The Sugar learning environment is the operating system and software that powers the XO laptops. Sugar Labs packages their software stack onto a flash drive allowing you to not only test drive their environment but also boot to it from any computer at any time. Version 2 [...]
A few nights ago while doing some Christmas shopping, I came across the HEXBUG display at our local Toys R’ Us. Being interested in robotics and remembering that GeekDad’s own Anton Olsen works at Innovation First International, the company behind HEXBUG creatures, I took a chance on [...]
Image via legomatrix.com
We here at GeekDad celebrate all things Lego. Add a dose of SciFi to the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for something we’ll truly be geeking over.
Taking over a year to shoot, Trevor Boyd and Steve Ilett took their interest in stop-motion photography to [...]
Image: Michael Harrison
One year ago you were reading this by Michael Harrison.
If you head out to your Friendly Local Game Store and observe the tabletop gamer in his or her natural habitat, you’ll see that every gaming table is different. Some gamemasters are hunkered [...]
Students from Oakton High School demonstrating the "Cougar Cannon" (Image: whitehouse.gov)
“We’re going to show young people how cool science can be.”
Those were some of the inspiring words by President Barack Obama at the launching of the new [...]
Courtesy: iMinds.com
A few weeks ago, I wrote about iMinds, 8-minute topical audio books designed to fill the mundane moments in our lives with learning instead of boredom. Launched yesterday, iMinds has a new product designed for kids, called iMindsJNR.
While the concept is roughly the same with [...]
Lucas and Caroline with President Obama. Image: whitehouse.gov
Backyard astronomy is a fantastic hobby. If you have kids, it’s even better; there’s nothing like sharing the experience of awe and wonder as you gaze towards the stars to help foster an [...]
Image: Feel Good Anyway
They Might Be Giants’ third album in their educational series for kids, Here Comes Science, is their best effort yet. Maybe because it’s aimed at older kids. The content is more mature and has greater replay value for adults. But in addition to [...]
One year ago, you were reading this by Ken Denmead.
In our never-ending quest to provide you the tools and knowledge to raise your kids in your own geeky image, we present you with a list of 10 geeky movies to raise your kids with. This is a [...]
Using a computer can be an extremely enriching experience, especially for young people. Using this technology to explore, learn, and have fun whether on the internet or playing games creates an environment where learning can be exciting. As with all things our children experience, we parents want [...]
Image: makezine.com
LED throwies are nothing more than an LED taped to a button battery and a rare-earth magnet. But in their simplicity comes a basic understanding of how circuits work. And not only is it fun making things light up - especially if you’ve [...]
via Flickr User roadsidepictures
The Gibson Les Paul, like the Fender Stratocaster, was one of the defining instruments at the dawn of the Rock and Roll era of music. But the contributions to the music industry by that inventor whose namesake appears on that legendary [...]
Disney's, The Black Hole
Science fiction writers love black holes. The classic struggle between man and nature takes the form of a faceless antagonist, a terrifying void where anything that crosses its event horizon is never seen or heard from again. At GeekDad, we share some [...]
During August 2008, GeekDad writers were reminiscing about our Bad Dad moments as being parents. Kids don’t come with an operator’s manual (and what self-respecting geek would bother to read it; aren’t these things supposed to be intuitive anyway?). We try to raise our kids in our [...]
If you had to teach someone who had never used a computer before on how to open a word processor, write a document, save and share that document with others, how would you begin? You might show them how doing these tasks on a computer are similar to their analog [...]
One year ago, you were reading this, by Matt Blum.
I can definitively say that I would not be the geek I am today were it not for two fictional boys named Danny Dunn and Alvin Fernald. Danny and Alvin were geeks themselves, though they [...]
I’m a cyclist. I also love data. And while all the runners out there have had the Nike+ system to analyze their runs and make their trips out the door more enjoyable, there really hasn’t been a system like that for cyclists. Until now.
I recently began riding [...]
One of Paul's Students, Samuel.
I was never in band in school except for my senior year of high school where I took up the Baritone (Euphonium) in order to play electric bass in my school’s pep band. Things may have been different if I had someone like [...]
As our readers were geeking out about the great historical geek, Nikola Tesla, on the anniversary of his birth, the GeekDad Wayback Machine also suggests this article from one year ago by Matt Blum.
I can say without fear of disproof that the United States of America would not [...]
The circus is back in town! At least in Milwaukee, it is. And maybe for the last time.
A tradition in this town since 1963, The Great Circus Parade, hosted by Circus World of Baraboo, Wisconsin, is more than just a parade. It is a five [...]
One year ago on GeekDad, you were reading this by Dave Banks.
Forget the stereotype of the stuffy, don’t-touch-the-art, kid-unfriendly museum. Interactive museums can be entertaining, engaging and educational — even for a generation of kids raised on Nintendo DS.The days of “look, but don’t touch” are [...]
Image: Flickr user broma
Final exams are done, grades are posted, and your kids are home from school for the summer. How do you keep your kids active and learning when TV and video games are so tempting? Check out the below past June articles from [...]
The XO-1 Laptop
The XO laptop made a considerable splash when it was announced to the world by Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop per Child (OLPC) non-profit organization. Tech enthusiasts were anxious to get their hands on the fabled $100 laptop. Reviews at the time were very enthusiastic [...]
Still scratching your head trying to come up with Father’s Day gifts? In addition to this year’s previous posts, we’ve got two last minute Father’s Day gift ideas for anyone still looking.
Sony PRS-505LC/MC eBook Reader
Feeling generous this Father’s Day? Is your dad a Michael Connelly fan? Maybe [...]
One year ago on GeekDad, you were reading this by Michael Harrison.
GeekDads and their spawn ought to enjoy Descent, a sort of hybrid between D&D and a board game.
It’s a good choice for those new to role-playing — or for those who don’t have as much time for dungeon-mastering [...]
My son and his new toy.
Growing up, my family would often visit the family cabin on Portage Lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. As kids, one of our favorite toys to play with was a boat fashioned out of scrap lumber. Tie that boat to a stick and we [...]
Summer is here! And often times that means family vacations and road trips. There are numerous ways of keeping your kids happy and entertained during extended drives in the car. Many families have built-in DVD players in their minivans, others employ handheld games, and I’m sure there are a few [...]
The ’80’s were a magical decade for gadgets for kids. Computing power and display technology were evolving and cost effective enough to penetrate the toy market in a big way. Purely mechanical toys evolved into electromechanical toys and gave birth to the digital toy revolution. For example, LED games of [...]
Gears! Gears! Gears!
What kind of toy do you get for the budding engineer who’s big enough for Lego Duplo but not really any other building toy? ‘Gears! Gears! Gears!’ by the Learning Resource feature brightly colored plastic gears, mounting plates and trusses that allow you to build [...]
Image Credit: Chuck Lawton
Over this past weekend, my wife and I went to a gallery / silent auction benefit for a new print studio opening in Milwaukee. The studio, called RedLine Milwaukee, is somewhat of a start-up in the local art scene. Their mission is to [...]
Image Credit: Chuck Lawton
With age comes nostalgia, and having grown up on the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, there is a certain level of sentimentality for the games that defined me. Game system and software manufactures recognize this and have begun [...]
