HP and Dara Torres Inspire Moms for Simplicity

As a mom, how does technology impact your life? Tell your story and superstar Olympian swimmer and tech savvy mom, Dara Torres, might just choose you for an amazing prize package that includes a $5000 tech makeover, incredible HP products (including the droolworthy HP Vivienne Tam edition notebook!), and a trip to see Dara compete in the US Nationals and possibly a chance to see her compete in Rome!

Seriously! This contest had me at HP Vivienne Tam edition notebook!

What do you have to do?

Easy! Go to the Moms for Simplicity website, online essay contest, and photo mosaic where moms can inspire and educate each other by sharing stories about how technology simplifies their lives.

The contest, which runs through June 16, asks moms to upload a photo to an online photo mosaic and, in 200 words or less, tell HP and Torres how they use technology to simplify their busy lives –– including digital scrapbooking, keeping in touch with friends, running a business from home, or managing a weekly schedule.

In mid-June, Torres will choose three contest winners to receive a personalized HP technology makeover, the chance to meet Torres and see her swim in the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, and possibly the opportunity to see her compete at the FINA World Championships in Rome. How cool is that?!?

Participants will have their photo and story featured on the photo mosaic, and three will win HP products, including the HP Vivienne Tam edition notebook, HP Photosmart All-in-One printer and an HP TouchSmart PC. Additionally, winners will become “amateur mom reporters” at the U.S. Nationals, where they will see Torres compete and report their experiences on the “Moms for Simplicity” website through a series of video diaries.

And why is Dara Torres working with HP?

“Today’s moms have more demands than ever that fill our lives, and new technologies are helping to simplify our daily routines,” said Torres. “Whether I’m paying bills and staying organized, catching up on TV shows and movies while on the road, or creating fun activities with my daughter, HP technology helps make my life easier so I can do the things that matter to me the most.”

As a multitasking technology dependent mom, I have to agree that technology does help to simplify my life! Rock on Dara Torres!

For more information on Moms for Simplicity and how to participate in the contest, click here.

No promotional consideration was paid by HP for posting this. I just think Dara is amazing and would love to win that Vivienne Tam edition notebook! Isn't it a beauty?

Review: Sansa slotRadio by SanDisk

Tech Savvy Daddy is the uber-music lover in our household. He's forever tinkering with playlists in iTunes and browsing for new hip music to round out his collection that spans time and genres. He's the reason why Little Miss Techie and Captain Computer know all the lyrics to obscure tunes like A Horse with No Name and request James Brown. So when SanDisk sent me their new slotRadio to review, I turned it over to him for the full test drive. Here's what he had to say.

We all know the CD is dead. It's been replaced by "nothing." By nothing, I mean the amorphous term digital media, meaning streaming songs, MP3s, flash and hard drive based players.

While some MP3 players have been wildly popular, I would argue that we still haven't settled on the final evolution of digital music. Putting your MP3 player in the cup holder of your car isn't that technologically advanced. And what about keeping your music fresh?

I am absolutely against the "subscription services" where you have to pay THE MAN $9.99 a month to get access to music and if you ever cancel your subscription, all your music files become useless. On the other hand, buying songs one at a time can be time consuming and can get expensive over time. In addition, sometimes you don't want to spend the time searching out the music you want to listen to, you just want to plug in and go.

Enter the Sansa slotRadio Player from SanDisk. It's in interesting solution to several of these problems, wrapped up in a compact case.

Here it is in a nutshell: You purchase a slotRadio for $99. It's a small MP3 player with a screen that comes with a card pre-loaded with 1,000 songs from the Billboard charts. It's a mix of current hits, and some older songs, arranged into playlists by genre. There's a lot to be said about this... A player loaded with one thousand songs for $99. Using back of the envelope calculations, doing this with the iTunes store would cost you the price of an iPod + about $1,000.

The Songs
One big problem with many technology products is that they suffer from a serious lack of content. This isn't the case here. The thousand songs you get with the slotRadio includes some quality material from big-name artists like U2, Coldplay, Sarah McLahalan, Rhianna, Norah Jones, and the Killers. It's not fluff by any means... the songs are hit singles from these artists.

I'll go out on a limb and say that there is "something for everyone" on the SlotRadio Mix Card. The playlists are called: Rock, Country, R&B/HipHop, Contemporary, Alternative, Workout, and Chillout.

Some serious effort was put into selecting the music, and I'd say they did a good job.
There's definitely something for everybody, whether you live in a red state or blue, use a Mac or a PC, or prefer Dr. Pepper to Starbucks.

So for every song I was really excited about like the Screaming Trees (Live105 material if you're from San Francisco) and Beastie Boys' Sabatoge, it was balanced out by some cheese 80's rock like Cheap Trick or Europe's "The Final Countdown."

New Content
The songs come loaded on a slotRadio card, a MicroSD flash card. These are a smaller version of SD cards like you would use in your camera. If you haven't seen a MicroSD card before, it's about the size of the fingernail on your pinky. What happens when you get bored with the music on the player? You can purchase another slotRadio card for $39.99, containing another 1,000 songs. Not a bad deal. The card that comes with the player contains a mix all music types, but the add-on cards which you can buy are targeted for musical styles like Rock, Country, R&B/HipHop, etc....

