Webosaurs - Kids Virtual Worlds Reviews

Webosaurs is a social networking massively multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG) that was launched in October 2009 by Reel FX Entertainment. It began as a free beta test site until all programming issues were corrected. The site is aimed at children from ages 5 to 12. Dinosaurs have always been popular with children. With the rise in popularity of virtual worlds, it was only a matter of time before a company seized the dinosaur theme and created a virtual world around it. The dinosaurs that children choose as their avatars are animated cartoon dinosaurs who roam an island landscape.

Children can explore the website for free; however, this limits the activity they can have. Paid memberships begin at $5.94 per month. A 6 month membership is $29.94 and a 12 month membership is $49.94. A paid membership allows players to enjoy the full features of the world, including games, activities, adventures and chat. Parents should know that in order for the game to operate properly, several technical requirements must be met. The computer must have Adobe Flash Player 10; Internet Explorer 7; 1 GB of RAM; and a connection speed of at least 512Kbps.

Features

Once children become members of Webosaurs, they choose a dinosaur as an avatar to be their online personality. Players then choose a home for their dinosaur (known as a cave) and can alter it as they see fit. Members can also adopt or buy virtual pets. Pets that are not taken care of don't die - they run away. The currency of Webosaurs is simply called 'coins'. Players earn this currency by successfully playing the online games and taking quizzes. The 'coins' buy everything from cave items, clothing, food, armor and pet supplies. Armor is the most-wanted item in Webosaurs because it protects the avatars when they engage in battle. The different levels of armor must be purchased in this sequence: leather, wood, bone, steel, molten and gold. Dinosaurs need armor because most of the games are action-oriented. A dinosaur is better protected to win a game if they have the most advanced armor. Members can also chat about their dinosaurs with other players in a chat room.

What's Good

The graphics of Webosaurs are very well done. When animating or creating dinosaurs, the tendency is to make them look too cute or very scary. The website has found a nice balance between the two extremes. Webosaurs will appeal mainly to boys age 8 to 12. The website knows who its audience is and has created a virtual world surrounding that demographic. There are no adult themes in the virtual world or on the website. There is no drinking, smoking, drug use, sex or offensive language. Moderators who monitor chat rooms and the games are plentiful. If something inappropriate is said or done, the offending player is muted or ultimately banned.

Webosaurs has an interesting educational component. On the home page, members can view short clips about animals and nature called Webosaurs Shorts that are hosted by Nigel Marven, a wildlife expert and host of BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Park. The website didn't have to do this, so they are trying to incorporate some kind of educational component into a mainly game-focused website.

What's Bad

Violence may be an issue for some parents. Though there is no blood spilled or any gore, parents should be aware that Webosaurs is an action-oriented online game where the players take the form of aggressive dinosaurs. Recently, the website has undergone an update that includes the addition of an antagonist called Spike who is threatening to take over the island. As well, there are new monster battle games where players battle an evil monster called Okvango. Players use weapons to defeat these monsters. It would appear that as Webosaurs evolves, it is becoming more aggressive, with more threatening antagonists. These recent changes may concern parents.

Online Safety

Though the website's biggest assets are the online games, like every other virtual world, a chat room exists for players to socialize. There are two chat modes: safe chat (the child clicks on a predetermined chat message) and open chat (the child types in their own message which is moderated). Children should feel safe and comfortable using Webosaurs because moderators are always live on chat and in the games. This is an important aspect of online safety that Webosaurs excels at and other virtual worlds should adopt.

National Parks of Peru

Nearly ten percent of Peru is incorporated into some form of protected area. The dynamic nation has seven national parks, eight national reserves, seven national sanctuaries, three historical sanctuaries, five reserve zones, six buffer forests, two hunting reserves, and a number of communal reserves and national forests. National parks are excellent places to see the natural biodiversity during a Peru vacation. It is important to visit national parks for scientific, cultural, and educational enrichment.

The largest of Peru's protected areas is the National Reserve of Pacaya-Samiria, a beautiful tropical forest region in northern Peru. Closely followed in size is the Manu National Park and Biosphere Reserve, another vast jungle area. Also in the Amazon region is the Tambopata-Candamo Reserved Zone and Bahuaja-Sonone National Park. The Amazon is home to the richest flora and fauna of any region in the world and is the largest forest in the world. Excellent places to enter the Amazon are from Peruvian cities Puerto Maldonado and Iquitos.

A smaller but equally interesting park is the Huascarán. Located high in the Andes near Huaraz, this is a popular area to explore by hiking, climbing, or backpacking. Every which way the eye travels, glaciered white peaks pop through verdant valleys. The lesser visited, National Reserve of Pampa Galeras, is a completely different scene. Near Nazca, this desert-like region is home to precious herds of vicunas, the smallest member of the South American cameloid family. Other animals present on the reserve include the Andean fox, deer, vizcacha, Andean condor, and weasels.

Keep in mind when visiting these beautiful areas that many of these spaces are enormous, virtually untouched areas that are meant to combine conservation, research, and in some cases recreational tourism. There is usually a small charge to visit the parks and reserves. At some parks there is a daily rate, and at others there is a fixed sum to enter. Many of the parks are in particularly remote areas and require permission to enter. Please respect Peru's protected areas so future generations can enjoy the magical deserts, mountains, and coast.

The High Business Value of Hiring Virtual Teams

A standard method of doing business these days is for businesses to hire virtual team members and use a team collaboration software to conduct and manage daily business. Your virtual teams can consist of staff members, supervisors, partners and clients or possibly just outsourced professionals who can be both valuable and cost-savings components for your team.

Hire Non-Employees

Virtual assistants don't eat up financial resources by demanding your contribution to payroll taxes, disability and unemployment insurance. Plus, there's no great investment for hardware, a place to sit or a parking space outside a building where they won't need lighting or air conditioning. Hiring virtual employees avoids the usual trappings a traditional office environment entails. Once you have selected the appropriate team collaboration software suitable for your particular needs, you will find a virtual business set-up will serve your purposes while saving you money and providing an efficient business model.

Members May Be Anywhere

Team collaboration software allows instant communication between members who have thousands of miles separating them. Online software allows online conferencing, secure business data exchange, communication, scheduling, discussion threads and much more. Members of your virtual team use the software to keep in touch and up-to-date with one another so your clients are professionally served. Client contact also can be conducted through software application. Team collaboration software can provide you with information about member project time spent in a how, where and when reference that allows management to evaluate individual performance.

Real Time Team Communication

Your virtual team members can only produce high-quality work through effective real-time communication with other members, supervisors and clients as well. Constant availability of up-to-date information is a must have so clients understand their needs are being managed properly The ability to share just, in real time, updated or uploaded files, video and audio are important features your team collaboration software provides making a successful virtual business operation.

Ease and Efficiency

Team collaboration tools have taken a bite out of yesterday's high cost of conducting business that involved employee travel and related expenses just to meet with other project members. Team collaboration tools provide effective ways for virtual teams to "meet," communicate face-to-face (video conferencing), share documents (instant downloads) across worldwide time zones that once were met by long airplane rides, costly hotel lodging and trying to be at the top of your game suffering jet lag. Not anymore. The simple needs for instant communication and immediate document sharing are met by high quality team collaboration software that enables all members to do their assigned tasks that complete the project objectives in times found much shorter than a decade or two ago.