“Family” collection
Navigate the intersection of family life and technology with expert advice on household gadgets, digital parenting, and home safety. This section focuses on tools and strategies that enhance family connections and simplify domestic logistics in a digital-first world.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →August 17, 2008
“My Favorite Vacation”
My oldest daughter took a typing class this summer. She's only 9 but typing is going to be an important skill for her in the coming years so we put her in this class. As a final exercise, she wrote a short story titled "My Favorite Vacation." She took the course with a good friend of hers and they had…
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July 28, 2008
TechDad on the Road
I have always wanted a personalized license plate ever since I was a child. I begged my parents to get one when I was a kid. That didn't work. So this year I decided to take the plunge. It was a lot less expensive than I would have thought and I basically got it for myself for Father's Day, with…
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June 30, 2008
“Daddy Spa” – Quality Floor-time for Girls and their Dads
My world is ruled by women! I have a lovely wife and 3 wonderful girls. So, how does one spend quality floor time with girls? I can't say that I dress up as a princess (even if my girls would want it I don't think I would fit in a yellow Belle dress). What is "floor time"? Basically it is…
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June 19, 2008
Children Should Not Be Allowed to get Sick!
All kids get sick. Colds and flu's are just part of a child's process of building immunities for their future health. When a child is sick, it is not a fun experience for either the child or the parent. But it is part of life. It's when an illness becomes a child's life that is the most devastating. It is…
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June 12, 2008
Review: Safe Internet for your Kids with Intego Content Barrier x4
Being a good dad means protecting your kids. That can be by physically keeping them from danger, or, by preventing their young innocent eyes and minds from being corrupted by seeing content that they are too young for. With technology, connectivity and communications pervading all aspects of our lives, it has become increasingly difficult to control what our children see,…
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June 9, 2008
Review: Netflix Player – Get Dad Movies On Demand
I'm going to try something this week and write up some quick product reviews in case you are looking for something to buy your dad or husband for Father's Day. This year, budgets are tight so even spending $100 may be pushing it, but when you make a tech decision, you should do some careful reviews prior to pulling the…
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May 26, 2008
NASA Phoenix Lander, the Web and Social Media: A Different Experience
Years ago, when space travel was new, people stopped everything just to watch a space ship take off or land or someone walk on the Moon. Those were and still are, HUGE achievements. We have yet to send another manned mission to the Moon and with a huge Federal deficit and a world-wide recession looming, it's a miracle that space…
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May 15, 2008
Transition from DD-WRT to Tomato on Linksys Router
I decided I was tired of waiting around for the next version of DD-WRT to come out (v24) which, as of this writing, was at RC7, I believe. I twittered today that I was tired of waiting and got a tweet back saying that I should check out Tomato and that people were saying some good things about it. I…
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April 8, 2008
Warning: Watch out for "Evacuation process…San Clemente Nucklear Power Station" email
Just a quick note. Watch out for an email coming in from various news sources (mine came from "foxnews" and a buddy's from "google news" that claims there was an issue at the "San Clemente Nucklear Power Station." This is most obviously a fake, especially if you are not signed up to receive email notifications from news sources. (If you…
Read more →February 26, 2008
DD-WRT + OpenVPN + LaCie Ethernet Disk Mini Home Edition = Listen to my Home Music at Work!
To write this all up would probably take way too much time. But for a while I have been trying to find the ultimate solution for listening to my iTunes library where ever I am. There are obviously other combinations of this that would work, but this is the latest iteration that I have come up with that I'm happy…
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January 24, 2008
Humor: Application for Permission to Date my Daughter
I came across this today and, since I am the father of three girls, decided to make it public for possible suitors to prepare themselves as well as for other fathers who may need it. Note, this is slightly changed from the original version that I received! Below is the text from the form, however, I have created a PDF…
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January 7, 2008
Book: Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?: The Transformation of Modern Europe
Updated 01.17.08 - Link added for Wall Street Journal Review Updated 01.14.08 - Link added for London Times review Updated 01.12.08 - Link added for Washington Post review and others Updated 01.11.08 - Link added for Podcast on New York Public Radio It's not often that I talk about books on my site, being primarily focused on technology...and I can't…
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