Disney Parks Pave The Way For Interactive Gaming Ideas

On November 4, 2010, Microsoft launched its interactive gaming accessory Kinect for the Xbox 360 gaming console. The device offers players a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience." There are several games that are available for the Kinect. These games offer players the ability to interact with games using their body as the controller.

Kinect consists of a horizontal sensor bar (pictured above) that is mounted on a motorized pivot and connected to the Xbox 360 via USB cable. The bar is designed to be positioned above or below the television display.

Thanks to a product tear-down by Tom's Guide, we have learned that there are several pieces of technology inside the Kinect bar. Here's a list of some of the key components found inside:

• InfraRed CMOS Camera (part of depth sensor functionality) - (320 x 240)
• InfraRed Projector (part of depth sensor functionality)
• Color CMOS Camera (640 x 480)
• An array of four microphones
• Tiny motor
• Three-axis accelerometer
• 64MB DDR2 SDRAM 
• Cooling fan

There is no doubt that Microsoft has packed a lot of technology into their new product. The device has been selling very well this holiday season. Along with the introduction of the Playstation Move, gamers have finally been treated to a more immersive gaming experience at home.

Is this style of interactive gaming brand new? Not entirely, if you look at the innovative things that the Walt Disney Company has been doing in its theme parks for several years.

In late summer 2007, Disney unveiled a series of five interactive games in their Soarin attraction queue that allows groups of waiting park-goers the chance to control the action on large 11' by 25' overhead screens using their arms and bodies, without the use of a controller. Each game allows groups of approximately 50 people that form in front of each game screen to collaborate and compete in a series of interactive experiences.

Soarin' queue games developed by Playmotion - Photo via Playmotion

The developer of the Soarin' queue attractions PlayMotion states "In all five experiences, the PlayMotion Vision Engine is employed to detect various individual gestures as well as overall crowd motion dynamics, and translate that data into input signals for a videogame, much as one would use a joystick or controller pad at home."

The games allow those waiting for Soarin' to have a blast while they await entrance to the attraction itself. The interactive games take about 25 minutes in total. Certainly a welcome diversion opposed to simply standing idle and doing nothing while waiting.

While Microsoft has certainly been successful in packaging similar technologies into a relatively affordable consumer entertainment product, we need to tip our hats to and give major kudos to Disney and the developers at PlayMotion for having the foresight and drive to get this style of interactivity out in the public eye well in advance of Kinect's debut. I wonder if Microsoft saw how successful these queue games are and used them as an impetus to develop Kinect.

Disney has been revolutionizing entertainment and experiences for decades. To find out more about how Disney is using interactivity and technology to manage theme park queues, please read this excellent article at the New York Times.

What do you think about Microsoft Kinect? If you have it, do you like it? Have you seen the interactive games at Disney parks first hand, and if so, what are your impressions?

How Much Do We Really Care About Privacy?

Over the past decade, my perception has been that we have lost a lot of privacy. Since the Patriot Act was signed in late October 2001, the US government has had less difficulty in obtaining any personal and private information they want, as well as given themselves the opportunity to search our homes and personal effects with much less restriction.

Although I am opposed to the loss of several layers or regulation and restriction on the governments use of my information and preferences, the last couple of years, we have voluntarily been handing over this information to third party advertisers, application developers, and other businesses. The new gorilla in the room could be... apps.

A recent investigative article from the Wall Street Journal shows that smartphones and their popular applications are sharing your personal information such as phone numbers, current location, the owner's real name and other unique identification information widely and regularly. A link to the original article can be found HERE.

The WSJ goes on to illustrate that several of the most popular applications like Pandora Radio sends your information to up to eight trackers. Although the fact that these applications send data to application developers, advertisers, and other companies is outlined in many of the application license agreements that you must accept to use them, end users rarely if ever take the time to read them. Many software and hardware products come with lengthy end user license agreements (EULA) they are often peppered with legalese that most folks, myself included have difficulty deciphering. 

I personally am ok with most of my applications sharing the data that they have. Some applications actually share your personal contacts with third party services. This bothers me somewhat. When I learn that an application takes a little too much liberty with the information it gathers, I remove the application and cease using it. Many of these applications are free. I can understand how free applications need to be subsidized with in application ads, or sharing some information to offset development costs and the costs that would be paid for if users were to outright purchase the apps, but many paid apps share the same information as well.

As an example, the WSJ uncovered that the most popular smartphone game Angry Birds from Rovio Mobile, Ltd. transmits your contacts, location including city and gps information, phone id, and your username and password to third parties. The developer claims that it transmits this data to a game platform and analytics service to better understand what its users want. My question is, how secure are third parties when they handle this data.

Although we are often quick to cry fowl when the government accesses and transmits our private information, we seem to look the other way and be unconcerned when out must-have apps and games do the same thing. As a society, I think we need to be more diligent in controlling all of our information. I see this situation getting worse, not better. Consumers really need to be educated and take action.

What are your thoughts on the way application and hardware developers are handling your information. Although we have to opt-in to use these games, so few of us take the time to understand what is being done with this information.

Wow - No Effort Needed, Ever!

Lose weight fast, become rich overnight, lose those aches and pains instantly! Advertising today hasn't changes much since the snake oil carts of the past. When I see these commercials on television or in print, I find them better than any comedy film. They are simply hilarious and entertaining.

Last week I started reading the new book from Timothy Ferriss entitled The Four Hour Body. Tim describes various techniques he has implemented to achieve significant weight loss, fitness results, sleep optimization, enhanced sexual pleasure, and more. This book is the result of a tremendous amount of research on Tim's part, and a significant investment of his personal money as well to gather the best equipment and expertise in each field to assist him with his studies.

Although rather bold, Tim Ferris knows of what he writes about. He has spent his career hacking the body and personal processes to obtain the maximum results with the least effort. Let's make a note here... there is still effort involved. You must follow plans properly, as well as implement techniques as demonstrated and described. You need to do some work...

That's why I laugh so much when I see these commercials that tout simply popping a diet pill as the answer to your weight problems. Heck, even real pharmacy companies market to us this way.

Look at Viagra. It has given many men the opportunity to experience sex in a somewhat normal way. Although Viagra assists men in one area, there is no one pill that will solve all sexual issues. There is no one stop answer... period.

How can one expect to be rich overnight? Unless you are given an incredible financial settlement or inherit a fortune, there is no possible way you can become wealthy in a relatively short period of time without absolutely incredible effort. The fact that you pay $100 for some television infomercial from some guy in a question mark outfit will not make you any money. You have been taken for a ride. I'm sorry if you have fallen victim to the fallacy of infomercial television.

