Do they enjoy learning new things from new colors or words, to math and science?

Do you cringe every time your 4-year-old wants to use your computer with his sticky hands or a tippy-cup full of Apple juice?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, please read on for a very important public service announcement from HiTechDads.

Now that I’ve been a dad for a few years, and have VERY curious kids, I have a renewed interest in a program called Edubuntu. I used it once about a year ago, and haven’t had a chance to revisit since then. I think the time is right to revisit it again. Edubuntu is a specialized Linux distribution based on the popular Ubuntu distribution. Some of you may see “Linux” and immediately tune out and think of a bunch of nerdy dorks in a room huddled around a command-line terminal, but I urge you to ignore those thoughts and read on. It’ll be worth it. And if it’s not, blame one of the other HiTechDads on here…I’m new to this blogging thing.

Edubuntu is a great tool for parents with kids of all ages. It’s designed for ease of use, ease of updating, and educational value to kids/students. Edubuntu is a complete Operating System with an Office Suite (similar to Microsoft Office), Internet Browser (similar to Internet Explorer or Firefox), and loads of educational applications for kids (and probably parents) to expand their learning potential. Best of all. IT’S FREE!

Did you catch that part? That’s right…you don’t have to pay a single cent for it. Zip. Zilch. Zero. All you need is an mid-level PC that has enough hard disk space and memory to load and run Edubuntu. It doesn’t take much. I installed it on an old Pentium III with 512 MB of RAM and a 20GB Hard Drive. Everything ran just fine. For those of you that have no idea what that means, that computer is about 8 years old, designed for Windows 2000, and still ran Edubuntu just fine. That’s the beauty of this, it doesn’t require an expensive top-of-the-line PC to run like Windows Vista or Mac OS X do. Afterall, it’s just a learning PC for kids. Who cares if it’s a little slower than you could deal with on a daily basis. You’re not going to be doing any hardcore gaming or video editing on it anyway.

Unfortunately, as that computer was 8 years old and not in the greatest condition, it didn’t last long before my hard drive went bad on it. I’ve still got the computer, because the kids are getting to the age where they like to use the computer. So I’ll go find a $20 hard drive somewhere and put it in, and have a brand-new educational workstation for the kids. Well, brand-new to them at least.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a way to help the kids learn while entertaining themselves on the computer, look no further than Edubuntu. It’s regularly updated with new tools and applications and it’s based on a Linux distribution that enjoys a wide user and support base. It just doesn’t get any easier…

Oh, and did I mention it’s free?

a

1. Don’t make it a big deal.

My favorite shots are always ones a capture when I am not stressing about lighting, posing and “making a great portrait”. Now wait just a minute, listen to the photographers freak out about planning is the best way to get great shots. This is true for many kinds of photographs and for sure you can ruin an otherwise great shot by shooting it in harsh mid-day sun but really who cares? If you shot enough you will start to learn things like early morning and late afternoon is when the “good light” is and plan accordingly but never pass up a chance to shot that birthday party that is from noon-2pm just because the light will be bad. My motto “Always be shooting”

Also while nice formal portraits are fun, stressing out, dressing up the kids and posing them generally leads to static boring images. It is fine to get a few of these but I bet the ones you get while not posing will be more precious to you.

2. Get some good gear.

Yes you can get great images using your 30 year old 110 instamatic but it is going to be really hard and you are going to miss a lot of great shots in the process. This does not mean you have to go out and drop $5,000 on a camera either. All of my pictures are taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. You can find kits on Ebay with the camera, memory cards and lenses (everything you need to get started) for between $600 and $800 dollars. Yes this is more than your $150 point and shoot but it is worth it. The single biggest issue you run into when taking candid shots of kids is that they are fast so you need fast gear, the faster the better. The Rebel XTi is about as slow as you want to go. I still get a lot of fuzzy out of focus shots but I can’t afford the faster cameras like the Canon 40D or Nikon D3.

Get big memory cards. No bigger. Because you need to…

3. Take a lot of pictures.

The last birthday party I went to I took over 150 shots. Out of those 150 shots I got about 35 images I was happy with. This is roughly 1 out of every 5 shots I take will pass my test. I am pretty happy with this ratio but with digital you could be at 1 to 10 or 20 and not really have to worry about. You just need bigger memory cards and probably a bigger hard drive in your computer.

4. For Pete’s sake don’t ask them to say chesse!!

Well unless you want a shot like this.

That’s cute, once.

I get the best looks by asking questions. Sometimes I ask silly questions, sometimes I ask serious questions and sometimes I just shut up.

5. Get down on their level

If you find yourself standing up taking pictures you are going to get some pretty boring stuff usually. You either need to raise the kids up (table, couch, playset) or bend your achy knees. Heck lay down even. You will find the kids will laugh at the old person creaking and screaming while they sit down, just keep shooting through the pain.

a

Being a parent of the digital age, and a HiTech Dad, I have more than a few keyboard lying around.  A perfect cost efficient toy for my daughter came in the form of an old Microsoft Natural Keyboard with the cord cut off for safety.

