Butterfly Girl

I'm kind of Victorian in my wall decorations- lots of pictures of different sizes, but completely covering the walls.  It drives my Zen-loving husband a bit bonkers.  No white walls here!

So, when it came to start decorating my daughter's room last year, I had to really think about what to put in there.

Yes, it had to be educational.

Yes, it had to have lots of bright, primary colors.

Yes, it had to have lots of shapes.

And, of course, it had to be fun.

So, what to do?

I started out purchasing the wall-cling alphabet.  It's ok.  It's much smaller than I was really expecting, and has weird things in it like broccoli.  The large letters are also only A-F, and T, and Z.

What kind of alphabet is that??

They also supply these TINY little numbers and mathematical signs.  Like, do you like a baby needs to learn the division sign over the letter M?

But I put them up, anyway.

And it only wrapped 1/2 way around a wall.  So, I went looking for something else.  I found these butterfly wall clings that were absolutely great!  They come in a wide variety of sizes and colors- anywhere from a couple of inches wide to almost 9 inches wide.  I put them put with the alphabet at chair-rail height all along the room.

They're my daughter's favorite!  And despite what "experts" say, she could see them by the time she was a month old.  I had them running right past the changing table and she used to turn her head and reach for them, so I KNEW she saw them.  Now, whenever she's upset, we get to ask her to point to a specific colored butterfly.

And she has her own favorites, too.  Like the medium-sized pink one and she always cracks a grin when she points to.

I realized after looking at them for the past year what a fantastic educational buy they have been.

1. They teach complex patterns to kids (there are pattern books out there that cost $20 for 10 pages that teach that).  
2. They also teach bilateral symmetry (matching sides right and left), which exercises both hemispheres of the brain.  
3. They teach colors.  
4. They teach sizes.
5. And, if you have them pointed in different directions, they can help teach directions, too.

I have to say, for the $12 I spent per sheet, I got a lot of more out of them than the A-F, T, Z alphabet.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

So, I'm busy looking for birthday gifts for my daughter and I come across this toy from One Step Ahead; it's called the Alphaberry.  I thought, wow, that might be good; my daughter is really interested in push buttons right now.  (As a side note, we do NOT let her play with tablets, phones, or computers.)

But I decided to look at the phone closer.  When I zoomed in on the picture, this is what I found:

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

Hey, UI/Marketing Department, I think that the kid is pressing the "I" button.  Is this truly what happens when you hit the "I" button?  Is says "D"?

Nice move for the specialty educational toy shop.

WHY?

Why, WHY do we need this???
Play ATM



What's sad is that there are two others that I found on Amazon:

ATM 1

ATM 2

Passwords

Over the holidays, every online purchase I made presented me with a customer form.  Every time you start a new job, you need to select log-in credentials.  They all want a unique password.  Some of them will then present you with a list of security questions- supposed reminders to get your password.  Hands down, these are ALWAYS the WORST set of questions imaginable.  Either:


You get a list of questions about what your favorites are (like those don't change??)


OR

You get a list of information that anyone looking in the hall of vital statics could get for free.  In fact, dexonline.com and MyLife.com all list most of this information about a person for free- online.


Some of the worst questions I've seen are things like:


"What High School did you attend?"
"What city were you born in?"
"Use your secure identifier (i.e. your ZIP Code and the last 4 digits of your SSN)"


or the ubiquitous, "What's your mother's maiden name?"


To make matters worse, every site is now merging all of their sign-on security with Facebook, LinkedIn, or Gmail. 


Yes, it's more convenient. 


No, you don't have to remember more than one password.  (Not that it usually matters because most of us only use a handful of passwords for everything).


But, seriously:  how much information do you want accessible with one hacked password?  


Experts say the best security has three parts:  something you have, something you are, and something you know.  Something you have might be a keycard or a fob of some sort.  It is a complete random assignment to you as a person.  Something you are would be a fingerprint or retinal scan- it is unique to YOU.  And something you know would be your password.   Now, Windows has come out with a picture-based password system.  If you haven't seen the TV ads for this yet, it works like this:


You pick a picture.
You outline or draw on it with your finger.


That outline is now your sign-in password.


It seems like something rather novel and cool, but I realized that it really isn't for two reasons:
1. I am one of those people that can't use touch screens.  I haven't seen a good explanation of why this is, but the supposition in the world is either that there is too much moisture on the tips of my fingers or that I produce an electrical current that interferes with the screen's software.  Since I drain watch batteries in a matter of weeks, I am inclined to go with the latter.  Either way, drawing on a screen with my finger seems like a crummy idea.


2. If you're sitting in a room full of people, it is MUCH easier to watch the large drawing motions on a screen and memorize them quickly than it is to memorize a difficult to see, typed password.  People memorize things in pictures, so it seems only natural that cracking passwords by watching people with this new picture password would be very easy.


I recently purchased a new laptop with a fingerprint scanner and I find that, not only is it very convenient to swipe my finger to log in, it is also much more secure in a room full of people.  There isn't anyone who can guess your fingerprint from watching you type.  It makes me wonder, though, why more websites aren't incorporating this type of security measure as an additional option to your account.


