Parenting Geekly

We've moved!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 17:54:00 +0000

This is the last update I'll be making over here on the blogger site!

ParentingGeekly 2.0 now lives at:

http://www.ParentingGeekly.com
(the url was just redirected here up until now).

You can follow me on twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/ParentingGeekly

And on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ParentingGeekly

This is the last update I'll be making over here on the Blogger site!

Convention Tips and Etiquette

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:25:00 +0000

Last week I had a chance to participate in a Seattle AntiFreeze Event at the Museum of History and Industry. This fun monthly event features people from different Seattle communities sharing some of the things that makes Seattle special. I am on the Board of GeekGirlCon and I presented with Board President, Kristine Hassell. We talked about what makes GGC special and how Seattle, with it's plethora of conventions, is a great place to be a geek!

Emerald City Comicon, is coming up soon and it kicks off the start of Seattle's Con Season. Between now and November there is at least one con a month including SakuraCon, PAX. Norwescon, Jet City Comic Show as well as some smaller more specialized offerings (Supernatural Con, anyone?)

I am a seasoned con-goer at this point and one the most frequently asked questions ParentingGeeky gets is "What can I expect at my first con?" So, whether you are new to cons or a seasoned pro, these tips will help you make the most of your con experience!

What to Wear

Deodorant - It may be a cliche that cons can get stinky, but with a lot of people crammed into relatively small spaces it’s bound to happen. Do your part by wearing deodorant! Conversely, many people are sensitive to strong smells, skip the body sprays and perfumes.
Comfortable shoes - This is not the time to try out your sweet new stilettos. You will be on your feet for hours, take care of them! Even if your cosplay requires fancy feet, bring something comfy to change into.
Layers - Going from a stuffy a exhibition hall to an overly air conditioned auditorium can make staying comfortable tricky. Dress in layers so you are prepared for any situation.
Sun Protection - At bigger cons like San Diego ComicCon and PAX, you will be traveling between multiple buildings and may even have to stand in line outside. Even at ECCC, which is mostly in one building, you may wish to venture out to a nearby restaurant or sit in the attached park. Sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses can be a lifesaver.

What to Bring:

Hand sanitizer/Disinfectant Wipes - Cons are germy places. Hand sanitizer can be used before and after shaking hands, though it isn't a substitute for frequent hand washing. Wipes can be used on communal game controllers, pens, etc.
Snacks and Water - Con food is expensive and sometimes hard to come by. Tidy snacks like jerky, granola bars, and trail mix can stave off low blood sugar. You can refill water bottles in sinks and water fountains for free.
Sharpies - Always good to have your own supply for signings.
Folder, backing board, poster tube - For keeping new purchases from getting rumpled.
Patience - Lines are long, sometimes even moving through the crowd in the expo halls can take a long time. Be patient and kind, even when everyone else isn’t.
Line Entertainment - Especially important if you have kids. Books, tablets, a Gameboy all help lines go faster.
WiFi Hotspot - If you have one, bring it. Con wifi is notoriously slow, if it’s even available. Even 4G data can get pretty clogged with so many users in one place, so keep expectations low and download entertainment before hand rather than counting on streaming while there.
Money (and a budget) - Cons are expensive! Make a loop around the whole vendor area before you spend. Otherwise you might blow your whole budget before you've even seen everything.
A backpack, but not a BACKPACK - I appreciate the convenience of toting my stuff around in a backpack, but can’t tell you how many times I've been hit in face by a tall person who swings around suddenly with a huge, fully extended pack on them. Try to take up as small a footprint as you can, and be mindful of the people around you.

How to approach guests, speakers, creators, etc.

Those you know and admire -

If they are sitting at their table or another public area of the con where they are clearly working: say hi! Keep interactions short, especially if there is a line. Don’t get too personal. Respect personal space and any rules posted about autographs and photos; at many cons pictures are not allowed at tables because there is a professional photographer to buy photos from. If no rules or prices are posted, ask before taking photos. It is a surprise to many first time con-goers that media guests and celebrities frequently charge for an autograph. These fees can range from $15 to hundreds of dollars (Sylvester Stallone notoriously charged $395 at NYCC in 2013) - though prices usually cap off around $100 for event the biggest celebrities.

If you bump into them in a con area restaurant, shop or a bathroom, or roaming the con as an attendee: A simple smile and nod is appropriate. Notables need some downtime to recharge, be polite and let them have it.

People you are unfamiliar with: Ask them what they are working on! Most people are there to share their passion or a current project and will be happy to tell you all about it. No need to be shy! A simple “I’m unfamiliar with your work, what is your current project” will get the ball rolling!

As a parent who frequently has my geeklings in tow, I also wrote a guide to bringing them to conventions: http://bit.ly/kidsatcons

Is it Worth Your Allowance?: Grow Home

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Is it Worth Your Allowance? Is a weekly column written by 14 year old Nate. Nate reviews inexpensive games and lets your geeklings know if it's worth spending their hard earned allowance on. Have a game to suggest? You can email Nate here.

Game: Grow Home

Genre: sandbox, climbing, adventure, casual

Cost: $7.99

Developer: Ubisoft reflections
To buy: http://store.steampowered.com/app/323320/

Grow Home is a game where you play as B.U.D. (botanical utility droid) who is a small red wobbly robot made to grow and climb star plants. Your objective is to grow a star plant into space. Along the way the star plant will create a tangled web of branches that you bring all the way up to your mothership.

The artstyle is very colorful and charming. Its low poly count creates a blocky look, but makes for a smooth game play experience, because there is less strain on the hardware. The game is easy to play but still challenging. At any second you could fall off of a mile high floating island and either have climb back up or use one of the teleporters scattered around the map. But if you do fall you can die, though the only punishment is that you’ll have to climb up again, this can be prevented by using things like your jet pack or glide leaf or fall flower (giant daisy that acts like a parachute). I like that you can go out of your way to collect energy crystals and have a different experience than if you didn't, because when you collect enough crystals you get upgrades. I have a lot of fun using the glide leaf and the jet pack together to fly around the web of branches that I have made. I recomend this game for ages 8 and up.

Overall, my final rating for this game is 8/10 and I definitely think it’s worth your allowance.

Parent Guide to Cinderella: Can I bring my 5 year old to Cinderella?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 03:37:00 +0000

I have had four family members ask me this weekend if Cinderella is okay for their kids. Here is a my quick review and parent guide.

This new live-action version of Cinderella from Disney doesn't stray too far from the source material, which in this case is the animated Disney version from 1950. It stars a wide-eyed Lily James (familiar as Cousin Rose to Downton Abbey fans) as Ella, the beloved daughter of a beautiful mother and a merchant father. Ella's mother teaches her that above all else, it is important to have courage and be kind (apparently very important, as this mantra is repeated about 20 times in the film). After the death of her mother, her father marries Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett), who along with her bratty daughters make life miserable for Ella right from the get-go. After Ella's father dies, the abuse at the hands of her stepfamily gets worse, and after dirtying herself in the fireplace, she is bestowed the new name "Cinder-Ella".

One of the aspects that I enjoyed in this film was that with it's longer running length than it's animated source, they delve into the backstories of the characters a bit more. Lady Tremaine is still an awful person, but at least we are given a reason for her cold heartedness. Even the prince has a backstory, which certainly makes him more sympathetic than the cartoon version, but there is still the pesky "love at first sight" plot which I don't love.

Should you bring your kids to Cinderella? There isn't much that's objectionable here. There is no bad language, no sex, no explosions or violence, no drug references. The characters of Lady Tremaine and the Stepsisters are overtly mean - even cruel - to Cinderella, which may be a good talking point. Other talking points: Why does Cinderella stay? How are her mother's words "Have courage brave and be kind" important?

I think kids under five may be bored. There is not as much comedic relief from talking mice (Cinderella's live action mouse friends are bit less adorable), and it's a dialogue driven film. On that same note, 14 year old Nate was also pretty bored. His review of the movie was that it was nothing new. Granted, teenaged boys are probably not the target audience, but if you are picking a movie for the whole family it's definitely something to keep in mind.

Cinderella is playing in theaters now.

