As we look forward to end-of-the-year gatherings, it is sometimes hard to think of ways to involve the whole gang in fun and memory-making. Adults and kids alike can retreat to their respective technologies, whether smartphones or gaming devices. Why not take the rules, strategies and skills used in online games to have some "offline" fun? The most popular online games are often just reworkings or outright replicas of the games that have been played for generations. The top 10 games at the Apple app store or in the video game sections are often reworks of card games, puzzles, board games or …

There are going to be a lot of Internet-enabled devices under Christmas trees and wrapped up for Hanukkah. According to Nielsen Research, the iPad is the number one item on the most-desired electronics list for kids this year. Following behind is the iPod touch, iPhone, tablet and other computers. Add in any smartphone and a lot of kids want devices that can play apps available from Apple's App store and the Google play store. While the question of whether most-wanted will be the most received is a separate discussion, we all know that many kids will soon be dowloading their favorite games as…

How many of these posts have you seen on your Facebook wall? You must declare that what you post on Facebook to control the ownership of your content Lottery winner will share $1,000,000 to someone who posts a photo of him holding a winning ticket A photo of the Old Guard guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns during Sandy Encouragements to send "Holiday Mail for Heroes" to Walter Reed Medical Center Did you know that all of these are either false or misguided readings of the facts? How many have you shared yourself? I will confess that in reading through dozens of posts of my Facebook wall or in …

Video games can be great gifts for people of any age. Games are by there definition about having fun and giving them as gifts sends the message that you want your friend or family member to relax and have a good time. There are a world of options out there covering all price ranges and skill levels. Here are a few tips on shopping for a perfect video game gift and some recommended options for gamers young and old. Know your audience. The games you buy for a 10-year old niece will probably be different than for your 40-something IT guy. There are games for every gaming style: casual, strategy…

Electronics manufacturers always tempt us with their latest offerings. Whether new phones, computers, tablets, gaming systems or TVs, each year brings us faster, smaller, bigger, or cooler new playthings. Before you add something to your wish list take the time to take stock of the items you already own and come up with a plan for those soon to be forgotten former most-wanted items. Whether recylcing, re-selling, re-gifting or donating makes the most sense is up to you. My family loves gadgets. We have drawers full of chargers and devices gathering dust. We recently decided that a digital …

I highly recommend, from local Alexandria author Amy Fries, her book Daydreams at Work. In it, she says we need to give our brains a chance to step away sometimes from the details and annoyances in order to think differently. You know that feeling at the end of the workday when you power down your computer, grab your bag and head out into Beltway traffic? You leave the stresses, the projects not yet finished and the office politics behind and you turn your mind to dinner, family and maybe the game on TV later tonight. A normal end to a normal workday — but then there is a buzz in your pocket…

Twitter is changing the way we interact during special events. By searching a topic via hashtag (the symbol # and a keyword following) you can get on-the-ground updates, news, insights and trivia from those on the social network. Following the space jump This Sunday my family was transfixed by the space jump by Felix Baumgartner. In the midst of a relaxing Sunday afternoon my husband was reminded via Twitter that the rescheduled event was on. He jumped onto the YouTube stream. Walking by the home office I noticed the video image and jumped on my own computer to watch. I was never able to get …

There has been a shift in thinking about technology in our schools. For decades now, schools have played a role in introducing technology concepts to students. From the computer labs of the 1980s to the single computer on the teacher's desk to classrooms with multiple stations for students to work on, we have seen multiple approaches on how we should use these tools. We no longer view technology for technology's sake as a goal in itself. We've seen that the integration of new tools has to make sense. Teachers and students both have to 'buy in'--the technology has to make things easier, more …

Living in Northern Virginia means dealing with traffic. The concept of "rush hour" is lost when commuters jam the roads from 5 a.m. until 7 p.m. and a single accident, broken-down car or construction zone can bring everything to a standstill at times. So, maybe it's time to make the business case to your boss to allow you to telework? The many benefits of telework for the employee  More time! Telework means that you can do the impossible: Take back all the time that's wasted in traffic (and even some you may not have considered). Think about all that time preparing for your commute, packing …

The growth of social media has changed how we shape our careers, and can present problems if you're not careful. If you think of social media as a method of connecting online with people far and wide that is archived for posterity, it should help you understand how that can enhance your career options and how negative information can work against you. This doesn't mean that you can't be yourself. Just remember that the Internet is not your personal diary and sometimes your inner monologue might need a filter. Remember the "social" in social media. People want to work with sociable people who …

