Author: TechyDad

My name is TechyDad. Alright, my name isn’t really TechyDad, but I’d prefer to keep my true identity hidden. Kind of like Clark Kent except I’m not an intrepid news reporter for the daily planet, but a web developer for a health care organization. Oh and I’m also not an alien that can fly and shoot lasers out of my eyes. I’m married to the most wonderful woman in the world, B and have two wonderful children NHL and JSL. You might know B as the blogger behind TheAngelForever.com. She had been blogging for quite awhile when I decided to give it a go. I’m a self-described nerd who is interested in all things technology, even if monetary realities don’t allow me to buy all the newest cool toys. I’m also a kid at heart. I will happily get down and dirty playing with my kids or sit on the couch with them watching cartoons. One of the perks of fatherhood: you get to play with toys and watch cartoons and pretend it’s for them! I also am an amateur photographer and can easily fill up a memory card or two if given the chance. I like writing about an eclectic mix of topics. One post may be about programming. The next might be about a boy’s day out with my kids. The one after that might be about copyright law and the one following that might be about a new gadget I’d love to get. My blog is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.

Is My Bullying Past, My Son’s Bullying Future?

Bullying is a topic that has been on the news a lot recently due to recent suicides and school violence incidents.  It also happens to be a subject that I feel a personal connection to.  I’ve made quite a few posts on my blog about my bullied history.  From elementary school all through high school, I was the target of one bully or another.  In high school, I even had the “honor” of being Read More...

Dad Emotion

If one were to go by the standard stereotypes of society, men are supposed to be emotionally closed off.  We don’t shed tears (unless our football team wins the Super Bowl), we don’t form attachments and we show as little parental caring as possible.  The stereotypes say that emotions are for women and we macho men don’t need ‘em.  Of course, if you’ve been paying the slightest bit of atten Read More...

Ready, Set, Parent!

With this Sunday being October 10th , 2010, or 10/10/10, I had a special post over on TechyDad.com, titled Plus or Minus 10 Years, where I looked back at my life ten years ago and looked forward at my life ten years from now.  Looking forward, I realized that, in a decade, NHL and JSL would be teenagers.  We will have to deal with hormones, girls, high school and all the other complications that those thi Read More...

Looking Closely at the World Around Us

In March of 2005, I got a macro lens for my digital camera and was introduced to the wonderful world of macro photography. Since then, I’ve used flowers, toys, insects (both alive and dead – hey, at least the dead ones don’t move!) and many other items as macro photography subjects. I even made a poster using a macro photograph I had taken of a flower. When I took the photo, I liked it, but upon ex Read More...

Ill-vaders From The Other Room

The start of the school year means new friends, new teachers, new things to learn and, all too often, new germs to bring home.  Unfortunately, JSL seems to have found a shiny new germ to bring home.  Specifically, he has a cold.  No fever (thank goodness, given his history of febrile seizures), but his nose has been stuffed up and he’s now begun coughing. I don’t think I need to tell you that colds a Read More...

Look Who’s Talking

No, this post isn’t about a late 80’s movie starring John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and a baby who talks in a voice the sounds oddly like Bruce Willis.  No, this is about a bunch of people who have started talking: Dads.  Of course, this isn’t new.  DadRevolution and other dad blog sites have had dads talking for awhile now.  What is new is that the dads have begun to organize on Twitter using t Read More...

Balancing Work and Family at #BlogHer10

During BlogHer 2010, I attended some wonderful sessions.  One that stood out for me as a parent, though, was titled “Screw Work/Life Balance, We Need Work/Life POLICY!”  The session moderators Morra Aarons-Mele and Stephanie Wilchfort guided us through a discussion of how businesses in the United States currently treat workers with family issues and how we can improve the situation. I’ll admit t Read More...

Protecting My Son From Myself

Every father wants to protect his children.  You teach them not to run into the street.  You warn them about strangers.  You deny their request for a blowtorch.  (Ok, maybe that was just Calvin’s dad.)  The one thing you don’t expect to have to protect them against is yourself. NHL is, in many ways, a mini-me.  This can be wonderful when my love of computers, superheroes, etc are mirrored in him.� Read More...

I am not my father… or am I?

Growing up, I was convinced that my father was making huge parenting mistakes.  He would ignore my successes because his television shows were on.  He would rarely compliment me.  He would tell me that my problems were due to (unrelated) things that I did.  He would immediately believe my sister over me.  He was a work-a-holic who would ignore his family to get a few more hours of work done. When I became a pa Read More...

Bowling For Life Lessons

Growing up, I didn’t like many sports.  I wasn’t good at baseball, couldn’t sink a basket and would be ignored on the football field.  One of the few sports I actually liked was bowling.  I have many great memories from the lanes. NHL had been bowling before but JSL hadn’t been.  On Father’s Day, we decided to take the boys to a local bowling alley.  During the game, two things be Read More...

Summer Day Trips

We don’t take many vacations. Most of the ones we do take involve going to see family. Still, it occasionally is nice to do something outside of our ordinary day-to-day routine. We’ve figured out a couple of kid-friendly getaways nearby to escape from the everyday. How Amusing The most common destination is a local amusement park. Now, I’m not a big fan of wild rides. NHL, on the other hand l Read More...

Life Lessons Learned From Sharing Childhood Favorites

Of all of the ways to connect with your children, one of the most rewarding has got to be introducing your children to things that you were interested in as a child.  Not only do you wind up reliving some of your favorite moments from your childhood, but you build on them. You wind up not only seeing them with adult eyes, but seeing through your kids’ new slightly different perspective. Now, I’m unde Read More...

The Search For A Dad Magazine

Awhile ago, my wife had some extra reward points to cash in on a magazine subscription.  She didn’t see any that she liked and thought I might like Men’s Health.  Intrigued, I said sure.  After the first issue, I realized that the magazine wasn’t for me.  Nothing against Men’s Health, but I just don’t fit the demographic they’re targeting. A little bit later, my wife got anot Read More...

TechyDad Revolutionary or Today Is a Good Day to Di-aper!

Hey everyone, my name is TechyDad. Who is TechyDad, you might ask? Well, me of course. Do you think I'd be writing about him in the first person if I wasn't he? I'm just your average web developer, science fiction and math nerd, cooking enthusiast, amateur photographer, finder of freeware, ardent advocate of alliteration ala Alton (Brown, that is)…. and also a member of the Dad Revolution. Growing Read More...