Refreshing Media Mashup: Using Library Cards for Freebie Fun!

June 4, 2010 It’s hard enough to get kids thinking about ‘summer reading’ when kids are gearing up to break loose from school for fun in the sun, but this cool idea prompting families into libraries to check out freebie ‘staycations’ is brilliant. You know how local attractions sometimes offer ‘free admission days’ that turn into hordes of over-crowded frenzied folks … [Read more...]

Media Addiction vs. Agency: The Context of Control Part Two

Jan. 13, 2010 My brother AND my mother sent me this little cartoon jab which left me snickering and simultaneously standing up to stretch. As evidenced in part one of addiction vs. agency in media management, I'm not the type to be consumed by disordered terminology, symptoms and panic statistics flinging about... If I were, I might have seen it as a dire familial sign or … [Read more...]

Free Media Finds That Are Priceless Year-Round

Dec. 16, 2009 Got gifts? Not sure when we jumped from “Black Friday/Cyber Monday” to bold-type headlines of “last minute gifts!”---but I’m still holding my own on the ‘haven’t stepped in a mall’ front… So today I’m going to add a few FREE ‘last minute finds’ that are literally and figuratively priceless. To up the ante and make it tougher, I’ll remove the physical … [Read more...]

Fun in the Forest Earns Dizzywood Online A NAPPA Gold Award!

Sept. 23, 2009 Ah, the first day of fall... An apt time to think about leaves, forests, colorful worlds and transitions into autumn when kids spend more time indoors and parents start hand-wringing about media management, homework hazards and how to balance back to school commitments with screen time online. The National Parenting Publications Awards has bestowed their … [Read more...]

Digital Data Mining 101: Echometrix Takes Kids’ Pulse

July 8, 2009 Still focused on "child predator" panic on the internet? I'd focus more on white collar stalkers like Echometrix, ubiquitous in far greater numbers, if I were you. Imagine digital tracking of every pop culture cue and kids' conversation in "real time" mode, self-described in their Echometrix blog as "opinion mining and sentiment analysis," to tap the "$190 billion … [Read more...]