CES (Consumer Electronic Show) was last week in Las Vegas. It is the time when all the companies that deal with technology on a consumer level come out for a huge game of show and tell. Some are things that are here, coming and hope to be coming;). I decided to take just a minute to look at a few of the cool things I have heard about (from home;).
(Continue reading at Geek for the Real Girl)
Pinterest has over 11.7 million users and it is a social bookmarking and sharing site that is all the rage. I get quite a few questions on what Pinterest is and how it works but it is super easy and more fun than it should be. The 1 warning, set time limits or you may do nothing else with your life;).
*Once you sign up (through twitter, facebook or just a login) you set up boards or set them up as you find material for them!
*You can see what all your friends (or people you follow)pinned and re-pin those items
*You can also pin things you find in 2 ways.
-By a link. You just click Add Link right on the Pinterest page
-From discovering something on a blog and from there you can also usually follow the blog owner’s Pinterest boards too!
* It is a great way to find just about everything! Ways to cook, clean, learn and even just for inspiration!
You can follow me on Pinterest too!
Ok, I admit it. My name is Jacqueline and I have a internet game problem. The problem is that I love them and if I am not careful I only play them instead of doing everything else;). So as to further my addiction I was introduced to Gamesville;).
Gamesville has a ton of fun games that don’t inherently take a ton of time. Your desire to sit there and play all day is a while separate issue;). But there is a free membership and a gold membership option. The Gold membership means no more ads!!! And you get/buy GV tokens to play with and win. (If you sign up through the links on this post you will get 10,000 to start with!)
One of the games I looked at was Reel Cash Critters. It a fun slots game with some twists. To start with you can actually win real, cash money in addition to GV’s! Like a normal slots game you choose your bet and of course the higher the bet the higher the payout. But you also choose how many rows to play. You can choose diagonals, v-shape, etc. And that definitely adds another dimension. Something else I like is that you can choose awesome and normal modes. The awesome mode just has brighter colors and it is nice to be able to turn that off if you are on a laptop battery instead of wall power.
There are a ton of other games on Gamesville too! I am a huge Big Money fan! There are all kinds of poker games, solitaire and so much more. There are also a bunch of cool puzzle games that I wasn’t familiar with too!
I will be spending many, many hours in the future on Gamesville;).
This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. I received a Gamesville Gold Membership and compensation for my time investment and work on this campaign.
Did you realize that Marvel’s The Avengers came out on dvd this week? Well I did! And I bought it! I think this seals it, I am an awesome mom;). Ok, this wasn’t really about the kids but they are benefiting from NerdDad’s and my geekness.
Now my kids had already been introduced to the awesomeness that is The Avengers when we all went to see it in the theater. We all immediately agreed that this would be a movie we would have to own. As the commercials started up the talk continued.
Then I heard that Walmart had this awesome app that had augmented reality in it so of course that meant we had to go to Walmart;). Since we knew our Walmart wasn’t going to be one of the ones with special Avengers Character appearances on Saturday Sept 29th. So we went after a long day of choir and science. The kids were so stoked! We went in with the plan to find the 6 character cardboard cut outs with the codes on it. You scan it with your phone and then you get 3 questions on each one that help you find out which Avenger you are.
The first thing we did was go to find our dvd set! The kids wanted to grab the first set that they saw. But I took them around to the other side of the display. The kids didn’t realize that there would be the option of a comic book. They were excited to say the least. But in full disclosure… they still haven’t gotten their mitts on it yet. NerdDad isn’t done with it yet;).
We went off in search of the character displays and quickly found out that our Walmart didn’t have the displays. The kids and I were disappointed because we wanted to see the cool stuff but we found other fun;). We decided to wander around and check out the toys. I think the Hulk hands were the big hit. I still am wondering if they would fit me;). I mean, I can be angry for Halloween.
Tuesday is my long day. So getting pizza for the kids was just as much a treat for me as it was for them. They were excited to get to pizza to begin with. They were even more excited to get to pick out one with an Avenger hero on the box! Ironman won 2 to 1 and 1;). One kid wanted the Thor all meat and one wanted the Captain America pepperoni.
