It's Official: Nintendo, Wii (Heart) U

A few weeks ago we were invited to Siren Studios in Hollywood to try out the new Wii U system. What a great event – besides turning a soundstage into a futuristic gaming nirvana with individual gaming stations, fancy couches and separate rooms for some of the games – they had Nintendo cookies, too. I say an event is reflected in the cookies they serve, and these were fantastic, classy and my teenagers loved them. And much like the event, they were making some people drool.

Here are some of the down and dirty specs of the new Wii U, and then I'll let my teens give you their reviews of the game. Stay tuned for hilarity.

The biggest difference in the Wii U is the addition of the Wii U GamePad™ controller, a gaming pad that features a 6" window that expands your gaming experience (not all games will require the second screen.) The GamePad also includes motion control, a front-facing camera, a microphone, stereo speakers, rumble features, a sensor bar, and a stylus. (Your old Wii controllers and nunchuks will work just fine with the new system – in fact, hang onto them because only the new GamePad will be included with the Wii U.) Here's a little intro:



Along with the Wii U will be a new movie system, Nintendo TVii. The GamePad will function with your DVR and TiVo and can also be used to search for programming from sources like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant, cable and satellite channels and video-on-demand services. I CANNOT WAIT to check this out:



There will be two versions of the Wii U:
- The Deluxe set that features a black Wii U unit and has 32GB of internal storage. This will retail for $349.99
- The Basic set that features a white Wii U unit and has 8GB of internal storage. This will retail for $299.99

Because I'm old and boring, the first thing I inquired about was if the Wii U would still be compatible with my Wii Fit balance board. It is! But there will also be some new games as well in the form of Wii Fit U so that I can change it up from my old Yoga/Skiing/Segway Circuit routine. (See 'old and boring' above.)

My teenagers were much more adventurous. Their faves of the day were Batman: Arkham City, Pikmin 3, Just Dance 4 and Sing Party. I didn't play all of these, but I did sit in on the demos when the girls were playing – I had no desire to hold up the lines of people waiting for their turn while I tried to find the 'start' button. Have you ever pissed off a bunch of eager gamers? Oh, they get mean.

But don't take my word for it - here are reviews of a few of the games, straight from my 14 & 16-year-old daughters' brains:

BATMAN: Arkham City

"The batman game was super cool and really let you experience Batman first person with full use of all his fancy rich people gadgets. It's a bit difficult to get used to when you first play, but when you finally get the hang of all the controls it makes you feel pretty awesome. The ability to kick-butt as batman is pretty sweet if you haven't heard already."

"Batman had awesome graphics, and you also have the option to be Catwoman, which is super cool because I LOVE Catwoman."

PIKMIN 3

"Pikmin 3 was also an awesome surprise because it's been FOREVER since the last one was out. It'll be a big hit for people not familiar with the previous ones, and of course even more exciting for those who are already fans. (The game in itself is pretty much the same as the others with added characters and new levels and actions with the GamePad.) It's both similar and different enough to live up to the old version's expectations as well as introduce some new things to do with the GamePad.(and omg there's cute lil' rock Pikmin??)"

JUST DANCE 4

"Just Dance was great as ever; still my favorite way to exercise without like, actually exercising. Probably the funnest game to play at sleepovers or just hanging out. The mix of wonderfully horrendous '80s songs and modern pop is enough to provide entertainment for happy(but wheezing) teenagers. Plus you can play with 5 people using the game pad so your poor friend doesn't have to sit down while you dance (for added usefulness the GamePad option doesn't require dancing, just in case you have a friend that hates dancing or is injured etc etc - or your mom wants to play and - don't lie - we all don't want to see your mom dougie.)"

"Just Dance was crazy but fun.  The new 'puppet master' feature exhausted me.  It's a great game to play with friends at parties and stuff, I even came back to play it twice!"

SING PARTY

"Sing Party can only be described as a beautiful smoothie of Just Dance and Sing it. Although the Carly Rae Jepsen and LMFAO soundtrack will get a little headache inducing when your daughter plays Call Me Maybe for the 30th time in a row at 1 in the morning, even you can't resist the booty-poppin fun of dancing really badly while your friend takes lead rapper."

"Just Dance 4 was crazy but fun. The new 'puppet master' feature exhausted me. It's a great game to play with friends at parties and stuff, I even came back to play it twice!"

And there you have it – our preview of the new Wii U. We loved what we saw, and are totally looking forward to checking it out further. You can pre-order yours over here. Sorry, cookies not included.

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Teenage Scream: Hulu Plus Is Coming to Nintendo 3DS and Wii

Hear that? It's the sound of my teenagers jumping up and down and screaming. Oh look – now they're hugging the Wii and gazing at their Nintendo 3DS and saying, "OMIGOD can you BE any more awesome?"

What's the reason for this love fest? Nintendo has announced that you'll soon be able to access Hulu Plus through the Wii and Nintendo 3DS consoles. So not only will my girls be able to watch (and re-watch) their beloved Glee through the Wii on our TV (instead of the computer) anytime they want, they can watch Modern Family on their 3DS while sitting in Starbucks. Can their lives get any more perfect?

Here's the skinny from Nintendo:

With Hulu Plus, you’ll be able to instantly stream thousands of TV episodes – including the entire current seasons of popular shows like Modern Family, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, The Biggest Loser, House and Grey’s Anatomy – from premium content partners like ABC, Comedy Central, FOX, NBC, MTV and many more. Hulu Plus also offers access to classic TV favorites like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, The Hills and hundreds of popular and award-winning movies. Hulu Plus is available through a separate subscription fee of $7.99 per month with limited advertising. 

