There's two rear wheels and one front wheel, all encased in red-painted chrome, matching brakes, wheel bullets and chrome grips. The seat is made from suede and carbon vinyl leatherette so your precious darling is swathed comfortably. It's $2,000, but I'm sure that whoever buys this thing couldn't possibly balk at coughing up an extra $500 for the kit which transforms it into a trike once the youngster grows up a bit. [Roddler via Uncrate via Geekologie]

According to the story first reported in the Boston Herald, Angela Mejia had enough with her son's gaming when she found him playing Grand Theft Auto at 2:30 a.m. She told him to go to sleep, but he refused.

"Sometimes I want to run away, too," Mejia told the Boston Herald. "I have support from my church, but I'm alone. I want to help my son, but I can't find a way."

After unplugging her son's game console, she decided to call 911. Police came to Mejia's home and coaxed the boy into going to sleep.

"[The police] were just like, 'Chill out. Go to bed,'" Mejia's son told the Herald.

What Mejia's son did when he woke up is unknown. My guess: he played a video game. Yours?

This story originally appeared on CNET

The worst part about this, if I had to pick just one, is that it actually positions your phone perfectly so that you can't see your baby and he or she can't see you, even when you're not texting. So enjoy swapping gossip with your buddies with your Texthook, Terrible Parent! And later explaining to your spouse why the kid calls your iPhone "dada." [Texthook via OhGizmo, Photo via NY Daily News]

The guides walk you through the process of converting your battery-sucking gadgets to use AC power. Both guides require rolling up your sleeves, ripping the gadget apart, and doing some soldering—if using a soldering iron is new to you, we've got a beginner's guide to help you out.

The first guide covers in detail how to use a switch, some wire, and an old cell phone charger to convert a baby swing to use AC power, and the second guide is a more broad, general overview of how to modify devices—but isn't quite as detailed. If you've got any personal experience in modifying gadgets to use AC power instead of batteries, let us know about it in the comments.

For more clever modifications, check out how to turn an old web cam into a spy camera, or use tinfoil to boost your remote control's range.

That's what the chain gets for serving beer to parents already trying to cope with brats and arcade machine sound effects for hours on end. Not to mention the 30 minute performance of the Rocka-fire explosion animatronic band, playing on a 30 minute loop. Also, throw in the parental insincts to protect your kid from being sat on by the fat kid in the ball pit, and you've basically tossed a match to the powder keg.

The environment also brings out what security experts call the "mama-bear instinct." A Chuck E. Cheese's can take on some of the dynamics of the animal kingdom, where beasts rush to protect their young when they sense a threat.

Parents aren't able to contain their blood lust anymore, put under the pressure of this scenario, and it is happening in Chuck E. Cheeses all over the country, in statistically significant numbers, according to various local police officers. Finally, a mainstream paper, the WSJ, reports what I've known since I worked there as a teen: Chuck E Cheese is pure evil. Here's are the blow by blows of a few particularly gruesome fights, including one involving 85 people:

Chuck E. Cheese's Blotter

Brookfield, Wisc.: April 5, 2008

Seven Brookfield Police officers broke up a fight that involved as many as 40 people, according to police reports. The altercation broke out after an uninvited guest showed up at a child's birthday party. No one was arrested. (See police report.)

Flint, Mich.: Jan. 26, 2008

Flint Township police responded to a call about a large fight at Chuck E. Cheese's that involved as many as 85 people, according to police reports. A fight inside the restaurant between three females erupted, pepper gas was sprayed and people flooded outside the restaurant into the back parking lot. (See police report.)

Toledo, Ohio: Feb. 4, 2007

Police responded to the scene after a fight broke out. Several parents complained about children who were having their picture drawn at one of the machines and then continued to sit there after the drawings were complete. Parents began calling names and then throwing punches. Several people were injured and several cited for disorderly conduct. (See police report.)

Matteson, Ill.: 2007-2008

Police have responded to 12 disturbance calls at Chuck E. Cheese in the last year, said a local law enforcement official. The disturbances ranged in seriousness and included one in which two men attacked another man at a birthday party.

Milwaukee, Wisc.: Aug. 11, 2006

Upon officers' arrival at a south side Chuck E. Cheese's, they spoke with a male who stated that during a verbal argument, an elderly female threw a shoe at him, according to police reports. He stated the fight started over someone calling his child "ugly." He stated he was not injured, his pride was just hurt.

