Five Tips For Making a Secure Password

A common issue that people in the IT field are constantly dealing with is how to keep information safe. Everyone wants their information to be secure, whether it's the documents on a computer or access to their online banking or Facebook accounts. One of the best ways to keep intruders away from your data is to create strong passwords. Unfortuanely, many people do not know what it takes to make a strong password, so their risk of being hacked is even greater. Here I'll outline five quick ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of your passwords.

1) Complexity is key: "Password" is not a good password. Neither is "12345." All of the experts recommend using long passwords (the longer the better) to increase your safety. It's also highly recommended (and sometimes it is required) to use a combination of different types of characters -- upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and punctuation. Complexity is added when using them in unexpected ways. For example, the password "Dan is 5 years old!" contains upper and lower-case letters, a number, and a symbol, but is much less secure than the password "dan()1S()5()y3ars()01d!" Passwords like this might be difficult to remember at first (and are certainly obnoxious to look at) but it will beat password-cracking software that scans through every word in the dictionary when breaking passwords.

2) Don't use personal, easy to guess, passwords: It's really touching that you want to use your kid's name or your anniversary as a password, but it's one of the first things that a hacker will guess. If you still really want to use it, punch it up with more numbers, symbols, or unrelated words. I might guess that your password is "rachel," but I probably would not guess "raCHEL1997tOYtRAINS."

3) Use keyboard patterns: Passwords don't always have to be very meaningful. "zxcft6yhn" might look like nonsense and is admittedly not very easy to remember off the top of your head, but if you look at how it's typed, you'll see that it's actually a pretty simple shape on your keyboard. Again, add capital letters and symbols (maybe hold shift while moving a certain way on the keyboard?) to make this seemingly random string of characters even more complex.

4) Don't use the same password for every site: Even if you have a good password it's possible that someone will crack it somehow. If you use one password for everything, they'll have access to your email, your bank, your Facebook, your work accounts, and everything else you thought was safe. This is why it is good practice to use multiple passwords.

Often, you specifically will not be the target for a hacker -- it's usually a computer program that will break one of your passwords and try to use it on other sites. Since it would be particularly hard to keep track of ten unique passwords, you can use one "base" password and just add an identifier for the site you are using. With our last example, instead of using "zxcft6yhn" for everything, you could use "zxcft6yhnGM@IL" for Gmail and "zxcft6yhnF@CEB00K" for Facebook. Most computer software will not be able to figure out the base/identifier system, and will give up after finding that your Facebook password will not log into any banks.

5) Change passwords often: This one can be hard to do just because of the effort required. Nobody likes coming up with new passwords and changing them on every site, but it really does help keep your information safer. If someone gets your password(s), there's no telling when they will strike. By changing it fairly often it's very possible that you can stay a step ahead of them. Ideally you should be changing your password every few months, but if you change it at all you'll probably be doing better than most people. Try to set reminders to change your passwords every once in a while...it's a pain, but it's worth it.


Hopefully now you have a better idea of how to make a strong password and how to maintain it. It's ok if you want to write down your passwords at first until you really memorize them, but remember to keep it in a secure location. (Please note that a Post-It on your monitor or a notecard under your keyboard is not a secure location. You might laugh but we see it all the time.) Want to know how secure your password is, or what you can do to make it better? Check out The Password Meter to see how you're doing. Good luck, and safe computing!

Five Ways to Protect Your Privacy on Facebook

Facebook is notorious for changing privacy settings fairly often without any warning to its users. Sometimes it is difficult to stay on top of the latest settings and keep your information as private as you would like. I recommend going though all of your account and privacy settings every couple of months, but even if you try to do this it can be hard to navigate through the labyrinth of pages to get to that one setting you might be looking for. In this post I will highlight a few settings that I believe are important. You may not agree with every one of my choices because everyone might have a different opinion as to how social networks should be used. I hope, though, that you will at least take these options into consideration.