I've said it before and it's true – there are few things from my girls' childhood that they haven't lost interest in, and their Nintendo devices are among them. I have to admit that the Wii gets much more action than their 3DS and DSi these days, but I think that's about to change – knowing that Darren Criss' Glee performances will soon be at their beck and call has renewed sudden interest in their handheld devices. And I know more than a few parents that have held off on buying the Nintendo 3DS who will certainly be snapping one up now, if only for themselves – the thought that they'll be able to watch House and Lost while waiting in line at the bank? Priceless.

Hulu Plus will be available on Wii and Nintendo 3DS by the end of 2011. Or as my teens put it, "Not soon enough."

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House and Senate Both Agree: Nintendo 3DS Price Drop Is Awesome

Tired of hearing about debt ceilings and deficits and defaults? Why not take a break, kick back with a non-partisan beer and play a few games on your Nintendo 3DS. Haven't had a chance to pick one of these beauties up? Well, this is your lucky day - Nintendo just announced they're dropping the suggested retail price for the Nintendo 3DS™ system to $169.99 (from $249.99.)

This bill will no doubt be swiftly passed by all parties in your house.

The price drop, effective August 12, obviously makes the Nintendo 3DS an even better value, and it comes just as some of the most popular video game franchises head to the system – these include Super Mario™ 3D Land in November, Mario Kart™ 7 in December and Kid Icarus™: Uprising during the holiday season.

Also, check out these new features to the system:

The new Nintendo Video™ service, automatically delivering short 3D videos from the worlds of music, comedy, animation and Hollywood.

The Nintendo eShop, a recently opened digital store for Nintendo 3DS owners that provides access to a wide variety of downloadable content, such as original 3D software, classic games that have been re-mastered in 3D called 3D Classics, Game Boy™ and Game Boy Color “Virtual Console” games in their original 2D glory, and more than 350 Nintendo DSiWare™ games.

And don't kick yourself if you purchased a Nintendo 3DS before the price drop – us early devotees will be rewarded with 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop. These free games are available to anyone who owns a Nintendo 3DS system and uses a wireless broadband Internet signal to connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 11. Huzzah!

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I'm very fond of my Nintendo 3DS - you can read all about the beginning of our love affair:

Party Like a Game Star: Nintendo 3DS Launch in Seattle

Nintendo 3DS Launch in New York City

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Party Like a Game Star: Nintendo 3DS Launch in Seattle

A few weeks ago I was whisked up to Seattle by Nintendo and Brand About Town for a whirlwind, fun-packed weekend centered around the release of their brand new Nintendo 3DS. I was part of a group of over a hundred bloggers who were lucky enough to tour the Nintendo headquarters and get an in-depth introduction to their newest gaming device. I also came home with shiny new Nintendo 3DS – I was so excited I didn't even bother to steal the soap and shampoo from the hotel. (I did take the shower cap – some things are too good to pass up.)

Speaking of places I get 99% of my toiletries from, here's a view from our hotel. I love Seattle.

The weekend started with a happening party complete with a DJ and fantastic food and drink. You don't know crazy until you let a bunch of bloggers loose in a room with Nelly on the speakers, martinis, pork sliders and cupcakes. Let's just say my shower cap came in really handy.

 

(And yes I used the word 'happening' to describe this party. I'm going to bring it back, along with 'boss' and 'hullabaloo.')

The next day was spent at Nintendo headquarters, trying out all of the new Nintendo 3DS games and getting a tour of the grounds. We were absolutely forbidden to take any photos except for in the main conference room we were in, but as you can imagine the facilities are beautiful, and extra impressive since they have taken great strides to make sure the entire campus is green and LEED certified. Definitely one of those places where you leave saying, "I'd sure like to work here." Or in my case, "I'd sure like one of my kids to work here so I could come visit."

Here we are listening to an into from Nintendo President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. He's like the Steve Jobs of Nintendo.

The Nintendo 3DS is like nothing you've ever seen, and certainly one of the few gaming devices that I've been interested in enough to play that I had to actually fight my kids for it. (The other one is the Wii Fit, but that's a little easier just to push them off the balance board when I want a turn.) We played a variety of games that day, including Super Street Fighter (Asians really ARE good at martial arts!) Steel Diver and Nintendogs + Cats (which I brought home for each of my kids, courtesy of a gift card generously given to us by Nintendo.)

But my favorite game still remains the AR games that I was first introduced to in New York in January. Point the screen at a card you place on the table, and 3D images appear to come right out of the table. I can't wait to show this to someone after they've been drinking at a party. Here, take a look:



Something else I've become unreasonably fond of is the Street Pass feature. If you keep your Nintendo 3DS on (in sleep mode) while you're walking around, it will pick up on other Street Pass users and you'll see them 'walk on' to your screen. Kind of like a party in your purse! Or something like that. Here's another helpful video:



(I'll admit I've only used this around people I know, so that I usually recognize the other users who I'm interacting with. I may change my mind about this feature once the first 14-year-old boy walks onto my screen saying he's down with the ladies.)

Then there's the Face Raiders game, that lets you take a picture of your friends (or enemies. Or frenemies) and then put their face on a target that you can then shoot the hell out of. Saying this game speaks to me is an understatement - I feel as if the game developer must have been right there in the car with me the last time I was cut off in the school drop-off line.

After bringing down my enemies in a hail of virtual bullets I was pretty hungry, and since Nintendo knows exactly how to make a gamer happy they had a reception for us in the hotel lobby that night. I had my fill of oyster shooters at their seafood bar they had set up just for us – these people are classy. Then we were all taken out to dinner at various restaurants in the Seattle area. I chose Branzino, which was just perfection.

It was a great trip. Thanks, Nintendo and Brand About Town for giving me a fantastic weekend where I got to hang out with great people, gain some knowledge and party like a rock star. Or at least a game star.

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Nintendo 3DS Launch In NYC: Best. Week. Ever.

