Is Technology Always the Answer?

Jun 28, 2011 by Sara

I’m writing this post from +30,000 feet up in the air. Pretty cool right? Gotta love technology! WiFi, laptops, iPads, movies on demand…

The woman next to me has two small little girls who I have to say are some the best behaved kids I’ve ever seen.

So while I should be enjoying this 5 hour flight from SF to NY without my little ones, instead – seeing these two angels across the aisle only makes me miss them. Plus the fact that I’m going to NY for a funeral has me a little emotional.

So to divert myself I thought I would write quickly about this gadget this Momma next to me just broke out to keep the little ones occupied. It’s kind of like a cross between the etch-a-sketch and an iPad. But I have to do it quickly because I’m only at 7% battery life – I know… the irony of this is not lost on me.

Goodness knows l cringe every time my kids ask for my iPad and I reluctantly hand it over. I don’t mind the educational apps on it but inevitably they find movies and start watching Dora and it drives me nuts. Not to mention their gummy little fingers leave permanent mystery smudges all over the screen.

So my curiosity was peaked when the Momma next to me broke out this thing called a Boogie Board.

Here’s what it looks like:

 

She leaned over and told me it’s from Brookstone and will keep the kids entertained for hours.

Hours? That’s cool…

It stores the pen at the top and you just push the button to erase the picture and start over.

At first I thought, WOW! That is SO cool!

So having this neat and dandy WIFI at mid-air I thought why not look this thing up? It’s $40 from Brookstone, not bad… WAY cheaper than an iPad I thought.

But something looked so familiar about it.

I couldn’t place it. I’ve seen this thing before… wait a minute…

What is this thing called again?

 

Then through the power of Twitter at 35,000 feet, the Twitterverse and  I figured it out:

Remember this?:

The MAGIC SLATE!

 

Same thing… but no battery… no technology… doesn’t weigh as much as the Brookstone one… and DEFINITELY cheaper!

It made me wonder… is technology always the answer? In this case for sure, no. My kids would love to draw with a magic slate.  Probably not for hours but it would be good entertainment for sure and it wouldn’t cost $300 or even $40.  I wouldn’t be panicked if turbulence strikes and spills a drink on it or it gets dropped in the aisle.

Technology is definitely NOT always the answer… BUT…

It did help me figure out what the heck this thing was called, while I was flying at 35,000 feet!

And I did get to tweet, email, catch up on my blog reading all while cruising at ridiculously speeds through the air…

So it did keep ME entertained and therefore can’t be all that bad.

HA!

And YES, Magic Slates are still available for $5 bucks.

Enjoy!

xo

S.

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Postcards From My Phone to a REAL Inbox

Jun 15, 2011 by Sara

There’s nothing better than getting a real letter or postcard in the mail these days instead of just bills. With the art of letter writing almost completely extinct, I truly appreciate a little note or postcard from a friend.

So do my kids.

They run to the mailbox and search for envelopes with their names on it. Usually they have to be satisfied with the Oriental Trading catalog (which I always tell them is just for them).  That 30 page catalog can provide a good 20 minutes of entertainment.

Yesterday I discovered a fun app that combines snail mail and snapping pictures on the go.  If you take cute pictures of your kiddos with your phone while on the go but then want to actually SEND them to someone (like Grandma) there’s a new solution for that: Postagram.

Sending postcards of our summer activities just got a whole lot easier!

 

 

The app takes your photo, either from your regular photo album, facebook or instagram accounts and turns it into a postcard with a photo that can pop out. You provide the message, address and they do the rest.

 

Pretty cool right?

LOVE this idea.

Cost of the postcard is $0.99 – the first one is free. It works with iPhone or Android.

Enjoy!

xo

Sara

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iPad cases to swoon over

Feb 16, 2011 by Sara

Love, love, love these iPad cases. The first one is really up my alley!

Joy Factory’s Palette Cotton Candy Blue iPad Case – $49.95. Lots of other pretty colors available too. via coolest-gadgets

Padded Cotton iPad Case by JiuJiu on Etsy . $18.90

Wüdskins – price TBD, they are looking to be funded by Kickstarter here.

Eco Nation iPad case via UrbanOutfitters is made out of recycled plastic bottles. $9.99

iomoi customizable iPad cases. Cotton canvas on one side, leather on the other. $158.

Ori from JOBY – $79.95 via gizmodo

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With a little help from my friends

Feb 13, 2011 by Sara

Sometimes we all need to “get by with a little help from our friends.”

Let’s face it whenever big moments happen in your life, good or bad, you need your friends there.  And these days, whenever a new baby is born or word gets out of an illness, or worse – an email goes out almost immediately for all hands on deck.  Friends pull out their best casserole dishes and start cooking.  Within hours, you can have a freezer full of homemade mac n’ cheese and offers pouring in to help but with no way to keep track of them all.

Well, thank goodness we live in the platinum age of technology! There are free sites out there designed to help coordinate volunteers and make a friend’s and your life easier.

Meal coordination sites. Through these sites, for free, a coordinator invites a group of people via email (or even facebook) to sign up for pre-selected dates that a meal is required.  They are extremely user-friendly and up and running in minutes. The two sites that I highly recommend are mealtrain.com and Take Them a Meal.

Meals and More. If your friend needs more than just help with meals, there are few sites that really help you create an online community to care for them. Lotsa Helping Hands and Care Calender are two great ones.  In addition to posting needs for meals, a coordinator can request childcare, rides, playdates or anything they want. Volunteers can then view all their commitments on one calendar and receive email reminders the day before they are scheduled.

So hopefully these sites will make it easier for everyone whenever you next find yourself helping a friend out. And if you do sign up to take someone a meal, don’t forget to try foodily.com to search for a yummy recipe!

And this I just had to post here because it’s just so awesome. Enjoy!

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Doodle 4 Google

Feb 5, 2011 by Sara

Is your little K-12th grader a budding Rembrandt? A potential Picasso? Then have them Doodle 4 Google and they could win a college scholarship and a $25,000 technology grant for your school!

Google is running its fourth annual drawing competition where students compete to design the website’s logo according to a theme. This year’s theme is: “What I’d like to do someday.” Cute and educational right?

So what is a ‘Doodle’?
Besides the iconic Google icon that usually is on the web, from time to time Google will replace it with a themed decoration.

You’ve definitely seen it before – you just may not always know what it’s for. Luckily, you can find a full history and description of Doodles here going back to the first one in 2000 when the founders added a stick figure to the logo to signify that they were out of the office and attending Burning Man. (Love, love, love that side note!)

I was really impressed by the amount of supporting materials Google provides for this competition. There are great downloads and suggestions for parents and teachers to get the kids involved in this fun project.  So click here and register your budding artists today!

IMPORTANT: You have to register by March 2nd and entries must be postmarked by March 16th.  So get those kiddos Doodling!

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