1) Secure Browsing: To be honest, I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't use this option. By enabling Secure Browsing, you make your Facebook sessions safer by using an encrypted connection, making it more difficult for someone to hack into your account when using a public internet connection. You can see that this setting is active by looking at the URL any Facebook page you have open: if the URL begins in "https" it is enabled, if it begins with "http" it is not.

Where to find it: Account (upper right of screen) -> Account Settings (in drop-down menu) -> Security (on left of screen) -> Secure Browsing (click "Edit")

2) Public Search: If Public Search is enabled, people are able to find your Facebook profile (and even some photos from your profile) through search engines around the web. Some people may not mind being found this way, but people who use Facebook purely as a way to communicate with friends and family might not want to be publicly indexed and identified by Google or Yahoo. If you fall into the latter category, you will want to disable this setting.

Where to find it: Account (upper right of screen) -> Privacy Settings (in drop-down menu) -> Apps and Websites (click "Edit Settings") -> Public Search (click the "Edit Settings" button)

3) Friends Can Check You Into Places: For over a year Facebook has allowed its users to update their friends on their current location, similar to other social networking sites like Foursquare. Judging by this feature's relative popularity, I may be in the minority when I say that this makes me somewhat uncomfortable. I promise I am not writing this blog entry while wearing a tinfoil hat, but I have read enough dystopian future novels to be a little freaked out by a computer knowing exactly where everyone is at all times. Since I, personally, do not feel the need to let the internet know which restaurant or park I'm currently in, the simple solution is for me to never use this feature. The problem with this is that other people can still check you into places themselves. I have turned this setting off so I cannot be tagged in these kinds of posts.

Where to find it: Account (upper right of screen) -> Privacy Settings (in drop-down menu) -> How Tags Work (click "Edit Settings") -> Friends Can Check You Into Places using the mobile Places app

4) Adjusting your profile's privacy: As a Facebook user you can choose to share your information with the whole internet, your friends, or just a select group of people. I like to only share my information with the people who I have accepted as my friends because they are all people who I trust. There used to be a fairly nice way to adjust these settings, but I think they've decided to make it more complicated recently. I'll show you two ways to control who sees what on your profile:

a) There is a global setting to control your Default Privacy, which controls who sees your status updates and photos that you upload. You can let everyone see your posts, only your friends, or a custom list of people -- for example your family and friends, but not your coworkers.

Where to find it: Account (upper right of screen) -> Privacy Settings (in drop-down menu) ->  Control Your Default Privacy

b) As you are editing your profile you can choose who sees each category (hometown, education, music, etc.), so you can make some information more private than others. This is similar to the global setting in that you can select between everyone, friends, or a custom list of people.

Where to find it: Profile (upper right of screen) -> Edit Profile (upper right button) -> Individual buttons to the right of each piece of information (don't forget to click on tabs other than "Basic Information" towards the left of the screen.)

5) How people bring your info to apps they use: Some Facebook apps that people use (games or other services) can pull information from your profile to "enhance" the user's experience. This is fine if you agree to share your information with this third-party company, but sometimes these apps will pull data from its users' friends who choose to share their information with the friend. If you would still like to share your information with your friends but NOT the companies they interact with you must manually disable this feature.

Where to find it: Account (upper right of screen) -> Privacy Settings (in drop-down menu) -> Apps and Websites (click "Edit Settings") -> How people bring your info to apps they use (click the "Edit Settings" button) -> leave boxes unchecked if you would not like that information shared within apps

BONUS: I will throw in a sixth bonus setting because it is more of a preemptive measure. Facebook basically gives you the choice, if they choose to do this in the future, of opting-out of having your name or picture appear in third-party ads targeted towards your friends. I figure they wouldn't even ask you this if they didn't plan on using this in the future, so if you do not want to be used to endorse something without your approval, make sure to tell them to share your information with no one.