Thanks to the wonderful people at Nintendo and BrandAboutTown, I was able to attend the launch party for the Nintendo 3DS in New York City. To say it was a wonderful trip is an understatement – let's just say when Nintendo launches something, they don't mess around. I'm still reeling from all of the excitement, the food and of course the blistering NYC cold. Did you know that it snows in New York? Also they pay no attention whatsoever to 'Don't Walk' signs which was both frightening and exhilarating.

But on to my trip!

We stayed in the fabulous Empire Hotel, which made my teenage daughters insanely happy, since it's the hotel from their favorite show, Gossip Girl. (I decided to turn the trip into a family vacation, and brought my family along. You can read about that adventure here.)

There we were, in an iconic hotel across from Lincoln Center in New York City, and what's the first thing they did when we got into the hotel room? Set up my laptop and pop in a DVD of X-Files that they had brought with them. I love my little fangirls.

On our first night, all of the Nintendo Ambassadors had an elegant dinner at the swanky Asiate on the top of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. I want to stop right here and declare that it was there that I had THE MOST AMAZING PIECE OF MEAT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE. It was called Wagyu Beef, and is apparently a type of Kobe Beef. Seriously, I couldn't stop thinking about that steak. I could go on about it's juiciness and it's fine marbling but I don't want to scare you.

This is the view of Columbus Circle from Asiate. Also, a cranberry sphere, which I'll explain later in mind-numbing detail. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the Wagyu because I was in a coma while I was eating it.

The next day we went to the Nintendo World Store, which was like being in video game heaven. Nintendo generously gave us some spending money, and we scooped up some t-shirts and DS games. I bought Just Dance 2 for myself so I could bust out some Ke$ha moves in the privacy of my own living room. That's my daughter, hugging her shopping bag – it really was like the mothership calling her home.

Also, the store had a Nintendo 'museum,' where they laid out the history of the game. (I was surprised to learn that the company started from a playing card company.) I love these old consoles – I'm sad to say that I'm so old that I remember owning one of these. Along with a bow and arrow and something called a 'pager.'

And, as if they hadn't spoiled us enough, they took us all to a salon, fed us food and champagne, and got our hair did and our makeup done for the big launch event that night. Someone must have tipped the Nintendo people off to the fact that my party prep was going to consist of just running a comb through my hair and putting on some ChapStick.

Finally it was on to the party, and it didn't disappoint. A beautiful space, plenty of pleasing beverages and lots of killer food being passed around on trays. I got really good at hunting them down and grabbing my fill – it gave me an idea for a new 3DS game, where your character goes on a dangerous hunt for beef skewers and tiny gourmet polenta pizzas.

That's Samantha Ronson DJ'ing!

And of course we got to try out the fabled Nintendo 3DS! (I'm going write about the actual device and the games in a later post.)

Each game had their own cleverly themed area with their own game experts standing by – here are the spaces for Nintendogs+Cats and Steel Diver. I tried out every one of them, although I was better at some than others. I discovered if you don't know a thing about football, Madden NFL Football is probably not for you. However, I kicked several asses playing Super Street Fighter in spite of the fact that the only physical altercation I've ever had was a shoving match with Andrew Sherman in second grade.

 

That's my trip in a nutshell, although I want to leave you with this totally unrelated photo of an elevator that we found in a jazz club near our hotel. I love New York. Thanks, Nintendo for taking me there!

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The Nest Case Can Make You A Brilliant Conversationalist

A couple of weeks ago I was having lunch with a friend and her 4-year-old son and she was desperately trying to keep him occupied while we tried to have a conversation. For some reason he wasn't feeling our discussion about belly flab and mood swings. So finally my friend whipped out her iPhone and cued up a couple of videos for him to watch. It's a dangerous idea to hand an expensive electronic device to anyone who's using ketchup as finger paint, so it was a good thing I had my Nest case handy to prop up her phone. What's a Nest case? Here check it out:

(Contrary to what you may think, that picture on the right is not just a clever ploy to get you to watch this video again.)

It's a sturdy case for your iPhone that has grooves that enable you to use the case as a stand. Slip the bottom portion of the case off, slide your iPhone out and set it in either the vertical or horizontal position. Great for using it to stand up your phone vertically when you're using it as a clock, or horizontally to watch a video. Or maybe you use it when you need your alarm clock to wake you up to watch a video. The possibilities are mind boggling. At least for someone as feeble minded as me.

Besides the sturdiness and the dual functionality of the case, I love the design - sleek, clean and simple. It's the first iPhone case I've had that still looks good after a couple of months of use and seems durable enough to withstand my constant handling - not to mention a run-in with a 4-year-old, a bottle of ketchup and sixty solid minutes of Yo Gabba Gabba.

So in conclusion, the Nest case will not only protect your phone and stand it up, but will enable you to have more insightful, meaningful, uninterrupted conversations. If you don't believe me meet me for lunch with your 2-year-old and I'll tell you all about my hangnail.

The Nest case is currently available for iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch.

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Small legal print to satisfy legal people: I received two Nest cases for the purpose of this review. I gave one to my husband for his birthday and he loves it. He may or may not know that I got it for free but I guess I'll tell him now.

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The Children Speak: I interview my daughters about texting, sexting and safety

This is sponsored content from
BlogHer and LG Text Ed

If you remember from my post a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that as part of my ongoing participation in the LG Text-Ed program I would be interviewing my daughters, ages 12 and 14, about their views on cell phone usage and safety. Lo and behold, the children were interviewed and it wasn't as painful as I thought.

While their answers were pretty much what I expected, I was surprised to see that fights via text and online are fairly common and something both my girls had experienced. I was also a little taken aback by how my 12-year-old was less than willing to tell us, her parents, about certain issues. And for the record I don't ever ask her about things in a "bad cheesy voice" and then write about it on my blog. Oh, alright maybe sometimes. Well, maybe kind of often. On a related note she's grounded for five months.