You can also purchase MicroSD cards and load your own MP3s on the player. I arranged some songs into folders on the computer and they showed up as playlists on the SlotRadio plater. The card that comes with the player has some free space on it, which is there to allow you to copy one entire album of your choosing onto the player.

User interface
There is a well-lit black and white screen which shows you the artist and title, as well as what song will play next. You can switch between playlists quickly, and if you don't like a particular song, you can advance at the push of a button.

There are definitely some quirks about the interface. The front of the device has 2 large < - and -> buttons. These do NOT advance forward and backwards by the song. They go forward and backwards through the seven playlists. To go forward, you push a button on the right side of the device. Holding this button in also pauses.

What if you just love Chris Martin and you HAVE to listen to that Coldplay song again? You're outta luck. You can't go back.

One trap I kept falling into was to hit the -> button to go forward. It's there, staring me in the face but rather than going forward, that button switches the playlist.

Sansa/SanDisk, here's a suggestion, update the software to make the arrow buttons go forward and backwards within the songs. Take the advance button on the side of the device and reprogram it to cycle through the playlists. There are only 7 playlists, so it's not that cumbersome to have to press the button 6 times to cycle through all of them. There are enough buttons on the hardware to do everything I want (except delete Cheap Trick), but they just aren't used intelligently.

Summary
If you have a boatload of MP3s on your home computer and have the time and desire to organize them, you may find the slotRadio limiting. I didn't mention it earlier, but in case you were wondering, NO, you can't copy the 1,000 songs off the slotRadio. You can't copy them off the device or add them to your MP3 Library.

Bummer, but at 25 cents a song, I guess I can understand why.

On a few occasions, I've seen vending machines at the airport selling Mp3 players and accessories. I get the part about buying accessories, but what would be the purpose of buying an empty MP3 player from a vending machine before a long flight? You wouldn't have anything to listen to! Duh!

The slotRadio would be a perfect device to purchase at the airport before a 14 hour flight, or to give to someone without having to worry about their musical tastes. It's lightweight and rugged enough to use jogging (or so I've heard, as I don't know how), and it would be a good starter MP3 player for your kid.

It comes preloaded with high-quality content and you're ready to rock right out of the box. It's got an FM radio too.

Pros:

• $99 for player pre-loaded with 1,000 songs
• Compact size MP3 player with a good screen
• Comes with silicon case and built-in clip
• Long battery life
• Great songs

Cons:

• Can't go back/restart a song
• You won't like ALL the songs
• I crashed it twice, but it was fine after a reboot
• I upgraded the firmware and it seems better

slotRadio ($99) and slotRadio cards ($39.99) are currently available online and will be available to purchase from Radio Shack stores soon.

Sansa slotRadio was provided by SanDisk for review purposes. No payment was received in exchange for this review.

Virtual Field Trip: Monticello

Last month we were invited to enjoy the grand opening of the new Children’s Discovery Room and visitor’s center at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. Being a couple hours away from the DC Metro Area, Charlottesville is close enough for day trip and makes for a fabulous weekend getaway but while we loved visiting, I know that it isn’t feasible for all families to visit Monticello in person.

Luckily the Monticello website is a treasure trove of information and features the Monticello Explorer, an in-depth multimedia way to tour Monticello from the comfort of your own home. Monticello Explorer enables you to explore the plantation and house using 3D models, narrated tours, special animations, and an interactive map.

I love the virtual tour of the house. Clicking on the house tour launches a screen that contains a virtual model of the house on the upper left side of the screen along with a written overview (bottom right) and a floor plan (top right). The virtual model walks you through the house to the center of the room. Once in the room, you can click on the right or left arrow to turn yourself to get a 360 degree of the space. You can also click on the little camera icon to get a photo of that part of the room or the small plus sign to see an animation of a detail such as the assembly of the parquet floor in the main floor parlor.

The floor plan in the upper right corner of the screen helps you navigate the rooms of the house and see a photo of the furnished room as you would see on the actual tour. You can mouse over the floor plan to see the name of any room and if you click on any X on the floor plan, you will be taken into that room. If you feel like you are lost in the house, the room you are in is highlighted in a deep yellow to indicate exactly where you are. For each room, there is a written description that accompanies it. Descriptions are brief, but informative, and are written for your average 4th or 5th grader. Dimensions of the room, color, and architecture are included underneath the description.

There is also a virtual plantation tour of the 5000 acres that Thomas Jefferson owned. The plantation tour opens with a topographical map. Mousing over the sections on the map gives you the names of the various areas on the plantation. Like the house tour, you can click on any of the yellow plus signs in the squares that will allow you to get a closer look with a written description and sometimes an accompanying picture. There is also a time line beneath the text box. Clicking on the time period changes the topographical map and the text in the box describes what was happening at Monticello in 25 year increments. The timeline covers Shadwell (1740-1769), Monticello I (1770-1790), Refashioning Monticello (1790-1808), Monticello II (1809-1826), and Monticello Today.

There are also specific tours available such as the general house tour, domestic life at Monticello, and gardens and grounds through Monticello Explorer. Each is video that is narrated by curators, historians, and directors of Monticello and provides an in-depth look at the various parts of Thomas Jefferson's home.

Besides the Monticello Explorer, The Monticello Classroom has learning resources, an image gallery, and activities for kids. The teacher portion of The Monticello Classroom also has a collection of lesson plans created by teachers for teachers. Do you have a lesson plan that you have created about Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, or the Declaration of Independence? Register for free and gain access to the Lesson Plan Builder to create, save, and send your lesson plan to the educational staff at Monticello.