Topeka, Kan.: Jan. 17, 2005

Topeka Police responded to a disturbance call around 5:30 p.m., according to a department spokeswoman. Two adult females were involved in an altercation prior to police arrival. It was reported that one small child was either bumped or stuck by another child. The mothers of the girls began to argue and an altercation ensued. No one was charged.

In Pennsylvania, Susquehanna Township police are searching for suspects involved in a Nov. 9 altercation at a Chuck E. Cheese's outside Harrisburg. The police department gets called to respond to disputes at the restaurant as many as 15 times a year, Police Chief Robert Martin says.

This most recent assault, described in police reports, occurred after a woman in her 30s approached a 6-year-old boy who was playing a videogame. When the boy went to insert more tokens to continue playing, the woman grabbed the tokens out of his hand and told him to stop hogging the game. The boy went and got his 26-year-old mother, who walked over to the woman. The woman began screaming at the boy's mother, and another suspect, a man in his 30s, grabbed the mother by the throat and pushed her against the videogame machine. CEC employees had to pull the man off the mother. Both the man and the woman fled the scene.

How they plan on fixing it:

In Milwaukee, the store posted a sign outlining a dress code that prohibits what it calls "gang-style apparel." That location also implemented a code of conduct that prohibits knives, chains, screwdrivers and glass cutters.

While the chain is a breeding ground for these fights, this police captain says it best:

"The biggest problem is you have a bunch of adults acting like juveniles," says Town of Brookfield Police Capt. Timothy Imler. "There's a biker bar down the street, and we rarely get calls there."

Here's another fight I found on youtube:
[UPDATE: video removed because it was posted by some white supremacy group, and screw that!]

[WSJ]

Controlled via a Wii Nunchuk, the evil teddy is a modified BJ Bearytales that can move its mouth, blink, move its arms and instill a lifelong fear of both bears and robots in any impressionable child. You simply tilt the Nunchuk or use the joystick to control it, preferably while hiding in your kid's closet in the middle of the night, waking them up to this skinned, robotic teddy bear waving its arms all by itself.

Parenting! [Bendering Time via Make]

Essentially, it allows Mom and Dad to set how long each day or week their kids can shout racial epithets at strangers while playing Halo 3. It's going to drop to Xbox Live in early December, just in time to ruin Christmas. They also unveiled something called PACT, which is basically a "family contract" to foster family discussions about how long to sit in front of the TV. It'll come in handy if parents ever want to sue their kids for playing video games for too long, as it'll be down on legally-binding paper. Also, Jerry Rice was at the official announcement for some reason, apparently seen holding gigantic bags with big dollar signs on them in each hand while leaving.

I'm sorry, kids. If you were my spawn, I'd let you play video games as long as you wanted. I'd also let you drink beer. Then again, I'd also make you do my taxes and clean up my apartment every day, so maybe you should just be happy with what you've got.

A simple tool that lets you manage how much time your kids spend on their Xbox 360. Manage in daily or weekly increments. Easy for parents to suspend and add time. Available in December 2007 only through Xbox Live.

The requisite photo of the pamphlet is obligatorily blurry, but with all of the other chatter floating around, even if this is faked, we feel pretty safe betting on the new feature's upcoming launch, particularly given the Xbox 360's new family-focused marketing, like with the Arcade. [Xbox Today via Kotaku, Flickr]

Product Page [Via SCI FI]

The WurlyBird is a playground-like apparatus that's meant to go inside rather than out. Plop a couple of squirming pre-adults into it and watch as what was once a relaxing living room is transformed into a screaming annoyatorium in a matter of seconds. Boy howdy, that's totally worth the $195. –Adam Frucci

Product Page [via Red Ferret]

We know what you're thinking. No, hair won't grow on the palms of these hands, but they don't look particularly stain-resistant, either. Whatever you're going to use them for, they're $35 a pair. – Charlie White

Zaky, It's like Leaving a Part of You with Your Baby [The Uber Review]

There's two services, Chaperone Child Locator and Chaperone Child Zone. The former lets parents check up on their child's current location via a special Web site or via their own cellphone, while the latter sets up a specific perimeter for your child to venture in. Once the child leaves the perimeter, the parents receive a text message telling them so. This service will only be available via brick and mortar Verizon Wireless stores so as to prevent abuse.

Chaperone Child Locator costs $9.99 a month and Child Zone costs $19.99, plus the cost of the LG Migo phones ($49.99 with two year contract). – Nicholas Deleon

Chaperone Service [Verizon Wireless via Verizon Offers to Be Your Kids' Chaperone]