To start things off, relax, kick back, grab some popcorn and watch this intro video my 12-year-old made:

The Interview:

(I'll be referring to the girls as TWELVE and FOURTEEN. Don't worry – those aren't their real names. In real life they go by FIVE and SEVEN.)

Q: How many texts do you send in a day? Receive?

TWELVE: I send and receive around 30 texts a day. But each text isn't a long, droning conversation – it's more like "Hey" or "sup"

FOURTEEN: I probably send maybe ten texts per day and receive around fifty texts per day, majority of them being from Twitter.

Q: Do you only text people you know well?

TWELVE: I usually text my good friends most often, but I do text some people I don't know for homework questions or for some other reason.

FOURTEEN: I only text people I know well.  If I don't know them enough to trust them, they wouldn't have my phone number and I wouldn't have theirs.

Q: If you had something extremely important/personal to share with a close friend how would you contact them and why that way? (In person, on the phone, text, or all three?) 

TWELVE: It depends where I am and how important it is. If I'm at school I'd usually tell them there, but if I'm home I'd just text them if it's important. But if the text is personal then I'd probably just wait till school to tell them, or tell them to delete the text after since some of my friend's moms check their texts.

And I NEVER use the phone because my parents can hear in the other room, so if it's personal I wouldn't really want them overhearing. If I did my mom would say "So who's your friend you were talking to?" in a bad cheesy voice, as well as making little comments after, then write about all of it on her blog. No offense mom! *nervous laughing*

[Editor's note: Hahahahaha! See 'grounded' joke above.]

FOURTEEN: I would probably call them unless I knew I was going to be meeting them in person very soon for another reason. If there's a lot to say and I have the chance to call them and talk to them on the phone I'd rather do that than through text messages.

Q: Have you ever been bullied or harassed through a text? If so, how did you respond? Did you tell your parents about it?

TWELVE: Well my friends and I joke a lot, so I don't think that counts. But I usually don't go up to bullies and give them my number so I haven't really been harrassed by text.

FOURTEEN: I don't remember ever being bullied or harassed through text messages. But if I ever was, I probably would tell my parents about it.

Q: Have you ever had a fight or argument via text or online?

TWELVE: YES. YES. YES. YES. That actually happens quite often.

FOURTEEN:  I've gotten into "heated arguments" via text I suppose, but I've only gotten into "fights" online, I would say. 

Q: If so, how was it resolved? 

TWELVE: Well, it depends who's fault the fight is. If it's their fault I kinda guilt them into saying sorry. But if it's my fault, I'd probably say let's just forget it and move on, and then we're friends again. And If it's a small fight then I'd usually solve it over the interwebs, but if it's big and involves grudges, I'd probably solve it at school.

[Editor's note: TWELVE, please see me after the interview for tips on how to say, "I'm sorry."]

FOURTEEN: The online "fights" usually just died down quickly, since most of them took place when I was much younger.  We pretty much would just ignore one another.  I remember once, my close friends stepped in on the fight online and stood up for me, which made a big difference.

Q: Do you ever send texts to your friends that are of an extremely private nature, meaning it would be HORRIBLE if it was leaked to your friends? 

TWELVE: Sometimes, like texts about people we know. But now I've gotten into the habit of using code-names so that if anyone saw it that's not in my circle of close friends no one would know who we were talking about. But even if we used their real names and  the wrong people saw the texts, it wouldn't be HORRIBLE more like embarrassing or awkward. If it's really that HORRIBLE I'd rather just tell them in person.

FOURTEEN: Yes, I do send private texts to friends, but nothing too drastic. Just things like maybe crushes or saying something about someone. It would be kind of bad for it to be leaked, though.

Q: If you knew that one of your friends was sending inappropriate photos of him/her self to someone, would you say something to them? Would you tell your parents? 

TWELVE: Yeah, if it was one of my good friends. I'm not sure I'd tell my parents though because it's not really any of their business, plus that'd just be a weird, awkward discussion. But I'd make sure they'd stop, I can usually talk my friends out of almost anything if I care enough.

[Editor's note: IT IS SO OUR BUSINESS.]

FOURTEEN: I would DEFINITELY say something to them. I don't think I'd be able to live with the fact that one of my friends was doing that. If they didn't stop even after I had told them to several times, I would possibly tell my parents since it could turn into a serious issue.

[Editor's note: FOURTEEN, listen to your sister.]

Q: Would YOU ever send an inappropriate or intimate picture of yourself to someone via text? If yes, how would you feel if they shared it with someone else - or many someone elses, including lots of people you do know, and lots of people you don't know?

TWELVE: No, ew! That'd be weird. And slutty.

FOURTEEN: I would never even THINK about sending an inappropriate photo of myself to someone else, even if they were my HUSBAND.  I know how that stuff usually ends.

[Editor's note: Hahahahaha! Looks like everyone is TRYING TO GET GROUNDED TODAY.]

Q: If you were giving advice to a younger sibling or a younger friend who was just starting to text, what kind of warnings would you give him/her about being safe and smart?

TWELVE: I'd say not to text alot, and then freak them out by telling about this thumb disease you can get from texting too much. And that you shouldn't text random strangers, and not to text when driving your big wheel.

FOURTEEN: I would tell them to only give their phone numbers to people who they trust, obviously not to "sext," and to not text or respond to texts from anyone they do not know or do not know well.

Q: Here's a question for FOURTEEN only, who will driving in two short years. [Interviewer stops to dry her eyes.] What do you think it would take for you to stop texting/checking email/dialing the phone WHILE driving? Money? A written contract w/Parents? A pact between friends? Etc?  

