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The Online Mom provides internet technology advice and information to help parents protect their kids, encourage responsible behavior and safely harness the power of technology in the new digital world. Social networking, photo sharing, video games, IM & texting, internet security, cyberbullying, educational resources, the latest on tech hardware, gadgets and software for kids 3-8, tweens and teens, and more.
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Welcome to The Online Mom!
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013
Getting Organized with the Samsung Galaxy Note II
 By Paul O’Reilly
Despite surrounding myself with electronic gadgets, I have always been an inveterate note-taker. And I’m not just talking about the odd ‘message to self’ on the back of an envelope. I like to make lists – and lots of them. To-do lists; book lists; app lists; shopping lists. Whatever’s in my head, I like to write it all down and file it away for future reference. In the old days, that meant carrying around a journalist-style notebook, which I could pull from my coat pocket and flip open at a moment’s notice. But that was before smartphones and tablets took over the world, and carrying a notebook became a little like wearing shoulder pads or owning a pet rock.
The Online Mom Blog - Keeping up with the kids
I used to regard myself as one of those tech-savvy moms. You know the type – someone who knew how to set up a home network, and was always up-to-date with the latest hardware and software. I even had my kids’ tech habits under control. There was a strict no-tech-before-homework rule, parental controls on all the computers, and a total of three hours a week set aside for video games. It worked well for a while…and then everything went mobile! The lightning-fast transition to mobile technology has left me – and I’m sure a lot of other moms – on the back foot. Our perfectly controlled worlds of scheduled tech time and filtered content have been replaced by an anytime, anywhere mash up of smartphones, tablets and connected gaming devices.
The Online Mom Blog - Don’t look for a self-driving car just yet!
The news earlier this month that Google expects to release the technology for self-driving cars sometime within the next five years sent ripples of excitement through both the tech community and the automotive industry. The fact that Google has been testing self-driving cars for years is no secret. In fact, Google’s self-driving cars have become something of a familiar sight around its Mountain View, CA headquarters, as well as at other testing sites in Nevada and Florida. It’s also well-known that Google and third-party observers have been more than encouraged by the performance of the self-driving cars and their potential for increased highway safety.
The Online Mom Blog - 10 things you shouldn’t do on a social network
Social networking has become commonplace; so commonplace, in fact, that most of the time we forget that we’re actually doing it. I see Facebook updates that were clearly intended for just a few close friends but were instead broadcast to the world; I see Pinterest ‘pins’ that wouldn’t be out of place in an adult magazine; and I see Twitter conversations that would make a drunken sailor blush. While members of Congress and the Electronic Frontier Foundation still worry about privacy, everyone else seems to have thrown caution to the wind. Part of it is surely the old adage that familiarity breeds contempt – we are so used to Facebook and Twitter that we are no longer careful about what we say – and part of it is the easy access to social networks through mobile devices. Smartphones and apps have made it so easy to post a photo or respond to an update, that we don’t stop to think about the consequences.
Tax Time and Identity Theft
At this time of year, many of us are busy preparing for tax time. There are forms to fill out, credit card summaries to analyze (and be horrified by!), and calls to make, such as the all-important one to my favorite accountant who gets booked up very early in the season. These days much of the information comes online, often in the form of email messages about mortgage payments, 401Ks, insurance, banking and more, so it is more important than ever to be careful about protecting your identity. Why? Because tax time is open season for identity thieves.
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