“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 →February 16, 2007
Our own “three wise monkeys”
The origins of the phrase "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" may not be truly known, the phrase, on the other hand is. Wikipedia has a small write-up of the expression and its various possible origins. On a trip to Lake Tahoe last year, my wife and I took the opportunity to have our own "monkeys" give…
Read more →January 17, 2007
Fixing a Honda Odyssey Automatic Sliding Door
I'm going a bit away from my usual tech talk on this one but still, it points to how truly information packed, the Internet is. We had a deep freeze last night, rain and then below freezing temperatures. Most of the Country is experiencing that now...but here in California, it is a bit rare to go below freezing (especially in…
Read more →December 20, 2006
Word games for kids when waiting or traveling
One of the blogs that I frequent has a nice repost of another blog. Being a father of 3 lovely girls, we do lots of traveling by car. While the DVD player that we have is great (I don't know how I survived as a kid...kids these days are soooo lucky), there is something to be said about good ol'…
Read more →November 15, 2006
“Tipsy O’Malley” – Our Drunken Irish Ghost
We have a family ghost. His name is Tipsy O'Malley. He's Irish and, living up to the stereotype, he's always drunk. We discovered him as we started experiencing an unrealistically high number of "spilled liquids" in our house. He's the guy who knocks over glasses of wine or spills coffee on your keyboard or bumps glasses of milk off the…
Read more →November 6, 2006
Way behind on my posts
Just been way to busy. Here are some highlights of things that I have done: Update my activeCollab site to the latest Release Candidate Fixed my wife's computer (issues with RAM upgrade and Windows XP) Helped a friend get reconnected on their wireless network Helped another friend get their Powerbook on their wireless network as well as got them off…
Read more →October 24, 2006
How to combat Phishing Scams
So, I previously posted about Phishing scams and what they look like (with screen shots). I figured that I would continue my Public Service Announcement with some tools that you can use to be sure that you don't get "caught." Option #1 - There is a new site that you can go and report Phishing scams on called PhishTank. On…
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September 30, 2006
Cobras are 4-0!
Another good game for my daughter's soccer team, the Cobras! This was one of the closer games with the talent of both sides being fairly balanced. However, the Cobras were able to pull out another victory! I actually tried to document the game. Here is one of the warm-up highlights!
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September 29, 2006
Understanding Phishing Scams…first hand!
This is my PSA (Public Service Announcement) for the week and it is about something pretty scary...Phishing Scams. Several years ago, I was a victim of identity theft. It was not a pleasant experience but it left me wiser and more cautious. It was done the old fashioned way of swiping some receipts and looking up some account information (local…
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September 24, 2006
Race for the Cure!
My wonderful wife did a wonderful thing. About a week ago, she decided that she would do the Race for the Cure (The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation race in San Francisco). She has been working out for a long time but this time decided to do it for the good of others. Driven by various events, including a…
Read more →September 23, 2006
Go Cobras!
My oldest daughter, Natasha, is a member the Cobras of LMYA Soccer. They are currently 3-0 and looking really solid! I'm so proud of my little soccer player! She is showing a lot of promise and talent!
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April 11, 2006
Anti-Spyware Tools (recommended)
There are two anti-spyware tools that are free that I recommend all Windows users install: Spybot Search & Destroy SpywareBlaster Both of these tools are free, however, you need to be diligent in terms of updating their "definitions" regularly (part of the price of using "freeware" tools). I usually go to one of my favorite Windows program sites called MajorGeeks…
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