Where to find it: Account (upper right of screen) -> Account Settings (in drop-down menu) -> Facebook Ads (on left of screen) -> Edit third party ad settings


Keep in mind that maintaining strict privacy settings isn't just for people who have something to hide from their bosses or future employers. Being aware of the information you are sharing is important because it could be easy for someone to make assumptions about you based on your interests, religious/political affiliations, or your previous posts that are taken out of context. As I said before, the settings I talked about in this post are only recommendations, and you are free to share as much or as little as you want. All I ask is for you to consider who on the internet is looking at your Facebook profile, and what conclusions they might draw if they do not know you personally.

Seven Free Ways to Speed Up Your Computer

One of the most common complaints people have about their computers is that they are getting too slow. It's true that over time, the more you use your computer and the more you store on it, the more it has to work. It's also true that once a computer is a few years old its hardware can become obsolete and might not meet the expectations of software developers. To fix these kinds of problems you might need to buy a hardware upgrade, such as more RAM (Random Access Memory), a bigger hard drive, or maybe even a new computer.

Before you go chucking your laptop into the garbage though, there are some other things that you can do to speed up your computer. Here I present you with seven easy and FREE ways for you to keep your computer running at its fastest.

1) Close unused programs and tabs: This one is kind of a no-brainer. The more jobs you give your computer to do at once, the fewer the resources it can give to each one. Sometimes it's easy to forget that you still have a Word document or PDF open from yesterday, and when combined with open sessions of Firefox, iTunes, Outlook, and Skype, your computer's memory usage can get pretty high. Solve this by closing unused programs, or programs you might not use for another few hours. Similarly, web browsers that use tabbed browsing (which is pretty much all of them, now) typically require more memory when more tabs are open. This is less of a problem with Google Chrome because of how it deals with memory, but is definitely a problem with Firefox. The same solution can be used here: close the tabs you are no longer using.

2) Choose which programs run at startup: You may or may not realize it, but many programs have a default setting which tells them to start running every time you turn on your computer. This is convenient for antivirus programs or others that you will always be using, but often it's unnecessary. On Windows 7, to better control which programs run at startup open up Control Panel, click on "System and Security," choose "Administrative Tools," and in the new window open up "System Configuration." (Alternatively you can just open the start menu, type "msconfig" into the search bar, and press the Enter key. This also works with Vista.) If you are using XP, open the start menu, click "Run," type "msconfig," and click OK. In this window you will click the "Startup" tab, which will show you the list of programs that automatically run when your computer turns on.

DISCLAIMER: If you are not sure what one of the Startup Items is (even I'm not sure what half of them are) DO NOT MESS WITH IT. It might be something you don't want, but it's equally likely that it's something important that needs to run.

If it's something that you recognize that you don't want automatically starting every time, uncheck the box next to it. When you are done, click OK to exit. Personally, I have disabled iTunes, Quicktime, Adobe Reader, Skype, and a few others because I know that I might not use those programs immediately when I start my computer. By disabling a few of these programs, your computer should take less time to boot than it did previously.

3) Keep your computer malware-free: Viruses and spyware can cause some of biggest slowdowns to your computer. By always running one antivirus program (we recommend Microsoft Security Essentials, but most well-known ones will do the job), keeping the virus definitions up-to-date, and running a virus scan at least once a week, you will most likely keep your computer clean. I say "most likely" because some forms of malware can slip by antivirus programs. This is why we also recommend using Malwarebytes to scan for and get rid of some of some of the trickier Trojans and spyware. Keeping your computer free from malicious programs designed to infiltrate and slow down your computer does wonders not only for the speed of your computer, but also for its security.

4) Run Disk Cleanup: The Disk Cleanup utility will help get rid of the temporary files, internet files, and files in the Recycle Bin which you no longer need. To access it on Windows XP, Vista, or 7, open the start menu, click on "All Programs," then "Accessories," and then "System Tools," which is where you will find "Disk Cleanup." (You can also use the search bar in the Start Menu in Windows 7 or Vista.) If it asks, select the C: drive to cleanup, and check the boxes next to each type of file you want to remove. On the right side of the window you can see how much space each type of file is taking up, which will help you decide how much of an effect the cleanup will have.

