App aims to reduce fatigue-related accidents on the road.
I’d need something that actually safely pulls the car over to the side of the road, puts the seat back and shuts the car off so that I can continue my snooze.
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Safety
Megan got her driver’s license last month. Ya. I worry. She’s a responsible teen as far as teens go. But teens also are prone to very poor judgment.
I’m not sure if this video will change any of that, but I think all kids should watch it.
If your kids are driving, or about to get a license, share this with them.
Do you think it will make them think? Do you think it will change their behavior? Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think?
[ hat tip: Advice Goddess ]
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When I get off of the train at Grand Central and head on up to the streets for a visit to NYC with my kids, we keep an eye out for those street vendors that sell roasted nuts. They mix them up with some sort of sugar in a hot bowl and pour them into small wax paper bags and sell them for a few bucks. My kids had them on their first trip to NYC and they were such a hit that it’s part of the tradition.
But now as a parent I need to talk to my kids… well, my son at least, about how dangerous hot nuts can be (at least for reproductive health), and that he had better change his laptop usage habits.
[h/t Instapundit]
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It causes cavities. It makes kids hyper. It does not kill them.
Learn all about how parents have ruined Halloween and how marketeers are managed to make a lot of money promoting fear to parents.
I don’t think there are any signs that this is going to stop any time soon.
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This past weekend, a GPS led a driver into a reservoir.
Not the first time people put total trust into a gadget and turning off their own senses. More examples here, here, here, and here, for starters.
Would these problems have occurred had they not used a navigation system? Do you think that people become totally dependent on their GPS’s rather than simply use them as an aid, along with a map, signs, visually observing what is going on around you, etc.?
Do you have any similar stories to share?
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Thirty states ban texting while driving, and results in no reduction in accidents.
In three out of four of the states where studies were done to determine the laws effects, the number of crashes increased.
Could it be that the law isn’t deterring people because it’s generally a difficult law to enforce? Having phone records subpoenaed after the crash can provide evidence that you were on your cell phone talking or texting. But this law is difficult to enforce in an effort to avoid the accidents in the first place.
So, now, instead of having to keep your eyes on the road ahead of you while you’re texting, you also have to focus on your rear view mirror, and on the stationary cars on the side of the road that could be police cars that will bust you for texting. More distractions!
So if I’m injured in an accident, I’m going to sue the lawmakers who exacerbated an already dangerous situation. What do you think?
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The Best Web Filter Is…
We’re used to saying that the best web filter is the watchful eye of a parent.
We believed that to be true, and that is why we didn’t tackle web filtering in ComputerTime. A number of filtering solutions already existed when we created ComputerTime, and none of them seemed to do the job adequately.
ComputerTime tackled the problem of monitoring kids’ time, and enforcing the limits that parents decided on. We advised moms and dads to keep the computer in a public place in their home. If they are concerned about what their kids view on the Internet, then having a direct line of sight to the screen when the kids are on it should work well enough.
I’m not sure that is the best advice anymore. We’re seeing laptops flourish, so it’s harder to keep those screens in a public part of the house and the screens don’t usually face outwards into the room when the kids are sitting on the couch.
So maybe it isn’t a bad idea to employ a web filter that does a good job of blocking the nasty stuff. While many were deemed inadequate a number of years back, I believe there is a solution that well enough for me to recommend it. It’s called OpenDNS.
Six Reasons Why You’ll Love OpenDNS
I’ve been using OpenDNS for a while now. I love it and recommend it all of the time. If you want to filter out inappropriate content, here are some reasons I think you’ll love it too.
- It’s Free: In this economy, what’s not to love about free.
- Easy Setup on Your Router: They provide really simple instructions, with screen shots, for most of the popular routers. All you have to type in are a handful of numbers into the fields that they tell you to. You really can’t screw this up. Click Save and you’re done.
- Entire Network Protected: That one simple setup on your router means that every computer on your network should now be protected by the filter.
- No Software To Install: The fact that you just change a setting in your network configuration, preferably on your router, means that there is nothing to conflict or degrade your computers performance.
- Up-To-Date and Accurate Filter: New domains and websites come and go every day. This is what made it hard for so many of yester-years filtering solutions worthless. The databases of what to block would be out of date in a matter of days and weeks. OpenDNS has input from thousands of users who are constantly tagging websites into categories. With an OpenDNS account and a bookmarklet you can install on your browser toolbar, you can contribute too if you would like, or you can just rely on the wisdom of the crowds of others that do all the tagging. See a sight that you think should be blocked as inappropriate? You would click on the bookmarklet, check off the categories and submit.
- Two Versions: Easy and Easier. Both are free. If you want control over what categories get filtered, choose the standard OpenDNS, set up a free account, and enter in the DNS server numbers they they instruct you to. Don’t want to get that involved, choose their new Family Shield, and simply punch in different DNS server numbers into your router and be done. Family Shield is configured to block “Adult Content”. I assume this means things like pornography, nudity, gambling, chat rooms, erotica, violence, guns, etc. Family Shield is OpenDNS, just without the finer control. Want to have more control, use their (still free) OpenDNS and create an account.
SoftwareTime, and myself personally, do not have any relationship whatsoever with OpenDNS. This is just a hearty recommendation from a satisfied user (me!) of their service.
I’ll add that I think that if you’re using ComputerTime, or thinking about using ComputerTime, OpenDNS or Family Shield really round out your parental control toolbox.
Can I get away with saying that ComputerTime now offers free web filtering? ;-) Probably not. But the net affect is the same. Go give OpenDNS or Family Shield a try.
More on the Family Shield announcement here.
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