Over the years, we’ve heard so many people complain that the Internet is bad for our children. People aren’t reading enough books anymore, they say. Kids are writing in txt. And I’ve always pretty much thought it was hog wash.

Now there’s some science to back up my feelings. A recent article from LiveScience starts off:

“Widespread Internet use will actually improve the reading and writing skills of the world’s population, most experts agreed in a new survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.”

The article goes on to discuss a survey that indicates, among other things, that a lot of people believe that the Internet is actually making people more literate than ever before. And you know what? I buy it.

Has book reading declined over the years? I’m not sure. I think that a case could be made either way. But what I do think is true is that there are more people, especially young people, who are reading a variety of different material on a daily basis thanks to the accessibility of information on the Internet.

We have access to more information than ever before. Kids who would never have watched the news before have a general idea of what’s going on in the world because of updates on various sites including their favorite social networking sites. Kids who never would have written long letters to their friends are constantly articulating things to them online and via text messaging.

Yes, undoubtedly there are some drawbacks (as there would be with anything). Text and IM may hinder spelling abilities. At the same time, you have to admit that the fact that your computer tells you when you’ve spelled something wrong makes it a lot easier to see your errors and learn how to fix them. So, pros and cons, maybe, but I’m in the camp of people who thinks that the more people who are reading – whether they’re reading books or reading Twitter status updates – the better.

What do you think about this issue?

Tags: internet, readers, reading, smart, Technology, web 2.0

If you had told me five years ago that I would be cuddling with my computer on a regular basis I probably would’ve dismissed you as crazy. Sure, I was already making a full-time living off of web writing which meant that I used my computer all of the time but I considered it a tool of the job. I certainly didn’t think of it as something to cuddle up with.

These days I cuddle up with my computer all of the time. What changed? A lot:

• Laptops are more cozy to cuddle up with. The biggest difference between then and now is probably that I use a laptop more often than I use my desktop. Sure, I have a LTR with my desktop computer which is where I save and store everything. But I can pull my laptop into bed with me, take it on vacations, have it there at all times. It’s much easier to cuddle up with it.
• Social media. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on social networking sites five years ago. Sure I was active on a few but not like I am today. These days, social media makes it so that my computer is a friend. Or rather it gives me access to friends which makes it appealing to cuddle up with it. At the start of a new day or the end of a long one, it’s nice to pull my computer into my lap and reach out to the world beyond its screen.
• It’s my main source of entertainment. Five years ago I had a television set and preferred going to the arcade to play video games. These days my computer is my main source of entertainment. I love Internet TV and streaming movies. It’s no longer just a work tool; it’s my companion for an at-home movie date. And it’s not bad for playing video games with either.
• My personal blogging has grown. I used to only blog for clients. These days I blog for myself as well. I certainly prefer to journal in a notebook but I do have to admit that the confessional style of blogs is appealing as well. It gives me more of a connection with my computer than I had years ago.

Tags: change, computers, society, Technology, web 2.0

One of the things that I really love to learn about is what might happen with technology in the future. I like finding out about concepts that may or may not become real products but that do point to the potential for technological changes.

So I have to admit that I was excited this morning to learn about a concept phone that might use Coke (yes, the soda) for its power.

The info:

• The phone uses fuel cell technology based on sugary water. There’s not much water more sugary than Coke!
• It’s eco-friendly. Much better than batteries and totally biodegradable.
• It’s useful in parts of the world where other eco-friendly technology isn’t going to work. For example, solar powered phones aren’t viable everywhere.
• The phone is just a prototype right now. It’s not actually on the market but it could be something we’ll see developed in the future

Tags: coke, mobile phones, Technology

I have always been a PC person who wanted to become a Mac person. Maybe I’ve just been lured in by the hype around Mac. I certainly don’t have strong reasons for wanting to become a Mac person other than that the people in my life who have them swear that they never have any problems with them. I’ve had terrible problems with my PCs over the years and when both my desktop and my laptop computer recently died on me I decided that it was definitely time to make the move to Mac. I didn’t really have the money to spend but I also knew that it was worth it to get some good computers since these are the tools of my trade. I went whole hog and bought both a new iMac desktop and a MacBook Pro laptop. And I’m loving both of them.

