Back in the Hanabata Days.

Aloha everyone,

It has been a while since I have put up content in a blog. A few weeks ago I had an E-Mac that I bought waaaaaaay back in 2004 that lasted me for a long time. I never bought a new computer because of how expensive they were. But this week, my E-Mac finally gave up the computer chip ghost. So I needed to purchase a new computer. I got a 2012 MacBook Pro and I am back in business. I can communicate, complete tasks, study, and accomplish work that I need to do.

I remember when I was a child growing up what kind of fun activities we did to keep ourselves entertained. I made ninja weapons out of sticks, played chase master in the yard, football in the street, went spear fishing in the ocean, and running on the beach. When I was 5 years old I had an ATARI system (remember ATARI?) I played video games at this arcade in Waikiki called Game World. Then Fun Factory came around and that was my new hangout. The arcades had Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and some other vector-based graphic games. I still had time to go outside and play with my friends after my homework was done.

Now when I see the children play it is mostly indoors. They are either watching TV, or playing with their mobile devices. The act of creating and human interaction is absent in many of these types of activities. If you get a chance, watch the movie "Grown Ups" with Adam Sadler and his friends. The movie briefly discusses this issue and its FUNNY! :)

Playtime has evolved from parents telling their children to go outside and run around because the house is too small and fragile to hold a child to parents telling their children to stay inside and play computer games because outside is too dangerous and deadly for a child to play around.

Is there a way to find balance between keeping up with technology and maintaining good relationships with other human beings? How do we monitor this with our children?