It’s best not to broadcast details of an upcoming or in progress trip via Twitter, Facebook, or other social networking outlets unless you’re perfectly comfortable with the possibility of those statements becoming public knowledge. Don’t promote when you’ll be away or where you’ll be going.

When using geolocation based apps such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Yelp, I recommend not doing the following:

Check-in at home – there’s no sense broadcasting where you live to those that don’t already know (and honestly need to know) where you live.

Check-in at someone else’s home – if you shouldn’t check-in at your home, it’s a given that you shouldn’t check-in at someone else’s.

Check-in at your children’s school – this is more the paranoid first-time father in me talking, but it makes sense not to broadcast where your children are if they’re not with you. It also makes sense not to broadcast where they might be when they’re not with you.

When sharing your information online, treat that information just as you would something you’d yell across a crowded street to a friend passing by. If you’re not comfortable with the possibility that anyone could find out what you’re doing and where you are (or perhaps more importantly, where you’re not), don’t share it online.

Standard usage rates apply depending on your plan. See att.com/dataterms for terms and conditions.

Do you share digital hand-me-downs with your family and friends?

Awareness is key.  Whether you’re talking on the phone, sending a text message, or even swapping CD’s, all of these basic tasks could take our focus off of the road while driving, leaving you less aware of your surroundings’ less aware of the road in front of you and the other drivers around you. 

A July 2009 study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute concluded that texting while driving increases your risk of being in an accident by a factor of 23. 

I know the temptation to respond to a text message as soon as you receive it. We live in a society that holds connectivity and availability in very high esteem.  When you’re in your car and behind the wheel, you’re not available.  Pull over to the side of the road or wait until you get to your destination before sending a text message.  No message is worth the opportunity cost of taking your focus off the road and endangering the lives of you, your passengers, and other drivers around you.

Help spread the word about the dangers of texting while driving.  For more information on the campaign and to take the pledge to not text and drive, view AT&T’s Texting while Driving public education campaign.

Then, the unexpected happened – my mom signed up for her first text messaging plan.  Now, instead of a phone call asking us what new clothes Fiona needs, we get a SMS message requesting size and color preferences. Sometimes we get MMS messages detailing the day’s purchases. We’ve decided that my mom is officially dangerous when in close proximity to anywhere that sells baby apparel. 

My mom even invents her own shorthand, apparently not happy with this generation’s LOL, TTYL, and L8Rs.  I always knew I had a cool mom.  Now, she further proves the point via SMS.

Message & data rates may apply. 

Then there are the apps.  Amy is officially ‘addicted’ to apps.  She uses her smartphone to keep up with Facebook, check the weather, hunt for a new house, track workouts and food intake, play games, share pictures from our Flickr account, and keep up on parenting information, among other things.  She just might be on her smartphone more than I’m on mine, which is saying something.

Does anyone else have a significant other who fought the transition to a smartphone, only to become ‘addicted’ to mobile apps?

Message & data rates may apply.

Standard charges apply to text messages, depending on your plan.

We plan on visiting family this coming weekend to share our little valentine in person versus through the cameras on our phones as we so often do. Though Sunday is Valentine’s Day,  for us, every day before and after will still be Valentine’s Day.

And if you are at a loss for what to get for your Valentine (or better yet, would like to “gently suggest” a Valentine gift for yourself!), check out or share the following link, to get a new red phone – FREE on att.com through Monday, February 15: bit.ly/Free-Red-Phones!

A two year service agreement is required.  Other restrictions apply. A $30/month data plan required for all Smartphones.