5) Defragment your hard drive: Many people don't know what it means to defragment a hard drive, so they won't see its importance and won't do it. As an example, you can basically think of your hard drive as a bookshelf. The shelf starts off clean, and as you collect books you line them up in neat, organized rows, left to right. Now say you want to get rid of a small, paperback book. It's removed from the shelf, but a space remains where it used to be. The other books do not get moved over. Now you want to put a dictionary on the shelf. You must now rip off a section of the dictionary to fill the hole where the book you just removed was, and continue filling in gaps like this until you reach the end, where you will put the remainder of the dictionary. Now, next time you want to use the dictionary, you have to pull out each section you separated, and put it back together before you can begin using it. On your hard drive, sections of your data are stored this way on a disk, so each time you need to run a program or retrieve data, each section is found and retrieved individually, taking more time than if it was all stored in one location. Defragmenting your hard drive reorganizes how your data is stored so that programs and large files are all kept in one place.

Now that you (hopefully) understand what defragmentation does you can see why it's important to do. In Windows 7 and XP, you can open up My Computer (just called "Computer" on Windows 7), right click on your Local Disk (C:), click "Properties," open the "Tools" tab, and click "Defragment Now." (Like the last few tips, you can also just search for "Disk Defragmenter" in the Start Menu on Windows 7.) Here you can analyze your C: drive to see if you need to defragment it, and defragment your hard drive if the analysis recommends it. On Windows 7 you can even schedule this task to run automatically so that you don't have to keep remembering to do this.

6) Move files from your desktop: On newer, faster computers this is not a very big issue, but on older computers this can be a great trick to get your computer to start up faster. By storing files (installation files, photos, documents, videos, etc.) directly on your desktop, your computer must load them all as it's booting up. It's already loading the operating system, connecting to the internet, and starting all of the necessary programs and services it needs to run, so why give it extra work to do? By storing these items in your Documents or Pictures folders you will save some time starting up. Note that shortcuts to start programs or go to folders (like Documents) do not add time to startup, because they do not need to be loaded -- they just point to where the program or folder is actually located.

7) Restart: This is probably the simplest one on the list, and it does wonders. Many people leave their computers running for days or even weeks without shutting them down or restarting them. Restarting a computer frees up memory that was being tied up in processes running in the background, some of which didn't even need to be running anymore. Restarting a computer is like getting a good night's sleep for a person -- when a computer starts back up it is better-able to handle more intensive tasks than if it had been on for a really long period of time.


These tips won't make your old computer lightning-fast, but you should see some improvement in speed. Replacing hardware or getting a new computer is typically the best way to greatly improve the speed, but these methods can be complicated and expensive. Performing some of these tasks I have just highlighted every once in a while should keep your computer running the best it possibly can, and should give you quite a few years of happy computing.

Five Items for Your Tech Go-Bag

People living in areas prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornados are probably pretty familiar with the concept of a go-bag (also called a bug-out bag). The idea is for you to have a bag already packed with emergency items like water, non-perishable food, a first aid kit, blankets, medical records, cash and any other things you might need if you must immediately evacuate your house in an emergency. These have been around for years, and people have gotten pretty good at figuring out what you might need if you must quickly leave home for a few days or if it might take some time before disaster relief organizations can reach you.

When Hurricane Irene was about to strike New York City, my aunt asked me what electronic items I would recommend packing. Most of the lists that I had seen neglected to include many tech items, which seems a bit old-fashioned, so I decided to make my own list. So to answer your question from two weeks ago about a storm that has come and gone, Aunt Claire, here are five things that I would bring in my tech go-bag.

1) Hand Crank Flashlight/Radio: These made a few of the other lists that I looked at. It's obvious why flashlights and radios are useful in times of emergency, and the fact that these do not run on batteries is a major plus. Some hand crank devices now even come with adapters so that you can charge your cell phone if you don't have access to power. Don't get caught in the dark or without emergency information!

