Tag Archives: moms

Even TechMama’s Need To Exercise (Says their son!)

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After months of non-stop a-working and then a busy but fun BlogHer conference in New York last week, I decided it was time to get back on the exercise bandwagon. As I begun writing my BlogHer post (still in the works), I realized how fun it was to see everyone – but how tired I was. The reason was not as much related to my busy schedule as it was because my lack of endurance (due to lack of exercise).

So – to get my endurance back – I am making a commitment (for reals) to get in shape. Writing this post is a way of solidifying that commitment, as I am sure my peeps will be asking me how it is going and I don’t want to say that I have not got off the couch yet.

I even told my son about my commitment to get back into shape and he has taken on jogging with me to (as he said) “make sure I get a good workout”.

Day 1:

Today we took a jog. My body hurt… I was out of breath.. I got yelled at: my son TechBoy – who is 11 going on 18 – yelled at me if I stopped.

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Mother’s Day: Low Tech and High Tech Adventures

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HIGH TECH – CARDS FOR GRANDMOM:

Last night we realized that we did not send Mother’s Day cards to our out of town Grandmoms. So this morning I picked 2 digital pictures of my boys and created a Hallmark photo card and then we are going to finish that off with a fun audio card using Fotobabble.

LOW TECH – HANDMADE GIFTS FROM MY SONS:

This morning I had the fun of my three sons busting in the room to give me their homemade gifts. For Mother’s Day, I always ask for something homemade.  One of my twin 7 year olds twin sons (J) made this framed card.   My other twin 7 year old son (D) made a paper card that said “I Love You”.

My tween son B played me a song on his guitar. His brother’s J&D were dancing in the background. I see a brother’s band coming up in the near future..

We missed our Grandmoms from far away – but had the fun of lunch with our local Grandmom. Dad cooked a vegetable and tofu stir fry inspired by Jamie Oliver for dinner. All the boys enjoyed it, mom was happy her boys were eating their veggies.

A perfect Mother’s Day for me is a combination of low tech handmade gifts from my boys and some easy high tech ways to send cards to their grandmoms.

Being a mom is so yummy!

 

Oprah Winfrey’s “No Phone Zone” Campaign – Take the Pledge!!

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After I dropped my kids off at school I headed to the bakery to buy some muffins for a school meeting. At the red light, I checked my phone and saw a text message from a friend who wanted to take a walk this morning. I thought it was a great idea to take a walk, so I promptly replied by texting that I can take a walk as soon as I go home to write my post in honor of the “No Phone Zone” campaign to help bring understanding to distracted driving.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?  Writing a text in my car – at a red light – to tell someone that I am writing a post about no distracted driving?

Even though I was texting at a red light – it was still texting in a car and it was distracting me from driving. This helped me realize how easy it was to get distracted while driving and that I NEED TO BE THE FIRST PERSON TO GET ON BOARD AND TAKE THE PLEDGE. From now on, my cellphone will be placed out of reach while I am driving. First thing I did when I got home was to sign the pledge.

CLICK ON THE BUTTON ABOVE TO JOIN ME IN TAKING THE PLEDGE

Other ways to join the “No Phone Zone” Pledge:


MOBILE – Text to pledge = Text NPZ to 30644 

Project Overview Video on the “Create a No Phone Zone” = http://www.citizenglobal.com/harpoproductions/nophonezone/ 

No Phone Zone Causes Page = http://www.causes.com/nophonezone

TWITTER – The Oprah Show Profile = http://twitter.com/theoprahshow 

FACEBOOK – The Oprah Show Fan Page = http://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfreyshow 

and No Phone Zone Pledge – http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/455 

Here is more important statistics and information from the Oprah Winfrey “No Phone Zone” campaign:

  • Every single time someone takes their eyes or their focus off the road – even
    for just a few seconds – they put their lives and the lives of others in
    danger.  Distracted driving is
    unsafe, irresponsible and in a split second, its consequences can be
    devastating. ~ U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood

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Join Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

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As a child growing up in an East Coast city we were tight on money and did what many families did to save money by trying to cut food costs. I also did not have a regular way to exercise. When I came out California I started riding my bike to school and got wrapped up in the wave of “healthy” eating that was part of the California culture. As a result, I lost weight and put myself on a healthier track in life. Although now as a busy working mom I find it hard to find time to exercise enough, I always try to keep healthy eating and exercise in the forefront of my families life.