Local to the DC Metro Area or planning to visit Monticello? Check out my posts for Being Savvy Washington DC that will give you the inside scoop on visiting Monticello and Charlottesville as a family:

• Weekend Getaway: Charlottesville
• Tuesday List: Family Friendly Monticello

The Effect of the Recession on Public Education

As a teacher for a public school system, I felt it was my duty to write a letter to the recession about the difficulties in being a teacher during tough economic times.  I surely hope that the recession will consider my letter during summer vacation and I'll be able to come back to teaching during a different economy during the start of the next school year.

Click here to read my post on DC Metro Moms.

 

Coming Soon: Virtual Field Trips

With Memorial Day behind and summer inching closer, I’m going to be focusing on ways for your child to keep learning during the summer months. I’ll be reviewing products, highlighting national programs that are educational in nature, and featuring websites that you can use as virtual field trips.

Virtual field trips are a way for you to take a tour of a particular location without having to pack a lunch or a suitcase. I personally love the idea of virtual field trips because they allow for a quick visit, don’t break the bank, and are ways you can interact with content without being there in person. Beginning tomorrow I’ll have a link to all of the virtual field trips websites under the Websites by Curriculum Area on the right side of my site.

So stay put and don't worry about packing, airport security, or all those airline fees. I'll be back tomorrow for with my first virtual field trip that will feature Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.

Jumpstart Giveaways

In between barbecues, trips to the pool, and honoring the memories of the brave men and women who have served our country, stop on over and visit my friend Bonggamom. She has a review and giveaway of the new JumpStart World, a new 3D online world created especially for preschoolers by Knowledge Adventure, on Bonggamom Finds. Knowledge Adventure is an award winning software company that created the original JumpStart software and also Math Blaster, a popular program in my county's elementary schools.

Then hop on over to Being Savvy Silicon Valley where the experts from Knowledge Adventure share great information on online gaming safety for preschoolers. And feel free to enter the giveaway for a free premium 3 month subscription to Jumpstart World just in case you don’t win one from Bonggamom Finds!

Is Your Kid a Mac and not a PC?

If your kid is more Mac than PC, between the ages of 8-12, and you have an Apple retail store near you, Apple is holding Apple Camp. Apple is offering three workshops: movie, music, or photo. Each is free and lasts for three hours.

Interested? Click here for details.

If you have older kids who Mac users, check out Apple's year round Youth Workshops!

Shhh...Don't tell Captain Computer! He'll break out his crayons to draft letter to Apple or wait until he visits his grandparents to stalk Steve Job's house via big wheel while waving scribbled protest signs demading a preschool camp where he can practice his mad mouse skillz far from his sister's grabby fingers. Perhaps Apple will still be doing this in 5 more years when he has a computer of his very own.

T-Mobile Mom to Mom Quiz Redefines Parenting Styles

What kind of parent are you? Thanks to T-Mobile’s Mom to Mom quiz, parenting types have been redefined. Gone are the 4 parent types I learned about in my college psychology classes well before the thought of having my own kids crossed my mind. Most of the terms (indulgent, authoritarian, authoritative, and uninvolved) with their negative connotations, made me cringe. After all, would you classify yourself as an indulgent or permissive parent? Are you the highly demanding authoritarian type who always orders your kids around? Or worse yet…Uninvolved!

I didn’t think so!

The new parenting styles are sassy, fun, and determined by a quick and easy 10 question quiz that deals with how you would handle real life situations.

As the mom of a 5 and 2 ½ year old, I had fun fast forwarding into the future and thinking about how I might handle situations like Little Miss Techie wanting a car when she gets her license, Captain Computer dating, wanting to take a year off before college, or embarrassing my kids by dropping them off at the movies. Before I was too scared by the possibilities of the teenage years, the quiz was over.

I suppose I wasn’t really surprised that my parenting style is that of a Terrific Teach. The teacher in me is always seizing teachable moments and encouraging Little Miss Techie and Captain Computer to explore the world.

Will you be a Terrific Teach like me? Or are you more of a Free to Be parent who lets your kids learn from their mistakes and allows them to embrace what they love? Perhaps you are Best Buds with your kids and the kind of parent who is also a true confidante. Maybe you are all about order, routines, and high expectations as Sargeant Strict. Or perhaps you take parenting in stride and with a great sense of humor as one with a Quick Wit.

I’m curious to know what you are so take a few minutes to take the quiz and leave a comment sharing what kind of parent you are!

Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered to win the T-Mobile MOTO w233 Renew, the world's first mobile phone made using recycled water bottles and will work with the Family Allowances plan. For more details about the phone, check out my review. Or click here to learn about Family Allowances.

If you are seeking extra entries, the Mom to Mom quiz makes it super easy with built in sharing tools:

• Create a customized badge with your image and post it on your site. Leave a comment with a link to your site. The Share tab makes it easy to embed code on your site!
• Blog about your parenting style as determined by the quiz and the giveaway and leave a comment with your permalink.
• Tweet about your parenting style by clicking on the Post tab underneath your results and include a link to your Tweet in your comment.
• Post your customized badge on your Facebook page using the Share tab and leave a comment.
• Or choose another way to share the quiz (like via e-mail for non bloggers!) and leave me a comment telling me what you did.

