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The iPad vs. The iDad!

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

An apple a day… gives the media lots to talk about. This week both the tech news and so called “mainstream media” was all abuzz about the long rumored, finally revealed, “tablet” device from Steve Jobs and his team at Apple. When all the dust settled, as expected, everyone’s attention turned to the “core” of the Apple iPad, and the heated comparisons and complaints began in force. While many have compared and contrasted the iPad to the Amazon Kindle, other tablet PC’s and Netbooks, there is one comparison that I haven’t seen, and one that is most suited for Dad-O-Matic readers: The iPad vs. the iDad!

The iDad: Why EVERY Home Should Have One!

There is a readily available interactive device that beats the pants off the iPad (and it even wears pants!) Yes, the iDad is the one device that every household with kids should have, and it has standard features that clearly put the iPad to shame, including cameras, multitasking, expandability, and even a significantly longer battery life. Yes, the iDad is the groundbreaking computing device that is clearly well positioned to take a bite out of the Apple iPad’s potential market.

Here is a simple comparison:

Which does your household need more, an iPad or an iDad?

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 21, Ethan, 19 and Olivia, 18). He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast. You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab.

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Posted in Add new tag, Advice, Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad, Article, Humor, Jeff Sass, Netbook, New, Steve Jobs, Technology, apple, entertainment, iPad, reviews | Comments Off

Would You Track Your Kid by GPS?

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Where The Flock screenshot courtesy of byteIDEA

Question: if you had the ability to track your child’s every movement during the day, would you do so? Or is this an example of helicopter parenting taken to extremes? How about tucking a portable GPS unit in her backpack?

Partaking in my Saturday morning ritual of coffee accompanied by a laptop to scan through the daily newspapers, I came across a Toronto Star article by reporter Robert Cribb, who has been testing the Entourage PS, a portable device offered by a Canadian company called Blackline GPS. (Wired reviewed an earlier version of this technology by the same company in 2008.)

The twist on this one is that Robert used the GPS to track his 5-year-old daughter during her walk to school, slipping the GPS into her backpack, then monitoring it remotely (on his computer screen or Blackberry). The father in me definitely sees the appeal of this capability — it’s very similar to the initial wave of comfort I felt with the concept of being able to log on and watch the goings on at the daycare on webcam. And like the webcam, the initial “that’s an awesome idea!” phase wore off a bit the more I thought about it, replaced with the feeling that maybe these things are going just a little too far.

In theory, tracking by GPS is a great parental advantage, but what happens if your kid ducks round a corner to look at something? Maybe it violates the instructions of coming straight home, but kids will be kids. You wouldn’t know any better under normal circumstances. However, as a red blip on a screen that suddenly deviates from course, do you freeze and stare at it, leap out of a meeting to drive screaming across town to the rescue, or call 9-1-1 in case it’s a potential abduction?

What if their backpack is swiped or picked up accidentally at school? These things happen and the mix-up could end with police chasing some innocent parent driving their kid home with the wrong backpack.

It’s costly, too: You’d have to fork out CN$350 for the GPS unit itself, plus $15 a month for a service subscription.

And then there’s the issue of technology falling into the wrong hands. It’s not like this isn’t a secure service, but we’ve seen far too many examples of military communications being intercepted, and nothing is hack-proof.

A planned neighborhood in my city was built with a central playground equipped with video cameras and all the houses were prewired to be able to watch the park on their TVs. The idea sounded great at first — your kids run off to happily and securely play at the park and you can watch them while you cook dinner. But like things have a way of doing, the technology was subverted and squabbles broke out over people watching “inappropriately” and the like.

Maybe you gain a bit of personal safety, but potentially lose some with a smattering of confusion and civil discord thrown in with each of these advances. At any rate, if the concept appeals to you, there are also alternatives that offer similar functionality without the associated costs.

An iPhone, for instance, provides the GPS, and apps like Where the Flock (WTF) can give you info like the updated location and speed of not just one person, but anyone you know who packs an iPhone and cares to share with you. Of course an iPhone and data plan is going to cost a little more than $15 month, but it’s also not a one-trick pony.

Personally, I’m going to continue to do it the old-school way — I’m fortunate enough to be able to walk my kids to school and back most days (at least while they’re young enough to still let me), but once they’re teenagers, they may each just get a WTF-equipped iPhone for their birthday.