It goes something like this:

• Sit kid upright either between your legs or in the favorite chair
• Put child-proof keyboard in front of kid
• Kid will spend up to 30 minutes whacking the crud out of the keyboard in utter delight

The next invention, taking an old pee cee, hooking up a keyboard to that with some music response.

a

My interest peaked when my sister, who has two toddlers, used music as part of their night time sleep routine. They employ a portable compact disc player with a CD that is either on repeat or standard one-time play. Music of choice? Either some type of Baby Einstein or even a standard classical selection.

So here’s the challenge, how do you give you child something to listen to at night that won’t keep them up? Additionally, if you’re going to play it through-out their entire sleep cycle, the music needs to be consistent, soothing and basically no vocals or loud AC/DC style guitar riffs.  Maybe some Deep Forest? Sigur Ros? Only a few tracks out of 4 albums.  Enya?  What about the wildly popular bedtime classics as sung by some random women, or maybe even played by an entire symphony?  Still no.

Most music compositions have beats per minute shifts, periods of quiet, then loud or mid-loud that is caused by a vocal range increase (low to high), stringed instrument, horns or guitar.  All of these sounds will cause a child who may be in a light stage of sleep to waken up and perhaps tune-in.  See where I’m going with this?  The child will most likely not sleep successfully through the night, or at the least, sleep for long periods of time.

So, what kind of music is best fit for this situation?  Simple, composition that carries a nice consistent, soothing tone with minimal shifts in tone, beats per minute and over-all “loudness”.  The best example I can give for this is an band from Iceland called Amiina.   This band is great because they do not employ any vocals and give a nice soothing noise.  I have personally been using Amiina’s music on our night-time play list since my daughter was 2 months old and sleeping on her own.

a

Attackers like to go after the most people, it make their life easier. One attack can hack the most users, it is that simple. It helps to stay out of the mainstream as much as possible. FireFox is not only more secure it is faster and more stable. I have not run into a web site that does not work in FireFox. Get on board and surf safer!


2. Pick hard passwords and write them down

I choose passwords based on the type of sites I am using. I use the same password for social networking sites, forums etc. I then use totally unique passwords for any place that keeps my credit card data or my online banking data. I make these passwords long and basically impossible to guess, like J!3!dSDsfogur32%. I then write them down or since I use a Mac I put them in my Keychain. Really write them down, it is OK.

3. Apply patches right away

This is a no brainer really but I feel like I have to keep reminding people. Attackers don’t wait for you to patch your system. In fact they are generally ahead of the patch. If you use Windows set it up so that it updates automatically for you. Here is how to set it up. Do it right now!

4. Keep AntiVirus up-to-date

Goes hand in hand with the above. I recommend Norton AntiVirus or Kaspersky AntiVirus. Get it install it and keep it up-to-date!

5. Use one credit card for all online purchases.

Pick a card and use it for all your online transactions. Why? It makes it a lot easier to track fraudulent charges. When thieves get your credit card they don’t always go on wild spending sprees. More often then not they charge 1$-$5 on your card hoping no one will notice. They do this across millions of cards and can easily get over a million dollars in a month. If you have to pick this out of a 10 page credit card bill you are not likely to succeed, picking it out of a smaller bill is much easier.

Bonus tip - Get a Mac! I have converted all my neighbors over to Macs and they thank me every time they see me. Last I checked there where like 7 known viruses for the Mac. This will eventually change as the hackers change there tactics and targets but this is one time you can stay a step ahead of them. Really they are great, secure and a lot of fun. If you are in the market for a new PC you owe it to yourself to give a Mac a try.

a

1. Canon EOS Forum -  This is a great forum over at Photography on the Net. It is packed with great info and great photographers.
2. PhotoWorkshop – Great site with forums and weekly photo contest and workshops. Paid access gets you even more workshops and an online gallery.
3. OpenSourcePhoto – More forums but with business focus. What to know what it is like being a wedding photographer? You will find a lot of pros and semi-pros sharing tips and tricks here.
4. DIYPhotography – Awesome site with lots of do it yourself projects for flash setups, studio lighting and other expensive things you can make yourself for cheap.
5. ZipLens – What to check out that expensive lense for you kids next soccer match? Go to Ziplense and rent it before you buy it.

a

Most people will tell you building a social network is a key to business success and it is hard to build that early base if you are hunkered down studying all night. Every job I have gotten was due to someone I knew, not what I did or did not do in college.

a

One of the most helpful tips that I was given in my early days by a friend (and that I pass on regularly) when it comes to photographing children is to give them something to do while you’re photographing them. Photo by Phitar While older children might have the patience to sit still for a few minutes [...]

[From Photographing Children - A Quick Tip]

a

I have a few non-HiTech tips to make your doctor visit much easier:

Brrrrrrrrr. Have the doctor or nurse practitioner warm up stethoscope prior to employing it on your baby.

OOOH OH BRIGHT LIGHT! When the doctor or nurse practitioner is looking into your child’s eyes with the bright light, have a rattle or pink crinkly paper in the distance for distraction.

Ouch! Ouch! DEFCON 3Million! Instead of allowing the doctor or nurse practitioner to administer shots individually to the leg, insist they have to nurses present and give the shots all at once. This will greatly reduce the amount of time your baby will cry at DefCon 3 million.

The last step to a successful and fairly drama free doctor visit, bring the bottle, pacifier, or, if you’re nursing, the boob. Last resort in calming the DefCon 3Million Scream, pacify.

a