And a very BetaMaXmas to you too
There was once a magical time. A time when children waited in breathless anticipation for their favorite Christmas Special to play on TV. There was no DVR or Video On Demand; no rewinding or fast-forwarding; no YouTube; no bathroom breaks. You had only one shot to...
Best Buy Wish List: eReaders and Tablets (Oooooh!)
Best Buy Wish List is a sponsored series in which we feature the things we're coveting at Best Buy--and then give away gift cards so you can buy them yourself. Whee!If you're like us, then you've got a tablet or e-readers high on your holiday wish list (hear...
A little Christmas present for your ears: New family-friendly holiday tunes ready for download
It's Christmas week, and if you are like me, the ears could use a break from the same old Christmas songs that have been blasting across radio stations and throughout department store PA systems since the day after Halloween. Let's just say that if I hear...
Best Buy Wish List: 2010 Holiday Gift Guide
We're having such a great time working with Best Buy here on Cool Mom Tech over the last week. (You have been entering our gift card giveaways, right?) In fact, a few days ago, our co-founder Kristen headed out to her local Best Buy to chat with one of their helpful...
Nook vs. Kindle – An e-reader smackdown
Whether you've got an e-readers at the top of your holiday list, or you're shopping for one as a gift for someone else like I am, with so many to choose from it can be...well, hard to choose. So we decided to compare two of the hottest e-readers - the Nook and the...
Music to your ears
It's very rare in the car with my kids to be able to listen to a song I like the whole way through without interruptions. Whether there are relentless questions like, "Mommy, what's this song called?" or "Mommy, what is the name of the person who sings this?" or...
Best Buy Wish List: Gaming (whoo!)
Best Buy Wish List is a sponsored series in which we feature the things we're coveting at Best Buy--and then give away gift cards so you can buy them yourself. Whee!It's no secret that we have a thing for gaming around here. Must be all those years of dropping...
Custom videos from Santa that make me a believer too
This weekend on Cool Mom Picks, we uncovered an awesome custom video from Santa, and our readers are going nuts for it. As are our own children. So much so, it would be gross holiday negligence for me not to share it here so even more children can wake up their...
A digital camera for the littlest shutterbugs
Holiday time is of course a photographer's paradise for capturing family memories. I encourage the kids in our family to take pictures, which provides a great "kid's eye view" into own traditions and activities--and the fact that my own favorites aren't necessarily my...
The Neato robotic vacuum sucks. In a good way.
For the past two Christmases, my mother has given me vacuums, a gift I try not to take as a judgment on the state of my house. And while the Dyson was--and still is--great, my little robotic Roomba continues to make me positively giddy as it whirls around my house....
Send your holiday greetings 2.0-style this year
The holiday cards are starting to trickle in and it's always such a treat to receive greetings from dear family and friends from near and far. With each one, I'm reminded that we need to get moving on ours as well (as opposed to our Happy New Year card in mid-January...
ArtRage for iPad. Watercolor 2.0
Art projects are one of our family favorites, but cleaning up, not so much. So I was excited to try Artrage for iPad, an application for virtual painting and drawing. And wow, it is simply wonderful. Related: The mini Monet art app for iPad The app offers different...
Tech Tips & Tricks to Make Life (Way) Easier
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Even More Coolness. Enjoy!
Quirky.com: Why didn’t I think of that?
As I was looking around the website Quirky, I kept using words like Genius! and Awesome! This web site helps people develop and produce super interesting product ideas. And better--lets those of us who simply appreciate super interesting product ideas, buy them....
Amazing family-friendly MP3s to help you survive Thanksgiving travel
Going over the river and through the woods to get to your warm and cozy Thanksgiving destination isn't nearly so fun when the traffic is backed up as far as the eye can see, the kids are hungry and you forgot to stop at the last rest area. I can't make the traffic...
Getting kids off the couch with the help of a Wii remote. And Dora.
I've said it before: I'm not usually a big fan of small children playing video games. But I make an exception when they've got some educational value and they get kids moving. I'm pleased to see that Nickelodeon and Nintendo have teamed up to do those very things with...
Shooting from the heart: Expressive Photography from The Shutter Sisters
I might be aging myself here, but remember when only professional photographers had professional cameras? Now it seems that every other house has a professional level camera, even if most people don't know how to get the most out of them. Enter the fabulous new book...
Comic books go green and ultra-portable
I had a boyfriend in college who had boxes upon boxes of his "favorite" comic books. (Which ones were his favorites? All of them!) I found it a little weird, but hey, collectors are kind of different, right? Well, now I have a son who wants to collect comic books. I...
MobiGo by VTech gets the skeptical mom vote
My near 4 year-old son has been eying my oldest's Nintendo DS for awhile now, but he's just not quite old enough to do anything but ask us to help him play a game. Sort of defeats the point of having it. But since the brand new MobiGo from VTech arrived in our house,...
Math Ninja: Turn your kids into math ninjas with this educational app
After hours of coaxing without success, I gave up begging my 7 year-old sons to practice math drills on a worksheet and I headed to my iPad. I knew there must be a math app that played like a video game to keep him engaged. And wouldn't you know it, I found it....
5 of our favorite designer sale site apps
Ever tried to go clothes shopping for yourself with kid(s) in tow? Between toting a toddler while carrying unwieldy hangers, and then attempting to catch a mannequin in mid-air because your little one has pulled its skirt down therefore making it fall over (yes, it...
The cat in the app
For the past few months, my kids have been obsessed with the Talking Tom Cat app that has them yelling, singing and -- yes -- screaming at a cat who then repeats everything back to them in his own weird voice. Harmless fun but no redeeming educational value. Or so I...
Math Bingo: An iPad app to make math as fun as Bingo
We've only had our iPad for a week now, and already my homeschooled daughter and I are reaping the benefits thanks to so many of the cool, educational games we've discovered. Some of which, like Math Bingo, can be a fantastic addition to what can be a pretty one...
Internet safety tips for parents from a super internet safety expert
As my oldest reaches the age where she can read and potentially search the web on her own, I'm much more vigilant about privacy and safety online than I ever was before. Combine that with the growing use of social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook to share...
Cupcake making without cavity making
To say my girls are obsessed with the range of cake, cupcake, Jell-O mold, and cookie making/decorating iPhone apps out there is an understatement. It's like the EZ-Bake Ovens of the smartphone era: So fun for kids, it doesn't even matter whether they eat the results...