Zoombak helps you keep track of what’s important
Zoombak is a personal GPS locator device that can be used to keep track of children, cars, bikes, luggage or even dogs.
You can use your cell phone or the Internet to access the location of your device anytime and even set up zones to be alerted when the object or person leaves a pre-set area. A popular use of the Zoombak is to track teen drivers (including speed information) or business vehicles.
The devices are now available at Best Buy and retail for $99.99.
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.
Falling Flat Screen TVs a Danger for Young Kids
There has been a 41 percent increase in injuries from tipping furniture since 1990 and much of the blame is going to the popularity of flat screen TVs. According to the study:
Injuries from televisions alone accounted for nearly half of all injuries related to falling furniture during the study period — 47 percent.
The danger with televisions is that often they have narrow centers of gravity and can have small bases. Take steps to appropriately secure your flat screen to avoid danger to your children. For instructions on hanging your flat panel HDTV, read more here.
Consumer Reports also offers advice for securing your flat panel such as purchasing the appropriate base for you model, ensuring the furniture you set the tv on does not have drawers and is stable, and securing furniture that is holding the television.
Twitter is a life-saver, literally
Twitter is changing the way people get information. One big clue was when the first pics from the Hudson River plane crash were posted on Twitter before they hit anywhere else.
Now it’s swine flu! If you want the latest info, don’t wait for news outlets to update stories or the CDC to change its website–go to Twitter.
Whether it’s CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the ground in Mexico City or the CDC’s own Twitterstream, you can get faster and more up-to-date info than anywhere else. Of course, always be sure to check the source but there are lots of reputable ones out there on the topic.
Another timely (although perhaps less trustworthy option) are local message boards like The Mommies Network sites where residents in your community may post information about themselves or those they know before local media has information.
Just something to add to your emergency preparedness plans.
Cutest nightlight ever
We are entering the “fear of the dark” stage at our house. Four years no fear but all of a sudden my little boy won’t walk down the hall with dark rooms or go to sleep without a nightlight.
We bought a couple of LED nightlights at a local home improvement store last weekend. They cost pennies a year to operate and are “greener” than traditional lights b/c of the LED bulbs.
But today I came across this at Goody Blog–Sylvania’s PalPODzzz Portable Nightlight It is a nightlight and a flashlight. It’s also good as a safety light in case the power goes out. There is a ladybug and a rocket ship design. Retail $19.99.
Safe Eyes Mobile keeps kids safe
So you have protected your home computer with filtering software to keep kids safe from viewing objectionable sites, but what about their iPhone or iPod touch?
Internetsafety.com will offer Safe Eyes Mobile to fill the gap in these mobile devices. The application will be available from the iTunes store. You can view a demo here.
Keeping kids safe in the face of fast-changing technology is one of our toughest jobs as parents, but fortunately tools are being created to help us keep up.
Found via Kids@Play
Protect your child online with Mee
The Mee is a new generation of parental control for your child’s computer use. It lets mom and dad have more ability to control what kids can access as well as more information about what your child is doing online including screenshots and keyboard monitoring.
More and more parents want help keeping their children safe online and companies are meeting the need. As cyber-crime increases and children are exposed to the Internet at younger ages, parents are seeking help in creating safe, age-appropriate environments for their children online. Recently, I posted about a few web-based options.
Designed for kids ages 4-17, the Mee is installed via flash drive to your computer. The child can also take the flash drive for use on any computer so parents can keep up with them, wherever they may be.
When installed, the Mee creates an age-specific environment for children and teens to use to navigate their computers including their photographs, approved applications and websites. Parents can set restrictions on specific web sites, block certain words or personal information from being typed or received, and set time limits.
Parents can get alerts via email or mobile phone when your child attempts to navigate to a blocked site, types inappropriate words, or recieves unsolicited content. The Mee also sends parents alerts regarding FDA and toy recalls, weather emergencies and sex offenders locations in your area.
Whether you employ a website or a device like Mee, the need remains to monitor your children in age-appropriate way as you teach them safe and useful practices for the web. How do you keep your kids safe online?
Lets Face It
Facebook. It’s not a gadget per se, but it deserves discussion . There are so many assumptions and conflicts surrounding social networks now that sometimes the real reason and use of the things just disappear.
First, of all the social networks (popular ones including: Myspace, Twitter, Friendster, and Friendfeed) I’m a Facebook user. So, this post is going to focus on the Facebook specifics, though many of the main points apply to all social networks in general.
Lets be clear, Facebook started as a web site meant to link college students, and then moved to allow high school students, and finally to the world in general. So, in the beginning, Facebook had everything right. Not to be self centered, but who needs a simple way to stay connected more than college age students? Who could learn to use Facebook faster than teenagers? Far from home with friends spread across the world Facebook provided a simple way to say “hey” and post a picture or two. It was of course main stream media and the elders who made things “unsafe” on the internet.
From focused advertisement, to identity theft, and job applications, all the warnings that are thrown out today about the dangers of having your information online have nothing to do with staying in contact with friends or sending online invites to study sessions. Sure, kids have to be smart, adjust privacy settings (which is both possible and simple) so that the jerk giving you a hard time at school can’t stalk your pictures and post inappropriate comments, but that’s common sense (I’d hope). The serious problem is really misunderstanding then coupled with misuse.
If social networks were just that, a digital connection for social interaction, perhaps controversy would be limited. But, like email and the evolution of spam, problems will always surround internet communication. All we can do now is take a step back, and maybe give kids a little slack in some areas. Sometimes a red plastic cup in a profile picture is nothing more than a red plastic cup.
Stay Safe Online
October is National Cyber Safety Awareness Month. Is your family safe?
Stay Safe Online from the National Cyber Security Alliance has lots of information to help you stay secure on your computer whether you are a home user, school or small business.
Among the best features is a list of websites that can perform free security check-ups on your computer to test for known viruses and spyware and to see if you are vulnerable to cyber attack.
The site also has informative articles about password safety, backing up files, filtering software and even cyber-bullying.
Surf safe.
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:
