VOA标准英语2010年-Fathers Design On-line Site for Babies

"We put it up there as something sort of fun, a good idea for our families, but didn't anticipate it would be so popular." - Kurt Dommermuth

Two-year-old Lilianna Robinson is pursuing one of her favorite pastimes, playing on the computer while sitting on her mother's lap. They've logged onto a site called KneeBouncers.com. "Whenever my wife, Holly¹, is at the computer and my daughter spies her at the computer, it's 'KneeBouncer, KneeBouncer, KneeBouncer,'" says Jim Robinson.

Robinson designed the on-line game site more than seven years ago with his friend Kurt Dommermuth. "As adults, we gravitate towards our computer. It's becoming part of the hub of the house and it's only natural that even the littlest, the 6 month olds, even they gravitate to it," says Dommermuth.

That is exactly what happened in both Dommermuth's and Robinson's houses. "Kurt and I had had kids at the same time. We had two little girls. Mine was 6 months old and Kurt's was 9 months old and I had two older kids, too," Robinson says. While the older children played games on line, the babies got frustrated² because they couldn't use a mouse.

 
VOA Photo - A. Greenbaum
KneeBouncers' colorful welcome screen offers more than a dozen games

Any key will do

There's no frustration³ with KneeBouncers. Babies can hit any key on the keyboard and get an immediate⁴ response. Lillianna is particularly fond of a game called "Choo-Choo." The train's bell rings, the whistle blows, the headlight comes on and the engine eventually takes off, pulling a passenger car loaded with a green cat, a yellow bear, a purple rabbit and a yellow dog with red ears.

Parents can choose from 18 different games, featuring those and other colorful characters. "A lot of the games came from just the simple games we play with our kids when they are babies," says Robinson. In some games, babies pop balloons or bubbles. In others, they play peekaboo with the characters as they appear and disappear, or make them jump on the bed and splash in puddles⁵. They can also play simple tunes⁶ on virtual instruments.

Family fun goes viral

Robinson, who is trained as a graphic⁷ artist, comes up with the games and does the drawings. Dommermuth, a programmer, brings the games to life with animation⁸ and sound. Because they design Websites for a living, it seemed natural to put KneeBouncers on line.

 
VOA Photo - A. Greenbaum
Kurt Dommermuth and Jim Robinson have been friends and business partners for years. Until recently, Kneebouncers was something they did in their spare time.

"We put it up there as something sort of fun, a good idea for our families, but didn't anticipate it would be so popular," Dommermuth says.

Popular indeed. The free game site has attracted more than one million Web visitors from more than 180 countries.

A couple of years ago, when the two became aware of how popular their site had become, they decided⁹ to "follow their dreams" and focus on making KneeBouncers.com all it could be.

Although Robinson says the first activities on KneeBouncers were just for fun, newer games were designed with more education value in mind. "We talked to some preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers and said 'here are some are ideas, what do you think of them?'" They were advised to create games to introduce children to letters, numbers, shapes and colors. 

KneeBouncers.com remains¹⁰ free. No registration¹¹ is required to play the games. And there is no advertising¹², so parents don't have to worry that their child will jump to another site through a pop-up.

Expanding the KneeBouncer family

Robinson and Dommermuth have made a little money from merchandising and they are getting ready to grow the brand. They are currently working on both Webisodes and TV episodes based on characters in the games, and they are developing applications for Apple's i-Phone so parents can take KneeBouncers everywhere they go with their children.
 

1 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

2 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 puddles   

n.水坑， （尤指道路上的）雨水坑( puddle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The puddles had coalesced into a small stream. 地面上水洼子里的水汇流成了一条小溪。
• The road was filled with puddles from the rain. 雨后路面到处是一坑坑的积水。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

8 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

12 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。