It is no secret that I’m a fan of Apple Products. One look around my house and you might think that you’ve stumbled into a suburban Apple Store.

Earlier this summer, I got an e-mail from them talking about the Apple Camps that they do. I had heard about these in the past, but for one reason or another had not given them much thought. But, as my daughter does a show called Emily Explains It and I never seem to have enough time to put them together for her I thought it would be great to have her learn the basics.

I wanted my son to also attend because I think video editing skills are something that would benefit anyone and I know he has posed an interest before, but he was away the week that they were holding it so only my daughter got to go.

The camps are two days of 90 minutes each and then a Saturday film festival where they show all the kid’s work. Oh and did I mention that it is free?

Day 1: Storyboarding & Garageband

The kids arrive at the store and are given a t-shirt, lanyard and some Apple Camp pins. They also are assigned an iPad for the day and given a storyboarding template.

The instructors are great and really know how to interact with the kids. They go over the concept of laying out your story in order to help you focus your shots and think about how things are going to fit together later. It was fun to look at the variety of ideas the kids came up with.

Then they got an introduction to Garageband and each camper composed a piece of music on the iPads that they could use in their movies. If you’ve never sat down with Loops in Garageband, you’d be amazed how easy it is to come up with some simple music for your own use.

The homework for the night was to go home and shoot their video so that the next day they could edit it.

Day 2: Editing

Emily had grand visions of an epic squirrel adventure in the woods, but the downpour we had when we got home meant that it wouldn’t be. Instead she filmed hundreds of shot of her stuffed squirrel trying to find a place to hide his acorn. Heck, I even made a couple of cameos.

We returned to the Apple Store and they showed her how to plug in her camera and capture the footage on the mac and then walked her through the basics of iMovie and let her go at it. It was fun to watch her figure out how you can put together two completely separate scenes and make them work together. Then she discovered sound effects and really began to have a great time.

Suddenly the ninety minutes was up and here is the one part where the camp broke down for me.

Somehow they had planned that these little Spielbergs would finish their movies in that time, but never told them. Now, they were stuck not being able to finish the movies. This in my opinion is piss poor planning and you could see several kids a bit heart broken over it. They could fix this by letting them know up front and encouraging people if they have their own macs to bring them so that they can start work there and then bring it home.

We exported the movie and I knew we could make it work at home with some tweaking and that is what we did.

Day 3: Showtime!

Since there is more than one camp going on at anytime the store was packed when we got there. They had set up an area in the back of the store and of course were showing the movies on a big screen iMac.

Each kid would get up and introduce their film and then it would be shown. Lots of Lego and Barbies showed up, but there was only one stuffed squirrel which you can watch here.

So What Did I think?

If your kids have any interest in learning Apple software and there is a store near you I can’t reccomend this enough. The kids will have fun, you’ll have fun and you can’t beat the price. Emily walked away all excited about video editing and that is what I had hoped for.

It is also a genius move on Apple’s part because of course the parents get to play with all the fun gear while their kids are learning. They also did a nice job of on day 1 showing us the parental control features built into the Mac OS for those who didn’t know they were there. I saw more than one parent (myself included) walk out with a bag with some goodie in it before the end of camp.

Apple Camp is awesome and you should definitely consider it for your kids.

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Last week I was given the opportunity to attend the New York Auto Show. I might not be much of a car guy, but I had a blast being able to walk around and take photos of everything without it being swarmed by people. Ahh, the joys of a press pass.

My friends at Ford and Sony asked the Cast of Dads if we could all get together in Boston and then drive 2011 Ford Explorer to NYC to attend a concert/party with Train (photos) and then spend a day with press access covering the show. Schedules prevented all five of us from going but those of us who could go did. It was a lot of fun. Plus, since they were going to pay for the trip, how could we say no?

I took a ton of photos during the trip and the first pieces of video content we produced have now hit the web and I wanted to share them with you.

The first was an episode of Cast of Dads that the editing team at DadLabs cut down to a nice five minute discussion of the change in family road trips since we were younger. Technology definitely changes it and we discuss the good and the bad.

The other was a personal highlight for me was getting a chance to sit down with my buddy Sukhjit Ghag from Sony over coffee. We talked about a bunch of different things and of course since we are all geeks a lot of the chat was about technology in our lives.

In the coming weeks there will be lots more content that will be posted so stay tuned.

Disclosure: Ford & Sony covered travel expenses and gave us press access to the auto show. We were provided with a Ford vehicle to drive from Boston to New York. All thoughts, words and anything else we say is totally our own opinions.

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Chances are, if you are reading this right now, you are not doing so on a stack of papers you just printed out. Yeah, I said stack of papers because this is going to be more than one page. The subject is eye health, and those affected by poor eye health might surprise you, or it might not. Really it depends on how much you already know. Chances are you are reading this on a digital device, a device (along with many other such devices) you spend a lot of time staring at.

You are staring at your iPhone, your iPad, computer monitor, HD TV and so on. In this era of mobile and static visual technology, we spend a lot of time looking into the back-lit screens of our devices. It didn’t always used to be that way. When we were younger, the only back-lit thing was the television screen. Even the primitive games of the pre-Nintendo era weren’t back-lit. If you had a mobile phone, aside from it weighing sixteen pounds, had an LCD that reminded you of a calculator screen. Then things changed. Now we are putting constant stress on our eyes. The thing is, we’re not the only ones.

Our children are putting undue stress on their eyes. How many of you allow your children to play with your iPhone or iPad? Of course they play video games, and watch television so add to that the strain of looking at a small screen. It’s something that we take for granted and rarely think about – eye health. Even those of us who have worn glasses since they were six (like me.) It’s something I never thought about until recently, then something changed.

I fixed the problem.

I eliminated the afternoon headaches from staring at two monitors all day long. I eliminated the fatigue and strain I was putting on my eyes from staring into the window of digital devices all day. I eliminated the almost daily need for three Excedrin in the afternoon.

I did all that by wearing Gunnars. Before I get into what those are (though if you click the link you’ll see) and why they are important to eye health, let me go back to your kids. Think about how much time they are spending in front of digital devices without eye protection. You may think it’s not needed, and you may be wrong. An estimated 125 million Americans suffer from what is now commonly referred to as digital eye fatigue or computer vision syndrome, according to the American Optometric Association.

We spend so much time and money worrying about their eating habits, their physical safety outside the house, their safety inside the house, what type of television shows they are watching, keeping them safe from harm and so on – yet we tend to ignore what we are doing to their little eyeballs when we hand them an iPad, after doing the same damage to ourselves. Keep in mind, for children under six, their eye muscles are still developing. Staring at a digital screen can hinder that development.

Says Carlsbad Optometrist Jeffrey Anschel, “People spend long periods focusing on something close to their face. Eye muscles tends to lock into that one position, which is tiring and can push the eye down the path to becoming farsighted. Meanwhile, the eye has to deal with light from conflicting sources, such as sunlight that is much brighter than the computer screen. There’s also glare from the light shining into the eyes. And the angle of view for the computer screen, which is straight ahead, isn’t desirable. People tend to focus better at objects when looking down, such as reading a book.”

Which brings me back to Gunnars. Anschel was a consultant for Gunnars when they first came into existence, lending his years of expertise in computer vision syndrome. What they came up with, the glasses that have changed the way I view the world, is the long term solution to digital eye strain. Slap a pair of these glasses on yourself, on your child, and you’ve covered a very important part of your life. The part that stares at your iPhone all day long playing Angry Birds.

Speaking about Gunnars existence, they literally started in someone’s garage. Co-founder Jennifer Michelson was tired of hearing her husband complain about headaches and eye strain from staring at the computer. With her young son Gunnar in mind, she along with co-founder Joe Croft (the scientific mind) and some savvy investors, created Gunnars to protect her husbands eyes, her sons eyes and your eyes.

Gunnars aren’t just your run of the mill glasses. First off, they are cheaper. I’ll get this bit out of the way. They’ll run you around $100 for a non-prescription pair, around $200 for a script added. They were able to do my script, and I’m half freaking blind.

Gunnars aren’t some gimmick glasses, like hunting glasses or blue blockers. There is real science behind the construction and framing of the lenses. Everything has a purpose and a reason. This is bon-a-fide eye technology.

Here’s what Gunnars I-Amp technology is all about; the lenses are yellow. This freaks some people out, but bear with me. Yellow tinted lenses make images appear clearer and sharper by adding contrast and filtering out blue light. The lens is also shaped in a way to pre-focus the light into the eyes. This keeps the eyes from doing all the hard work, which immediately reduces strain. When you consider that, who gives a flying shit if they are yellow?