FOURTEEN: I don't think it would take much for me NOT to do that. I don't think I would be texting or e-mailing while driving, anyway. Calling, MAYBE, but only if it's using a hands-free device. If I had to stop talking on the phone at ALL while driving, I would probably need some sort of alert that would go off when I tried to call someone or receive a call while driving, reminding me NOT to do it.

Can we got to Starbucks now?

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Have you had a conversation with your teen or tween about texting, sexting and safety? If not, what's holding you back?

As before, BlogHer will match LG’s donation of .50 to Dosomething.org for every comment on this post, so please leave a comment with your thoughts on this topic – Dosomething.org will get $1.00 for each and every one.

You can see a roundup of other participating bloggers' posts on the BlogHer/LG Text-Ed page.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment with a question suggestion on my last post, not only for helping me out but for helping out Dosomething.org as well! 

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Teens, Texting, Cell Phones & Other Catastrophes

This is sponsored content from
BlogHer and LG Text Ed

Because I'm channeling my inner school teacher today, I'm going to start this post off with a little quiz. Then I'm going to ask your help with something. It's like being in biology class and then being asked to pound the chalkboard erasers.

First the quiz:

According to recent studies, 75% of kids from ages 12-17 own this:

A. Justin Bieber backpack
B. Spare key to parent's liquor cabinet
C. Cell phone
D. Combination Partridge Family/Brady Bunch Sand Painting Kit

If you guessed 'D' you're incorrect but I can tell you share my vision of utopia.

Obviously the answer if 'C.' Although, 'B' could also be correct, in which case parents – I suggest you conduct a thorough search of your kids Bieber backpack.

With all these tweens and teens owning cell phones, the topic of cell phone safety is a big issue right now: sexting, texting while driving and cyberbullying are all things we should be discussing with our kids. As part of my ongoing participation in the LG Text-Ed program, I'm going to be interviewing my daughters, ages 12 and 14, about their views on cell phone usage and safety. I'm going to require them to put down their cell phones while I interview them - that way they can't text things to their friends like, "omg my mom interviewing me so lame."

Now, here's where I need your help. Leave a comment below giving me a suggestion for a question to ask my teen and tween daughters regarding texting, sexting, texting while driving, cyberbullying or anything else relating to cell phone usage or online safety. 

(Sorry, but you'll have to save your questions on raves and Forever 21 deals for another time.)

But here's the best part: BlogHer will match LG’s donation of .50 to Dosomething.org for every comment on this post, so please leave a comment with a suggestion – Dosomething.org will get $1.00 for each and every one. 

So PLEASE – ask away. And don't be shy – unlike biology class you won't be graded.

You can see a roundup of other participating bloggers' posts on the BlogHer/LG Text-Ed page.

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Baby you can drive my car, but put your phone down first

This is sponsored content from
BlogHer and LG Text Ed

I admit it – my kids text and drive. Well, at least they text while I drive. If I have a message I HAVE to get out while I'm at the wheel, I hand them my phone and dictate what I want the text message to say. It's my new method during those times when I'm running five minutes late (very often) or need directions (rarely) or forget to tell my husband to make that cappuccino a double (with alarming frequency.)

My two daughters are 12 and 14, too young to drive (thank goodness) but not too young to hear about the dangers of texting and driving. They know it's against the law, and they do know that before that law was passed they saw their mom occasionally read or send a text at a stoplight. Only once or twice. Okay, maybe five times max.

What does worry me are other parents who text while driving, other parents who at some point may have my kids in their car while they're driving and doing said texting. That scares me, as while I appreciate the “im going 2 b late but im bringing donuts” message I don't want to get it while they're rolling down the freeway at 65 miles per hour. So I've instructed my kids to speak out if they see someone texting while driving – nothing accusatory, more like, "Hey, Ms. B how about I send that text for you so you DON'T GET A TICKET (and we don’t die)" kind of thing. And I will certainly think twice before ever letting my kids get in that car again. Free donuts be damned.

Let's face it – texting is here to stay. And unless they come up with some sort of mind-melding communication device to replace it, texting while driving will definitely be an issue in 1-1/2 years when my oldest daughter gets her learner's permit. Or as my husband and I like to call it – 'All Cars Off The Road' Day.

What have you told your kids about texting and driving? Have they ever seen you text while at the wheel?

Give me your thoughts on these questions. For every comment left on this post a donation of 50 cents will be made to DoSomething.org, up to $5000.

And for goodness sakes please do not text your comment in while driving.
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These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

What's better than raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens? How about a pair of sneakers that shape up your butt and a cupcake that tastes like a Cinnabon? These are just a couple of the cool products we got to check out at the fantastic LA/OC Moms Blog party thrown by the SV Moms Group a couple of weekends ago. Not only did we get to enjoy the beautiful surroundings at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, but we had great food, nice wine and the chance to meet reps from some first-rate companies and sample their wares. I love kittens but I'd take this event over their prickly whiskers any day.

So, without torturing you with any more Broadway show tune lyrics, here are a few of my favorite things.

Skechers Shape-Ups



Okay, I love these shoes. I have to admit they weren't on my list of things to buy, but when the nice reps from Skechers gave me a pair to try out I realized that maybe it really was time to throw out my twelve-year-old sneakers and slip into something new. And while I was a little skeptical of their claims that the shoes could tighten my butt and improve my posture, I have to say that after wearing the shoes everyday for the past week I'm beginning to think this is no ordinary pair of sneakers. I actually do feel like I stand up a little bit straighter when I have them on, and I can feel my leg muscles getting a bit of a workout. Plus, it's kind of nice to look down and not see shoes with holes and ketchup stains on them.


Cinnabon Cupcakes



How do you one-up a Cinnabon? Put it into a cupcake! Cinnabon is adding cupcakes to their menu, just to torture me that much more when I'm walking by their store at the mall, I presume. These cupcakes were delicious -- my favorite was the Cinnacake Classic, which tasted just like a Cinnabon, only cupcake-y. (<--- Hey look - I made up a new word.) I also love their retro packaging, which is going to make it even harder to resist at the mall. Damn you, Cinnabon!


