Home & Family Archives

Meet My Avastars, the first new doll born in the metaverse for play IRL and online

Meet “My Avastars” — a just-launched doll that is the first-ever “born in the metaverse.” Why is this important? Because your 7-12-year-old’s about to know a whole lot more about the metaverse than you do.

Given that this still-fuzzy concept of a future that merges physical reality with the digital world is predicted to become an $800 billion market by 2024, the fact a new $25 kids toy might explain it better than anything we’ve seen so far is pretty darn interesting too.

June 20, 2022

Hacks, Home & Family, Wired Well

Getting Venmo’d money for your side hustle? The IRS wants to know:

Tax Day is April 18th this year, but the IRS is throwing a few curveballs already. It recently introduced important new tax laws relating to payments for goods and services through mobile apps like PayPal, Venmo, and the Cash App,…

February 18, 2022

Home & Family, Videos, What to buy, Wired Well

CES2022: Check out this latest wellness tech, including a sanitizing light for your cell phone

***A version of this article and video originally ran in USA Today*** Someone asked me if CES 2022 has offered “a fix for Covid,” yet. After all, it is the epicenter of future tech – chock full of all kinds…

January 10, 2022

Home & Family, Videos, What to buy, Wired Well

CES2022: Hands-on With Top Tech

**A version of this article and video originally ran in USA Today.*** https://youtu.be/NRzQsdbQELk Tens of thousands of tech enthusiasts were in Las Vegas last week for CES 2022 – the annual consumer electronics show – one of the most influential gadget trade…

January 10, 2022

Gift Guides, Home & Family, What to buy

GIFT GUIDE: Tech toys that teach, screen-free fun, and lessons to last a lifetime!

***A version of this article and video appear in USA Today*** It’s hard enough to pry myself away from a screen these days, but when it comes to kids? Forget about it. It seems like babies are now born with…

November 21, 2021

Home & Family, Online Safety, Wired Well

You’ll want to change Facebook privacy setting right this second

If you haven’t been using the Off-Facebook Activity privacy feature, now’s the time to start. The tool, introduced by Facebook in 2019, lets you see and control data that apps and websites share with the platform — and monitor the kind of…

November 11, 2021

Gift Guides, Home & Family, What to buy

GIFT GUIDE: Hot holiday gadgets and ways to save

A worldwide computer chip shortage combined with major shipping delays means many Christmas shoppers won’t be able to find the items they’re looking for and have them delivered before December 25th. If you typically wait until Black Friday and Cyber…

November 9, 2021

Home & Family, Online Safety, Wired Well

Google now lets anyone under 18 get images of themselves off the internet. Here’s how:

You know how parents love to show off the most embarrassing photos of you? That was bad enough when I was growing up, and they had the awkward perm years front and center in a family photo album. Now? Photos…

October 30, 2021

Home & Family, Wired Well

Sharenting: What it is and why we all need to stop doing it

***This article originally ran in USA Today*** I love talking about my stunning, brilliant, cherished-beyond-measure, 20-year-old daughter. Oh sure, there are moments I overdo it a little, and maybe even gush, embellish, or overshare. I’m an insanely proud mom. I…

October 20, 2021

Home & Family, Wired Well

Mind your digital manners: 7 surprising deadly (or at least discourteous) digital sins in 2021

***THIS STORY ORIGINALLY RAN IN USA Today*** It’s 2021, and by now most of us know it’s rude to talk on our cellphones in a public restroom, restaurant or at the checkout counter. We understand that texting and walking can be hazardous to…

October 11, 2021