Posted in Add new tag, Electronic Geek, Entourage, Global Positioning System, Handhelds, Smartphones, Television, Toronto Star, Video camera, iphone | Comments Off

Reflection and Affection

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

As one year winds down and another begins it is always a time to look back and look forward, to reflect on the year that has passed and to plan for the year ahead. 2009 was both a challenging and rewarding year as we battened down the hatches both at work and at home to weather the choppy seas of an unstable economy. As parents it is especially challenging to manage the stresses of the real world and at the same time continue to provide our kids with a strong sense of safety and security. After all, they will have plenty of time to worry on their own when they grow up. Childhood is the rare time to truly experience the world and life as purely and as worry free as possible, and as parents it is a joy to do our part in providing such an environment for our kids. 2009 surely put us all to the test in that regard.

Look Ma, No Hands

For me, in my job as “dad,” 2009 was a remarkable year. My oldest son turned 21, and my youngest, my daughter, turned 18, making 2009 the year all three of my kids technically were “adults” and the first year one of my children and I could legally share a celebratory glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve. Despite being able to label my kids as adults, 2009 was also the year I recommitted myself to fatherhood by sharing my experiences here at Dad-O-Matic. Yes, I began writing for Dad-O-Matic toward the end of 2008, but in 2009 I was with you here every single week, and as a result this blog, and the great community around it, became a very important part of my fatherhood routine. Not only did I connect with so many of you through these posts, but Dad-O-Matic has provided me with the opportunity to connect and share with my kids in new ways, and to point new spotlights on them as I share our experiences with you. One of the highlights of 2009 for me was being a part of the Sony DigiDad Project and thus having the chance to create some memorable videos with my parents and my kids. I also met some fantastic other dads which has led to a new project, the Cast of Dads podcast.

The Year Ahead

As remarkable as 2009 was, I already know that 2010 is going to be even better. As the Dad-O-Matic and Cast of Dads communities continue to grow, along with other “dad” group blogs like Digital Dads and Dad Labs, 2010 may turn out to be the year of the Dad! On a more personal note, 2010 will be the first year one of my sons will be living away from home, in another State, which has already left me in quite a state trying to adjust! This year will also have me attending two significant graduations as my oldest son will finish college and my daughter will graduate High School. These are the things I know about 2010, and I am even more excited about the things I don’t know are yet to come!

I Love You, Man!

As I look back and forward my reflection leads to affection. The deep love and affection I feel for my kids… the affection I feel for you, for taking the time to read and comment and share… and the affection and appreciation I have for living in a time where all this and more is possible. Thanks to being a Dad and the wonderful, life altering, life enriching experience of raising and guiding my children, and sharing a piece of that experience with you, I enter 2010 with more connections, more friends, and more optimism for the future than I have ever had before. While there is still uncertainty and challenges ahead, I am blessed to have a loving family, a loving relationship, and a love and passion for everything I do. Not a bad way to start the year.

Thank YOU for listening and for being a part of my year, and best wishes for you and your families to have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

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Posted in Add new tag, Advice, Article, Dad-o-Matic, Fatherhood, Jeff Sass, Kids and Teens, Love, New Year, Parenting, Parents, family | Comments Off

Sunday in Kyoto is an Artistic Musical Storybook

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Sunday in Kyoto, the latest release from publisher The Secret Mountain, is a storybook and accompanying CD featuring songs written by Gilles Vigneault.

We pointed out a previous Secret Mountain offering called My Name is Chicken Joe back in April of this year and Sunday in Kyoto is a worthy follow up release. It follows the same format: hardcover storybook with the title song fully illustrated and the lyrics to other songs on the CD included as well, so kids can sing along. The artwork, by French-Canadian artist (and Cirque du Soleil set designer) Stéphane Jorisch is vivid and a cadre of singers including Patrick Watson provide the vocals for Vigneault’s lyrics. Think of this as fun kid’s music (they manage to slip in the odd reference to farts) with a more artistic bent than typical fare. Available as a hardcover with CD, or a digipack CD, in both cases the discs include printable PDFs of the lyrics, song notes and illustrations. For a taste of Sunday in Kyoto, check out the title video, below.

Posted in Add new tag, Arts, Cirque du Soleil, Compact Disc, Everything Else, French Canadian, Kyoto, Patrick Watson, Singer, Singing | Comments Off

The Jedi Battle the Undead

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

TM & Copyright 2009 LucasFilm Ltd. Used by permission

Considering it was pitched as “Rise of the Bounty Hunters,” it has been a while since Cad Bane and his ilk played a significant role in any episode. This week, in “Legacy of Terror,” yet another obstacle to the Jedi presents itself, as Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luminara Unduli battle Geonosian queen Karina the Great and her army of undead warriors.