In fairness, though, I have to say that I would probably have loved a new PC if I’d gotten a high-quality one. All of the PCs that I’ve gotten in the past were on the cheap end. The last several were all HP products and I can tell you from in-depth experience that HP laptops are not worth even their lowest prices. My HP desktop did last a long time but my laptops had to be reformatted more than once and I had to buy new power cords for them every year or so because they burned up from overuse. Frustrating. So any new computer that didn’t have such problems would probably have made me happy. It didn’t have to be a Mac. It just so happens that what I decided to get was Mac and I was glad with my decision.

What I love about the new computers (besides just the fact that they’re new) includes:

• The facial recognition feature in iPhoto. I don’t like everything about how you organize pictures inside of iPhoto but I do love this feature. I’m also going to like the tagging feature (descriptions of photos) once I start using it. It’ll be so much easier to find the images that I want to find now!
• The photo booth. This is a ridiculous little program that shouldn’t be a reason to love a computer but it’s totally a major reason I’m having fun with mine. It allows you to take photos with your webcam camera. But more than that it lets you actually change the effects on the photos before you take it so you can see on the screen what weird shapes you’re making. The photo above is me and my brother in the middle with my dad on the side and my sister sticking her hands in the scene. I can’t tell you how many hours I could spend playing with this feature!
• The little things. I think that it’s really the little things that I like. I like the easy method of ejecting discs with a button. I like the functionality of the design of the machine itself. I like the Magic Mouse that came with my desktop computer (although I’m still adjusting to the tiny size of the wireless keyboard it came with). These little touches are what make these computers so much better than my HPs.
• The idea of the Time Machine. I haven’t used it yet but I think I’m going to like it.
• The fact that there is still more to learn and do. It seems like these machines have a lot of neat functions that I wasn’t using before so I’m looking forward to continuing to play with them.

Tags: apple, mac, move to mac, new computers, smartchick, Technology

Sometimes if you look up onto the top of a house or a church or some other building what you’ll see there is a structural / artistic piece of ornamentation called a weather vane. Although you can probably picture what a weather vane looks like, you may not know what the point of it is. At least, that’s true if you’re anything like me because until I did some research into weather vanes In frequently passed by them and wondered what the heck they were for.

A weather vane is a tool that is designed to show you the direction that the wind is blowing. This may be something that you want to know for the purpose of gardening or for planning other outdoor activities. We don’t necessarily need this type of tool today since we have modern computer access that can tell us all about the wind patterns around us. For this reason, today’s weather vanes may serve the purpose of decoration instead of function although they do still reveal the direction that the wind is blowing.

A weather vane is typically designed with a simple cross symbol which indicates the four directions of the wind. It is then ornamented with a design that makes it aesthetically appealing to have on your home or building. A very common design is that of a chicken. Because of this, weather vanes are sometimes also called weathercocks. Today’s weather vanes may use this symbol or other animals to add decorative appeal to the piece.

A few interesting things that I learned about weather vanes while researching them include:

• They’re typically located at the tallest height of the building where they are placed.
• Weather vanes date back to ancient Athens.
• Some people combine the word and call the product a weathervane but it’s really supposed to be two words.
• The world’s largest weather vane is located in Spain.

So what’s the point of the weather vane? It’s mostly for decoration but it can tell you the direction that the wind is blowing as well. Now I know!

Tags: design, Technology, tools, weather, weather vane, weathervane

Parents today have to worry about how their teens and tweens are going to be using modern technology. Learning to monitor their kids’ social networking sites and to make sure that they don’t get addicted to computer games is all a part of being a parent in modern society. Mobile phones are another thing that parents have to monitor and worry about.

The most common problems that parents face when it comes to kids and cell phones are:

• The fight over when to get one. A lot of kids start to want their own cell phone when they’re still in elementary school. Parents have to decide when they think it’s best to make this move.
• Excessive use of the cell phone. Parents may be upset by huge cell phone bills caused by kids who go over their minutes. Alternatively, they may just not want their kids on the phone as much as they are.
• Text message threats. Bullying via text message is an increasing problem among teens and tweens. Parents have to worry about their kids bullying others or becoming a victim of this type of bullying.
• Teen sexting. Kids who engage in teen sexting may not only be putting themselves at risk in their relationships but may actually be breaking the law.

What is interesting to note about these common problems is that they aren’t that different from what parents and their kids have been battling over for ages. Parents have to figure out how to set limits, monitor their kids’ behavior towards others and allow their kids to grow into sexual adults. The technology may be different from the past but the battles are the same.

