Well, it finally has happened, I’ve have a hands on review of Nintendo’s Wii. First of all I have to thank my wife, for the wonderful birthday gift. So for starters it’s a lot of fun to play, even the free game that came with teh system “Wii Sports” is awsome.The console is pretty small and does look like some video game sitting in my living room which is cool. The sensor bar, that needs to be either on top of the TV or below the TV for the Wii remote to work, does stand out a little but overall not to bad.
The graphics are good but certainly not the best I’ve seen. I would say they are a slight upgrade over the PS2 or Xbox, but no where near the PS3 or the Xbox360. The menu is easy to navigate and your do have some neat extras like local weather and news headlines, if you have your Wii connected to a broad band connection. The Wii has built in wifi, but if you are still using wires you need to buy an adapter. The virtual console is pretty cool and for a small cost you can download classic games like “Super Mario Brothers” and “Mario 64”, the cost range from 500 Wii points ($5) to 1000 Wii points ($10). Of course the best part of the Wii is the cool controller, the controller(s) is comfortable and seems really natural when you use it. The only draw back so far has been trying to find and extra one in the stores. I wanted a second one so me and my wife could play “Wii sports” and had to go to eight stores before I found one. Another slight draw back is the cost of the controllers, I needed a second remote ($40), a second nunchuk controller ($20), and two classic controllers ($ 20 each) to play classic games via the virtual console. Ouch, another $100 just so my wife and I could play together without sharing one remote. The Wii did have a couple of points I thought would be useful for parents.
First the Wii “inbox” has a daily message that can not be deleted that keeps track of everything you do on the system, from what games were played and for how long to any online activities that were done through the Wii.
Secondly the Wii has built in parental controls that are password protected and does not allow certain game ratings to be played. So if you don’t want your kids to be playing mature games, they can’t, at least not at home, and if they figure out your password, you can see all of their activity in the Wii activity report.
The Wii came with “Wii Sports” for free, which is basically a collection of small sport games highlighting the Wii’s controller. Games include tennis, baseball, bowling, boxing, and golf. The games themselves are very addictive, especially the bowling, basically your swing the remote just like you’re bowling for real, it’s a lot of fun. Although I will warn you I was very sore the next day after a long night of Wii bowling.
So overall the Wii is worth the price if you are looking for a fun family game system.
The cost at $250 is a bit deceiving if everyone wants their own controllers because the additional cost will add up quick, but you could just share one remote if you really didn’t want to spend the extra money. So if you want a new game system that everyone one in the house can play and have fun together I recommend the Nintendo Wii.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Safe email habits
Recently a co-worker of mine brought me a copy of an email message he had supposedly received from his Bank. The email claimed that his account had some recent irregular activity. Apparently someone had tried to access his account from a different “ISP host”. The email went on to claim that he should confirm his account information by clicking on the links below. My co-worker brought me the email because he was unable to follow the links and knowing that I was good with computers, he wanted to know if I could “fix” the problem so he could verify his account information.
I took a look at the email and immediately felt like something was not right. First of all, banks, internet providers, investment brokers, etc. do not typically ask you to verify your information via the internet, especially by clicking a link through an email. Secondly, an ISP is an internet service provider, typically when someone speaks of an attempted attack they say an unknown IP (internet protocol) address, not an internet service provider. My immediate reaction was this was a phising attempt.
I quickly did a search and discovered I was right. This was an attempt by someone to steal this person’s personal account information. The fact that he couldn’t open the link probably saved him a lot of money and trouble. I told my co-worker that the email was a fake and that someone was trying to steal his information. I confirm with him that he never enter any information about his account. I then told him to call his Bank’s fraud department and I suggested he change his password just to be safe. Problem solved, but then I began to think about how awful this could have turned out if he had been able to follow that link. He could have lost money, had his identity stole all because he didn’t know some basic internet safety.
As a geek I spend a lot of my free time researching internet security issues, network security issues and digital forensic techniques. Now as you probably know if your read my “about” page I don’t necessarily work in the information technology field, this is strictly a hobby. Hey, I told you I was a geek what did you expect? Anyways, since I follow these topics pretty closely I know the do and don’t of the internet and unfortunately take for granted that others are less informed than me.
