Wednesday, March 12, 2003

Literally Speaking ...

Hello Everyone.

Perhaps considering what I do for a living it is not surprising to find that my 3 1/2-year-old daughter Neva is already playing on the computer. Even without being able to read, Neva easily navigates web sites designed for kids. She does online coloring and plays matching games, moves puzzle pieces around and talks to the characters online. If left unchecked, she'll be there for hours.

Recently, Neva finished coloring a picture online when a voice asked her if she wanted to print her work. She did and, having helped her mother do it many times, fed a piece of paper into the printer. She was puzzled, though, when nothing happened. I heard my wife Kathleen explaining to her, in what seemed like a perfectly acceptable kid-friendly explanation, that she needed to tell the printer to do it first. So she did.

"Print!" she told it.

Happy sweeping,

Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com