Furthermore, the yellow also holds a purplish iridescence on the lens, which is an anti-glare filter. This allows light from the digital device in, but keeps out reflected light from other sources – like that florescent light over your head. And the way the glasses are designed, to keep the lenses close to the face creates a “microclimate” that keeps away dry air. This keeps your eyes moist and delicious for hungry zombies. I mean, it reduces squinting and helps maintain a closer to normal rate of blinking. Did you just blink when you read that? I did. All of this together helps reduce eye strain and fatigue and keeps your eyes healthy and ready to download that next app.

Look, I’m not normally someone to just shill a product like a fiend, but these things have changed my freaking life. It’s like looking at the world through HD cameras. No more afternoon headaches, no more eye strain. Like I said, I’ve been wearing glasses a long freaking time. My last pair was $600, these were $200. Gunnars are aimed at the 18-40 year old, computer professional or gamer demographic, but demographics are just for tracking numbers.

The truth is, if you spend more than 6 hours a day staring at a digital screen, you need to get Gunnars. That means all you mom bloggers getting headaches late in the day. Sure, the kids may have something to do with it – but not all.

And that’s another thing, there is no reason not to slap a pair of Gunnars on your kids skulls. Think about the investment for their eyes. A hundred bucks is nothing compared to say, what you spend in a week on Starbucks or Lunchables. Our children are growing up in a completely different age of technology than us, there are going to be side effects and after effects that we won’t know about until our kids are grown up and the problems are documented. Gunnars aims to be proactive in this approach. Why wait for your kid to end up with eye problems because of staring into your iPad?

Isn’t parenting about doing the best for your kids, by them? Keeping them healthy and safe in all aspects of their beings? We buy them shoes to protect their feet, gloves and jackets to keep them warm in winter, why not glasses to keep their eyes protected as well? There is inherent logic here, you can’t deny it. This might sound like one long sales pitch to you, but if you know me, you know that rarely do I ever promote something like this. If you buy them do I get a piece of the action? Perhaps. Should that dissuade you from buying them? Hell no. In fact, based on how awesome I am, it should be a selling point.

For you driving adults, Gunnars also makes sunglasses. Why is this relevant? Because they are non-polarized. That means you can see all that fancy glowing shit on your cars’ dashboard with no problems. In my car all I have is a clock that is wrong half the time, and a tape deck with no fancy glowing buttons. My 8-track player broke. Seriously.

Gunnars are available for regular non-script folks and in prescription. They are also available at some local retailers like Best Buy. Check out Gunnars.com or on Twitter @gunnaroptiks for more info. Tell ‘em I sent ya.

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This is actually the faucet actually IN my kitchen. Truth. (Image: Me)

Recently Delta Faucets sent me one of their new kitchen sink faucets to review. Little did I know I was getting an advanced piece of technology that just like any other piece of technology, has it’s severe ups and just as severe downs. Frankly, I wasn’t sure what to think, but there it was. All nice and pretty in the box. That being said, the new Delta Touch2O® line of faucets are one of the many products on the market now that are bringing technology and ecology to the kitchen. Water conservation is a hot topic item these days, and the Touch2O® faucets claim to do just that. While there are too many pre-teen 30 minute hot showers in my house to do an in-depth analysis of the water bill, there were some other factors that would make a competent review.

Form vs. Function
The specific faucet I was sent, and have since installed, is the Pilar Single Handle Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet with Touch2O Technology® and Soap Dispenser. Ignore the price, that’s not the price.

Honestly, it’s a very nice looking piece of kitchen hardware. Whether you have a nice upper middle class kitchen, or a white trash kitchen like mine – it fits in. That is, it doesn’t look like you stole half your kitchen from some rich people. Unlike my previous faucet, the Delta has smooth lines and a nice curvature that puts it right over the center of the sink. As for install, unless you are a quadriplegic or mentally handicapped you should be able to figure it out. Clearly I’m half mentally handicapped as I installed the hot water and cold water on the wrong sides. Obviously, that’s no big deal unless you spent your whole life turning it one way for cold and another for hot. Eh, I ain’t switching it.

This particular model has a separate soap dispenser. Ok, glad we got that out of the way cause I’m not mentioning it again. The off/on – hot/cold handle also serves as a touch point to the faucet. So you can turn off or turn on the water flow just by gently touching the faucet or the handle. Did I not mention that? I figured you would have gathered that from it being a Delta Touch2O® faucet. Yes, it’s touch technology.

Basically it works like this: the human body conducts electricity of the static variety on a pretty consistent basis. The “skin” of the faucet is set up as a conductor for that electricity activating the solenoid located under the sink (you’ll have to install this too, it’s real easy.) The solenoid (if you don’t know what one of these are, you are men right) is basically an on/off switch activated by an electrical signal. Pretty much every device that turns off and on has some sort of solenoid in it.

Back to touch. Unlike when you touch your wife or girlfriend, this faucet turns on every time you touch it. That means, when you turn it off and brush by it to move a dish – it turns on again. More on that in a minute. To sum up, easy to install, beautiful to look at and works as it should for the most part. It turns on, water comes out. It turns off, water stops coming out. It does have a pull down head with a hose attached so you can get all close up with the dishes, as well as two settings via a large plastic button on the head to switch between shower and regular water flow.

Sustainability
One of the big selling points of the Delta Touch2O® technology is the water conservation. Like I mentioned before, I have no real way of testing this out as I have kids who insist on turning into prunes before leaving the shower. However, I can tell you what I’ve observed in the way the faucet operates compared with my previous one. With the hose and spray ability, it’s easier to spend less time rinsing dishes therefore logically using less water. However, you have to use the handle to control the pressure of the water flow. Since the handle also operates as an on/off touch point this can get kind of tricky and really fucking annoying. Scenario: you are watching your wife wash dishes. The water is on but the pressure isn’t high enough. She gently grabs the handle to adjust. The water goes off. She releases, touches again – water goes back on. She adjusts pressure, lets’ go of the handle, gently brushing it in the process – water turns off. She screams. Dishes don’t get washed. You go back to the football game.

Really though, this is a minor annoyance but you have got to wonder if this constant start/stop actually does help with water conservation. The faucet also has an automatic shut-off after four minutes. The little blue light is still on, but the water has stopped flowing. A quick touch turns it right back on, but perhaps that several second delay saves some of that precious fluid we take for granted every day.

What the Hell?
Just like any piece of technology, the faucet has it’s faults. They are minor, and you have to know what you are dealing with to get past them. As mentioned, you are dealing with a solenoid. Every on and off touch activates it, so eventually it is going to go bad. Aside from that, there are times when it goes absolutely bat shit crazy and starts turning the faucet off and on off and on without you even being in the room. This is caused by built up charges because of some child over touching the damn thing cause they have the patience of a fly taking a shit mid-air. This is easy to resolve, turn it off using the handle.

The handle and the faucet both contain touch points, so sometimes you’ll touch one and the faucet won’t turn off. Simply touch the other and the faucet will turn on. If you touch the same touch point over and over with no result, this is how the solenoid gets all confused like. Again, these are really minor issues and just take some common sense. I’m not going to lie, it frustrated the hell out of the wife, but I think she’s figured it out. There is an option to hook it up as a regular faucet, but then what’s the point? The last thing that annoyed me about it was that it runs off C batteries. Really? It really should have come with an option to plug into the wall if you have a socket under the sink as I do. That’s fine, all that will take is some simple wire stripping and re-wiring to resolve.

Final Assessment

While the Delta website says that I just reviewed a $600 faucet, the truth is that you can get it for around $300 at Amazon.com, which is a whole hell of a lot more reasonable. As nice as the faucet is, and the whole touch technology thing, there is no way I’d ever pay $600 for a faucet unless I was one of those rich dudes. If you are a rich dude, then price probably doesn’t matter. Frankly, as long as I ain’t spitting on my dishes to clean them, I’m happy.

That being said the Delta Touch2O® faucets are pretty damn nice. If you can swallow the price point, then it’s worth it to have a faucet of this caliber in your kitchen. I feel that much less like white trash having it over my sink. The little issues with the touching and the solenoid shouldn’t really detract from the overall function of the faucet. While I can’t track it, I feel like I am using less water so this has got to be a good thing right? Right?

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The Ford Fiesta Monster Energy Rally Car. (Image: C. Silver)

This past week I was fortunate enough to visit the NAIAS (North American International Motor Show) in Detroit, Michigan. In full disclosure it was on behalf of Ford motor company – they paid for travel and accommodations and drove my ass around. Which explains why this article is all about Ford. However, after walking the show floor at the Detroit auto show (as it’s commonly called) I feel that had I went as an independent observer and not on Fords dime, I still would have looked to them as the best all around presenter and participant at the show.

They were all there. From Toyota to Mini Cooper, to BMW, Porsche, Bentley, Mercedes, Maserati, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai and so on. Clearly the NAIAS is the place to be if you are a major car manufacturer.  I had the pleasure of attending the show when it was only open to media nad stakeholders and executives. You could tell who the media were, we were the ones not wearing suits. Jeans and ball caps, ambling around looking for handouts and press kits – most of which were presented on a flash drive – except for Porsche. They gave me a CD. Really guys? It’s the 21st century. Get with it.