These companies are making millions of dollars selling snake oil. What I find most hilarious is that people still buy it in droves. However, what I find sad is how little the intelligence of the general populous has evolved and are still led like dogs to this garbage.

I'll finish reading Tim Ferriss' The Four Hour Body, work on implementing his techniques, and report on my findings. But to achieve results, I'll be putting forth something that is always needed to achieve results... effort.

What do you think about all the products sold on television infomercials and in some stores?

What Christmas Means To Me

Yesterday, I enjoyed a great Christmas with my family. I am fortunate to have many family members visiting, and enjoyed speaking with many family members in different areas of the United States. Although having a full house can be stressful at times, I feel truly blessed to have them with me.

Watching the children open gifts is always my favorite part of Christmas. I've always been more concerned with giving gifts to others than receiving. I have all that I really need, and sometimes, although gifts are nice, I feel like I have more than I need, or even deserve.

This leads me to what Christmas means to me. The spirit of the holiday is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, not to receive gifts or chow down on a huge meal. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy gifts and a great feast, but I found myself contemplating how blessed I truly am in comparison with many others locally and around the world.

While my children received more gifts than they probably should have, I try hard to help them understand that they need to appreciate what they receive, as many are not as fortunate. Each year, we participate in our churches Angel Tree mission, in which we purchase gifts for local children that otherwise would not experience the joy of receiving gifts. Our children actively participate in the process of selecting gift tags from the Angel Tree, and the wrapping of those gifts.

At church on Christmas Eve, they showed a video of a local charity group that works to help the homeless in Smithfield, NC, an area that is about 15 minutes from my home. At any given point there are many individuals and families without a place to live or a place to eat. Especially at holiday time, I feel like I sometimes have an abundance of comforts while so many do not.

I also find myself reflecting on those that serve our country and may be in harms way. So many families and children cope at holiday time with the fact that a father or mother may be away fighting to preserve our way of life and to bring freedom and hope to others. My heart goes out to those families, and my sincere thanks and appreciation goes out to the brave men and women that serve us unselfishly.

This Christmas and holiday season, I wish all of you comfort, joy, and blessings for the upcoming year. 2010 has been a very positive year for me, and I have been blessed with great friends that have inspired me in countless ways.

2011 is just around the corner. I'm so excited to see what it brings!

Managing Your Finances - Strategies and Tools

Managing finances has been a challenge and a passion for me. Each month I strive to tweak my spending habits to optimize for short term and long term goals. There are several online tools and blogs that offer strategies for making your money management process easier.

I'm not yet devoting a large portion of my income to investments. A couple of years ago, I was saddled with several credit card debts, car payments, a mortgage, and a school loan. Being that currently we are a single income family, it was quite a hurdle to eliminate debt.

At my Church, I came across the book Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. The book offers a incremental step by step process for eliminating debt and taking control of your finances.

Here is an overview of what Dave Ramsey calls "Baby Steps" to reach your financial goals. These steps need to be addressed in order before progressing to the next step. Several steps like steps 4-7 can be tackled at the same time if you have the resources.

• Baby Step 1 - Start a $1,000 Emergency Fund
• Baby Step 2 - Payoff all debt using the debt snowball
• Baby Step 3 - Place 3 to 6 months of expenses in your emergency fund
• Baby Step 4 - Invest 15% of household income into Roth-IRA's and pre-tax retirement
• Baby Step 5 - College funding for children
• Baby Step 6 - Payoff your house early
• Baby Step 7 - Build wealth and give

Currently, I am on Baby Step 3, and am on my way to having 6 months of expenses in my emergency fund. This will offer security in the event of a job loss, or other financial emergency, without the need for me to incur debt.

It has been hard this past two years to payoff all debt. I currently have no debts other than my mortgage. Soon, I believe I will need to replace a vehicle. I'll need to financially position myself to do that without incurring more debt, and without depleting any of my emergency funds.

Dave Ramsey has a course that he offers online and at several churches called Financial Peace University. My church offers this course, but I have yet to take it. I know several people that have taken it and have been applying the principles taught to the way they handle money. My friend Vincent Davis chronicles his experiences in entries on his blog entitled Dollars & Sense. He offers great insight into the challenges and how these strategies can help.

There are several other great online tools like Mint.com and Quizzle that help you track your money and manage it through budgets. 

What other strategies, tools, or online tools have you found have helped you take control of your finances?

3-D Here To Stay Or Go Away?

These days, 3-D seems to be everywhere. Originally gimmicky and popular in 60's films, 3-D experienced a revival in the early 1908's with schlocky horror films such as Friday the 13th: Part III and Jaws 3-D. These films relied heavily on the 3-D gimmick that made objects appear like they were popping out of the screen.

Today, 3-D technology is used to create more depth and immersion in film. I have seen several films in 3-D in the past year. In my opinion, the best usage of 3-D in a film this far is James Cameron's Avatar. The film used depth of field in incredible ways, and was very pleasing to look at visually, although some filmgoers complained of headaches when watching 3-D for too long.

My take on 3-D is that although it offers a good experience, it is not worth the need to wear special glasses to view a film, nor worth the additional cost at the box office. The colors are more vivid when viewing the film with the glasses off. As long as the film is shot well, two dimensional prints are more than fine for me. Is this latest resurgence of 3-D another fad like it was in the 1960's and 1980's, or will it exist from this point forward in shaping our content experiences?

Now that I have tossed my opinion out there, let's take a look at what the electronics industry is doing in regards to television manufacturing. A large percentage of televisions are currently being manufactured that allow users to experience 3-D. To gain this experience, content must be 3-D enabled, and special pricey glasses must be worn. The distance and angle of the viewer to the television also will affect the quality of the 3-D experience.

In a few years, many predict that 3-D televisions will be the only option you will have when purchasing a new television. Just like how LED lit HDTV is pushing the older LCD technology to the boneyard.

A recent posting by GigaOm cites Nielsen data that shows us that consumers in North America are not really all that interested in 3-D TV. In particular, it illustrates that the majority of consumers polled were actually opposed to the technology.

In a survey of more than 27,000 respondents, less than 3% of the North American respondents said they planned on buying a 3DTV over the next year. On a worldwide scale, about 15% said they planned on getting a 3DTV set in the next year.

Hollywood and US media has sunk millions of dollars into 3-D. It seems like their efforts look to be failing as far as generating interest for home consumers.