Is it Worth Your Allowance? - Beseige

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 17:45:00 +0000

Is it Worth Your Allowance? is a new column where my 15 year old geekling reviews video games that cost about 10 dollars. He will give a run down on all the relevant information, a short review, and will let *your* geekling know if it's a game that's worth their allowance.

Reviewed by Nate

Besiege

Genre: building, physics
Cost: $6.99

Developer: Spiderling Studios
If you’re interested in buying this game go to this link http://store.steampowered.com/app/346010/

Besiege is a game where you build medieval siege machines to complete a given objective. I recomend this game for people ages 10 and up because it has cartoon violence and minor gore (you can burn or run over people, though it’s not realistic).

The games allows you to make almost anything from the wide variety of given parts. It has 15 levels for you to go through with challenges ranging from destroying buildings to moving boulders. The developers are still adding content like levels and building materials.

I dislike that the camera is always manually controlled, but that isn't really a problem - more of a preference. This is an early access game which means that it isn't 100 percent finished, but the game is completely playable and the devs are still adding and changing things.

The most impressive machine I built was an airship that had 7 flamethrowers on the bottom, which I used in a challenge to kill sheep. My airship is nothing compared to the things the community has built, like transformers and giant walkers.

Overall, my final rating for this game is 8/10 and I definitely think it’s worth your allowance.

Have an idea for an inexpensive, teen friendly game Nate should review? Email him here.

Bellevue Staycation Part 2: John Howie Steak.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 19:32:00 +0000

This is the second part of my Bellevue Staycation wrap up! Read the first part here.

I have been ruined. After the amazing anniversary dinner we had at John Howie Steak, I don't know if I'll ever want to eat "normal" food again. I dream of the delicious food we served that night, and I am a little hesitant to even share it with you, lest you suffer my fate. But, it's kind of my job to share with you, so I will.

When we first started thinking about where to celebrate our 15th Anniversary, many friends suggested iconic Seattle restaurant Canlis. We loved the idea of eating at a premier high-end restaurant, but Canlis is a pretty dressy-uppy place (they actually won't seat you near a window if you aren't wearing a jacket) and while I love to get dolled up, it's not Super-Dad's thing. One of our favorite parts of dining at John Howie was its "come as you are" attitude. I was wearing a causal dress, and SD had on dark jeans and a sweater. We were totally comfortable and didn't feel at all out of place. Looking around we saw many other couples dressed like us, a party really dressed to the nines and one couple who was very casual with the lady in a tank top. Everyone was treated with the same fantastic service. It is hard to enjoy yourself if you feel like everyone is judging you, so John Howie Steak's welcoming atmosphere was definitely a highlight

We were comfortable at John Howie, and it just added to the magnificent experience, but don't get me wrong, John Howie is FANCY. White table cloths, the waiters wear white coats and bow ties. In between courses they cleared the table with a crumb scraper; I didn't even think those were real things any more. When we arrived our awesome waiter brought us a great selection of bread and crackers and an amuse bouche of soup. I had a taste of the creamy crab and smoked salmon chowder, Super-Dad is gluten free, and they accommodated him with a taste of tomato soup. We were each a little jealous, salmon chowder is one of his favorites, and I love tomato soup. I was able to taste his, but thanks to his Celiac Disease, I couldn't share the chowder (Darn, more for me!).

We started our meal with a spinach salad prepared tableside. It was so fun to watch one of the waitstaff "captains" prepare salad. We watched him sautee the bacon and shallots, made the vinaigrette and tossed the whole thing together with some Marcona Almonds, the whole thing was topped off with perfectly fried quail eggs, which made a unctuous sauce with its yolk. The salad was

delicious, with just the perfect amount of wilt on the spinach. He cooked over a single piece of charcoal, which was much cooler than the sterno or hot plate we've seen at other restaurants.

Then it was time for my favorite thing to eat: meat. Look, we know beef. Super-Dad's parents own a cattle ranch in Washington's Skagit Valley. We're not talking a giant, commercial farm here. Hemlock Highlands is a boutique ranch that raises a small herd of Scottish Highland Cattle for beef. Their beef is aged for 21 days, an artisanal process that most big farms that supply restaurants don't have time to devote to. This is why seeing that John Howie offers steaks aged for 28, 35 or an astonishing 42 days blew our minds. Most restaurants are more concerned about getting their product to the customer as quickly as possible, John Howie cares about quality, and it shows.

For our entree we had a terrible time deciding which cuts of meat to order, everything sounded so good. We decided that since it was an anniversary dinner we would go with a Tableside for Two choice. We chose the 36 oz. Prime Bone-in Rib Eye Steak. In case your math is bad, that's two and quarter pounds of steak! It came out looking like something from the Flintstones, just a huge, beautiful cut of meat with a big bone sticking out of it. It's served with roasted vegetables and a Bordelaise sauce that the chef specially prepared to be gluten free. The tableside service means that this perfectly medium rare beauty was sliced and plated right in front of us. It was so, so good. SD ate all of his steak, the vegetables and the side of wild mushrooms we ordered. I ate as much of mine as I could and (probably a bit more), and I still had enough leftovers to make an amazing meal the next day.

We almost passed up dessert, but we just can't say no to creme brulee, and this was the best creme brulee we had ever had. It was perfectly smooth, without a hint of graininess, and just a touch of sweet vanilla. It was served with a cute heart shaped candle in honor of anniversary. SD accompanied his with what he called an "awesome" Irish Coffee, and I had an expertly crafted latte.

We left with a few truffles, very full bellies, a wonderful Anniversary memory and plans to return (they have a Sunday Family Dinner that I bet my geeklings would love)! The service was impeccable, we especially appreciated the care with which they accommodated Super-Dad's dietary restriction. The atmosphere was elegant but comfortable, and the food was some of the best we've enjoyed. Thanks, John Howie Steak for hosting our Anniversary dinner!

For more information and reservations: https://www.johnhowiesteak.com/

Join ParentingGeekly at SAM Remix on March 13

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 19:58:00 +0000

Hey Seattle Area geeks! I am jazzed to be one of Seattle Art Museum's guest tweeters for their SAM Remix party on March 13th, in celebration of their Indigenous Beauty exhibit. I will be taking over the @iheartsam twitter handle for an hour (Exact time TBA) and will be live tweeting the rest of the event from my twitter handle - @ParentingGeekly.

From SAM:

Choose your own adventure from this fabulous late night of performances, activities, dancing, and more with Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Diker Collection and SAM’s fantastic collection. No two #SAMRemix events are the same!

Tickets and more info can be found here: http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/calendar/events?EventId=30724

This is a fun way to experience the museum in a non-museum like setting (DJs! Irreverent tours! Rube Goldberg machine making!) and I would love to see some blog readers there. ParentingGeekly readers can get $5 off the ticket price by using the code twitterremix0313 during checkout.

Our Anniversary Staycation: The Awesomeness of the Hyatt Regency Bellevue

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 20:51:00 +0000

I am not usually a fan of cutesy portmanteaus: frenemy, vaguebooking, they kind of drive me crazy. There is one exception to this rule: Staycation. A staycation can come in several forms. It can simply mean taking some time off and staying home, but my favorite kind of staycation is the kind where you play tourist in your own town. Super-Dad and I recently had a chance to have a very luxurious staycation to celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary.

We headed over to Bellevue, WA, a short 15 minute drive from our Seattle house. Bellevue is where is Super-Dad grew up, and there was a time not that long ago that taking any kind of trip to Bellevue would have been laughable. It was known for it’s giant shopping mall and wealthy suburbanites, but that’s about it. In the past few years, Bellevue has had a geek renaissance. Microsoft has a huge presence there, T-Mobile is there, Valve (and Steam) are headquartered there. Expedia, Clearwire, Bungie, 5th Cell - all have Bellevue offices. It’s the age of the geek, and Bellevue is the place to be. No longer just Seattle’s dorky neighbor, it’s become a destination all on it’s own. We set out to experience it like tourists, and we had our expectations blown away.

A particular quirk of downtown Bellevue is that many of the buildings are connected. You never have to leave the indoors and you can even cross streets using a series of skybridges. I had been to the Hyatt Regency Bellevue’s lobby before on a couple of occasions. It opens to a retail area on the lower floor where I’ve met clients for a coffee meeting. I also attended a fantastic event all about holiday tech hosted by the people over at Techlicious in one of the hotel’s spacious meeting spaces. During that event, the Hyatt Regency Bellevue showed off some of it’s cool tech (which I will highlight later), food, rooms and service. It was also at that event that I was gifted a night’s stay at the hotel.

