by Michael Sheehan on January 19, 2012
in auto, Cast of Dads, Consumer Electronics, Family, Ford, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Opinion, Review, Sony, video
A few months ago, Sony and Ford Motors invited the Cast of Dads out to the East Coast to participate in a variety of events, one of them was driving a 2011 Ford Explorer (note, link is for the 2012 model) from Boston to NYC. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the event, and boy was I jealous. Part of my envy came from the fact that I couldn’t drive the Ford Explorer (you can read more about the excursion over at the Cast of Dads). Luckily, over the 2011 holidays, I did have the pleasure of getting behind the wheel of the 2011 Ford Explorer for a road trip to and from Los Angeles from the San Francisco Bay Area.
I’m pretty familiar with Ford and their push to enable technology behind the wheel. I have test driven the Ford Flex and the Lincoln MKX (which is essentially quite similar to the Ford Edge). But being able to experience the Explorer first hand was pretty important to me since it has been a long running model for Ford since 1990.
Image source: Wikipedia.com
Well, we are already in 2012 now, so how does the 2011 Ford Explorer stack up? Pretty darn well. It has plenty of technology to make a gadget-drooling dad happy as I barreled down the super boring stretch of the I-5. (If you haven’t driving the I-5 ever, you definitely aren’t in for any type of treat. It’s really boring and at times your auto is filled with the lovely stench of cow manure as you pass the cattle farms – you can also almost take a nap without turning the wheel as the I-5 seems to stretch on indefinitely.)
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by Michael Sheehan on June 1, 2011
in Apple, Consumer Electronics, Family, Gadgets, General, Hardware, iPad, iPhone, ipod, Mobile, Review, Sony
Father’s Day is almost upon us and I wouldn’t be doing my part for the Dads out there if I didn’t put together a Father’s Day Gift Guide. Gifts are obviously very personal in nature so I can’t tell you what to get your dad. What I can do, however, is provide some ideas on some things that might make your dad smile a bit more and potentially appeal to the “HighTechDad” inside of him.
I won’t be recommending things that I haven’t actually tried, used, reviewed or have myself. That would, honestly, be quite silly. I might recommend some things that I don’t actually possess but know a lot about, but I simply won’t recommend something I haven’t tried first hand. Also not everything that I reviewed is on this list; some gadgets or electronics are just a bit better than others. In most cases, the items below will be linked to my reviews (check the object title for the link to my review) so that you can get details on just about every gadget on this list. But, since blogging is interactive, I encourage readers to leave a comment recommending some other gadgets or consumer electronics that they think are worth mentioning. And who knows, I might see something there that I actually WANT.
The following products are in no particular order or preference or anything apart from being grouped by price range. Do note, the Amazon price listed is as of the day of the writing this article (6/1/11) and is linked to the Amazon listing of that product (an Affiliate link and yes, I get a couple of pennies with each purchase…but that is what keep this blog running!).
Note: all links within the descriptions below are to reviews that I have done in case you want more details and my thoughts on that particular product.
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by Michael Sheehan on May 11, 2011
in audio, auto, Cast of Dads, Consumer Electronics, Event, Family, Ford, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Opinion, parenting, PodCast, Sony, video
A few weeks ago, Ford and Sony invited the Cast of Dads on a really cool experience – a road trip from Boston driving a 2011 Ford Explorer down to New York International Auto Show. Unfortunately both Max and I were not able to attend, but Jeff, CC and Brad produced a ton of content from the excursion. I posted an article & video that they recorded “on the road” from the Ford Explorer…and the content continues to roll in. This article recaps some of the other video content captured by the Dads on the trip.
For starters, Jeff, Brad and CC spent some time with Sukhjit Ghag from Sony to discuss technology in the family and every day life. The Dads and Sukhjit talk about:
- SMS enabled washing machines
- smart banking
- family calendaring
- VisaBuxx
- phones becoming keys to the car
- kids evolving into the “touch generation” of devices
- creating 3D content
- and much more.
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People play video games in all sorts of ways. And there are many gaming consoles and devices available to use for it. As a parent, it’s a fine line to walk when it comes to your kids playing video games. When the weather is nice, how do you pry them away from the game controllers and get outside and enjoy the fresh air? It’s easy when the weather is bad, but not when it is sunny and beautiful outside. And, not all games are really appropriate for kids. You have to watch out for the violent ones, and the ones that have interactions with “outsiders” (e.g., the community).
But when friends get together, sometimes video gaming simply is just raw fun. It’s a time to interact, albeit through a device, and have a great time doing it. And kids can bond even beyond just the gaming experience.
Just the other day, I caught my daughter and her friend playing the Sony PlayStation, specifically, Little Big Planet 2 – which is by far the favorite of my kids in our house – with a unique style of gaming.
Both my daughter (on the left above) and her friend are dancers. As ballet dancers get more experienced, they go “en pointe” which is where they dance on the tips of their ballet shoes. These shoes are specialized (and expensive) and are reinforced which helps dancers remain on their toes for longer periods of time. Dancing en pointe can be painful and is not recommended for dancers under the age of 12 as their feet are still in a formative state and the bones still growing. Professional ballet dancers will go through pointe shows in a matter of weeks if not faster.
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