Leave a separate comment for each entry and good luck!

Fine print: To be eligible, enter by completing the above tasks and leaving your comments by Monday, June 15 at Midnight. One person can enter multiple times by completing each of the tasks as outlined above. Winner will be chosen at random by Random.org and will need to reply with their mailing address 48 hours to claim their prize. Products will only be shipped within the United States.

Mitsubishi Unisen Flat Screen: Who wouldn't want to win this?

I wish I had this to give away but continuing last week's theme of sharing great giveaways, I'd be super selfish not to share the Mitsubishi Flat Screen TV Giveaway. Woman's Day is giving away a Mitsubishi Unisen 151, a new high-definition flat-panel television worth $1999.

The new Unisen line is rumored to deliver an immersive sound experience paired with a superior picture thanks to a 16-speaker Dolby Digital 5.1 channel surround system built right into the television. It also has other slick features such as the ability to enter specific room dimensions in the on-screen graphical interface that allows the set to calculate beam angles that provide the best sound for the room environment. Oh and don’t worry about your electricity bill…Unisens are Energy Star 3.0 qualified.

Woman’s Day makes it super easy to enter. Just click here to fill out the entry form sometime between now Noon ET on July 6, 2009. And if you are really determined, one entry per person or email address per day. For complete contest rules, click here.

I’m thinking this could make an awesome belated Father’s Day gift for Tech Savvy Daddy! And if you win, let me know because you better believe I'm coming over to your house for some screen time in front of this amazing flat screen!


And while you are thinking about winning stuff, don’t forget to enter my other giveaways for the Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones (so few people have entered your odds are fabulous!) and PBS fave Steve Songs: The Marvelous Musical Adventures DVD.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to complete my daily entry…

Captain Computer's Mac Wish

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

It has come to my attention that I would like my own computer. Little Miss Techie has her own and I am tired of sitting by her side asking for her to navigate to my favorite games on PBSKids which she won’t do. I would really like to use Clicker Paint on my own every once and awhile. I could choose my own stories on One More Story or MobiStories without attitude from my sister.

While you were shopping for iPhone accessories I decided that you might consider getting me a shiny new Mac like this one. I really think it is great. Please make sure that you get the Dr. Seuss’ ABC game I was playing with. After all, don’t you want me to know more letters than W, E, O, and T?

And I really liked those ball shaped chairs that they had at the store. Do you think you could order one of those for me too? My sister doesn’t need one. She already has a big girl desk with a big girl chair.

By the way, sister sometimes tells me that she is working on her blog. Can I have one of those too?

Thanks tons!

Love and kisses,
Captain Computer

P.S.- My birthday is coming up in a couple months and if I’m still forced to share, I’ll hit up my grandparents.

P.P.S- How come I have a feeling I am never going to get to visit the Apple Store again?

PBS and Me & SteveSongs: Marvelous Musical Adventures DVD Giveaway

UPDATE: Congratulations to amweeks who won the Steve Songs DVD!

Come visit me over on DC Metro Moms where I’m talking about my long relationship with PBS in a post called PBS and Me.

PBS is a big part of our lives which is probably why I’m always featuring PBS web resources for children and talking about shows like Frontline’s Digital Nation and Super Why. My love of PBS programming began with Sesame Street, carried on into adulthood, and now my kids are part of a new generation of kids also being raised on PBS shows.

What are your favorite PBS shows?

Just leave a comment about your favorite PBS shows and enter to win the Little Miss Techie and Captain Computer approved SteveSongs: The Marvelous Musical Adventures DVD +Bonus CD DVD courtesy of PBS!

Feel free to reminisce about your favorites as a kid, the PBS shows you watch after you kids are in bed (NOVA, Nature, Antiques Roadshow), or the programs your kids just can’t get enough of! I’ll randomly choose a winner on Tuesday, May 26.

Thanks to PBS for the great giveaway!

Website of the Week: Learning with SuperWhy on PBSKIDS.org and PBS Parents & Teachers Sites

Teachers often tell parents to practice what is being learned in school at home. Providing multiple opportunities to practice new learning helps children grasp key concepts more quickly. For example, a child reads a book that contains rhyming words using the –at pattern during their in class reading group and then goes to another part of the classroom to manipulate letter tiles to spell words ending with the –at chunk. Then the child takes home words such as cat, hat, sat, mat, flat, and splat to study for spelling. Such activities are examples of activities that target a specific skill but are presented in different ways to help reinforce the concept.

One of the reasons why SuperWhy has been proven to aid children in their acquisition of early literacy skills is because the show presents multiple experiences with storytelling and language in each episode. While one recent study demonstrated the television series’ ability to increase preschoolers’ early literacy skills, the other proved that a hands-on approach in applying lessons from the Super Readers into daily lives was also effective in teaching kids how to read.

Earlier this week I gushed about our love for the SuperWhy show but Little Miss Techie is a huge fan of the content on PBSKIDS.org’s SuperWhy website for kids. The well designed website is easy to navigate and allows her to have hands-on practice with the concepts she is exposed to through the show. She is able to manipulate the content so it is engaging and fun. Also, there are tons of new downloadable printable activities on the site that are perfect for continuing the reading adventure throughout the summer months.