Let’s go over some simple things you can do to protect yourself. First if you get an email from someone asking for any type of personal information, user ID, passwords, Social Security numbers, etc. question the email validity. It doesn’t matter who the email is from, my co-worker’s email had a return address that looked real, even the IP address was right. It’s not hard for a professional criminal to spoof (fake) an email address. If you get an email from some one asking you to verify your information don’t click through the email, instead go to your web browser and go to the website and log in as normal. If it’s a website you don’t normally go to and you have forgotten the address call customer service, just never click through your email. Thirdly, if you think an email seems like it could be a fake or you just have funny feeling about it. Don’t shrug it off, trust your instincts, being a little paranoid can go a long way in protecting your information.
The best and easiest way to confirm your fears about an email is Google. That’s right Google; a Google search is a great tool to find out about other fake emails. That’s what I did with my co-worker, remember that “ISP host” well it was a long series of numbers and letters that was supposedly the “ISP host” number, so I type that number into Google and searched. There it was that exact combination of numbers and letters, found at Spam daily news, a website devoted to publishing spam attempts. When I clicked on the link there was the email message word for word, expect the name of the bank had changed. That’s how I knew this email was a fake.
So next time you check your email be sure to apply these safe email habits, make them part of your email checking routine and they will go a long way to protecting your personal information online.
I took a look at the email and immediately felt like something was not right. First of all, banks, internet providers, investment brokers, etc. do not typically ask you to verify your information via the internet, especially by clicking a link through an email. Secondly, an ISP is an internet service provider, typically when someone speaks of an attempted attack they say an unknown IP (internet protocol) address, not an internet service provider. My immediate reaction was this was a phising attempt.
I quickly did a search and discovered I was right. This was an attempt by someone to steal this person’s personal account information. The fact that he couldn’t open the link probably saved him a lot of money and trouble. I told my co-worker that the email was a fake and that someone was trying to steal his information. I confirm with him that he never enter any information about his account. I then told him to call his Bank’s fraud department and I suggested he change his password just to be safe. Problem solved, but then I began to think about how awful this could have turned out if he had been able to follow that link. He could have lost money, had his identity stole all because he didn’t know some basic internet safety.
As a geek I spend a lot of my free time researching internet security issues, network security issues and digital forensic techniques. Now as you probably know if your read my “about” page I don’t necessarily work in the information technology field, this is strictly a hobby. Hey, I told you I was a geek what did you expect? Anyways, since I follow these topics pretty closely I know the do and don’t of the internet and unfortunately take for granted that others are less informed than me.
Let’s go over some simple things you can do to protect yourself. First if you get an email from someone asking for any type of personal information, user ID, passwords, Social Security numbers, etc. question the email validity. It doesn’t matter who the email is from, my co-worker’s email had a return address that looked real, even the IP address was right. It’s not hard for a professional criminal to spoof (fake) an email address. If you get an email from some one asking you to verify your information don’t click through the email, instead go to your web browser and go to the website and log in as normal. If it’s a website you don’t normally go to and you have forgotten the address call customer service, just never click through your email. Thirdly, if you think an email seems like it could be a fake or you just have funny feeling about it. Don’t shrug it off, trust your instincts, being a little paranoid can go a long way in protecting your information.
The best and easiest way to confirm your fears about an email is Google. That’s right Google; a Google search is a great tool to find out about other fake emails. That’s what I did with my co-worker, remember that “ISP host” well it was a long series of numbers and letters that was supposedly the “ISP host” number, so I type that number into Google and searched. There it was that exact combination of numbers and letters, found at Spam daily news, a website devoted to publishing spam attempts. When I clicked on the link there was the email message word for word, expect the name of the bank had changed. That’s how I knew this email was a fake.
So next time you check your email be sure to apply these safe email habits, make them part of your email checking routine and they will go a long way to protecting your personal information online.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
What are you taking about?
So have you ever looked over your kids shoulder and saw some thing like this? POS, BFN, BBS. Well with the increase use of text messaging and IM (instant messaging) services a new abbreviated language has evolved. Today I’m going to give you the Rosetta stone for deciphering these messages. Most of the time the answer is pretty simple, each letter represents a word, such as BBS is short for “be back soon”. Some are even easier such as L8R, or deciphered as “later”. So which ones are important for parents to recognize? Well theses are the one I think are important to know off the top of your head.
POS – Parent over the shoulder, meaning I can’t take openly right now because my parents are around.
PRW – Parent (people) are watching, same as above.
ASL or A/S/L – Age / Sex / Location, someone is asking for to much information about your kid.
PM – Private message, lets talk in a more secure chat room, with out other around.
F2T – Free to talk, can you talk openly, refer back to number one.