This week’s episode prominently features Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, voiced by Olivia d’Abo. D’Abo’s voice should be familiar to GeekDad readers from a variety of series: Green Lantern: First Flight (as Carol Ferris); Ultimate Avengers I and II (as Black Widow); Justice League (as Star Sapphire and Morgaine Le Fey); Batman Beyond (as Ten/Melanie Walker); and even Mortal Kombat (as Sonya Blade). She says:

“I love science-fiction, the fantasy genre, and comic books. . . . They tend to stand the test of time because of their marvelous content; these kinds of projects will always capture people’s attention by providing far-away settings we’d like to escape to. I’ve been really lucky with all my roles and projects because I have an innate understanding of what they require. I just jump in and make them my own.”

“The themes and characters in the [Star Wars] live-action] films have had such a major influence on me and everyone I know. . . . As a child, Star Wars allowed me to fall into another world that was more vivid, more defined, more authentic and so much more exciting. There’s nothing lightweight about the philosophy of the films, and I am finding that The Clone Wars series is just as timeless.”

“Legacy of Terror” airs Friday at 9pm on The Cartoon Network. Here’s the clip:

Posted in Add new tag, Armchair Geek, clone wars, jedi, star wars | Comments Off

From April Fool’s to Holiday Fact: Tauntaun Sleeping Bag Unboxing!

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Photo by Ken Denmead

It’s the stuff of online myth: a fake product, created as part of an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke, gets such an overwhelming response from the store’s fans that they realize there’s only one thing to do - actually make the product. This is just what has transpired over the last seven months for the folks from ThinkGeek:

Only through your enthusiasm and support was ThinkGeek able to make this product a reality. We bow to your superhuman Star Wars Fanboy/Girl abilities. We hope it helps you stay alive after a deadly Wampa attach and encourages you to educate other about the best Star Wars movie ever, The Empire Strikes Back.

And now, in time for the holidays, they’re arriving. The kind folks at ThinkGeek sent us a review bag, and we couldn’t help but treat it like any other super-exciting geek toy, and take video of the unboxing.

The best thing about it… well other than how awesome the idea is overall, is that it’s a really good indoor sleeping bag. The build quality it far higher than most of the entertainment-branded bags you’ll pick up at your local stores (though admittedly the proposed $99 pricetag means it’s not a casual purchase). And having the pillow built in to the head (isn’t Mr. Tauntaun cute?!?!) is really handy.

At this time, it’s not yet on sale at the ThinkGeek store, but you can get on the waiting list, and as soon as it is, we’ll let you know!

Posted in Add new tag, Hacking the Holidays, Tauntaun, Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, Think Geek, Toys and Technology, star wars | Comments Off

Ending The Wheel of Time: The GeekDad Interview with Brandon Sanderson

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Last week, Tor published The Gathering Storm, the newest book in Robert Jordan’s longrunning Wheel of Time series. To alert, but not devoted readers, this may have come as a bit of a surprise, as Robert Jordan died in 2007. But Jordan had left detailed notes, and even finished scenes (he’d talked for years about having the last scene written), and so the possibility existed of finishing the series, based on those notes. Robert Jordan’s wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, selected Brandon Sanderson, in part on the strength of a eulogy Sanderson had written for Jordan. McDougal and Sanderson have discussed this process in an interview:

What was to be the final book has turned into a final trilogy, to be released over the next couple of years, but I don’t think there will be any regrets: The Gathering Storm is a well-paced book that is recognizably true to the Wheel of Time spirit.

Sanderson took time out from the book’s promotional tour to speak with me by phone on Thursday:

GD: So, you’ve now taken over the biggest fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings. No pressure, right?

BS: Exactly, no pressure at all. You just described it perfectly: It’s a monumental task, and a monumental amount of pressure, from millions of fans, of which I am one-the daunting task of not being “the one who screws up The Wheel of Time.”

GD: Are you just lending flesh to a largely complete skeleton, or do you also have to close plot points that were still unresolved in Jordan’s notes?

BS: It’s actually not as simple as either of those options. The notes range in how detailed they are. In some places, he finished complete scenes, which is great. He finished several complete scenes, which will be scattered through the three books, including the ending itself.

In a number of places he gave dictations. Over his last few months, he spent a lot of time dictating to the family things that should happen. These are very interesting scenes in that they read kind of like a screenplay, because they transcribe the dictations. It’s a lot of the dialogue, but it’s him saying what should happen instead of actually writing it out. “And then, Egwene says this, and then he says this, and then this happens.” And so the description isn’t there, but the dialogue and the blocking all are. As I said, like a screenplay.