2) Solar Powered / Car Cell Phone Charger: If you're in a situation where you might not have electricity for a while your cell phone's battery might not live to see the end of it. Assuming this emergency does not involve the destruction of the sun, a solar powered charger might be a good investment. If you have a car and plan on using it while you don't have electricity, a car charger would also be a smart solution. Keeping in touch with loved ones is very important in times of crisis, and if you have a smart phone and the cell towers are doing their job, you'll be able to keep and touch AND stay up to date about what's happening around you.

3) Flash Drive / External Hard Drive: Since so much of our lives revolves around the data on our computer it could be tragic to lose it. Even many people who back up their data do it locally and keep a copy near their computer. If you don't see a problem with this, imagine making copies of a whole photo album (for safety), and then keeping it on the same shelf as the original. Your tech go-bag should include either a flash drive with copies or scans of important personal and/or work documents, contact information for friends, family, and anyone you might need to get in touch with, and anything else too important to lose or be without for long. You could also pack an external hard drive with family photos and videos, because in the end, your computer can be replaced but these personal items cannot.

(While it's not really a go-bag item, I feel I must plug our backups page with multiple backup solutions, including remote storage which removes the risk of losing your data in a fire or flood.)

4) Laptop/Netbook: If situations aren't TOO dire, it would be a good idea to grab your laptop before evacuating your home. A smartphone is a nice substitute, but there are still things that can only be done on a real computer. Of course if you plan on living off the wild or in some kind of evacuation center you might not have time for playing around on your computer, but if you have room in your bag, why not pack one of your most useful belongings?

5) eReader/iPod: Last but not least, you have to keep yourself occupied. Rather than packing a bag full of books and CDs, include some of these entertainment storage devices so that you can still enjoy some of the creature comforts of your everyday life without taking up valuable space. Surviving a disaster is pretty tough if boredom is driving you crazy.

Admittedly, you might not want to keep an unused laptop or eReader in a prepared go-bag year round of the off chance that a disaster will strike, but they are things that I would definitely recommend trying to include at the last minute if at all possible. Also, you should remember to pack everything in watertight packaging. Waterproof bags can be found on Amazon, and really nice ones for outdoor use can be bought from stores like REI. Small objects like flash drives can be kept in watertight jars, or you could even use Ziploc bags in a pinch if what you're trying to protect isn't too valuable.

Obviously, don't forget to pack other essiential go-bag items (like all of your hair barrettes and a sleep mask if you are my little cousin) if you have to leave your home. Survival should be your #1 goal in a disaster, but keeping your life in order is also key. With these tips you can start packing for the next emergency. Hopefully you'll have a very, very long time to prepare.

Five Great Sites for Bookworms

I love books. I love the way the feel, the way they smell, the way they look on a bookshelf, and most of all I love the stories and knowledge they contain. I also love technology. It's only natural that I would be fascinated by the way that these two intersect. In my life I have seen the world of books transform rapidly in many ways, from where you buy books to how you read them. Today we seem to have less free time than ever, which causes many to think "I don't have time for reading!" Hopefully the following resources will simplify the reading process and show that reading doesn't need to be as time consuming as it used to be.

1) Amazon/eBay: I've plugged both of these well-known sites before, but hopefully when I bring them up I can introduce a new or lesser-known feature. One of the main reasons I like Amazon is because of the Amazon Marketplace, where small businesses and individuals sell new and used copies of the products you are searching for. I mentioned a few weeks ago that this is great for electronics and cables, but it is also a great place to go if you are searching for a specific book. If you are not looking for a brand new book you can often find lightly used copies for over 50% off the original price. Popular books go for as little as $0.01 (plus shipping). Kindle users already know about buying eBooks from Amazon, one of the largest eBook sellers on the web.

eBay is also a great place to find physical books. A trick that I have found for buying books on eBay is to search for an author or series you are interested in along with the word "lot" or "books." Often you can find people selling multiple books in one listing for very little money. I've done this a few times, allowing me to build a nice little library of a few of my favorite authors for very little money, sometimes getting about five books for around $12 - $15 total. We're talking the prices of a thrift store with the selection of the internet.