Jamie Oliver is a chef from England that saw the way kids were eating (badly) and wanted to do something about it – by passing the word about healthy eating. He did that by showing how easy it is to cook healthy meals that kids actually like to eat. Now he is taking his revolution to the United States with his show on ABC titled “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution”. He also has a website with recipes and information. I decided to try one of his recipes (Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry) after watching the show and my boys LOVED it!

Here is the link to the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution show website.

He is trying to pass on his the word about Healthy eating by creating a petition (CLICK HERE TO SIGN).

I threw this post together as I get my twin boys dressed for their first coach pitched Little League game. Understanding that other then unconditional love, kids need exercise and healthy eating to set them on the right track in life! A few initiatives that have caught my attention recently in regards to exercise (other then the fabulous local sport leagues)  has been the Tony Hawk Foundation to build more skate parks and KaBoom to build more playgrounds. I am always looking for more organizations promoting healthy eating and exercise for kids – so I will add more as I find them!!

 

Forget About the iPad, I Want the Clothes Folding Robot

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I was reading Guy Kawasaki’s Twitter stream today and what do I see on one of his posts?

Hark – it is something I have been waiting for ever since I became a mom….Yes, A Robot that folds clothes!

Here is the link to the post from Alltop – Holy Kaw (that saw the video on Geekologie.)

Forget about the iPad, I want one of these:

 

Hottest New Parenting Gadget: Cry Canceler

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While lately I have been busy obsessing about tablets versus netbooks versus laptops versus setop boxes versus data streamers for family use, there is one piece of technology that I can say every family needs. Being one of the Co-Founders of Silicon Valley Moms Group allowed me to get early access to the just released tech news about what will be one of the hottest gadgets for families: The Cry Canceler. It solves that problem where a baby is crying and they don't really need anything – but they are just crying.

Here are some of the details from a post on the Silicon Valley Moms Group:Aprilfools_headset_svmoms_svmoms(2)

"But for every problem there's a solution. And here, in Silicon Valley, that solution is often a high tech one. So we were thrilled over here at SVMoms Group  when a group of our amazing bloggers, led by Paige Bayer Canning With Kids, Stacey Hoffer Weckstein and CreateaBalance.com, Cecily Kellogg from Uppercase Woman, and Dagmar Bleasdale of  Dagmar's momsense decided they were tired of slinking out of restaurants or missing out on the latest movies because they couldn't get a babysitter, hired a  local design firm, and came up with a high tech fix. They call their product the Cry Canceler. "

(happy April 1st – ok, this is a joke post)

 

Moms Gone Wired Article in Dallas Observer News

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This morning I saw a tweet with the name "Moms Gone Wired". At first I did not see the link to the article, but then a Twitter buddy of mine (Bonggamom) pointed that out that the article mentioned TechMamas.com along with other blogs written by moms.

The article titled "Moms Gone Wired: One Woman's Journey Through the Mommy Blogosphere to Gain Parental Prowess and Free Stuff" is written by Alice Laussade. While the term "free stuff" in the title misses the point (of my journey at least) – it is great to see coverage of the journey many moms have made through blogging. My journey to create TechMamas.com was to have a place that I could start a discussion on parenting, technology and gadgets. My technical background before becoming a parent helped me see that the "tech – mom " voice was missing from online discussions. But that was 2005 and blogging was just starting to catch on. Now I am proud to say that in 2010 that there are many moms that are now utilizing blogs to re-create their careers and get their voices heard online. Just looking at my about page and to the network of amazing moms I have met through Silicon Valley Moms Group, BlogHer and other social media (reflected on my many Twitter lists created to keep track of them) has made my journey completely worthwhile.

Even if I had to give up the small amount of free time a busy mom of three boys has – including exercising regularly – and became dependent on the second shift after the kids go to sleep to keep up with everything.

My participation in blogging and social media has opened up career opportunities for me in a way that is flexible with my schedule as a mom. The key for me is that I am passionate about the topics I cover (parenting, technology, gadgets, social media). I am passionate enough that it has been fun and interesting keeping up with my blog reading through my RSS feeds and Alltop, Twitter, Facebook and organizing my info on Pearltrees. "Free stuff" is worthless to me;  relationships, networking and information are important to me.