It was an amazing experience, and I’m glad to have represented Digital Dads in the process. It’s a new age when a car company invites 100 bloggers from around the world to experience the NAIAS. Bloggers, techies, mom bloggers (and not mom blogging moms,) dad bloggers and Green bloggers. Some of them, professional journos, some like me – not (yet,ahem.) Following are a few of the major highlights  from Ford in particular. It was a lot to take in, and there is much more than just what I’m putting down in words here, but you can simply do a Google search and find all the facts.  There are facts, then there is experience and interpretation. I’d like to think that’s why I was there, for just this reason.

The Vision of Henry Ford
Back in 1908 as the first Model T rolled off the line, Henry Ford had a vision. We all know the story, the Ford History is embedded in the American lexicon and literature. While cars have evolved, the vision stays the same in my mind. Ford wanted to create an automobile that was affordable, comfortable and constantly evolving. Even though he fought the UAW, that was evolution that was needed as well and brought his company to the efficient industrial complex it is today. It must be noted that Ford was the only American automaker to not take any of the bailout money from the Government in recent years, and is one of the few automakers to devote as much energy and resources to sustainability and the future of the automobile.

While many car makers are pushing out hybrid vehicles, one here one there, Ford is devoting a whole line of cars to the electric and hybrid future – still in line with the vision of the founder – moving towards the future. This was the running theme of their keynote presentation and press conference. Sustainability and “going green” is the future, and Ford is not just handling this change with their cars. They are employing this line of thought within their factories and how they do business. Ford believed that consumerism was the key to peace, and he really wasn’t too far off.

One of the things the Ford Motor Company has done to adhere to the vision of Henry Ford is to keep their vehicles in line with the demands of the consumer. Rather than make vehicles that they particularly want to make such as a luxury car maker, they make vehicles that the consumer needs and wants. Consider the C-Max, the primarily European Ford car that was introduced as a new American model at the show. This car, with it’s electric capabilities (either hybrid or 100% electric) is a perfect vehicle for the European nation because of it’s compact size and hybrid engine. It’s a risk bringing this car to America, where people are still stuck on trucks and large SUV’s. Of course, it should also be noted that the Ford Explorer won best truck at the 2011 NAIAS.

Henry Ford’s vision is alive and well. It also helps that a direct descendant (Bill Ford) is the chairman of the company. Keeping it in the family allows the company to operate within the moral and business standards of it’s founder. This may have had something to do with Ford not taking any of the bailout money handed out to American car companies over the last couple years. Ford realized that this would not help them in the eyes of the consumer, and instead optioned to cut some costs, sell off a division or two (Jaguar) and focus instead on the future of the automobile.

Sustainability for the Future
Recently at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) the current CEO of Ford, Alan Mulally, called Ford “the app of choice for car buyers” as he introduced the C-Max to the American public. With the Ford Sync technology (in partnership with Microsoft) and their MyTouch system, the previous leaders in automotive communications tech (OnStar) look like tape decks in comparison. One might think that all this tech in a car would make driving more distracting, but of course it’s built to do completely the opposite of that.

The C-Max has reached over 13k in sales in Europe, and will most likely directly compete with the Ford Fusion and Focus hybrids when it’s introduced in the United States. Right now Ford is working on creating an infrastructure of charging stations, working with companies such as Microsoft and Mapquest to make it easy for you to find a charging station (outside your garage) using mobile applications being developed. It should be noted that unlike most charging stations for electric cars, the ones sold by Ford will not have to be hard-wired to your house, good news for renters. However, the Ford vehicle that I am most looking forward to is the VerTrek concept. Introduced at NAIAS by Derrick Kuzak, Global V.P. of Global Product Development, the VerTrek is the next gen electric hybrid vehicle, and pretty sweet looking. It boasts a TDCi Diesel EcoBoost engine and regenerative charging.

The new Ford Concept: VerTrek (Image: C. Silver)

As mentioned before, pretty much every car company at the show had some sort of hybrid or electric vehicle. While that is admirable, it seemed to me that only Ford was making the sustainability of electric vehicles a priority of the company, rather than just a side note. This kind of commitment to the future of the environment and industry surrounding it was evident in the way they run their Rouge River plant. From roofs that allow more sunlight and provide solar energy, to the porous cement that filters water runoff to prevent pollution to the Rouge river, Ford is taking a company approach to sustainability. That’s not saying that other car makers aren’t doing the same, I haven’t been to their factories so I can’t speak to it. I’m just noting that the impression I got from Ford was less “hey, look at our new electric car” and more “this is the way we are doing business now.” No other car company at the show even began to give me that impression.

The Venerable, the Dapper Scott Monty
While Ford announced that it will be adding about 7,000 jobs this year (a small fraction of their recent layoffs) there is one man at Ford that probably has the greatest job in the world. This man, is Scott Monty. Scott Monty leads the Global Digital Communications at Ford and was the master of presentation for my trip to Detroit. A constant source of information about Ford, Scott was always on point, good humored and seemed to seriously believe in and love what he does for a living. Ford couldn’t ask for a better social face for their company than Scott Monty. Not even Fake Scott Monty (pictured below center) could compete. Though he sure tried. I tip my virtual top hat to Scott Monty for being an awesome host, never seeming to be annoyed by having to cater to a large group of spoiled bloggers. Fun fact: Scott Monty invented the phrase “tweet-up.” You can follow him on Twitter @scottmonty or officially @ford.

From left: A Ford Exec, The Fake Scott Monty & The Real Scott Monty (Image: @mommasgonecity)

Driving into the Sunset
As aptly stated in their official NAIAS press release, Ford is clearly looking the electric future of driving. “It’s about giving consumers more options for fuel-efficient vehicles of this size and footprint and providing them the power of choice for electrified vehicles, as well,” said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas. “Today, a world-class, all-new Focus family joining the new Fiesta lineup is delivering more choice. Now, we’re bringing even more to customers with the versatility of the new C-MAX and three different alternatives for customers who want to save fuel by going electric, offering real choice and more products people really want.”

Which is the feeling that I get from the Ford Motor Company. As someone who is about to enter the arena of searching for a new vehicle, it’s good to see that Ford is stepping up their game to move forward into the future of automobiles. To be fair, most of the car companies at the show had some sort of hybrid car, and the Chevrolet Volt won best car of the whole show, so they aren’t 100% slacking. But for me, when it comes to American automakers, it’s Ford and then it’s every one else. The future is electric, the future is green and sustainable. When you consider those terms in the realm of automobiles, what Ford is hoping is that you’ll be thinking Ford.

Be sure to check out my photo gallery from NAIAS and the #fordgreen Twitter hashtag for all the conversation surrounding Ford’s presence at NAIAS.

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A Ford Focus. I'll probably see one of those at NAIAS.

While CC is chumming it up at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Vegas, Digital Dads (specifically me) will be heading to Detroit early next week for the NAIAS (North American International Auto Show.) Similar to how Kenmore is sponsoring CC’s trip to CES, Ford will be making me their bitch for the auto show.

The focus on the couple days I will be there is on the new Ford line of vehicles and their adherence with being “Green.” Of course I’ll also get to tour the NAIAS show floor before the crowds get there, and as a bonus I get to test drive some of the awesome Ford vehicles.

I’ll be joining about 99 other bloggers and digital media folks on this three day adventure in Detroit. Some of the other folks that will be there (that I know) are Josh (Dadstreet.com and part of the Dadstalking team,) Adam Cohen (Dadarocks.com) and Little Tech Girl Kris Cain. Be sure to follow the hashtag #fordgreen on Twitter for updates from the event and of course me and Ford. Let me know if you are going to be there, and you can buy me a mineral water.

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First, hello from new writer and new dad Eric Skiff!

My son Jack is 8 months, and I’m just now finding a moment or two to start contributing here, and I’m excited to join the Digital Dad’s crew.

I’m the consummate geek, so being a new parent has been an exciting dive into totally new areas of learning for me. I have to say, I never really expected just how much reading there would be to being a new dad!

I’m looking forward to writing here about many of the gadgets, books, and other things that have helped us along these past few months, but sometimes the best things are the ones that you find in desperation, realizing too late you’ve left an essential gadget at home.

So, what do you do in that “oh sh*t” moment when you realize you’ve left the receiver for the baby monitor at home?

If you’re like me, you probably pull out your iPhone, hoping to find some answer on Google. However, I hadn’t even cracked open safari before it occurred to me that if you were to link up 2 iPhones over wifi, you could probably use them as a baby monitor.

Skype-to-skype with one phone in speaker-mode might work, but I figured I also wasn’t the first one with this problem, and sure enough, a quick search in the app store revealed a handy Baby Monitor app that did the trick nicely for $2. There are even a few other “baby monitor” apps that call you if the monitor hears something, but I like this app’s straightforward approach – it’s nice to be able to pick up the receiving end and make sure it’s still getting audio from the room, and I’m not relying on AT&T to deliver a call that tells me when my baby’s crying!

