Digital Dad®

I Am Iron Man

I took my son, who just turned nine, out this afternoon to see Iron Man. I've been a big fan of Iron Man since I was . . . about nine myself. I remember anxiously awaiting the next issue to see what Tony Stark would get into next. He always had an interesting, somewhat tortured personality.

First of all, it's great fun being able to take my son to see Iron Man. He's been exploring my old comic collection so we were both pretty excited to see the movie. It's PG-13, but I checked around first and  although there's a five second "romance" scene between Tony and a woman there's no bad language, no bloodshed. There are several battles where people get shot (western style - clutch chest and fall down, no blood), things blow up, etc. but it's kept pretty tame.

There's a ton of tech. Heads up displays, robotics, rockets and even some old fashioned soldering. Cool. Tony uses his brain and his wits to get the bad guys, who are from Afghanistan but speak Russian, Hungarian and a bunch of languages. Some interesting twists there but the bad guys are definitely the bad guys.

Good fun!

uh oh - the Dell m1330

I opened up the fire red m1330 in the UK, ready for my killer presentation. I hit the button and . . nothin'. I had one dead, expensive notebook on my hands.

I've had it less than a year - great performance and looks, but frankly a bit flaky for stability. Issues included:

• Some BSOD when plugging in USB devices
• Strange screen distortions unless i pressed on the flat panel
• Some "System Repair" issues

Eek. Hard to say it's still my top choice, but frankly what notebook out there really holds up?

I called Dell on Saturday and they showed up at my workplace on Tuesday with a new motherboard and flat panel. He worked in the lobby for about thirty minutes and voila! Good as new?

Cameras and kids

Engadget is querying its readers for suggestions on cameras for kids:

"many parents are looking to snag a point-and-shoot that wouldn't be too overwhelming for the average kiddo, yet could stand the abuse and churn out somewhat respectable images."

What do you think?

High Tech Noon

Speaking of old TV (but with a new twist):

On The Edge

I spent a few days in Palo Alto recently with our new Danger friends. I rented a car for a few of us. My options from Avis were 1) a 12 seater van or 2) a Ford Edge.

I'm not a Ford guy. I'm a GM guy. Therefore, I approached the Edge with trepidation. I did have my Zune with me as well as my trusty headphone adapter. I figured I might score and get the Ford SYNC stuff in there or at least an AUX/IN.

The card was pretty darn nice. You sit up a bit but it's very car-like. The handling was very good and the interior was not crappy. The back seat occupants commented on how comfy and roomy it was back there. It had a bit of pep under the hood, not like my Big Green Machine but still decent.

I did find the AUX/IN in the center armrest. No SYNC but it worked and the sound system was much better than expected. I'm still not a Ford guy, but the Edge doesn't suck.

Honest Abes

I'm not sure why but this struck me as funny:

Dozens of Abraham Lincoln impersonators meet in Alton.

Where's the Brady Bunch?

We were talking about the Brady Bunch recently and how it would be a fun show for our kids to watch. Cornball, sure, but a decent sitcom and way better than "Avatar the Last Airbender."

Where to find it? You can DVR it on TV Land but even better there are clips on the web  on TV Land's web site (or via hulu.com).

Too bad it isn't full episodes like the Dick Van Dyke show below!

The Microsoft Business Security System

. . . or something like that. I was chatting with a colleague at work about our kids and online safety. Our rule is no PCs in the bedrooms - all PCs are in plain site in the kitchen area. He had the same rule but now his oldest is 16 and wanted to connect his Ipod Touch to the home WiFi - at that age there's not too much you can do.

He said that he did install some filters once but as his kids began to do research for school they kept getting blocked, so he would have to unblock it after he got home from work, etc. and eventually it became unwieldy.

He did have a clever idea, though. He told his sons when they were pre-teens that he had installed some special Microsoft software, only sold to businesses, that would monitor incoming and outgoing web browsing, email and IM traffic and send him a report every week. Since it was "business software" he figured his kids couldn't ask around to find a way to hack it.

As long as they believe that is the case, you're in good shape.

Lego Lights

Some cool LED lights for your Lego creations (via BoingBoing). I wonder if we can get these into Bionicles?

Magic

"Any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke, 1917 - 2008.

 

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