One thing I would caution you from buying on eBay is eBooks. Digital books for $0.01 are often scams (either to get your personal information or to inflate their ratings) and often the books are pirated. Of course we don't condone illegal downloading of intellectual property yourself, but we are ESPECIALLY against giving money to people who do this to make a profit.

2) Audible/iTunes: Books on tape are a thing of the past, but that's saying more about tapes than recorded books. Audiobooks live on through iPods and CDs, although CDs seem to be going the way of the cassette tape, as well. There are plenty of options for downloading audiobooks, two of the most popular being Audible and iTunes. Both of these services offer audiobooks (often costing less than an book on CD bought from a bookstore) which are fantastic for people who "don't have time to read." With a book on your iPod you can listen to a chapter or two on your way to work or in line at the post office. (You could probably get a whole novel done if you have to go to the DMV.) iTunes also offers iBooks (which are different from the iBook) which are eBooks that can be read on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

3) Project Gutenberg: If you are looking for the fan site for Steve Guttenberg I might direct you elsewhere, but if old, classic literature is what you are after, I would highly suggest checking out Project Gutenberg. This website offers free digital copies of books whose copyright has expired for your computer or eReader and offers a wide variety of choices, from Sherlock Holmes to The Art of War to the 2010 CIA World Factbook. The Top 100 list on their site is enough to keep you occupied for at least a few years.

4) Google Books: Surprise: Google does books, too! Google Books has traditionally been very helpful from an academic standpoint, allowing users to search for subjects through the text of millions of books. Excerpts from the book containing the search terms (or sometimes whole books if the copyright has run out or if the publisher allows it) are displayed, which is great if you are trying to identify a book based on a quote or if you need more context than what has been provided to you elsewhere. Also, links are given as to where you can purchase the book, either online or in a store.

Google has lately gotten into the eBook game, selling these digital books and storing the books and your progress in the cloud so that you can easily switch platforms without any trouble. They also provide the option of buying their eBooks through local, independent bookstores, supporting businesses typically hurt by these new digital advances.

5) Goodreads: Goodreads is unlike my other picks in that it is a social media network for readers. Once you register an account you can start rating and reviewing books you've read and making lists (called "shelves") of books that you would like to read, your favorite (or least-favorite) books, books sorted by genre, or anything else you want. You can read reviews from other members and recommend books to people with similar tastes. Goodreads is a great place to learn about books you may have missed and to keep track of what you have read and what you would still like to read in the future. The only problem that I have run into on this site is that I typically add books to my "to read" shelf at a much higher rate than I am able to finish them!

The digital age has done wonders for books, increasing access to dozens of new platforms like computers, smartphones, tablets, and eReaders. As it becomes easier to access books, it also becomes easy to forget about the "old" way of doing things. If you still want traditional bookstores to exist (both independent and chain bookstores...remember Borders?) you should remember to support them and give them business. This doesn't mean that you should disregard all new technology, though. If reading is one of your favorite hobbies, or perhaps it is something you would like to get back into, I hope these resources can give you some new ideas.

Five Internet Services to Help You Adjust to Moving

I guess I should have introduced myself a month and a half ago when I started writing for this blog. My name is Kevin Terraciano, and in the spring I graduated from Christopher Newport University, getting my Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. I have been working for 127TECH in one way or another for over five years. This past week I moved from Richmond to Atlanta to start working towards my Master's Degree at Georgia Tech. This is by far the biggest geographical change in my life, but like any good geek I won't let that get me down -- not when the internet is here to help! Today I will reveal five websites and services that I have been using to help me get settled in a new land.

