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As a kid, when I went to 4-H camp, I could not wait to get away from home. When my own kids go to church camp, we can monitor them by Webcam and send daily e-mails. The first year my daughter was at camp, we didn't send any e-mails, figuring she would want to be free of us for a few days. Boy was I wrong. Every other kid got armloads of e-mails and she got zip. After the scolding I got from her, I didn't make the same mistake the next year (I made new ones).

USA Today reports:

Over the past few years, a growing number of camps have tapped to the expertise of Internet start-up businesses for e-mail services, online videos and photos to help parents stay in touch with their children. Companies like Bunk1.com, Thriva LLC (which operates eCamp and CampRegister), Dial M For Mercury and Camp Channel, say such tools are helping camps market themselves to parents at a time when anxiety about children's safety is high in the post-Sept. 11 era.

"Camps are looking more and more at technology as a means to assuage parents' fear," said Paul Fisher, president and CEO of Dial M For Mercury, which installs cameras to stream video to camps' Web sites. This summer, it's offering camp clients an Internet-based automated telephone messaging service.

So far, such services appear to be making parents more comfortable writing checks for summer camp. Deb Bialescki, senior researcher at Martinsville, Ind.-based American Camp Association, reports a general rise in camp enrollment after the $20 billion industry suffered two consecutive summers of enrollment declines following the terrorist attacks in 2001. The trade association, which comprises 7,000 camp professionals, estimates an average increase in enrollment of 1 percent to 3 percent for the year over the same period of 2005.

This summer, Peg Smith, CEO of American Camp Association, believes camps will eventually be supplying podcasts, downloadable audio files similar to radio programs. "That's the next natural evolution," she said.

Some camps operate their own Web sites, but many have turned to Internet companies with expertise in video formatting and other areas for better sound and visual quality. Ari Ackerman, founder and CEO of Bunk1.com, said some clients do their own videos, but send the company clips for formatting on the Web.

Meanwhile, companies like Bunk1.com and ecamp.net offer systems to help parents send e-mail to the camps' Web site[s] for their children.

Although the technology allows parents to communicate with their children, it also might make some parents a little obsessive, poring over photos as they worry about their children, or trying to constantly stay in touch with their kids. Until the arrival of the Internet and cell phones, children tended to call home from camp only about once a week.

Dr. Christopher Thurber, a clinical psychologist at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H., and consultant to camp operators, said some camps now allow children to bring laptop computers and cell phones with them. That's a bad idea, he said.

The Denver Post offers tons of advice on how to select a summer camp for kids.

Poison Ivy More Poisonous

A study being published this week in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" says global warming will create more poison ivy and the plants will be even more -- well -- poisonous. Eighty percent of people whose skin comes in contact with the plant's sap have allergic reactions to the plant. 

Summertime Myths and Facts

Speaking of poison ivy, The (Delaware) News Journal includes a nice test, including questions about whether or not you can get poison-ivy rash without touching the plant, whether or not perfume attracts bees and wasps, whether or not sunburns fade into tans and swimming after thunder with no visible lightning. Do you face a greater risk of drowning if you swim less than a half-hour after eating a meal? You'll find the answer in The News Journal's piece. Useful summer stuff. 

Toxic Legacy

I was just reading the newest edition of the "Investigative Reporters and Editors Journal" and ran across this remarkable multimedia project from The (Hackensack, N.J.) Record.

The project uncovers an environmental disaster of epic proportions. It is the sort of project that is worthy of newsroom brown-bag lunch discussions about how to use multimedia to tell complex stories.

It is great teaching material for educators. The work was awarded IRE's highest award this year, the IRE Medal. Be sure to look at the "videos" section of the site. It is exactly what I tell my classes that I think works best online -- raw interviews and video that allow the user to "experience" the story without the reporter getting in the way. I also like it when news sites post the documents on which the story turns. It allows the public to make judgments about the evidence.

Pimp My Grill

Wait until you see the awesome new grills that await the outdoor chef this summer. An architect told me recently that people not only want patios and decks, they want "outdoor kitchens." The New York Times says:

The high-end grill market, which generally refers to any grill that costs more than $1,000, started quietly in 1990 when Dynamic Cooking Systems, a company based in California, introduced the DCS Professional Grill. The 48-inch-wide $5,000 appliance, which included H-shaped cast-iron commercial-quality burners, a heavy-duty side-burner and more B.T.U.'s per square inch than any other grill then on the market, was adopted by a few deep-pocketed souls on the grilling vanguard.

But those in the grill industry say the market did not begin to take off until the last half-decade, when homeowners in the West and the South began building increasingly elaborate outdoor areas with brick kitchen islands and ornate all-weather furniture.

The Arizona Republic reports:

Nationally, more than 14 million grills were sold last year, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, which is based in Arlington, Va. Even more people will set up outdoor cooking areas this year: 15 million grills are expected to be sold in 2005.

Adding an outdoor kitchen can be a major investment, starting at around $5,000 and easily going higher with fancy grills and pizza ovens. Whether you are adding a complete kitchen or simply upgrading your grill, here are six things to consider.

Island: Outdoor islands can be anything from simple, tile-topped stucco bases to granite-tile U-shaped islands with seating.

Like the indoor version, the outdoor island is where the action is. It's where everyone hangs out, waiting, grilling, conversing, smelling the sizzling hamburgers.

Grill: The grill is the most important part of an outdoor kitchen. Choose one with ample surface area so you can cook meat and veggies at the same time.

Other appliances: You wouldn't think about having an indoor kitchen without a refrigerator. The same is true with an outdoor kitchen. Other appliance choices include ovens, side burners, wok burners, pizza ovens and burners that sear meat and lock in the juices.

Dining: No kitchen is complete without a nearby table and chairs. Make comfort a priority. Get an umbrella for the table so you don't get baked by the sun.

Lighting: Go for fun, funky or mood-setting. Hang string lights from the patio rafters for atmosphere or use candles to create a cozy look. Make sure you have enough light to ensure your food is adequately cooked.

Gadgets: Kitchens of any kind need gadgets. For outdoor kitchens, think music systems, bartending centers and fancy sets of grilling tools. Also available: digital thermometers that let you check the meat's temperature without having to open the grill lid and wood chips that add old-fashioned charcoal-like barbecue flavor to gas-grilled food.

Petite Departments Closing

The New York Times discovered that it's getting tough to be a small woman. The Times reports: "Three of the country's most influential fashion emporiums -- Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's -- have quietly eliminated or drastically scaled back their petite departments in the past several months, infuriating many longtime customers."