Times have changed since I was a little girl with my lanky legs crammed in the back of my parents’ cream VW Bug, defogging the window with the sleeve of my Christmas dress to see a pretty string of lights here and there…
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Let’s Play Mech Mice with a 7-year-old!
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So when our ancient PC stopped working this winter, I knew that I wasn’t going to build another computer. She was.
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The Screenster’s slim, simple design, the numerous caricatures to choose from, and convenient top loop for hanging it on a bag makes this a fun accessory for kids’ tablets: iPads, Kindles, Kobos, Nooks, or Galaxy among others.
Continue ReadingThe Digital Storm Bolt arrived in a surprisingly small box but its weight quickly dispelled the notion that this wasn’t a serious gaming machine. The case is solid and powder coated a nice shiny white with a cool black interior. …
Continue ReadingThis week, Microsoft announced that most Windows users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $39.99. For anyone that doesn’t usually buy upgrades, that is a significant cost break compared to what it usually costs (around $50 to $100). Now, before you jump on that deal, consider the following…
Continue ReadingFeel like you’ve heard of Linux, but aren’t really sure who makes it or what it does? Watch this new video from The Linux Foundation to find out just how much you already interact with Linux every day as well as the story of how it gets put together.
Continue ReadingYou may have heard about this dad who recently punished his daughter through a video on YouTube. Through writers on GeekMom and various social media venues where the event has been shared, I have seen every opinion in the spectrum of possibilities from chastising the father to praising him. The video was a very timely […]
Continue ReadingFor my Muse of Nerds this month, I’ll formally introduce you to someone I have talked about in the past: Dr. Michele McColgan of Siena College. I met her through our homeschooling group (she has two elementary-aged children) and she has introduced my kids to science, math, robots, computer programming, alternative energy, a Lego Robotics […]
Continue ReadingThere is a sense of complete wonder at the insides of a computer, and it’s something I find both worrying and surprising. I am of the first generation for whom computers have been standard items in our homes for most, if not all, of our lives. From the day I was born back in 1986, […]
Continue ReadingI began working in children’s media not long after Steve Jobs returned to Apple. Those were the days of CD-ROMs, when we had to fight those who controlled the purse strings to allow us to make Mac-compatible games even though it was such a small part of the computer market. There was always a sense […]
Continue ReadingEven if you’re a Mac addict with a bumper sticker reading “I hate Bill Gates,” you have to tip your hat to the IBM PC, which debuted 30 years ago today. You may scoff, and point out that the Apple …
Continue ReadingEverything old is new again, as the saying goes, and the latest example is the all-new Commodore 64, which looks exactly like the once-popular home computer originally introduced in 1982. Under the beige skin, it’s a whole new computer, featuring …
Continue ReadingMany people (especially teachers) are aware of the multiple intelligence theory developed by Howard Gardner: there are eight basic ways people learn, and a ninth is subject to debate. Verbal/Linguistic Mathematical/Logical Visual/Spatial Musical/Rhythmic Bodily/Kinesthetic Naturalist Interpersonal Intrapersonal (Existential) Now, this …
Continue ReadingDon’t worry: Computers aren’t going to take over the world any time soon. IBM’s supercomputer software Watson’s win on the game show Jeopardy! is little more than a publicity stunt. Its value as a scientific experiment is roughly on par …
Continue ReadingDon’t worry: Computers aren’t going to take over the world any time soon. IBM’s supercomputer software Watson’s win on the game show Jeopardy! is little more than a publicity stunt. Its value as a scientific experiment is roughly on par …
Continue ReadingIt is sort of an unwritten law of geekdom that when we have opinions about technology, we must have very, VERY strong opinions. I faithfully adhere to this rule and had dually applied it to my sheer and unfettered hatred …
Continue ReadingI’ve reviewed several internet filtering and internet security products for GeekDad over the years. Each has pluses and minuses. I’ve decided to come clean with what my family runs: yes, we do filter the internet for our kids — but …
Continue ReadingAfter teaching my kids some fundamentals about computer architecture and the file system, I was able to introduce them to my favorite applications. I’ll describe them briefly here and write some other posts about how my kids have used them. …
Continue ReadingIf geeks had ranks, I’d be a General or an Admiral, or maybe Grand Vizier. I know things that no mortal should know, arcane minutiae like how to set a proxy server in an .hgrc file or how to program …
Continue ReadingEven if you’re a Mac addict with a bumper sticker reading “I hate Bill Gates,” you have to tip your hat to the IBM PC, which debuted 29 years ago today. You may scoff, and point out that the Apple …
Continue ReadingAs Geeks we are expected to have a certain set of skills that the majority of the population does not possess. This list is by no means complete, but I think it is a good sample of the skills required …
Continue ReadingSeveral months ago, I ranted a bit about the problems I had with my Vista desktop computer. After that article, I was contacted by Michael Simpson of Iolo Technologies about their product, System Mechanic. System Mechanic is a an overall …
Continue ReadingLast year, I wrote up a review about the Sony eReader. At the time, I wondered if anyone would invest in a dedicated eReader for $200 or higher when there are netbooks for around $300 that can do so many …
Continue ReadingI can’t remember when I last touched or even saw a floppy disk. Do you? Can we in truth say we knew the floppy disk was still alive that we might mourn its death now? The floppy disk had become …
Continue ReadingToday marks the anniversary of a watershed moment in human history. In Philadelphia, the IBM computer named Deep Blue became, on February 10, 1996, the first machine to beat a reigning chess world champion, Garry Kasparov. While nobody could have …
Continue ReadingOn this date in 1947, the operators of the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator removed a moth that was blocking a relay. While the term “bug” had been in use in engineering circles for quite a while before then, this …
Continue ReadingNational Geographic Kids is decked out in green in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, with a series of suitably themed activities available for kids. Features include facts on Ireland, a quiz about the history behind St. Patrick’s Day and a number of crafts like the candy shamrock pin. There’s a story on Green Invaders as […]
Continue ReadingI have rarely felt so conflicted. On the one hand, I’ve never watched an episode of Dancing with the Stars, and I’m fairly (and snobbishly, I freely admit) proud of that fact. On the other hand, they’ve gone ahead and signed up one of the most famous geeks alive to be on the new U.S. […]
Continue ReadingCheck out this awesome video by NYC Resistor cats Bre Pettis and Eric Skiff, showing us how to count binary on our fingers. Also, another NYCR hacker, Justin Day, used Processing to make a sweet binary finger clock!
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