If you’ve only got one iPhone (or only want to tie one up as the monitor), you could start a skype-to-skype call with your computer and use that as the receiver, but seriously guys, if you’re the only one with an iPhone in your family, it’s time for Mother’s day to come a little early

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2. iPhone Picture Time

Let me state my case. Over 75% of all kids under the age of 12 quit organized sports. At the same time many youth sports leagues and organizations are doing little to improve the overall experience for kids. A recent study showed that over 90% of all youth coaches have no type coaches training, yet they instruct close to 25 million kids each year. The results are obvious; a majority of kids don’t like the experience they’re receiving when they play organized sports.

Youth sports skills have been taught primarily the same way for the past half-century. However, the way kids receive information and learn has changed drastically. In a rapid pace culture, where information and technology are cornerstones to a child’s lifestyle, youth sports need a contemporary makeover.

Kids are visual learners when it comes to physical activity. If the information and skills being introduced and taught to a child do not engage them, there is limited chance they will comprehend and retain it for any extended period of time. This can place youth coaches at a distinct disadvantage if they don’t tap into today’s technology sources that so many kids are familiar with and use every day. Instruction and skills that are presented in a visual fashion are more likely to appeal and capture their attention.

The other disadvantage we as parents and youth coaches face is our inability to adequately demonstrate skills and techniques. Technology and equipment provided by iphone, ipods, and other smart phones, give you the ability to download video right off the internet. Between iTunes and YouTube there are many ways to download footage of games that can be taken directly onto the practice field and used as a teaching tool. Video sports games can also accomplish this while making a youth coaches job much easier and effective.

I strongly suggest bringing a handheld video gaming device, such as a iPhone, iPad, or a Sony PSP, etc., out to your backyard or next practice. Each hand held device plays both EA Sports Video Games with realistic graphics. Most sports games feature replicas of professional athletes performing skills, and replicating fundamental athletic moves, similar to that of an actual video recording. Whether it’s watching the execution of a sideline tackle or the technique and footwork of a point guard, a video game image is worth much more than a verbal or less than accurate demonstration.

If you think this is type of training is unrealistic, think again. Division One College and several NFL teams have converted portions of their playbook formats over to video games in order to better engage their players into learning all plays while better understanding the tendencies of their opponents.

Unlike video recordings, hand held video game units allow the user to manipulate the athlete on the screen, allowing the operator (the coach) to control all movements. Another teaching technique is to allow the athletes to manipulate the movement of the video game action, therefore further engaging them in the visual interactive learning process.

As an example, during practice if you find kids are becoming bored working on ball catching skill techniques, bring the handheld video game device and show some of the top NFL receivers making spectacular catches. Have the athletes focus on the footwork, the body control and position used to make these catches followed by challenging them to replicate the same moves and techniques on the field. This type of experiential learning that is both contemporary and so closely interactive will not only enhance your practices but will also develop much more engaged athletes in the learning process of the fundamentals.

By bringing the handheld video sports game to practice you are also directly and subconsciously training each kid to focus on technique execution the next time they play the video game at home.

Remember today’s kids are growing up in a fast paced environment where they need to be both entertained and engaged at all times. Using video game training, and handheld video equipment at practice will not only improve the attention of each athlete at practice; it will also increase your legitimacy as a coach that understands their world.

- Scott Lancaster

Related posts:

1. Digital Dads Week in Sports: Gamecocks Two-Peat College World Series
2. Athletic Creativity (Part One)—Do Organized Sports Limit Your Child’s Development?
3. Want To Improve Your Youth Coaching 0r Child’s Youth Sports Experience? Leave Your Emotions At Home

When I have the chance, I’ve joined the discussion and asked what people mean when they make statements about our little ones being “too young” for access or exposure to a variety of technology.  What the discussion eventually turns to is either content or cost.

The matter of content is pretty straight forward.  Allowing kids access to age-appropriate content while working to keep them away from inappropriate content is nothing new.  It was true with radio prior to television (even though I get the distinct impression the problem was simpler at that time), then with the proliferation of television and the broadening of its associated content, and now today with the web.  But nothing’s really changed; as parents we want to foster and fuel the development of our kids’ minds, but also want to protect them from things that’ll cause harm whether in print, through audio or video.

Darn it, this is complicated.  While it’s appropriate to lump kids of certain ages together for all the right reasons, every kid is still unique.  And so are parents, home environments, neighborhoods, etc.  Macro “rules” for exposing kids to a variety of things only apply on a macro level.  Dads, or at least for this dad, the real work for is the complexity of making these generally wise rules apply very specifically to each of our kids, to do it in concert with our spouses if there is one, and to juggle how this plays out when we have multiple kids in the household.  Ah, the historic friction between older and younger siblings–does access to technology complicate it?  (I can hear it now, “Dad, how come he gets an iPod and I don’t?”)  Content matters and each child is clearly different whether we’re talking about our own kids, or our kids relative to their friends.   And the access to the breadth of content out there through today’s computers is faster and fuller.

As for cost, it often comes down to this:  will I hand an expensive piece of tech to my child knowing he may very well break it?  Nothing special there: kids break things, even expensive things.  I can’t afford for my son to destroy something expensive.  Sorry son, you can’t play with this.

I guess I’m generally comfortable with how my son currently interacts with a variety of media through the TV or web.  My wife and I control it well (so far).  The question I still wrestle with though:  is today’s tech simply this generation’s version of the TV babysitter, or is it more complicated than that?  Does anyone remember the HBO series “Dream On”?  Hilarious, but an interesting commentary about a child raised by the television.  If we’re tempted to use tech, and specifically the web as a babysitter without real oversight, I wonder if we’re at risk of building the next generation of Martin Tuppers?  I’m reminded every day as my wife and I raise our son that parenting is complicated, a full-time job, and it’s just plain hard.  But we enjoy it; it’s also incredible fun for both of us, for Steph as a mom, and for me as a dad.

It’s great to be a dad!

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While neither of us are heavy into the skateboarding world, we both enjoy watching it and when Sony offered us tickets to come on down and check it all out how could we say no?

We arrived early and found all sorts of booths and experiences set up outside of TD Garden. With an extreme sports angle, the variety of what people were offering surprised both of us. Where else would you find the National Guard letting kids ride segways and then just down the way a Paul Mitchell salon doing hair cuts and coloring directly across from a gigantic inflatable Nerf Dart Tag arena?

Sony had three tents set up as well, each with a unique theme that was an instant attraction for Dylan. Inside of one, they had a huge 18 wheeler truck that opened up to have screens and Playstation 3 consoles all along both sides and inside as well. Kids (and parents) could walk up and play some of the newest game releases. Dylan was stuck playing Time Crisis for quite some time and I wasn’t going to complain because the air conditioning felt awesome.

For me, the coolest thing we saw was the new 3D gaming options from Sony. I had to give my license to check out some glasses, but then we got to play and let me tell you that it was amazing. I haven’t been caught up in all the hype over 3D televisions and such, but after playing a couple of games in 3D I instantly got the appeal. I just hope that the glasses are not  expensive or it is going to suck for gaming because as you can see in the picture above, watching a game without the glasses sucks. Part of the fun of home gaming is having others be able to watch while some play.

Dylan’s favorite part was being able to play a game of Nerf Dart Tag. Before the tournament started (who knew they had a country wide tournament going on?) they were letting kids go in and setting them up in teams of four to play. It reminded me a lot of speed paintball except with Nerf guns. I got to go in and take pictures while he was playing and it was a lot of fun to watch. Of course I wish they rented the arenas, because it could be a lot of fun to set one of those up at a party!

After spending several hours outside at all the free exhibits we headed in to watch the competition. It was weird to see a half pipe inside of the Boston Garden, but it was a blast to watch. Dylan (and me) were looking forward to seeing Shaun White compete, but he was hurt so we had to settle for watching him get interviewed on the big screen.

All in all we had a great day together and ended it by getting some slices of pizza from Quincy Market before heading home.

The Dew Tour will continue on into the fall with stops in Chicago, Portland, Salt Lake City and ending in Las Vegas. You can buy tickets here as well as find out more information. If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it!

If you want to see more picture, view my whole Dew Tour set.

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1. OVO Comes to Boston – Want to Go?
2. The Mango Hometown Tour

Ok, let me get it right out in the open so there is no confusion. We are BIG Star Wars fans around here. When my son showed an interest in the movies I can’t fully express how psyched I was and how great it was to take him to the movies to watch them.

We’ve since watched all the films and were very surprised how awesome the television show The Clone Wars turned out to be and it is something we always watch together. It makes for something fun to bond over and a passion we both share.