Do you plan on getting a 3DTV? Is 3-D a repeating fad or will it stick around this time? What are your thoughts?

Movie Review: Restrepo

Restrepo, a 2010 film directed by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, chonicles a year in the life of a US platoon in the deadly Korengal Valley of Afghanistan.

The film offers an unfiltered look at what the Second Platoon experienced daily as they fought hard to push back the Taliban.

Never before have I seen a film that illustrates the tremendous labor, valiance, and personal turmoil that our soldiers face in the warzone. Prior to seeing this movie, the opening Normandy landing sequences depicted in Saving Private Ryan was the most visceral depiction of war action I had seen.

At times, the film was difficult to watch due to the true-life experiences it so honestly illustrates, yet it was impossible to turn away. The steadfast bravery and emotions shown by our soldiers evokes such strong emotion while viewing the film. The film offers a no-holds-barred look at life on the front lines.

The film captures the platoon engaging in deadly firefights, meeting with Afghani elders, dealing with the death of comrades, and the strife caused by being far from loved ones. Unless you have been on the front, this film will offer you the closest look at what that experience is like.

After having watched Restrepo, I feel so blessed that we have such dedicated and brave soldiers that are willing to fight in distant lands to protect what we hold so dear at home. The traditional media does not come even close to giving us an honest portrayal of what is happening afar. If you get the chance, please take the time to watch this film, and then join me in praising the valiant efforts of our military.

Have you seen Restrepo? What are your thoughts and reactions?

How To Make Your Blogger Blog Load Faster

I'm fairly new at blogging, but I constantly like to learn how to optimize my content and site.

With all of the different web browsers out there, and different speeds at which people access the web, it's increasingly important to pay attention to how your page looks across the gamut of browsers, as well as to optimize for the fastest delivery to readers as possible.

Google has a really good article "How can I make my blog load faster?" with some really good information that makes some suggestions on making the experience faster for your readers.

Some of the highlights:

• Limit the number of posts that appear on your main page
• Decrease the size of your images or use thumbnails that link to the full-size image
• Make sure you put any custom CSS you have added at the top of the page

For more comprehensive information about these optimization techniques, and for more tips, please visit the original Google article How can I make my blog load faster?

I hope these tips help you make your Blogger blog speedier and more efficient! Do you have any additional tips you'd like to share?

What Are Your Household Paper Management Techniques?

In my kitchen, there is a corner of the counter that is constantly assaulted with a barrage of papers. Incoming mail, things waiting to be filed or scanned, school information notes, receipts, and so on. If it's paper, it is there at least once. Do you have a corner of your home that is a paper magnet?

Messes are one of the things I hate most in life, yet I can't seem to ever tame the paper clutter in my home. I've tried many techniques, including placing a small shredder in the corner to shred no longer needed papers and junk mail, using a drawer for specific paper items, even trying to designate specific times of the week where I would tend to filing away or scanning items that we need to save.

It seems to be a never ending battle. We recycle junk mail that does not have any personal information on it. We also use our fire pit to burn paperwork and mail that we no longer need. I am not a hoarder, but I find it difficult many times what to save and what to toss.

My daughter loves to draw. I have amassed hundreds of her drawings. Several of them are incredible, and some of them are just scribbles from when she was an infant and toddler. I'd love to keep everything, but realistically, I can't. One idea I had was to photograph the drawings individually and only physically keep the ones that I really thought were special. Then I realized how much time that would take. How do you deal with keeping children's creative and/or schoolwork without having to rent a storage facility?

With so much great technology available today, the need to have actual paper documents for bills, etc. is decreased. Other than keeping important documents like house deeds, birth cirtificates, and other critical information, the rest is mostly useless to me. Still, I file much of the unnecessary paper away. I need to break that cycle.

What tips and techniques do you have that you have found helpful in taming the clutter of paper in your household?

Did Hollywood Really Need To Remake That?

It seems like everytime I turn around, there is a classic film or television series that is being redone, re-imagined, or "rebooted." Maybe you have asked yourself the question, was it really necessary for the new version to be made?

Let's take a look at some recent examples of this ongoing trend.

Earlier this year, the  re-imagining of Disney's Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp was released and did incredibly well. 2009 gave us J.J. Abrams adaptation of Star Trek. These films did incredible business, but the question is, did it improve upon the classic originals that we love? Last summer, we saw the release of the A-Team, an 80's television show turned film. The film topped out at over $100 million at the box office. A re-imagining of the The John Wayne classic True Grit directed by the Coen brothers was just released into theaters.

In years past, there have been good re-makes or reboots like Starsky and Hutch, that infused modern humor and campiness into old franchises. Star Trek was also a good film. There are also those like The Dukes of Hazzard that were so bad they should burn the celluloid that the movie was filmed on.

There is an incredibly long list of movie remakes that are currently in the works. The list includes remakes of the classic Ridley Scott film Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, as well as the 80's favorite Short Circuit. The list goes on and on.

Are there no original ideas anymore? Hollywood seems to want to dip back into back catalog to find source material for current films. From an economic standpoint, I can understand that. The studios will do what makes them money with the properties they own or can acquire.

Once in a while, a director will take a property in an entirely unique direction, and deliver a platform for the franchise to continue developing in a creative manner. I think a good example of this is J.J. Abrams recent Star Trek reboot.

What do you think? Do you like remakes and reboots? I'd love to hear your thoughts and see which ones you like or dislike,

Are You Drinking The Kool Aid?

Each year, many companies release their latest revisions of hardware and software and attempt to convince people to spend their hard earned money for new items and upgrades. It's fairly easy to identify the times of year companies will release their latest and greatest items, often at times optimized for back to school or holiday purchases.

To illustrate the scheduling expertise, we can look at a company like Apple. For the past year, in June or July, they release a new version of their incredibly successful iPhone. The timing is perfect for adoption of both the general public as well as ideal for capitalizing on the fact that college students return to campuses in late summer. The same is also true of their iPod products. After the back to school buying season, they seed their latest iPod models. This almost ensures these models will sell like hotcakes during the holiday shopping season.

I see nothing wrong with how Apple and many successful companies determine their product release schedules. In fact, Apple has done incredibly well at using the typical annual buying trends of consumers to their advantage.

One thing that has always bothered me about technology companies is how they try to tell us what we want. In the case of Apple, run by the visionary CEO Steve Jobs, they demonstrate technologies that they claim will forever improve our lifestyles.