An anniversary card signed by the hotel staff!

I contacted the hotel a few days before we were planning on visiting to let them know that I would be coming, that I wanted to write it up as a part of this staycation piece, and that Super-Dad and I would be using the opportunity to celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary. From that point on, we felt like rock stars. The hotel sent us maps,info on local hot spots and information about making our reservation at the hotel’s restaurant, Eques (not only for hotel guests, it’s one of the most popular brunches in Bellevue).

When we arrived, we were delighted to find that we were upgraded to the Kemper Suite, a gorgeous huge suite on the top floor. The room was awesome. Standing in the middle of two seating areas, a dining table that seats 8 and a kitchenette, we decided that when we renew our wedding vows in a few years we will throw a dinner party in the Kemper suite! There was a big TV, and a desktop computer ready to access the internet. Hyatt did a beautiful job of making a room that was both business friendly and luxe. We would have been as comfortable hosting a meeting as we were celebrating a weekend away.

The bedroom had an amazing king poster bed with some of the nicest linens we’ve ever experienced. Seriously, after staying there, Super-Dad suggested that we get new sheets for our king-sized bed, the flannel and t-shirt knit sheets are no longer cutting it. The Kemper Suite has a big soaking tub that is positioned kind of halfway in the bathroom and halfway into the bedroom which was fun because it gave me a view of the TV while I soaked.

I have a real problem with people who greedily snatch up all the hotel toiletries upon leaving a room. Like, how many tiny bottles of shampoo could you possibly need? It has always seemed so greedy and unnecessary to me - until now. The Hyatt Regency stocks KenetMD bath products, and I’m only a little embarrassed to admit that we pocketed them all. I fell in LOVE with a minty pulse point oil that I swear has given me a little extra pep and patience when I need it. Super-Dad loved a combo linen/facial mist that had a light, spicy (cardamom maybe?) scent. I think we are going to have to go back and stay another night, because we’re both running low.

I could go on and on….we visited the Regency Club for some hors d'oeuvres and a cocktail, lounged some more in our room with a bottle of Hyatt’s exclusive Canvas wine, and enjoyed an early morning room service breakfast (before hitting up the Regency Club again for our mid-morning snack, before hitting up Eques for brunch -we legit ate like Hobbits on this trip). But I know the readers of this blog, and you want to know geeky details.

What sets the Hyatt Regency Bellevue apart for geeks? It’s at this point that I have to mention the bedroom TV. Super-Dad and I love to settle into bed and watch TV. We have a 42 inch TV in our home bedroom (yes, we know it’s not ideal for sleep hygiene), so we were a bit disappointed that there was no television in the bedroom. As I was about to get into the bath, Super-Dad noticed a remote on the footboard of the bed. It only had buttons for up and down. SD pushed the up button and lo and behold, a TV rose out of the bottom of the bed - turns out it was a motorized TV console positioned to look like a footboard. The TV rotated in all directions, allowing us to watch in the tub, on the sofa facing the bed and in the bed. The TV WAS A TRANSFORMER, you guys! This was probably our favorite part of the room, because we are dorks.

Another favorite feature? Text based concierge. You can text the front desk to ask questions, have toiletries delivered, and arrange transportation or entertainment. The key cards are RFID enabled, so after that bottle of red we didn’t have to worry about sticking key cards in slots the right way, you just touch the key to the door. The lobby has two huge Surface coffee tables. We played a little piano and had a game of chess while hanging out in the lobby.

In case you can’t tell, we love, love, loved staying at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. It’s right in the middle of everything (look for upcoming stories on the food we ate at John Howie Steak and the games we played at Lucky Strike - both within walking distance). Not only was it great for a relaxing couples’ weekend, but with a pool, the fun coffee tables, and the almost continuous availability of snacks in the Regency club, our kids would be totally at home as well.

I also want to take this opportunity to give a shout out the amazing staff. Every single person we dealt with from check in to check out seemed genuinely excited to work with us. It’s was a real delight to work with such competent, lovely people and it made our stay even more delightful.

If you would like to stay at the Hyatt Regency you can find them online here.

Barbie finally gets a Superhero Alter-Ego

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 04:33:00 +0000

Okay, so she's still a princess for whatever reason, but I feel about this much like I feel about pink Lego. If this is what gets an otherwise uninterested kid into super heroes (especially female ones!) I'm down. My own daughter likes Barbie AND superheroes, so it's great to see the folks at Barbie embrace that you can be a girly girl and like to take down the villains too!

Here is the synopsis from Universal Home Entertainment:

SYNOPSIS Barbie Princess Power: Barbie™ stars as Kara™, a modern-day princess with an everyday life. One day, after being kissed by a magical butterfly, Kara™ soon discovers she has super powers allowing her to transform into Super Sparkle™, her secret, crime-fighting alter ego who flies around the kingdom ready to save the day! But it’s not long before her jealous cousin catches the butterfly and also transforms – this time into Dark Sparkle™, her nemesis. Their rivalry takes to the skies, but when they discover the kingdom’s true enemy, can they put aside their differences to form one super team? Soar to new heights and discover that there’s no greater power than the power of friendship!

The movie is released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 3rd. Want a copy? Universal Studios Home Entertainment has offered me FIVE(!) copies of the blu-ray to give to ParentingGeekly readers. Enter for your chance below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

More Wearables! G G Watch R and Martian Notifier

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:39:00 +0000

I LOVE Wearable technology. Love, love, love it. It combines some of my favorite things; the ability to be always connected, metrics and data, and shiny jewelry and tech. Team Feliciano has tried tons of wearables, and we love getting the opportunity to try out more.

Recently AT&T Seattle loaned me some watch style wearables to try. For the past month or so we have been giving the Martian Notifier and LG G Watch R a go. Here’s what we thought:

LG G Watch R
This is a sexy watch. I loved the way it looked, especially it’s circular face with a true circular display (the Moto 360, a watch with a similar look and round face, still had a weirdly rectangular display that showed its bottom edge). It looks, for the most part, like a watch. Unlike every other smart watch we’ve tried, this one has a real leather band, which can be swapped with any appropriately sized watch band of your choosing. This is a neat feature that not only allows you to personalize the watch, but helps extend the life. The drawback here is that the watch face is pretty darn big. This is definitely sized like a men’s watch. I have very petite wrists and It was pretty uncomfortable for me to wear. Nate, at age 14, has wrists a bit bigger than me, found it to be just fine. After I deemed the watch too uncomfortable, he wore it for the most of the month.

The G Watch R is also a “Pure” Android device. it runs Google’s Android Wear, as opposed to a watch like the Samsung Gear, which runs proprietary software over the Android framework. This seemed to make the watch a bit more zippy, with virtually no lag. Coming off the Samsung experience, there was a bit of a learning curve with the interface. Not surprisingly, Nate was the first to really get it, and once he did he found it very easy to navigate.

Nate’s favorite features were the pedometer and the heart rate monitor. He really liked that there are many watch faces to choose from, and his favorite looked like a regular watch that had subtle dials for steps taken and current heart rate. We have offered him wearables that were simply for step tracking, but he has never really been interested. I think that the fact that the G Watch R looks like a cool watch, but has the ability to show steps discreetly makes this a health tracking device that even an image conscious teenager can get behind.

The charging situation with smart watches has been a problem since their introduction, and I don’t think that any of the ones we have tried have really solved that yet, and this is no exception. The charging cradle has the benefit of a magnet, which only slightly mitigates the awkward cradle fit.

It has a nice, crisp OLED display. The battery conserving properties of the OLED allows the G Watch R to have an “always on” mode that always shows the time, just another step towards smart watches actually working like a traditional watch.

Nate got about 3 - 4 days of battery life when the watch wasn’t connected to his phone (to honestly use it as a watch and not a “device” at school, it was better for him to sync it at home). When it was constantly connected via bluetooth, the battery life was about 2 days, which is pretty respectable, and a small improvement over other smart watches we’ve tried.