Bosch/Tassimo Single-Cup Coffee Maker



This machine made me a perfect cup of coffee Starbucks coffee to go along with my cupcake. That was enough to make me fall in love, but the thing that impressed me the most was the fact that you could insert a little pod of milk, and the machine would steam it up perfectly for your cappuccino or latte. I have a one-cup coffee maker made by another company, but the thing's starting to buzz and hiss and it may just be time to move on to another machine, one that can put a little foam into my cup. I guess you could say I woke up and smelled the milk.


iGo



What is this handsome creature? I'll give you a hint -- it's coming with me to the Academy Awards on Sunday! No, it's not a device from the future that will make George Clooney notice me -- it's a combination cell phone charger and back-up battery from iGo. (Although I wish those scientists would hurry up with that Clooney device already.) All I have to do is charge the iGo for a couple of hours and then pop in my purse to use to charge up my iPhone when it runs out of power. I can spend less time worrying about my phone on the Red Carpet, and more time obsessing about my hair. Everybody wins!


Taga Bike



Okay, I admit I almost walked right by this one, because why would I need a bike with a baby carrier? I ain't birthing no more babies, I said under my breath. Although it must have come out louder than I thought because then the nice Taga man showed me his magic (no, not that, you dirty little minds) and turned the thing into a regular bike with a roomy basket in front, and then turned that into a shopping cart:


Schwing! I was mesmerized. Do you realize what this could mean? No more parking lot fights at the grocery store, and no more grabbing a cart only to find my hand stuck to the handle with some sort of mystery goo. Hey, and it might even come in handy if I have another baby. JUST KIDDING.

For more photos from the event and a great re-cap of all of the sponsors, check out this post on the LA Moms Blog.

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tags: la moms blog | bosch | igo | skechers shape ups | cinnabon cupcakes | taga bikes

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Blackberry Vs. iPhone: An Unfinished Duel Fueled By Fast Food

I was at a party a couple of weeks ago and had to interrupt a conversation to take a call on my iPhone from one of my daughters. They were staying home alone for the first time, so I wanted to make sure they hadn't set the house on fire or weren't having any wild parties. Or if they were having a party to remind them not to eat all the Fritos - I hate coming home from a night out and not having anything to go with my bean dip.

Right after I got off the phone the guy I was talking to whips out his iPhone and says, "What apps do you have?" I couldn't believe it - didn't he want to know how my kids were? Or finish hearing me tell my fascinating story about my trip to Costco earlier? But then I got caught up in the moment and the next thing I knew I was knocking back another martini and yelling, "Dude, I've got Service Bell" just a little too loudly.

My point? There is no love greater than the love between an iPhone and its owner.

Except for the love between a Blackberry and its owner, that is.

My three best girlfriends have Blackberries, and to hear them talk you'd think the things were magic, capable of cleaning their houses, giving them backrubs and shaving six inches off their thighs. Okay, so they can take clear pictures with the built-in flash, and their carriers give them better coverage than AT&T (the only one that you can use with an iPhone.) Aren't there more important things than being able to finish a phone conversation without being dropped? What about making a piece of toast and then pretending to eat it? Or helping me figure out if I can afford a Chalupa?

I was given a Blackberry Tour smartphone and free coverage for a month to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to use my Blackberry as much as I would have liked since that month happened to be when the kids took turns being sick, and also happened to be the weeks when I spent 90% of my waking hours trying to find a high school for my kid - not an ideal time to learn how to use and fully utilize a new device. So, in order to give the Blackberry a fair shake, I'm going to reinstate my Blackberry starting the week after Christmas at my own expense. That's when the kids will be home, the holiday rush will be over and I'll be laying around the house trying to figure out how to pay for everything. The perfect time to distract myself with a new toy!

But in my short experience with my Blackberry, here's what I found:

- I really missed having a touch-screen like I do on the iPhone. I can see that the Trackball and scrolling system would take a little getting used to, although my friends pointed out that it would really reduce the number of butt-calls they receive from me. Apparently they don't like it when I unknowingly phone them and they have to listen to an entire fifteen minutes of me placing an order at Popeyes Fried Chicken.

- As any iPhone owner will tell you - it's great for everything except for making calls. The clarity of calls made on the Blackberry is far superior to the iPhone, and though I didn't use it enough to experience any dropped calls from what I hear it's a rare occurrence. My iPhone drops calls with maddening frequency, though I'm not sure if it's due to the phone itself or the service with AT&T. But on the plus side - the "Sorry - you're breaking up" excuse really comes in handy when you can't possibly listen to any more details about your friend's hernia operation.

- I have to admit I'm extremely jealous of the built-in flash on the Blackberry. What up iPhone? You can turn my phone into a light saber but you can't get me a decent photo of my friends inside a club? Also, the Blackberry has a video camera which I don't have on my prehistoric 2G iPhone. Which means I can't get any footage of those same friends gettin' down gangsta style to Super Freak, either. Lucky them.

- When I first saw the tiny keyboard on the Blackberry I wondered whose miniscule hands it was made for - Munchkins? Kittens? I was trying to figure out how I was going to type out a text on the teeny keys when a kind friend gently informed me that "you use your nails, not the pads of your giant fingers, you moron." That made things much easier, but the jury's still out on this one. It may take a little practice, and I'll let you know in my next review if I ever master the fine art of nail typing.

That's all I've got for now. Join me next time as I use my Blackberry to surf the net, send an MMS and update my Facebook status. Oh, and email my lunch order to Popeyes.

