Techish

Teen Speak Decoded: What does “I’m finna dip” mean?

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If it feels like you need a translator to talk with your teenager, you’re not alone. Between all the shook’s, lit’s, fire’s, and fam’s I’ve overheard my own teen and her friends saying lately — I’m lost too.  Every generation has its own particular lingo that adults aren’t really supposed to understand. Think about how many words have meant “great,” throughout the years like aces, swell, keen, groovy, rad, bad. Nowadays, it’s “lit” or “fire.” For the most part, teens use slang as a way to create their own identity, fit into specific social groups, and express independence. “Language is a lot like fashion,” says Mary Kohn, an associate professor of English at Kansas State University who ... Read more

BACK TO SCHOOL: Helpful Tech-Life Hacks for Busy Families

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It’s been more than twenty years since I’ve gone to school, and yet every August without fail, I have classic back-to-school anxiety dreams: There’s a big test and I forgot to study. I can’t remember my locker combination. I’m in gym class — naked. Sound familiar? Turns out back to school season can be just as stressful for parents as it is for some students. A slew of recent surveys show parents are increasingly anxious about back to school shopping costs, getting kids ready and out the door on time, screen-time, busy schedules, homework, and bedtime, among many other nagging concerns. While new technology might be to blame for some of the stress — like kids playing Fortnite when ... Read more

Plugged-In Families: How to Create Healthier Tech Habits

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Today's kids are totally connected — to surfing, scrolling, snapping, gaming and ‘gramming. According to new Pew Reseach, 95% of teens have access to a smartphone and 45% say they are online 'almost constantly.’  Stats like those give way to rising concern over the addictiveness of constantly checking for social media updates, watching videos and playing games. Some studies tie extended screen time to distraction in classrooms, symptoms of ADHA, sleep deprivation and depression. But what we’ve learned as digital parenting evolves is that the challenge is less about how much screen time our kids have and more about the quality of time they spend online. Research also shows that when you ... Read more

Back to School Gadgets: As Seen on Good Day New York

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Here are some fun gadgets to tech kids out: 1.   Go-To Safety Gadget: Relay - For Ages 6-11: (starting at $99, plus $6.99 monthly data charge) This is a screen-less, water-resistant device that works like a walkie-talkie and puts you in direct contact with your child, but with the connection of a smartphone. You can connect to your child’s Relay whenever you want from either an app on your smartphone or from another Relay device, and they can contact you by pressing the large button in the middle of the gadget. The Relay uses 4G LTE connectivity so you can check on them, and talk with them, whenever you want – from anywhere you want. 2. Nokia “Candy Bar” 3310 3G Phone ($60) Iconic – and ... Read more

Prime Day is almost here, so use these tips to avoid package thieves!

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Even if you're not a big Amazon shopper, there's a good chance you're going to be loading up on big discounts when Prime Day hits on July 16th. That means there's probably going to be one, two, or even three or more Amazon boxes headed for your house in short order. According to a recent survey by Wakefield Research, 30% of Americans say they've had a package stolen from their own home, and over half say they know someone who was a victim of such a theft. That's nearly one-third of Americans! If you want to make sure your precious Amazon Prime Day purchases aren't nabbed by pesky "porch pirates" before you get a chance to grab them, here's what you should do: Hello Neighbor! Have a ... Read more

HOW TO: Amazon Prime Day 2018 Do’s and Don’ts

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Black Friday might be the biggest shopping day of the year, but Amazon’s exclusive annual sale, Prime Day, has just as many huge discounts and deals. Prime day started off in 2015 — and in a few short years has become a sort of national holiday — for bargain hunters at least. 2018’s Prime Day is expected to be nothing short of epic. When is it? It's official -- Prime Day starts at noon on July 16th. It runs for a day “and a half,” which means exactly 36 hours -- making it  the longest Prime Day ever, beating out 2017’s which was roughly 30 hours. Avoid Price Scams Just like with any big sale day — including Black Friday and Cyber Monday — there will be a ton of products ... Read more

How to keep in touch with kids too young to own a smartphone

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https://vimeo.com/277168596 Let’s face it, parents, most of us lose our kids at least once or twice while they’re growing up. Sometimes they just get a little too good at hide-and-seek, as my then-four-year-old daughter did for a few heart-stopping moments inside a department store several years ago. Or maybe they just aren’t where we expect them to be — even for a minute or two — and it’s absolutely terrifying. Apps on smartphones like Life360 and even Find My Friends work great to help track down teens and older kids mature enough to manage the responsibility of owning a smartphone. But what about for younger ones? What’s the best way to keep a watchful eye — that isn’t a ... Read more

Here’s how Apple’s iOS 12 wants to make it much easier to control your family’s screen time

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Policing how much time your family spends on their digital devices is a huge part of being a parent these days. Kids love to lose themselves in their smartphone and tablet screens, and setting vague limits or trusting them to put their phones down at bedtime doesn't always work out the way we'd like it to. There are a number of different apps that help parents monitor how much time their kids are spending on their phones, but Apple just one-upped all of them by baking those features right into the next version of iOS. iOS 12 includes a couple of super handy new features including Activity Reports and App Limits. You can find both in the new Screen Time app, and they're designed to help ... Read more

7 of the best gadgets to keep you looking and feeling cool this summer

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In case the longer days and sweltering heat didn't already tip you off: Summer is almost here. We're less than a month away from the official start of summer, which means beach trips, cookouts, and camping out just because you can. But before you go stocking up on burgers and popsicles, consider upgrading your gadget loadout to make the most of the next few months. Scorkl (starting at $229.00) Scuba diving is a blast, but it's also pretty hard to get into. I mean you need so much equipment to get started, right? Wrong! The Scorkl is an endlessly refillable mini underwater breathing tank that will give you 10 minutes of air so you can spend a little longer below the waves. No huge ... Read more

Does a 6-year-old need a smartphone? Incredibly survey reveals 20% of parents say yes!