With the latest iPhone 4 release, looking back at the keynote announcement address, a significant amount of attention was given to the Facetime feature they included with the new phone. This feature allows you to have a real-time audio and video call with another contact in your contact list as long as they are using the new iPhone 4. Steve Jobs went on and on about how revolutionary it was to have the videoconferencing capability in your phone.

I have happily been an iPhone4 user for 4 months. Other than the one time I tried out Facetime with a friend shortly after purchasing the phone, I have never used it. The online community and technical pundits are illustrating the same. People have tried it once or twice, seen that it is neat to use, and have not touched it again. Certainly, there may be a small portion of iPhone 4 users that use the Facetime feature regularly, but I'm thinking most users simply don't find the feature that revolutionary.

My point is that each year companies toss out the one feature that they feel consumers will most want in their products. More often than not, users will never use the new functionality, but still buy into the hype the new feature offers in making their purchase decisions.

The same is true for operating systems and other software. Take Windows 7, each revision of the Mac OS X operating system, and Microsoft Office. Each year, new versions of these products are released with several if not hundreds of new revolutionary or must-have features. Companies sell boatloads of new software packages, but usability surveys show that an incredibly small percentage of users actually embrace these additions.

How do you feel about how technology products are marketed? Do you find that more often than not you do not use most of the new features each product revision offers? Do products deliver on their promises? Will you continue to drink the Kool Aid?

Staying Idle

The last couple of days, I've been home with some physical discomfort that is pretty painful if I if I do a lot of walking, or twist around in certain ways. If I sit down and don't try to do too much, I feel otherwise fine.

On Tuesday I went to the doctors and they made a preliminary diagnosis of the source of the pain. This morning, I will have a CT scan so they can truly see what is going on. I'm pretty confident that it is nothing serious, but my boss and others have pretty much recommended that I take it real easy until finding out what is wrong.

I hate doing nothing. My job mainly involves desk work, and usually it is not physically demanding. My thoughts are, if I have to sit and stay relaxed, I may as well do that at the office while accomplishing something. Why sit at home and accomplish nothing? There are few things that bother me more than being idle. I have to be doing something that is engaging my mind at all times unless I am sleeping.

I'm looking forward to drinking the tasty vanilla barium contrast this morning before my CT scan. Hopefully you can sense the sarcasm. :)

How do you deal with unwanted downtime? Do you find it challenging to get needed rest when home from your job with an ailment?

Enjoying Your Favorite Holiday Films

Images Copyright Warner Bros.

I love the holidays. Other than the hustle and bustle associated with this time of year, I always look forward to the holiday season. Once the commotion is behind me, I find many opportunities to enjoy films and television that showcase holiday themes.

What do I  choose to watch this time of year? I have a pretty extensive collection of holiday themed films that range from classics like It's A Wonderful Life to modern fare such as the new CGI-laden remake of A Christmas Carol. It's amazing to look at some of the older black and white films and see that thematically they still hold up well.

There are a few films and shows that certainly make it into the viewing rotation every year in our household: Christmas Vacation, It's a Wonderful Life, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, and of course A Christmas Story. Each year I view each of these titles multiple times, and I find that I never tire of them. In fact, I pretty much refuse to let anyone in my house watch any television on Christmas day other than 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS. As you can tell, I am pretty nuts about holiday fare.

In addition to the films and shows mentioned above, several others that I enjoy are Elf, The Year Without A Santa Claus, and Jingle All The Way, featuring one of my favorite comic actors, the late Phil Hartman. When I was very young one of my favorites was an Italian film called The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, and I have watched that occasionally as well.

Holiday films are just plain old fun for me. This time of year, my wife and I find ourselves frequently quoting Christmas Vacation, and then wanting to pop it into the DVD player one more time. Watching Emmet Otter brings back childhood memories and it is very nice to be able to share my favorites from my youth with my young kids as well. Watching them together is almost like passing the torch to the next generation, and I enjoy seeing them learn to appreciate these treasures.

What do you and your family most like to watch this time of year? Do you have any holiday traditions as far as viewing holiday themed movies and shows?

Not About Presents

Here we are approaching the Holidays. Each year at this time, I reflect on what I've been truly blessed with. When I think back over the past year, reviewing ups and downs, a feeling of peace fills my mind. It's often a challenge to find peace at this time of year with all of the errands, gatherings, and deadlines, but for some reason, I feel calm and at peace.

This year, while I reflect back, I think most about how my family and I have grown closer. My wife and I have been making an effort as parents to raise our children to be spirit-led, giving, goal-oriented, eager to learn, and to love themselves. In thinking about parenting further yesterday, something that Pastor Matt Fry at our church illustrated during sermon. It's something I have thought about before, but never so deeply.

"How many presents from past years do you still have?" our Pastor asked. I started thinking... actually, not many. Things break, lose their utility, no longer fit, or simply begin the trek to the corner of the attic or to the donation box. There are only a couple of things that I have received as gifts that I actually can recall still having.

This question forced me to look at how I teach my children about gifts. Sure, we all want our kids to have more than we did as children, but are we teaching them what the holiday season is really about? Kids certainly need some toys to stimulate creative play, learning, and to offer them a needed release from necessary tasks. I know that my kids, although they do not get everything they ask for or would like, are certainly not lacking in the Christmas gift department.

I feel that the real joy of the holiday season can be found while you gather with family and friends to celebrate your blessings, and to offer praise to God for all that He does in your life. These are the things you will look back on in a couple of years and have fond reflections of. Would I like a new television or a new entertainment center? Sure I would, but in a few years, I'll forget I even had it.

This holiday season I wish you comfort and joy, and that you offer praise for the true blessings that you have received.

Tangled - Movie Review

In this CinchCast, I review Tangled, the latest release from Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Remembering Tron

In 1982, I was almost 10 years old when Tron was released on July 9, 1982. From what I remember at that time, I wanted to see the movie because it looked so cool. I knew it also set the bar for computer generated special effects of the time. Plus, the hottest band at the time, Journey, provided some music for the soundtrack.

Game arcades were incredibly popular at that time. The Tron videogame debuted in arcades around the same time as the film hit theaters and remains one of my favorite cabinet-based games to this day. The music from the arcade game, a digitized portion of the film score, is instantly recognizable to me.

The movie holds up well today as far as special effects go, because the CGI created environments that were not based in reality, so we have no real world items to base a comparison on. The plot was interesting, but the story lacked in some ways. It wasn't worthy of winning an award for screenplay, but it was acceptable dialog. Today, some of what was written seems campy, but that in my opinion makes it endearing.