Nate was upset when I told him our review period was over and he’d have to give the watch back. This is the first piece of tech that I’ve brought home that has really gotten him excited. WIth a $300 price tag, I’m not sure that it’s in the budget as a gift for a teen. This is totally a contender for me to buy for myself once my current smart watch bites the dust, though.

Martian Notifier Smartwatch

We took this one out, and Kitty summarized all of our feelings about it pretty well. “PopPop would like that”. This is a smartwatch that is first and foremost a watch. It, once again, was too big for my tiny wrists (c’mon smartwatch designers, ladies like gadgets, too!). The face was a bit more comfortable for me than the G Watch R, but the rather large rubbery watch band once again made this look more like a man’s watch than a unisex time piece. The face size shouldn't be too much of an issue on this one, a majority of the face is an actual, analog watch with just a small sliver along the bottom for the screen. Hopefully Martian will be able to offer a Ladies’ Notifier in the future. Currently the Notifier comes in red, white or black. AS with the G Watch R, the straps are interchangeable with any watch band, and the Martian also offers “quick change” watchbands in nine colors ($20) that can be swapped out without using tools.

If subtlety is your game, this is the smart watch for you. I can imagine this being used by anyone who wants to discreetly stay connected without the flash of a OLED, touch screen, and speaker equipped mini-computer. It syncs with both Android and iOS devices, making it one of the few options out there for Apple devotees. It will sync with almost any app that can push notifications to your phone. You can change the watch’s settings to vibrate differently for each app, a helpful feature for knowing which of your notifications need your immediate attention (waiting for an important text or email?) and allowing you to ignore notifications that can be saved for later (SportsCenter, Facebook, and Clash of Clans, all apps that can be set up to send notifications).

I love that you can set up the Notifier as a “leash”, it will tell you when your phone is out of range; and you can have the Notifier make your phone ring if you've ever misplaced it. It’s one of the valuable features for me, as I seem to misplace my phone multiple times a day.

There are a few detractors here, even when taking it’s purposely limited scope into consideration.

The Martian Notifier is *this* close to having the charging system I want to see in wearables. It has a port right on the side of the watch, and you just plug it in, which is awesome. The downside? The micro USB port is set really deeply into the side of the watch, meaning it needs a ridiculously long proprietary USB connector that seems really delicate to me. I didn’t have any problems when I used it, but being in an active household with two kids, I was constantly concerned that it would snap off the cord. The charging port on the watch requires a cover to be snapped into place to keep the splash resistant qualities intact. Yes, it’s splash resistant and not water proof, which seems a step in the wrong direction considering all of the other current smart watches are water proof. You could wear the Notifier while washing your hands, but you’ll have to take it off if you’re going to take a shower. It doesn’t have an onboard speaker, which is probably fine as I would imagine anyone opting for this aesthetic would feel pretty silly talking into their wrist anyway.

Two other points in the Martian Notifier’s favor? This is an affordable piece of tech at $130 MSRP. I also loved the five day battery life and the fact that when that battery does die it still works as...a watch.

Both of these devices are available from AT&T retail stores, your carrier or online.

Win a Red Boom Swimmer Speaker - A perfect Geeky Valentine's Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 04:08:00 +0000

We are media obsessed here, and with our Samsung Galaxy S 5s, we have taken to streaming shows while we shower. The shower can be pretty loud, and having a waterproof Bluetooth speaker is a necessity.

I suppose you could also play some sweet, sexy tunes and run your Valentine a bath with, like, flowers or whatever, but if you're a reader of this blog you're just as likely to want to watch Game of Thrones during that bath. Either way, AT&T has your back. Their “Sweet Heart Sale” happening Feb. 6-19: Get 2 Boom Swimmer speakers (any color - though the red is especially Valentines-y) for $99. (save $31).

The Boom Swimmer Speakers are especially cool because they have a little bendable "tail" that allows you to hang it in a bunch of ways, and attach it to multiple things or coil it into a stand. It also has a suction cup, for sticking to the shower wall.

Check out the Boom Swimmer Speaker and AT&T's other gift suggestions at http://www.celebrateyoursweetheart.com/

Want to win a red Boom Swimmer Speaker, courtesy of AT&T Seattle? Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's coming up?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 15:24:00 +0000

Hey Geeky Parents! Thought I'd do an quick a post to let you know what you can expect here soon!

My lovely Grandmom Theresa died a few weeks ago. I traveled back to the mother land (Philadelphia) to attend her services and spend some time with my parents. While there my dad and I did a bit of genealogy research, and found some very cool ephemera from my family's history. I hope to wrap that project up and share some of that info (and how we found it) soon.

My obsession with wearables continues. We've been testing out the LG G watch R and the Martian Notifier, and will have those reviews up at the end of this week.

Super-Dad and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on Thursday! I will have a feature on our anniversary "staycation" on the blog soon!

Finally, I am reading "Orbital Perspective" by Astronaut Ron Garand. I got to speak with Garand while he was orbiting the earth on the ISS a few years ago (how lucky am I!?) so I'm excited to read his insights!

In my personal life we are getting ready to celebrate Kitty's eighth birthday tomorrow (Eight! She was just a tiny little five pound baby yesterday, I swear!) and Nate tours our neighborhood high school and alternative school this week in preparation for next year! High school! What? I'm so old.

For the most frequent info from me follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Ant-Man Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 14:00:00 +0000

Disney released the first (human sized!) trailer for Ant-Man last night during the premiere of Agent Carter.

We get a good look at Scott Lang and Hank Pym, and a brief glance of Hope Van Dyne. I'm not super duper familiar with the Scott Lang story line, when I think of Ant-Man I think of foul tempered domestic abuser Hank. No doubt the affable Paul Rudd as Lang will be a bit more sympathetic. I do know that in the Scott Lang storyline in the comics Lang steals the suit (or Pym Particles or something) and that in this trailer he seems to be gifted them by Hank, which again was probably to make the character more likeable.

The screenplay was written by Adam McKay, who is known for Anchorman, Talladega Nights and The Other Guys. So this should be pretty funny, though you wouldn't really know it from this teaser.

Are you excited for Ant-Man? It'll be released right around my birthday in July, so I'm pretty pysched!

Why I'm Thankful for our Christmas Flu

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:18:00 +0000

For the first time in years I procrastinated in getting our family flu shots. Guess what? For the first time in years, we got the flu. It was a bad one. Kitty and I were the first to go down with fevers and sore throats. That happened on December 18th. The next time we were able to leave the house for anything other than a doctor's appointment was January 3rd. We were really sick. We had to cancel all of our holiday plans. We didn't get to go to Grandma's, we didn't get to see Aunt Karen visiting from Alaska, we barely got the kids' presents wrapped. We sat wrapped in blankets, watching Netflix.

It sounds pretty terrible, huh? It was. It sucked. I have to say, though that I am thankful for our Christmas flu.

No, the fever did not affect my brain (though it did reach a kinda scary 104.2!), I'm not glad we were sick, but I can find the silver lining. It made us stop. Any shopping that wasn't done by December 18th didn't get done. You know what? There were still plenty of gifts. All of the last minute things that I usually worry about getting were unnecessary and definitely not missed. I think the kids appreciated the gifts more; not because there were fewer things, but because the gifts that were there were all the good stuff. There were no filler gifts for the sake of having even piles or just having more to open. The most thoughtful gifts were there and it was totally enough!

I wasn't able to stand in line at the post office to ensure timely delivery of gifts for nieces and nephews. Those boxes are still in my bedroom. They will go out this week, and my niblings will have new gifts to open during that rough first week back to school, which will be a treat! No one missed our gifts during the onslaught of stuff on Christmas Day, and now they will be able to really appreciate the gifts we send.

We couldn't go anywhere on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It made me realize that while I love seeing our extended family, there was something magical about just the four of us cuddling and taking care of each other. We didn't have to worry about rushing through our family time in order to be dressed and ready to get somewhere in time for a 4 o'clock dinner (seriously, why do we eat so early on holidays?). I managed enough strength to put a pork shoulder in the crock pot, which no one ate, but made the house smell nice. We all had popsicles and watched Die Hard. It was a very Feliciano Christmas, and it was kind of awesome.

