1:23PM EST December 12. 2012 – Handing over a shiny new smartphone or tablet to a youngster is like giving them keys to a sports car and wishing them luck on the freeway. In this TECH NOW, find out how to head off inappropriate content, over-use and even Internet predators with simple steps that even a non-techie parent can manage.
— Set the rules. Have a heart-to-heart about the rules of cyber-conduct. Let them know this is about keeping them safe, which is your job as a parent. Print out, sign and post a family Internet contract so that expectations and consequences are clear.
— Set up content filters. You can set up filters that even your tech-savvy teens can’t hack through.
Android, Apple and Windows devices have settings or apps that with just three to five steps let you “set and forget” a list of filters. You can password-protect your settings, too, so that your kids can’t (easily) outsmart you and undo them.
— Install surveillance software. The next level of protection is surveillance — with the understanding that you’re using these tools to protect, inform and empower your kids, not to spy on them. After all, teens need to learn about the trust, respect and privacy that comes with growing up. For free filters, try K9 Web Protection. It blocks sites in more than 70 categories, including pornography, gambling, drugs,violence/hate/racism, malware/spyware and phishing.
Additionally, the FTC this week said it is investigating whether some apps violate kids’ privacy rights by quietly collecting personal information and sharing it with advertisers and data brokers. The FTC recommends these six steps for parents:
— Try out the apps your kid wants to use so that you understand the content and the features.
— Use device and app settings to restrict a kid’s ability to download apps, make purchases through the app or access other material.
— Turn off your Wi-Fi and carrier connection using “airplane mode” to disable any interactive features, prevent inadvertent taps and block access to material you haven’t approved.
— Look for statements about whether the app or anything within the app collects kids’ personal information. If you can’t find disclosures or assurances that information collection and sharing is limited, consider a different app.
— Check whether the app connects to social media, gaming platforms or other services that enable sharing photos, video or personal information or chatting with other players. If so, see if you can block or limit those connections.
— Talk to your kids about your rules for downloading, purchasing and using apps, and sharing information online. And make sure you tell them why it matters.
Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy award-winning consumer tech contributor and host of USA Today’s new daily digital TECH NOW . Email her at techcomments@usatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter: @JenniferJolly
Cisco study on Internet habits of Gen Y population reveals how the need to stay connected drives every facet of their lives: from work to shopping, friendships to family
SAN JOSE, Calif. – December 12, 2012 – It’s 6 a.m. Your morning alarm shrills piercingly. You sit up groggily, stretch and yawn. It’s time to get ready for school or work – what do you do next? Get dressed? Take a shower? Brush your teeth?
Ninety percent of Gen Y surveyed worldwide said they check their smartphones for updates in email, texts and social media sites, often before they get out of bed, according to the 2012 Cisco® Connected World Technology Report (CCWTR.) There are 206 bones in the human body, and the smartphone could plausibly be considered the 207th for Gen Y. Two out of five said they “would feel anxious, like part of me is missing,” if they couldn’t use their smartphones to stay connected.
Based on a survey conducted by InsightExpress of 1,800 college students and young professionals aged 18 to 30 across 18 countries, the report examines how Generation Y uses the Internet and mobile devices to connect with the world around them. The report reveals their behavior and attitudes about the creation, access and privacy of the enormous amounts of data being generated daily by smartphones, sensors, video cameras, monitors and other connected devices.
Mobile devices are just the beginning. As more and more people, processes, data and things join and interact on the “Internet of Everything,” the volume and potential value of all the data generated by those connections grow exponentially.
Key Findings of the 2012 Cisco Connected World Technology Report The new morning routine: toothpaste, toilet paper and texting
Gen Y does not want to miss anything. Checking their mobile devices for text, email and social media updates is how they start their day – often even before getting out of bed. For this generation, information is real-time, all the time.
– Nine of 10 respondents globally will get dressed, brush their teeth, and want to check their smartphones as part of the morning ritual for getting ready for school or work.
– For employers, this is meaningful because it demonstrates that the workforce of the future is more agile, more informed and more responsive than any previous generation. They live to connect and communicate.
Me and my smartphone. From morning through night, Gen Y stays constantly connected.
– More than one in four Gen Y respondents (29 percent) say they check their smartphones so constantly that they lose count.
