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HOW TO ENTER THE "PERFECT NIGHT IN" PRIZE PACK GIVEAWAY
1)
Leave a comment on this post. (Required. Value: 1 entry.)
2)
Tweet about this post. (and leave a comment here telling me you did).
Click here to tweet it now. (Optional. Value: 1 entry.)
3) If you have a blog or website,
link to this post. (and leave a comment here telling me you did)
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Also - just FYI - there is a $1.50 off coupon available at
http://www.wanchaiferry.com/. For meal tips to enhance your Wanchai Ferry frozen entrée check out their website at:
http://www.wanchaiferry.com/MealTips.aspx.
Contest ends March 9th, 2010 at 10pm MST. There is no purchase necessary to enter the contest. I will be using random.org to choose the winner. I’ll contact the winner via email, and he/she will have 48 hours to respond. After 48 hours, if I don’t receive a response, another winner will be chosen.
*Disclsoure note: The VIP coupon, prize pack, and giveaway have all been provided by Wanchai Ferry through MyBlogSpark
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Read more about them and buy the app on iTunes here.
Also, to celebrate the release of Emily's Girl Talk,
fans can enter a contest to become a sticker inside the game, by (i) posting a screenshot of their favorite story from Emily's Girl Talk on the new
Facebook fan page, (ii) tweeting it to @EmilysGirlTalk on Twitter or (iii) emailing it to
EmilysGirlTalk@BrokenThumbsApps.com by April 1st.
Emily's Girl Talk: $0.99*
*Price at time of this writing.
Life is seriously kicking my butt right now. There was the pre-vacation work panic, the vacation "I refuse to turn on the computer except to play facebook games", and now the post vacation work panic. There's actually posts floating around in my head.
There's a post about how I skied last week - Sometimes ok, sometimes not ok. Sam crashed into me once and I fell. And cried. I thought about quitting. Then I didn't and I went back for more punishment on the slopes. Now I want to go back for another lesson now that I have in my mind what I need to improve on (aside from steering clear away from Sam when he skis!!) FYI - he's a bit of a daredevil - skiing backwards, through woods, etc. My daughter too. Oy.
There's a post about some cool iPhone apps. That one I will definitely be making.
There's another post about some cool products I have - I even have a giveaway to uhm... give away. Yeah. Words aren't working for me at the moment.
There's a post about how work is great, I'm not even advertising, but still people are finding me. In fact I think I may have too much work on my plate. (Maybe I need to charge more?? Or will that scare too many people away? LOL)
There's a post about how despite all the exercising and dieting I'm a bit discouraged with my appearance at the moment and am tentatively investigating... something. Surgery? Tummy tuck? Mini tummy tuck? Laser something? I don't know. Between kids and weight loss, I have... skin. How do you loose skin? It's not fun, and it's not really all that fair. (I know, life isn't fair. I'm nearly 40. Maybe I should give up my dreams of wearing a bikini. I never have - I guess I never will) The cost is kind of prohibitive from what I've been able to gather - and really ANY cost seems so vain. The whole thing is so vain. I have a voice in my head that yells at me for even thinking about spending money on something so selfish. The money should either go towards my kids education or retirement. Anyway... I'm still looking.
That's all there's time for now. More to come once I dig out...
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"Mom? Uhm... Think I'm ready to come home now!"
Of course, being 9 years old, there's all kinds of issues here. One problem is that I'm reasonbly sure this phone is going to get lost. Sooner rather than later, I'll bet. The other issue is that, I can't be 100% sure that she'll forever get the idea that this phone is not to be used to chat it up with her friends. It's to be used for me to contact her or her to contact me. If she wants to talk to her friends, we do actually have a
landline phone she can use to her heart's content. (Or at least until it's time to do her homework or go to bed. LOL!)