If the shows and the SuperWhy website isn’t enough for you and you want to take your child’s learning to the next level and do more, there are activities and lesson plans on the Parents and Teachers site. Perhaps you are a teacher and want to focus on a specific reading skill with your class or as a parent, your child is hooked on a specific episode.  Tap into that interest by checking out the activities that correlate to the different episodes.

And brand new as of today PBS announced Learning with SuperWhy on PBS Parents! This site features activities that correlate to SuperWhy episodes but are different from those on the Parents and Teachers sites because they enable you and your Super Reader to work together to explore the learning benefits of SuperWhy using the Three Little Pigs episode.

I know you are thinking, “Activities for each day?!? Who has time for that when I already struggle to clean the house, fold the laundry, get meals on the table, etc?”

The reality is that the materials are designed to reinforce what your child has already been exposed to by watching the show and/or playing on the website. They don’t take a long time to complete but if your child is a SuperWhy fan, they will be motivated to transform into their favorite characters from the show and use their super powers for the good of reading.

After last week’s visit to PBS, I received the materials that just became available on the site that use The Three Little Pigs episode as the basis of a week’s worth of literacy activities designed for the preschool set. The week’s activities are laid out in a logical order and begin with children watching The Three Little Pigs episode and paying attention specific attention to one of the characters on each day. Each day the children transform into a character from the show, assuming their super powers.

For example, the first day’s activities require kids to transform into Alpha Pig by coloring and wearing a mask of the super hero pig whose powers center around the alphabet. The day’s work involves identifying letters found hiding around a Story Book Village worksheet and locating all the letters in the child’s name. Then next day children get to transform into Wonder Red and possess the power of words that are used to practice rhyming skills. Subsequent days enable children to transform into Princess Presto (spelling power!) and Super Why who has the power to read. Pre and post assessments are built in to determine any progress made after watching the episode and engaging in the activities. There are also extension activities for each day’s activities.

The Learning with SuperWhy site enables you to watch The Three Little Pigs on iTunes or QuickTime and download the instructions and worksheets for each of the 5 days of activities. Extension activities like Letter Identification Bingo and character masks are also available here.

I love that the all of the new learning experiences in this series are designed to build on literacy concepts presented in The Three Little Pigs Episode. By focusing on a single character each day, children get to practice what they learned the day before while learning new skills. The constant ability to practice is what enables kids to hone their skills.

If you are curious about the new literacy activities that PBS has created to accompany the Three Little Pigs episode as part of Learning with SuperWhy, visit Amy over at TeachMama. Amy is a teacher- reading specialist - mom - blogger who has three children of her own (ages 5, 3 1/2, and 2) and has been trying the new lessons with her own children throughout the week. On her TeachMama site you can find a run down of activities for Days 1 and 2 (with the other days to come!) along with the instructional methods used with her children, an account of how she’s modified the activities, and a very honest account of how she perceives the activities as a mom and teacher. Amy’s PBS Love posts are awesome resources but so is the rest of her site! If you have young learners in your house and are looking for ways to incorporate a fun and easy little lesson into each day, check out all of Amy’s great ideas. I’m constantly amazed at what she’s doing at home with her three children!

And if you are true SuperWhy Super Fans, you won’t want to miss the Hurray for Heroes, a special 2 hour SuperWhy marathon on Memorial Day. On May 25 celebrate heroes with SuperWhy and see 2 new episodes along with 2 favorites! Watch the Super Readers tackle problems using the plots from new episodes of George and the Dragon and The Swiss Family Robinson. For more information and a summary of the episodes, click here.

MobiStories Celebrates Children's Book Week with Free Downloads

In honor of Children’s Book Week, MobiStories is giving away a free download of one of its popular virtual books each day. To get the code, follow @MobiMom on Twitter where she will post a link to the book of the day along with the download code.

MobiStories are available in a variety of formats. Select from PC or Mac versions, versions for your iPhone or iPod classic, or an audio file. Just enter the daily code from @mobimom at checkout for your free book!

So far I’ve downloaded The Thrift Store Bears and Fighter Joe and can’t wait to see what is being offered tomorrow!

These virtual titles are available for purchase from $3.99 and up so follow @mobimom now and enjoy some titles for free and then go back to support MobiStories by adding to your virtual library!

Win Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones by Playing Sony Digital Imaging Game

I love to enter contests with fabulous prizes and have been trying my skills at the three games that are part of the new Sony Digital Imaging campaign to try to win a new Sony DSLR camera or other prizes such as a Handycam or Cybershot. I have to admit that I covet the DSLR. It would be such a nice addition to our tech savvy household but I just can’t justify shelling out the cash for another camera when I just got a Casio Exilim that others fawn over when I bring it out in public.

So each night I’ve been spending a few minutes on the Sony Digital Imaging site practicing in the Free Play Mode. Free Play Mode allows you to play each of the three games by themselves but unfortunately your scores don’t count towards the contest. However, it is good practice for Contest Mode where you have to beat all three games in a row to enter to win the prizes. So far my previous attempts in Contest Mode have failed miserably and I’m no closer to winning anything.

As I mentioned, you have to beat all three games to enter the actual contest for a chance to win the Sony loot. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve learned from practicing each of the three games so far:

CyberShot Game

• Objective- Pick the smiles out of the rest of the faces and hit next to move on to the next set of faces. The game starts out easy, with 4 faces on the screen and then becomes more difficult as the faces get smaller and there are more on the page.
• Tip- Be sure to turn up the resolution on your monitor and put one of those magnifying panels over your screen to avoid clicking on the frowning faces to avoid eye strain as you attempt to find all the smiling faces.
• Gotcha- Click carefully though because by clicking on three or more nonsmilers, your game ends.