– Globally, one in five checks a smartphone for email, text and social media updates at least every 10 minutes. In the U.S., two out of five check at least once every 10 minutes.
– One-third of respondents check their smartphones at least once every 30 minutes; in the U.S., that figure jumps to more than 50 percent.
Connected or addicted?
– Sixty percent of Gen Yers subconsciously or compulsively check their smartphones for emails, texts or social media updates.
– Of those, women are more driven to connect: 85 percent of women versus 63 percent of men find themselves often compulsively checking their smartphone for text, emails or social media updates.
– Over 40 percent of respondents would go through a “withdrawal” effect and “would feel anxious, like part of me was missing,” if they couldn’t check their smartphones constantly.
– Of those compulsive smart phone users, 60 percent wish they didn’t feel so compelled.
They’re everywhere!
(Courtesy Isaac On Tech)
Smartphones are used everywhere, even in the most private of places. The craving to stay connected means that the lines between work and social life/family life are blurring. People check for work updates and communicate at all hours from every place imaginable. Time is elastic: For Generation Y there are no clear markers between “the workday” and personal time – both blend and overlap throughout the day and night.
Is romance dead? Globally, 3 out of 4 respondents use smartphones in bed.
– Don’t forget to wash your hands: Over a third use smartphones in the bathroom.
– Set a place at the table: Almost half of the global respondents (46 percent) said they text, email and check social media during meals with family and friends. More than half of American respondents (56 percent) use smartphones during social meals. Watch out! Dangerous as it is, almost one in five admits to texting while driving.
About the Study
The third in an annual series, the 2012 Cisco Connected World Technology Report, was commissioned by Cisco and conducted by InsightExpress, an independent market research firm based in the United States. The global study consists of two surveys: one focused on college students and workers aged 18 to 30, and the second focused on IT professionals. Each survey includes 100 respondents from each of 18 countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
Shhh, don’t tell the kids, but many of the hottest holiday tech toys this year can actually be good for them. From iPads and Wii U’s, to all of the battery-operated, USB cable’d, LED-lighted magic in-between, today’s top picks can combine the best of the digital world with the engagement of the real world, to create modern toys that both educate and entertain. Here are some of my favorites:
Barbie Photo Fashion is bright, beautiful, and rocks the latest fashion trend, but there’s a whole lot more to this little doll than meets the eye. She’s equipped to introduce kids to the world of digital photography, graphic design, and modern marketing.
This Barbie doubles as a digital camera, with a built-in best-shot billboard. By pressing her belt buckle, you turn on a lens embedded in Barbie’s back, which features a 0.3-megapixel camera. The camera shoots and stores up to 200 photos, and displays them on the LED backlit screen built-in to Barbie’s shirt. Kids can customize photos with more than 30 filters, frames, and stamps. Compatible with both Mac and PC, Barbie Photo Fashion Doll can encourage creativity in a modern, pop culture sort of way way. Look out supermodel turned super mogul Tyra Banks, this Barbie is on to your kind of multimedia super powers.
2. Hot Wheels Apptivity
Age: 4+
Price: $20
Buy: From Amazon
Here’s another high-tech twist on a perennial favorite, Hot Wheels Apptivity. Kids can use specially designed, screen-safe Hot Wheels cars on their parents’ iPad. The cars actually interact with a free app. It uses a conductive technology, so the app recognizes each vehicle and its driving style. Now, of course this means parents have to be willing to give up the iPad for playtime. Apptivity also came out several other popular toy-meets-tablet games including Fruit Ninja, Batman, and Cut the Rope. If you lose one of the race cars or action figures, you can still play the apps with your fingertips.
3. Furby
Age: 5+
Cost: $60
Buy: From Amazon
A big trend in general this year is the “rad” revival of toys that first came in the 80’s and 90’s, like Furby. Today’s more modern furry friend encourages interactive play, through progressive learning. That means that the more a child plays with it, the better it learns to perform a trick, speak, and even pick up on the personality of the child playing with it. Furby even has sensors all over his fuzzy little “body” that help him react in a realistic way to kids movement and speech. Oh, and he’s got his own own smartphone and iPad app too. One word of warning for parents: the cutesy sounds this little guy makes will drive you crazy after awhile (like most kids toys that make noise). Nothing that set of ear-plugs won’t fix.