So, after much debate, we finally got her one of those
Tracfones. The particular model we got for her actually does text messaging, (so I can easily send her a text message to come home from her friends house at a specified time, if need be - and it only uses up 1/3 of a minute), it has voicemail, even a little camera. You buy minutes via a card (and actually the model phone we got doubles the minutes you buy for the life of the phone) - and if she uses up the minutes - that's it - the phone stops working until we add more minutes. There's no monthly or daily charge. And it's not tied to our credit card. So no worries about a surprise $500 phone bill because she decided to sneak a few calls to some friends. And the phone itself only cost about $20. So while I really hope she doesn't lose the phone - it's only $20. It's not like $200. And the phone? I mean for $20... that's a pretty sweet deal - which is why I finally caved. I mean, I think I couldn't get a decent walkie-talkie for only that much!
So yeah - I'm pretty sure only a few months ago I was saying
"I would never buy my kid a cell phone!! Not until they're at least 13 or something..." Yeah. Funny how circumstance will change things. That and the technology that can put out a $20 cell phone! 😉
Since the last time I did a big round up of apps, I've downloaded a bunch more on my own. I know previously I've only focused on kids apps, the adults have to have some fun too! 😉 Here's the ones that I'm currently enjoying:
Bank of Mom ($1.99*) - I got this to keep track of allowance money that Rachel had been earning. The fact of the matter had been that anytime she wanted something, I was usually with her, and it was easier for me to buy it for her and have her "pay me back" rather than make her lug a purse with money around. Of course, more often than not, I would forget to request the money, and she would end up with a freebie. Keeping track of the money on my phone makes this a lot easier. The app also helps track non-monetary privileges as well.
Boggle ($1.99*) - This is the classic game of Boggle. While I did buy this app, and I do enjoy using it,
Word Scramble by Zynga (Free!) has basically the same features, and in some ways I like Word Scamble a little better. Both are pretty good though.
Dropbox (Free!*) - If you don't already have a Dropbox account - you need to
sign up and get one. Seriously. This is a great FREE! service that lets you share and store files. It does require you to install some software on your computer, but then it basically sets up a folder on your machine that remains in sync with others that you're sharing files with. In any case, they made an iPhone app so you could connect to this folder as well and have access to all those files right on your iPhone. If you or someone you're sharing the file with makes a change to the file - all devices/computers get the updated version. You can also restore an older version, or access all your files from a web login. You get 2GB of free space, or you can upgrade and pay for more space. Seriously.
Just go get it. (Disclosure: By signing up from the link provided here, I get some bonus disk space.)
Falling Balls (Free!*) is just a weird game. It's hand drawn (I actually really like these types of low-tech graphics). I think I originally downloaded it just out of curiosity but it is pretty funny. You tilt the phone back and forth to make the little guy run away from various sized falling balls. Should you not time things right, and get squashed by the ball, the ball squishes the little dude leaving a nice little gory splat.
Kinetic Balls (Free!*) - Just about as much fun as the real thing, except a lot cheaper (as in free) and doesn't take up space on your desk. This one comes with a variety of different balls. (For example, you can have kinetic basketballs. There's also the standard metal balls but in various color shades)
Pocket Universe ($2.99*) and
Star Walk ($2.99*) - I actually can't decide which of these two apps I like most. They both have some great features. If you ever want to find a particular star, planet or constellation, or see something in the sky and wonder what it is, you will love both of these applications. If you have a 3GS (I don't, WAAA! LOL!) then you will love some of the additional features added for that model: you can hold your phone up and move it around and it will pan the sky as you move. You can do this manually if you don't have a 3GS. Obviously, it's not as cool as having the newer model iPhone, but you probably already know that.
Qik Live (Free!*) and
Qik Video Camera (for any iPhone!) ($1.99*) - If you don't have a 3GS and have been envious of its video capability, then I have an end to your envy. Qik can do video on any iPhone. I'm not kidding. I was over the moon when I found this out. Qik Live will upload your videos and store them on the Qik site - or if you can spare the $1.99, then you create videos you keep on your phone too. A very useful feature allows you to download the videos from your phone onto a computer via a browser by accessing a specific IP address when you're on the same network.
