Blurts

If you are a parent or grandparent and own touch controlled technology, you have likely learned that there may be no minimum age at which a child is not interested in exploring the device. The touch reaction seems instinctual and the swipe motion is quickly learned by observation.

Google has finally responded to this reality by customizing YouTube for children (other opportunities may follow). The product, YouTube Kids, offers selected videos, a search feature allowing exploration of a larger collection of appropriate videos, and some parental controls (a way to limit time spent).

My two youngest grandsons are really big Thomas fans. I lean toward the clever humor of Sesame Street. When viewing together, I do allow the younger viewers take control.

I have a personal interest in Russia because my wife has spent time there professionally, formed friends as a consequence, and I have then had the opportunity to visit.

Because of this interest, I am attracted to books and video on the country. Some time ago, I viewed the Anthony Bourdain No Reservations episode on Russia (season 3 episode 5). You can access at no cost if you have Amazon Prime or Netflix. I watch many of the episodes, but I have a reason for singling out the episode from Russia.

The reason I bring this up is that the episode contains a meal during which Bourdain’s Russian host introduces Bourdain to critic Nemtsov. Watch this episode recognizing the context of this past week. To my knowledge, you cannot access the third season without going though Hulu, Netflix, etc.

The Google Music service now allows users to stream up to 50000 of your songs. I have nearly stopped purchasing music and have switched to a couple of paid streaming services. I thought streaming in combination with the 8000 songs of my own I can access would pretty much satisfy my needs. Anyone with a collection of 50000 songs has a substantial collection.

Posted with Blogsy