When you were young, did you participate in a school science fair? I remember my paper mache volcano – seemingly a popular choice for kids – into which I mixed vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring. We now live in a global community, and, fittingly, Google is hosting a global science fair. If your child is between 13-18 years of age, he or she is eligible to enter the contest.
Has this happened to you? You’re in the middle of working on that important document for work, when you step away from the keyboard for a break. You return an hour later . . . to find that your little bundle of joy has hammered away on your keyboard. If you’re lucky, your document is now only a mess, and not lost. To prevent situations like this, check out two free Windows programs, Kid-Key-Lock, and Toddler Keys, which were both covered in the Lost in Technology blog.
Both programs work similarly, allowing you to lock down your keyboard and mouse. Kid-Key-Lock allows you to specify exactly what you want to lock out. For example, you can allow just numbers, letters, and spaces, while locking other keys, like system commands. This can be handy if you want to allow your toddler to use your keyboard to work on typing.
Toddler Keys allows you to lock your keyboard, mouse, and CD drive door, and even the power off button in Windows XP. It will play a sound every time a key is pressed, and you can even select which images and sounds to play. You can set a time period, after which the app kicks in and the lock is set.
Head on over to Lost in Technology for a look at the two apps. Do you have other ways you protect your work from your kids?
Kid-Key-Lock and Toddler Keys [via Lost in Technology]
If you’re an aspiring children’s author, a teacher, or just looking for something fun to do with a kid in your life, Storyjumper is something you’ll want to take a look at. I came across the web app randomly and was amazed by how easy it was to jump in and start creating. In fact, me and my two year old made a book just tonight — and she wrote it.
If you have a curious toddler — either your own or just a frequent visitor — then you know how much they truly enjoy pressing the buttons on your computer. Secretly, you are probably certain that the child is bent on pressing just the right combination of buttons at just the wrong time so that he or she can spend some time giggling while you cry for a change. Fight back against infant tyranny! Giggles Computer Funtime for Baby has a relatively inexpensive but powerful game suite that helps protect your work and whatever hair you might have left — and even teaches the kid stuff!
The Cloud Explained — by Kids
photo by zakwitnij
It was my birthday the other day. I turned 35. Yep, 35, and I write for a blog called 40Tech. I’m mature for my age, ok? Either way, I was feeling pretty good about myself that day. 35 years old is young, right? Well, that’s what I thought until I saw this video by Accenture that has little kids explaining cloud computing.
I now feel positively ancient.
The video, called “Cloud Computing Here and Now — Our Youngest Experts Explain the Cloud,” features a whole bunch of cute, smarty-pants little rug rats that make websites and are working on video games that feature super-spies with heads made out of cheese puffs. They were born with the internet — broadband, even — and it’s as second nature to them as hair bands are to the rest of us. I mean the music variety, by the way, not the hold up your hair type — but I digress.
Watch this video. It may make you feel like somebody’s grandparent, or even great grandparent — but it is a very clear look into the future of tech. Well, the future from the point of view of a high-end consulting company that is obviously convinced of the impending takeover of cloud computing — and trying to sell people on it — but that’s not saying they’re wrong.
Watch the video below — What do you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eq3Sj1GGs8&feature=player_embedded