Avoidance, Internet Safety & Me

June 30, 2010 By 1 Comment

In addition to being hot as all getout in the DC area, June is also Internet Safety Month.  As a tech lawyer, I’m well aware of the dangers that the Internet presents to children and teens when they’re given unsupervised access.  And those dangers are truly terrifying.  My children are ages 5 (almost 6), 4 and 2 years old – and lucky for me, they’re still at an age where their time on the Internet is extremely limited.  We went through a stint where the preschooler and the kindergartener wanted to use my laptop every chance they got to watch music videos or play games on Starfall.  We also visited PBS Kids often.  I liked Starfall and PBS Kids because they could click through themselves and the likelihood of them being led astray by flashing ads or attractive links was low.

YouTube was a whole ‘nother story.  I actually bookmarked 2 of their favorite videos so that they could click on them easily.  The problem is that, well, YouTube is a huge problem.  So we shut that down pretty quickly.

We actually brought up my old PC from the basement and hooked it up for the kids, so that they could have “their own” computer.  They liked clicking around, and would quickly would get distracted by a banner or smiley face ad. And we know those are all bad news.

It didn’t take Chatterbox too long to find Google.  We have the Google toolbar loaded. I mean how can anyone survive without access to Google at their fingertips 24/7?  So she quickly figured out that she could type in “Hannah Montana” or “Barbie” and come up with a bevy of search results – not all of them courtesy of Disney or Mattel.  I had to make sure to keep a close eye on her computer time and then not too long after – by the grace of God – the computer died.

So we’ve been on an Internet hiatus when it comes to the kids.  And I don’t mind one bit.  After attending the Cox Summit on Teen Internet Safety, I was bombarded with enough stats and horror stories to not want to let my kids even think about the Internet.  And so, for now, the Webkinz that I bought on sale last year will remain safely wrapped up on the coat closet shelf.

I know one day I’m going to have to bite the bullet and face the fact that my kids are online.  But I’m in no hurry.  For now I’m busy enough with shoelace-tying lessons and breaking up arguments over who gets the cherry Popsicle to have to worry about cyberbullying, online child predators, and sexting.  And I’m cherishing every moment.

A Yahoo Motherboard-inspired post.

Filed Under: growing up, Internet Safety, privacy, the child files, Yahoo Motherboard

Out of Town Eats

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment


The past two weeks (well, really 6 years) have been busy.  The week before last I traveled to Nashville for work.  It was my second time going to Nashville – I was there in February for Blissdom Conference – but I didn’t get the chance to try any local BBQ.  I am in a love affair with the Yelp! app on my Droid, so I easily pulled up the best rated BBQ joint in downtown Nashville and walked to the main strip to check it out.  I ordered the beef brisket, coleslaw and cornbread.  While Jack’s was good, I really wasn’t all that impressed. In fact, I even thought to myself that our local BBQ place had them beat by a mile.  So I was feeling a little disappointed in my Nashville BBQ experience.

And then I arrived at the airport. Yes, the airport.  I saw the mini-location of the Neely’s BBQ restaurant! I was so excited and did not think twice before ordering up a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and fries. OH MY was it ever good. Now that’s what BBQ should taste like! It was moist, tender, flavorful and the sauce was divine.  The coleslaw was the perfect combination of crunchy, creamy and salty and the crisp fries were icing on the cake. Just you take a look:

Success!

Last week I headed to my native country of Canada for my best friend’s wedding.  Going home always calls for special trips to eat the heartwarming foods that I grew up on and that aren’t available in the States.  In addition to stockpiling the requisite Cadbury chocolate bars and Swedish Berries, I wasted no time in getting to Burger King and ordering a poutine – the Quebec french fry, gravy and cheese curd delicacy. There’s really nothing like it.


Oh Canada.

Filed Under: food, Foodie Favorites, Hitting the Road

Fed Up with Facebook?

June 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I joined Facebook years ago, waaaaay back in 2007 or 2008 in my role as a high-tech goods and services lawyer.  Hardly anyone was on it then and it seemed…simpler.  More peaceful.  Now that everybody and their Mama is on Facebook (including, incidentally, my Mama), Facebook has unashamedly picked up the pace in terms of chipping away at the walls of privacy that it built in order to persuade us to join in the first place.

Nowadays it seems like there is a new scandal involving Facebook on a weekly basis.  Their privacy policies are cryptic and full of holes, virtually impossible for the average user to navigate.  And increasingly the medium is becoming commercialized.  You only have to be halfway paying attention to notice the little tricks that have slowly been creeping into your Facebook experience that encourage you to grow your network (Hey! Aunt Marge suggests you become friends with her grocery store bag boy!) or provide third-party application providers with your personal information (Of course you can set up your family tree! All you need to do is grant this random, unidentified app provider access to your profile!).

Any yet, Facebook recently surpassed Google as the most visited site in the United States.  There’s no questioning that it has revolutionized the way we communicate with our family, friends and co-workers.  It’s easy to use (but for those pesky privacy settings), it’s fun to use, and it’s addictive.  So clearly they’re doing something right.  And even though I know all to well the privacy concerns and security issues that Facebook presents to users, I have yet to take my profile down.  Checking my News Feed and my Wall has become a part of my daily routine.

Because, after all, even though I may know better…I’m human.  And that means I need to update my status every 11 minutes. It’s only natural.

An original Blissfully Domestic Technology Channel post.

Filed Under: Facebook, keepin' it treal, privacy, social media