Yes, sharing information for the good of the people – that is what Dooce, I and the other not so secret sect of power moms do with our blogging…I type that with a bwa-ha-ha-ha" Dr. Evil laugh similar to what Dooce responded when asked in the article "if she plans to use her powerful power mom powers for good or for evil".

I also type this while realizing if I don't head out the door in the next 5 minutes I will miss yet another opportunity to exercise because I just "had to" write a blog post. If I am going to be a super hero power mom I need to keep in shape. But I need to do that while making sure I pick up my kids at carpool time. Can I meet that challenge?

 

Apple iPad: Discussion of Features and The Name

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My first step in coverage of the Apple iPad was to understand the features not only as a techie but as a mom that appreciates mobile gadgets. Yesterday I posted a write-up with all the information I could find about the Apple iPad features. Looking at the Apple iPad features I listed yesterday, there were many that make the iPad a valuable tool, including it’s user friendly design and interface, attractive build and access to a large number of applications from the iPhone (140,000 as of today), entertainment media and eBook libraries. These are all features that moms and families look for on a mobile gadget.  Today I wanted to look more into the Apple iPad features and reflect on the much discussed name “iPad”.

The features:

While writing the post about the features I did wonder if the Apple iPad had a webcam as some had speculated before the official announcement. Mashable wrote a post that summarized what features are missing, including a camera and no USB port. The Mashable article also summarized that the Apple iPad seemed to be centered on “media consumption, not creation”. Another missing feature in my opinion is the video webcam, which would of allowed use of Skype via the WiFi functionality, live video and video recording. Video recording is a popular feature many use on mobile gadgets, especially after seeing the video’s being made on the iPhone 3GS.

Walt Mossberg in his first impressions also mentioned the applications and build as a plus, but had questions about the comfort of using the virtual keyboard. Because I have not had any hands on exposure to the Apple iPad yet, I can’t add any personal experience about the keyboard.  David Pogue posted in the New York Times with his first impressions of the iPad and I agree that the iPad is like a giant iPod Touch. I also agree that reading eBooks or newspapers and watching TV shows or Movies (from iTunes) are a “natural” for the iPad. The iPad as an eReader for books and newspaper is a strong feature.

The next question I had was if the Apple iPad supports Flash. From what I have found, it currently does not support Adobe Flash. One of the posts on TechMeme that discussed this was from Anthony Ha of VentureBeat titled “No Flash on Apple’s iPad“.

The Adobe Flash Platform blog posted with the following details: “without Flash support, iPad users will not be able to access the full
range of web content, including over 70% of games and 75% of video on
the web“.  The Adobe Flash platform blog also posted that Flash Developers are working on iPad applications, which will be an advantage for the iPad moving forward. Here is that post: Adobe Flash Platform Blog –   Building iPad Applications with Flash:

“We announced the Packager for iPhone at MAX 2009 which will allow Flash developers to create native iPhone
applications and will be available in the upcoming version of Flash Pro CS5. This technology enables developers to create applications for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad (though applications will not initially take direct advantage of iPad’s new screen resolution). It is our intent to make it possible for Flash developers to build applications that can take advantage of the increased screen size and resolution of
the iPad.”

**UPDATE Apple iPad – Adobe Flash info 1/29: The 9To5MAC Blog posted “The iPad has Adobe’s Flash on Apple’s video” and Mashable posted “Adobe Calls Out Apple for Lack of Flash on iPad“.

I have also been actively asking for input on Twitter to see what other’s think about Adobe Flash not being supported on the Apple iPad. Others also view that as “anti-webish“.  I do think that it is important to pay for content. I will be HAPPY to pay for magazines and eBooks – that is important to support authors and journalists. But I also feel that new gadgets should also allow users to view free content as well through sites such as YouTube (that requires Adobe Flash to view).  That balance is something that will be of much debate moving forward**

I also found a few other posts on TechMeme that added information about the iPad features:

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Apple iPad – Only $499 and Runs iPhone Apps!