Because of this, I’m psyched to share the news that this fall, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will release Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, a free-to-play, action packed virtual world. Focused on creating a fun and safe online environment for kids and families, Clone Wars Adventures will offer  minigames, dynamic activities, social events and thousands of customization options.  Players can even battle it out with friends alongside iconic Star Wars characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Ahsoka Tano.

Dylan has been playing Free Realms for a while now which is also from SOE, so we’ve seen the game play on that and for an online game it is top notch. Watching the trailer for this new adventure made us even more psyched about the release.

“Clone Wars Adventures is the ultimate destination for fans of The Clone Wars series and will bring the action and excitement of the show to players online so they can experience The Clone  Wars universe firsthand” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “We’ve worked with LucasArts and Lucasfilm to create a virtual world that is seamlessly integrated with the TV series and a true extension of the show. It’s also just flat-out fun to play.”

Virtual worlds hold a lot of promise for companies and game players. I’ve watched as Dylan has jumped from one to another figuring out which one he likes the best. One thing that I know will be appealing to players in this game is that they are going to allow you to fly through space in various starfighters, play as a clone trooper in tower defense challenges and even solve challenging puzzles which is something I know my son enjoys. It sounds like there is a lot of variety which is key in keeping a kid’s imagination and to bring them back to play over and over.

Of course, this is a business venture, so there will be plenty of options for kids to upgrade their accounts to buy new outfits, equipment and other virtual goods. The possibilities are really endless and I’m glad to read about the built in parental controls. Of course, I’m probably looking forward to playing as much as Dylan is at this point. I can’t wait to play.

There is no official release date yet except for “this fall” so stay tuned. Until then enjoy some screen shots from the game.

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If we found an affiliate link for the product we will be using it, but of course buy from the vendors that you like and let us know of any other gifts you think we might have missed.

Canon PowerShot S90
Pictures make the world go around and while there are tons of great digital SLR cameras out there, sometimes you want something small and compact that can still take great pictures. We love the Canon S90 because while you can pop it into Auto mode and shoot beautiful photos, it also has tons of manual modes for the seasoned photographer to tweak to their hearts content. It takes a standard SD card and is small enough to fit in your pocket.

If you are looking for something more high end, we are all fans of the Canon 5D Mark II or the Canon 7D. Both are amazing cameras if you have the budget for them.

Apple iPad
This is one gift that any Dad would love to have. Trust us when we say that after a week with an iPad, anyone is going to love having the device in their house. Don’t believe us, watch what Emily thinks of it.

We’ll leave it up to you if the WiFi only one is enough or if the 3G model would be a better purchase. Every day new content is being released for the iPad and it makes the perfect coffee table computer. If you pick one up, consider getting a case for it as well. There are a lot of them out there, but we like the simple basic one from Apple that gets the job done great.

Sony Dash
We’ve gotten to know the team at Sony pretty well and they sent us a Dash. I’ve been using it as an alarm clock since my wife was sick of having the clock on her side of the bed go off early in the morning when I had to get up and catch an early flight or train.

While the UI leaves a lot to be desired, we’ve heard rumors of an update coming very soon. You can add all sorts of apps to it so that besides the time and weather it also pulls in other things. For instance, I’ve currently got mine showing a web cam of Jackson Hole, Wyoming (a dream place to visit), my flickr photos and the latest from The Onion. I love that it has a nighttime and power-saver mode for those times when you don’t need all the information. For the Dad who loves to always be connected this is a fun idea.

Google TV Logitech Box
If the iPad introduces us to the idea of no longer being bound to the sofa and TV for video entertainment, then the Google TV Logitech Box introduces us to the idea that you no longer need to be bound to broadcast television for an entertaining TV experience.  By harnessing Google’s search prowess and the internet, video viewing is taken to the next level with Google’s newest appliance.  The box can even be used with your paid television subscription—but why would you?

We debated having this on the list since it doesn’t actually come out till the fall, but it was too cool to pass up. Stay up to date on the latest here.

Crosley Revolution Turntable
The digital music revolution changed the game for all facets of music—production, distribution, and consumption.  For those who still savor vinyl, then the Crosley Revolution Turntable is for you.  Providing musical freedom at 33 1/3, the Crosley’s minimal design allows you to focus on what is important,  the crisp sound of vinyl.  Minimal in design, the Revolution includes accouterments that will satisfy any geekofile—battery powered, dual headphone jacks, built-in stereo speakers, and USB for analog-to-digital conversions.  This isn’t your fathers record player.  The Crosley Revolution is a turntable for the new millennium.

Red Dead Redemption
If the Dad in your life owns a gaming system of any sort you should get this game immediately. Set in the wild west, you play a gunslinger on a mission to clean up for his past. The free form game plays means that this game will rock for the most hardcore of gamers or the most casual. The visuals are beautiful and you could honestly spend hours just riding around in the world until you forget that the setting son is nothing but computer pixels.

Of course, since this game is from Rockstar Games (the creators of the Grand Theft Auto series) this is not a kids game. There are plenty of guns and blood so keep that in mind before you have your kids play along with Dad.

Griffin Simplifi Dock
We like to keep our desks organized and when we first reviewed one of these we fell in love. It serves as both an iPod/iPhone dock as well as a compact flash and SD card reader all in one. As if that wasn’t enough it has 2 USB ports in the back as well. We loved this product so much that we’ve bought several of them for all the desks in our lives.

What we are really hoping for though is that Griffin will come out with a new version that will also work with the iPad. But, we haven’t heard anything yet.

Kodak Pulse
Several of us here are avid photographers and are always on the hunt for a good digital picture frame. There are many of them out there and when Kodak gave us one of these to play with, we honestly were not expecting much different, but were pleasantly surprised. With a built in touch screen, anyone with a WiFi connection will be up and connected in no time. The frame allows photos to be uploaded from Facebook and the Kodak Gallery or have them e-mailed directly to it. We are still hoping they add a Flickr option in the future.

While we wish the frame came in bigger sizes (it only comes in a 7 inch version as of now), we do think this would be perfect for grandparents who have a WiFi connection because it allows for the newest pictures of the grand kids to be e-mailed directly to the frame for nice surprises. It can store thousands of photos so you won’t outgrow it anytime soon.

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If you over simplified the description of what one is, you could call it a big iPhone and while that isn’t far from the truth it is really not an accurate description. It is their first true tablet computer and one that I believe does have a place in your family and I wanted to highlight some of the apps for it that we are already enjoying.

Now, please remember that it hasn’t even been out for more then two weeks and these are only the ones that we’ve discovered or have been told about that are made for the iPad.

There are a ton of great apps that were released before the iPad that are family friendly and they will work on the iPad, but I wanted to focus on applications that have been built to take full advantage of the new platform rather than just working. I’m also not including prices because I know many have special pricing when I bought them and could change at any time. All links will go directly to the iTunes store.

In no particular order:

• Netflix
  You will need to have a Netflix account in order to utilize this, but what is great is that a portion of their library is now available for live streaming to a variety of devices including the iPad. So as I laid on the couch last weekend recovering from knee surgery with a couple of clicks I was watching Singles in my lap on this application.
• Artist’s Touch
  One of my students at the University of San Francisco told me about this program so I checked it out because I knew the kids (and me) would want to be able to sketch and draw. Out of all the applications we have tried, this is the best for simple doodling with enough options to really let an artist grow in it. Allowing you to choose from a variety of papers, textures, colors and creation tools, I might never get the iPad back from Emily ever again. One word of advice, unless you are a finger painting master I suggest buying a Pogo Stylus that my friend Whitney Hoffman told me about. It does a great job working as a stylus and the ones that come with a Nintendo DS don’t work. I know because I tried! *laugh*
• The Weather Channel
  Every morning now when the kids ask us, “what is it going to be like today?” we tell them just to look at the iPad. If you share your location with it, the local weather comes right up and clearly shows in animated pictures what the day and the week ahead looks like. If you want more detail it also has live streaming video weather, radar and other goodies.
• Epicurious
  We love to cook and every family should spend time in the kitchen together. Pulling new content from the web keeps this app full of fresh recipe ideas with big, bold pictures and shopping lists. Although you can’t print them out yet (a failing of the iPad, not the app), I could easily see us setting this on the counter in a cookbook holder while we made dinner. They have the ability to star favorite recipes, so we’ve been going through starring some new ones to try. Great way to get the kids involved in what you are eating.
• Doons
  Laura and the kids love to play casual games and this has quickly become one of their favorites. You are presented with a screen of funny faced blocks and you must shoot up new ones to make groups of three or more and they will fall away. As you level up, it of course gets harder and harder. Simple fun that as long as a child can match colors they could play this.
• Tumbles
  Based on the wildly popular Scope or Pop’em style of game, this takes it further by taking advantage of the accelerometer in the iPad and physics. You can now tilt, tap and move around the balls on the screen to line them up before popping them. I’ve gotten so many laughs out of watching Laura tilting the iPad around and around while playing this game. It is her all time favorite style. While, not my cup of tea, I do like that it has a head-to-head option so that we can play against each other.
• Labyrinth 2 HD
  Remember those old wooden boxes in class, that you turned the knobs to navigate a ball through a maze without falling into to holes? Well that is this, but in addition to the classic vibe, has been updated with lasers, fans and trap doors. I love watching the kids try to figure out the puzzles and trying over and over until they figure it out. Sounds easy, but it isn’t. Frustrated me in no time! I’m not much a puzzle fan.
• Marvel Comics
  I don’t want to start a DC vs. Marvel fight or anything like that and personally I’m rooting for a third party like Panelfly to push forward and come out with one big comic reader, but for now this is the app to get. The panel by panel reading takes care of the “I don’t know what order to read in” that Emily told me is why she doesn’t get comic books. One warning though, they make it super easy to buy more and I found myself spending a chunk of change in no time, which I haven’t done on comics since I was a teenager.
• GoodReader
  While not the sexiest of apps, it is one of the most useful. Able to open up documents of every common type it also will connect with locations that you store your documents including Dropbox, Google Docs and iDisk. It sounds overly simple and not needed until you actually start using it and then that is when you realize you must have this.

