To Catch a Predator, and other fun things

Over the weekend, I taped a special on MSNBC of the popular Dateline segment, "To Catch a Predator." If you're not familiar with the show, here's how it goes: Perverted Justice, an internet watchdog group, sets up shop somewhere, and the volunteers enter chat rooms as decoys pretending to be young teens. The teens then chat with older men, who usually end up coming over, only to find Chris Hansen waiting for them.

So, I've been a fan of the show for a while. I've also had an ex who was arrested in an online sex sting, so I guess I've been secretly hoping I'd see him on an episode so I could ridicule him. Today I saw that a study has been released rejecting the "stereotypical" online predator. The study, done by the the Crimes Against Children Research Center at UNH, stated that teens are not in any more danger on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

It's funny, because two years ago, this story came out about how such sites actually attracted sexual predators (then again, the story claims that Newton North High School is in Boston, so already its credibility takes a huge hit). I'm sure that such websites have made it infinitely easier for predators to stalk people. Most teens post way too much information about themselves on Facebook, and there are too many teenage girls in their underwear on MySpace. I'm inclined to believe the most recent story, however. If you're smart about what you reveal, social networking sites shouldn't pose any more of a problem than anything else.

The next big thing?

Lately I've been hearing a lot about the new Mac laptop just unveiled by Apple. The MacBook Air is supposedly the world's lightest computer, and tech geeks around the country have eagerly been awaiting its arrival.

This new laptop could potentially be the next big thing for reporters. It's so slim and light, you could carry it just about anywhere. However, Slate.com's Paul Boutin disagrees. He says he would rather use his phone for e-mail because it's just easier than having to deal with Wi-Fi.

As someone who doesn't currently own a laptop, I can't say I know much about wireless internet access. I have a wire running through my entire apartment to an ancient router. But the notion that a laptop that's meant to be extremely portable is also lacking in this specific area is amusing. What's the point? Should we all just get iPhones? I think I'll stick to my Nokia and notepad.