Posts Tagged ‘News’
Compare Amazon’s Fire HD 6 $99 Tablets
Thinking about a tablet? In addition to their new kid-friendly Kindle Fire, Amazon has two new Fire HD tablets starting at only $99. Which one is right for you? Here’s a handy-dandy graphic comparing the two new low-priced models. (Note: I’m not sure why Amazon has dropped the Kindle name from the Fire HD, but as far as I can tell they have.)
Both are good options. I can’t say I’ve used either one hands on, but the price is right especially if you are an Amazon Prime member.
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Amazon Has a New Kid-Friendly Kindle Fire
Maybe you have an iPad, or an Android Tablet. Or maybe even a Kindle Fire. You love it. So do your kids. They get their greasy fingerprints all over your greasy fingerprints. (Aside: tablets have got to be a germaphobe’s nightmare. All that touching…)
Ideally, if you can afford it, you’d like to get your kid(s) a tablet of their own. Amazon hopes that you will buy their new kid-friendly Kindle Fire.
Called the Fire HD Kids Edition, this is not a kiddie-Kindle. It’s a full-fledged Fire HD, available with either a 6 or 7-inch display. What makes it kid-friendly are the following features:
– A “Kid-Proof Case” is included. Basically it’s a protective bumper-style case that you can buy for existing tablets, but with the Fire HD Kids Edition, you don’t have to buy it separately and you can pick between three different colors — blue, green, or pink. More important is this next bit.
– 2-Year Worry-Free Guarantee. Here is the wording from Amazon.com: “Enjoy the peace of mind with an unprecedented 2-year worry-free guarantee—if they break it, we’ll replace it for free. No questions asked.” That’s huge. Really. Kids break stuff. It happens. Usually you have to pay a bundle for an extended warranty, and if the thing actually does break you have to crawl through broken glass to get them to repair/replace it. A 2-year, no questions asked replacement policy is a sweet thing.
– One Year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. Described by Amazon as, “a hand-curated subscription of over 5,000 kid-friendly books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games,” this is presumably the razor blade to the Fire razor. Get a year for free, get the kid hooked, then start making your annual tithe to Amazon after the free year is up. There’s no obligation to do so, though. Sometimes parents forget that they can say no.
That said, here are two quotes from Amazon’s site:
“FreeTime is AWESOME. Age appropriate for each kid and the parental controls are priceless. My son has to read books for 30 min each day before it unlocks videos and games.” – Valerie
“I use Kindle FreeTime & it is PERFECT!!!! I can use the apps that FreeTime has, but also add other apps like Angry Birds, Temple Run, etc.” – Whitney
So you can use the tablet yourself when the kids are done with it. That’s handy. Also, as much as I prefer the idea of actually saying “you have to read a book before you can play video games”, the idea of assigning that task to a machine is… well, it’s future-thinking, it’s where we’re headed as a society (at least those who can afford it) and I like the feature. It’s not clear to me if you would still be able to use the Parental Controls/Kindle FreeTime without a subscription.
Bottom line: not a bad price for what looks like a pretty powerful and useful tablet. Available for pre-order now. Read more about it at Amazon.com, and also check out the articles below (which come from other sites and we take no responsibility for their content).
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
This Is Just Wrong (Links)
A 15-Year-Old Girl Was Forced To Wear A “Shame Suit” After Her School Decided Her Dress Was Too Short. (Buzzfeed)
More Cool Space News
Ready for more cool space news? This Gizmodo headline had me at “hello world” — NASA Will Reformat Mars Rover’s Flash Memory From 125 Million Miles Away.
How neat is that? According to Gizmodo, “NASA’s Opportunity rover is still trundling across the surface of Mars… But its software is getting bogged down, so NASA’s doing a full system backup, memory wipe, and reboot. It’s just like your routine computer cleanup, just from the next planet over.”
The Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity (note to future Geek Gold Gard parents — good names for twins!) have 256MB of flash memory each.
Imagine it this way. It is the Dark Times, the days of Windows 95, 98, and (Lords of Cobol help us all) Windows ME. Eventually the computer running said operating systems becomes so filled with cruft that it is unusable. (To be fair, this happened to me recently with Windows 7, although that was more about the bloatware that came pre-installed on the laptop. But I digress.) You reformat the hard drive and re-install the OS. (In my case, after several years of this, you give up, buy a Mac, and become an iHole.)
Now imagine that you are doing something similar, but remotely. REALLY remotely. Like, you’re on Earth and the computer is on frickin’ MARS.
Remember, we promised to get more excited about space travel.
This XKCD comic was in the comments section on Gizmodo, but I’m reposting it here because (a) I can (XKCD is cool that way) and (b) it’s funny.
NASA Will Reformat Mars Rover’s Flash Memory From 125 Million Miles Away – Gizmodo
Image via Wikipedia
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Grumpy Pants Tries To Shut Down Kid’s Lemonade Stand
This of course happened in Florida. Because, you know. Florida.
“Lemonade with straws” by newleaf01 – Lemonade-009375. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Gawker points us towards an article on from the Tampa Bay Times about a 12-year-old boy with a lemonade stand. Apparently the boy’s neighbor is not happy and is trying to get the stand shut down.
(Note: We removed the embedded video because it was auto-playing and we think that’s annoying.)
This quote from Gawker was my favorite:
The Times reports that his most recent email to City Hall complained that T.J.’s lemonade stand was back for the summer, “AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!”
h/t Florida Man Asks Police to Shut Down Kid’s “Illegal” Lemonade Stand (Gawker)
via Tampa Bay Times
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Comics And Robin Williams Collide (Links)
There’s a series of panels in the graphic novel ‘The Watchmen’ in which Rorschach (probably my favorite character in the book) delivers the following ‘joke’:
Man goes to doctor. Says he’s depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, “Treatment is simple. Great clown, Pagliacci, is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.” Man bursts into tears. Says, “But doctor, I am Pagliacci.”
Here’s the “joke” as portrayed in the movie version of ‘Watchmen’.
Personally I prefer the original, which you can see at ComicBook.com, or right here.
For anyone wondering what the hell this has to do with Robin Williams, here is the explanation from ComicBook.com:
Echoing the series’ central question of “who watches the watchmen?” the joke poses the question of “who makes the clown laugh?” It’s a question many fans find themselves asking with Williams’ passing. So many fans turned to him and his work for cheering up when they were down, but who was there to do the same for him?
If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with depression, remember that the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s is open 24/7, and that the number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
I appreciate that they put in the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s phone number. If there is anything we can learn from Williams’ untimely demise, it’s that suicide is not a joke and not limited to those whose lives appear to be crappy. Depression is very real and should be taken seriously.
Our condolences to Robin Williams’ family, friends, and loved ones.
Watchmen Joke Goes Viral After Robin Williams’ Death | Comicbook.com.
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
TV Reporter Suspended For Blaming Problems On ‘Young Black Men Growing Up Without Fathers’
A TV newsperson actually said, “The underlying cause for all this, of course: young black men growing up without fathers.”
This is one of those times when I have to check the calendar to make sure that this is indeed 2014, not 1972.
Here’s the video. It’s short.
