Expanding Social Security Infographics

Click to Enlarge Image



Expand Social Security infographic via Democracy for America

Source: http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/social_security_infographic

New To iPhoneography? Here Are The Best Apps The App Store Has On Offer

by Nancy Messieh

The iPhone’s popularity for photos comes down to several different things – the convenience of having your ‘camera’ with you all the time and the sheer variety of shooting, editing and sharing apps. For a while now, the iPhone has been the most popular camera on photo-sharing site Flickr, and with good reason. Today, three versions of the iPhone (4, 4S and 5) take up the first three slots in Flickr’s list, while Canon’s 5D Mark II comes in as a distant fourth.

The iPhone has made its way to into professional photographers’ hands and there are quite a few interesting ways in which the phone has been used in a professional or photojournalistic setting. One photographer opted to document the 2012 Libyan conflict using Hipstamatic, while another used the app in Afghanistan. Instagram was used as a means of taking and sharing portraits of the New York Yankees, while a combination of Snapseed and Canon binocularsturned the iPhone into a way to document the Olympics.

We’ve put together a list of must-have apps for any serious iPhoneographer. Below you’ll find our recommendations on how to shoot, edit, share and print your photos.

Shoot

Native iPhone Camera: The native iPhone camera is surprisingly good, and with the latest iOS 7 update, it’s gotten even better, and certainly takes away the necessity of using several camera apps.

You can take a regular photo (4:3), square photos (great for all Instagram aficionados) and you can also take huge panoramas too. All you have to do is launch the camera, select ‘Pano’ mode , hit the button to take the photo, and just move your phone continuously to take the shot – just make sure that the yellow line stays in the centre of the shot.

Hipstamatic: If you’re looking for a purist approach to your iPhone photography, or want to give your photos an old school feel,Hipstamatic is a popular option. The only catch with this app is that you can’t apply the filters after taking the photo. You select the film and lens first, and once the photo is taken, that’s it.

If you want to apply Hipstamatic’s filters in the post-process stage, there is a way to get around this, check out Oggl below. If you’re still getting accustomed to the app, be sure to read our beginner’s guide to Hipstamatic.

Alternatives: If you haven’t taken the plunge and upgraded your iOS there’s two apps that you can use to get these cool iOS 7 camera features. 6×6 is a $0.99 app that will allow you to compose your photos in a square viewfinder, while DMD Panorama gives you access to flawless panorama-taking features. If you’re looking for solid advanced features that include the use of the volume snap, horizon level, a customizable workflow and live exposure, then the $1.99Camera+ is certainly worth your time. It’s no wonder the app passed a whopping 6 million download mark last year.

Other users looking to replace their default camera app should check out Bakari’s review of the $0.99 app ProCamera which he has chosen as his default camera app, and his review of Camera Awesome, another popular shooting app for iOS users. Both Camera+ and Camera Awesome have made it onto our best iPhone apps list.

Another app that’s worth a special mention is FocusTwist, which for $1.99 gives you features similar to the $400 Lytro Camera.

Our Take: At the end of the day, the camera app you choose to shoot with comes down to personal preference. When it comes to shooting photos with the iPhone, I’m of the keep-it-simple-stupid attitude and find myself constantly gravitating to the native camera app. Before upgrading to iOS 7, the only other app I used was 6×6, but with the update, that’s simply one less app I have to use. The convenience of having both options in one app is much better for fast-paced street photography.

Edit

Snapseed: If you’re looking for solid editing features that go beyond adding filters to your photos, Snapseed (which has been acquired by Google) is one of the best editing apps we’ve come across. Despite a bit of a learning curve, the app is extremely easy to use once you’ve got the hang of it. To find out more about the app’s features, be sure to check out our review of Snapseed. This app even made its way onto our list of best iPad apps, and experience on the iPad is identical to that on the iPhone (aside from the smaller screen).

VSCOCam: We’ve described VSCOCam as a must-have in any iPhoneographer’s arsenal, and since then the free iPhone app has undergone some pretty major upgrades. While the interface still looks the same as it always has, developers have added a bunch of new filters into the mix.

VSCOCam is a very simple app to use, allowing you to import photos into the app and apply a variety of filters to your photos. It comes loaded with 10 free filters, but for $5.99 you can download an entire pack of filters that will bump the number up to 48.

In addition to applying filters to your photos, you can also adjust the exposure, temperature and contrast of your photos. You can also rotate and crop your photos directly within VSCOCam.

