Shari Simpson

Lucky kids. In the olden days, we learned numbers from boring flashcards, but our fortunate progeny have a sweet monster floating in a bathtub wearing a shower cap as their instructor right from an iPad. Just as we loved The Lonely Beast…

We were excited to have a chance to put together a MiiPC review, considering there's pretty much nothing that causes a modern parent more angst than monitoring your kids' online life. Keeping them safe, limiting their screen time, making…

I wrote last year about where to print Instagram photos , considering my penchant for taking adorable photos of my kids on my phone and then...doing absolutely nothing with them. Has anything changed for me in a year? Of course not. That…

I'm not kidding you when I say that every year, I plan to do one of those cool advent calendars with little toys or candies in every counting-­down window, and every year, I don't follow through. (Sad face.) That's why this adorable adve…

We love companies that consistently try to improve their already-pretty-fab products, so we're enthusiastic to tell you that SquareHub , a social networking app made just for families that we love, is branching out to Android families no…

This mom is a writer, so obviously it makes my heart soar when I see my children reading a good, old-fashioned book (you know, one with pages) or writing their own. But since we live in a time when there are more often tablets in their h…

There's nothing more delicious for a parent than when we appreciate an app as much as our kids do--even if it's not quite for the same reasons. We really loved Mo Willems' first app and his new one has even more of the spirit of the quir…

To write this post, I just checked my cell phone's Photo Gallery to see how many pictures I've collected. 318. Three hundred and eighteen photos and videos. And I'm sure for some, that number would be on the low side. So what do we do wi…

Not to feed into any stereotypes or anything, but in general, guys like tech. Oh sure, maybe your fella would be pumped to get a t-shirt inscribed with "World's Greatest Dad" for Father's Day, but let's just say, for argument's sake, tha…

Yes, it's come to the world's laziest pizza ordering ever. And boy, are we geekily excited. Come on, admit it, who hasn't wished during a maxed-out gaming session that they would have food magically appear without having to cook it? Evid…

I like bright colors, moving objects and intense battles as much as the next guy, but my favorite incarnation of the virtual world is when it's used for education. Particularly if bright colors and moving objects are part of the learning…

Great news for all you faithful Windows phone folks, especially if you love your tunes. The uber-popular music streaming service Pandora is offering not only free, but ad-free, streaming for Windows phone users. And only for Windows phon…

If you've got an alphabet-hungry kid and are craving some awesome ABC apps for your iPad, I understand completely. When my son little, he was so obsessed with the alphabet that he saw letters in everything: a scotch tape dispenser was a …

I review a lot of apps for kids and thus, am inundated with spinning, whirling, jumping, and shrieking characters/animals/aliens on my iPad. But once in a while, an app comes along that makes me breathe a sigh of "well, finally." Such is…

My forgetfulness has been the bane of my (and my husband's) existence. Lest you think I exaggerate, perhaps I will tell you about the time I left my wallet on top of my car and drove away. For fellow forgetters like me, here is a fantast…

Your mother is calling--again--and just when the Bachelor is handing out his roses. (Priorities, people!) What do you do? Ignore the call and feel guilty? Reject the call and feel guiltier? Pick it up and feel grouchy during the whole ex…

As my husband and our electric bill will tell you, I love light. I'm constantly searching for more ways to bring sunshine/lamps/candles into our home (the last leading to numerous fire alarm activations--oops). The minute I saw this cool…

Let's just imagine that I'm standing on a street corner, chatting with a friend on my Android phone and suddenly she says "Hey, let's go to Paris this weekend, stay in an reasonably-priced hotel, eat at some fabulously-reviewed restauran…

What if you had a time machine and could zoom back to hear Janis Joplin work her magic at the Fillmore East in NYC in 1969? Or maybe you're more the type to catch 2012's breakout band, Mumford & Sons, on a studio stop in Illinois just a …

As much as I love my Droid, I've always been a bit envious of the bright, cool iPhone cases I see everyone sporting. Why can't we have so many pretty cases too? So I decided to take matters into my own hands and find fun cases for Androi…

Imagine a new service which gets you rent the hottest gadgets before you commit to buying. From cool cameras and phones to the latest video game consoles, and even devices like Apple TV or a new tablet if you're not sure which you want. …

'Droiders, rejoice! We were jumping with nerdy photo-taking joy when the Holga iPhone lens made it possible to take Instagram-like photos from your smartphone and whatdya know? Now there's a Holga for the Samsung Galaxy i9100. Like the i…

If you're like the tons of people I know who got a new Kindle Fire for themselves (or their kids) over the holidays, then I strongly recommend you put a case on it, like yesterday. Whether you want soft, stylish and low-tech, or a case s…