I had to ask for help. It's always hard to ask for help, but I did it. When we were totally out of Gatorade and popsicles (the only thing we were eating) I took friends up on their offers of grocery delivery. It made us feel so loved and cared for, and so appreciative of the family we have created through friendships here in Seattle.

We are better now (well, I have some lingering complications from a ruptured ear drum, but we are mostly better) and I've learned from this flu. I've learned that it's okay to slow down, that what you have is usually enough and that nothing is better than being with the people you love the most. All that learned, and I only had to clean up a little puke.

Also: Get your flu shot. It's not too late. All this silver-lining stuff is nice, but the flu can kill you.

Is Walking with Dinosaurs Scary? Educational? Scientifically Accurate?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 21:11:00 +0000

Last night our family was invited to see the Seattle-area opening night of Walking with Dinosaurs. We are a group of cynics, and I expected seven year old Kitty to be the only one truly impressed with the show. Fourteen year old Nate was mad that we were dragging him away from the house to see the animatronic/puppet dinos, and he was very vocal about his displeasure. It didn't help that we got caught in hellacious traffic, and the normally 45 minute ride from our home in North Seattle to the Tacoma Dome took two hours (I had planned an extra 45 minutes into our time to account for traffic, but still missed a special behind-the-scenes tour, which was a bummer. When are we supposed to get those robot cars, again?).

I am pleased to report that everyone left the show with a smile on their face. Walking with Dinosaurs is a huge spectacle; from the giant teeth surrounding the stage to the whimsy of the inflatable, changing foliage, there is a lot going on on the arena floor. No where can you see the bulk of this show's $20 Million budget better than on the dinosaurs themselves, though.

The combo animatronic/remote control/human powered puppets were really where we thought they'd lose us. We were expecting some clunky four wheelers with paper mache dino bodies smacked on top. We were pleasantly surprised to experience very real looking dinosaurs. These are beautifully crafted, expertly puppeteered creatures. Even after realizing that this was indeed a first-class show, Super-Dad and I joked when they brought out a baby brachiosaurus, explaining that the adults actually grew to the height of a three storey house. "Makes sense, they'd show us a juvenile" I said to SD "how the heck would they make a three storey tall dinosaur puppet?" Guess what walked on stage just then? A giant, life-sized, adult brachiosaur. It was HUGE, you guys. SD's jaw dropped, I gasped, both kids had huge smiles on their faces, it was great!

Is Walking with Dinosaurs scary?
I've already have had a few people on Twitter ask if it was too scary for little kids. I'd say that it was suspenseful, but not really scary. There are some very loud T-Rex roars, and a sort of scary "comet strike" near the end, but those were the scariest moments. The show has a theatrical score, which was beautiful, but just like in the movies it really punched up the more suspenseful scenes.

Is Walking with Dinosaurs violent?
Well, it's about dinosaurs, who we don't normally think of as warm and cuddly. The most upsetting part of the show for my 7 year old happened in the first few minutes when a baby dinosaur was snapped up by a predator. It wasn't scary, and it happened in a quick and matter-of-fact way, but Kit was definitely distraught. There is also a fight where a Torosaurus loses a horn, and is rammed in the side by another Torosaurus, though (like the few other fights depicted in the show) there is no blood or wounds shown.

Is Walking with Dinosaurs scientifically accurate?
The shows producers insist it is. And while I'm no Paleontologist, I am a proponent of presenting audiences, especially young audiences, with the most scientifically accurate info. Everything presented seemed to jive with what *I* understand to be the most up to date scientific information.

Is Walking with Dinosaurs educational?
The show is presented by an actor playing a Paleontologist, who guides us through the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, introducing us to the geography, flora, and climate of the time, and then bringing out a few dinosaurs for dramatic vignettes. If your child is dino-obssesed, there may not be a whole lot here they didn't know. Then again, if your child is dino-obssesed just seeing a life sized Tyrannosaurus Rex will probably be pretty exciting.

How long is Walking with Dinosaurs?
I've seen a few reviews online where bloggers complain about the short length of the show . It was two 35 minute acts with a 20 minute intermission in between. We found it to be the perfect amount of time for our family. The 35 minute acts were jam-packed and no one got bored or looked at their watch. The 20 minute intermission allowed us all to have a bathroom break and grab a beverage.

Walking with Dinosaurs plays the Tacoma Dome through December 21, 2014. Discount codes for select shows can be found here.

For more information and to see when Walking with Dinosaurs is playing in your area visit www.dinosaurlive.com

Review: Samsung Galaxy Gear 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 05:32:00 +0000

The original Galaxy Gear in smashing rose gold (bottom), and the much improved Galaxy Gear 2 (top, with Pip-Boy watch face)

As we march headlong into 'the future is now!' one of the big new fields is wearable tech. I am all about metrics and data and information, so as soon as the Galaxy Gear became available, I wanted one. Super-Dad got me a Samsung Galaxy Gear (original version, in rose gold of course ) for our anniversary last year - my kind of jewelry! Sometimes being an early adopter has its disappointments. The general concepts are there, answering calls and texts from your wrist, a camera, and a pedometer; they just aren't executed super well. I found the software to be buggy and the hardware to be clunky. The camera is inconveniently placed and constantly brushed against stuff. The charging port was a ridiculous contraption that wrapped around the entire watch face. But, this isn't a review of the Original Galaxy Gear, it’s a review of the far superior follow up attempt, the Galaxy Gear 2.

The Galaxy Gear 2 may only be a second generation device, but in this age of super fast development cycles, that means more than it once did. The interface has improved dramatically, with significantly less bugginess than the original. It has a great list of features including IR (can be used to screw with your friends’ TVs! Or just to change the channel on your own set ) a heart rate monitor, a more accurate pedometer, and a sleep monitor. The Gear 2 also offers a more robust list of apps from which you can get notifications. SD is a constantly on call Systems Engineer, and the ability to check these alerts for urgency without fumbling around for his phone it great. It offers him both quick convenience and subtlety when we are out and about. This has been the true selling point for him. He, like so many of us, had given up on wearing a watch. It’s a relic in a time when everyone has a phone in their pocket. He was reminded of how convenient it is to easily check the time from your wrist, and the Gear 2 has the added bonus of allowing you to also check message and mail. It’s quite the time saver.

The ability to customize the watch has greatly improved since the original Galaxy hit the scene as well. There are a ton of watch faces available whether you want a fancy multiface analog style watch or something a little more geeky, like the Fallout Pip-Boy display.

The hardware has also gone through a major update with the two major design flaws - the obtrusive camera lens and the bulky charger - both being replaced with sleeker more integrated design. The charging port is still a separate piece that snaps onto the back of the watch face, and a downside to it being smaller is that it’s much easier to potentially lose. I’d find a permanent home for it, and just leave it plugged in.

Super-Dad did accidentally “wrist dial” people a few times. Mostly me, but it did lead to at least one awkward conversation with a business associate. SD also found that the icons would rearrange themselves on the home screen, which was annoying. These complaints could be avoided by addressing one of our other complaints and adding a lock screen. The Gear 2’s accelerometer also locked up once during the three weeks he tested it. This went unnoticed for a few days, SD just figured it wasn't tracking sleep for some reason, but was easily fixed with by restarting.

So what’s the verdict? Well, our Gear 2 is on loan from AT&T for review purposes, and SD really doesn't want to give it back. Guess it’s a good thing that Christmas is just a few short days away. The Gear 2 would make a great gift for any Samsung Galaxy user. I can actually see it being really practical for our teen as well. Phones are supposed to stay in pockets at school, but a watch is a useful tool and a watch that also gives my ADHD kid reminders? I think that could be pretty great.

You can check out AT&T’s collection of wearable devices here: http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/accessories/wearables.html

And you can see the whole family of Galaxy Wearables here: http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/wearable-tech/all-products??cid=ppc-ce-wea-0614-43700002117091018

I was not compensated for this post, I was offered the Galaxy Gear 2, on loan, for reivew purposes from AT&T.

Walking with Dinosaurs - Discount Code

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 20:38:00 +0000

Kitty is seven years old, and like many seven year olds, she is obsessed with dinosaurs. So I'm really excited that the folks from Walking with Dinosaurs invited us to join them for opening night in the Seattle area! We haven't yet seen the show, but are looking forward to what the creators bill as a "$20,000,000 spectacular".