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On the topic of phones and frazzled lives, I was given a few copies of The Blackberry Diaries by Kathy Buckworth to give away. Whether you're an iPhone user or a Blackberry devotee I'm sure you'll relate to this book about technology and motherhood. "Owning a Blackberry is a little like adding another child to your family. The device is constantly buzzing, poking and distracting its owner from whatever it is she's trying to acompish. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the uncooperative two-year-old hanging off Mom's leg at the Motor Vehicle Office."

To snag a copy for yourself, leave a comment here before 11:59pm on Sunday, December 20 and I'll use random.org to pick two winners. (Entries from the continental U.S. only, please.) If you win I'll email you from one of my phones!

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tags: blackberry | iphone | the blackberry diaries | iphone apps

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A Night Out With Dolby, The Black Crowes and a Digital Frame to Giveaway? Sounds Great!

Update: 12/16 - The winner has been picked! See below.

Last weekend we were invited by Dolby to check out their Surround Sound Truck and be their guests at the Black Crowes concert at Club Nokia. Hard to resist, especially since my husband and I have been eager to check out the scene at LA Live, the new entertainment complex adjacent to the Staples Center. A little Dolby demo, a little rock and roll and a date night without the kids - much better than the fast-food and laundry I had originally planned.

The Dolby Truck is touring the West Coast to show you what Dolby sound can do for your home theater, PC and even your cell phone. You're probably already familiar with Dolby sound at your local multi-plex, but Dolby in your home theater could do wonders for your cinema experience. Imagine seeing your favorite movie and hearing the guns firing right past your head! Or, in the case of the movies I've been seeing with my teen girls lately, hearing the sounds of true love brewing. Hey, you have your movie-going experience and I have mine.

The Dolby Truck, which we visited across from the Staples Center, is a mobile home theater outfitted with a huge screen and killer sound system - pretty much what every guy wishes he had on a camping trip! We were treated to a clip of Angelina Jolie's thriller, Wanted, and the sound was very impressive - so impressive in fact, that I rented the DVD last weekend after initially not wanting to see the movie at all. Although I have to say part of that reluctance is that I just figured it was about another kid that Angie and Brad wanted to adopt. Who knew it was about assassins?

We also saw what Dolby sound can do for your PC, since more and more people are watching movies and TV on their computers. I do - I'd much rather watch a Judd Apatow movie in my office through a pair of headphones than worry about turning down the volume every time I was afraid my daughters would hear a penis reference (which in his movies is around every 2.5 seconds. Yes, I timed it.) Unfortunately, I'm a die-hard Mac girl and the Dolby sound is currently only available on PC's, but hopefully someday in the future Apple and Dolby will join forces. Perhaps we'll need Clinton to broker that deal.


Something my husband and I were amazed by was the incredible sound that Dolby has managed to bring to the mobile phone. We listened to a Chocolate LG Touch through a pair of headphones and the sound blew us away - even better than what I'm able to get out of my iPod. Plug in a pair of headphones (I just used my ear buds) and listen to a demo featuring Ciara here. Switch the Dolby to 'on' and 'off' to hear the difference.

Again, sadly, the Dolby sound isn't available on the iPhone, my device of choice at the moment. Curse you superpowers and the forces that keep you apart!

After overstaying our welcome at their super truck (they're nice people, and didn't even ask us to leave after we'd watched the clip of Angelina taking out all the bad guys like fifty times) Dolby treated us to the Black Crowes concert at Club Nokia. Before heading over to the venue, my husband and I decided to splurge on a meal at one of our favorite sushi restaurants, Katsuya, one of the many places to eat in LA Live. Their food is sublime, and if they had made a movie of us eating and put it to Dolby sound the only thing you would have heard is us saying, "Can you believe how good this is?" over and over again. Well, that and "What the hell was Tiger Woods thinking?"

The concert itself was awesome - it was the first time seeing the Black Crowes live. Of course, since I spend a great deal of time writing about celebrities, I couldn't help wondering what exactly went wrong between Chris Robinson and Kate Hudson? And what does he think of Alex Rodriguez? I don't know why, but after all that, and after I mistook a peace sign on the stage for a Mercedes logo, my husband kept telling me to stop thinking out loud. Geez.



To top off our great evening, Dolby gave me a digital photo frame to give away to a lucky reader. This is one of those nifty things that you could maybe load up with lots of photos and music and give to a loved one as a gift to remind them of you. I was heading towards another Tiger Woods joke but I'll stop now.

If you want to win, leave a comment telling me where sound is most important to you - at the movies? In your home theater? On your PC? (Keep it clean - I don't want any references to those home movies you shot back on Spring Break.) Leave your comment before 11:59pm on Sunday, December 13 and I'll use random.org to pick a winner. (Entries from the continental U.S. only, please.) Good luck! May the next sound you hear be my voice announcing you as the winner. In Dolby, of course.

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Update: 12/16: WINNER PICKED

I put all the entries into the random list generator and let it do its thing.

AND THE WINNER IS...


Congratulations to Bernadette Batts of Bern Baby Bern! Bernadette, please email me and let me know how to get your digital frame to you!

And thanks to everyone who entered - I have lots more giveaways coming up, including a really big one.


tags: dolby | la live | black crowes | katsuya

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Monopoly For Wii: Old School Is New Again!

This past summer while we were vacationing with friends at their lake house, my daughters learned proper diving form, jet skied for the first time and learned how to ice a cake. This is the ideal vacation for my husband and I - it's great to hang out with people who can teach our kids stuff. My feeling is that we taught them all the really important skills - walking, talking, how to order a proper drink at Starbucks - so I think it's really up to others to teach them everything else. It's worked out pretty good so far, but I'm getting a little worried about my 10-year-old, who is picking up some pretty bad habits from the drunk guy who's been tutoring her down at the bowling alley.

