io9: children

New Medical Device Sedates Children With Drugs, Videogames

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:17:30 PDT

This device, called the PediSedate, was invented to calm kids down before a scary medical procedure. The helmet connects to a GameBoy that the child can play while a mouthpiece slowly blows nitrous oxide gas into the child's face.

The helmet also monitor's the child's respiration and oxygenation to be sure he or she is safe - as well as not getting too high. Here's what the manufacturer has to say:

PediSedate is a medical device consisting of a colorful, toy-like headset that connects to a game component such as the Nintendo Game Boy system or a portable CD player. Once the child places it on his or her head and swings the snorkel down from its resting place atop the head, PediSedate transparently monitors respiratory function and distributes nitrous oxide, an anesthetic gas. The child comfortably becomes sedated while playing with a Nintendo Game Boy system or listening to music. This dramatically improves the hospital or dental experience for the child, parents and healthcare providers.
The result is a system that provides a calming influence over the children, monitors the child continuously, allows the procedure to be performed by less skilled personnel, increases the speed with which procedures can be performed and makes the procedure a less stressful experience for all involved.

Invented by a doctor who had seen far too many kids freak out before medical and dental procedures, the PediSedate is intended as a medical tool. But I wonder whether it will suffer from the same prescription creep that Ritalin did, and start finding its way into classrooms where kids "get scared" before school.
Something about the PediSedate logo is also a little unsettling. Did I see this on the wall in the Dollhouse, by any chance? Or maybe in one of the movie versions of Brave New World?

via PediSedate

Watchmen Parody Sends Rorschach Through the Underworld of Children’s Lit

Lauren Davis — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:14:58 PDT

Someone stole Rorschach’s plums and he isn’t happy. “Blotchmen,” a short comic created by artist Kevin Cannon, skewers Watchmen’s psychotic masked man by putting him exactly where he doesn’t belong: in a children’s book. Rorschach tracks his missing fruit through Harold the Purple Crayon and Where the Wild Things Are, leaving death and mayhem in his wake.

Cannon created “Blotchmen” for Scott McCloud’s 24 Hour Comics Day, conceiving, writing, and illustrating the book in a single 24-hour period. The comic finds his Rorschach stand-in, Blortshack, on the trail of some favorite children's characters, and he might just be outmatched:

The rest of the comic is available on Cannon's blog.

[via Read Comics]

Torchwood Season 2 Neutered For Kids

charliejane — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:30:00 PST

Torchwood, the BBC's raunchy Doctor Who spin-off, may be less taboo for season two - depending when you watch it. Every episode of season two will have a grown-up version and an edited version for kids, which will air a few days later in an earlier time slot. At first, you might not think that'll affect you, since you can just watch the unedited version. But you'd be wrong.

This move is bad news for Torchwood for two reasons. First, any raunchy material in the new episodes will have to be extraneous to the plot, or else the kid-friendly versions will be like Bjork videos. So we'll have innocuous eps, with a little pointless sauciness sprinkled in. Contrast with season one, where the plots were all about aliens who screw people to death, and doomed trans-temporal affairs.

Secondly, if the kid-friendly episodes do well, then eventually it'll make more economic sense to make only the child-safe iterations. It wouldn't matter so much, except that the crazy sexiness is the only thing that makes Torchwood worth watching. Without the randy behavior, Torchwood is just a third-rate Doctor Who.

The BBC also revealed details of James (Smallville, Buffy) Marsters' role in Torchwood season two. Marsters plays a character named Captain John who has "history" with Captain Jack. When Captain John comes through the time rift looking for the other Captain, the entire world is placed in danger by their homoerotic chemistry.

Torchwood Series 2 Press Release [Outpost Gallifrey]