Jeff Bridges (Kevin Flynn / Clu) was a known actor at the time Tron came out, but he had not yet achieved the critical and commercial success of his later films such as Starman, The Big Lebowski, Iron Man, and his Oscar-winning turn in Crazy Heart. The film also features actors Bruce Boxleitner (Alan Bradley / Tron) who had future success as an actor in several TV Movies and series, as well as David Warner (Ed Dillinger / Sark / Master Control Program), who appeared as supporting characters in box office smashes Titanic, and Avatar.

I recently re-watched Tron as I have the 20th anniversary collectors edition on DVD. It was enjoyable to revisit this film and marvel at the technological advances of the day that went into this film. I found it carrying me back to my youth when I was wowed by the light cycles zooming along the grid.

Next week, I will be going to see Tron: Legacy at midnight on December 17th when it is released. I eagerly anticipate being taken back to the feeling of whimsy and marvel I felt as a kid.

What are your memories of seeing Tron in the early 1980's? How has it held up after all these years? Are you planning on going to see Tron: Legacy?

Should States Collect Sales Tax From Online Merchants?

Many find the convenience of online shopping valuable, especially during busy times of the year such as the current holiday shopping season. Federal law dictates that internet retailers are required to only collect sales tax from buyers in states in which they maintain a physical presence. Many shoppers avoid paying sales tax from convenient online retailers such as Amazon.com since Amazon does not have a physical presence in their state.

States such as North Carolina offers taxpayers the ability to pay their own sales tax for online purchases on their tax returns. The state claims that only a fraction of online purchases are actually accounted for by taxpayers.

North Carolina's new Revenue Secretary David Hoyle is pressing hard to force internet retailers that ship to his state to collect sales tax. Currently, the state of North Carolina is involved in several court battles with online merchants such as Amazon.com to push this mandate forward. Secretary Hoyle has mentioned that he intends to push the retailers to collect or pay taxes on all of the purchases shipped to North Carolina since the company began shipping into the state.

Will these changes impact your purchasing decision if they are implemented? In many states such as New York (where I am originally from,) online retailers are required to collect sales taxes on items purchased by those that reside there.

What are your thoughts? Should the government keep their hands off internet sales, or do you feel that the increased tax revenue the state will see will be a benefit to its residents?

Check out the video from wral.com below:

Men Want Androids, Women Prefer iPhones

A recent report from The Nielsen Company illustrates that the iPhone is the most desired phone among those seeking to upgrade their smartphones. The three leading smartphones in the US are the Apple iPhone, RIM Blackberry, and various Android phones. Nielsen was able to generate some interesting information from the data they gathered in October 2010.

• Women prefer iPhones over all others: 30.9%
• Men prefer Android phones over all others: 32.6
• Current non-smartphone users looking to upgrade would prefer moving to Android: 28%

What is really interesting is that those that currently do not have a smartphone would prefer getting an Android phone, as opposed to those that have currently have smartphones and want get the iPhone. Does this tell us anything about the experiences users are having with the Apple iOS and Android OS once they become smartphone users?

It almost seems like the statistics may be telling us that those that use the iPhone as their current smartphone may be unwilling to move to a different platform, whether it be the Android OS, or RIM's Blackberry OS. Are users unhappy with their experiences using Android and Blackberry and looking for a change at the next upgrade? How would you interpret these results?

I'm wondering if there is something about the interfaces of these phones that dictate whether men or women favor certain phones in particular. Perhaps the ease of use of the iPhone interface appeals more to women as opposed to the perceived openness of the Android platform appealing to men.

I'm interested in your take on these findings and my perception on the results of the data.

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Related Posts:

• How Much Do We Really Care About Privacy?
• Changing The Information Media And Distribution Channel

The Walking Dead - Sometimes It Pays To Take Risks

Sunday evenings television viewing in my home used to belong to HBO. Many of my favorite programs have been on the premium cable network. "The Sopranos", "Six Feet Under", "Big Love", "Entourage", and "True Blood" are some of the past and current series that I looked forward to on Sunday nights. The shows provided several water cooler moments that folks were certain to discuss at work and online.


AMC is starting to steal some thunder from HBO. "AMC reigns as the only cable network in history to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series three years in a row, as well as the Golden Globe® Award for Best Television Series - Drama for three consecutive years."1 I find it interesting that their successful show "Mad Men" which I also enjoy was passed on by both HBO and Showtime. Sometimes it pays to go against the grain in television and take a gamble.


"The Walking Dead", which AMC debuted on October 31, 2010, tells the story about the months and years that follow a zombie apocalypse. The series debuted with very strong viewership ratings and was lauded by critics. Over 5.3 million viewers watched the first episode, translating into the largest audience AMC has had for any of its original shows. In the adult 18-49 demographic, it was the highest delivery for any cable series premiere in 2010.2 It is written and executive produced by Frank Darabont, the director of "The Shawshank Redemption," and "The Green Mile," and executive produced by Gale Ann Hurd, the producer of "The Terminator," and "Aliens."


What makes "The Walking Dead" such an appealing show to me is that it really is more about survival, raw human emotion, and relationships than it is about zombies. Certainly there is a fair share of gore and blood that one would expect in typical zombie fare, but the show has excelled in its ability to make us care about its characters.


Never before has a show, or film for that matter, made its viewers feel empathy for both living and the undead characters it presents to us. While it invokes frightful depictions of zombies or "walkers" as the show characters call them, we feel sympathy for these horrific looking characters. It makes us think about how we would react if our loved ones were to succumb to a fate that would decrease our chances of survival. The reality of "The Walking Dead" is fetched from the successful comic book series by Robert Kirkman, and there is no chance we would never encounter such events. However, as you watch this series, your mind wanders and you think about realities in our society such as biological warfare, and possible global pandemics. You start to think... "What if that really happened." 


Although the first brief 6 episode season of "The Walking Dead" is coming to a close on December 5th, I am already eagerly anticipating the 13 episode season 2 that is slated to appear next fall. 


Are you a fan of "The Walking Dead?" I'd love to hear your comments about the show!





1 Source: Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC - parent company of AMC
2 Source: www.thefutoncritic.com

Customer Service Is Closed... Literally

Here we are at the busiest shopping time of the year. Many stores are open extended hours to accomodate shoppers, and conveniently, my local Wal-Mart is open 24 hours a day as it always is.