I’m sure as we use it more, I will find more, but I wanted to give you some starter suggestions in case your house now has an iPad in it.

What applications have you found that you and your family like?

Related posts:

1. Two Great Playstation 3 Family Games

Cast of Dads #13 (listen or subscribe) focused on that topic. One of the other Dad’s likes how his son and him are using Foursquare to keep each other updated on where they are. But, of course this is passive and it only works IF they check into a location.

There is technology out there, and more coming I’m sure, where we could almost monitor our kids movements similar to the way scientists track migrating whales and antelope. But, do we want this? Is it even really needed or have we really gone to far in our constant worry that the big evil world out there is going to swallow up our kids.

While the peace of mind something like this might give me, I think right now I lean more towards the side of letting them being kids. Letting them go and do what they are going to do. I know they are going to tell me they are going one place and end up at another. They are going to sneak around and do things they don’t want me to know. It is all part of growing up and figuring out boundaries.

I want my kids to know that I trust them. My parents let me go out and wandering around without them knowing exactly where I was and guess what? I turned out ok. Generations of kids have gone out without this technology and somehow society has continued to push forward.

The world is not any scarier then it use to be. It is just that we all hear about the bad more then the good now. The media loves to throw us into a panic over almost anything because everyone watches and tunes in for more, but the boogieman that we all worry about has always been out there since the dawn of time.

My kids need to know I trust them. If I’m tracking their every move I don’t see how that can ever happen.

What do you think?

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Buzz! Quiz World

The first game was the Buzz! Quiz World Bundle which in addition to the game comes with 4 wireless controllers. These allowed me and the family to spread out in my office and get comfortable while we played. Definitely a plus when you don’t have to be tethered to the gaming station with wires!

Anyone that is a fan of trivia will love this game and don’t worry about knowing all the answers. With a database of over 5,000 questions you are not going to be hitting repeats anytime soon.

One problem we did run into is that this is geared more towards adults than it is kids. I would love to be able to adjust the settings so that I could make the questions more kid friendly. More often then not, both kids would announce they were just hitting buttons because they had no idea what the answer were.

That being said, we did have an absolute blast playing. The ability to pick unique avatars for your character as well as fun names from a pre-determined list gave us all good laughs. The silliness of some of the game types adds to the fun. Laura and I commented more then once that we hope to get to play this with some other adults.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time

Dylan loves adventure games and we had both played previous releases in in this series before so when Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time showed up he instantly popped it in and started playing.

While there is plenty of destruction in this game it is done in a very G rated way. Everything that is destroyed falls apart and gives you nuts and bolts to collect. There is no blood or other things found in many games and because of that I feel it is one of the most family friendly game series out there that is also engaging enough to keep kids into it.

The visuals and story line are something straight off the big screen. During the cut scenes, you might forget that you are actually watching a video game rather then a movie. In fact they should think about making this into a movie. I know I’d go see it.

I liked how instead of playing a single character, the plot actually switches back and forth between the two main characters and the shift in game play between the two of them may be a bit startling at first, but you quickly fall into the groove. I am not much of a puzzle fan, so some of the unique game play was not appealing to me, but Dylan loved it. The ability to customize weapons and the addition of game play in space brought some great new features that fans of the previous games will welcome.

Dylan completed the game and loved how it ended, but I’m still working my way slowly through it and hope to actually finish it because I want to know what happens.

I’m glad that Sony gave me a chance to try out the games and I look forward to reviewing other games in the future. I hope that if you are looking for some last minute gifts for the holidays, you’ll consider either of these as great options.

Disclosure: cmp.ly/1/qzpqrt

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1. Family Friendly iPad Apps
2. Great Summer Reads: Parents Behaving Badly
3. Family Vacations: Atlantis

I have found that to maximize the chance of success there are a few things you need to do.

1. Set Clear Goals
   The more vague your goals are, the more likely you won’t get them done. Be as specific as possible. Don’t set the goal of “make a sit down dinner.” Instead set it as “make a dutch oven pot roast for dinner.” Being specific up front focuses you even more on the end goal.
2. Make a List (in your head doesn’t count)
   This can be on a sticky note, whiteboard or the nearest scrap of paper, but putting it down on paper makes it more likely to happen. This is extra important if you have more then one goal because you can check them off as you complete them. This gratification will help you push forward.
3. Don’t Do Too Much
   A million tiny tasks or a handful of major ones will both kill you. Don’t give into the temptation to try and do too much. Recognize your limitations and set the right number of goals. Nothing sucks more then having to push something off to the next weekend.
4. Tell Other People Your Goals
   When you are accountable to someone, it is a great motivator. It is very easy to tell yourself you are going to do something, but the more people you tell the more likely you are to stay focused and succeed.
5. Celebrate Victory
   When you complete a group of tasks or at the end of the weekend when your list is all checked off be sure to reward yourself. It might be something simple like sitting down for a beer break or some time playing video games. Just be sure to congratulate yourself.

What got me thinking about all this was the final project for the #SonyDads initiative in which we were suppose to take part in a field trip with our families and document it. Every time we went to do this the weather was horrible and so I figured I’d document a rainy weekend in our house instead since I was out of time and options.

In the end it was a boring weekend, but it was a productive one for me as you can see in the video where I cleaned up my office and set up my photography closet. Interesting how starting out in one direction ended up with this.

The video was filmed with with Sony HDR-XR500 camcorder. I’m really glad I got to check this unit out. It certainly delivers good results even when the guy behind the camera is me. *laugh*

This post is part of series called the “Sony DigiDads Project” by Sony Electronics where a group of dads, including C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, have been given the opportunity to test and review Sony gear. If you want to know more about this project, head on over to the Sony Electronics Community.

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Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I need to slap a little reality into all the parents out there who are scared to death of their kids getting online.

I recently spoke at an elementary school about Internet Safety. It was a small group of parents, but I was excited about it because I wanted to really answer their questions. As the organizer of the event explained some of what the school was already up to (including the awesome idea of a secured Ning site for their students to interact with other students around the world) and two police officers briefed them on all the scary facts about online dangers, I began to get worried. I could see that some of the parents were genuinely scared when they found out their kids were talking to other kids and adults (school staff in this case) online. But, I also knew I had my kids in the room with me and I wanted to show them from one parent to another why all of this is a good thing and not something to run away from.

If you are a parent, you need to realize that your kids ARE going to be online. They are going to set up social networking accounts, talk to complete strangers on them, watch videos, chat, etc. They are going to do this no matter if you let them or not. They may not do it at home, but they will do it at school and when they are hanging out with friends. Just like experimenting with drinking, drugs and each other, it is part of growing up. We all went through it and turned out ok for the most part so it is up to us to help our kids get through it as well.

With all of these issues and especially the online piece the answer is you MUST be involved. You too must be checking out these sites and using them so that you understand what they are all about and can teach your kids how to use them. You are responsible to teach them the right and wrong way to use the Internet. Just like you are responsible for teaching them about safe driving, safe sex and say no to drugs. It is up to YOU to teach them..

