Category Archives: Tech Talk

Jul 15 7 comments
Papa Prattle, Public Service, Tech Talk

ItzaWinner – ItzaBitza

I’m not a gamer. Never have been really. I was moderately interested in good old Mario Bros. for a time and could rock Galaga like there was no tomorrow in my early teen years.  The only console I own is a Wii and that’s just because I won it. I did have a brief stint playing Starcraft but that’s pretty much it. Games haven’t been of much interest to me.

Lately we’ve been introducing Ava, the four year old, to computer games. We started with the basics, Reader Rabbit, Living books (Stellaluna is a favorite) and the like. Most of these games were given to us by family members which is great. Ava wiled away lots of time with these games. Eventually though she became bored with them.

Way back in February, otherwise known as the bowels of Michigan winter, I was looking for quality kids games that were affordable. I happened upon a contest PG was hosting and ended up winning that one too. Trust me, I’m not near as lucky as this post would lead you to believe. The prize in this contest was a copy of ItzaBitza.

ItzaBitza is fabulous software. It took Ava a few months to really get the hang of it. We would let her play for a bit at her own pace and for short amounts of time.  Within the last several weeks she has really wrapped her head around how the game works and is having an absolute blast.

I’m not even crazy about calling it a game. It’s so much more than that. The interaction is unlike anything I’ve seen in a program for a child. Ava can move the mouse over the words in a sentence or instruction and the game reads them to her. This is helping her learn to read as well as improving her accuracy with the mouse. The game tasks her with drawing different things which often place the character into action. She can’t be lazy about it either. The game seems pretty good at detecting a scribble, and discarding it, when it was expecting a house or tree instead. The fun doesn’t end with drawing things either. The items that are drawn can be put into motion much of the time. Imagine a plane your child draws in the game flying across the sky with a simple shake of the mouse. Really excellent.

There have been plenty of reviews written for ItzaBitza so don’t feel like you need to take my word for anything. The software only costs $20 and there’s also a trial version available. Go ahead, kick the tires.

Nov 26 9 comments
Heart Strings, Proud Papa, Tech Talk

Hints of Compassion

firetruck Last Friday was our town’s annual Christmas parade. My son and I walked the parade as part of his school’s Cub Scout pack. It was cold, but all the kids had a great time. We walked in front of a fire engine who’s driver enthusiastically honked that ultra loud, make-your-eardrums-bleed, emergency horn every couple of minutes. It kept the kids awake.

I thought little more about the parade until I got a heartwarming phone call from my wife yesterday morning. While she was dropping my son off at his classroom, one of the other moms came up to her and told my wife how much she thought of my son. She had just moved her slightly Autistic child to the school a couple of months ago and was impressed at how caring everyone was towards her son, my son especially. Her son is still involved with the scouts at his old school, and was marching with his old pack someplace else in the parade lineup. She told my wife that she and her son were behind a fire truck that just kept blowing its siren and horn and that all the noise was a little more than her child could handle.

Towards the end of the parade route we all started disbanding and moving off to the side of the street, and we suddenly had a mélange of scouts from different packs milling about the sidewalk. I lost sight of my son momentarily but had instituted a buddy rule at the beginning of the parade, so I wasn’t too worried. Sirens, lights, and marching bands added to the cacophony as we stood aside to let the large vehicles go by.

Little did I know that while I lost track of him my son saw his new classmate in the crowd and came up to him and held his hands over his classmates ears until the noise subsided. My son remembered his new classmate’s Autism, and how loud sounds affected him. I’m not sure if what he did helped, but the fact that he thought of someone’s anguish, in the middle of all the revelry, and even refrained from watching the sights to help someone else makes me proud of him. The child’s mother expressed her gratitude to my son, and my son took his place by my side, never once telling me about he had just done.

When kid’s are well behaved the parents can take the credit, but I don’t think compassion is something that can be taught. You either have it, or you don’t.

Nov 08 9 comments
Public Service, Tech Talk

Everyone in their place

I worry a lot. Specifically about my kids, and most specifically when we are all in crowded places or if they aren’t with their mother or I. If any one of them were to come up missing I would be an absolute wreck. They are my life.

In my various travels online, and while listening to podcasts like Jumping Monkeys, I’ve been introduced to a few tools that can help ease the worrisome mind. I’ve no affiliation with the products mentioned below nor is this part of some referral program. I just care about our kids.

safetytat

In very basic terms SafetyTat is a temporary tattoo that you would place on your child before they head out to the amusement park, beach or school field trip. If you’re like me you might even apply one before taking the kids to watch a movie though this might become expensive over time.

safetytat-giraffe

The folks behind SafetyTat have managed to make these little gems very attractive. They’re much more attractive than you might achieve with an Avery label and sharpie not to mention those Avery labels can’t hold up very well in water. The tattoos come in several different categories and designs and even include tats for medical alerts and special needs.