I decided to stop by my local Wal-Mart this evening to pickup the Vizio Blu-Ray Player Model VBR-220 that was priced at $138, a great price for the functionality that it claims to offer. The device has a Blu-Ray DVD player, built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, Netflix streaming, Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Twitter, and Facebook access. Pretty feature-packed in my opinion.

So it was about 7:30 PM, I purchased the unit, and I headed home for some dinner. After dinner, my family and I put up the Christmas tree and a few other decorations. At about 9:30 PM, I decided to unbox the player, started doing a video review of the unit, and connected it to the HDTV in my bedroom, a 32" Vizio 720p unit that I have had for about 3 years, and have been very happy with.

The new unit would not power on. I consulted the quick-start guide packed in the box. It said to try another outlet that works with another device. Still, when the power button was pressed, the lights on the units flashed, and then went out. Obviously, the unit was defective. This happens from time to time, and I am not upset with Vizio as a manufacturer, as the unit may have been damaged in shipping or by some other cause.

Since I live 5 minutes from my local Wal-Mart, I decided to hop back in the car and exchange the unit for one that worked. The time was about 10:30 PM when I arrived at WalMart. When I entered the store, I looked for the associate that would give me a return tag and send me to customer service. They were not there. Instead, there was a snooty looking gentlemen standing inside the store a bit further who was staring right at me. He did not greet me, nor ask me if he could assist me. Instead, I had to ask him if there was anyone that could give me a return tag.

Under his breath he mumbled something. Unclear of what he said, I walked about 10 feet closer to him and said, "Excuse me, sir?" He then repeated himself, saying "Customer Service closes at 10 pm." He said nothing else. He did not offer an apology for the inconvenience, offered no indication of when customer service would reopen, nothing.

Next, I asked the gentlemen if I could speak to a manager. He looked at me blankly. I repeated myself. He then rolled his eyes and then headed somewhere into the store to find a manager.

A few moments later, a very pleasant woman approached and explained that the customer service department closed at 10pm and would reopen at 7 AM. She mentioned that these were the hours of the Customer Service department in all Wal-Mart 's each day.

I explained to her that I had just purchased the item and it was defective, and that I would like a replacement. She then went on to explain that they none of the regular registers in the store could process an exchange or return, and that only the registers in Customer Service were equipped to do that. She was very pleasant, and did in fact, apologize for my inconvenience.

Needless to say, I was pretty upset. I just spent $138 on something that did not work. The store was still open, and they would not, or could not allow me to exchange the defective unit for one that worked. Granted that it was not an emergency for me. However, there are situations where this could be more problematic for a consumer.

Let's say you are a college student, it is 10:30 PM and you have just purchased a notebook with cash and planned to spend the evening working on an important project for a class. You get back from the store, and your notebook is a dud. You head back to the store to get one that works, and they will not let you return it at that time. You have no more cash to purchase another working laptop. What can you do? You are stuck. Looks like you will miss your project deadline. You can go ahead and sleep, you won't be working tonight.

The scenario may seem far-fetched, but my opinion is, if you are open and will take my money for a product, then you should be required to refund my money for defective products as well at that same as long as the lights are on and you are conducting business.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on your run-ins with "Customer Service" or your findings on how service to customers has dwindled over the years.

The Challenge Of Focus

Since I was a little boy, I have always been characterized as being hyperactive. When younger, my parents were told by the doctor to limit my intake of sugar and that would alleviate the issue. My perception was that it did not help a bit. I believe that they have proven that sugar has little or no effect on the activity levels of kids.

As an adult, I've noticed that they have begun to label just about every human behavior as a medical ailment. A large percentage of the population is on medication for anxiety, myself included. The times when someone was just down for a couple days has waned to us now taking medication to treat every aspect of how we feel both emotionally and physically. I'm trying to think back to when the shoe dropped and we started prescribing medical solutions to the things that folks just used to have to deal with and go on with life.

My continuing challenge has been my inability to stay focused on things. I am very easily distracted. Is this a result of my career choice of technology, where you need to stay up to the minute on every new product and solution that the industry produces. Now we have phones that deliver email instantly, allow us to reach anyone, anywhere, at any time, whether it be via text or voice communications. Many of us are electronically tethered to our jobs, even when on vacation or while attending family events.

A couple of years ago, I started wondering if I had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I also move my leg constantly and have trouble sitting still. They now describe an ailment called Restless Leg Syndrome that is pretty much an exact description of what I experience. So I'm wondering, when I was told to calm down as a kid, and told to stop shaking my leg, were those requests in vain?

I was told by my doctor that to be diagnosed as having ADHD, I would need to visit a psychiatrist for an evaluation. I called several, but I couldn't reach a human being and had to leave a message. None of them returned calls. So I stopped the search for that diagnosis temporarily and will pursue it once again soon. I do not like taking medication for things that I can control. I hate taking Advil or some other pain reliever for headaches and sore joints. Typically, I just deal with it. However, I'm wondering if there is something out there that will help me improve my focus in both my personal life and career.

Do you have experiences with ADHD, Restless Leg Syndrome, Anxiety, or other behaviors that you cannot control without medical intervention? I'm interested in hearing your comments and experiences.

Tis The Season - Black Friday

Black Friday, the day where shoppers are prompted to rush out in their pajamas, sometimes hours prior to store openings to save money on holiday gifts, has been touted as the busiest shopping day of the year. From most of the reports I have read, the busiest shopping day of the year usually falls on the last weekend prior to Christmas Day each year. Whatever the busiest day is, the onslaught of terms like Doorbuster and Unadvertised Specials have been hurled at us relentlessly this week.

There are some great websites out there that aggregate Black Friday deals, such as http://bfads.net/ and http://blackfriday.com/ can save shoppers time by collecting all advertisements and savings in one place. Many retailers started selling a large percentage of their in-store doorbusters online Thursday evening prior to the specials being available in store. When you combine the free shipping offers that many merchants are offering for online purchases, you can realistically do all of your shopping from home, saving gas and eliminating the need to race other shoppers to items in the store.

I've found that if you do some looking, you can actually find many of the doorbuster items for lower prices than many retailers are touting as Black Friday items for less money, sometimes days in advance of Black Friday itself.

Do you have any tips for sharing time and money this time of year? I'd love to hear your tips and thoughts in the comments.

Tech Comes In Handy When Traveling

Each year, my family and I make the trek from the Raleigh/Durham NC area to Syracuse, NY for Thanksgiving. Since I am unwilling to spend ridiculous amounts of money on airfare, and the fact that I don't want the TSA checking out my business, I drive.

