This has been a Hand-Made Mac Tip brought to you by TheMacMommy

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via blog.evernote.com

I love Evernote and I think I’ve made that pretty clear over the years. Yes, years. I looked at my Evernote account today and saw that I’ve been a member since May 2008. One of my favorite features is the emailing into Evernote feature. I take a lot of notes from my android phone and primarily manage my email from my android phone as well. This emailing into Evernote feature really helps save me some steps when needing to transfer information from emails to a note in one of my Evernote notebooks. I use this feature quite frequently. The ability to not just email directly to my Evernote, but also have it go directly into one of my notebooks AND tag it, is awesome.

Although I’ve been using evernote for a little of two years, I still use the free version. I have not yet had to upgrade, but if/when the day comes where I need to upgrade to one of the premium accounts; this is one service I’d pay for without blinking an eye.

Thanks Evernote for creating a truly amazing product….

Posted via email from Naomi + Digital Life Activity = Posterous

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Posted via email from Naomi + Digital Life Activity = Posterous

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Posted via SMS from Naomi + Digital Life Activity = Posterous

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So now I have the MyTouch 3G Slide and I’m hoping this device can keep up with me. I waited a while to see what was coming on the T-Mobile line and I was hoping and praying it would be an Android with an actual keyboard and then came the MyTouch 3G Slide. I was honestly eyeballing the Droid Incredible and was almost prepared to buy it unlocked, but I am not ready to go exclusive with a screen based keyboard. I email and text way too much. I’m just not ready nor prepared to give up the speed and accuracy of typing on an actual keyboard. I know, call me an old foggie, but hey, a sista likes keys (hehe).

Out the box the MyTouch 3G Slide is shorter than my G1, but has a slightly bigger screen which is really nice. The phone also appears to be slimmer, but I think it’s actually the same width as my G1, but for some reason the way the MyTouch 3G Slide is designed makes it feel thinner (bazaar)… The phone came in some really nice packaging. I think all phones should come in a case like this one. The box is padded on the inside and securely holds the phone, charger and other components. It’s a nice touch.

Setting up the phone was easy as usual, but there are a few new things I noticed in the set up that pleased me. On set up it of course asked for your Gmail account, but it also asked for your Flickr (you know I love Flickr – check out my photostream), Facebook (can’t stay off of it) and Twitter. I use Flickr for ALL of my photos, so I was pleased to see this automatic integration.

Being as though I just set up the phone thirty minutes ago, I will give this phone a 7 day test run and blog about my experience with this MyTouch 3G Slide.I can wait to give it a good spin. I am already impressed with what I’ve seen thus far….

Stay tuned for Hello MyTouch 3G Slide Part Deux!

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I didn’t make it until the last half of the show because we were out celebrating at dinner, but when I was able to make it on “air” for the last half of the show, I was greeted warmly by TUAW hosts and fellow comrades. Spending time geeking out with my friends on TUAW really completed my Mother’s Day.

Click here to listen to what was discussed on the TUAW Talkcast.
iTunes Link

Join TUAW each week for the live Talkcast over on Talkshoe.

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(This is a test to see if I can use this to write posts for Moms Gone Geek and publish them to the WordPress blog. It would be so awesome if I could do this. Let’s see what happens. If it works, I think I’ll be too darn excited to sleep!)

Result:

Oh wow!

I am absolutely giddy right now. I can not believe how incredible this application is. I could just kick myself for not using it sooner. I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep this weekend because I’m going to be playing with this application!

It’s hard to believe Keagan will be six months old tomorrow! I also can not believe it has been over six months since I’ve produced a podcast for Moms Gone Geek. I’m really looking forward to getting back into recording. I’m currently reviewing some hardware and software and soon I’ll be posting the results of these reviews. I also have some product to give away as well.

My goal is to get this show back in motion for Mother’s Day. We’ll see what happens. If I can implement this Mac Journal application into my workflow, I might just be able to blog more often because it seems like a much more efficient blogging method than the built-in wordpress editor I have been struggling with.

I am so excited to start using this software to blog in this space as well as my other blog, TheMacMommy.

There is also a Mac Journal app for the iPhone and I’m planning on checking it out soon. The reviews that came out when it launched were less than stellar, but updates have been released since then.

This is the first blog post I’m composing using Mac Journal and I am really impressed so far. It’s very intuitive. The only thing I can’t seem to figure out is how to work with inserting images. There seems to be a lack of formatting for being able to have text flow around the image. I suppose that comes from my graphic and publishing background. Ideally, I’d love to have blogging software look and feel like page layout software. Mac Journal so far is coming pretty close!

