All About the Eclipse

Hi All,

Eclipse Day 2017 has arrived.  Lots of links follow on the '411' on everything eclipse related.  Enjoy!

NASA - Eclipse 101 - Eye Safety

New York Times -  Eclipse Path Across the USA

NASA - Solar Eclipse 2017

NASA - Live Stream of the Eclipse 

Eclipse 2017 - Science/Background 

NASA - How Eclipses Work? 

NASA - Eclipse Misconceptions  

NASA - Eclipse History 

Space.com - Total Solar Eclipse 2017: When, Where and How to See It Safely 

Wikipedia - Solar Eclipse 2017 

Enjoy the links!

Regards,
Stu

Tech Tips For Techies - and Non-Techies!

 Hi All,

You might have heard Kim Komando's radio spots on CBS radio.  She talks about computer, technology and other similar issues on the radio.

But did you know that she has a website?  Billing herself as 'America's Digital Goddess' she  discusses the digital lifestyle in our digital age.   Click here for a bit more about Kim Komando. 

For today's article - at least on her website - click on this link.  In addition to the radio spots on CBS radio she hosts the Kim Komando Show on over 450 stations each week.  Click here to find a station.

On her website are all sorts of tools for techies and non-techies to become proficient in (if you are non-techie type) or more proficient in (if you are already a techie type) computers and tech.  Topics include Buying Guides,  Apps, Cool Sites, Columns, Downloads, Forums. 

But wait, there's more.  You can watch a passel-load of her videos here, watch 'Live From the Studio', Tech News in the Morning, Flash Tips, Komando Reports and much, much more on the website.

Enjoy the site, the videos and the interesting way she imparts her wealth of knowledge to listeners, viewers and readers to her show!

Regards,
Stu

Snow Shoveling Tips For the Winter

Hi All,

Now that it is January on Long Island, we can expect the snow and the ice to start to make an appearance.  Ugh.  Yuk. And, 'how many days until Spring?'

But we still have to get passed the Winter to get to Spring...but how can we stay safe in the winter weather?  Read on for some tips on shoveling, driving and generally making the best of it during the upcoming winter.

Farmingdale Patch has an article on Snow Safety Tips For Nassau County Residents.  About.com chimed in as well with an article titled, Snow Shoveling Tips. And rm ApartmentTherapy.com comes an article titled The Best Snow Shoveling tips and Tricks From Around the Web.

And what about all that winter driving we do on our way to work or school or food shopping or wherever the weekend trips take you to?  Read on for winter driving safety articles!!!

The first article comes from the AAA and is titled Winter Driving Tips.  Be especially aware of the section  of 'tips for driving in the snow'.

The insurance colossus Travelers also got into the game this year with an article titled Winter Driving Safety Tips. Sound familiar? :)

And now we're breaking out the big guns - OSHA got into the act with an article titled Safe Winter Driving.  

The NHTSA generated a pdf document a few years entitled Checklist and Tips For Safe Winter Driving.  Click here for this well written gem of an article.

Enjoy the articles and links - hopefully you won't need to rely on the information in them...but if you do, you have them at your fingertips.

Regards,
Stu

Hi All,

Let it snow... and that's what's going to happen this weekend.  Click on this link - courtesy of the Farmingdale Patch - to see the snow timeline for this weekends' snowfall.

But before that let's make sure we're all safe.  With food, blankets, snacks, batteries for radios/dvd players and the like.  Make sure you're smartphone is charged and your car's gas tank is filled. 

Without further ado, click on these links to help you prepare for the upcoming snowfall this weekend.

Blizzard Safety Tips - Prevent Injury While Shoveling

Blizzard Survival Guide -AccuWeather 

WeatherWizKids - Winter Storm Safety

7 Ways to Stay Safe in a Blizzard

Winter Weather Checklists

Blizzard Checklist - How To Prepare Your Home For the Impending Storm

PSEG Storm Center - Outages

Wunderground.com - Warnings For Southern Nassau County  

Best Foods to Stockpile For an Emergency - RealSimple.com

Best Hot Chocolate Recipes - Food Network 

Hot Chocolate Recipes - AllRecipes.com 

Enjoy the links - and the snow!

Regards,
Stu

Keeping the Kids Safe When They are Online

Hi All,

The world has changed - that's for sure.  Now kids can access the internet from not just a desktop computer, but from a smartphone, tablet or even a laptop.  And, of course, they can get to the web via the 'traditional' desktop computer.  The web is everywhere - its ubiquitous!

