Humor works in many forms, but for 8- to 14-year-old boys, it usually involves something disgusting.
A new Web site capitalizing on that sophomoric genre of comedy and targeting tween boys offers the shenanigans of a maniacal chimpanzee who gives visitors plenty of reason to monkey around.
Riot Web
Site address: www.riotweb. com
Creator: Riot Media Inc., a media company located in New York City, maintains the site.
Creator quotable: “With riotweb.com, tween boys now have an online home they can truly call their own,” says Jay Gissen, founder and chief executive of Riot Media Inc. “This site offers everything they love — it’s funny, gross, a little edgy and totally theirs.”
Word from the Webwise: Hosted by Riot the chimp, the site combines some lower-IQ moments of the Mad magazine variety with a design boasting photo-manipulated animations, contests, quizzes and games to give visitors an interactive but not very enlightening experience.
Site sections such as Time Killers, Daily Riot, Downloads and Games deliver a mix of mentally numbing media that usually centers around bodily functions and embarrassing situations.
Time Killers features the famed Chimp-o-Matic 5000, which allows digital photographers to import an image of themselves and place the site’s mascot next to them. Artists can choose from numerous primate poses, add captions and select banners to complete the masterpiece.
For those in the mood to kind of learn something, a stop by Daily Riot provides jokes and FactU educational nuggets, such as that ostriches urinate on their legs to keep cool and there are 31,557,600 seconds in a year (based on a 325.25-day year to take leap years into account).
Additionally, a Web log that is updated daily can be found in the section. It is written by the Riot staff (who, I am fairly certain, are not tweens) and delivers the latest news about sports, music, television, movies, games and DVDs, with entries often containing links leading outside the site.
The Games section easily presents the most online content, with 11 challenges. My favorites include bowling, squishing cockroaches before they steal food, digital air hockey and a robust snowball fight with options to play at night or take target practice before pummeling opponents.
Don’t miss: Time Wasters contains the MuSick Maker, which allows young musicians to compose tunes that will have 5-year-olds laughing harder than after hearing someone say “poop.” Using burp, burble, puke, hiccup, cough and flatulence sound segments along with twisted dance beats, boys can create an assault on the ears in minutes. After carefully crafting, they can listen to the finished product, accompanied by Riot dancing, and can e-mail the noisy art to a friend. (Some e-mail programs may not allow receivers to turn off the silly symphony, so beware.)
Family activity: The site relishes pulling pranks but offers very little in the way of tangible ideas. Under the Downloads section (registering to the site and establishing a username and password is required) digital pranksters can download a trio of fake interactive computer desktop screens for both PC and OSX Mac system styles. The screens can make unsuspecting users jump as roaches crawl across the screen, stare in dismay as their computer erases itself or listen in disgust as the computer makes gassy sounds.
Cyber-sitter synopsis: The ugly words “lifestyle brand” permeate the design company’s mission statement, which translates into bombarding tween boys with “buy” messages. The Shop section has a “coming soon” sign on it, so parents should enjoy the sounds and silly designs emanating from junior’s computer but must pay attention when he starts whining about owning shirts and skateboards with an idiotic monkey plastered on them.
Overall grade: B-
Remember: The information on the Internet is constantly changing. Please verify the advice on the sites before you act to be sure it’s accurate and updated. Health sites, for example, should be discussed with your own physician.
Have a cool site for the family? Write to Joseph Szadkowski at Webwise, The Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave. NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; call 202/636-3016; or send an e-mail message (jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com).
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