I will be posting a review of the show the night of the 17th, so if you're on the fence about seeing it when it comes to your town, keep an eye out!

For more information on the show and for dates near you: http://www.dinosaurlive.com/

For my Seattle area readers:
For tickets and more info visit: http://www.tacomadome.org/

Discount codes for Parenting Geekly Readers:
$5 off Price Level 2: $44.50 (reg. $49.50)

$3 off Price Level 3: $26.50 (reg. $29.50)
Offer Code: KIDFUN

Valid on all Tacoma Dome shows except Sat 11am/3pm & Sun 1pm

Tips for Buying your Kids a Smartphone this Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 17:49:00 +0000

I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet. With the exception of one gift for each kid, I have yet to check anything off my list! Nate really wants a new smartphone this year. He has been getting our hand me down phones, so it might be time for a new phone all his own to put under the tree

I'm pretty phone saavy, and I'm sure most of my readers are as well, but this list from AT&T has some great reminders. I know that I want a quad core processor, unlimited data and a durable case, but sometimes I go into the store and have an "Oooh, shiny!"moment and forget all that. I love the idea of bringing a checklist. This is especially helpful if you plan is to buy whatever phone is a good deal. If it's not one of the big two (iPhone or Samsug Galaxy S series) you may not be as familiar with the specs. Keeping a list with you will make sure you get exactly what you want for the best price.

Here are the tips from AT&T:

Smartphone Buying Tips for Parents
When it comes time to buy your child his or her first smartphone, there are several considerations and decisions to make. Determine exactly how your child plans to use the new cell phone. Parents can alleviate confusion and potential disappointment by finding out this key information before buying a phone.

Parents may want to prioritize the features of a wireless device that will be most important to their child, so they can narrow down the choices and make a wise purchase decision. Wireless carrier stores offer a wide variety of options. For example, AT&T stores stock nearly 70 wireless phones. There’s a device that’s just right for everyone; you just need to know what features will be most useful. Consider ranking the child’s mobile wish list using these criteria:

Text messaging
Send/receive e-mail
Social media
Take and share photos
Games
Listen to streaming music and mp3 files of music they already own
Watching TV (YouTube or streaming video)
Apps
Browsing Web
Video chat

Bring the list of priorities along when shopping for a wireless phone. A store salesperson can then offer several devices in a variety of price ranges that will meet those needs. If a child enjoys video games and streaming video, a smartphone with larger display screens may be a better choice. It’s also helpful to know how a child will use the phone when selecting the right voice and data plan. Streaming audio and video use more data than email and social media posts, so the mobile data plan you select should match how the phone will be used to avoid any surprises later.

After selecting a wireless phone, mobile protection insurance should also be on the shopping list. Anyone can drop a phone, no matter their age. Another key decision a parent should make is whether to choose a wireless device that requires a contract or not. The latter may be a good option for a parent trying to teach a child financial responsibility—the parent may purchase the device and make the child pay the monthly cost of voice, data and texting. A no-contract option has no activation charge or contract. Choices of prepaid phones range from basic voice phones to quick messaging devices all the way up to smartphones.

I was not compensated for this post, I just think there are some smart considerations here. Thanks, AT&T.

Help Sesame Street Celebrate their 45th Birthday on this Giving Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 20:37:00 +0000

Last month Sesame Street celebrated its 45th Birthday! If you've read this blog before you know that not only am I a huge fan of the show, but I am a big supporter of Sesame Workshop, the non-profit behind the television production. This being Giving Tuesday, I encourage you to make a donation to Sesame Workshop, or any non-profit that you support.

The story of Sesame Street's creation is an amazing one, and lots has been written about it (I recommend Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street and Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street) Here are the highlights:

Sesame Street and the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) were created by Joan Ganz Cooney, a woman who was compelled to work in educational television as soon as she learned that such a thing existed. She originally appiled to be a publicist for her local station, but upon being told that they needed producers, she told them that she could do that, despite never having done it before. She's said: "I've never been qualified for any job I've been hired for". This is a woman who heard her calling and went for it. She's one of my personal heroes, and I hope some day to get to tell her that in person.

Anyway, Cooney had this idea that they could take the addictive properties of television, a concern that was already being expressed by the mid 60's, and turn them into a way to benefit children. Children's Television Workshop was started and conducted over two years of research on the best ways to prepare children for school through the medium of television.

For many kids, it was the only program on television that showed a street like theirs, in a neighborhood like theirs, with neighbors like theirs. Sesame Street, the place, was gritty and urban. The people in the neighborhood were white, latino, and black. They showcased kids and adults who were deaf and in wheelchairs. Some grownups were hippies, some were preppies (Bob!). There were women in the fix-it shop and women who were moms. There have been births, deaths (my surrogate grandfather Mr. Hooper!), divorce and deployment. Sesame Street showcased the reality of many of its young, urban viewers, something was revolutionary then, and still rare now.

By 1979 (the year *I* started watching Sesame Street) over nine million kids were watching Sesame Street daily. I watched Sesame Street every single day from about age one until I was probably developmentally way too old to be watching it. My parents couldn't really afford early childhood education for us, and my mother cites Sesame Street as a big reason that I was an early talker, an early reader, and was educationally ready for kindergarten.

These days Sesame Workshop works around the globe to help young children cope with the issues that affect them. Their current initiatives in the U.S. include fighting childhood obesity, a program to help children grieving the loss of a parent, and a program to help children in families who are experiencing job loss/economic uncertainty. In Indonesia two thirds of children watch Jalan Sesama, the local version of Sesame Street, which aims to teach children in super diverse Indonesian archipelago about their share cultural identity. In India, Galli Galli Sim Sim, actually comes to the children. A repurposed vegetable cart outfitted with a DVD player travels to the Indian slums, giving the children there access to an early childhood education program.

I wholeheartedly believe that if we wish to see great change in our world, we need to educate our children. All of our children, all over the world. Sesame Workshop is doing just that, Happy, happy birthday to my friends at Sesame Street. And many, many returns.

For more information and to donate to Sesame Workshop visit their website at SesameWorkshop.org

Book links are affiliate links through amazon.com. Any purchase made through those links makes me a few pennies (literally pennies) which help me pay for the upkeep for the site.

Win Tickets to See ANNIE Before it Hits Theaters (Seattle) and a Gift Pack (US)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 03:05:00 +0000

On Saturday night, Nate was hanging out at a friend's house, and we were looking for something to do. We saw that the original Annie was on Netflix, so Super-Dad, Kitty, and I cuddled up on the couch and watched. Kitty LOVED it. She maybe didn't love the vocal accompaniment that SD and I provided (I thought we were pretty good), but she is *so* into Annie.
I'm glad she got a chance to see it before the remake of ANNIE hits theaters on December 19th. Totally coincidentally, two days after we watched the original Annie, the folks over at Columbia pictures asked if I'd like to offer my Seattle readers VIP tickets for an advance screening of ANNIE on December 13th at 10:30 AM at Pacific Place. There will be three winners! Two of you will win passes for four, and one runner up will win passes for two. Your passes will enable you to enter the theater and choose your seats before the rest of the line. To enter, use the first rafflecopter form below.

Don't live in Seattle, but still a fan of ANNIE? Don't fret! Columbia Pictures has a gift pack filled with collectible ANNIE items that anyone in the U.S. can enter to win. The pack includes: an ANNIE T-Shirt, fuzzy socks, a poster and a plush Sandy. To enter to win this pack, use the second rafflecopter form below.

Enter to win either a 4 pack (2 winners) or a two-pack (1 winner) of VIP Tickets to the preview screening of ANNIE on December 13th at 10:30 AM at Pacific Place in Downtown Seattle (Seattle and vicinity only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enter to win a Promotional Gift Pack of ANNIE Merchandise (open to all residents of the US)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amazon Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition Review

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 23:59:00 +0000

Kitty teaching her cousin about the states at a local Red Robin. Making dinner time education time!

With the holidays coming up we were starting to toss around the idea of getting Kitty her own tablet. Her desire to use my laptop and my tablet was beginning to take a toll on both my productivity and my hardware.