The kids didn’t know that the augmented reality app worked with the pizza box! You scan it with you phone or tablet and you can see a scene from the movie. You can move and see it from all angles as long as you keep it in focus. The characters don’t move a lot but it is the bomb! the kids are chuckled in delight and I obviously found it worth documenting;).
We settled in to eat dinner and watch the movie! Have I mentioned that I love Black Widow in The Avengers? Joss Whedon did a phenomenal job with her as he does with all his female characters;).
We even had a special Avengers themed dessert. True I bought a flat pack of premade Jello that I used in them but did I mention that Tuesday is my long and crazy day;). I paid $2.58 for 12 cups of Jello so I had some left over. It was a great night!
I bought a movie that I love for me and my kids think that I am a rock star. What could be better;)?
Are you interested in Marvel or The Avengers? Then you can check out the Marvel site, follow them on Twitter or like the Marvel Facebook page! You can also check out the exclusive DVD/Blu-Ray/Graphic Novel pack at Walmart.
You can also see my full shopping experience over on Google+!
(I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Marvel. #MarvelAvengersWMT #CBias #SocialFabric They may have picked the subject but all the thoughts are mine!)
It is shocking but even when you have 4 kids you still can get 1 that is left out. At this point the one who can get left out the most is my baby, NerdPud. The older kids will all be in science classes or have homework. Since she is in Kindergarten all of her schooling is one on one and all fun. Which is great but it means I need to find ways to engage her while the older kids are busy! I also need to get this kid to read!!! She has been sort of doing it since she was 4 but she doesn’t have any interest in reading fluently.
Enter in Dora Let’s Play Backpack! It is a great new iPad accessory from Discovery Bay Games. It is in their Duo line of iPad games and accessories. You buy the backpack and then download the free app from iTunes. The backpack itself sits over the iPad and interactively with the app. There are 4 different types of adventures: ‘Let’s Listen,’ ‘Let’s Pack,’ ‘Let’s Match,’ and ‘Say It Two Ways’. Both players have tokens and place them on the spot that corresponds with their answer. The correct answer’s spot will open and the tokens will go into the backpack. The first person out of tokens wins!
I need to declare something up front. My kids are NOT allowed free access to my iPad. But they can earn access or when I am waiting for some kids, I use it as a bonding activity with them. That is where the Dora’s Let’s Play Backpack comes into the picture. Not only is it giving me a way to engage with her and have that valuable bonding time but it also serves as a great reward for reading. She doesn’t even notice that she is actually learning;). She loves it so much that she asks if she can read to me so she can play with Dora’s Backpack;).
The one and only problem I have had (everything can’t be hearts and flowers people) is using it outside. The first time I was using it she and I were outside under shade. We couldn’t get the backpack to interact with the app. But as soon as we went inside it worked perfectly!
You can pick up a Dora Let’s Play Backpack from Amazon for $39.99 or win one here for free!!!! Discovery Bay Games has graciously offered to give 1 away to one of my readers (In the US only, sorry)!
Mandatory Entry:
Leave a comment on this post answering this question from the NerdPud(yes, it really is what she wanted to know;): “How old were you when you learned how to read?”
Extra Entries (leave a comment for each thing you do):
-Subscribe to my rss feed
-Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway!
-Subscribe to my site by email
-Post about this giveaway
This giveaway will close October 1, 2012!
(Disclosure: I was given a Dora Let’s Play Backpack to review by Discovery Bay Games)
One of the most addicting aspects of Facebook has to be the games. I mean, I am not the only one right? I fall into the copious amounts of free, fun games that are all over Facebook. But with so many games you really only hear about the ones your friends play and there are so many more to choose from. The developers of these Facebook games have gone beyond developers that only develop for Facebook and apps. Now real game companies like Ubisoft are designing these Facebook games!
One such game is House M.D.: Critical Cases! This is based on the ever popular show House M.D., which I have loved for years! You come in as an intern and become part of House’s team. That means you will get all the dirty work! Be it searching through garbage, wheeling patients to tests or running a code blue! There are speed tests and logic games as tasks to help get information to help heal your patient. You earn money to pay for the treatments and gain experience to climb the ranks.