Another toy making a comeback (though really, it never went away) is the Rubik’s Cube. But this holiday season’s must-have version is the Rubik’s Stack & Build Blocks set that turns the classic puzzle into a set of 20 building blocks, perfect for the stroller set. The blocks have the same bright colors of the classic cube, and come in four shapes: triangles, squares, and small and large rectangles. These building blocks encourage creative play, help develop fine motor skills, and teach little minds about sizes and shapes.
5. Cubelets
Ages: 8+
Cost: $160
The cost of this toy is high, because what a child can do with it is seriously that cool. By using what looks an awful lot like regular building blocks, kids can create simple, reconfigurable robots that can actually move around, respond to light, react to sound, and display other lifelike behavior. It works by combining sensor, logic, and actuator blocks. Depending on the combination, you’re basically “programming” the robot to perform different tasks. The different types of cubes elicit different actions, and reactions, in the simple robot, without any wires, tools, or programming skills. This is a great way to introduce young minds to the core concepts of robotics and programming logic.
6. Tablets for Tots
Ages: 3-9
Cost: $80 — $150
Parents ask my advice about kids tablets all the time, and it’s tough to recommend just one. The one you choose has a lot to do with your budget. In the sensibly priced range, I really like both of the new, upgraded LeapPad 2, and VTech InnoTab 2 kids Tablets. Both focus more on learning capabilities than flashy tech specs, though they hold their own with more memory to store apps and creations, and faster processors that can handle more complex software. They also both have a 5″ touch screen, tilt sensor, microphone, and built-in digital photo/video cameras. Either of these tablets are fantastic first choices, great for learning early reading and math skills.
7. PlayStation Wonderbook
Ages: 7+
Cost: $40 for stand alone, $80 for the PS3 bundle
The new PlayStation Wonderbook is essentially a digital, holographic pop-up book. It works with the PlayStation Eye camera to “see” what’s happening in real-time, then layer it augmented reality-style with various events and activities on the screen. The first title coming out is the “Book of Spells,” written by J.K. Rowling. It teaches you how to become a wizard, and by using the PlayStation Move controller, you can actually perform spells with an onscreen wizard’s wand. It’s sure to captivate and engage audiences young and old, with it’s multi-sensory storytelling magic.
One of the most popular selling games for the 2011 Holiday season was Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure. Now, Activision’s bigger, bolder sequel Skylanders Giants, is poised to dominate this year as well. Skylanders broke ground as a revolutionary bridge between video gaming and action figures. With the Giants starter set, and a video game console (PS3, Wii, XBox 360), you can bring action figure to life inside the Skylanders game universe. The figures actually save and store your levels and information as well, and each comes with it’s own special powers. I like the way this provides a portal for positive play, away from the screen, creating a nexus between gaming, imagination, and active play, while creating a fairly positive storyline.
9. Digital Light Designer
Ages: 6+
Cost: $60
The Digital Light Designer lets you draw and color with light. With a digital stylus, kids can create and manipulate 96 colored LED’s inside a 3D, light-up dome. You can even animate the art with special effects like color change, rotation, and three panel animation.
It also comes with games and an activity mode, and lets you create and save your favorite drawings and personal messages to light up a room later.
10. Wonder Box
Ages: 3-6
Cost: $20 per month
For a truly interactive toy, take a look at Wonder Box from Education.com. It’s a subscription-based monthly service, that delivers ready-to-go science, craft and other fun projects right to your doorstep. Each month has a different theme, such as mad scientist, nature, or once upon a time. Each box is filled with age-appropriate projects to help educate, enrich and entertain kids. This is a great way to get families more quality time together, while helping kids satisfy their curiosity about the world around them.
As a mom, I know first hand that the best toys are the ones your kids actually play with. As someone pointed out the last time I did a toy round-up, sometimes the best toys are a simple cardboard box or set of pots and pans. But if you’re like me, there’s a good chance you’ll want to get a few of these toys, just so that you can play with them too.
One in every two people suffer from a chronic medical condition. In today’s Tech’s Appeal, we’ll talk about a handful of gadgets that will help get Americans on the mend. Modern technology is usually blamed for poor health; sitting around and staring at screens is taking its toll. But these gadgets can help you treat and control your medical challenges.
While many of these gadgets could be covered by your insurance, you should obviously check in with your doctor before using them.
find out how to head off inappropriate content, over-use and even Internet predators with simple steps that even a non-techie parent can manage.