Super-Dad and I made a list of the features we would want if we were to buy her her own device. She is reading now, so a tablet with a good e-reader was a must. She loves to watch PBS shows on Netflix, so the ability to install common apps was also high on the list . After a bit of going over what it was we wanted, we actually decided against getting her a device. We don’t generally buy things made specifically for kids since A) Our kids are pretty savvy (as I am sure many of my readers’ kids are) and B)They inevitability outgrow them and then you have an expensive paperweight. Anything that would meet our expectations would be too expensive and fragile to risk her breaking it - and one of Kitty’s nicknames is “The Destroyer of Things”.

Then came the Amazon Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition. It launched last month and kinda flew under my radar. Frankly, even if I had seen it, I would have assumed all it promised was too good to be true. Well, two weeks ago Amazon gave me a Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition, and it has lived up to all of its promises and more. While it’s no longer an option for our holiday giving to Kit, it should definitely be on your gift list.

If you are going to buy your kids a tablet this holiday season, I strongly recommend the Amazon Fire Kindle HD Kids Edition. Here's why:

It’s Kitty Proof - Even The Destroyer of Things can’t hurt this sucker. Made of super tough Gorilla Glass and wrapped in a “Kid-Proof Case” it’s not going to be easy for her to break. The case is a lightweight rubbery/foamy material that surrounds the whole device like a bumper. It also has adds a surface for small hands to grip.
Two year No Questions Asked Warranty - Even if she does somehow break it, it is covered under a two year no questions asked guarantee. I asked if that for sure covered user-caused damaged. Ya know, like if it accidentally fell into a toilet? To which the awesome folks at Amazon replied “No questions asked, if it stops working within the two years, we will replace it”. That is UNHEARD of, and I’m sure will be very welcome in most households with “spirited” children like mine.
Sooo many apps - The Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition comes with one year of Amazon Freetime, a hand-curated subscription of over 5,000 kid-friendly books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games. After the one year period is up the Freetime App is still a huge value at $2.99/month for Amazon Prime Members and $4.99/month for everyone else. This is AMAZING you guys. There are books and videos featuring Disney characters, Nickelodeon shows, PBS Kids content and so much more. There are tons of leveled readers, lots of great educational apps and a selection of entertainment videos and games. Kitty has been using this thing practically non-stop for two weeks and has yet to say that she is bored with the content.
The parental controls were clearly designed by parents - besides having the ability to control exactly which of the Freetime content you want your kids to have access to, you can control when they can have it. The Freetime parental controls contain Wake up and Bed Time settings and kids are locked out of the device outside of that time frame. What we really, really love though, is that we can lock Kit out of any of the “entertainment” content until she has met certain educational goals. Kitty gets a total of two hours of screen time a day( not counting reading time, which is unlimited), but before she can access iCarly or the Hair Salon game, she has to read in the reading app for 30 minutes on school nights and 45min on weekends, use any of the educational apps for 30 minutes(right now Stack the States is the favorite, and has given her the ability to put all 50 states on the map! She’s seven! I can’t even do that! ) and watch an educational video (Wild Kratts and BrainPOP are the current winners in that category) and only then can she watch or play what Freetime has marked as entertainment. She has always been a reluctant reader, and this has helped immensely. I like, want to find the person who came up with this idea and buy them a coffee. It has the reward built right in. We don’t have to nag or police her. If she wants the tablet to do something other than read, she’s gotta read. You can fine tune these settings at any time, so if we take a road trip, or she’s stuck in bed sick, we can give her more time. If she’s having a hard week listening, we can give her less.
It’s a real tablet - This thing has real tablet specs. It’s the Kindle Fire HD with the Kids stuff on top. When she is done for the night, I log onto my profile and watch a show in bed before I fall asleep. I have access to any app in Amazon’s app store. I watch Netflix on the HD display, the quad-core processor means everything runs smoothly and looks great, and it has a 2MP camera for photos and 1080p HD video. You can skype and it looks pretty good.
It may be a real tablet, but it was designed for kids - Amazon told me that they started from the ground up when developing a tablet for children. It boots directly into kids mode (no “Mommy, wake up, I need you to put in the password!”) and is intuitive for even the youngest non-readers to use. The lack of physical home and back buttons takes a little getting used to, but as with many tech related “issues” Kitty got used to that before the adults did.

The only real detractor here is the $2.99/$4.99 monthly price tag for the Freetime after your first year is up. It is an added expense, and the parental controls go away with it, but I think that it is such a good value for all the content that you get that I can’t even complain about that too much. When the time comes, I will happily pay it. Practically unlimited books alone is worth that tiny price tag.

I was given an Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition to facilitate this review, but my love for it is all my own. If a tablet for a kid is on your shopping list this holiday season, this is a good bet.

The Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition starts at $149 and includes a case, a two year Worry Free Guarantee and one year of Amazon Freetime. ( if you buy from that link I get some pennies [literally a few cents] to help with blog maintenance.

Big Hero 6 Fun Facts

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:27:00 +0000

If you read my review you know that I *loved* Big Hero 6, as did the rest of my family. It's rare to find a family-friendly film that is truly entertaining for our whole family (a fidgety 7 year old, a jaded teen, and two cynical parents), but Disney once again did the job. Apparently everyone everywhere agrees, because Big Hero 6 was the #1 movie this week.

Disney sent me some very cool fun facts to share with you. No spoilers here, so if you're still planning on going you can use these facts to enhance your experience! I especially love the geeky facts about how Denzien, Disney's proprietary crowd-creating system, helped the animators make tons of unique characters to fill San Fransokyo, and the fact that several cast members are real-life robotics enthusiasts!

CHARACTERS

SLAM DUNK – Baymax is 6 feet tall and 75 pounds—until Hiro mechs him out. Baymax, in
his super suit, is more than 7 feet tall and can lift 1000 pounds. “He’s all air,” says head of animation Zach Parrish.

GO AHEAD – Artists looked at actors like John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper and other cowboys to study cool, emotionally reserved traits while developing GoGo Tomago’s look and personality.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BLINK – Baymax sports a standard nine-frame-blink, says head of animation Zach Parrish. “We play with the speed of his blink throughout the film, but for the most part, it’s a standard blink. It’s the amount of time we give the audience to think before he blinks that says a lot—the longer it is, the more time he’s processing. A double blink shows confusion. We used that a few times in the film. That could be an acting choice for a human character, too.”

NEED FOR SPEED – Artists looked at speed skaters to inform the body type and movement for GoGo Tomago, a passionate student of speed.

DUUUUUUDE – Artists studied snowboarders, skateboarders and surfers to develop movement and posture for Fred.

CHILL OUT – Wasabi, at one time, was a very Zen character with very Zen dreadlocks. When filmmakers tweaked his personality, they initially decided the neatnik wouldn’t be a fan of the not-oft-shampooed-do and gave him a haircut. The look didn’t last. It turns out, everyone was just too attached to his cool locks.

LOOSE TOOTH – To ensure Hiro’s charming gap-toothed grin stayed intact from any angle, controls were added to his teeth so animators could make adjustments as needed.

TALENT
ROBOT LOVE – Ryan Potter, who voices Hiro in “Big Hero 6,” was obsessed with building robots as a kid. “I was 9 or 10 when I got a robotics kit,” he says. “I absolutely love science.”

MORE ROBOT LOVE – Genesis Rodriguez, who lends her voice to Honey Lemon in “Big Hero 6,” was on her school’s robotics team. “I was a welder,” she says. “So I made sure my weldings were just perfect and very aesthetically pleasing as well. People didn't expect us to be so good. That was the beauty of it. We were just this bright group of girls who had an idea, executed it and beat the guys.”

SMART GUY – James Cromwell, who lends his voice to Professor Robert Callaghan,
studied at Carnegie Mellon University (then called Carnegie Tech). “Big Hero 6” filmmakers spent time at the school, learning all about the innovative field of soft robotics, which ultimately inspired Baymax, a huggable vinyl robot that takes care of people.

FULL CIRCLE – As a child, Damon Wayans Jr., who provides the voice of Wasabi, wanted to be an animator when he grew up. He even studied animation after graduating high school before he decided to pursue acting.

FILMMAKING

LET IT GROW – The “Big Hero 6” animation team topped 100 members (103, to be exact). That’s about 15 more animators than 2013’s feature film “Frozen.”