For me, any drive longer than about two hours is unpleasant. I'm one of those guys that can't sit still for very long. I need to walk around and keep moving after I've been sitting idle for bit. Traveling with children adds further challenges. Diaper changes, restroom breaks, finicky eaters, cries of "I'm bored," and "When will we be there?"

Tech has helped us at least keep the kids entertained while in the car. Between my daughter using my iPad for drawing, and my son popping imaginary bubbles on my iPhone, they stayed entertained for quite a while. We also listened to portions of an audiobook on my iPhone, which I was able to wirelessly send to my stereo using a Motorola Bluetooth device. An available option, if needed, would have been to watch a streamed Netflix movie on the iPhone.

I remember car trips when I was kid. Since I get dizzy when I try to read in a car, there were only a few ways to occupy my time: drawing, listening to the radio, or sleep. Our children have much more technology available to them. As long as my children are still using their imagination and creativity, I see no problem allowing them to use tech devices sparingly.

I'm pretty easily distracted. This is not a great trait to have while driving, so the quieter the kids are, the better.

Driving without a GPS these days would seem odd to me. Our GPS gives us traffic conditions, so it is able to route us around heavy traffic if it will shorten our travel time. I can't remember the last time I looked at a paper map on a car trip.

What are your experiences with tech on car trips? Do you have any tips to share? I look forward to your feedback!

Losing the Auto-Tune

This past Sunday evening, I watched a bit of the American Music Awards on ABC. For the most part, the awards show was your typical self-congratulatory over-the-top annual event. This year, however, something was different.

I don't know if the sound engineers were all on vacation. Maybe they decided to let all of us know how much of what we consider talent is all the creation of studio technology. Whatever the reason, almost all of the performers sounded absolutely horrible. Perhaps the show was trying to lend credibility to artists by not having them lip sync. I'm certain some portions of the vocal performances were pre-recorded, but the parts that were live we off key and caused me to cringe.

From the performances I saw: Bon Jovi, Pink, Justin Bieber, and Ke$ha, the vocals were horrible. I realize that performing live is difficult, and I also understand that singing while dancing at the same time is difficult for the performers that do that. 

Even more mind-boggling is how they attempt to create the illusion that performers are actually playing instruments when they clearly are not. When Justin Bieber was "playing piano" during his Sunday evening performance, the piano portion of the song continued to play after he stood up from the piano. It must be magic! 

We shell out millions each year to hear these folks sing. I hope they are paying the producers and studio engineers well, because they obviously deserve it! 

Check out Justin Bieber's magical piano below. At about 1:04 in the clip, you'll see the piano play all on its own, as well as witness the effects of puberty on the male voice. 

Please weigh in with any thoughts you may have. 

Rapid Review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1

I haven't read the Harry Potter books, but have seen all of the films, including the most recent release "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1."

In this cinchcast, I offer a very brief one sentence review of the film. I'd love to hear your feedback!

Using the Target iPhone app to save time and money on holiday purchases

Time is pretty tight this time of year with the holidays approaching fast. In the following cinchcast, I discuss how the Target iPhone app has helped me save some time and money.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the app or the cinchcast!

How has technology changed your Holiday gift giving and or travel planning process?

Time and money are usually tight as we approach holiday time each year. In this cinchcast, I ask how technology has influenced your holiday gift-giving and travel planning and efficiency. I'd love to hear your feedback!

I propose the question: How valuable is a college education in seeking a technology career? - My first Cinchcast

Many times you'll see that a college education is required for job openings. In this cinchcast, I propose the question: How valuable is a college education in seeking a technology career?

I'd love to hear your feedback!

Are We On The Map?

During my commute home yesterday, I heard a national statistic that didn't paint the Raleigh / Durham / Triangle area of North Carolina in a positive light. Apparently, the area in which I live and work is ranked third in the nation for the number of people that eat fast food for breakfast. Not very flattering.

While reading my morning feeds and reading posts from my favorite bloggers, I began to think about the technology and social media community in the Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina area. I love living and working in North Carolina. Being originally from Syracuse, New York, I have grown to truly love it here. How does this area stack up on social media radar in comparison to other metro areas like Atlanta, New York City, and Silicon Valley? On the surface, the Triangle area of North Carolina may not seem to command much importance. I continued to think... could the area become known for something better than it's penchant for fast-food breakfasts?

Social media and technology have allowed me to connect, befriend, and collaborate with people having similar interests that I would never have had been able to interact with otherwise. I consider myself to have an entrepreneurial spirit and have found that many of my social media connections locally have helped inspire and motivate me to continue working towards my personal goals.

As I became increasingly engaged in the local social media community, I had the pleasure of connecting with Damond Nollan. Damond is a local technology professional that is very active in the social media and blogging field. Earlier this summer, Damond launched a daily live audio program entitled "Room 3026 Live" on blogtalkradio.com. Each day, he and his team discuss current tech trends and pop culture topics. The format of the show is very well suited for collaboration via the live chat window. A core of dedicated regular listeners have continued to listen and interact with the show hosts and each other each day. Several friendships have blossomed as a result of Damond's show.

A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Tweet-up with Damond at Bronto Software in Durham, NC where I had the pleasure of meeting Wayne Sutton. Wayne is very respected in the social media community and has spoken at South by Southwest and many industry conferences. He has worked tirelessly furthering the importance and functionality of social media platforms. Currently, he is the business development/marketing strategist  for the location-based platform TriOut and a partner at OurHashtag.

Earlier today, Wayne was a special guest on Room 3026 Live. He discussed his story, some thoughts about the local technology and social community, as well as his opinions on the future of social media. It was also very inspirational and encouraging to hear his thoughts on the state of the local social media community. 

After listening to today's program, I am convinced that the Raleigh / Durham area is becoming increasingly important in terms of social media. With social media players like Wayne and Damond working hard to further connections and local networking, I'm convinced that we are in a hot bed of technology and social media that will soon be recognized nationally.

Take a listen to today's program here: Room 3026 Live - Episode 73

I'd love to get your comments and opinions on the local social media scene.

~Tim

Headshot Tweetup

Last night in Durham, NC, I had the privilege of attending the Headshot Tweetup. For those unfamiliar with the term "Tweetup," it is essentially a meetup that is marketed and promoted via Twitter. Often the events are catered with beverages and snacks. Most of the Tweetups that I have attended have taken place at either a tavern or company office. Headshot Tweetup was hosted at MindWorks Multimedia in Durham, NC.