ShakeItPhoto: If you’re a fan of Polaroid photos, one of the best iPhone apps that we’ve found that replicates that look is ShakeItPhoto. The $1.99 app does just one thing but does it really well. Load photos that you’ve taken, or take photos directly within the app, and it frames them beautifully as Polaroid photos.

Photo Frame & FX: If you’re looking for an easy way to create collages on the go, there are quite a few apps to choose from. The free Photo Frame & FX offers a great variety of frames and is incredibly easy to use. There’s a recommended $0.99 in-app purchase to gain access toall of the layouts, and there are some great options available in the upgrade.

In addition to being able to layout your photos in some interesting collages, you can also adjust the thickness and colour of the frame, choose between square and rounded corners, and can add labels to your photos.

Fuzel: If you want more customized layouts that you can create yourself, Fuzel is available both as a free app, or as a $1.99 app. To find out more about Photo Frame & FX together with Fuzel, check out ourlist of ways to create photo collages without Photoshop.

Share

Instagram: It’s unlikely that there’s a photo-sharing app for the iPhone that’s more popular than Instagram, and it certainly needs no introduction. While it’s a great way to share your photos with other likeminded photographers, it also offers the opportunity to do some more basic editing, in the form of vintage filters. Rather than tell you things you already know about Instagram, you should check out a few of our recent posts on Instagram.

We’ve got a guide for newcomers to Instagram, some tips for making your Instagram snaps stand out and attract attention as well as an opinion piece about Instagram’s role as a community, rather than as photography application.

EyeEm: In December, a scare on Instagram where users thoughtInstagram was going to use user photos without permission caused one app to shoot up in popularity. EyeEm is quite similar to Instagram, but doesn’t have the restriction on square photos and you can upload and share photos of any dimension. Naturally, the app comes with its own set of vintage filters.

Oggl: As previously mentioned, Hipstamatic can be a great way to take beautiful vintage photos, but when using the app, there is no post-processing feature. If you want to apply Hipstamatic filters after you’ve taken a photo, you can do that with the photo-sharing app Oggl. If you’ve bought a lot of Hipstamatic add-ons, you can import them into Oggl and apply the filters to your photos after you take them with the camera app of your choice, or within the Oggl app itself.

After you’ve taken your photo and applied your filters, you can share to the Oggl social network, or to a variety of other sites including Instagram, Flickr and Twitter.

To find out more about how the app works, be sure to check out ourin-depth review of Oggl.

Flickr: The free Flickr iPhone app offers a lot of new features. In addition to making it incredibly easy to post your photos on the photo-sharing site, this slick and easy-to-use app also lets you apply a bunch of additional filters to your photos before you post them.

Print

Since you’re shooting, editing and sharing photos directly on your phone, why not print them as well?

PostalPix: PostalPix is a free iPhone app which allows you to order prints and have them delivered directly to your doorstep. There’s a whole bunch of photo sizes to choose from, including square photos. To find out more about how Postalpix works and to see the quality of the prints, check out our in-depth Postalpix review. The quality of the final product is great, and the app is incredibly convenient and easy-to-use.

Don’t forget you can also print directly from your Camera Roll via AirPrint too.

