Dependent on Gadgets

21st century children have access to things that were only possible with magical imagination when their parents were kids. The online world is compelling for children of all ages, but as a parent, you'll want to be there to protect them, just as you do in the physical world. Thankfully, there are apps that can help you be a good virtual parent. Dive in to see what's possible.

Before the age of the smartphone, we all had an ICE in our contacts. The in-case-of-emergency number that a good Samaritan could call if they found us in trouble. Our smartphones should be all locked down, but did you know that it's possible not only to easily share ICE contacts, but also important medical information? 

Since the rise of the tablet and smartphone, your home laptop may have been relegated to third place in the gadget prestige hierarchy. CloudReady will convert your tired old Windows machine into a speedy Chromebook for free! Click on to find out more. 

Despite being an internet savvy, security awarenetizen, I got hacked. Here's what happened, what I did and what I learned.

As part of the blogger community, it's great fun to share an interest over Twitter with your readers and the wider audience. Trouble is, you can't be there to hit the Tweet button at the right moment every single day. That's where an app like Buffer can help. Schedule your Tweets with a minimum of fuss!

Ask a blogger what they need more of and the answer will likely be time. We get what time we're given though, so the best thing to do is be really efficient with the time we have. Less time organising, more time doing. The best tool to help me do this is Trello. Click on to see why.

Keeping your phone out of sight is a good way to protect it from thieves. But not every thief wants the phone, some of them want your private data and this can be stolen from you without them having to reach into your pocket or bag. Here are 5 ways to stay safe online with your beloved smartphone.

USB sticks were a great way to carry data around. Then we all bought iPhones and iPads that don't talk to them. With mobile devices limited on board memory, it would be great to be able to connect a USB stick and, if you have an Android gadget, you might be in luck.

Having recently passed a year old, this blogger got tempted away from WordPress by the promise of a beautiful website built and run without the need for complex technical skills. 'Better websites for all' is their moto. Find out if it's the case. 

Sabri's Studio is an art and design studio based in Surrey, founded by Sabrina Loder. I spent an afternoon learning about the gadgets that a self-made artist can use to turn their talent into a business.

DoG goes in search of new headphones and discovers too much choice and near impenetrable jargon to master.

The Google ChromeCast makes it easy for you to send videos to your television. It's a cheap way to enjoy Netflix, Youtube and more on the big TV and it's easy to setup. But is it any good? DoG investigates.

It's 6 months since Jp successfully beat the bulge with a little help from apps and gadgets. So did they also help keep it off?

Some high profile account hackings of Twitter prompt DoG to investigate how we can better secure our Google, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Games consoles don't know whether they're being used by kids or the grown ups. In this article Jp describes how to set up parental controls on the Xbox 360.

Modern games consoles are for the grown ups as well as the children. This guide offers tips on setting up the PS3 with parental controls. I'm afraid the children won't be happy.

Video games have a hard time in the press, but millions of us have them. One step we can take towards protecting younger folk from the more mature aspects of video gaming is to use the parental control features. Here we look at the Nintendo Wii.

When your WIFI signal won't cover the whole house, one option is to purchase a WIFI Repeater. Jp puts a TP-Link Nano Router to task to try to remove the signal black spots.

Music on iPads, mobiles and MP3 players can be set free and played wirelessly to your stereo for under £20. Find out how.

When out and about, the mobile phone is an essential companion, but that doesn't mean that it's not very frustrating indeed if the signal doesn't get through when you're at home. Is there anything you can do?

Wireless Internet, or WIFI is great, but it's not without limitation. If you reach those limitations, consider a DLAN.

If you send a lot of text messages, wouldn't it be handy if you could send them using your nice big computer screen and keyboard, rather than that dinky phone? If the answer is yes, then AirDroid for Android could be for you.

The iPad is an exceptionally intuitive and fun interactive device. But what about when you just want to sit back and watch a bit of TV?

With E-Ink demoing a color screen, will the Kindle 3 look dated in a year's time? Should you care?

Laptops stand proud all by themselves. The iPad needs a little help, but there are plenty of elegant solutions out there.

With Christmas around the corner a digital camera makes an excellent present under, but can a £100 camera be excellent?

TV's are complex devices these days, with more terminology and gimmicks to wade through than an episode of The Gadget Show. Armed with only a bit of knowledge though, you can go and take on that salesman and determine what's best without having to rely on the salesman.