are you kidding?
As parents we're also advised to keep the computer in a public family area, to promote online transparency. I totally agree. But let's get real here; I'm racing around cooking dinner, feeding the cat, cleaning up and throwing another load in the washing machine. I'm not standing behind my son watching, [Cue: Soft focus and violins] as he types cute and funny messages to his friends while we laugh at the computer screen together. Well actually I do do that. But not as much as I'd like to.
The chances are that you're never going to keep up with every single thing
your kids are doing online. So you don't have to feel guilty about that. Here are some realistic tips for non-geeky, time-pressured parents, who want to keep their kids safe online:
Make an agreement with them about their own internet safety rules, whereby use of the family or their own computer depends on these rules being followed. Here is an excellent outline agreement from SafeKids.com.
Kids and tweens need to be on a safe, moderated social network site. This is a site where trained staff review every line of conversation, there are filters in place to prevent offensive language being used and there is a clear and transparent process for moderating behavior. It's also recommended that parents choose a kids' site which has adult staff who chaperone in-world; sort-of like super-fun teachers on duty. Good kids' sites will have an easily-found page for parents which descibes their safety features.
An excellent tool for parents is KidZui.com. This free software provides a safe web browser which you can download onto your computer, allowing your children access only to approved kids' games, social networks and resource sites. It's also quick and easy to install.
Ensure that when your child signs up to a virtual world or other social network site, they use your email address and you check out the site before approving their membership. Kids are so savvy now that many have multiple email addresses and usernames on one social network site. By using your own email address it also means that any communications about issues from the staff of that site, come to you.
On a moderated kids' website, if you have a concern about any behavior or conversation that has occurred involving your child, don't be afraid to ask the community manager for a copy of the chat logs so you can view the conversation yourself. Every good, safe site should have clear and easy access to staff who can help you. and be willing to share with you what their moderating process is.
Now that you've set your child up safely online, you can go back to racing around getting dinner ready. The great thing is that while the peas are cooking you can [Oooh, hang on...Cue: Violins again] look over their shoulder and ask what on earth they mean as they're typing: "Yo, sup EcoMom! Do your go banana power at Castle Beach on the Avenger server! Lol! {:(])"
On MiniMonos over the last 3 weeks, we've had an art competition running -- but it's not your usual, earnest adult-driven 'Ok kids, now lets see who can draw the nicest pictures about the environment and we'll judge them' competition.
The Humongous, Bananatastic Art Competition is the initiative of two of our MiniMonos players, Viper and Calypso, who generously donated their own pocket money for many of the prizes. Their theme was 'MiniMonos', and what it represents to our players. The art wasn't judged on the level of talent, but on effort and fun! The kids were super-excited, the entry numbers were huge and the entries totally rocked!
Here are the winners. Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!
At MiniMonos we've always advocated a balance between kids playing online and engaging with their environment offline. We fully recognize that there's no point encouraging the next generation of eco-warriors if they're going to be stuck inside all day, every day, in front of a computer screen.
Yesterday in an interview on New Zealand's TV1, Professor Jeff Brand talked about his recent research into New Zealand's video and computer game community. Much of what he found may surprise many parents.
Professor Brand studies the cognitive and behavioural effects of electronic media on young people. He says the picture is not as bad as many fear -- people are not gaming as much as we think, gamers are not socially backward and are more likely to play sport than non-gamers.
You can watch Professor Brand's interview by clicking on the picture below:
I'm thrilled to write about a Friday Featured Friend who is only 2 beautiful hours away from where I'm sitting at my desk.
Whale Watch Kaikoura, in the South Island of New Zealand, is deeply
committed to the conservation of our oceans, and educating
kids. Owned and operated by the indigenous Kati Kuri people of Kaikoura, a
Maori sub-tribe of the larger Ngai Tahu Tribe, they have "formed a sustainable relationship with Kaikoura's entire ecosystem
including the marine ecosystem that maintains the whales in their
natural environment".
Photographs compliments of Whale Watch Kaikoura
We sent Whale Watch Kailkoura an email earlier this week asking if we could come and film the whales for a special MiniMonosTV feature next week. I received a reply back in less than 10 minutes -- no kidding -- welcoming us to do so (with their compliments!) and offering to put us on the same trip as a group of school kids who will be observing these majestic whales and writing their own sustainability research projects.
It's a wonderful opportunity for us to bring thousands of online kids from around the world into a great real-world conservation experience. We're very excited and look forward to showing you the finished video and our MiniMonos kids' responses!