Some practical advice I gave to the parents that night and that I want to share with you:

1. Get Yourself Online
   I don’t want to hear you whining about not having time or barely understanding e-mail. Your kids are growing up with a computer as an integrated part of their lives and will always be. If you have a computer in the house then they are going to start using services like Facebook, YouTube and others and you must understand them as well. These services are free and honestly the only way to understand them is to use them. Make sure to always check the privacy settings on each service as they are not all the same, but they are all important as they control who can see what about you. Still confused? Ask your kids to show you them or find someone at your children’s school who can answer your questions.
2. Put The Computer In a Family Space
   I won’t allow my kids to have computers in their rooms even though they keep asking me for it. When we got them a computer last Christmas, we put it in the living room. That way when they are on it we can always see what they are doing. We also have several laptops in the house and they know they can’t bring those up to their room either. Anything they should be doing online they should be comfortable doing with us around. Plus, this way I can see how long they’ve been online and kick them off it when appropriate.
3. Monitor Them
   I’m not talking about secret spying, but Emily and Dylan both know that we have parental controls turned on the computer. They know that I can go back and look at every site they’ve been to. This is not a secret and it is important that they know this. I don’t want to snoop around and I won’t ever go into their e-mail or track their IM conversations, but keeping a web history that they can’t delete is something I will do. The newest Mac OS and Windows 7 both have these sort of controls built in. There are other software options out there that can do even more then this, but the basics can be covered by what you have.
4. Talk to Your Kids
   I’ve made it very clear to the kids what is inappropriate. Just like I taught them not to talk to strangers or ever get in someone else’s car, I’m also teaching them what not to do online. First names only, never give a home address, being vague about where they go to school and the town they live in. User accounts are always a silly name rather than their own. They never give out a phone number. All things that hold true online and off and as they begin to get older and use it more, I will talk to them more about it. It is part of our every day conversation and it is not uncommon to hear “You’ve got to see this video on YouTube” come up at dinner. And just like “the talk”, this can not be a one time thing. You have to keep talking about it.
5. Don’t Fear Google
   If I hear one more time “your kids might see porn if they mistype something into Google” I am going to scream. Google has simple settings that you can set on your computer to hide that sort of content. It isn’t perfect, but it will filter out the majority of it on your home computers. Plus, guess what? Your kids are going to see naked people at some point in their lives. They might actually go and seek it out on the web out of curiosity or other reasons. Shocking I know.

   But, again it is up to you to teach them what is right and appropriate and what is not. Search engines are amazing tools. Just the other night i was showing my son how to filter for images for a project he was working on and I had no worries about porn coming up when we searched for “vikings” because I knew the settings I had set would keep it clean. But. school computers, or ones at friend’s house might not have these settings so that is why you must talk about this rather than trying to hide from it.

These are just five tips, but they are five important ones.

To all the parents who think that not allowing their children to get online and sheltering them from the Internet is the solution I have one thing to tell you. You are ignorant and stupid. Sorry to be so blunt, but I refuse’t sugar coat it for you.

Sheltering our children from everything that might be bad in the world is never the solution. No one can live in a bubble and turn out ok. Children need to learn what is good and what is bad and how they are suppose to operate online in order to be successful in their lives. Just because the computer might not be important or needed by you, they are never going to know a world without them.

You need to instill in them what is appropriate. Just like you are going to teach them how to respect others, how to drive a car and how to do good in school. How to act online is just a new part of the parenting puzzle and you are responsible for this whether you like it or not.

I live and breath in this space and I can tell you that the amount of good things that have happened far outweigh the few bad things. I’m more worried about my kids and what might happen to them out in the real world then I ever will be about what they might run into online.

Don’t be stupid. Get active and get involved with your kids online. That is the way a good parent should act.

Related posts:

1. Not Being Able to Connect (to the Internet)
2. Tracking Our Kids
3. Dog Safety

At a recent conference something hit me as I talked to some friends and we all whipped out our iPhones to show pictures of our kids. No longer did we have to wait until school pictures happened to have a new picture of our kids. Thanks to this device we can now show the latest of hundreds of snapshots or videos.

I try not to judge, but when I see a fellow Dad pull out their iPhone and notice that the wallpaper is of their kids I instantly like them a bit more. I will always have pictures of my kids or family as a wallpaper so that every time I turn on the phone it is the first thing I see. You have no idea how much of a pickup this is when you are on the road and away from them. That single picture has cheered me up more times then I can accurately expressed.

Technology is empowering us to capture and share memories like never before. I am constantly taking pictures or videos and then never doing anything with the video. Last night I went to Karaoke with some friends and I found myself video taping some of it. What am I ever going to do with the video? Most likely nothing, but because I can capture it I’d rather do that then look back in the morning and think, “man I wish I had fired up the video camera.”

Certainly an iPhone is not the only option for this. Most phones can handle this sort of request and if yours don’t almost every point and shoot camera now takes great photos and video of some sort so you have no excuse. I recently purchased a Kodak Zi8 and have found myself shooting more video then ever. As the technology gets smaller and better it makes not capturing moments of life inexcusable.

I certainly don’t miss the fading pictures and plastic portfolios unraveling from friends wallets at the bar. Long live the digital picture albums in our pockets!

Photo Credit: Marlooz Veldhuizen

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So when devices like the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader came on the market I was cautiously excited because I could see the potential but I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up my paper just quite yet.

I purchased a first generation Kindle and version 2 when it came out as well. I love being able to bring this simple device on a plane with me rather then a hard cover book. Being able to carry piles of books on a single device so I can read whatever I want makes it even more appealing. I’m not sure how I managed before owning one.

As part of the Sony Dads project I was loaned a Sony Reader Pocket Edition™ to review and then send back. They also hooked us up with a couple of coupons so we could buy some books to read on the device for free. I ordered a copy of Candor by Pam Bachorz and The Road (because I want to read it before seeing the movie). I really wanted to spend some time with the device so that I could really review it.

There are a few things I liked about the device, but not many. The size is amazing. It is bigger then an iPhone, but smaller then the Kindle. In my comparisons it was a bit bigger then your usual paperback, but much much thinner.

I also love that when reading a book it actually gives you an accurate count of the number of pages that are left when reading. The Kindle doesn’t do this and it drives me nuts. It may not be all that important when reading a business book, but it is something I want when reading fiction. Finally, the screen is as advertised and it is easy to read in mixed lighting situations.

Now for the list of things I don’t like and there are many:

• There is no buying directly from the device. In fact that is no wireless connectivity on it so when on the road you are stuck with what you put on it ahead of time. I’m a big impulse shopper and have bought more then one book directly from my Kindle while sitting in an airport.
• The overall buying experience leaves a lot to be desired. You must download and install a program onto your computer in order to shop. Has Sony not heard of web browsers? Let me buy from anywhere I am rather then forcing me to buy from the computer I install your software on!
• I’ve heard some complaints about the selection being lacking, but I found everything I was looking for so it wasn’t a problem for me.
• I could not find a way to auto sync purchases to the reader. I finally figured out that I had to connect it to the computer in order to put any books on it, but I also seemed to have to click and drag them in order to put them on the device. I could have easily missed how to do this though.
• I wasn’t a big fan of the look of the device. The line of buttons up the side is overkill and actually confused me at first because I guess I expected the UI to be easier to use and not needing so many buttons.
• I wish it let me make the text smaller. You can make it bigger, but I want a smaller size then the smallest they offer so I don’t have to flip the page as often as I did. As a fast reader with good eyes this drove me nuts.

Needless to say, I won’t be recommending this product for the holidays. I had high hopes for the device. Especially after I opened it up and saw how small it was. That jazzed me up, but I was quickly deflated after using it for a bit.

Everyone knows how to pick up a book and use it and if I can’t pick up a device like this and figure out how to use it then that is a big problem that Sony has to fix before this will be mass adopted.

This post is part of series called the “Sony DigiDad Project” by Sony Electronics where a group of dads, including C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, have been given the opportunity to test and review Sony gear (lent to us by Sony). If you want to know more about this project visit the Sony Electronics Community.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/1

Related posts:

1. Sony Dads
2. Sony Dads: Bravia & Blu Ray Reactions
3. 100 Faces

This go around we were tasked with something they were calling 100 Faces.

Since I’m an avid photographer and my Canon 50D is never far from me if not permanently strapped to my hand I wasn’t sure if I was the right person to test the cameras. They sent us both a Sony A330 DSLR and the Cyber-Shot DSC-TX1 . The first being their entry level digital SLR and the later their newest slick point and shoot on the market.

Yes, I shot a bunch of pictures with both and even filmed a quick video with the point and shoot the minute the batteries were charged, but I am also biased. After playing with the A330 for a bit I posted this video review of it. I’m use to being able to customize lots of things when I shoot pictures and I couldn’t do everything I was use to. So instead of only having me review it, I gave my kids the cameras and let them take pictures with them whenever they wanted. The results are here in this video The 100 Faces by The Chapman Kids (special thanks to Now is Now for the use of their music) :

Both kids had a blast with the cameras and overall I’m really happy with the photos that are produced. The point and shoot has one of the coolest features I’ve seen in a long time with a built in panoramic mode. Turn it on and then just pan the camera and it takes an instant panoramic shot and the results are stunning. Dylan and I had fun playing with this as you can see in this shot.

I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that the A330 can either take a standard CD card or a Sony Memory stick. Kudos on realizing that the memory stick is not the way everyone goes. Unfortunately, on the DSC-TX1 it only takes a Sony memory stick and worse yet it needs a proprietary cable in order to attach the camera to the computer. These two reasons along means that I’d never buy one of these cameras. I want electronics that work with each other rather then requiring me to carry extra cables, readers and special cards.