In other places, there are fragments of scenes, where he wrote a couple of paragraphs, and then another couple of paragraphs. And just like a shattered plate, there are pieces missing. In other places, there are sentences he’s written, “and then this happens”-where “this” is a sequence of four chapters’ worth of events. In other places, he left a paragraph or two, and in some places there’s just a big hole. There’re characters here and there, and then there are a lot of really detailed notes for the ending, saying where everyone ends up, who lives and who dies-it’s very detailed, and is where I think the bulk of the material is. But sometimes, we’ll know where someone is at the end of The Knife of Dreams, and then at the ending he says that person is doing something else, but the intervening space is a big hole.

(more...)

Posted in Add new tag, Armchair Geek, Fantasy, Fiction, brandon sanderson, interview, robert jordan, wheel of time | Comments Off

Emergency Homeschooling: How to Survive (and Even Thrive) When Schools Close

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Salem Lutheran School in Stillwater, MN was closed due to H1N1. Image: KSAX TV

Although the H1N1 flu season is just heating up, it doesn’t look like there will be the kind of long-term shut-downs of schools we were warned about when governments started planning for bird flu a few years ago. In fact, since last spring’s first outbreak of swine flu, the federal government has asked schools to close only as a last resort. Still, according to the Associated Press, at least 351 schools were closed last week, affecting 126,000 students in 19 states, and about 600 schools have temporarily shut their doors so far this school year. All of which has gotten some parents wondering what they would do if their kids were home from school for any extended amount of time.

After Hurricane Katrina kept thousands of kids out of school for weeks and months, and after talk of months-long closing of schools due to avian flu began popping up on the news, I organized a project, working with the staff and readers of Home Education Magazine, to write a guidebook for families who were unexpectedly given the job of teaching their kids at home. One immediate dilemma I noticed as I read through the pieces submitted for the book was the question of whether to try to keep up with what the school would have been teaching, or to use the time to do things better suited to the family’s own interests and needs.

This split between “school-at-home” on the one hand, and “unschooling” or “eclectic homeschooling” on the other, is a continuing debate among long-term homeschoolers as well. But for the family that is intending to homeschool for a year or less, it can be a big decision – and one that they don’t want to spend a lot of time worrying over.

Both have their pros and cons. If the school provides the materials and guidance, then continuing classwork at home might be the easiest choice (assuming the parent is up to helping the child tackle the material). But if a family is homeschooling because they’re away from home or otherwise stuck with limited resources, then keeping up with schoolwork just might not be do-able. Of course, if a child is sick, getting any traditional classroom work done is probably out of the question, at least until they’re on the mend.

But the interesting thing I learned from families who’d been through the experience of short-term homeschooling was how many took the opportunity — whether planned or not — to try new things that don’t fit into the normal school year. Some focused on a particular interest that isn’t part of that grade’s curriculum, such as ancient history or dance. Others took “field trips” they wouldn’t have been able to do if following a school calendar. And many others just looked around their daily lives and found ways to make shopping, or housework, or a building project into a learning experience.

As editor of the book we created, which is called “Suddenly Homeschooling,” I chose to emphasize the chance for families to create their own curriculum, one that suited both the parents’ abilities and children’s needs. Chances are, even if swine flu hits your school hard this year, your kids won’t miss more than a few days. But if you had to take charge of your own kids’ education for weeks or months, which would you choose to do?

Kathy Ceceri is at work getting “Suddenly Homeschooling,” a collection of how-to essays by veteran homeschoolers, into print.

Posted in Add new tag, Armchair Geek, Homeschool, Science and Education, education, swine flu | Comments Off

Wood Barrel Pen Flirts With Steampunk Look

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

A writer’s gotta have pens, even in this modern day. While I usually spend my time attached to a variety of keyboards (or virtual keyboards), there are some things that still demand actual ink-based handwriting. Because I write by hand so infrequently, I’ve come to almost fetishize the pen and paper I choose (we all know about writers and their love of Moleskin notebooks, etc…). Jetpens sent a sampler of their unique and largely Japanese-based products, and while things like the colorful erasers modeled after sushi and self-sharpening mechanical pencil (to avoid flat lead syndrome on your 0.5mm tip) were interesting, different from what you’d usually find in Staples and quickly claimed by the kids, I fell for this pen. Besides writing smoothly, the wooden barrel and pewter effect have an almost steampunk aesthetic to them and $22.50 is a little more reasonable than a Montblanc.

A.G. Spalding & Bros Maple Roller Ball Pen. Image courtesy jetpens.com

Posted in Add new tag, Everything Else | Comments Off

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