It is one of those great games that you can play for just a little bit or play for quite a while. I must admit, it is a bit addicting… The graphics are cute but detailed and the game play is very smooth. Everything you need to know is on one screen and it even has a map set up on screen that you maneuver through. All and all it is a neat little game. I haven’t played for hours yet but it does seem to be missing the most annoying part of many Facebook games, you don’t need to get or give gifts to your friends in order to play!!!
So what are you doing here still reading? Go, play House M.D.: Critical Cases and relax!!!
Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own. #UbiChamps #CleverMD
Ok, we all know how much I love my tech with my tablets and apps. Well, I can’t be totally selfish. I occasionally will share with my kids. And if I am going to share my toys they will be learning something (homeschooling mantra;)! But I haven’t found a lot of the reading apps to be very educational. But I love Ruckus Media and their apps so I was very stoked to get a chance to review the Ruckus Reader Apps for iPad with my 5 year old (as of yesterday), NerdPud.
As I said, I am a bit of a reading app cynic. I tend to find them to be extremely easy or extremely hard and neither is something that will actually help my last child to learn how to fluently read. But I thought if nothing else she would have fun. Well, I am very happy to have been wrong. She loves it and she is learning!!!!
The first time we cracked open any of the Ruckus Reader apps was at the dentist. We opened up the My Little Pony level 1 book while we were waiting for the other kids to get done with their cleanings. She starts giggling in anticipation and frankly, who doesn’t love that giggle;)? We chose to have it read to her but she still got an opportunity to do word recognition and a reading too. The art is great and book choices are phenomenal! There are just enough activities for the kids to do within the story so that they never become bored and tune out. And every time we are using any of the Ruckus Reader apps her older siblings (who all read well) want to come watch instead of reading their own books they picked out.
The fact you can choose either to have the app read the story to you or not really helps make this a very versatile app. My 6 year old really enjoyed reading and playing the Transformers level 3 book but didn’t need it to read it to him. I also love the fact that you can record some one else reading the story. I would do more of that if I actually left my iPad when I traveled (but alas, I am not that nice;).
Of course part of the perks of reviewing an app is that I usually get all the paid features. And there are some good ones that come with the paid iLibrary subscription. I really like the Reading Meter reports that I get emailed to me! It means that I can allow the kids to play with the app without having to completely hover over them to see how much they get right or understand. It gives them a little space but leaves me in the position to be fully aware, the best of both worlds. I also like having access to all the books. And both those things come with the paid iLibrary subscription.
A review wouldn’t be balanced without some cons. The one I really see it that I wish there was some books that are a little more simple, like bob books. Because these are all character driven some of the names are hard and even the level 1 books are challenging to a new reader. It isn’t a horrible thing but something I feel the apps could use. Since NerdPud has been reading the Bob books I thought she would do a little better with the level 1 books but with the Transformers and the like, she didn’t do very well in reading along. She did ok at the activities but I was hoping for the actually reading to be easier. It isn’t a deal breaker but not everything can be perfect;).
On the whole if you are looking for a premium app for reading I would definitely recommend Ruckus Reader. And on that note…..
I have some subscriptions to giveaway!!!! The folks over at Ruckus Media have graciously decided to giveaway 1 six month iLibrary subscription and 2 one month iLibrary subscriptions!
To enter you must register for free with Ruckus Reader then come back and let me know that you have done it by leaving me a comment! Make sure you leave your email so I can contact you if you win.
After you register there are some things you can do for extra entries! Leave a separate comment for each one that you do.
This giveaway will close on June 26, 2012 and the winners will have 24 hours to respond.
(Disclosure: I did receive the Ruckus Reader app and iLbrary subscription from Ruckus Media to review. All opinions and words are mine and mine alone!)
My kids love getting surprise boxes in the mail!!! (ok, so I knew it was coming;) I first saw Beamz at CES back in January this year and thought was great! Beamz is a light based interface that lets you play musical instruments along with a song on a computer. I was stoked when I got a chance to review one with my kids.