HandyCam Game

• Objective: Match the blurred image with one of the three faces below. This game also starts out easy, with one blurred image and a set of three images below and gets progressively harder.
• Tip- Use the background to aid you in identifying faces faster. If the background is light in the blurry image, select the blurred image with the light blurry background.
• Gotcha- You have to be quick because if the images come into focus before you match the blurry image to the actual picture, you lose and have to start again.

AlphaGame

• Objective- Pretend to use an Alpha camera’s swiveling viewfinder to keep your subject in view by moving the mouse to control the viewfinder. Your task is to click on the images as they scroll by and the challenge is to collect a certain number of images to move on to the next level.
• Tip: Just pretend you are playing a shooting game in an arcade or a carnival. Get those flying images in the viewfinder and click.
• Gotcha: You have to be fast or your game ends!

Interested in giving the Sony Digital Imaging game a try?

If so, you have increased your odds of winning since Sony is giving one very luck Tech Savvy Mama reader a set of MDR-NC60 noise canceling headphones. To enter, click here to try the games and then come back and leave a comment telling me about your experience.

Here are my rules about commenting. Read carefully!

• Comments must mention something specific about the game and include your e-mail address.
• No one word answers, one sentence answers, or comments that plagiarize any part of this post.
• Doing any of the above will automatically disqualify all your entries and I refuse to hunt for your e-mail address if you win.
• Yeah, I’m being super picky but these are $200 headphones, people! Want them? Work for them!

For extra entries you may do any of the following 6 things as long as your comment meets the above critieria:

• Add the new Tech Savvy Mama button to your site and leave a comment with your blog's URL
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with your permalink
• Tweet about this giveaway and include a link to your Tweet in your comment. Feel free to Tweet this: @techsavvymama is giving away Sony MDR-NC60 noise cancelling headphones worth $200! http://tr.im/lcch
• Add me to your blogroll and leave a comment containing the URL of your blog
• Subscribe to my feed and leave comment telling me you’ve subscribed
• Follow me on Twitter (@techsavvymama) and leave a comment with your Twitter ID
• Leave a separate comment for each entry!

By the way, I was not paid a dime for sharing the Sony Digital Imaging game with you and from the way my game playing is going, there’s no chance in hell I’ll be winning that DSLR camera!

Fine print: To be eligible, comments must meet the above criteria. One person can enter up to 7 times by completing each of the tasks as outlined above. Winner will be chosen at random by Random.org and will need to reply with their mailing address 24 hours to claim their prize. By entering, you agree that MDR-NC60 noise canceling headphones are for personal use and not for resale. Product will only be shipped within the United States. Contest can end at any time.

This blog post is original to Tech Savvy Mama and may not be reposted without permission.

Congratulations to All Mother's Day Gift Guide Winners!

Thanks to the many readers who entered the Mother's Day Gift Guide, especially those of you who entered multiple times by blogging about my giveaways, Tweeting, and installing my fancy new button on your own sites.

Here is the list of winners:

• Black Mountain Jewelry Tree of Life Charm- Dina
• Debi Derryberry's Baby Banana CDs- TeachMama and Faye
• Carpool Karma CD- Grace
• Trufflebeads Bracelet- Kate
• Rocknoceros PINK! CD- Amweeks
• Billy Jonas Happy Accidents CD- Rachel P.
• See’s Candies $25 gift certificate- Rebecca
• The Glade Fragrance Collection Candle- Melanie
• CVS Photo Center Photo Book- Bonggamom
• Microsoft Mobile Mouse 3000- Jessica McFadden
• Nectar Accessories Bluetooth Headset Holder- 2KoP and BonnieS
• Little Scholastic Bundle of Books- Collyn23
• 1-800-Flowers $50 gift certificate- Stimey
• PacMan downloads for the iPhone- Jodifur and JoBDoer

Congratulations to all of our winners and I hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day! Special thanks to all of the wonderful companies who gracious donated the many giveaways!

I am currently reviewing products for Dads for a Father's Day Gift Guide which will be out in late May/early June. If you have a product that you would like me to review for consideration in my guide, please leave a comment or send an e-mail. Thanks!

PBS' SuperWhy! Helps Super Kids Become Super Readers!

Who's got the power, the power to read? Who answers the call for friends in need?

Super Why!

We are SuperWhy! super fans! Being an almost exclusive PBS household when it comes to children's television, SuperWhy is a show that Little Miss Techie has been watching for the last couple of years. PBS has fabulous programming for kids and SuperWhy is probably the best example of educational programming at its best.

If you don’t know SuperWhy and you have a preschooler, you must watch this show. SuperWhy was created on research-based literacy curriculum and uses an engaging approach with lovable superhero characters (Alpha Pig, Princess Presto, Wonder Red, and SuperWhy) that kids can relate to in order to build the fundamental skills that kids need for the "power to read."

When I first sat down with Little Miss Techie to watch SuperWhy, I was amazed at the reading skills that were being presented in the show. I may know a lot about technology as it relates to kids and the kinds of things that make websites and software good learning tools, but I know more about the different strategies needed in order to teach kids how to read.