$20 gets you 30 SafetyTats.

identakeyThe identakey is a product that allows you to store the critical information (facts and photos) about your children, and possibly the whole family, on a secure USB flash drive.

The USB flash drive contains the database where your families information is stored. It also contains the software used to collect this information. The design of the application is such that none of the information gathered, or programs used for collection, are stored on a computer.

identakeypluskey A username and password is required to access the application and the data is encrypted; however, I wasn’t able to determine the type of encryption being used. Once the data is collected you have the ability to produce several reports (ID Card, Missing Poster, Fingerprint Card, etc) containing just the information you do not want to be hunting around for if an actual emergency were to occur.

The identakey would also be useful in day to day life, not just in emergencies. Simply having all this information in one place may be all the incentive you need to pick one up.

The identakey is available through several online sources and a few brick and mortar. It looks like the going rate is $29.99 per key.

instantamber

InstantAmber might be considered the online equivalent of identakey. With InstantAmber you gather and collect your families information online. The online model does create the opportunity to easily share the information with law enforcement. With this service there is even a password you set that is designed specifically for law enforcement. In the event of an emergency you would supply your email address and law enforcement password to an appropriate person, direct them to the InstantAmber site and they would have access to your information.

As with any online service, you need to be comfortable trusting them with your data and especially so in this case. Their site indicates the data is secure and encrypted.

This service runs $29.95/year per child.

There you have it. Three opportunities for you to be prepared when your children aren’t within arms reach.

The geek in me is considering collecting this data on my own USB drive within a TrueCrypt volume. If tech DIY is your kind of thing you might want to check out TrueCrypt yourself. Storing this same type of critical information in a spreadsheet, along with pictures, would seem to get the job done as well.

Have you taken the steps to gather your families information in one place, and if so what method did you use?

Jun 11 5 comments
Tech Talk

ZacBrowser: Zone for Autistic Children

In my day job a couple of my responsibilities include managing a network and helpdesk that supports over 2000 end users.  Thankfully I love technology and thus my job. It is particularly great when I come across technology that I can review and write about here. Technology that has the potential to better the world we present to our children. ZacBrowser is one such technology.

ZAC is the first web browser developed specifically for children with autism, and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and PDD-NOS. We have made this browser for the children – for their enjoyment, enrichment, and freedom. Children touch it, use it, play it, interact with it, and experience independence through ZAC.

zb2 The creators of ZacBrowser first created Kidz CD, a free browser for children and teens. When they learned their grandson, who was diagnosed with severe autism in 2005, was able to use and enjoy the browser they created another version designed around the needs of children diagnosed with autism and autistic spectrum disorders. The ZacBrowser was born.

ZAC is the zone that will permit your child to interact directly with games (a LOT of games) and activities (focused on MANY interests) that cater specifically to kids who display the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders, like impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication, restricted interests and repetitive behavior. ZAC has been an effective tool for kids with low, medium and high functioning autism.

You can download an installer of the ZacBrowser or an executable that can be run as is without a full blown installation. I’ve tested it on Windows Vista and Windows XP and it installed without incident. Once ZacBrowser is launched it fills the entire screen and what is displayed is a mesmerizing user interface.

zb1 The initial interface loads a very calming aquarium scene. The menu along the bottom of the screen is done in classic macintosh style and presents easy links to Aquarium, Television, Games, Music and Stories. Each section displays a different skin with links to the associated content. In my testing, videos, music or stories were played without a hitch. One video link led to the Disney site (wrapped in the ZacBrowser interface) and I was concerned this may be a jumping off point to other places online. It seems the developers thought of this as each attempt to do anything other than play the selected video was met with no results.

All in all this seems like a solid piece of software created with absolutely the best of intentions. In addition to the ZacBrowser they are also hosting a support ZacBrowser forum for parents to reach out to one another and share trials and successes.

(Parents) We know that your job here is challenging and that you meet the responsibilities of each day as a special kind of hero – especially to your autistic child! Because we share your circumstance as parents (or Grandparents) of a special needs child, we have developed a place especially for you so that you can share your unique experiences with other parents and grandparents. This is the best place to connect with others whose lives are touched by autism. You will benefit from their experiences, their stories, their tips, tricks, tools and triumphs – and they will learn from yours. All of this is essential because your child is so much more than any medical journal can possibly describe, and we all need more information than we can get from our doctors.

If you would like to spread the word about this great piece of software please use the ShareThis link below to Stumble it, Digg it, send a link in an email. Whatever your preference.

May 19 1 comments
Humor Central, Proud Papa, Tech Talk

Well, well, well!

My wife and I were chatting about a friend who was having a drinking water well drilled on his property.

