Gadgets

Old Fashioned Content Delivery About New Fashioned Technology – Scholastic Discover More “Technology” Book

by Michael Sheehan on May 7, 2012

in Book, Consumer Electronics, Family, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Opinion, Review, Tech News

Post image for Old Fashioned Content Delivery About New Fashioned Technology – Scholastic Discover More “Technology” Book

I usually write about technology and gadgets. Anything bright and shiny really gets my attention, so much so, that I have little to no time to read books as most of my reading is confined to trade publications and articles. My children, however, especially my youngest daughter seem to LOVE reading, which is exciting. However, I just got my hands on an advanced copy of new book coming out soon by Scholastic as part of a new series called “Scholastic Discover More.” The book that caught my attention in particular was one called “Technology – How today’s technology really works” by Clive Gifford.

scholastic-discover-more-technology-cover

Targeted towards the “Expert Reader” (ages 9-13), the “Technology” book actually was one of the first books that I have picked up and “read” in quite a long time. I put “read” in quotes because it is actually more of an advanced picture book than a book of literature. However, that doesn’t mean that it is better or worse in any way. In fact, the book is not only engaging, but it is truly educational. And, as with books about any type of technology, I would have thought that it would be instantly out of date. In fact, it is pretty current and discusses and breaks down the latest technology trends in easy to understand examples (complete with bright and shiny pictures as well). And, to top it off, each book comes with a unique code that allows you to download a digital companion to it.

Technology-ebook-cover

The structure of the “Technology” book is unique. For starters, it is broken up in to chapters around certain subjects and within each subject are sub-sections. The primary sections (and some of the sub-sections – I did not list all of them) are: [click to continue…]

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The Tech Upgrade Trickle-Down Effect, Getting the Gadget Gifts You Want, 4G or Not & other Content from Man of the House

by Michael Sheehan on December 16, 2011

in Gadgets, General, Man of the House, Mobile, Opinion

As I mentioned in my last article, I have started doing some writing for Man of the House (MotH), a “real man’s magazine”. While I don’t have a regular schedule of when content is pushed to the site, I wanted to do a post that summarizes my first articles there. Moving forward, I will periodically have some more updates on content over there.

Do you want to learn more about Man of the House? Take a look at their About page.

Man of the House is the real man’s magazine, a guide for the jack of all trades trying to be better – at work and at home, as a father and as a husband. Men’s roles have changed in a generation. Fatherhood is different. Marriage is different. Careers and finances are different. Even the oil your dad taught you to change is different. Man of the House is about men helping other men become better men. We’re here for the man who wears a dozen hats and worries about losing his hair.

There are well over 30 featured contributors providing a wide range of content. Please spend some time over there. It’ll be worth it. [click to continue…]

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Giveaway and Review: Modernizing Monopoly with Electronic Banking

by Michael Sheehan on November 17, 2011

in Consumer Electronics, Family, Gadgets, General, Giveaway, Review

Post image for Giveaway and Review: Modernizing Monopoly with Electronic Banking

Show me a family who hasn’t played Monopoly before and I will let you see the dinosaur I keep in my back yard. I would hazard to guess that pretty much any family has, at one point of time or another, played Monopoly. It’s a rite of passage and part of growing up. You have to go through the pains and triumphs of “real life” as you roll your way around the game board. And a monopoly game can last weeks or months. In fact, the longest Monopoly game on record lasted 70 straight days.

Well, times are a changin’ and we are now moving into the modern era. And those young whippersnappers at Hasbro have decided to modernize Monopoly as well. I was pretty much convinced that the game would be spoiled somehow since the banker played such a pivotal role in managing and organizing the game. So, when I got my hands on Monopoly with Electronic banking, I was a bit skeptical of how it was modernized, but after playing it for a while (and being the banker), I was pleasantly surprised.

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For starters, you no longer collect $200 when you pass go, you collect $2M (yes, that’s million). Payments go down to $1000 increments. Also, the pieces themselves have been updated. And there is no paper money. It has been replaced by a gadget that resembles a calculator.

Players are given credit cards of sorts and that is all of the “currency” that you need. All of the banking transactions, fees and payouts, are done electronically.

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2/5ths of the Cast of Dads Get Their Brains Upgraded at Intel’s “Upgrade Your Life” 2011 Event

by Michael Sheehan on July 18, 2011

in Cast of Dads, Consumer Electronics, Event, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Intel, Opinion, PodCast, Tech News, Video

Post image for 2/5ths of the Cast of Dads Get Their Brains Upgraded at Intel’s “Upgrade Your Life” 2011 Event

Last week, 2 of the Cast of Dads had the opportunity to visit Intel in Santa Clara, CA to participate in an annual event called “Upgrade Your Life.” This day-long summit was an opportunity for a variety of influential technology and parenting bloggers to convene to understand some of the initiatives that Intel participates in or drives – something beyond just “the manufacturing of chips.” Last Wednesday, Jeff Sass (Dadomatic.com) and I got to flip the saying from “Intel Inside” to “Inside Intel” as we learned more from the thought leaders within Intel.

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Both Jeff and I are part of the Intel Advisors program as well and participated in last year’s Upgrade Your Life event in Portland, OR. Both of us will be providing addition insight, commentary and media from this event and will be posting it over the coming weeks. However, we recorded a quick overview of the event and a few things that we learned which we wanted to share (this video is also available here on YouTube):

[iframe_loader width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tdbEOYbsk60?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen]

It’s always a pleasure and a privilege to be invited to events, summits or meetings sponsored by large brands and industry leaders. If your brand or company is interested in sponsoring a trip for the Cast of Dads, please let us know! You can email us at: castofdads@gmail.com.

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NUU MiniKey Gives your iPhone 4 a Physical Keyboard

June 9, 2011
Thumbnail image for NUU MiniKey Gives your iPhone 4 a Physical Keyboard

Now why would anyone want a physical keyboard for their iPhone? The on-screen keyboard is so easy to use and it’s there when you need it and not when you don’t. Well, my wife, for one, misses the physical keyboard of her Blackberry. There is now a solution for those people who are craving a [...]

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Sony, Ford and NYC Auto Show Videos from the Cast of Dads Roadtrip

May 11, 2011
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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 [...]

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The MicroVision SHOWWX+ Laser Pico Projector is Small, Easy to Use & I’m Giving One Away!

March 2, 2011

I have only reviewed a couple of pico projectors but that is enough to convince me how great having such a small, portable form factor is. Pico projectors are a very similar to those projectors you find in conference rooms or schools, but much, much smaller and with less light output. But what you may [...]

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HighTechDad’s 2010 Gadget Roundup & Gift Guide

December 20, 2010

Better late than never I guess! Over the past year, I have tested out and reviewed a variety of gadgets and consumer electronic devices. Most of these were hand-picked for review purposes in that they are devices that, to me, looked really interesting and intriguing. Given that there are only a few days left for [...]

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