Source: www.makeuseof.com

10 Cool Features Hiding in iOS 7 | TIME.com

10 Cool Features Hiding in iOS 7 | TIME.com

10 Awesome Third-Party Apps & Their iOS 7 Updates

by Bakari Chavanu If you’re pleased with the new iOS 7 redesign, you’ll like how some third-party developers have used the latest iOS upgrade to not only given their apps a modern makeovers, but have also included useful new features coupled with smoother controls and enhancements. Our recently released guide for iOS 7 will bring you up to speed on theshiny new things to check out, so today I will share ten of my favorite apps and their new redesigns and features. I’m sure you have your own favorites as well, so let us know about them in the comments section of this article. Amazon Kindle (Free) For me, the Collections feature is the most welcomed update inAmazon’s Kindle upgrade. My Kindle library has become as crowded and disorganized as the books on my office bookshelves. Now the Kindle app allows users to organize ebooks, PDFs and other documents into categories for easier management and viewing. Equally awesome is how your highlights and notes are presented in nice, easily viewable note cards instead of the tiny window of the previous versions. And you can open your Notebook from within any page by first tapping on the page, and then tapping on the Note icon in the bottom menu bar. There’s also a slide-out menu of key controls, e.g., Table of Contents, Search, and Popular Highlights. Springpad (Free) Springpad has been a visually oriented notes, Web page, and document storage app from the start. In its iOS 7 upgrade the app is even cleaner and faster. It sports the flat aesthetic design of iOS, and its productive features include enhanced editing tools, support for the new iOS AirDrop feature (allowing you to send Springpad items to other AirDrop users) and background syncing of user account content. There’s also a nice quick compose feature which enables you to long press on the plus “+” button on the homepage of the app to create a new note. In addition, the app provides support for the new dynamic type sizing feature that is located in Settings > General > Text Size, which enables you to adjust font size in apps. Camera+ ($1.99) Camera+ released version 4 of its advanced camera app, with a total overhaul of the UI to match the look and feel of the new iOS. New features were also added, including the ability to send photos taken by the app to other apps like Instagram, Dropbox, and Evernote. There’s also now a live exposure compensation tool, which you enable by first tapping on the camera screen and then tapping on the + button on the corner of the blue focus tool. The Exposure tool pops up and you can move it around to adjust for areas that are overly dark or bright before you take the photo. A single tap of the tool button next to the shutter button also provides you quick access to the app’s Timer, Burst mode, Stabilizer, and Square Crop features. Pocket (Free) The bookmarking app, Pocket, also received a design makeover, and now includes features to make the reading experience even better. Pocket now instantly syncs content in the background between your devices. This feature will need to be enabled inside of Options > Instant Sync. Note: I don’t see this option on the iPhone version of Pocket, but it does exist in the iPad version. In addition to the read-only presentation of articles in Pocket, it now also includes auto-fullscreen which automatically hides menu bar tools when you start scrolling in Article View. You can also switch to justified text for articles, which provides the look and feel of traditional magazine and newspaper layouts. AroundMe (Free) The simple to use location app received a major redesign, for the better. Out of all the apps reviewed in this article, AroundMe looks to be the most compatible with the new iOS 7 style. All the location categories are listed in nice size fonts, with colorful icons. Instacast ($4.99) My favorite podcast app Instacast also got optimized for iOS 7 with totally new redesign. It’s even simpler to use, with the menu controls (Lists, Bookmarks, Up Next, Downloads) tucked behind the home screen. I subscribe to over a dozen podcasts, and scrolling down the list of them is very smooth and fast, like iOS 7 itself. Show notes appear quicker, and all the other tools for sharing, bookmarking, and adjusting the speed of an episode are all on the same Now Playing page at the bottom. Most importantly, the play button now appears on the Show Notes page. Photoful (Free) Photoful, which I reviewed back in July, has the look and feel of the default iOS Photos app, but this third-party contender still has more features, and should fit the needs of most iPhone camera enthusiasts. In addition to categorizing your photos, Photoful enables you to share your pictures via AirDrop, Dropbox, WhatsApp, Tumblr, and Instagram as well as Facebook and Twitter. You can also create quick collages and slide shows within the app. Zite (Free) While no major new features were added to the magazine app, Zite is cleaner, flatter, and easier to use thanks to its iOS 7 interface. The font style for the app and the articles were also changed for better readability, and there’s a button for quickly adjusting text size. The Quicklist of content categories is easier to read and less cluttered, but on the iPad version, it still lacks a quick finger gesture for opening the Category list without having to tap at the top of the menu bar. Drafts for iPad ($3.99) Drafts for iPhone($2.99) The quick writing and note sharing app Drafts is cleaner and more streamlined, with even more new sharing actions to choose from, including sharing posts to Google+ and importing from Dropbox. It also contains a Notebook field in the Evernote actions, and a magic + button, which when long pressed, displays four menu items (new draft, new from clipboard, new from selection, and import from Dropbox) for creating a new note. Evernote (Free) Evernote has received several upgrades and UI makeovers this year, but that didn’t stop the company from completely redesigning the app for iOS 7. The app now has a much cleaner and less cluttered look with a few new features like the ability to create a note, photo note, or reminder right from the home screen. Notebooks, shortcuts, and tags can easily be accessed from the left sliding panel, and the notes editor includes additional markup tools, a highlighter, and shapes and arrows for marking images and PDFs. Most thankfully, Evernote now syncs content in the background, instead of only after the app is launched. Individual notes can also be shared via Airdrop. Thanks, Developers iOS 7 is clearly the most significant redesign of the Apple mobile operating system, and I applaud developers for their hard work and creativity for optimizing their apps and redesigning them for a more modern look and feel. There are lots more apps that received major redesigns. Let us know about your favorites and what you think of iOS 7 in general. Source: www.makeuseof.com

7 Reasons To Return A Lost Phone

by Tina Sieber

If you happen to find an expensive smartphone on the street, youll probably wonder what to do with it. In short: return it! Don’t allow yourself to get attached! Your mission is to re-unite the phone with its rightful owner. It’s the right thing to do, not just because it’s what you would want somebody to do if they found your fancy phone. And it’s what I did.