MARTIAL ARTISTS – Filmmakers selected karate to broaden Baymax’s skillset—but animators had to adjust some of the movements to work for the voluminous character’s build. A few members of the team visited a nearby martial arts studio to get a feel for the practice. Pros were asked to attempt some of the moves while on their knees to simulate Baymax’s signature proportions.

I CAN FLY – Filmmakers consulted with flight specialist Jason McKinley, who worked on both “Disney’s Planes” and “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” to choreograph and execute the flight sequences with Baymax and Hiro.

670’S A CROWD – Walt Disney Animation Studios’ proprietary system Denizen allowed filmmakers to create bigger, more believable crowds for “Big Hero 6.” created around 670 unique characters, compared to 270 in “Frozen,” 185 in “Wreck-It Ralph” and 80 in “Tangled.”

Each of the 670 characters has up to 32 different clothing look combinations, plus 32 different hair and skin tones. That means, filmmakers could invite 686,080 unique characters to the San Fransokyo party before there were any exact repeats.
Denizen was made available to everyone at Walt Disney Animation Studios and employees were encouraged to model themselves in the system to join the crowd. More than 200 characters were created, and employees will see themselves up on the big screen—walking among the “Big Hero 6.”

COUNT ON IT -- The "Port of San Fransokyo" scene has over 6000 people in it

23 districts were built in 3D.
83,149 lots of the 150,000 in all of San Francisco were built.
18.8 million building parts.
215,000 streetlights.
260,000 trees.

The Device that Saved Drive Time

noreply@blogger.com (Sharon Feliciano) — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 21:34:00 +0000

The City of Seattle is doing a "Neighborhood Revitalization Project" in my neighborhood. This is fancy talk for "fixing the streets". They are totally gutting the roads, putting in new drainage pipes, making them bigger, repaving with more durable materials. It is a crazy ambitious project that by the time it's done in the beginning of next year, will have lasted two years. And it's all happening right outside my front door. I live on a major thoroughfare and this project, which will eventually be a major improvement, is currently a major pain in my rear.

We moved into this little townhouse one month before the project started. We were already wary of moving out of our former beloved (and currently way too trendy/expensive) neighborhood, because we lived two blocks from school. Moving into our current house meant a 12 minute commute in the car. Once the construction started it added 5 minutes onto our morning commute and a whopping 20 minutes and two miles onto our afternoon ride back to the house.

As I've written about before, it can be very difficult for us to get out of the house. On many mornings I have resorted to ~~bribery~~ rewards. With the construction making our commute painful, one of the best "rewards" I can offer Kitty is the ability to watch a show in the car. Problem is, with my current Data Plan (not through AT&T), my data is throttled after I reach 5 GB. I don't frequently use that much data, even if we do watch a few shows, but letting Kitty stream Netflix, or a show from her Kindle Fire Kids Edition does use a bit of data, and I never want to be stranded somewhere, unable to use the data on my phone because Kitty was too engrossed in Wild Kratts.

Enter the AT&T Unite for GoPhone. This thing has been amazing. Netgear hooked me up with this rad device and 1.5 GB of data, so that I could let you know what I think about it. It has really been amazing. So far we've used it for a trip to school, a trip home from school and in a restaurant. That 1.5 GB still has some data left, and the best part is that since it's a prepaid style device, Kit can EARN refills. I love putting that responsibility in her hands. Want to watch a show in the car? Better do some extra chores and reading!

Besides the convenience of pre-paid, I love that the device was so easy to set up. Even a wi-fi novice could get it going with its default settings in a matter of minutes. I dinked around a little more so that I could change the hot spot's name to match the naming conventions we have for the rest of our devices, and even that was super easy. I had the whole thing loaded up with a new pre-paid card and configured within 10 minutes.

It has good battery life. The documentation claims 10 hours, and I found it to be a bit over eight, but that's still really good. You can take a nice long road trip with that before you need to recharge. I have a feeling this has to do with the number of devices and what they are streaming. It can connect to up to 10 devices. We had up to three connected, with two of them streaming low quality video.

I also like the ability to set a temporary guest wi-fi password. I had a meeting the other day, and was the only source of wi-fi thanks to the Unite. I felt safe knowing that I was giving my co-workers a temporary password that would no longer work after the meeting.

Mobile data is still one of those products that costs more than it seems it should and this is no exception. The data plans are not super cheap, with $25 getting you 1.5 GB or a month, which ever comes first. It won't be a big issue for us, as we will continue to use in places like the care where other wi-fi isn't available, but this tech isn't cheap enough yet to be your sole source of the internet.

I was given an AT&T Unite and 1.5 GB of data to facilitate this review. I have to say it, but you already know that all opinions are mine.

Can I take my 5 year old to Big Hero 6?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 06:52:00 +0000

Last night the whole family went to a screening of Big Hero 6, the newest offering from Disney Animation Studios. The film was delightful.

The movie centers around 14 year old robotics prodigy Hiro. Hiro's brother Tadashi, a robotics genius in his own right, tries to motivate his under-achieving brother by taking him on a tour of Tadashi's workplace, a robotics research lab. After a terrible tragedy changes their lives, Hiro goes on a mission to defeat a mysterious Kabuki mask wearing super-villian. He creates a team consisting of other university employees and Baymax, the medical assistant robot Tadashi designed.

It's a little curious to me that Disney decided to release this under the Disney Animation Studios banner, as opposed to Marvel Studios. It's very loosely based on an obscure Marvel comic series from the 90's. Super-Dad and I speculate that they didn't want to tie this film into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and so they left the Marvel Studios branding off. But this could TOTALLY be a Marvel film. Marvel's Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada consulted on the production, there was the Marvel de facto after credits scene and the obligatory (and cleverly done) Stan Lee cameo.

The story, based in the fictional mash-up city of San Fransokyo is beautifully animated. The script feels heartfelt, the character development is laudable, and the voice acting is top-notch. There were many big laughs, as well as several somber, emotional moments. This is definitely a must-see for the geeky family.

Parent's Guide:

There is no offensive language in this movie, not even a "crap". There is some intense action, though no one is seriously injured in any of the fight (though it's not for lack of trying). There are a few tense scenes, and the off-screen deaths of two characters.

I was actually really surprised by the level of emotion that I felt during the film, I expected a kids action comedy, and instead got a touching story about loss, determination, and applying your talent. Hiro experiences some pretty traumatic losses during the film and a big theme of the movie is how he processes his grief. In the screening we were in a little girl (probably around age 5 or 6) got pretty upset and was crying. I cried a few times during the movie, but at one point was actually fighting off sobs. I am a crybaby and so it's no surprise that I would be affected in such a way, but 14 year old Nathan whispered to me for a tissue as well. Kitty was convinced that there would be a happy ending, so she was able to hold herself together. Apparently her grasp of fictional narrative kept her eyes dry. I would expect that smaller children may have some questions about death and loss after viewing this one, but anyone aged 8 and up should be fine. Bring the tissues.

Target, Spiderman and Gender Roles

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 05:04:00 +0000

If you follow me on Twitter (@ParentingGeekly), you may have seen this tweet this evening.

Hey @Target *Why* are these @Marvel @Starwars How to Train Your Dragon and @Minecraft toys specifically for Boys? pic.twitter.com/FYbecADOYX
— Parenting Geekly (@ParentingGeekly) November 6, 2014

This is the second time we've seen that same sign at Target. Here it is from April, when a store manager told me "the signs just come that way from corporate".

@Target calls superhero & Minecraft toys "Boy's Toys". Guess I'll buy them for my girl somewhere else pic.twitter.com/HqCc0LrC1J
— Parenting Geekly (@ParentingGeekly) April 18, 2014

Some may think this is an overly sensitive complaint, that it's just a sign at a store. But Kitty decided that she didn't want those DC Super Friends Little People (she was in the market for some new bath toys) because they were "for boys". C'mon Target! It's already hard enough when most of the super hero clothes are in the boy's clothing section, and when the kids at school tease her about her "boy's" backpack. Can't we just leave the action figures out of it? Why couldn't that sign just have left the word "Boys'" off? They're just toys. There is no reason to tie anyone's gender identity into them, they are just TOYS.