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Just as my son ran into my room this afternoon complaining that he tried to download a music video onto his iPod but it was hard to watch on such a small screen AND that he has ran out of Hardy boys books to read so he needs to go to the bookstore to find some new mysteries, I had my eyes on one gadget that I could not even tell him about. Or maybe I should, it would be incentive for him to do homework and chores without complaing for years to come..The big announcement was made today – the Apple Tablet is called the “Apple iPad“, which will be available in March. The Apple press release describes the uses as “web, reading and sending email,
enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games,
reading e-books and much more”.

Important features of the iPad from the Apple iPad Press Release are listed below:

PRICE: $499

DESIGN: “High-resolution
Multi-Touch™ display, 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds”.

WIFI:”iPad comes in two versions—one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi
and 3G. iPad includes the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the 3G versions
support speeds up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks.”

The Gizmodo post added: “3G data plans through AT&T, one of which is just $30 per month
with no contract. You can cancel at any time with no penalty, and use
AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots for free.
The other plan offered is $15 for 250MB of data, also through AT&T.”

The Wall Street Journal posted with additional information about the iPad WIFI: “The iPads with a chip allowing cellular connections will cost $130 more
than standard versions, which start at $499 and up. Units with the
wireless chip will go on sale 30 days after the other version ships in
March. The iPad won’t be exclusive to AT&T, so it could potentially
work abroad on networks that share the carrier’s GSM wireless
technology. Verizon Wireless uses a competing technology called CDMA.
Apple said it is pulling together international carriers in time for
when the device ships.”

APPLICATIONS: “12 new
innovative apps designed especially for the iPad iPad runs almost all of the over 140,000 apps on the App Store,
including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. Apple also introduced a new version of iWork® for iPad, the first
desktop-class productivity suite designed specifically for Multi-Touch.
With Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® you can create beautifully formatted
documents, stunning presentations with animations and transitions, and
spreadsheets with charts, functions and formulas. The three apps will
be available separately through the App Store for $9.99 each.”
MUSIC, MOVIES AND TV: “The
iTunes® Store will provides access to the iPad to online
music, TV and movie store  that has a catalog of over 11 million songs, over
50,000 TV episodes and over 8,000 films including over 2,000 in
stunning high definition video.”

EBOOKS: “Apple also announced the new iBooks app
for iPad, which includes Apple’s new iBookstore, the best way to
browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. The iBookstore will
feature books from major and independent publishers.”

GREEN TECH: “Continuing Apple’s dedication to designing and creating
environmentally responsible products, each iPad enclosure is made of
highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy-efficient
LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free
glass. iPad contains no brominated flame retardants and is completely
PVC-free.”

STORAGE, BATTERY LIFE, CHIP and CONNECTORS:

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BlackFriday A Bust, Will Try CyberMonday

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While my cyber-buddy Erin (Queen of Spain blog) was a Black Friday sales virgin who needed protection – but ended up saving $110, I ended up feeling like a Black Friday sales sucker – but a confirmed sucker after I read the post on Slate titled ” BlackFriday Is For Suckers“.  I posted on TechMamas.com with every Black Friday sale online site and Twitter ID to keep posted on the Black Friday sales . But I decided to sleep in and the discounts for the tech items that I tried to use online had “limited” use – so they had all expired by late morning. I then jumped in my minivan to hit a few technology stores in the afternoon, none of which had deals on the high performance technology I was looking for (but lots of sales on TV’s – which we need but can’t afford to upgrade right now!). Of course, I was looking for some high end technology with specific models in mind. If I was flexible, I could of found some deals.There were also “bundles” available on Black Friday which offered accessories if technology was purchased. But I have also seen this bundles advertised online.

Looking back, the sales I saw via the major technology manufacturer email and Twitter sales updates were even better then Black Friday sales. Yet – on Black Friday there were deals to be found on other consumer items. Another mom friend found lots of Black Friday deals in stores for kids clothes.

Overall – To enjoy the real deals on BlackFriday you need to have a list and identify the stores that carry those items and stick to that list. Ask yourself if shopping late at night or first thing in the morning will really save you that much compared to the regular sales?

Just for fun, now that I do have the specific technology identified (down to the model number) that I need to shop for – I will give Cyber Monday a try. Otherwise, I decided to jump on the regular sales that show up in my email inbox and deal Twitter ID’s that I follow, instead of waiting for special “sale” days.

Cyber Monday Sales here I come!!Reblog this post [with Zemanta]