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Just how young is too young to have a smartphone? That's a question lots and lots of parents struggle with, so tech buy-back site Decluttr decided to find out. The company conducted a survey of over 1,000 parents in the U.S. and asked them about their kids' technology habits, and you might be surprised with how many youngsters are walking around with smartphones of their very own. According to Decluttr's data, a whopping 20% of kids between the ages of 1 and 6 have their own smartphone. That's one out of every five kids below the age of seven. On top of that, almost one-third of those youngsters have a smartphone that cost their parents over $100. So, what exactly does a 6-year-old ... Read more

5 old gadgets you never use that are worth big bucks (so sell ’em now!)

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Are you sitting on a junky-gadget goldmine? Most everyone has some spare gadgets laying around on a shelf, in a drawer, or stuck in a box in the closet. We never give them any thought because, I mean really, who would ever want them? In the age of edge-to-edge smartphone screens and streaming music, that dusty tech is basically trash. Except that it isn't. Old-school electronics have a huge secondary market, and you might be sitting on an absolute gold mine of retro gadgets that you never even knew were collectible. Here's a handful of the most desirable pieces of old tech. Video Game Systems Of all the different kinds of home electronics, video game consoles hold their value better ... Read more

Google’s Assistant can make lifelike phone calls on your behalf — cool or way too creepy? Let’s discuss.

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If you missed Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s keynote presentation at the company's annual I/O Conference in San Francisco earlier this week, you missed a pretty special first-look at just how much our wired-world is about to change. Even though Pichai started his talk off by recognizing that the tech industry must always be responsible for the tools and services it creates, he then went on to show us some of the coolest — and potentially most creepy — new set of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tricks to date. Imagine typing an email and having your computer not just autocomplete words you use a lot, but entire sentences. (Now, imagine that those sentences are always right. I mean, it's ... Read more

AS SEEN ON KTVU: Mother’s Day Gadgets and Last Minute Ideas!

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In case you missed our segment with our family at KTVU last weekend morning -- here's everything I talked about: Mother’s Day is right around the corner and thanks to the latest tech tools and insider “hacks,” you still have time to give her something she actually wants and needs this year.  1. SWEET TREATS AND GORGEOUS BLOOMS: FTD.COM and Berries.Com:  This is one of my annual go-to’s – and the latest tech makes it super easy:  I ordered this “Irreplaceable Luxury Bouquet’” and this “Pink at Heart Orchid Bouquet” on Friday from FTD.com. Less than a day later –  a florist from Park Florist on Park Boulevard in Oakland delivered it herself to my doorstep. The carefully crafted bouquets are ... Read more

Mother’s Day 2018 Gift Ideas and Smart Tech Hacks to Win Child of the Year!

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According to a handful of Mother’s Day surveys and polls, most moms want one gift over all others this year: More sleep. That’s right, give us one night of completely, totally, blissfully uninterrupted sleep, and you’ll win child (or husband, or BFF) of the year. Even those of us Moms with older kids (mine is 17) aren’t getting nearly enough, according to a study presented at 2017’s American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Boston. THESE APPS = GREAT GIFT HACKS Best tech hack to help Mom get the peace and quiet she craves? Download the HotelTonight app (free, iOS and Android). It gives you access to fantastic deals, super low rates, and awesome experiences in more than ... Read more

You can now share your favorite Spotify tracks to Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories — here’s how!

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Facebook's developer conference (called F8) is going on right now, and that means lots of news about new features. One of the biggest announcements so far is that Facebook is adding app integration to Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories, so you can share what you're doing in different apps directly in your Story feeds. It's a brand new feature, but Facebook got Spotify to dive in head-first, becoming the first app to tie in with Stories. Here's how it works! When you're listening to a Spotify song on your smartphone, just click the little "..." menu icon and then tap the "Share" button. You'll see Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories on the list, so tap whichever one you ... Read more

JENN’S LIST: Best Gadgets of Spring 2018

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Spring has sprung, and now that the last remnants of winter have melted away it's time start 2018 for real. We're only four months into the year, but there are already some awesome new gadget trends starting to emerge. Oculus Go ($199) Oculus got off to a bit of a slow start with the Rift virtual reality headset, but it's hoping to make up a whole lot of ground with the all-new Oculus Go, a wireless VR gadget that you can take anywhere. It's an entirely standalone VR experience, meaning no messy wires and you don't need a pricey computer to attach it to, and at $199 it's a whole lot cheaper than most of the other virtual reality headsets out there. Developers have already been ... Read more