The Phil Morris Blog

Cyberbully Tips from the move Cyberbully

Phil Morris — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:05:02 +0000

This past Saturday night we as a family watch Cyberbully which was originally an ABC family movie via my sons Netflix account. I had not had the opportunity to watch it when it was released. What a great movie for a family to sit and watch. I would recommend it for any family with kids in 5th grade and up. It does a great job describing situations and allowing you to pause and have discussions about each point.

Probably the best part of the movie is towards the end when there is a support group talking and the kids provide tips to other kids about preventing cyberbullying. I have pasted a link below to the YouTube site where the movie is available and suggest to you if you only would like the tips to go to the 1 hour and 8 minute mark and watch for about 3 minutes. I believe it is the best 3 minutes you and your kids could watch and discuss.

YouTube – http://youtu.be/bKrUvahMz1w

Phil’s Internet Safety Tips for Parents

Phil Morris — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:39:41 +0000

Here are just a few tips for parent’s to keep their kids safe on the internet.

People, not computers, should be their friends
Never meet an online friend in person
Stay out of Chat Rooms
“Google” your name and child’s name
Check and Monitor Profiles
Know who their “friends” are
Keep computer in common area (Family Room)
Beware of requests for personal information
Avoid posting personal photos
Keep private information private
Copy any inappropriate information
Do you know your child’s nickname? profile name? password? friends?

Facebook Search Engine

Phil Morris — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 01:14:00 +0000

Facebook announced a new search engine option today. Read more about it here.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/15/facebook_announcement_graph_search_engine_is_like_a_personalized_google.html

GoTasks

Phil Morris — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:24:41 +0000

I have been having a hard time organizing my to do lists having multiple devices, etc. I have tried Toodledo and that worked great for a while but being on Google Apps at work and on Google for my personal mail and Google having a Task application I was hoping to find something which could work with both. I just downloaded a new app on my iPad called GoTasks. GoTasks was FREE on the app store and the reviews were really good. I have been able to integrate both accounts in to the app and it auto synchronizes to my Google accounts allowing me to see the lists when logged on via the web.

Tip for kids having iPhone or iPad

Phil Morris — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:37:08 +0000

Many times kids are wanting to have an iPhone and parents want to know of a way to keep track of what they are doing. One tip is to have the same itunes account setup on their iphone or ipad as the parents. This way all phones will sync with the same apps. The downside is if there is an app you as an adult would like the kids would also have it on their phone.

SnapChat Security Flaw

Phil Morris — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:38:27 +0000

As of today Snapchat is #6 on the App Store for Apple…

For those of you who think that Snapchat truly removes and vanishes all information from you iPhone, etc..read this article from CNN.

SnapChat Security Flaw

Microsoft Surface Review

Phil Morris — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 17:14:06 +0000

Soon after Microsoft released the Surface I have tried it out and it is still a bit pokey. I do enjoy the interface that Microsoft is going with and the kickstand is a nice feature. I tested it with the slim keyboard and I like the fact the keyboard doubles as a cover and looks great, however I am still struggling with the sensitivity of the keyboard.

The other night I also had a friend call and they were having a hard time configuring pop3 Emil on Windows 8. Come to find out it is not supported so you have to pull your email through outlook.com or gmail.com to get it to work. This can be difficult for some basic users to understand.

The apps available are still being developed. I have tried some of my main apps and found that logmein does not work. This is a major problem. I use this product on a regular basis to connect remotely and ended up having to go back to the iPad to use logmein.

I do like that it has a USB drive available and word, excel, and PowerPoint on it as well.

I do not like to compare the surface to the iPad.

WordPress App on iPad

Phil Morris — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:45:30 +0000

I downloaded and am now using the WordPress app on the iPad. I am not really sure why I have waited this long. It is a nice app to update your blog with. You do have the ability to add photos as well.

I always forget to update my blog and as I was sitting here at the hospital I thought I would give it a try. This blog post as well as some others over the next few days will come from my iPad using the app. You can actually log in to your full web dashboard as well from the app to make changes.

I am so impressed with WordPress and its capabilities, not only for blogging but also for creating professional looking websites. My son and I have created many websites for people using WordPress and setting it up for them to update it on their own with out messing up any layout selections we have made.

The power of free tools is awesome.

Kidney Transplant

Phil Morris — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:54:37 +0000

Today, just a few days after Christmas received a phone call I never thought we would. Loyola hospital called and said they had a kidney for my father-in-law. What a great call..we all jumped into the cars and headed in to the city. He has been on dialysis for 3 years..3 times a week…

Today could be the last day of dialysis for him as long as the kidney is accepted by his body. I am so happy for him and pray that the surgery goes great. The surgeon has been in and the kidney has arrived and looks good. I kinda feel like we are part of a Grey’s Anatomy episode.

As far now we wait. Currently he is receiving his last dialysis before surgery. Everyone is in their cell homes, iPads, and computers on the hospital wifi. Technology is wonderful. We have the ability to stay in contact with extended family and were blue to Skype in his son from Florida before he was taken away.

More to come…

Successful Practicum

Phil Morris — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:46:50 +0000

Today I taught my first lesson as posted the other night to 5th graders. What a great day! The kids were so great and respectful. The whole lesson was a success and I really would not change much other than explaining a little bit better the of what I was looking for when having them list what information should be public and what information should be private.