I haven’t written a Technically Thursday post in a while. I’ve been collecting tidbits in tech that I’ve been enjoying lately and thought I would combine them all into one post. My husband calls me a geek because I get excited when I find something new in technology. Here is a list of things I’ve been enjoying lately in my geek filled life:

• 1. Intense Debate: even though it has only been a few days since I made the “announcement” that I switched over my comment system to Intense Debate, I must say that I’m really loving it. I personally haven’t had any problems with it (I hope it stays that way *knocks on wood*) and it seems to make keeping up with comments a little bit easier for me not only on my own personal blog but on other blogs that also use Intense Debate as well. I would love to know your own thoughts on this comment system, good or bad.


• 2. I rediscovered my love for Tumblr. I set up a Tumblr account what seems like ages ago and then sort of neglected it. Tumblr to me makes organizing things a bit easier, like keeping links to articles online all in one place or taming my social media obsession all down to one single feed. Tumblr also integrates nicely into my blog & has an iPhone app for easy updating on the go. Some new things I’ve done with Tumblr is create a page for Brd 2.0 (this is a link to his tumblr page) as well as a place to make an online recipebox for all of my recipes (well they will be there once I get them all linked and stuff). Playing around with Tumblr again is kind of like rekindling an old flame. I forgot how much I love this stuff.
• 3. A Technical Thursday post is never complete without some squeals over a new iPhone app. I recenlty stumbled upon Camera+ in the App Store recently which has rekindled my love of taking photos with my iPhone. Taking photos with my phone used to bug me because they wouldn’t come out too great but adding the “flare” of Camera+ & its easy sharing capabilities has made me fall in love all over again. Camera+ has made it easier on the 365 challenge because I can quickly snap a photo with my iPhone or open one from my library, edit it in the app, and upload it to flickr all in like 5 mins. It’s the easiest thing and great for those days I don’t feel like dealing with my bulky DSLR and all the uploading and editing process that goes along with it. Check out my camera tag on my flickr page for photos I’ve taken with this app.
  I was NOT paid to write this, I just like the app. That is all.

I don’t want to bore you with all of my technical geek speak so I’ll keep today’s list down to 3 things I’m currently loving in tech.

Got anything in tech that your currently digging? Let us know in the comments.

A few weeks ago I was asked to try out the iBend. I had no idea what it was nor had I ever heard of it before, but I was interested to find out. So with the sample product that they sent me, I began to test it out.

My initial thought was that it is incredibly thin. I think it was thinner than an actual credit card. Because it is so thin, I can easily slip it into my wallet or (like their demo videos on their site) store it in my iPhone case.

The concept behind the iBend is simple. It is a thin “card” that you bend into a u-like shape to cradle your iPhone. My blinged out iPhone case has a lot of weight and bulk to it, so like most accessories for the iPhone the iBend works the best when I take off the cover.

In a pinch, the iBend does the job of holding the iPhone, so I don’t have to.

Reader Discount

The folks at iBend want to extend a discount to you, the readers of this blog. Enter the couponcode DOMDVA15 for 15% off!

Disclosure: a sample product of the iBend was given to me in order to blog about my experience.

JawBone recently contacted me to try out their bluetooth device called the ICON. After looking through their products, I thought that “the ACE” was the one that appealed the most to me. I liked the metallic silver look that it had in the photo and thought that it would go the most with my iPhone cover and my everyday outfits. Once the JawBone arrived in the mail, I felt like a kid on Christmas. I couldn’t wait to tear through their ubber hip packaging and starting playing with my new geeky “toy”.

Out of the box, the Jawbone ICON (the ACE) is darker than it appeared in the photo but I still like the look. What I noticed next was that set up with my iPhone was super easy. It came pre-charged so I was able to test it out right away.

I have super small ears…no seriously, my ears are so small they look like they belong on a child. Finding anything ear related is a constant struggle for me. Earbuds and such are often too large for my tiny ears and are always falling out. I was surprised when I opened the JawBone packaging to see that they had a large selecting of ear pieces to help find that perfect fit. And of course, my choice was the smallest one. As much as I would love to nnot have to use the ear hook, due to small ears that is what worked best for me and helped the JawBone stay in place 90% of the time.