So, while we all wait the retina scanner for our online bank account access, I recommend reviewing your passwords and changing them - at least once a year.  Research by Graham Cluley has shown that using an abbreviated statement instead of a word; something like "NYR#3_ChPwd".  


Just make sure it's something you can remember….without the Post-It note stuck to the side of your computer screen.

I Know Where You've Been

So, it's January.  It's the month when my auto insurance re-ups for the next 6 months and I always go through it line-by-line.  This year, I found that there were some extra discounts that we were not getting for good driving and being accident free.  When I followed up with my agent, he let me know that those discounts were only available through the In-Drive Plan with State Farm.

So, I checked it out.

Wow, talk about scary!

They have a little device that they plug into your car that keeps track of everywhere you've been, how fast you went, if you came to a complete stop at every stop sign...and on and on.

Talk about scary!

I guess Progressive has a similar device and discount plan.

I honestly don't know who would want to have this device- no matter what the discount!  Think of all the places you go when you say you're going somewhere else.  Now, there's be a written record of every stop.

At least it's not mandatory- yet.

Leap Frog Makes Another Useless Toy

I thought I might get back to something more useful today- a review of another baby toy.  

So, the item on the chopping block today is The Leap Frog My Discovery House.

This has been the second biggest toy disappointments yet.  The first being the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn House.  The Leap Frog house is about 12 inches high and about 8 inches wide and deep.  I thought it would be perfect for carrying around from room to room because it's small and it has all the activities.  I knew that my daughter, then 6 months, was rather precocious so I thought this would be a great learning toy.

Well-

There are activities on it, but it would take an adult to figure out what to do.  For example:

1.  The front of the house has a white light shown in the picture.  The light switch for this light is on a different side of the house!  How is that a good idea?  

2.  The light switch itself is smaller than a standard house light switch and proportionally more difficult to move up and down.  How is a child who is just learning fine motor control of their hands supposed to move that switch?  The Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Kitchen, on the other hand, has a HUGE, flat, age appropriate switch that teaches the kid to operate it.

3. The birds on top move up and down, but you have to push really hard on a piece of plastic that's only an 1/8" thick to make that happen.  They only chirp.  "Tweet, Tweet, Tweet, Tweet".  That's it.

4.  When you manage to pry the front door open, you see a mirror.  Very cute, but you have to really PRY it open to get at it.  Then it won't close easily.

5.  The side with the light switch also has a little lamp and a book.  They both look like you should be able to interact with them, but only the book does anything when you press it.  You have to move that ridiculously small light switch to make the light go on and off.

6.  When you do press the tiny book, there is an excerpt of some short story that is read aloud.  The words are multi-syllabic and read WAY to fast to understand.  I had to press it several time to understand the whole thing and I'm an auditory learner!

7.  The door bell on the front of the house works.  It makes the ding-dong sound.  Then a difficult to understand child voice has a dialog about who's at the front door.  The answers are:

1. A Fireman (ok, that's age appropriate, but you can't SEE the fireman so how does that help your kid?)
2. An Astronaut (whoa, really?)
3. The Dogwalker (again, this child is just learning what a DOG is much less the activity and career of dogwalking)

8.  The other side of the house has a refrigerator door that opens and a couple of shelves that you can slide some blocks around inside.  The audio track that is tripped doesn't match up with the blocks that you just slid around; when you slide the block away to reveal the carrots, it says something about milk, and so on.

9.  On the backside of the house is a rubber duck button and a faucet screw knob.  They pretty much do only two sounds, no matter what daytime setting you have selected.  (squeak, squeak)

10.  My final comment on this lousy toy is that the sound is WAY too loud on the quiet setting.  I would say that this is a general gripe about most children's toys nowadays- everything is so LOUD!  If the toy must make a noise, does everyone in the house need to hear it?  That's not good for the baby's ears!  I haven't done a decibel reading on this, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's louder than I play the stereo in my car.

I would have to wonder why they thought that this toy was for anyone under the age of 3.  In my experience as an educator, I would say that the content and activities are more appropriate for the 3-6 year old, but then it's too simplistic a toy for that age.

Definitely don't waste your money.

Feast or Famine

Well, this is a quick one today.

Awhile ago, I took a job with a company that promised many things.  Today, I got the word that, because their finances are depressed (and let me tell you so, was I!), I am on the chopping block come the end of January.

Now, this comes as a major upset because I took the job because they promised to have a job for me in feast or famine times- that I would be paid no matter what was happening with the client list.  I took a nearly 50% cut in pay for this insurance.

Today I get told that the company is foregoing this policy and, to boot, I will be getting the boot at the end of January unless something miraculous happens.

I'm exceptionally upset about this news because the boss laid the whole matter on my shoulders- like there was something I was supposed do about clients, which isn't part of my job.  I'm  the commodity that's traded as a consultant, not the sales!  And despite having a senior team of sales people who have been in the business longer than I, I am the one who has been doing most of the sales legwork.

It's just a moment to vent, but it really is quite ridiculous.  I think IT is the only industry where the commodities are supposed to be in sales, too.  You never hear of a racehorse contacting the newspapers for publicity or negotiating the breeding rights.  It's because the racehorse IS the commodity.

Just ridiculous.

And depressing.  So much for the famine safety net.