1) Google Maps: If you don't have many connections in this new city it can be intimidating to find your way around. Of course, Google Maps is great at giving you directions from point A to point B, but what if you don't even know what point B is? You can search "groceries near [your address]" and a map with a handful of the nearest grocery stores will come up with distances to each. It also works if you know the name of the store you want to find -- to find the closest Target just substitute "groceries" for "Target" in the previous example. This is a real timesaver, and it certainly beats driving around until you find what you are looking for!

2) Restaurant Rating Sites: Websites like Yelp and UrbanSpoon allow users to look for restaurants by neighborhood, cuisine, price, and even special features (outdoor, live music, etc). Customers can rate and review their experiences and possibly give you an indication of whether or not you should even give it a try.  Often there is a link to the restaurant's menu so that you can see if any dishes look irresistable, how much you might be spending on a meal, and if there's something the kids would eat. It might not be the most adventurous way to discover new restaurants, but why not at least look if you have this resource available?

3) Craigslist: By now nearly everyone knows about Craigslist, but for those who don't it can basically be described as your community's bulletin board...times a billion. Once you navigate to your city's page you can find ads for products, services, jobs, personals...you name it and it's probably there somewhere. People sell furniture, cars, appliances, electronics, books, and anything else that is legal to sell. There are often great deals on second-hand items that people are trying to get rid of, so for someone new in town who's looking for an inexpensive desk or microwave this can be a great resource. Of course you should be careful when dealing with strangers on the internet (didn't your mother teach you anything?) but if you play it safe you can really hit the jackpot.

 4) Reddit: This one is a bit complicated, so please bear with me. Reddit describes itself as "a source for what's new and popular on the web." Users submit links and content and people can "upvote" or "downvote" things to make them more or less popular. Usually Reddit is just a fun time-sink and is full of silly internet trends and fads, but it can also be useful for learning about a city and meeting people. There are thousands of "subreddits" (pages where people submit content only relating to a specific topic, like videogames, books, or politics) including many for specific cities. For example, here's one for Richmond, and here's one for Atlanta. Typically these pages have information about meetups, tips on local activites and events, and news from around the area. I found that this is a great way to stay up to date about interesting things that are happening around me.

5) Social Media/Skype: Part of moving away is figuring out how to stay connected to your friends and family. Thankfully, it has literally never been easier to stay in touch with these people...if anything it's hard to escape them! Anyone with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, or any of the other popular social media and blogging websites can constantly stay up to date on the lives of their friends and quickly interact with them. It's even easy to forego the traditional phonecalls now in favor of face-to-face video chats on Skype. Obviously these are no substitutes for real-life interactions, but it's comforting to know that you are by no means losing these people forever.

Moving 468 miles from home certainly wasn't easy, but having these resources at my fingertips took away much of the fear of the unknown. Even if you are not moving, you can still use any and all of these tools to discover new things around your hometown. If you are in an unfamiliar area though, I hope some of these tips come in handy. Good luck!

A Plan for Busy Parents

Do you have a shoebox or laundry basket of printed photos in the back of the closet? How many full memory cards are sitting in a drawer with countless unseen pictures? Busy parents have good intentions but no real time to create a scrapbook. Memories are boing stored in areas that they may never be seen again.

I saw a Google Chrome video recently which gave me some great ideas for busy parents. Click here to take a look: Dear Sophie Lee

How can you start something like this?

1) I'd recommend setting up a Gmail or Google App account. You can set up a simple Gmail account for free with an email address like "dear.childname@gmail.com" or if you want to be more advanced, set up a Google App account. My family uses Google Apps Standard which is a free service. Our domain is icallaghan.com so that we can use a personalized email address. We do have to pay around $10 to GoDaddy in order to retain the icallaghan.com domain.

2) Another great option is a Tumblr account. www.tumblr.com You can create a private account and upload videos, photos, audio, and more!

3) Start posting! Take a minute each day to post. You can upload a picture from your phone or send a love letter to your child while standing in line at the bank.