FYEO – For your eyes only, don’t let anyone see this is private stuff.
It’s a scary world out there and as parents we need to be able to know what are kids are talking about. Most of the time the stuff they talk about is harmless kid stuff, or stuff that they just don’t want mom and dad to know about not because it’s bad.
Here is a list with a lot more of these abbreviations http://www.aim.com/acronyms.adp.
POS – Parent over the shoulder, meaning I can’t take openly right now because my parents are around.
PRW – Parent (people) are watching, same as above.
ASL or A/S/L – Age / Sex / Location, someone is asking for to much information about your kid.
PM – Private message, lets talk in a more secure chat room, with out other around.
F2T – Free to talk, can you talk openly, refer back to number one.
FYEO – For your eyes only, don’t let anyone see this is private stuff.
It’s a scary world out there and as parents we need to be able to know what are kids are talking about. Most of the time the stuff they talk about is harmless kid stuff, or stuff that they just don’t want mom and dad to know about not because it’s bad.
Here is a list with a lot more of these abbreviations http://www.aim.com/acronyms.adp.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
I deleted the wrong picture!
Have you ever accidentally deleted a picture from your digital camera and thought, “Oh no that was like the best picture I took”. Well today I’m going to talk about a great little program that you can use to restore those accidentally deleted pictures. Unfortunately this program is only for Windows users, so sorry Mac and Linux users. It’s called PC INSPECTOR smart recovery 4.5 and can be downloaded for free from here.
First let me explain a bit about how digital media (film) in your camera works when your delete a picture. When you delete picture the camera basically is told to ignore the file on the storage card. The camera then is allowed to copy over that “space” when a new picture is taken. The original picture is still there until a new picture overwrites it, but the camera does use space in a liner sense but rather at random. Meaning that a picture that was deleted a few shots ago could still be restored.
Now even though I said that you could continue to take pictures and it would still be possible to restore them the likely hood of restoring the picture you want decreases with each new photo. The best thing to do is not to take any more using that digital media card, i.e. compact flash, SD, etc. if your camera only uses built in memory then you are out of luck depending on how important that deleted picture was. I keep a spare card in my camera bag for just such occasions.
All you have to do is plug your camera into your computer and run the program, it will then ask you to choose the media to be restored, this is your camera. A place to put the restored photos, I created a folder on my desktop and called it restored pictures, pretty simple. Hit the start button and you are off, the default setting uses a quick scan that will restore most of the pictures. You also have the option of doing a deep scan; the deep scan takes a very long time but can restore more pictures. So if the quick scan didn’t restore the picture you wanted, try this option when the quick scan is done and you might find that lost photo.
Keep in mind this program will restore all the pictures it can find on the cameras memory card, so if there is a chance of an embarrassing photo its probably best not to do this with a crowd standing around. When I used the program I was able to restore pictures from months earlier so be cautious.
So the next time you accidentally delete the wrong picture, don’t freak out, you might be able to get it back.
Anyways sorry this is only for Windows, I’ll keep my eyes open for a good one for Macs and Linux computers. If you know of one please email to let me know or better yet post a comment about it.
First let me explain a bit about how digital media (film) in your camera works when your delete a picture. When you delete picture the camera basically is told to ignore the file on the storage card. The camera then is allowed to copy over that “space” when a new picture is taken. The original picture is still there until a new picture overwrites it, but the camera does use space in a liner sense but rather at random. Meaning that a picture that was deleted a few shots ago could still be restored.
Now even though I said that you could continue to take pictures and it would still be possible to restore them the likely hood of restoring the picture you want decreases with each new photo. The best thing to do is not to take any more using that digital media card, i.e. compact flash, SD, etc. if your camera only uses built in memory then you are out of luck depending on how important that deleted picture was. I keep a spare card in my camera bag for just such occasions.
All you have to do is plug your camera into your computer and run the program, it will then ask you to choose the media to be restored, this is your camera. A place to put the restored photos, I created a folder on my desktop and called it restored pictures, pretty simple. Hit the start button and you are off, the default setting uses a quick scan that will restore most of the pictures. You also have the option of doing a deep scan; the deep scan takes a very long time but can restore more pictures. So if the quick scan didn’t restore the picture you wanted, try this option when the quick scan is done and you might find that lost photo.
Keep in mind this program will restore all the pictures it can find on the cameras memory card, so if there is a chance of an embarrassing photo its probably best not to do this with a crowd standing around. When I used the program I was able to restore pictures from months earlier so be cautious.