Rock Band Free (obviously free*) and
Rock Band ($6.99*) - Kind of like
Tap Tap Revenge, but I kind of like this better. I like how the tracks don't play unless you hit the notes right and you can choose which you want to play: Vocals, Guitar, Drums, Bass. I haven't coughed up the money for the paid version of the app. I like playing but I kind of suck at the game. LOL! So I've just been having fun with the one song on the the free version, but if I get a little better, I can see myself buying the full version so I can get access to the other songs they have available.
Sims3 ($6.99*) - I actually downloaded this one a few months ago when they had a special deal on it (I think it was on sale for $4.99 at the time and knowing it originally had a higher price and would probably go back up, I went ahead and bought it). I'm not really into playing the Sims - at least I haven't played it in years, but this game was fun. From what I can tell, it's not as elaborate as the "real" Sims games, but if you need a quick fix on you phone, it's fun. I was playing it a lot when I first got it, but haven't really played with it since then.
Ski Utah (Free) - Well now that I'm into skiing of course I had to go ahead and download an app like this. Just a nice easy way to see how all the local (to me) resorts are doing. I do wish that the app also had direct links to trail maps.
Sudoku ($1.99*) - I'm pretty sure I paid more for this app, but I think it's really well done so I don't regret buying it. There are a lot of Sudoku type apps on the app store and I swear I've downloaded at least half of them. I think this one has the best, simplest, easiest to use interface. I really like that you can even enter in a puzzle you found in a newspaper so you can use it's interface to work on it. Still, it's not perfect - I REALLY wish there was an undo button. Sometimes, by accident, I'll bump a number and it will add or remove a candidate from a square, and I won't know what I did. I also wish that the "newspaper puzzle" mode - would hold the finished puzzle a little longer. Sometimes just solving the puzzle isn't enough. I may want to actually write out my answer on the newspaper and show someone the proof that I did the whole thing. Still, this is the app that I've been playing the most the last few months. Completely addicted. I'm only doing their "insane" level puzzles, and it inspired me to learn some new strategies. (Learned with the
help of this website - the nice thing about that puzzle solver website is that it walks through step by step HOW to solve the puzzle - not just giving you the answers. So when I've gotten stuck, I can enter what I've done in the puzzle solver and just have it explain to me how I get to the next step of the puzzle and what strategy it used to get there.) It would be kind of cool if the app had that built in too, but I know I'd be pushing my luck. LOL!
Twittelator Pro ($4.99) - This is my twitter app of choice. I've download and bought a few, but this is the one I like the best. There is a
free version too. It works with your lists, and I just really like it's interface.
*Price(s) at time of this writing.
P has taken a number of picture books and brought them into digital media. Here is a selection of books from this publisher:
My Friend Isabelle ($1.99*) is a story about two friends, one of which has Downs Syndrome. It compares how they are alike and how they are different and helps teach tolerance and acceptance.
In
Racers ($0.99*) kids talk about formula race cars and trucks and would be perfect for a kid who is fascinated by fast cars. Pictures of kids with funny expressions accompany the colorful pictures.
Sleeping Beauty ($1.99*) is the classic fairy tale with beautiful watercolor illustrations that go along with the story. A page is read and then the illustrations are displayed.
Round Is A Mooncake ($2.99*) has the most interactivity in the series of books. The story goes through various shapes a little girl finds in her world. Many of the shapes are Asian oriented. Throughout the story are a few animals that when you touch them, they make noise.
In all the books, you have the ability to pause, skip ahead or go back, but beyond that the interactivity in the books is limited. They are basically animations that play on their own without requiring the reader to take part in the story. In some respects, this may be a good thing. If you have a kid that likes to have a story read to them without their needing to constantly click "next" to see the next page, then these would definitely work out well. However, in that case, I almost wish they were simple animations/videos, rather than an app. With an application, if you
don't interact with it, the screen will dim and the phone will auto-lock. (Yes you can adjust the length of time before it does this in the settings, however, for battery preservation I keep this to 1 minute and wouldn't really want to change it, especially when the kids are playing with the phone as they have a tendency to not manually turn it off when they're done using it. Perhaps relying on that 1 minute auto-lock). To make these more useful as an
application, however, would be to make use of the interactivity available with this medium. Websites sometimes fall prey to this as well - "brochureware" is typically the type of site that has just been given the most minimal interactivity and is otherwise an exact duplicate of printed material or lives instead of printed material. There's nothing wrong with "brochureware" type websites or applications. They certainly have their place - but they do miss the opportunity to become something even more engaging when passing up the interactivity features that could really help capture their audience.