The Headshot Tweetup was refreshingly different from other Tweetups I had attended previously. The focus of the Tweetup was that local professional photographers were donating their services to provide attendees with free professional "headshots." I've got an idea of what it costs to have a headshot taken at a professional studio. Hint: [Not Cheap]. I couldn't pass up that offer. 

The photographers were setup in two different areas. One was in a professionally lit room with a green screen backdrop, and the other was setup in the rear corner of the brick building with a nice window as a backdrop. The green screen headshot will prove useful for graphic designers that can substitute any location in lieu of the green screen. Thanks to Allison Davis Satterfield and Lianna Slaughter from Sandfoot Photography and Studio You Photography for donating their time and services.

Beer was provided by Raleigh, NC based LoneRider Brewing Company. Other refreshments and snacks like wine, cheese, crackers, and fruits were also on hand for guests. 

Overall, I made several great new connections with some wonderful people last night. It's nice to see a group of people passionate about technology and other fields gather in a social environment to swap personal and professional insights. Many in attendance agree that the area needs more Tweetup events on a regular basis. I totally agree. Let's start planning the next one now!

If you attended the Tweetup last evening, I'd love to hear your take on the event. Those that may not have made it, have you ever been to a tweetup?

Thanks for reading. 

Can the Web Save You Money On Your Next Car?

Today on the way to the office, I became "that guy." As in, the guy that runs out of gas in the highway passing lane during morning rush hour. Incredibly humiliating, and such a wonderful way to start the day. Thanks to the help of a neighbor and co-worker that were nearby on the same highway, I was able to get the car moved to the shoulder and return later with some gas.

Recently my car has been showing signs of disrepair. I've had to since a substantial amount of money into it to have some components replaced. Its reliability is becoming more questionable with time. Currently, I'm trying to decide whether to continue repairing it as needed, or to purchase a newer, more reliable vehicle.

The internet is a great source of information, and I have been wondering if I could save some myself significant money by researching cars, pricing, and availability online.

My first stop was Kelly Blue Book which I used to research the potential trade-in and private sale pricing for my current vehicle. I do not have a lot of cash saved for a down payment on a newer car, so I'm hoping to get as much for my current vehicle as possible.

Next, I headed over to Edmunds.com to read some articles on the best vehicles in their respective categories as well as some tips on car buying. Edmunds also lets you see the invoice price for vehicles you're interested in, as well as search local inventories and solicit email quotations for dealers.

I'm seeing some variation between local dealer pricing on identical vehicles. I'm wondering if I would be able to initiate some pricing battles between dealers. At this point I'm still waiting for the price quotes to arrive from the dealers, so I will be posting my findings once they arrive. For my research purposes, I'm looking at a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid with base trim.

I have requested quotes from 6 local dealerships, but haven't yet decided whether or not this is the car I would like, if I will buy a new vehicle, a used one, or keep repairing mine. My choice will be influenced by how much of my budget I am willing to dedicate to transportation. I'll be sure to post updates on my decision and experiences in using the web to arrive to the proper conclusion.

Have you used the web as a tool that figured prominently in a vehicle purchase? I'm interested in hearing your experiences and any tips you can offer.

Thanks for reading!

~Tim

Teaching Children About Technology Series - Part Five - Video Games/Content Consumption

Many of us grew up playing the Atari, Intellivision, or Colecovision video game consoles. Initially, video games were very crude graphically, and we had to use our imaginations to envision how a poorly colored group of pictures was supposed to represent a physical object. Today, video games are incredibly realistic, and incorporate high-quality rendered graphics, live-motion video, and surround sound audio.
In the late 1970's, when I was a child, "portable" devices started becoming a bit more prevalent. Our mobile music solution of the times was a solid state cassette recorder. The 1980's brought along the Sony Walkman and boom boxes. Portable black and white televisions started appearing as well. Now we can fit entire libraries of music and video in a device that fits into our pocket.

Many of us may remember fantasizing about the devices and capabilities that we saw on Star Trek or the Jetsons. Much of what we saw as futuristic then exists now.

My family has two video game console systems, a Nintendo Wii and a Sony PS3. Both devices play video games and are capable of streaming live video content via Netflix. The PS3 also functions as an incredibly capable blu-ray player.

I've always been an avid video game player. My daughter plays some of the family-friendly games on the Wii and PS3. I am careful to ensure that the content of the games she plays is appropriate and I limit the time she can play.

Games today can be very time-consuming. Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) such as World of Warcraft and Everquest have spawn addiction-like tendencies in many players that has led to some people losing jobs and failing out of school. These games are incredibly fun, but it becomes increasingly important to teach self-discipline in regards to managing how one spends time playing games. The lines between reality and gaming can become blurred when too much of our time is spent playing games.

Content consumption has changed as well. My daughter can now view her favorite television shows in the car on her iPod touch. Her music collection is with her on trips as well. In my youth, the extent of my vehicular entertainment was a set of markers and some paper. Sometimes we played visual games related to scenery we saw along the way during our trips.

Are our children given too much opportunity to view and consume media content? Is this hindering their own creativity? In many ways, I feel that our children now are fed media in too many ways and in a format that is too convenient.

There are however many games and interactive media that allow children to customize their experience. The new iPhone for example can be used as an over-simplified video production machine. New formats of video games allow players to customize environments and avatars, as well as adding the ability to share with others socially.

We're witnessing a world that is offering us incredible new tools to interact, play, and create. As parents, it is our responsibility to ensure that our children learn how to use these abilities properly, and how these tools can help them succeed in the world of tomorrow. Learning how to properly use and leverage these capabilities will aid our children in achieving success in the careers of tomorrow.

What are some things we should do as parents in regards to gaming and content consumption?

• Know what games our kids are playing, how long they are playing them, and that the content is age-appropriate.
• Ensure that the music they are listening to meets our criteria for content and subject matter.
• Convey to our children that there are appropriate and inappropriate times to to play games, watch videos, and listen to music.
• View content alongside our children and discuss how the content was made or produced, as well as what response the content creator is trying to convey.
• Discuss with children the importance of being able to formulate their own opinions about what they see, hear, and play.
• Encourage children to create their own media and interactive projects.
• Discuss how these new capabilities can help them in their educational and career needs.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic as well as all of the other postings in this series. This series may be revised in the future to address reader comments and interests. This concludes my series on Teaching Children About Technology.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this story, please join my Email Newsletter!

Other posts in this series:

Part One - The Web

Part Two - Email / Instant Messaging

Part Three - Social Media
Part Four - Mobile Technology