So the next time you accidentally delete the wrong picture, don’t freak out, you might be able to get it back.
Anyways sorry this is only for Windows, I’ll keep my eyes open for a good one for Macs and Linux computers. If you know of one please email to let me know or better yet post a comment about it.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Research made easy with Wikipedia
I have always been a curious person, learning about many different things. However sometimes I’m not sure where to look to find the answers to my questions. In the past I would use google and then search through the thousands of websites trying to find the answers I was seeking. Well that was before I found Wikipedia. Some of you out there probably already know about Wikipedia and what a great research tool it is, but some of you probably have never heard of it, or used it.
Basically Wikipedia is on online encyclopedia, written and maintained by users of the site. The end result is a collection of knowledge spanning almost every topic that is reviewed and edited by thousands of people. I’ve researched software, music, people, just about anything, you name it, and it’s probably there. Articles are linked to one another so if you are looking a particular topic that references another topic you can go directly to the referencing topic. This is pretty useful, since sometimes the answer to one question leads to another question. Sometimes, I spend hours bouncing from one article to another; it can become additive search for knowledge. Most of the time the information is accurate, but sometimes it can be off a bit so it’s a good idea to double check some of the facts, if you plan on using the site for something other than personl knowledge, i.e. homework. Listed below most of the articles are links to related websites, which make double checking the facts a bit easier.
At one time I would spend hours doing google searches when I had to do research but now I go right to Wikipedia first and most of the time I have my answer within minutes. So if your have something you need to research or if your kid has a homework assignment due check out Wikipedia.
Basically Wikipedia is on online encyclopedia, written and maintained by users of the site. The end result is a collection of knowledge spanning almost every topic that is reviewed and edited by thousands of people. I’ve researched software, music, people, just about anything, you name it, and it’s probably there. Articles are linked to one another so if you are looking a particular topic that references another topic you can go directly to the referencing topic. This is pretty useful, since sometimes the answer to one question leads to another question. Sometimes, I spend hours bouncing from one article to another; it can become additive search for knowledge. Most of the time the information is accurate, but sometimes it can be off a bit so it’s a good idea to double check some of the facts, if you plan on using the site for something other than personl knowledge, i.e. homework. Listed below most of the articles are links to related websites, which make double checking the facts a bit easier.
At one time I would spend hours doing google searches when I had to do research but now I go right to Wikipedia first and most of the time I have my answer within minutes. So if your have something you need to research or if your kid has a homework assignment due check out Wikipedia.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Cool Website
So the other day I was bouncing around the net looking for the usual geek related stuff, when I came across this website title Parents Hacks, so I decided to check it out. I thought it was going to be all techie or video games related, due to the Hack part. A lot of computer geeks call themselves Hackers, but I was wrong. In fact the site had very little to do with technology. Some of the ideas on the site where how to make socks non-slip, which I found pretty helpful. Use duck, cut it into strips and tape to the socks and viola, non-slip socks. Another post had some good ideas about home made holiday cards. One I have never heard of before used a baking sheet and paint to make some really cool looking cards, but who’ll have to check out the site to see how it’s done. So check out Parent Hacks whether you are looking for some good activities for the kids or want to know a quick meal idea.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
It's not a purse!
Okay so here is the deal, a little while ago I decided that I wanted to carry a bag because I had lots-o stuff I wanted to carry. Things like a cell phone, PDA, sketch book, magazines, pens, pencils, and a bunch of other stuff too. So I decided I would get a bag, not a purse, a bag for men. I started my search, I didn’t want something to big like a brief case, and I’ve already got one of those. The brief case is great for work I wanted something for more of a everyday use. However I didn’t want something to small either, this was a very difficult situation. Every bag I looked at was either way to huge or super tiny.
I finally settled on a bag made by Timbuk2, they make courier bags in San Francisco, and some other really cool stuff as well. At first I thought the cost was a bit high but once I saw the quality, the price seemed very fair. A heavy canvas feel with a rubber lining to keep the rain out. After I found the bag and the color scheme I liked, yes you can get all sorts of color combos or even create your own, pretty cool huh. Anyway I decided I would order my bag from Zappos. They offered free shipping on the bag and the cost was only a few bucks more than ordering directly from Timbuk2. Plus Zappos has a great return policy, 365 days for any reason as long as the product is in its original state. So if I decided I didn’t like it I knew I could return it.