*price(s) at time of this writing.
Update: Just wanted to include this response by the publisher:
I wanted to let you know that we are adding animations to some titles that are currently in production. The animations are subtle, like snow falling or stars twinkling, because we publish previously published books rather than made-for-iPhone stories - so the artwork is already drawn, and we strive to remain faithful to the original book. Our intent is to encourage curiosity by adding elements of interactive discovery to each title which the hot spots and subtle animations provide. We are consciously NOT creating video games, but hope that PicPocket Books can offer a gentle alternative to games for parents who want to offer their children mobile digital books.
We are also going to be introducing a new feature in our next releases wherein the page turns are controlled by a simple swipe of the finger. That way, if a child wants to just flip through and see the pictures of the book without waiting for all the words, they can do that easily.
When it became clear that the iPad was going to be the new product launched in January by Apple, my first reaction wasn't excitement. But at the same time, it took me over a year before I got the whole iPhone thing. Obviously, we know how that worked out seeing how I have a huge selection of posts on this blog reviewing iPhone apps. I know they say that necessity is the mother of invention, but sometimes it seems like Apple has managed to reverse that equation. They seem to be really good at inventing a product that solves a problem I never even knew I had.
So the iPad - I was extremely surprised at the price - I had originally been thinking like most others, that a product like that would have been closer to the $1000 range. That would have completely put it out of the range of my even thinking about buying it (which was why I wasn't terribly interested in it to start). But since the "entry" price into an iPad is much lower than I expected, suddenly I start to wonder,
Would I buy one? What and how would I use it? Do I need one?
And here comes in the problem that I never knew existed. When we watch TV, I almost always have my iPhone with me because I check email compulsively. When I need to respond, a quick reply it's fine, but when a longer response is needed, I need to head over to the computer. I also like to be able to look up things online sometimes while we're watching. Maybe it's because there's an actor we see that I'm trying to remember what other shows have we seen them in. Or there's a product or website that's talked about and I want to immediately check it out or bookmark it. Or I could just be multi-tasking. Browsing the web, reading blogs, playing on twitter, while also watching TV. Or even away from the TV, just around the house, I'll have my phone with me to look things up online, check the hours of a store, or make notes about what I need to do the next day, etc. The iPhone can work for some of this, but it's not the most convenient because of its size. The laptop is just a little overkill for this, but does do the job. However, something in between is probably even better. Enter an iPad.
It makes me wonder if they specifically announce these products before they're actually available so that people can spend the next few months doing exactly what I did. Putting the pieces together and realizing that actually a product like that would in fact be pretty useful and cool.
I'm not saying that I'm going to run out on day one and buy one. But I have to admit, that while I didn't before, I do see one in my future at some point. The issue with Flash does bother me. (One of the other things I like doing while multi-tasking is playing games on Facebook - most of which are run via Flash) I also kind of wish the iPad had a camera. (I've had the same complaint about the iTouch and that is the main reason why I haven't bought one for my daughter. I'm still kind of hoping the will eventually, and when they do, THEN I'll buy it. But I'm not interested in investing the money in an iTouch when I think at some point they will add a camera) I am glad to see they made the 3G an OPTION. Being that I am the biggest home-body, I would probably get the 3G model but not sign up for the plan right away until I saw how and where I was actually using it. If I used it, as I expect to, mostly at home where wifi was available - then I don't really need that 3G as much as I thought. (But I'd still probably get it with the capability in case that ever changed...)
As for the name - yeah, even I got a chuckle out of it, but I think in general people will get over the silly side of the name and move on. It's not like the word "pad" is only used for one meaning. Certainly, as names go, iPod is probably more silly. So I don't think this will really have any long term negative effects on the product itself.
My name is Jennifer and The Working Mom is my online journal. I'm very bad about updating it regularly. I like writing, but not as much as I 
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