The other day I found an iPhone on the street. It wasn’t hard to reach the owner. Lucky for me, the phone wasn’t locked and it contained plenty of contacts and recent messages. Within minutes, I was in touch with the owner’s mom and a friend. Less than half an hour later, the owner – who turned out to be just a kid – had his phone back. He said he didn’t even realize it was missing. Returning a lost phone is not always that easy, but that’s no excuse.

In case you are still contemplating how to handle such a situation, let me nudge you into the right direction.

It’s Not Yours

Let’s begin with the obvious: Just because you found something doesn’t mean you own it! Every lost item has a rightful owner. As the person who found it, you actually have a legal obligation to return the lost item to its owner.

Consequently…

Keeping It Is Illegal

Just to make this very clear: Keeping something that doesn’t belong to you is illegal! Depending on your country or state, you could be charged with a felony for larceny by finding or stealing by finding, if you’re caught in possession of an item that was reported as lost. The law typically requires that the finder of an object takes reasonable steps to locate the owner and returns the found object to them. If you fail to make any attempts to return the item, you are committing a crime.

In case you are clueless about how to track down the rightful owner, my colleague Kannon wrote a piece on how to return a lost phone. If finding the owner is too challenging or time consuming, you can dispense the phone at a local lost and found. Typically, police stations or citizen centers run lost and found offices. And if the owner doesn’t pick the item up for a set amount of time, usually 12 weeks, it passes into your possession, meaning you can keep it and maintain a clear conscience.

Tracking May Be Enabled

The previous owner may have been smart enough to take precautions and installed tracking software to find a lost phone or tools that activate the camera to identify the person who took the device. My colleague James Bruce, for example, reported how he retrieved his wife’s stolen iPhone using Find My iPhone. Now you wouldn’t want a clever geek hunting you down for his precious phone, would you?

You Don’t Need It

Your life has been fine until you found the phone and it will be fine after you returned it to its rightful owner. Seriously, you don’t need it!You have enough stuff already. And if you want it that badly, earn it.

Collect Your Reward

Some countries and US states have statutes to provide for a finder reward, whether or not the owner of the object has offered one. In Germany, the reward is a percentage of the item’s value; 5% for devices costing up to €500 (approximately $665) and 3% for everything worth more than that. If there is no legal requirement to pay a reward, you can just hope for a friendly gesture.

Make Someone’s Day

Gratitude is one of the greatest rewards to receive because it makes you feel valued; even more so if it comes from a total stranger. Apart from a cell phone plan, contacts, and other important data, the phone probably contained a lot of personal memories, including text messages and photos. Some things cannot be retrieved or replaced and it might just be the time to configure a new phone. They will be so happy and relieved they won’t have to go through this all over again!

Be The Change You Wish To See In The World

Imagine you lost your beloved smartphone. Would you sympathize with someone who kept it because they really like it? Well, you would probably curse them and rightfully so!

You may not believe in karma, but if you watch closely, you will see that what goes around really comes around. In the fate department, it’s clearly better to pay it forward than to feed negativity.

What Are You Going To Do?

Are you going to return the lost phone (if you found one)? And if your answer is no, why not?

Have you ever lost or found something and what happened?

Source: www.makeuseof.com

Upgraded to iOS 7? 5 Shiny New Things To Check Out Right Away

by Tim Brookes 

Apple’s annual software update is finally ready for public consumption and while things sure do look different this time round, much of what makes iOS tick remains the same. Don’t be surprised – iOS hasn’t really changed much since it was known as iPhone OS, aside from added features and a few licks of paint.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, after all: why fix what isn’t broken? While iOS 7?s changes might not be as revolutionary as some might have hoped, the free upgrade still offers a good number of shiny new things to check out once your iDevice has rebooted and applied the update.

Translucency – Everywhere!