I’m excited to see what happens when I try to import the previous blog entries from the wordpress site. Since we moved our blog back to being hosted and using wordpress, many of the image links are still broken. I can see when people visit the blog, or when spiders do their crawling, that there are a lot of “page not found” results. I’m trying to see where they are coming from, but with the amount of networking I’ve done for this blog, who knows where the source is right now since different sites pull from the RSS feed. There are probably feed readers out there that have yet to be updated.

Growing pains, I suppose.

I try to take it all in stride because I look at it as a learning experience. I’m having a lot of fun experiencing new technologies — which is really what Moms Gone Geek is all about!

Well, I’m going to post this entry and see how it looks on the blog. I posted a quick intro earlier, so I’ll also be looking to see how the RSS feed updates and where. Tomorrow perhaps I’ll try out the voice recording portion of this app and see how that could be integrated into the site.

Until then, thanks for geeking out with me!

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We’re currently migrating our blog and podcast. (again – sorry) As of this posting, I still need to re-link broken image links that didn’t make the transfer, configure WordPress plugins, and add goodies to the side-bar.

I really loved using the Squarespace platform, but without sponsors yet, it’s hard for us to afford the hosting fees for the blog and audio. This is a labor of love for us and our hope is to someday find a way for it to pay for itself so that we can produce more content on a more regular basis.

I’m slowly working my way back into more online participation, but I realize it’s going to take time now that I have two little ones. Not too many days go by that I don’t think about producing content for Moms Gone Geek. I daydream about it constantly while changing diapers, nursing, trips to the bus stop, etc.

While I absolutely love being a mommy, I was a geek first before I became someone’s wife and mother. I strive constantly to embrace and balance all of these roles. It’s no secret that becoming a parent – each time – is a mind-blowing experience. For me, tinkering with technology helps to ground me and it gives me comfort when things get stressful.

Maybe you can relate?

If so, drop me a comment here on our blog. We’re always looking to connect with other geek parents out there.

That, plus I’m really excited about how our new wordpress blog is coming along and I’d love to test out all the functions to make sure they work. I need people to press the buttons and blow the whistles!

Right now this blog is in a state of flux as I’m learning about code and how to wrangle WordPress. I’m enjoying it even more this time around. I’m also using a handy-dandy iPhone WordPress app to compose this post and I can’t wait to see how the publishing works!

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Say hello to the newest member of the Moms Gone Geek team, Keagan Davis!

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Social Networks & Recipe Sharing

Cooking with Kat: www.KatCurlee.com

The Kitchen Gadget Show

Facebook Fan Page

www.DaveCurlee.com

Kat on Twitter: @KatCurlee
Dave on Twitter: @DaveCurleee

Meal Planning

Kat’s Ten Back-to-School Meal Planning Tips That Can Save You Money

1. Make fewer trips to the grocery store—or fast food restaurants—and cut your fuel costs. Frequent trips to the grocery store waste time, gas and money. So, create your meal plans for the week and make all of your purchases in one trip to the store.
2. Eliminate wasted food that goes uneaten in your refrigerator. When you plan your meals you make better use of the food you purchase and reduce spoilage. For example, soups and stews are a great way to make use of extra vegetables, milk or cheese.
3. Buy fresh produce in season—when it’s cheaper. You’ll pay more for food purchased off-season so choose recipes that use seasonal ingredients.
4. Build meals around sale items featured at your grocery store. Take advantage of what’s on sale by searching our recipe database by ingredient.
5. Clip coupons and check store promotions for foods you buy on a regular basis. This is a money saving habit that can really add up over the long term.
6. Stock your pantry when items you can store in the cupboard or freezer are on sale. In addition to saving money up front, buying more of your kitchen staples when they go on sale will also ensure that you always have healthy food on hand for those nights when you don’t know what to cook.
7. Eat a healthy breakfast from home—decrease spending on expensive convenience foods eaten on the go or purchased from vending machines. Breakfasts do not need to be complicated. Having simple foods on hand, such as yogurt, whole-wheat bread, fruit and cereal, provide important nutrients often lacking in convenience foods.
8. Pack your lunch. Lunch and snacks prepared at home save money. Packing your lunch will keep you from feeling pressured to purchase expensive and often less nutritious meals or snacks from convenience stores, vending machines and restaurants. If you’re already making a lunch for your children, it only takes a few more minutes to make an extra sandwich or snack for yourself.
9. Buy in bulk. Purchase and prepare your favorite and frequently eaten foods in bulk—such as, purchasing two for one gallons of milk. Preparing dinner “in bulk” by doubling a recipe or adding another serving or two will cost very little extra and leave you with leftovers for lunches or another dinner later in the week.
10. Eat at home. Make time for family meals at home. Meals prepared at home are often more nutritious and less expensive than restaurant meals. In addition to providing your family with nutritious meals and cutting food costs, eating at home gives you the invaluable opportunity to talk to and connect with your family.