One of the other things they learned from our friends' two daughters was how to play Monopoly, the classic board game that we all grew up with. Our girls quickly became hooked, and the four them spent hours buying and selling properties, going to jail, arguing and going bankrupt. (It's like the AIG story, without the government bailout!) We promised them we'd buy the game when we got home, but like everything else, we never got around to it. So I was happy to receive a copy of Monopoly for Wii from EA Games to try out - I looked at it as all the fun of Monopoly, without the paper money to clean up. I liked it already.

My girls gave it a test run with their friends - there can be up to four players but each person has to have their own Wii controller. (We only have three, so two of the girls formed a team.) Their previous knowledge of the Monopoly board game helped, as they jumped right in and were able to start playing immediately. One of the features they loved was the ability to choose different themes for the board, which is reflected in the gamepieces, the board graphics and even Mr. Monopoly's clothes. Depending on your mood, choose from Classic, Future, Cheese (!) or my girls' favorite, Sweet, where you can have a gamepiece that's a cupcake. Continued play will allow you to unlock even more game boards - my girls had fun coming up with their own ideas for possible themes: MySpace, iTunes, Slumber Party and my favorite - World Without School (don't ask.)

From there most of the rules are the same as the Monopoly game we've all come to love, with one major exception: When you land on a property, your only choices are to either buy it or put it up for auction, and players try to outbid each other for the deed. Also, unlike the traditional version there are in-game mini games that players can challenge each other with. One that I didn't get to see but that is mentioned in the game literature is the "Get Out of Jail" game where you saw prison bars to escape. I love it! I'm wondering if the Sweet version of the game has a gamepiece that is a cake with a file baked into it, or maybe the Future version has a game card that allows a relative to sneak a time machine into the slammer.

I'm sure Monopoly for Wii will never completely take the place of the board version of the game, but my daughters have been playing it pretty consistently and it's been a popular game during playdates. Personally, I'm thrilled that EA has decided to take traditional board games and make them popular to a whole new generation by releasing them as video games - it's a welcome break from the overabundance of violent and inappropriate games for kids. (Some other upcoming releases are Boggle and Sorry! - which we loved when we got to try them out earlier this year.) Also, I appreciate that the traditional boardgames require kids to actually think to strategize and outsmart their opponents instead of just blindly pushing buttons. Leave that to the adults and their Blackberrys, kids.

Note: One of the things my girls and their friends mentioned immediately and were "extremely disturbed by" was the fact that Mr. Monopoly was missing his monocle. I agreed, but then after some research I can't seem to find a single picture of him with his monocle. Did he ever have one to begin with? Or they thinking of Mr. Peanut, or maybe one of their math teachers?

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tags: monopoly for wii | nintendo wii games reviews | ea games | hasbro

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The HP Photo Center: Free Your Photos, Free Your Mind

I have to admit, I’m not a big fan of those photo kiosks in stores that allow you to make your own prints. I prefer to smugly believe that, as an art director, I’m perfectly capable of printing out my own photos on my expensive laser printer at home and then arranging them artfully and tastefully in an album that would rival anything you could create in an automated machine located in a store next to the antacids and adult diapers.

The problem is, in the ten years plus that I’ve had a digital camera, I think I’ve actually printed out photos maybe three times. As for creating an album? That’s on my list of Impossible Dreams, right underneath ‘make out with George Clooney’ and ‘get smell out of catbox.’

So when Maria Bailey of BlueSuitMom.com and HP asked me to try out the new HP Photo Center available in Longs Drugs, I immediately agreed. Even though I was a little skeptical, I though it would be a great opportunity to finally print out some of those shots that have been imprisoned inside my iPhoto program for the past decade or so. Besides, my mom had been bugging me for some baby pictures of my girls for quite some time, and I'm getting tired of moving just to avoid her phone calls.

I headed down to my local Longs drugs, and was a little disappointed to find a little old lady already using the machine. How long would this take? Five hours? Three days? She was a tiny thing and I probably could have taken her down, but I politely waited my turn, and was pleasantly surprised when she finished up in about five minutes. It gave me hope – surely I could work that machine as well as an 80-year-old in a pastel tracksuit.

And I was right - the system couldn’t be easier to use. Touch the screen, and it takes you through the process step-by-step. (Even going so far as to show you a diagram of the memory card dock and circling the slot you insert your card in.) Once your photos had been downloaded from your memory card, the system asks what you’d like to make: you can do anything from printing 4x6 prints to photo albums to 24x36 posters. I decided to make a min-book of pictures that I shot of my daughters and their friends at the Anime Expo last month. They’re all wearing furry hats, and I thought it would make a handy thing to embarrass them with when I bring it out and show their boyfriends in a few years.

Once you’ve chosen your project, get creative and choose from a variety of design themes and holidays, pick out which photos you want to include via the touch screen, and the HP Photo Center does the rest. It even gives you a preview of what the finished piece will look like, and allows you to go back and make design changes, add or delete photos or change the layout of your piece. I think the whole thing, from start to finish, took me less than ten minutes – around 960 minutes less than it would have taken me to layout and print the thing on my computer at home. And the price was incredibly reasonable - $7.91 for each booklet, which contained 26 photos. But the best part? No one would have to hear me cursing when I realized my printer was out of ink.

(One note: If you’re lucky you’ll have a Jeremy to help you out. Jeremy is the photo counter technician at my local Longs Drugs. Not only did he take me through a complete tour of the HP Photo Center, he was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the system and was available the entire time for questions, even when he was being asked every five seconds for the location of the restroom or which cat food was on sale that day. Thanks Jeremy!)

My girls were thrilled with their mini photo albums, and I have to admit I’m a little hooked on this whole photo printing idea. I’ve already promised to make our friends some albums of photos that I took when we vacationed together this summer, and it looks like my mom might finally get those pictures of her granddaughter’s first birthday. After all, my daughter turned twelve this past April.

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tags: hp photo center | diy photo albums | grandparents day gift ideas

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