I ordered my bag on a Wednesday and got it on the following Monday, wow I thought that was fast for the free shipping option. I had order the Timbuk2 extra small courier bag. The dimensions said it were about 12×8, it sounded like a good size but in person it looked small. I know its extra small so what did I expect, well it just looked a little too much like a purse. So I ordered the next size up from Zappos, that would be just the small size of the bag, about 15X10. Again I ordered it on a Wednesday, only this time I got it on that Friday, WOW. The bag is awesome, great quality and looks pretty cool too this bag was exactly what I wanted. I followed the return process for the extra small bag, which was really easy and three days later I had my money back.
So if you are looking for a great bag then check out Timbuk2, lots of cool bags and other cool stuff. Also if you need shoes, bags or whatever check out Zappos, good prices and great service.
I finally settled on a bag made by Timbuk2, they make courier bags in San Francisco, and some other really cool stuff as well. At first I thought the cost was a bit high but once I saw the quality, the price seemed very fair. A heavy canvas feel with a rubber lining to keep the rain out. After I found the bag and the color scheme I liked, yes you can get all sorts of color combos or even create your own, pretty cool huh. Anyway I decided I would order my bag from Zappos. They offered free shipping on the bag and the cost was only a few bucks more than ordering directly from Timbuk2. Plus Zappos has a great return policy, 365 days for any reason as long as the product is in its original state. So if I decided I didn’t like it I knew I could return it.
I ordered my bag on a Wednesday and got it on the following Monday, wow I thought that was fast for the free shipping option. I had order the Timbuk2 extra small courier bag. The dimensions said it were about 12×8, it sounded like a good size but in person it looked small. I know its extra small so what did I expect, well it just looked a little too much like a purse. So I ordered the next size up from Zappos, that would be just the small size of the bag, about 15X10. Again I ordered it on a Wednesday, only this time I got it on that Friday, WOW. The bag is awesome, great quality and looks pretty cool too this bag was exactly what I wanted. I followed the return process for the extra small bag, which was really easy and three days later I had my money back.
So if you are looking for a great bag then check out Timbuk2, lots of cool bags and other cool stuff. Also if you need shoes, bags or whatever check out Zappos, good prices and great service.
Viruse protection for your computer
Today I thought I would talk about viruses of course I’m going to talk about the types that affect our computers. Well to start if you us a computer it’s a good idea to have a virus scanner. Now there are some very good virus scanners out there from Norton and MacAfee if you don’t mind spending a little money. You should by able to pick one up for under $50 and its well worth it. Just keep it to one virus scanner per computer. A lot of people think more virus scanners the better, more than one will just slow your computer down. However if you are strapped for cash than I have the virus scanner for you, and as always it’s available for Windows, Macs, and Linux computers.
The software is called ClamAV, I’ll put the download links at the bottom of the page because their different links depending on your operating system. So why do you need a virus scanner? Well there a few reasons, computer viruses can do all sorts of bad things to you and your computer. Some will just become an annoyance, like shutting down your computer or maybe your “e” key won’t work anymore. These types of viruses can become real annoying, real faster. Other viruses can destroy data on your computer causing programs to stop working or worst, lose your family photos. Then there are the real bad viruses. Those that can let someone take control of your computer, to either steal data or use you computer to send spam mail. So that is way you should use a virus scanner, at least once in a while.I know some of you out there are Apple Mac or Linux users and you are probably thinking “I’m safe, there are no viruses that affect my computer.” For the most part that is true. Those of us that us an operating system other than Microsoft Windows are very lucky that we don’t have the same computer virus problems that our Window using brethren do, but don’t think it can’t happen. Microsoft Windows is the most vulnerable to viruses because it is the most common operating system in use. Virus writers want to target the largest group to increase their chance of achieving their goals. However in the past few years Apple Mac has become more and more popular and Linux is becoming a more mainstream operating system. It’s only a matter of time before all of us are affected by computer viruses. So it’s a good idea to start planning now.I suggest if you don’t have an anti-virus program or if the one you have is on the older and you don’t keep up with the updates. Updates? Yes, new viruses are released all the time you need to update you virus scanning software for it to find the new viruses. Anyways I suggest Clam anti-virus (ClamAV) because it’s free and you can download a version for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Other than that its pretty much the same as the ones you buy.