“They’re down to around 200 feet now.” I said.

“What kind of well are they digging?” My son interjected.

“Well, a water well of course. What other kinds of wells are there?” I said matter-of-factly.

My son said, with DUH intonation and attitude, “Wishing Wells!!!”

I laughed so hard I couldn’t catch a breath. He comes up with some good ones.

May 13 10 comments
Tech Talk

Video killed the preschool star

totlol_logo There’s this pretty cool online service that just started up called TOTLOL. The idea behind the site is to present videos, from youTube, that are kid friendly. The emphasis is on kids from 6 months to 6 years (and those of us that refuse to grow up).

From the TOTLOL about page:

Most video websites use some method of content filtering to block content that is considered inappropriate for young adults. While the sites have great content for all ages, including tots and kids, they were not intended for children under the age of 13.
They provide no way to filter anything that may be inappropriate and they provide very limited tools to find what is appropriate and relevant.
This is where Totlol steps in.

I happen to think this is a pretty great idea and if enough of us spread the word and assist with the filtering process the site may have a chance to succeed. How does the moderating work you ask?

1. When scouting parents search the YouTube database via a Totlol interface. The scouting interface lets parents search and watch videos just as they used to do on YouTube.
When they find a video that they think is appropriate and relevant they can choose to submit it.

2. When submitting parents are asked to review the title and tags associated with the video and to provide a review of the content. They are also asked to specify the main language of the video and categorize it. This information, together with the original YouTube information is presented at screening.

3. The screening part of the process is where the community plays the most significant role. Each Totlol user is invited to screen videos submitted by others and to answer screening questions. The answers are collected and analyzed by computer.
Only videos that pass the grade are then available for the viewing tots.

It looks like some real thought went into this product and it would be nice to see it make it. YouTube is already an awesome resource but there is also plenty of undesirable stuff. If the community of moderators grows and proves to be trustworthy it could be the next killer preschool app. That’s right THE next killer preschool app.

If you check it out please remember the site is currently in Beta so don’t go on a witch hunt if the bottom falls out from underneath it every now and again.

I haven’t done any submitting yet but you can find my profile here. Have fun!

Because I couldn’t resist…

Apr 11 28 comments
Tech Talk

A little business

lead-a_little_business

I’ve been working on a site redesign the last several weeks and have finally rolled it into production. If you view “D is for Dad” via a news reader it would be genuinely appreciated if you could click on through and maybe even leave a comment.

I’ve never been terribly fond of the traditional blog layout which introduces a lot of scrolling. With both Mike and I dabbling in the design world we wanted to bring as much information “above the fold” as possible and reduce the scrolling. We think this layout (Branford Magazine theme) accomplishes this.

We’ve also taken this opportunity to add a couple of items.

  • The Mini Blog – (look over on the right side)
    We will use this space for those short bursts of inspiration that don’t warrant a full blog post. As of right now I am not including the mini blog posts in the main RSS feed for this site, but you are able to subscribe to the mini blog feed itself by adding the following to your reader:
    http://www.disfordad.com/category/mini-blog/feed/
  • D is for Dad Flickr Group – (upper right corner)
    I’ve created a public group on Flickr for D is for Dad. While it is public I am moderating what is added to the group as those photos will appear in the upper right corner. You are encouraged to add a photo of your own to this group. Have fun with it!

We hope you enjoy the changes. Let us know what you think.

Mar 20 20 comments
Public Service, Tech Talk

D is for Dad is on top!

alltop.jpg

Well, dads.alltop.com that is and we’re not really on the top (kinda close to the bottom actually) but we are very happy to be included. The good stuff is usually on the bottom anyway (sugar, cocoa, gold, solids in a septic tank), unless you’re talking about cream, then it’s at the top. But I digress….

This is pretty exciting stuff really. While we imagined giving our children something to groan about in the future we never really intended for people to like us. You do like us don’t you? Forget I asked. I may not be able to handle the truth.

I’m pretty sure we made our way onto the list via recommendation and for that I thank you. Yes, you.

The Alltop site is best explained, well, by Alltop. The following is from the about page.

We help you explore your passions by collecting stories from “all the top” sites on the web. We’ve grouped these collections — ”aggregations” — into individual Alltop sites based on topics such as environment, photography, science, celebrity gossip, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, and Macintosh. At each Alltop site, we display the latest five stories from thirty or more sites on a single page — we call this “single-page aggregation.”

The result of this aggregation becomes a great starting point for each of the categories listed among the collections. This could also be a fantastic networking tool. I’ve already discovered many Dad and Mom blogs that I wasn’t aware of or, dare I say, forgotten about.

Thanks to Guy Kawasaki and the rest of Nononina for creating a pretty sweet resource, and for including lil ol’ us.