It is super easy to set up and play! You take Beams out of the box and plug it into your PC via a mini usb cable. Then pop in the cd, click to install and then add the libraries to your computer. You are ready to play!
You can change songs, switch instruments, start and stop songs, etc very easily. You can control it on the computer using a mouse or using the on board controls. The kids found it very easy to control using the on board controls. And you don’t have to figure out what they are because you get a legend with the Beamz.
There are so many song choices in Beamz and there are new ones being added all the time! You can go through and chose songs by genre, including a kids genre with Old MacDonald. There are also multiple instruments that you can play with each song. It just takes a button push to change instruments and tempo. The kids also like recording their creation and then dancing to it on play back!
It is so much fun that they can play it together! What you don’t see it their 2 sisters dancing;).
(“This product has been provided as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. While they provided the subject, all opinions are purely mine! #CBias)
Recently I was blessed to attended a meeting of bloggers and some of Verizon’s best in San Francisco. It was a two way meeting, we learned about some of their products and Verizon learned our very blatant opinions;). One of the areas I learned a lot about is 3 packages available to parents to help keep their children safe on both their cell phones and in life.
One of the things I love that is universal to all of these packages is that the controls are not set on the physical phone! You go to you My Verizon site where the rest of your account data lives. Then you can set up the packages per phone from there. It is a little less hackable by your kids. Not completely but much better than having it on a phone they play with constantly;).
Let’s start with the free tools, because you know free is my favorite;). Content filters available for free on their phones. What does that men? It means that you can choose a rating for a phone and the media center material, song downloads, V-Cast material and websites will be blocked or allowed according to that rating. Your rating choices are C7+, T13+, YA 17+ and of course there is always the filter off option. I think it is a super easy step that every parent on Verizon should be taking! It just takes a second to set up and you can change the settings as the kids get older or phones get passed down.
The next package is Usage Control. This currently runs $4.99 a line. It has a few areas. the first is Usage Limits. You can go in and set up how many texts your kids can send or how much data or minutes they can use so you aren’t charged with go over your plan! You can also set limits on how much they can spend on the extras like ringtones, apps and music. You also can set up time restrictions. If your child isn’t supposed to use their phone while they are at school you can set it up that during those hours the only calls that can be made are from “trusted” numbers that you set up. So they can’t text or call their friends but can call you! You can also block numbers, emails, screen names, the like. This can be that extra step of protection or just help to limit contact with someone who isn’t the best influence. My favorite part is the trusted numbers. No matter how much you limit the phone’s usage they can always make and receive calls from the numbers you list under this feature!
The last safeguard is the Family Locator program. This runs $4.99 a line or $9.99 per account. I like their description better than my own;).
From your PC, phone or tablet, enjoy the comfort of knowing you can check on the location of family members’ phones. Family Locator is a simple, secure service that allows you to:
Receive arrival & departure updates for each family member. A Verizon Wireless exclusive!
Locate your family members.
Create scheduled location updates for each family member.
Now available as an Android app and Web app for iPhone (fl.vzw.com on your phone’s browser).
Enjoy your first month free!
If this is something you are interested in make sure you try it out while they are offering a free month!!!
I learned lots of other cool things at my Verizon trip and there will be more posts! They really are trying to create more than just a cell phone carrier. They are attempting to partner with their customers to live a full digital life and they are thinking about all sides of that. Including safety for us and our children!
(Disclosure: I did get a trip to visit Verizon but all opinions and thoughts are mine and mine alone!)
Did you realize that it is 1/2 way to Black Friday? I didn’t until I saw the great event that Office Max has starting today that runs through Friday. They have a ton of things that are on sale, including items that are free after MaxPerks!!! This is the online sale so just click through and shop! Here are just a few things!
Tech Items
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Office Furniture Items
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MaxPerks Bonus Rewards
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Get 100% Back in MaxPerks® Bonus Rewards
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Get 100% back in MaxPerks® Bonus Rewards Limit 1.
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Get $125 Back in MaxPerks® Bonus Rewards