Adjusting to wearing a Bluetooth is a bit strange. I feel like someone has a finger stuck in my ear all the time. But the hands-free dream is totally worth it, in my opinion.

After all of the set up and stuff, I immediately started calling friends and family to see what the audio was like. On my end, I loved putting my phone in my pocket or laying it on the counter and walking about while I chatted. Answer the phone with a JawBone was fun too, because all you have to do is push the button in your ear and you are good to talk away. Audio was good. Oh and it tells you the number that is calling so you can choose to answer it or not.

I’m a first-time bluetooth user, so my experience with the JawBone is extra exciting. Why has it taken me so long to enter the bluetooth world?

On the receiving in, a couple of the people I talked to while using the JawBone said that at times they had a hard time hearing me, something about my call going in and out. I’m not too sure what they were talking about here, but when I wear the JawBone it doesn’t sit flush up against my cheek which might be a problem. When I pushed the JawBone to my cheek however it seemed to resolve this issue.

The JawBone holds a pretty decent charge time. Its easy to check how much talk time you have by pushing the button on the JawBone twice. Another cool feature is that you can customize your JawBone to have different types of voices or add different features by using the USB provided. Another aspect that I liked with using the JawBone with my iPhone is that it shows how much battery from my homescreen. And you can easily customize the volume, etc. from your device.

Another cool feature is noise reduction. I constantly have kidlets playing in the background, with all the chatter it can make it sometimes impossible for people to hear me on the phone. I believe that the Jawbone helps with that issue.

The real kicker with the JawBone was that my husband was instantly jealous. He definitely saw the “cool factor” and declared that he now wants one.

Overall, my experience with the JawBone ICON was a good one. Definitely a great first-time bluetooth experience.

Disclosure: Jawbone provided me with a sample of their product in order to write my opinion in this blog post. Although product was provided my opinions are 100% my own.

The best part of Spring? It’s driving with the windows down, of course!

What did the Easter bunny bring you? Yesterday, I was complaining on Twitter about how my house was a mess and how I was probably going to be doing a lot of cleaning today. Well the Easter fairies must have been listening because this morning I woke up to a clean kitchen. Awesome, right?

And since today is Easter and all, I decided to play with a fun little iPhone app called Hipstamatic (a gift to myself) for a little something different on today’s 365 photo.

Happy Easter!

What did you & your family do today?

Anyone that knows me knows that I love my iPhone and I love any new kind of app to hit the App Store. Well, an app company recently contacted me and wanted me to take a look at some of their recent apps. Their apps are called Pic-Pocket Books and they are basically books in mobile form to easily take with you on the go.

The two books (that I received promo codes for) that we took a look at were Peterkin Meets A Star and Oh, Crumps. I loved the vivid pictures and how each book was narrated so children can enjoy the app while on the move like in a car. I can see how books like these can entertain and help make reading fun. Stuck waiting somewhere, firing up one of these PicPocket Book apps would be a fun way for me and my kids to pass the time. Also great when traveling because one can read a bedtime story or have the app read the bedtime story for you when one is away from home (which means not lugging around a bunch of physical books with you…hooray for lighter packing).

Overall, I think the PicPocket Books are a pretty great idea. I love the idea of having everything I need including books at my fingertips. And the price tag of one of these books isn’t too bad either, running at $.99-$3.99 per book (that is cheaper than what I’ve seen books going for at the bookstore).

For more information, PicPocket Books is available in the iTunes App Store or you may find them on Twitter and Facebook.

Disclosure: PicPocket Books provided me with a free promo code to download the two books mentioned in this post. Although product was provided, the opinions expressed in this blog post are entirely my own.

I’m constantly on the quest to find things to make my life easier. In the spirit of things, a lot of my work is online based. Seriously, I don’t think I would even touch a computer if I couldn’t get on the internet. It’s pretty bad, I know, but that is the nature of being a blogger.

