My Secret Circle for Girls

Tween clothier Justice is launching a new girls-only social networking site–My Secret Circle.

With a nod to Internet cautious parents, this site is the “only secure social networking site for girls.”  Designed for girls 8-12, the site is a place where they can create private friendship circles without the advertising and exposure of other social networking sites.

An access key gives your child access to journal, instant message, share pictures and even voice chat via the site.  She adds her “real-life friends” to her circle via access keys that are generated based on her own password key.

Access keys and chat head sets are available for purchase but there are no other additional fees or subscriptions required.

Is your family ignoring each other?

A new report suggests that families are spending less time interacting and technology may be to blame.

The study by  the Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California  polled 2,030 people ages 12 and up, found that

“28 percent of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. That’s nearly triple the 11 percent who said that in 2006.”

The study didn’t blame Internet social networking sites but the change has coincided with the rise of sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Of course, I know families who feel better connected because of technology and many parents who find texting with their children a great way to stay in touch with their day-to-day life.

What do you think? Has technology made your family spend less time together or more?

Hub-bub

Verizon is reinventing the home phone with its new Hub. The new system nixes the traditional landline phone for a Internet-connected display that links with Verizon cell phones and other content to bring information and technology together.

It uses similar VoIP technology to Skype and Vonage but with some Verizon add-ons like Chaparone ($10) which helps track your kids through GPS-enabled phones.  The display posts info like weather forecasts or movie listings.

BusinessWeek criticizes Verizon for not being more open. For example you can text message from the display but only to Verizon-enabled phones.  Also the Internet options are limited and features like its calendar don’t synch with popular web-based calendars.

The HUB runs $200 after rebate and $35 for unlimited calling/month. This may not be the answer but it’s the future of the home phone.

Paint with a Purpose

At school we all share the same wireless network.  Our internet can be accessed in dorms and in class (if you have a password that is).  What about the average wi fi user?  How do you protect your investment?

Japan has released wi fi paint, it basically blocks hangers on from accessing the internet you are paying for.  Convenient for honest apartment dwellers who do pay for their own wireless.  It’s an unfortunate development for poor city interns and the like, but it is pretty ingenious.  In this economy I’d hope we could all learn to just share, but I can understand not wanting to.  If only city wide wireless was available for real.

The Technological Frontier

Lets talk Disruption Tolerant Networking.  I know, it sounds like any network, any plagued internet connections, but this is still something new.

DTN is basically space style internet.  That’s space as in the cosmos.  Information can now be transmitted from NASA to ships about 20 million miles away.  The hitch is the delay.  The connection is not continuous and data is often stalled and late, but hey, it’s still internet in deep space.  And it does put any sluggish earth bound computers in perspective doesn’t it?

Another Facebook Update

Just a quick update on the Great Facebook Experiment:

- I now have 112 friends

- The first girl I ever had a crush on has found me. Too bad she’s married…

- What am I supposed to do when somebody buys me online drinks? WHat the hell is a Lil Green Patch? And I don’t even want to know about “kidnapping” or “poking”.

Seriously folks - exchaging vacation pictures is one thing, but sending imaginary farm animals to someone crosses a whole new line…

Up Up and Away

The first privately funded rocket has reached orbit (as of September 28th).  Perhaps it didn’t have as much coverage or fan fair as Sputnik or Alan Shepard, but it’s still pretty monumental.  A new and very real stage in space exploration has begun.

The launch of the Falcon 1 was streamed live on the internet over at the Space X web site.  The live broadcast of this particular event over the internet feels pretty poetic to me.  The internet is to this generation of space exploration what TV was to the last.  May the success and evolution of our technology continue as we head further out into the final frontier.

Kidzui

As promised–let me introduced you to another kid-focused Internet browser. Kidzui is geared for older children than the KidDesktop program I wrote about a few days ago. Best part–it’s free.

