Books – The Original iPad
I recently received an email from a PR person touting the success of electronic devices giving parents some time to themselves. This is true. But it doesn’t only apply to electronics. It also applies to books.
When I was a kid, there were electronics, but they required dinosaur toenail clippings to run. (Little joke there.) I spent plenty of time in front of a screen, usually a television, because that’s what we had. I also owned a lot of handheld games, like this miniature Pac-Man machine. Eventually I had a TRS-80 Color Computer which I used to play games and also write programs in BASIC.
English: Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer 1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
But before any of that, I read books. So many books. The Hobbit. Lord of the Rings. Bored of the Rings. A Wrinkle in Time. The Fletch and Flynn series by Gregory MacDonald. (I was too young for those but I read them anyway.) Agatha Christie. Sherlock Holmes. Comic books.
Reading gives parents a break as much, if not more than, electronics do. I’m not anti-screen time. I try to manage it, and I recommend that parents with very young children manage screen time closely, mostly because I don’t see any reason for a 6 month old to be playing with an iPad. But as a kid who grew up watching a lot of TV, it would be hypocritical of me to say that I’m anti-screen.
But a good book will always trump electronics. A good book — I’m talking about a really good book — is hard to put down. Sometimes it is impossible to put down. “Just one more chapter. Just one more page.” Sound familiar? Sure, the same can apply to a video game. “Just let me beat this boss.” But it’s not the same thing. A book requires imagination, and therefore uses more of the brain than anything involving a screen does. (Kindles count as books, although there is an argument to be made that plain ol’ paper books are more involving because it’s just the book, no buttons, no screen. It’s not necessarily an argument you will win, but you can make it, and I’d back you up.) (Note: the statement “uses more of the brain” sounds like I’m making a scientifically proven statement. I’m not. I think it’s likely that my statement is correct, but I don’t have the science to back it up.)
Not all kids are readers. I was, and luckily so are my kids. I like to believe that because they grew up in a house where reading was a regular activity, they naturally became readers themselves. I have no idea if this is the case, and I never will. Maybe I just got lucky. But I can confidently say that once your kids learn to read, it has the potential to be life changing… for you.
Kids who love to read get involved in their books. And when they’re reading, they don’t ask you to look up a walk-through so they can beat a section of the game they are playing. Also, reading is a quiet activity. Books don’t make noise. And readers rarely make noise when they read. (Occasional exclamations of surprise and/or joy don’t count, although they are wonderful to hear.)
Again — I am not knocking screens, literally or figuratively. Heck, unless you printed out this blog post, you’re reading it on a screen. And video games are fun. My point is simply that back in my day, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, books provided a service to parents that electronics do now. And they still can.
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Tim Brown Happy His Son Is Happy
Former NFL great Tim Brown made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after 6 years of eligibility. What’s he most happy about? The fact that his son is happy.
Tim Brown, meet @81TimBrown! #PFHOF15 pic.twitter.com/0nqbBme47w
— Pro Football HOF (@ProFootballHOF) August 9, 2015
On the first night of the NFL Pre-season, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, Brown was interviewed by Paul Burmeister, who asked him how it felt to make it to Canton and what’s been his favorite part of the festivities.
Paul Burmeister: What’s been the most memorable part of the weekend?
Tim Brown: My son came up to me, he’s only 12, he didn’t see my career, but after the ceremony, at the enshrinement last night he came up to me and he said, Dad, you’re cool, you’re cool Dad. So to me, that was big time.
What can I say? I love stuff like this. Fathers and sons. Even a football legend like Tim Brown is happy that his son thinks he’s cool. This is one of those rare times when I can honestly say I know how a pro athlete feels.
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Buy This If You Want To Piss Off Your Wife
DaddyTips readers know that we like to post DaddyDeals when we find them. Good prices on, you know, stuff. (By the way, we heard the portable DVD player deal sold out almost as soon as we posted it. Although we take no actual responsibility, we feel bad that you weren’t able to get the deal. We have to say “we take no actual responsibility” for legal reasons. At least that’s what we’ve been told.)
This deal we don’t actually expect anyone to buy, unless they happen to be in the market for such a thing. When we saw it, we thought, “wow, how funny would it be if a guy bought this for his wife?” Why? Because the item in question is a Neoprene Waist Trimmer Belt.
Nothing says “I want to sleep on the couch tonight” like buying your wife a Neoprene Waist Trimmer Belt.
If that’s how you roll, it is currently, as of this writing, on sale for under 10 dollars.
Amazon.com: Ohuhu® Neoprene Waist Trimmer Belt, Black: Sports & Outdoors
Source: Amazon.com: Ohuhu® Neoprene Waist Trimmer Belt, Black: Sports & Outdoors
Don’t Read This Until After You See Ant-Man
But DO read it AFTER you see Ant-Man because it’s a fun article.
There are also a bunch of Related Articles below that probably contain spoilers. If you care about such things, don’t read those either until after you’ve seen the movie. Which I did, and it’s fun.
Director Peyton Reed talks about that fight scene and the movie’s hell yes! mid-credits scene.
Source: Spoiler: Ant-Man’s Twists and Cameos Explained — Vulture
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Amazon Portable DVD Player Deal
Nice deal from Amazon on this portable DVD player that also has an SD card reader. Plus it’s purple. Limited time offer, caveat buyor, etc. As I write this it’s $39.99, regular price is $69.99. Good for the kids on a long car trip.
Check it out. Link below. And here.
Amazon.com: Sylvania SDVD7027 7-Inch Portable DVD Player with Car Bag/Kit, Swivel Screen, USB/SD Card Reader (Purple): Electronics
Earth-Like Planet Found by NASA
This is so cool. NASA has found an Earth-like planet, described as “Earth’s bigger, older cousin.”
This isn’t a picture of real space travel.
Read the full story at CNN.com.
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Tip: Update Windows Now
From ZDNet, a tip: update Windows now.
Upgrade paths from Windows XP to Windows Vista. Dotted lines indicate that a “clean install” is required; otherwise, an in-place upgrade is possible. Black lines indicate upgrade paths between Vista versions. Windows XP Professional x64 and Windows 2000 both require clean installs for every Vista edition. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Seriously. I don’t use Windows anymore (see the image above), but apparently this is one of those really bad things that has the potential to screw up your computer.
The flaw, which also affects Windows 10, allows a hacker to take over a machine.
Does that sound fun to you? It’s doesn’t to me. “All versions,” according to ZDNet, means “Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1” and based on the quote above, Windows 10.
I haven’t used Windows regularly since XP Pro. That was a fine OS. It helped that I bought a Thinkpad, one of the last models made by IBM before they sold that part of their business to Lenovo, and the computer came with very little pre-installed crapware. Crapware, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is stupid software that comes installed on many Windows computers. Usually all the stuff does is cause your OS to slow to a crawl and make you want to throw your computer out the window. (No pun intended.) I have spent… let’s see… carry the 1… a boat-load of hours uninstalling crapware from the PCs of friends and family.
Anyway, this isn’t a crapware problem, at least not as far as I can tell. Assuming Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10 still work somewhat similarly to Windows XP, updating your OS should be fairly easy. As Nike used to say, just do it.
Source: Microsoft releases emergency patch for all versions of Windows | ZDNet