Install the program, update you virus list, and scan your computer. If you are a Windows user I would suggest updating and scanning you computer weekly at a minimum. The more often the better, but it usually takes a long time so once a week is better than not at all. Mac and Linux users I would suggest updating and scanning your computers monthly. Since there currently no known viruses for those operating systems you don’t need to be as concerned as Window users. Oh, and as I mentioned before if you have more than one virus scanner on your computer its not doing you any good. Especially if their not up to date. All they are doing is slowing down your system, get rid of them. Just keep one and keep it up to date. Okay, I’ll put links down below for ClamAV and I hope everyone has a virus free winter.
Windows ClamWin
Mac OSX ClamXAV
Linux ClamAV
The software is called ClamAV, I’ll put the download links at the bottom of the page because their different links depending on your operating system. So why do you need a virus scanner? Well there a few reasons, computer viruses can do all sorts of bad things to you and your computer. Some will just become an annoyance, like shutting down your computer or maybe your “e” key won’t work anymore. These types of viruses can become real annoying, real faster. Other viruses can destroy data on your computer causing programs to stop working or worst, lose your family photos. Then there are the real bad viruses. Those that can let someone take control of your computer, to either steal data or use you computer to send spam mail. So that is way you should use a virus scanner, at least once in a while.I know some of you out there are Apple Mac or Linux users and you are probably thinking “I’m safe, there are no viruses that affect my computer.” For the most part that is true. Those of us that us an operating system other than Microsoft Windows are very lucky that we don’t have the same computer virus problems that our Window using brethren do, but don’t think it can’t happen. Microsoft Windows is the most vulnerable to viruses because it is the most common operating system in use. Virus writers want to target the largest group to increase their chance of achieving their goals. However in the past few years Apple Mac has become more and more popular and Linux is becoming a more mainstream operating system. It’s only a matter of time before all of us are affected by computer viruses. So it’s a good idea to start planning now.I suggest if you don’t have an anti-virus program or if the one you have is on the older and you don’t keep up with the updates. Updates? Yes, new viruses are released all the time you need to update you virus scanning software for it to find the new viruses. Anyways I suggest Clam anti-virus (ClamAV) because it’s free and you can download a version for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Other than that its pretty much the same as the ones you buy.
Install the program, update you virus list, and scan your computer. If you are a Windows user I would suggest updating and scanning you computer weekly at a minimum. The more often the better, but it usually takes a long time so once a week is better than not at all. Mac and Linux users I would suggest updating and scanning your computers monthly. Since there currently no known viruses for those operating systems you don’t need to be as concerned as Window users. Oh, and as I mentioned before if you have more than one virus scanner on your computer its not doing you any good. Especially if their not up to date. All they are doing is slowing down your system, get rid of them. Just keep one and keep it up to date. Okay, I’ll put links down below for ClamAV and I hope everyone has a virus free winter.
Windows ClamWin
Mac OSX ClamXAV
Linux ClamAV
Protecting our kids online
So today I’m going to talk about internet safety, and protecting your family when they are online. To start off I’m going to cover only the real basic elements, I will be covering more in depth topics in future postings.
So where to start? Well let take a look at where your family computer is. A lot of people want to let their kids have their own computer in their room. I think that’s mistake number one especially if your kids are younger. The first and most important step to protecting your kids online knows what they are doing online. Keeping the family computer in an open place lets you keep an eye on their activities. I don’t mean spying on them; we’ll get to that later. I mean your kids aren’t going to do something they don’t want you to see, if you could walk through the room at any moment. Now I know this won’t work for everyone, but I think this really is one of the easiest ways of keeping your kids in check on-line.
Okay, but I work so the kids are going online when I’m not home. Well that brings me to my next point, “user rights”. All modern operating systems have some form of user right management. Typically you either have administrator rights, meaning you can do pretty much anything or user rights, meaning you can only do what the administrator lets you do. I know most of you have all ready set up multiple users on your computers so that everyone can have their favorite picture on their desktop, but what about the user rights? Your kids shouldn’t have administrator rights, they don’t need them. If they want to install a game, it should be a game that you know about, right? So that’s step two, give yourself, spouse, and maybe the older kid (16+) administrator rights, but if you’re under 16, then you’re just a user. Now you have much more control over your kid’s online activities and computer activities in general.
These are very basic and simple methods of protecting your kids online. Like I said early I will provide more detailed and in depth methods in future posts.
So where to start? Well let take a look at where your family computer is. A lot of people want to let their kids have their own computer in their room. I think that’s mistake number one especially if your kids are younger. The first and most important step to protecting your kids online knows what they are doing online. Keeping the family computer in an open place lets you keep an eye on their activities. I don’t mean spying on them; we’ll get to that later. I mean your kids aren’t going to do something they don’t want you to see, if you could walk through the room at any moment. Now I know this won’t work for everyone, but I think this really is one of the easiest ways of keeping your kids in check on-line.
