Today technology is not my friend.

But I am optimistic.

I recently purchased Bento for Mac. This is a home database program. Yes, very geeky. But I figured, hey - I have a team of six to manage and that means a lot of data. Schedules, phone numbers, soccer teams, all that kind of stuff.

One full day later, I know a lot more about Bento and it has a lot of potential. But it can’t do laundry, cook dinner, play with the kids, drive them around, and all of the other parenting stuff that I haven’t been doing because I was learning how to use Bento.

C’est la vie.

iPod Touch Now has Calendar Input

When Apple first introduced the iPod Touch I was bemoaning the fact that the iPod Touch did not have the capability for calendar input. Most busy parents need to be able to input appointments on the go.

Apparently Apple fixed that glitch with a little firmware update back in December that slipped by without my notice. So now after Apple Inc. announced the addition of Mail, Notes, Stocks, Maps, and Weather applications to the iPod Touch in January 2008, the iPod Touch is truly becoming the phoneless iPhone. (Buying tip: Make sure the unit that you are purchasing includes the new apps or you will have to purchase these separately as a download from Apple)

If anything, the iPod Touch is as close to an Apple PDA as they come. Now that you can input to the calendar and contacts and sync them with your computer (if you use a Mac this is perfect) you have all your information with you on the go.

Some shortcomings of the iPod Touch as PDA include:

• no camera
• no bluetooth
• no wireless sync capabilities
• wi-fi only, so you will only get internet and email in a hotspot or at home on your own wireless network

But if you want all that, you may as well get the iPhone (still no wireless sync though).

As you know, I am fascinated by all things Apple, which elevates me to “very cool parent” in the eyes of some little people that I know!

Go to iPod Touch as PDA to read more about the PDA features of the iPod Touch.

Boo! I was disappointed to learn that the upcoming iPod Touch will have no input capabilities for the calendar function. You can still sync your calendar to your computer but all input will have to be done on your computer. This dashes my hopes for PDA type functionality. It is a shame since the technology is obviously available (on the iPhone).

You can read the full review of the iPod Touch at PC Magazine.

The bright side is that I will save my money and continue to use my hybrid method of organization, which is working well for me.

Update: You can now use the iPod Touch as PDA! This functionality has been added by Apple!

Recently, my fifth grader came home from school with stories of how some of his classmates had created a video and posted it on Youtube.

While I was impressed with the kids technical know-how, it also made me wonder if the popular video hosting service is a good playground for 11 year olds.

The types of home videos that people can create and post there are largely uncensored. Youtube is not the only culprit - apparently Google, Yahoo!, and MSN also have similar type sites.

CNET.com in their Living with Technology section has posted an article entitled User-generated videos challenge parental controls. It is good food for thought.

Today I attended an internet safety presentation given at my kids school. It really is a scary place out there. I had posted earlier this month on internet safety, however, I realize that what I am currently doing may not be enough.

My children have not yet ventured into the world of instant messaging and internet chatrooms. And I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible. But the oldest one has been asking because, I quote “all my friends” are instant messaging. I guess I’m from the old fashioned school where if you need to talk to someone - just pick up the phone or see them in class tomorrow.

I also want to trust my children when they are on the computer and not look over their shoulder at all times. But curiosity has gotten the best of all of us. It is human nature, after all.

I walked away from this morning’s presentation with a few more ideas and a long to-do list.

• First, there is no substitue for parental involvement. As I previously posted the location of the computer is KEY. It should be in a common area where you can always monitor what the kids are doing.
• Second, open communication is critical. Should you punish the kids if they come across offensive content? The answer is no. You should appreciate the fact that they were upfront with you. But, at the same time you need to work together to avoid a repeat.
• Third, I could use a little help from a software program - perhaps to restrict the time allowed on the internet or the sites visited.Clearly I have some homework to do.

  The following sites provide some tools and food for thought: www.isafe.org, www.netsmartz.org, and www.teenangels.org.

  This is a software program that provides parental controls on Windows based computers. Read more about it at www.mysafekeeper.com.