How far would you go to demonstrate the effects of climate change?
After vowing never to do another cold water swim, Lewis Pugh found out about a lake near the summit of Mount Everest, created due to climate change. So he took the most extreme plunge, showing the world that "there is nothing more powerful than a made-up mind".
"It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small."
— Neil Armstrong
In honor of Neil Armstrong's 80th birthday, we'd like to revisit with you an excerpt of a rare interview with this extraordinary and humble man, by 60 Minutes in 2006. Enjoy!
Armstrong's first steps paved the way for a fundamental shift in perspective for his colleagues and successors, not about the moon, but the earth:
"Oddly enough the overriding sensation I got looking at the earth was, my god that little thing is so fragile out there."
-- Mike Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut
"I think the one overwhelming emotion that we had was when we saw the earth rising in the distance over the lunar landscape . . . . It makes us realize that we all do exist on one small globe. For from 230,000 miles away it really is a small planet."
-- Frank Borman, Apollo 8 astronaut
"As we got further and further away, it [the Earth] diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man."
-- James B. Irwin, Apollo 15 astronaut
"We went to the Moon as technicians; we returned as humanitarians."
-- Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut
"If somebody'd said before the flight, "Are you going to get carried away looking at the earth from the moon?" I would have say, "No, no way." But yet when I first looked back at the earth, standing on the moon, I cried."
-- Alan Shepard, astronaut, 5th person to walk on the moon
I want chickens. Badly. My favorite food is Eggs Benedict (egg on your eggs, anyone?) and we have the perfect unused area in the back yard for chickens to roam. I’m not greedy, I only want 4-6 of them, enough to supply a few extra eggs for our neighbors. So if the clucking gets a bit loud early on a Sunday morning, I can turn up on their doorstep with a placatory breakfast offering.
I am aware that I’d be part of a huge backyard chook-raising trend, though I didn’t know until tonight that it was called the ‘urban chicken movement’. It nearly put me off. I like to save my movements for important matters like feminism and going to the bathroom. But in the interests of doing my bit for sustainability I’d be prepared to move with a few hundred thousand people worldwide, to keep some layers in our back yard.
Even my husband -- who is the only thing standing in the way of some lovely Rhode Island Reds in the family -- makes chicken coops. And all the stuff that goes with it -- nesting boxes, feed trays, roosts and runs. Hubby has a small side-business making outdoor furniture to sell online. But when he saw the sudden increase in internet sales of all things chicken, he got cracking and now makes a few of his own. Tonight he came in and heaved a massive wooden square automatic chicken feeder onto the kitchen table. “It kept growing as I was making it”, he muttered. “Think I’ll call it a ‘Big Feeder’”. It looks like an ark. I want one.
The long-suffering worms in our worm farm barrel would no doubt be relieved not to be fed so many scraps every day, that is, if we haven’t already killed them with organic overfeeding and the odd bit of stray citrus. I keep meaning to check, actually.
My husband may be coming round, though. I don’t want to get too excited but tonight he told me about a new chicken coop he’s designing – a ‘Premium Chicken Coop’. He mumbled: “That’d be the kind you’d want out the back”. I nearly did the chicken dance, but restrained myself. These things take time. I’ve always said that every member of the family must be happy for any new member to be introduced, and it took him 2 years to agree to a cat. It was worth the wait. I promptly got 2 of them and nobody adores them more than him. Although last month, scientists finally cracked the chicken-egg question, I've always known what comes first in this case: Husband reluctantly agrees to new addition; husband dotes.
So I have plenty of time to prepare the neighbors for our new arrivals. I’m sure the chickens won’t be noisier than my husband’s skill saw, although granted, the skill saw doesn’t come out with the sun. I’m just going to bide my time, not brood about it and wait for my Premium Chicken Coop with Big Feeder and my urban chicken movement membership. That'll be something to crow about.
The MiniMonos story
Welcome to MiniMonos. We're delighted to meet you.
MiniMonos is a virtual world for children: a place of fun, beauty, discovery, generosity, sustainability and friendship.
We created MiniMonos so that children could have a place of their own, a place that allows them to explore and grow without constant pressure to buy stuff. We also wanted them to have a place that embodied core values like sustainability and generosity, without turning those values into a boring lecture.
But we know we can't build it by ourselves. So join us! Tell us what you need, what you like, and what you don't like. Tell us what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. Let's take this journey together -- and make MiniMonos a great place for our kids.