Okay, but I work so the kids are going online when I’m not home. Well that brings me to my next point, “user rights”. All modern operating systems have some form of user right management. Typically you either have administrator rights, meaning you can do pretty much anything or user rights, meaning you can only do what the administrator lets you do. I know most of you have all ready set up multiple users on your computers so that everyone can have their favorite picture on their desktop, but what about the user rights? Your kids shouldn’t have administrator rights, they don’t need them. If they want to install a game, it should be a game that you know about, right? So that’s step two, give yourself, spouse, and maybe the older kid (16+) administrator rights, but if you’re under 16, then you’re just a user. Now you have much more control over your kid’s online activities and computer activities in general.
These are very basic and simple methods of protecting your kids online. Like I said early I will provide more detailed and in depth methods in future posts.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Used games can save big bucks!
Chances are your kids are tired of their old video games and are asking for some new ones. Well I know, at $50+ a game they can keep playing the ones they already got. Well today I’m going to talk about how you can save some money and still get your kids some new games. Many of you might already know this, but a few of you probably don’t, many chain video stores buy old video games and resell them as a cheaper slightly used alternative.
First off if you think you are going to sell them back for what you paid, you’re wrong. On average you only get like $5 for a game when you sell it, sometimes more. Most of the time it’s less, and sometimes it’s been as low as $1, which doesn’t really seem worth it to me. However buying used games is where you can save big time. If you want the latest and greatest your chances are slim but if you do find it you can expect to save around $5 off the price of the same game new, not to bad. If you are looking for an older game, like one that came out a few months ago you can usually find it around the $20 mark. Now keep in mind the stores used the supply/demand model with their pricing. So if they don’t have a lot in stock chances are the price will be on the higher side.
Here’s a pretty reasonable scenario, your kids are done with say three of their games and they don’t think they would ever play them again so lets got trade them in. Okay we got $20 bucks to trade them in plus the store was running a special promotion today, when you trade in three games you get an extra $10. Great, now we are up to $30, so the kids pick out two used video games ones $15 and the other is $20, but there’s a promotion today. Buy three used games and save 15% off your purchase so the kids pick out a third game at $10. Okay so lets’ see what we got the games cost $45 minus the 15% so now they cost $38.25, minus are $30 for the games we sold and we just bought three new to us video games for a total of $8.25 plus tax. Not to bad since if we bought the new versions we would have probably spent around $65 plus tax for the same games.
So don’t think that because it’s a used game it not as good, you can save a lot of money doing this like this even if you decide not to sell games you would still be spending $38 apposed to $65. Some people might not want to buy a used game because they are afraid it won’t work, or that it’s a old game. Well the stores will usually replace the game if it doesn’t work, they usually take a pretty good look at it when then original owner sold it. As far as the game being old, if I never have played it its new to me. There are lots of games out there that looked really good when they first came out, but at the time maybe I didn’t have the money or just didn’t get around to buying them. Well now I can get those some games at a discount. Just the other day I bought two games that were a few years old. Now I could have bought them new for $20 each, but I decided to buy them used. I paid $11 including tax for both games, not to bad. They work fine and since I’ve never played them its just like have two brand new games.
I wouldn’t buy a used game for a gift because they usually do look used if you know what I mean, but as a treat I would always try to fine a game used. So go out there and bring your kid’s home a new (used) game today and don’t forget to have some fun playing it with them.
First off if you think you are going to sell them back for what you paid, you’re wrong. On average you only get like $5 for a game when you sell it, sometimes more. Most of the time it’s less, and sometimes it’s been as low as $1, which doesn’t really seem worth it to me. However buying used games is where you can save big time. If you want the latest and greatest your chances are slim but if you do find it you can expect to save around $5 off the price of the same game new, not to bad. If you are looking for an older game, like one that came out a few months ago you can usually find it around the $20 mark. Now keep in mind the stores used the supply/demand model with their pricing. So if they don’t have a lot in stock chances are the price will be on the higher side.
