Technically Trying

 Using Gmail for home or business is an easy way to gain access across all your devices to your family, friends, or work. Gmail is adaptable and can be on a smart phone or computer or even a smart TV. When you make a new Gmail account, you also gain what is called Google Drive. This drive is a cloud based storage system that is free with every Gmail account. You can keep videos, pictures, articles, spreadsheets, and so much more inside this free space hosted by Google. All Google account holders have access to Drive, Photos, Gmail, Maps and Calendar. But today, we are talking about Drive. To get to your drive, simply open your web browser and click on the 9 dots by your photo. You'll see the Drive icon looks like a triangle with the traditional Google colors.  You'll land on what Google calls "My Drive" or "Home". Either of those options are good to begin with. Inside this drive you can click around and create folders to store your things, share drive items ...

 The Christmas bustle is over, all the gifts are open, and now you're staring at a pile of technology that seems to grab your child and never let go. And you're thinking 'What have I done?'  but don't worry! There is a great way to start this year off right for your entire family! I've talked a lot about setting up parental controls and having open conversations with your child about their technology use. I've also talked about how to set the example with your own technology use and making sure you practice what you preach .  So here's some links as a reminder: Never Too Late! Become Tech Savvy Build Better Families I also recommend sitting down with your child and engaging with them on that new technology. Did they get a new Chromebook? Ask them how they navigate on it, what they usually do to entertain themselves, and allow them to show you how they play paper.io or some other browser based game they are obsessed with. What about a new Nintendo switch?...

  All of us are probably feeling the "get ready for Christmas" rush now that December is here. We have lists to complete, gifts to buy, families to visit, and kids to entertain. In the heart of all of the busy times this month brings, is technology. In order to enjoy the holiday and also stay safe online, here are a few shopping tips: 1) Only use trusted websites:     * If a website is advertising to you through Facebook or in a text message, or maybe it was an ad you saw on YouTube, don't click on their link! Go to your browser and type it in. Even better, if you don't recognize the business, don't use their website. There will be a lot of phishing style websites out there just to hook you into entering personal data that could end badly for you! Keep your personal information safe! 2) Flash sales are fun, until they're not:     * Those eye catching ads on social media are only meant for clicks and likes. Don't be fooled into thinking that the "flash...

 A lot of us are familiar with Google Sheets. Or maybe you're used to using Excel on your desktop. Either way, when you're using a spreadsheet program, you have an endless amount of tricks that you can use to manipulate your data. Whether you're making a spreadsheet to keep track of finances, a checklist that helps you remember your grocery list, or something that shows data from a Google form that live updates as users fill out the form and creates a beautiful graph for you, there are a ton of possibilities in Google Sheets. Lets start with the basics: What is Google Sheets? Sheets is the Google equivalent of Microsoft's Excel program. It is a lighter version that is based in the cloud and can be shared and edited in real time with a huge amount of users or collaborators. You can have up to 100 editors going at the same time! However, having that many edits occurring simultaneously may cause the program to jump around too much so I don't recommend it! Lets look at ...

 In recent news, a young man has become national headlines but for all the wrong reasons. This poor young man was emotional drawn into an AI Chatbot and ended up taking his life. He was fooled into thinking he loved the AI bot and had a very intimate relationship with it. While this may sound crazy, you need to understand the mental state of a teenager in his situation.   Lawsuit claims Character.AI is responsible Science has shown that the teenage brain doesn't develop fully until the child is actually an adult around the age of 25. The frontal cortex, the one with reasoning and thinking ahead abilities, is in an immature stage prior to that and this is why teens don't think before they act. If you were to ask them if they thought about their actions, they would answer honestly with "No". And they would be telling the truth! Their brain acts instead of reacts. So when someone tells them they're funny, they'll keep telling jokes. When someone tells them they h...

 Did you know you can access your Google calendar like an appointment book? Using this feature you can schedule a parent teacher conference for your students without giving the parent full access to your calendar, and it will automatically remind them about the meeting without you having to hound them to come! It is really easy to do! Open your Google calendar in your browser: Once you open it, you will see your monthly view of your calendar with the menu of options on the left side: Click on the little down arrow next to Create and select Appointment Schedule .  When you click on it, the above image will pop up. You will see the current week and time slots in blue on the right. These are auto generated time slots. Begin at the top and fill in the details you'd like for your conference availability: Title your appointments however you prefer. I used conference  for this example. You can then set the time frame. There are set time limits or you can add a custom time frame....