Neither of the cameras would be something that I personally would purchase, but I’m not the target audience either since I’m already shooting with a camera further up the food chain then both. I will say that if you are in the market for a starter camera on the digital SLR level then check out the A330 when you look at others because it can hold it’s own on most levels I believe. Dylan especially loved the pull out and tilting screen that allowed him to take pictures over his head or low on the ground.

This post is part of series called the “Sony DigiDad Project” by Sony Electronics where a group of dads, including C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, have been given the opportunity to test and review Sony gear (lent to us by Sony). If you want to know more about this project visit the Sony Electronics Community.

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1. Weekend Productivity
2. Sony Dads
3. Grandfathers & Grandsons

The exact equipment they have sent me so far includes:

• 46″ BRAVIA Z Series LCD HDTV
• BDP-S560 Hi-Def Bluray DVD player
• VAIO VGN-FW465J laptop
• A330 Digital SLR Camera

A little less then a year ago I was in the market for my first big screen television. I did a lot of shopping, asking friends and doing research before making a purchase like this. What I got asked by every sales person was, “what are you going to be watching mostly on it?” My answer was regular television, sports and movies. Whenever I gave this answer I was pointed away from Sony because “they are too dark.” I took this advice and went with another brand.

Since I’ve got a full surround sound system set up in my living room this means that the Sony got set up in my office. While it may not be Max’s man cave, it is pretty close with a great big leather chair and the world famous bean. I already had a television in here, but it was smaller so it was a welcomed addition to the room.

My schedule didn’t allow to have friends over for the night to play with it as we had hoped for, but I did plenty of playing with all the features. I had to go out and buy an extra long Ethernet chord to test out the Internet features and my television didn’t come with any form of manual so I was flying solo from the beginning. But, then again what guy is going to read the menu right?

My thoughts:

• I love that the TV has the same interface as the Playstation 3 which I have always thought was extremely intuitive. (still don’t get why they didn’t send us one of these, but not my call)
• The pre-selected options for Internet content are great and I was psyched to see my buddies Blip.TV front and center when I first launched the options. I wasn’t so impressed to see that there was only a few podcasts available and that I couldn’t add more like I can on my Apple TV.
• The DVD player has built in WiFi which is SO smart and I wish my personal player had this option, but as Sass pointed out in his post the fact that you have to plug in a USB thumb drive to give enough memory to use BD-Live content doesn’t make any sense to me.
• Having a widgets button on the remote makes passing the time during commercials fun, but they take quite a while to load.
• It was cool to quickly check my @ messages on Twitter which I found very useful, but when I tried typing one to send it took me too long as I’m use to a full keyboard, but it was fun just the same. I’m curious to see what other widgets people are going to develop.
• While Sony may not want to hear this, I will say when using my Xbox 360 with the television the games look amazing. Madden 10 arrived the same day as the television and WOW is all I can say. This TV has certainly raised the amount of time I spend gaming.
• And what about being too dark? It is darker then any other TV in my house, but I watched Football on it the other night without any concerns. It did look different, but not in a bad way at all.

Overall I’m really digging the television. The Internet options are nice and we all know they are going to get better. I really wish that the TV had wireless access as well since I wonder how many people have an Ethernet drop in their living room. I had to run a 25′ cable just to hook this up across the office to my router.

The DVD player worked as advertised and my personal copy of The Dark Night looked awesome on it, but then again I don’t believe any Blu Ray player actually plays a movie different then another one. But, I could be wrong.

I’m very impressed with the equipment the kids are loving having a bigger television in the office (when I let them watch it). I might have to end up buying a new one when I have to return this one. Still not sure what brand though. More playing left to do.

This post is part of series called the “Sony DigiDads Project” by Sony Electronics where a group of dads, including C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, have been given the opportunity to test and review Sony gear. If you want to know more about this project, head on over to the Sony Electronics Community.

Related posts:

1. Sony Dads
2. A Library in Your Hand
3. 100 Faces

I’ve been hoping that brands would begin to realize that Dads are just as active in the decisions being made about what products to buy. I think this is extra true when it comes to electronics and gadgets around the house. So, when Sony approached me about testing out some of their equipment and taking part in their Sony Dads project how could I say no.

Watch my introduction video where I explain why I’m doing it and what it means. (here is the “tripod” I mention in the video)

You can read the press release and in the coming weeks you can expect to see a mix of posts here as I try out the products and share my honest reviews of them. They are sending us this equipment for free and for review purposes only. We have to send them all back.

I’m personally most excited to check out the cameras and the eBook Reader. You all know I’m a camera junkie and a Kindle lover. Stay tuned!

This post is part of series called the “Sony DigiDads Project” by Sony Electronics where a group of dads, including C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, have been given the opportunity to test and review Sony gear. If you want to know more about this project, head on over to the Sony Electronics Community.

Related posts:

1. Sony Dads: Bravia & Blu Ray Reactions
2. A Library in Your Hand
3. 100 Faces

This was the first event I’ve ever been invited to on behalf of being a “daddy blogger” which was a trippy thing all by itself. Guess I better get use to it huh?

We got to watch some scenes from the documentary and then had a healthy debate/discussion around a variety of topics. Besides fellow parenting bloggers, there were also people from various levels of school administrations from around the area. It was amazing to listen to different perspectives on how technology is helping our kids in school and fundamentally changing the way they learn.

This documentary is playing out in a very different format then most. It won’t air until January of 2010 but you can watch pieces of it online right now and even contribute to it in a special section where anyone can tell their story. You should consider submitting something. I know I am planning on it.

I’m really excited to follow along in the coming months and to see how it all comes together in the end. With only an hour to tell the story I don’t see how they can even begin to cover it all, but I’m sure it will be full of great content.

I took some photos at the event and got to chat with the producer for a few minutes while meeting some great people at the same time.

No related posts.

Now, some of you may not know that music plays a huge role in my life. I grew up falling asleep to a stack of records playing in the living room. I’ve always had a huge music collection and still to this day am fueled by a variety of tunes. As I type this my iTunes is on shuffle and I’ve had a cornucopia of selections including Kings of Leon, James Taylor, Prince, Chance, Zack Wylde and The Cool Waters Band. It is why I’ve hosted Accident Hash for years because I love sharing my music junkie status with others.

Laura (my wife) got a big kick out of how much trouble I had with filling the kids iPods. To her it was easy. Just drag and drop a bunch of songs and let it go at that.

But, I know that music is a powerful thing and the choices I made here could influence them for the rest of their lives. I’m a fan of music from Billy Joel, The Eagles, Harry Chapin and Van Halen because I heard them growing up. My Dad still doesn’t understand how I became a die hard Prince fan, but he is happy he influenced a lot of my music choices.

So what was my approach to filling the kids iPods?

I filled each separately because already I knew that the kids liked some different music then each other. They had play lists on my iPod already of some of their favorite tunes so of course those went over. Dylan likes the hard rock and pop rock crowd. Emily digs the singer song writer and bubble gum pop crowd. After those obvious ones I also put a selection of classics that they needed to hear including many of the artists I already mentioned. Then they also got a healthy dose of indie artists that I love and support. Finally I put on a variety of singles and other things that I thought they’d like based on their developing tastes. It was fun to do it.

One thing that I’ve had fun watching is how their musical tastes have grown. Emily is a big fan of Pink, Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers. Dylan loves Bon Jovi, Daughtry and Kid Rock. Both of them also have no separation between the major rock stars and the indie ones. They still don’t understand why someone like Matthew Ebel can come over to the house and do a house concert but Prince can’t. I love that about them.

It took me several hours to fill the iPods, but I knew the importance of it. Music will always be important in a Chapman’s life.

So what artists are you exposing your kids to? Do you have any rules about what they can and can’t listen to?

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Now, in our house we have several game systems. I certainly fall into the category of a casual gamer. I love to play them, but don’t get into them all that much. Lately I’ve been playing a lot of Gears of War 2, Call of Duty World at War, FEAR and Madden 09. But, I’ll play for a little while and move onto something else. The networking and social aspects of gaming that are becoming more common is fascinating to m.

I just took this picture of Dylan for the blog post. Yes, he wears a hoodie almost constantly these days. Watching him play is very interesting. He approaches challenges completely differently then me. He loves to play levels over again just to do better at them. To me I want to succeed and move onto the next challenge.

Both kids were playing Trace today on the iPhone. That was amazing to watch. Emily and Dylan approached the same level completely differently. Causes arguments from time to time, but that also could be due to the sibling factor. *laugh*

I’m not sure where I wanted to go with this post, but it is clear to me that kids today are going to approach the challenges in life in a very different way then we did and the way my parents did. Just watching them play games and use their imagination makes that clear to me.

A little Saturday morning fascination for me over coffee.

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