If you're on the hunt for a cool calendar app for your Android smart phone, it can be tough to figure out what's best in a sea of options. So, I tried a whole lot (see what I do for you?) and narrowed them down to these three options--al…

My husband is obsessed with Christmas music. From midnight on Thanksgiving to the wee hours of New Year's Day, we are a 24/7 Away in a Manger on that O Holy Night with Silver Bells Fa-la-la-ing family. So you should have seen his eyes li…

Procrastinating about holiday cards runs in my blood--my mother used to write her cards the day after Christmas, step on the envelopes to make them look messy, and tell people they must have gotten lost in the mail. (She really did.) So …

Has this ever happened to you? You're in a mall or restaurant and suddenly you hear a song that's so catchy that you immediately want to know what it is, who sings it, how you can get it. (By the way, this experience never happens in an …

As a 'Droid user, I'll admit it, I've had my moments when I've wished to etch a tiny apple on the back of my phone for some small measure of coolness. The good news is that there are a number of designers who have heard my virtual sighs …

"A wonderful app! It's better than rap! 'If I Ran the Circus' makes me smile like a sap!" Um... sorry. There's just something about announcing a new Seuss app that forces me to rhyme, albeit badly. We've talked at length about our affect…

I have an Android phone and we 'droid-ers know the feeling of being left out of the iPhone world with all its cool doodads and whatnots and whozits. (What? Those are the real tech terms). So when there's cool stuff made just for us--well…

There are two things you should know about me as a chronicler of my kids' lives: 1. I take lots of photographs of them on various devices. 2. I do absolutely nothing with those photographs. I have a sneaky suspicion that I am not alone i…

We're always on the prowl for awesome wireless speakers here at Cool Mom Tech, because let's face it, we're women and women like things to look clean and sharp. Oh, and when it comes to speakers, sound clean and sharp. You know of our ab…

I am intermittently craft-crazy, with bouts of knitting and jewelry-making fever. Unfortunately, my skill set doesn't always match up to my enthusiasm, as evidenced by the sweater I knitted for my son that took two years. (Yes, two years…

Let's face it, most of our children think carrots grow in a refrigerated display case in a grocery store, so any chance to teach them about seeds, soil, sun and watering is a plus. My family and I are urban folk through and through, whic…

I had one of those moments recently that falls squarely into the category of "modern life." I was looking for a photograph of my kids that I could visualize in my mind, but couldn't remember if it was on my phone camera, camera-camera, i…

If you're on the klutzy side like I am, you've no doubt tripped over a wire or two in your life. Bluetooth was made for people like us--and the pleasantly streamlined, portable aesthetics of a wireless system are a very nice bonus (espec…

You haven't lived until you've seen a video of your head superimposed on the body of an elf, dancing in a winter wonderland. Such is the magic of Elf Yourself by the hilarious company JibJab , a.k.a. the Spiridelli brothers. Now that the…

There are two images in my mind right now: one of my husband struggling to keep his Android phone steady in the car while using it as a GPS; the other, yours truly, trying to read a recipe on my phone without dropping it in the pancake b…

Once in a while, my husband and I have been known to make wise family decisions and this was one of our best: we took the TV sets out of the entire first floor of our house, wanting to spend a bit more time in conversation (remember that…

I love books. I also love lovers of books. And I particularly love book lovers who aren't too "precious" to also enjoy a little modern technology for their books, (all hail Kindles and iPads). Such is the case with this small new company…

Don't get me wrong, I like photographs of my kids, family and friends, but just looking at pictures doesn't "send me." UNLESS they're in a slideshow with music and text--then I become a blubbering, "Memories"-singing mama. Which is why t…

I adore my iPad. Almost as much as my children adore my iPad. Luckily, I've managed to keep my hands on it enough to prevent them from downloading apps like crazed little tech-monkeys. And since Mommy is pretty selective, they've only be…

I know; tech and nature can seem to go together about as well as bikini tops and orthopedic shoes--in other words, not at all. But now, even lovers of woods and flowers can find their soulmate case with these 5 cases I've rounded up. Inc…

I'm not fancy. If I'm in a hurry, particularly if I'm flying somewhere and need to get to the airport pronto, I've been known to jam my laptop into my raggedy backpack and stick my iPad in a plastic grocery bag. (Don't tell anyone!) Havi…

Being that I'm the creative type (read: messy), I have a tendency to be doing ten things at one time, and that includes eating and drinking and working on my computer. I'll be frank: I've grown a little weary of my fingers sticking to th…