Tags: cell phones, kathryn vercillo, most common cell phone problems for parents, Parenting, Technology, teens and cell phones

T-mobile is working the green angle with a set of products and services called Mobilize Initiative. This is a way for the company to put all of its green efforts under one umbrella. This might make it easier for mobile customers to go green.

3 of the features of the Mobilize Initiative program so far are:

• Green phones. T-mobile is trying to make its mark with offering eco-friendly handsets. This is probably going to be increasingly popular as time goes on.
• Green perks. There’s a new program called Green Perks which allows T-mobile customers to shop from their phones using coupons for green products.
• Green accounts. You can choose to go green with paperless billing and other eco-friendly features by selecting a green account from the company.

Green is popular right now so this could be something that helps set T-mobile apart from other cell phone carriers. What do you think – would you switch to T-mobile if it meant you were being greener?

Tags: cell phones, green, green coupons, green perks, kathryn vercillo, mobile phones, mobilize initiative, Technology, tmobile

I recently had the opportunity to do an in-depth review of the Samsung s8000 Jet. This is a new mobile phone that received more pre-orders than the iPhone did in its early days. That says something about the kind of attention that it’s getting.

While doing my research for the review, I kept coming across four main reasons that this new phone is so popular:

1. Speed. It’s one of the fastest phones available on the market today.
2. Display. It also has one of the most impressive screen resolutions out of any mobile phone line.
3. Advanced web browsing. The new web browser allows you to easily open multiple web pages and perform other fairly advanced mobile web functions.
4. Cool user interface. The main reason people love this new phone is that it has a user interface with lots of neat features. This includes fun shortcuts, transition effects and a neat “smart unlock” system that lets you program each letter key to simultaneously do its own function whil unlocking the phone.

It seems like a cool new phone. I think it’s worth taking a look at if you’re into smartphones (although it’s technically not a smartphone, I suppose). Also, if you’re interested in new mobile phones, you might want to follow these 20 mobile phone Twitterers.

Tags: cell phones, kathryn vercillo, mobile phones, news, reviews, samsung features, samsung jet, Technology, Wireless

Almost all businesses have websites. Businesses that want their websites to get noticed already know that they need to make sure that they use SEO / SEM practices to get the attention of online traffic as well as web search engines. It’s just a “must” in today’s business world.

Most businesses hire someone to handle their SEO for them. That is a really smart move since there are a lot of things involved in SEO. It’s really a full-time job to make sure that you’re staying on top of all of the content writing and social promotion that goes into promoting a website so that it stays active on the web.

However, businesses shouldn’t give the whole process over to someone else to handle for them. At least, not without knowing what the SEO situation is all about. A smart business person wants to be capable of doing the SEO work of (s)he has to even if (s)he plans on hiring someone full time to take care of the work.

For that reason, businesses should think about investing in SEO training. This is where an SEO company comes in and teaches you all about how to do proper SEO. This would empower the business to do some or all of its own SEO work if the company so desired. Empowerment is always good!

Tags: busines, internet, kathryn vercillo, sem, seo, seo training, Technology

I spend a lot of time reading and thinking about coupons. I think that coupons are a great way for people to save money on the items that they buy regularly. I also think that that there is some interesting social history around coupons. (Does anyone get nostalgic thinking about clipping coupons with Mom when you were a kid?!) But what I’m thinking more and more about coupons is that the in-store, printable, clipped-out coupons that most people think of when they think of couponing are really totally inefficient and unproductive in today’s society.

There have been a lot of problems reported with printable coupons recently. There are huge problems with coupon fraud which exist primarily because criminals are able to easily manipulate printable coupons to get more money back than the manufacturer wants to allot. There are also problems with too many people trying to print out coupons and then creating in-store problems when they all flood into the store at the same time.

So what’s the solution? Technology seems to be changing in a way that will allow us to avoid use of in-store coupons in the future but to still save money with coupon deals. We already see this happening in the form of online promo codes which let you enter the code into your online shopping sites to get savings. There is a lot less trouble with coupon fraud using these types of coupons and of course you avoid the issue of shopping in overcrowded stores that run out of the products they’ve issued coupons for.

But what about when you do want to shop in stores? I think that coupons may be popular but society is leaning in favor of just offering good overall deals instead of coupon deals. For example, many people have found that they can save just as much money by buying generic store brands of items as they can from buying name brands with coupons. They skip the coupons and still get the savings.

What do you think? Do in-store coupons still make sense or are they going to become a thing of the past?

Tags: coupon codes, coupons, kathryn vercillo, Personal Finance, save money, society, Technology