cool websites

Choosing your baby's name is serious business. You want one that will be meaningful but not cheesy, unique but not weird, and cool but not a passing fad. No pressure, right? Well, here are 2 of the best baby naming websites that were hug…

If you need a five-minute time killer today (because we know you have just oodles of extra time to kill, parents) check out the very fun if questionably accurate Analyze Words . It's as simple as plugging in your Twitter handle -- or any…

We're big fans of Santa around here, as you might have guessed. What, us risk making the naughty list? Never!) So if you're looking for some fun Santa apps to help bring the big guy to life on your phone, tablet, or laptop and make belie…

While we always share the coolest advent calendars on Cool Mom Picks each year, though none might be quite so 21st century as the genius, photo-a-day Hubble Telescope Advent Calendar . Visit the Atlantic online each day for a new, remark…

Recently, we were thrilled to find Take Back Halloween , an amazing site for women (and girls) hoping for a few more Halloween costume options besides "sexy nurse." Or sexy anything, really. I loved seeing this Ada Lovelace costume which…

We're always looking for cool educational videos for kids, whether they're the funniest videos on YouTube , or educational videos and YouTube channels that our own kids love. In fact, we've joked that we could just do that, full time, ev…

I tend to browse lots of places looking for cool fonts that I may never use. (When it comes to typefaces I'm more of a collector than a designer; kind of like having lots of books at home you haven't yet opened. But I digress.) I've just…

Leave it to NPR and Internet technology to create something as simple and wonderful as Playgrounds for Everyone , a community edited guide helping kids who require handicapped-accessible facilities find them easily. Turns out there actua…

Some of our kids are really picky when it comes to books -- not too long, not too short, with just the right plot points and character types. Then there are the ones who go through books so quickly that we can barely keep up with suggest…

Seeing as how we live in an age where everything from Nutella to x has its own national day, I should not be surprised that today is National Moon Day. At least it celebrates something totally real and inspirational, and if it's marketin…

We're huge Spotify fans in my home and on the go (in case you were still wondering whether moms actually know how to use Spotify ), and now with the big New Spotify announcement yesterday, I've suddenly got a few more reasons to love thi…

If you spend your work life on your computer or know someone who does, this clever Closed Weekends laptop case is the perfect gift especially since Father's Day is only about a month away. (Yeah, we can't believe it either). Or hey, mayb…

I'm usually hesitant about buying a big, expensive LEGO kit because, after my kids put it together once, then what? Sometimes kids keep playing with it, sometimes it ends up dissembled with random bricks I discover all over the house mon…

Lately I've gotten sucked into a new website called If It Were My Home , which compares countries around the world to your own hometown, or any other location you designate in their search engine. You'll get a quick snapshot of all kinds…

Just in time for Mother's Day, I was absolutely thrilled to discover Zazzy , a new platform that allows you to design 3D jewelry , only they take out all the time-consuming stuff...like downloading sometimes complicated software, figurin…

Not all of us will be able to focus on every moment of the red carpet entrances (kids needing dinner), the Oscars monologue (kid needs to use the bathroom), or even the one award you've been waiting for all night (kids have to go to bed)…

Football fans or not, millions of viewers flock to the Super Bowl for the commercials. Pretty much everyone wants to see the ads that will have everyone buzzing the next day -- or in real time on Twitter. But if you want a pre-game sneak…

My daughter came home from school last week, begging for a video chat with Santa. How very 21st century. But what was more surprising was that my ever-practical, Elf-on-the-Shelf-mocking, not-believing-in-Santa kid flip-flopped! And I ow…

Jack Frost nipping at your nose? Perfect time to gather 'round the fire and get merry, toasty and bright. No need to load on the logs, though. These flames are coming from your computer. Oh, yes. Yule Log 2.0 is back for a second season,…

3D printing hasn't exactly taken off yet, but based on glimpses we've seen -- like food , makeup , and super cool small stuff -- we'd love to see it start to play a larger role in our lives. And with an incredible new site called the Kid…

Though I'm sure my kids' teachers, coaches, and other VIP's appreciate the effort that goes into collecting money for a group gift at the holidays, I just dread being the poor person in charge of that thankless job. Bugging people for mo…

I can keep amazing amounts of information in my poor, overtaxed brain, including practice schedules, appointment times, my wedding anniversary and my own kids' birthdays. But for anything beyond that, I need help. Fortunately EverMinder …

There are quite a few virtual decorating online resources that allow you to place your virtual furniture in your virtual home to get a sense of what it will look like. We've liked SketchUp , NousDecor , and even the awesome augmented rea…

While we think Halloween photos are pretty fun as they are, PicMonkey has updated their super fun Halloween themes and added a brand new superhero theme that are about the best time-wasters on the web right now that make you feel somewha…