Back to my will to be more organized. I used to do various things on different websites and one day just thought about it and how silly it is to have several different websites to do different things, this is when I started to look more into Google and their list of various programs. With one account I’m able to do email, create calendars for various activities for both home life and my online life, check up on other blogs via Google Reader,and pre-write blog posts in Google Docs.

Let’s just say that Google is beginning to win me over and making me a more organized Diva. But this isn’t even the icing on the cake and the part that made me go “OH I gotta blog this” no that moment came when I research the little “Sync” button at the top of my Google Calendar. There I learned that I can sync with my iPhone. All my contacts, calendar information, and emails import directly and seamlessly to my iPhone so I can take “my office” with me wherever I go. I’m in heaven. I like the ability to sync across all platforms so no matter what computer I’m using or mobile device that I’m on, I’m up to date with all of my online “stuff”.

Ahhh domestic organized bliss is within an fingertips reach, now if I could get that inbox under control I’ll be all set to breathe a little easier.

How Do you keep your life organized?

I was recently approached by Kraft to give their new Kraft’s iFood Assistant 2.0 & LITE iPhone app a try. With the giftcards provided, I not only got to experience the iPhone apps first-hand but also got to try out the recipes as well.

My husband loves it when I switch up our traditional menu. He is one that loves trying new things and begging me to find new recipes to prepare. This is just one of the reasons why I loved the Kraft iFood Assistant. It is like an interactive cookbook at my fingertips.

With the iFood Assistant there really isn’t much need to prepare your own menu, you could easily let the iFood Assistant keep a menu for you by suggesting “recipes of the day”. For instance, today’s recipe is Home-Baked Macaroni & Cheese (now isn’t that fitting after my recent mac & cheese recipe post that I shared last week).

I think the app is very well made. I didn’t have any problems navigating around in it and the photos are absolutely mouth-watering. I’m a visual person that loves to know what a dish is supposed to look like after I create it, so the photos really come in handy for me when I go to decide whether or not to make that meal.

I also liked that I can save favorite recipes in a “recipe box” that is linked to my kraft.com account. The cooking videos on the iFood Assistant were also enjoyable to watch.

Crunched for time or maybe you don’t know what to do with that chicken, there is a browse recipes category on the iFood Assistant that allows one to search for recipes based on ingredients that you have on hand or you can browse the “prep in 30 minutes or less” category for those quick fixes.

Making a shopping list is as easy as a push of a button, instantly add all the necessary ingredients to create a recipe you found in the iFood Assistant by pressing the +shopping list button or the option is there to add the recipe to your recipe box for future reference.


Overall my experience with the iFood Assistant was fantastic. I enjoyed testing out different recipes, rather giving hubby the control to pick what he wanted me to cook that night, and easily making a quick grocery list for the night.

Please visit ifoodassistant.com for all the details. iFood Assitant 2.0 is available in the iTunes App Store for $.99 or you can try the LITE version of the app for free, also available in the iTunes App Store.

iKraft Giveaway

What is up for grabs?

(1) $50 American Express gift card for the purchase of groceries to test the iFood Assistant app & (1) $25 iTunes gift card to help purchase the iFood Assistant 2.0 app to ONE reader thanks to Kraft

How to enter?

leave a comment in the comment section of this post telling us how you think the iFood Assistant could help you in the kitchen

Details?

-This giveaway runs from now until Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 midnight EST.
-This giveaway is open to US Residents only, sorry.
-Winner will be drawn at random using the random integer generator at random.org
-Please leave a valid email address in the appropriate comment field for contact purposes.
-Winner has 48 hours to respond to winner announcement email before I will need to draw a new winner.
-Please only one entry per person, duplicate entries will be deleted.

This Giveaway is CLOSED: Congratulations to our Winner

Carmen of Mom to the Screaming Masses

Disclosure: “I have been compensated by Kraft Foods to cover the cost of groceries to try out recipes featured on iFood Assistant 2.0/LITE, downloading the app and conducting reader giveaways. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards iFood Assistant or other Kraft Foods mobile offerings.”