Well, unless you’re using an iPhone 4 or iPad 2 that is. If your iOS device is fairly recent, you’re in for a visual feast that decorates various UI elements intelligently using your background and a series of translucent panels. Cosmetics and having no real-world “usefulness” whatsoever aside, the translucent effect spearheaded by Ive and his team is a great addition to iOS.

Apple didn’t hold back on it either. Watch the camera preview frost and blur seamlessly as you switch modes, check out Safari’s background while browsing through your tabs and marvel at the way colours bleed through the various lines and UI elements in the redesigned Notification Centre.

Navigating iOS 7 is just as effortless and smooth as it ever was, it just looks even better as previously drab backgrounds dynamically reflect whatever they’re sitting in front of. The new FaceTime app even uses a frosted preview of your ugly mug as you navigate around the dimly lit interface.

Control Centre

Swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen and you’ll see the new Control Centre, which provides quick access to toggles for Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi among others, brightness and volume controls, AirDrop and AirPlay toggles and some shortcuts to handy applications.

By default Control Centre is available while using other apps (it behaves just like Notification Centre has, requiring two swipes) and everything is usable from the lock screen, though both of these features can be turned off from Settings > Control Centre. The ability to turn on the LED torch or set a quick timer from the lockscreen still isn’t old, even though I’ve used the beta since June and it represents an area where Apple really needed to play catch-up.

Incidentally, you’ll now find portrait lock and media controls here (and only here) rather than their old location in the app-switcher.

A Better Home Screen

Spotlight has been moved from its previous position to the left of the home screen to a hidden pull-down box accessible from any home screen. Folders sporting the sexy new translucency effect are no longer limited to 12 apps, and instead behave like separate home screens, allowing you to swipe between collections. And that fabled parallax effect? Well, tilt your phone and marvel at the faux-depth therein!

Apps now zoom in and out on launch and freeze, the clock icon finallyshows the real time and the Settings icon still looks like a gas burner. Quips about iconography aside, the refined home screen doesn’t represent a massive change for iOS or Apple’s design principles. Many lament the lack of widgets as being a bad thing, but I’m not one of them. Apple is famous for keeping things simple, and that’s exactly what iOS 7?s main control panel adheres to in this revision.

Notification Centre Refined

Swipe downwards from the top of the screen to reveal Apple’s revised Notification Centre. By default notifications and the new Today view are accessible from the lock screen, though you can disable this fromSettings > Notification Centre if you’re concerned about privacy.

Today view integrates with core apps like Calendar and Reminders to show you any upcoming schedules or outstanding items that require your attention. The first thing you’ll notice is a sentence or two remarking on your day, weather forecast and even nearby traffic conditions, while the blurb at the bottom sums up tomorrow along with any alarms you have set.

You can mark Reminders as done simply by tapping the circle next to them, and skip straight to upcoming Calendar appointments with a tap. The Today screen can be edited to leave out much of this information if you do not use it in Notification Centre settings.

Siri’s New Sounds

In addition to the improved interface and smooth blur transition, Siri has been treated to a new dynamic waveform not too dissimilar to the original iPhone 4 Voice Control screen. Siri has also improved on the voices included, with new English (US), French and German voices included by default, you can flick through them all under Settings > General > Siri.

The digital assistant also now has the ability to interact with apps and settings, paving the way for requests like “turn on Bluetooth” or “launch Photos”. The rift between Apple and Google widens, as Bing replaces Google for web requests, which also allows users to now say “bing puppies” and even “bing pictures of puppies” for media-specific queries.

Wondering what your friends are saying on Twitter? Ask Siri “what is Mark O’Neill saying?” and it will trawl the service for relevant tweets. Similarly, “wikipedia cold war” will bring up the relevant Wikipedia article.

Failing all else, if you really get stuck for things to ask Siri, a simple “what can I ask you?” command reveals a trove of requests specific to you (though you might want to find actual people to talk to, rather than just your phone).

What Else Is New?

Lots! Despite iOS 7 being a mostly cosmetic update, Apple has managed to refine and change a lot more than what I’ve mentioned here. Luckily, we’ve put everything we could find into our “What’s New in iOS 7?” guide which you can read for free in your browser, download a free PDF or even buy for your Kindle for a small fee.

Download or View: Your Guide To iOS 7

But I Don’t Have It Yet!