So how do you keep kids safe when they are online?  Great question - here are some steps and some sites to help you keep the kids safe when they use the computer and the internet.

This interactive site (called Kidsmart) offers videos, tips, activities, and ideas that teach kids to be smart and be safe online. Categories such as file sharing, social networking, games, chat, safe searching, digital footprints, and competitions allow kids to learn more about the areas they use most often.  Notice the tabs at the top of the homepage for 'I work with kids', 'I have kids' and 'contact'...

PCMag had an article titled 'Keep Your Child Safe Online' back from 2011.  The article still has decent content and is helpful for parents and educators.

PCWorld (a competitor to PCMag) had an article called 'How to Child-Proof the Internet'. Its a bit more current, but again, is a decent starting point for parents.

Even the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has gotten into the act of child safety on the internet with this link. 

This comprehensive site has links to Cyberbullying, Talking to Your Kids about Being Online, Kids and Computer Security, Kids/Mobile Phones and Kids/Socializing Online, Kids and Virtual Worlds and, finally, Kids and Texting/Sexting. It is a central repository for lots of valuable (and useful) information for parents whose kids use the internet!

Enjoy the links and the sites.

Regards,
Stu

What Helmet Should I Wear?

 Hi All,

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has a very relevant site that readers might want to visit - especially now that it is Spring and kids are spending more time outside. The link is for a site called 'Which Helmet For Which Activity?' - click here for the link.

The site does a great job explaining why helmets are so important and explains how users/parents can tell which helmet is the right one to use.  Other important questions that are addressed include, 'Will I need to replace a helmet after an impact?', 'Where can I find specific information about which helmet to use?', and much more. 

Finally, there is a helpful chart that will help parents and kids figure out which helmet to use for activities as varies as bicycling, mountain bike racing, in-line skating, karting, moped riding, motorcycling, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, baseball, softball, t-ball,and much more. 

When users visit this page - by clicking on this link - you will also see a tab at the top of the page for Toy Recall Statistics.  Click on this link to go to that part of the CPSC site.  In particular, users might want to visit this site - Buying Toys - Safer Toys from the CPSC site.  There are a whole bunch toy safety related videos that readers might want to view.

Enjoy the links and CPSC site - its definitely worth bookmarking or making a favorite!

Regards,
Stu

Disaster Preparedness Kits

Hi All,

Disaster preparedness kits (DPK).  We've all heard about them from either radio, tv or magazines and books.  But what actually good are they?  Well, they are great resources when you need to leave your house at a moments notice because of some natural emergency (think flood, fire, tornado, hurricane, etc...)

Ready.gov is a great place to start planning for an emergency.  Besides for DPK's, there are links for making a plan during an emergency, and to learn what protective measures to take before, during and after an emergency.

Click on this next link to learn about building a basic DPK. Also, click here about how to maintain your DPK so that you you'll have the necessary supplies when you need them.

Fema is an excellent place to learn about emergencies and how to survive them.  Click on this link to learn - again - how to put together a DPK.  This next link is a document that opens in Adobe's pdf format.  It is basically an emergency supply list that you can check off.  Good stuff!  Fema also created this video on how to create a DPK. 

And not to be outdone the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has created this next page titled Emergency Preparedness and Response.  This is an extensive summary of everything you need to know about DPK's. 

And for readers who want to see the article that got me thinking about DPK's and using the idea for a blog entry, click on this link from the DIYNetwork.com.  

Finally, you can go on the web and buy a DPK if you don't (or can't) prepare one for yourself.  Click on either of these links to visit sites where you can buy a DPK.  EmergencyKits or Costco Wholesale American Preparedness Kit.

Regards,
Stu

Back To School - Top 10's

Hi All,

Well, I hate to say it, but it is back-to-school time again. Yes, another summer has come and gone and we are in 'back-to-school' mode once again.  So...for long time readers, that means I'm going to generate another 'Top 10' list.  This time the list is all about 'things that relate to back-to-school'.  Here it goes!  Enjoy - and have a great school year!

Click on this link for an article from Time Magazine titled, 'Top 10 Back-to-School iPhone Applications'.  With titles of apps like CourseSmart, Stanza, Evernote and Graphing Calculator, students will have more time to study and get good grades.  Thanks technology!