Here’s a pretty reasonable scenario, your kids are done with say three of their games and they don’t think they would ever play them again so lets got trade them in. Okay we got $20 bucks to trade them in plus the store was running a special promotion today, when you trade in three games you get an extra $10. Great, now we are up to $30, so the kids pick out two used video games ones $15 and the other is $20, but there’s a promotion today. Buy three used games and save 15% off your purchase so the kids pick out a third game at $10. Okay so lets’ see what we got the games cost $45 minus the 15% so now they cost $38.25, minus are $30 for the games we sold and we just bought three new to us video games for a total of $8.25 plus tax. Not to bad since if we bought the new versions we would have probably spent around $65 plus tax for the same games.
So don’t think that because it’s a used game it not as good, you can save a lot of money doing this like this even if you decide not to sell games you would still be spending $38 apposed to $65. Some people might not want to buy a used game because they are afraid it won’t work, or that it’s a old game. Well the stores will usually replace the game if it doesn’t work, they usually take a pretty good look at it when then original owner sold it. As far as the game being old, if I never have played it its new to me. There are lots of games out there that looked really good when they first came out, but at the time maybe I didn’t have the money or just didn’t get around to buying them. Well now I can get those some games at a discount. Just the other day I bought two games that were a few years old. Now I could have bought them new for $20 each, but I decided to buy them used. I paid $11 including tax for both games, not to bad. They work fine and since I’ve never played them its just like have two brand new games.
I wouldn’t buy a used game for a gift because they usually do look used if you know what I mean, but as a treat I would always try to fine a game used. So go out there and bring your kid’s home a new (used) game today and don’t forget to have some fun playing it with them.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
3D animation on a parent's budget
As a kid I was always fascinated with animation, and like most kids I wanted to give it a try. So now that I’m a Dad I also want to be supportive of my kids as they become interested in something new. Today I’m going to talk about a great open source 3D animation software program and the best part is it’s free. A few years ago I became interested in 3D animation, and that’s when I discovered a program called Blender. Blender is an open source software project made for a variety of computer platforms including Windows, Macs, and Linux. The minimum system requirements are pretty small to use blender, you’re going to need a 300 MHz CPU, 128 MB Ram, 20 MB of free hard drive space, a graphics card with 8 MB of Ram, and a three button mouse. Basically if you have a computer that is less than 5 years old you can probably use Blender with out any problems, so you don’t need the latest and greatest PC to have some fun learning 3D animation. The best part about Blender is its free, now that’s something all parents can appreciate. You can download Blender at http://www.blender.org/.
Now before you start thinking this is some watered down version, its not, this is a professional level 3D modeling and animation software package. Just look at the gallery and testimonials on Blender’s website. According to one of the testimonials, this software was used to do some of the test animation for Spider-man 2. Additionally there is a great short film done using Blender call “Elephants Dream”, this feature is free to download, and really highlights what can be accomplished with this software.The art of 3D animation is a slow building process. So don’t expect to make the next Pixar movie right away. Keep it simple at first, stick figures are great, and remember it’s the basics you want to learn first. Theirs lots of tutorials available on Blender’s website for the noobs (beginners) to the pros. Don’t be afraid to read through some of the tutorials, they’ll make the process a lot easier. So now if your kids say they would like to try 3D animation you’ll know right where to start.
I would also like to mention another free 3D modeling/animation software program. It’s called Anim8or, and can be found at http://www.anim8or.com/. This program doesn’t have all the features that Blender does and it’s a bit of a “work in progress”, so expect a few bugs, but I think this is a bit easier to use when you’re first starting. The reason I didn’t do a full write up on Anim8or is because it’s only for windows.
Now before you start thinking this is some watered down version, its not, this is a professional level 3D modeling and animation software package. Just look at the gallery and testimonials on Blender’s website. According to one of the testimonials, this software was used to do some of the test animation for Spider-man 2. Additionally there is a great short film done using Blender call “Elephants Dream”, this feature is free to download, and really highlights what can be accomplished with this software.The art of 3D animation is a slow building process. So don’t expect to make the next Pixar movie right away. Keep it simple at first, stick figures are great, and remember it’s the basics you want to learn first. Theirs lots of tutorials available on Blender’s website for the noobs (beginners) to the pros. Don’t be afraid to read through some of the tutorials, they’ll make the process a lot easier. So now if your kids say they would like to try 3D animation you’ll know right where to start.
I would also like to mention another free 3D modeling/animation software program. It’s called Anim8or, and can be found at http://www.anim8or.com/. This program doesn’t have all the features that Blender does and it’s a bit of a “work in progress”, so expect a few bugs, but I think this is a bit easier to use when you’re first starting. The reason I didn’t do a full write up on Anim8or is because it’s only for windows.
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