If you’re reading through this article wondering why you don’t yet have iOS 7, head to the Settings > General > Software Update and let it scan for new firmware. As with many initial releases, Apple’s servers often struggle to keep up with demand in the early stages of the rollout so if you’re having trouble finding or downloading the update, a combination of patience and perseverance is key. If you’re lucky enough to have an iPhone 5s or 5c, then you already have this update pre-installed!

Have you got your hands on iOS 7? Have you read our iOS 7 guide? What are your favourite new features?

Sopurce: www.makeuseof.com

Apple iOS 7 Review: A Major Makeover That Delivers, But Takes Some Getting Used To | TechCrunch

Apple iOS 7 Review: A Major Makeover That Delivers, But Takes Some Getting Used To | TechCrunch

The Parent Trap: 5 Family Friendly Rules For Using Technology At Home

by Joshua Lockhart

Confession: I am not a parent. So why in the world would I want to write an article about family friendly rules for using technology at home? What parental experience do I have? How am I even qualified to write this piece?

Well, when it comes to parenting, I’m not qualified. I’ve changed diapers, and I’ve watched kids for others, but never have I reared a child from birth to adulthood. However, as a 21-year-old caught somewhere in the middle between the youth of the world and those who are in parental roles, I know my stuff.

I was raised on technology, and I’ve learned from parents who had to adapt to a child who is living in a world run by technology. A question to consider: what are the rules of technology in your household?

Let’s see if we can answer that question together.

Don’t Eat Media For Dinner

In the book Fahrenheit 451, families sit around reading scripts out loud to interact with actors projected on gigantic screens — pretty weird stuff. Sadly enough, it seems as though this is becoming a similar reality for the world today. While we may not be reading from scripts during our evening meals, we are constantly interacting with various forms of media on multiple screens across the board.

Televisions, tablets, smartphones, laptops — they are constantly on our person. In the past, it’s been recommended that you shut off the television for mealtimes. Personally, and although I am one who breaks this rule time and time again, I would recommend shutting off all forms of digital media while partaking in a meal. Meals have always served as a common ground for people to connect and open up to each other.

Simply put, don’t let this basic aspect of humanity fade away.

Video Chats Aren’t Just Another Video

Skype, Oovoo, Facetime – all familiar names in most households these days. Instead of children asking, “Can Johnny come over to play?” we now hear “Can I Skype with Johnny?”

The problem I have seen with this — even with my own parents who are currently dealing with a fourteen-year-old brother of mine — is that parents treat the latter question just like any other form of media. Consider the analogy, though. Video chats allow for someone to visit your home without leaving their own. Your kids aren’t just watching YouTube or Netflix — they are interacting with a real live person.

So the next time your kid asks if they can Skype with her friend, think to yourself, “Would I let her friend come visit this house right now?”

If the answer to this question is no, then consider it when making a decision on the video chat.

Never Clear The History

I’m not saying that you should spy on your family, but I am saying that it may be good to have a general agreement that the family computer is to remain open. That is, anyone could check the history at anytime, but this doesn’t mean that this will be strictly enforced. Does this mean your home could become a tyrannical dictatorship in which all forms of media and communication is monitored?

Possibly.

But there’s always room for good dictators. It’s possible to respect your family’s privacy, and it’s also possible for them to respect the fact that this is a family computer. Otherwise, you might be a fantastic fit for the NSA!

Suggest Media Usage Times

You’ll see tons of blogs all over the Internet suggesting a schedule of sorts for Internet time and such. Although I used to be a fan of this in the past, I have been thinking that this may not be the best option as of late. That said — in this distraction-filled, option-heavy world — it may be good to offer time slots. Try this:

“Alright, you can use the Internet for two hours today. Any time between after school and bedtime.”

It’s flexible, but it’s also disciplinary. You may disagree on this one, and it’s understandable. However, I think it could work well depending on the family.

Stay Flexible

It’s really easy to get caught up in the whole “only by the book” way of doing things. However, the real world isn’t only by the book. Plans change, and when plans change, rules change. Apply this to your family’s usage of technology.

Is there school tomorrow? Meh. Maybe an extra hour of Internet wouldn’t be too bad. Has it been a long time since your kid recently saw their best friend who lives in another state? Perhaps a video chat would be okay — just this once, though.

Use your judgement.

Conclusion

That wraps it up for our family friendly rules for using technology. As a non-parent who is still a member of a family, I’d say these are fantastic ways to keep your family together and responsible on the Internet.

What other ways would you suggest to monitor technology use at home? Do you agree or disagree with the usefulness of the tips suggested above?

Source: www.makeuseof.com