From Mashable comes this article on 'Top 10 Back-to-School Brain Foods'. Note that readers might want to stock on pumpkin seeds, potatoes, chili peppers, oysters and steak - among other things. 

From Yahoo! comes an article titled, 'Top 10 School Supplies - Back to School Shopping Guide'.  Seriously, this is the most basic and useful list that I've found!  With items like lunch boxes, backpacks, flashdrives/jump drvies, locks, calculators, binders, staples and glue, this is the most down to earth, practical list I've seen for back to school supplies in a long time. 

From a legal website called 'Findlaw.com', comes this article called 'Top 10 Back-to-School Traffic Safety Tips'.  The very first entry on the list is 'Don't text while driving'....duh....'nuff said.   I'm also a fan of the fifth item in the entry, 'budget extra travel time'.  And for children the warning to 'use the crosswalk' is a very, very good starting point.

And finally, the reason why school exists is, well, learning.  So the website School Family.com should be interesting from that perspective.  But.. the article 'Better Grades - 10 Ways You Can Help' is worth reading for parents and is very helpful for students and parents alike. 

Some good ideas that appear in the article include creating routines, prepare for the morning the night before, help your child get organized, provide a quite place for homework, limit distractions, encourage intellectual curiosity, allow for free time, build a relationship with teachers, focus on effort rather than grades and learn how to step back...go figure. 

This next article is very helpful for students.  Entitled 'Get Good Grades in 10 Easy Steps' the article will help get any student on his or her way to getting good grades.  For example, a few of the very helpful hints include 'believing in yourself', 'being organized', 'managing your time well', 'being successful in the classroom (don't skip class and prepare for class)', 'take good notes', 'study smart' and of course, 'get help when you need it'.

So there you go - some links on the tools, safety and how to get good grades for this school year.

Good luck and have a great school year!

Regards,
Stu

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Babysitting - But Were Afraid To Ask...

Hi All,

Babysitting - ah yes...time to get away from the children and take some time for yourself.  That's good stuff - and necessary when you take care of an infant or toddler or pre-schooler.  You needs some time for yourself - and that's where todays' blog entry comes in.

The topic: babysitting.  And we'll discuss how to find a babysitter, the going rates for babysitters and some books on how to interview potential babysitters.

Click on this link from the FarmingdalePatch for an article entitled 'What's the Going Rate For Babysitting?' Just to save you some time and reading - but it is still worthwhile to click on the link and read the article! - the 'average' rate for babysitting is currently $10/hour...

The above mentioned article from Farmingdale Patch mentions a very useful website called Care.com. Essentially Care.com acts as a conduit for caregivers and for parents.  In other words, parents can find babysitters that are located near there home AND babysitters can upload a profile and search for babysitting jobs.  What a site! And just as a heads up, users can look for 'care' for children, for parents, for pets and - believe it or not - for your home...

Furthermore, the type of care can be identified - babysitters and nannies, child care centers, special needs and tutoring and lessons can all be found very easily. 

This next link comes from Kidshealth.org and is very useful for the teenager in your life who wants to start babysitting.  With topics like 'Having a Business Plan', 'Thinking About the Kids You Want to Care For', 'Safety of the Children While Babysitting', 'Preparation in Babysitting', and 'How to Behave With the Children While You are Babysitting' the article is comprehensive, well-worded and an easy read for the future babysitter in your life. 

So now that you have a list of potential babysitters, what are you going to ask them when you meet them for the first time? Think no further and surf no further - the following links will be helpful when the time comes to interview prospective babysitters.

From MamaOT.com comes this link filled with "22 Questions to Always Ask a Potential Babysitter".  From About.com's section on Child Care comes this link for 'Questions To Ask a Potential Babysitter'.  Finally, from a source that comes with 'street credentials' comes this link from Boston.com/Moms - article is called '15 Questions To Ask A New Babysitter'.

The American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) is one of the foremost organizations in the world that concerns itself with Children's health and well-being issues.  They have a very user friendly website called HealthyChildren.org which can be accessed by clicking on this link.  In addition, users can click on this link which goes to a page filled with 'Babysitting Reminders'.  Note that the whole darn site is chock filled with informative, current, modern parenting advice and suggstions.  Don't miss it!

And finally, the Farmingdale Public Library has books on 'How to Babysit?'.  Click on this link to go to the library card catalog and see the titles we own.

Hope the links are useful and the topic was interesting.

Regards,
Stu