A snapshot of summer 2012 so far: Tyson's Corner is filled with laptopped exiles basking in air conditioning, power outlets and WiFi. People drive around tree-riddled neighbhorhoods getting a dose of cool air and charging their phones before discovering that open gas stations are a little more far flung then expected. Friends with power and internet access become ports in the storm. I was one of the lucky ones, our power flickered but it returned. Our FiOS phones and local TV channels went out and cell phone signal was down to a single bar of non-3G coverage. It was strange to have great …

There is no question now that tablets are the next wave in the evolution of the computer. From niche product that didn't quite satisfy, to the market defining iPad, on to Android pretenders that broke free from the Apple ecosystem and now to the latecomer, Microsoft, the tablet is changing what  computing is and how we interact with it. The Microsoft Surface home and pro editions were announced on June 18 in Los Angeles. Two tablets that will use the new-look Windows 8 operating system, that offer a kickstand and a cover that doubles as a keyboard. Both have 10.6 inch screens, are built with …

Do you resent your work PC as being slow or “boring”? Is your cute smart phone the first thing you check in the morning and last thing you look at before sleep? Not many of us have emotional attachments to our household tools, but often we have strong feelings about the tech we use at home, work or out and about. More Than Just Hardware When Google announced changes to its privacy policies, people went online to say how much they “loved” Google and its products or how they felt “betrayed” by the business practices of a corporation that managed their interaction with the Internet, videos and …

Jonathan Franzen hates Twitter. Last week, the famed author of "The Corrections" and "Freedom", spoke at Tulane University and said that the social networking tool is "unspeakably irratating."  “Twitter stands for everything I oppose... It’s hard to cite facts or create an argument in 140 characters," Franzen said. "It’s like if Kafka had decided to make a video semaphoring 'The Metamorphosis.' Or it’s like writing a novel without the letter ‘P’… It’s the ultimate irresponsible medium. People I care about are readers—particularly serious readers and writers—these are my people. And we do not …

  The best gifts capture your friendship in a moment. Tech can be used in innumerable ways to create something that shares who you are and what your friends and family mean to you. No need for mastery of a hot glue gun or the ability to draw a straight line, use tech tools to express yourself. Here are some ideas of gifts you can make that show that you have paid attention to their interests and that take advantage of your personality and creativity. The Mixtape Re-mixed  Crafting the perfect playlist is harder in a digital era. With digital music you are expected to not 'share' the music …

  Remember when a yellow page directory was the only way to find local resources from restaurants to movie theatres, plumbers to airline phone numbers? Even in the 90s, before Google or Yahoo, there were printed directories. I used to work in a bookstore (actual printed books) and one of the most popular books was the Rough Guide to the Internet, which explained how the Internet worked and included a directory of top sites. It's all online Times have definitely changed. The Pew Internet report “Where people get information about restaurants and other local businesses” finds that the majority …

A reader recently wrote in for help in accessing Web sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, each which require cookies.  The pages wouldn't load for her, even when she adjusted her Internet options in Internet Explorer.  As I didn't have access to her computer, I don't know what her specific problem was but I did recommend that she consider updating her browser to a newer version as her computer was from 2006. With an older computer, she probably was running IE6 or IE7.  Many computer users never see the need to change software as "it just works."  This is usually the case, as long as software …

This has been a big week for tech news.  Next week I will highlight the news from E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), but first some news from Apple's announcements at  WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference). Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs was on hand despite being away from the day-to-day business due to medical problems.  He first announced the new version of the Mac OSX, Lion which will be available in July.  It has updates that bring some of the iPad features to your desktop and laptop Apple computers.  Next up were improvements to the iOS software for iPad and iPhones.  Highlights …

Breaking news this week told us of government officials being targets of so-called "spear phishing" attacks on their Gmail accounts.  The attacks were traced back to Chinese internet addresses and may have led to the disclosure of significant amounts of government and personal data.  The attacks were described as spear phishing as they targeted particular groups of people using email language designed to gain trust or look legitimate.  This is in contrast to the typical phishing attack where the bait is more general in nature, say "we have an important message from your bank, please log in …

The security firm Symantec issued a report this week that alerts Facebook users to an error in Facebook's systems. The error allowed third-party access to users' information that resulted in the release of that information far and wide. Symantec advised those who may be affected to change their password on the site. The problem involves 'tokens' which give outside developers access to your information including friends list, 'likes', personal information, photos when you use games such as Farmville or even surveys such as "What Star Wars Character Do You Most Resemble?" Facebook responded by …