FAMILY

Tips for owning an iPhone 5 without breaking the bank

Adding new smartphones to the family's wireless plan can be a scary endeavor, especially as most of us have already seen our wireless bills for just one smartphone surge above $100 a month.

Are there any tips for getting hot devices like the iPhone 5 at a discount? Is there a trick to avoiding taking out a second mortgage to pay for an additional smartphone on the family plan? In this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer some advice. I also offer my views on whether it's really worth it to buy the iPhone 4S instead of the … Read more

How to use parental controls in Windows 8

Keeping kids safe while using an Internet-connected computer is an ongoing concern and a challenge for parents and technology companies alike. To help make it easier for parents to see and control what kids are doing on a PC, Microsoft has added some new parental control features to Windows 8.

Family Safety, as it's now called in Windows 8, can send activity reports via e-mail, set Web filtering levels, monitor and restrict apps from the Windows Store, and set time limits. Here's how to set up and use Family Safety for Windows 8:

Turning on Family Safety When … Read more

How NQ Mobile's Family Guardian will protect your kids

NQ Mobile isn't content to protect your phone; it wants to protect your children too.

The company, which primarily makes mobile security software that fights off malware and viruses on smartphones, is moving to an adjacent area of security with its Family Guardian app. The app, only available on Android for now, is presented as an all-in-one parental control tool.

Victoria Repice, senior director of product development for NQ Mobile, ran through the app with me last week. While nothing that it does is particularly new, the app does bundle together a lot of features under one price.

Family … Read more

World's largest QR code is a Canadian corn maze

Most QR codes are little things that are attached to ads or show up in the corner of TV commercials. A farm in Alberta, Canada, has made one that covers 309,570 square feet.

The Kraay Family Farm took a little departure from its usual corn maze themes. Recent years have had homages to Rick Hansen's Man in Motion tour and Alberta tourism. This year, it's a massive QR code that leads back to the farm's Web site.… Read more

Samsung Galaxy S2 available at Wal-Mart with no annual contract

T-Mobile subscribers can now pick up a Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone through Wal-Mart with no annual contract required.

To grab that deal, you buy the Galaxy S2 for $299 and then pair it with a T-Mobile Monthly4G plan for a minimum of $30 per month. The Monthly4G plan offers unlimited Internet access with the first 5GB of data at 4G speeds, unlimited text, and 100 minutes of talk time with a charge of 10 cents per minute beyond the first 100 minutes.

But with no annual commitment, customers are free to cancel at any time.

Wal-Mart is also selling the … Read more

Verizon divulges high data plans under 'Share Everything'

Apparently Verizon Wireless has been offering users several high-GB data plans without publicly announcing it. According to Computerworld, a company spokesperson confirmed that the carrier is giving users a choice of five more data tiers for their family plans than those previously announced with Share Everything.

The five tiers have been offered to customers since June through customer service on the phone or in stores. They include, 12GB for $110 a month, 14GB for $120 a month, 16GB for $130 a month, 18 GB for $140 a month, and $150 for 20GB a month, according to Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney.… Read more

MetaCert aims to block porn throughout the home (podcast)

There are lots of tools out there to help parents keep their kids away from what's typically considered inappropriate online content. Most, however, run on PCs and Macs, which means all bets are off if, for instance, a child surfs via a smartphone or a tablet.

MetaCert has a different idea. It's now beta-testing a server-based porn filter parents can set up to automatically block access to pornographic sites across their entire home network. It does so by hosting the filter on a DNS, or domain-name system, server -- effectively pushing the filter from individual computers into the … Read more

My Family Tree

Interested in creating your very own detailed family history complete with photos, sounds, and videos? My Family Tree by Chronoplex Software is a free genealogy application designed to help anyone do just that.

The software, which supports standard GEnealogical Data COMmunication (GEDCOM) files, presents an appealing and easy-to-understand interface. There is also a Help file to aid the user in putting the genealogy software through its paces. You can build your family tree from scratch or edit an existing one. The information for every individual is very detailed and it allows the upload of audio, photos, and videos for that … Read more

AT&T vs. Verizon: Who has the better shared data plan?

With AT&T officially announcing its "Mobile Share" plans and joining Verizon Wireless, there will soon be two options for customers who want to get into a family plan for data services.

While these plans aren't the best deals for individuals, large families or even groups of really, really close friends may want to consider them. That's because the more people who sign on, the lower the price per gigabyte and user. Of course, if someone is a heavy data user, that person may want to stick with an individual plan, or risk hogging up … Read more