As parents, we are always looking for ways to help our kids stay safe on the Internet. Fortunately, we don’t have be alone. Kidzui is a parent-reviewed program that allows kids to safely browse more than 800,000 sites, pictures and videos.

An added benefit for parents is a weekly update of what your kids are viewing. The program does offer an enhanced version for a small fee that includes enhanced reporting and additional features.

System requirements include:

What is a “Friend”?

So, as part of the grand experimment in social networking, I’ve been on Facebook for over a week. I have 32 “friends”. Some of those people have over a hundred Facebook friends. I know for a fact that hese people aren’t nearly that popular away from their PC.

In the “real” world, friend is not a term I throw around lightly. Friendship implies trust, camaraderie, shared interests and ideals. A friend is someone you want to spend time with. Someone you can count on when you need them. Somebody you could ask when you need a ride to the airport (OK - some friends believe that the airport run goes beyond the bounds of friendship). In the real world, if you asked me how many friends I have - not acquaintances, not poker buddies - actual friends - I’m pretty sure the final count would come in well under my 32 Facebook friends -and the Facebook friend requests are still pouring in. I should hit 50 by the end of the week. Because of Facebook is the word Friend losing it’s value?

Of my gang of 32, I initiated 4 - and those were nieces and nephews with whom I actually would like to stay in closer contact. Beyond that - some folks who reached out to me included my sisters, close friends and a few business acquaintances.

Then it gets interesting - I did indeed hear from first and second cousins. A high school acquaintance I have not been in touch with since the day we graduated. A friend of my nieces. My buddy’s ex-wife. A former co-worker who had moved to Costa Rica (and I’d never noticed!). I was invited, by someone I’d met twice in Nassau, to join a Facebook group for Bahamas Local Businessmen. Huh?

And the one-line status updates continue to baffle me. People are “drinking beer”, “getting excited about the weekend”, “torturing my cat” and the very post-modern, self-referential “checking my Facebook”. Stay tuned for more breaking news - someone may water their plants…

The Great Social Experiment

Ok - I know I’ve been slacking on the blog updates. Sorry about that. But I’m back.

And to start us back up, I’m venturing into the world of “social networking“. Yes, at long last, I will have a Facebook page!

You might be wondering what the big deal is. Why wouldn’t I have had a Facebook page already? I’d actually registered a year or two back - just to see what was going on, but had never even filled in my profile. There are a few reasons that I held out this long:

The “Ick” Factor- For the longest time, I still thought of Facebook as a place for high school and college kids. When they fisrt started Facebook, you couldn’t even join unless you were a student with a “.edu” email address to prove it.  That was still my perception. And and when I heard my contemporaries talking about having a Facebook page, I still thought that a middle-aged guy with a Facebook page would make me look like a creepy schoolyard stalker.

I Have Enough Friends - I kept hearing stories about rediscovering people from you past. My 50-something sister re-connected with high school friends from over 30 years ago. People found friends who had moved or relatives they’d lost touch with. Maybe it’s just me, but I already stay in touch with the people I want to keep in my life. I have no room for re-adding old friends and do I really need to exchange photos with third cousins that I haven’t seen since my bar mitzvah?

What Do I Do When I Get There? - OK - so I put up a page, post a picture of myself and tell a bit about my life. And swarms of friends, relatives and kindred souls find me. Now what? If you weren’t invited to my Labor Day BBQ, why would you want to see pictures of it? There’s the Twitter-like “What I’m Doing Now” function, but again, if you haven’t seen me in 20 years, do you care that I just got back from the liquor store? (Of course, if you’ve known me that long, you’d know that a trip to the liquor store isn’t really breaking news…)

So, despite my reservations, I put up a page, responded to the long-ignored “friend” invites and lit the fuse. The invites have already started to pour in. So we’ll go through this together. We’ll look at who found me, try and figure out how they found me, why they reached out and maybe you can help me figure out what to do now that I’m “connected” to these people…