When I first started teaching, I began my career as a first grade teacher. My mom, a veteran teacher who had taught all grades, called me on the phone to tell me I didn’t want to teach first grade. It didn’t matter that I loved the school, staff, and principal…According to her, first grade was not a good grade to start teaching. Of course I questioned her and she simply said, “It’s hard. You have to teach them how to read.”

Egads. Fresh out of grad school, I was a first year teacher. That was bad enough but teaching kids how to read? My naïve self took that first grade teaching position and by the end of the year, each of my 26 kids knew how to read. And I loved it!

Teaching kids to read is the ultimate challenge. The ability to read is made up of so many individual skills that finally come together as children move from being a beginning reader to a fluent one.

SuperWhy is amazing because it includes all the literacy concepts a child needs to know to move towards reading fluency. All the things that I covered in my 90 minute balanced literacy block each and every day are presented in the episodes. With shows that are only 30 minutes, SuperWhy packs in concepts like letter recognition, letter naming, word families, letter sounds, rhyming, retelling, word recognition, and spelling into shows that are based on classic stories like The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc



If SuperWhy had been around when I was teaching, I probably would have showed some episodes in my class. I’m not saying that SuperWhy would have replaced my reading instruction but the show would have worked well in conjunction with my curriculum to reinforce key reading strategies with audio and visual stimulation that was often needed by my non-readers.

Sure, we all struggle with trying to have a healthy media diet and our family is no exception. We limit screen time in our house even if Little Miss Techie and Captain Computer are rewriting classic stories using the SuperWhy storybook creator on PBSKIDS.org or watching shows like Between the Lions, Clifford, WordGirl, Arthur, Curious George, or Sid the Science Kid. But I’m a firm believer that PBS’ content is not only fun to watch but educational too and if my kids are going to watch TV or be on the computer, I want them to be exposed to shows and websites that will develop their love of learning, move them towards reading fluently, and foster their natural curiosity.

Huge thanks to PBS for inviting me and fellow DC Metro Moms to get a behind the scenes look at how SuperWhy was conceived and hear about the research that proves that it improves literacy skills for preschoolers. It was a thrill for me to take Little Miss Techie and Captain Computer to meet Clifford and spend some time learning more about our favorite show.

The teacher in me was in heaven, hearing all about how SuperWhy targets beginning readers, while the mom in me was thrilled that my kids were in the next room surrounded by PBS paraphernalia (SuperWhy character masks, WordWorld stickers, Sesame Street books!) and had full access a table filled with string cheese, Fritos, and sandwiches.

I'll be back later this week to give a rundown of all the materials available in SuperWhy's online StoryBook Village to help Super Readers learn to read!

So for now, I leave you with this...

Free Virtual Train Book from MobiStories

MobiStories makes wonderful virtual books. Rick Toone, MobiStories' creator, doesn't think that their books “should replace a parent hugging a child and reading a book together” and designed their site to give kids another way to read. I think MobiStories is a great way to help motivate reluctant readers and provides kids with another way to listen to stories.

In honor of today being National Train Day, MobiStories is giving away a free download of their virtual book Train by Chris Demarest. Select from PC or Mac versions, versions for your iPhone or iPod classic, or an audio file. Click here and enter code train 052009 at checkout for your free book which is currently a Captain Computer favorite!

If you happen to miss downloading Train for free, you might want to check out Kristie Finnan's Mommy's High Heel Shoes. This charming book is a perfect tale for young children about moms and all of the different kinds of shoes (rather than hats!) they wear for their many different roles. It is a delightful story that discusses why parents work while celebrating working moms, family bonds, and lots and lots of shoes! Download a copy of the book from MobiStories or use the code Twitter for 15% off a copy of the book on Kristie Finnan's website.

For information about Mommy's High Heel Shoes and MobiStories, click here to read more about them in my Toddler and Preschool Gift Guide.

Websites of the Week: eBay's Giving Works and WorldofGood

Tech Savvy Daddy is the eBay power user in our house and just in case he happens to read my site and sees this post, I wanted to hint that eBay has a couple of sites that benefit great causes. You know, just in case he hasn’t bought a gift in honor of Mother’s Day.

If he wants to surprise me with a unique gift that was made with “good” in mind, I’d like to encourage him to check out these new eBay stores:

Shop with purpose: eBay’s newest ethically-vetted marketplace, WorldofGood.com, has Eco Positive and People Positive gift ideas for mom at every price point. I love the selection of bamboo bowls, ability to sip my fair trade tea or coffee from a SIGG Metro Mug, and the array of recycled bags for my every need. Also receive a free organic cotton t-shirt that supports sustainable farming initiatives when you shop for mom!

Shop for a cause: eBay Giving Works ensures that purchases will help benefit women’s and children’s charities and support hardworking mothers all over the world. Featured nonprofits include Women for Women International, Global Fund for Women, and Save the Children. Buyers can select an item according to the nonprofit it benefits or click on the list of organizations and browse for a gift. Also, the Johnson & Johnson celebrity mom charity auction is a way to bid on exclusive celebrity mom and baby hand-me-downs all in the name of Global Giving!

Maybe the purchases from these eBay sites won’t arrive in time to be unwrapped on Mother’s Day but I would feel good about getting ethically made products that benefit women in need.

Mobile PacMan Like Classic Arcade Version But Better!

Win PacMan for your iPhone by entering below!

Still without a Mother’s Day gift? For any mom with an iPhone, the iTunes store offers instant gratification for the music loving game playing mom on the go. Load mom’s device up with applications you know will make her life easier or find some cool games to help her pass the time while waiting at the pediatrician’s office, in the carpool line, or in the ever-present line at the post office.

Maybe the mom in your life doesn’t consider herself a gamer but if she’s like me and can appreciate classic games like Centipede, Asteroids, and Breakout once played on an Atari, she might appreciate the addition of a new game on her iPhone or a cool retro shirt depicting a game from her youth.

After being a fan of PacMan Lite, the free trial version where users can play up to a certain level, I downloaded the full version of PacMan ($5.99). Playing on my iPhone brings me back to the days of playing Atari at my best friend’s house. The game is exactly like the one I remember from my childhood, complete with the same music on the menu screen, sounds, ghosties (remember Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde?), and cherries to munch on but with a touchscreen joystick to control PacMan’s every move. PacMan is unbelievably easy on the eyes despite being a mobile version presented on the iPhone’s 3 ½” screen. The graphics are sharper and brighter due to a higher resolution screen than the pixilated TVs from the 80s.

I like that I have the ability to pause and restart games on the mobile version of PacMan. As a mom who is subjected to constant interruptions and major crises throughout the day, it is reassuring to know that the game I started eons ago will be saved on my phone for the next time I have a chance to play.

And if you were more of a Ms. PacMan fan, the mobile version is sure to delight. Ms. PacMan is also available as a download for $5.99.

Download PacMan:
Download Ms. PacMan:

Namco Networks America Inc. is giving 2 Tech Savvy Mama iPhone users the opportunity to win a free download of PacMan. Just leave a comment below telling me your favorite arcade game with your e-mail address by Noon on Saturday, May 9 and I’ll choose the winners and e-mail you the code. This leaves plenty of time for you to visit iTunes and use the download code to load it on to mom’s iPhone for Mother’s Day!

Huge thanks to Namco for the giveaways!

Top Chef's Spike Serves Great Stuff to DC Metro Moms at Good Stuff Eatery

If I didn’t blog about technology, I’d probably blog about food. Buying food, growing food, cooking food, eating food, and my favorite food blogs. Yes, I’m a total foodie and completely in love with watching Top Chef.

So when the fabulous Devra and Sarah e-mailed me and the rest of my DC Metro Mom sisters about a party over at Spike Mendelsohn’s Good Stuff Eatery, I couldn’t reply to the Evite fast enough. Spike was one of my favorite contestants on Season 4 of Top Chef. His sense of humor, style, and amazing flavor combinations mesmerized us each week and Tech Savvy Daddy and I were devastated when Padma told him to pack his knives and go.

Luckily he packed those knives and headed to DC. In the shadow of the Capitol Building, Spike uses his wealth of experience that comes from quite an impressive resume, to create Good Stuff Eatery. Good Stuff is all about quality products made with the freshest ingredients.

The handcrafted burgers range from classic to innovative (Blazin’ Barn!) and even include an award winner- Colletti’s Smokehouse Burger beat out well known grill luminaries at this year’s Burger Bash! There are milkshakes galore (Toasted Marshmallow and Milky Way Malt are the faves), handcut fries (go with Spike’s Village Fries), and a mayo bar featuring mango, chipotle, and siracha varieties for accompanying your burger or sides.

Anywho…Those of you who have been reading this site for awhile know that we DC Metro Moms love to have a good time and this event was no exception. I enjoyed my Blazin’ Barn, sucked down a Milky Way Malt Milkshake, sort of shared an order of Vidalia onion rings, and sampled a few of Kim’s fries while chattin’ it up. And yes, I made sure to turn on Jillian to keep up with Natalie and Shred super hard (and gave up a piece of Teacher Appreciation cake) before I left for this delicious meal!

Occupying most of the upstairs of Good Stuff (except space pictured at right) and treating the space like it was our party zone, I grabbed a seat by Aimee from Smiling Mama, declared I was swine-flu free to medical maven KC, shared podcasting resources with WhyMommy, got to meet amazing Amy from TeachMama for the very first time, heard the scoop about Blogalicious from Justice Fergie, dished with Jessica, planned a playdate with UrbanMama, snapped a picture of WifeandMommy, hugged Diana and her non-Caffeinated belly, expressed outrage to Jodi, while acting like a geeky superfan to pose with pictures with Spike before having to head home in Stimey’s Stimeymobile. Apologies to De, Robin, Miss S, Gayle, and JJ...The night wasn't long enough! Until next time, ladies!

And Spike…Well, he’s the real deal. This culinary genius was just as likeable as he was on Top Chef and amazing to hang out with. Between asking us if we liked the food and if everything was ok about a gazillion times, he was talking hockey and sharing his plans for the future. Not only it is likely that there will be more Good Stuff Eateries in the future but according to Nicole (aka Banana Blueberry) who always has the scoop, Spike is planning to open a pizza joint next door to Good Stuff. More Good Stuff? Indeed!


Huge thanks to Spike for the invite to Good Stuff and Quaker Oats for sponsoring this amazing get together/eat-a-thon and for the healthy swag that delighted Little Miss Techie and Captain Computer this morning.

I would have brought them a milkshake but they would have blown a gasket and forever demanded Spike’s shakes for breakfast!