Creating Digital Cookbooks

DigitalCookbook.tv
PanDigital.com sells a Kitchen HDTV Digital Recipe/Picture Frame using Bon Apetite collection.
Can be used as a counter top device or install it under cabinet.

Favorite Sites

MealsMatter.Org
Hershey’s
Kraft Food & Family
FoodTV
GroceryGame.com
Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller

Favorite Gadgets in the Kitchen

Sankotu Knife
Egg Slicer
Kitchenaid Mixer
Great Grandmother’s Cast Iron Skillet

Kat’s Favorite Tech Tools from a Mom’s Perspective

iPod Touch!!! “I can keep my schedule, pictures, music, check weather, etc. It’s my FAVORITE!”
“My notebook in my kitchen!”

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Allison shares her stories about life as a geeky mom and how she’s evolved into a popular podcaster with the support of her kids and her Soul Mate/Husband, Steve. You won’t want to miss the sage advice she has to offer — all this week on Moms Gone Geek.

Subscribe to the NosillaCast Mac Podcast hosted at http://podfeet.com

Follow Allison on Twitter at http://twitter.com/podfeet

Go see Allison is speak at the BlogWorld and New Media Expo 2009!

“I’ll be doing a talk entitled Podcaster Starter Kit where I’ll walk through all the tools to get started and some advice on why you need the different tools. My talk is Friday October 16th at 11:30am!”

http://www.blogworldexpo.com/

Allison is listed as number 224

Other Podcasting Contributions by Allison Sheridan

Mac Roundtable at http://macroundtable.com

Mac Reviewcast at http://macreviewcast.com

Just how geeky do Moms get?

Before there was Excel or iCal, there was this thing called a pencil and you could draw a hand-made graph of your basal body temperature. This is helpful information to have when trying to conceive. Here is the graph Allison saved when they were trying to conceive their daughter. (Hi Lindsay, you weren’t just planned, you were plotted!)

Allison’s anecdote on the memory attached to this graph, “The best part though is that I flipped it over and on the back was a draft of a love note to my husband after we had become pregnant with “Orsen” telling him how happy I was with our life and how excited I was about the upcoming adventure. Lindsay’s nick name in the womb was Orsen because of a joke by Dave Barry where he said, “Women who are pregnant often mention that they’re eating for two, but they don’t realize the other person is not the size of Orsen Wells.”

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In this episode we pay a follow up visit to a previous show topic: Digital Medical Records, also known as your PHR or Personal Health Record. We interview Lygeia Ricciardi from Clear Voice Consulting, LLC in Washington, DC about this increasingly interesting and timely topic. She has some fantastic insight and we encourage you to tune in to this episode and share with us your thoughts, experiences and ideas regarding digital medical records and the products that best serve you and your health as a PHR.

Follow Lygeia on Twitter

Lygeia also writes for Project Health Design

Topics

• What a PHR is, where and how you can establish a PHR such as health plans, health systems, employers and what functions they might have
• The relationship between EMRs (or EHRs) and PHRs and how in the future they will be increasingly linked together in ways that benefit patients and doctors alike
• How to choose a PHR, what to look for
• Medical Identity Theft – what can you do to protect yourself? Learn about an “audit trail”
• Potential benefits of PHRs and electronic health information like research, public health, quality improvement, genetic mapping
• The US Government’s role in implementation and accountability regarding digital medical records
• The future of remote health care using technology like video conferencing or mobile applications
• Aggregating medical data and the implications and benefits it can provide
• The affect of policies, politics and regulations on Health Information Technology

Tips

• Ask your health care provider if or what kind of access you may already have to your information that might be able to be ported into a PHR of your choice
• If you’re looking for a new doctor, ask ahead of time if they use digital medical records and if you might be able to use any of that information in your own PHR

Example: American Academy of Pediatrics Immunization Schedules

• Be sure to consider portability of the data you input into a PHR; Can you take it with you or move it somewhere else?

Some PHRs To Check Out

Mayo Clinic Health Manager powered by Microsoft HealthVault

My PHR

23andMe - At-Home DNA Testing service

Google Health

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Can you identify the musical reference to a John Hughes movie at the end of the show? What was the name of the movie, song title and artist?

Pay close attention to the lyrics and I bet you can guess the geeky reference it also points to. The answer is at the end of this post for attribution. Don’t cheat now!!

Special Guest

Pat Fauquet of MacMousecalls.com and Partner of Dr. Mac Consulting with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus

Thanks for the awesome feedback to Freida, Jodi Spangler, and SwitchingGranny just to name a few.

Geeky Parenting Meme

Share with us something geeky you did or are currently doing as it relates to conception, pregnancy, parenting, grandparenting, etc.

For example, TheMacMommy used Apple’s iCal to track her fertility for both pregnancies. (Tip: don’t email your husband calendar invitations from your fertility calendar, it’s just not sexy.)

Uber Geeky Mom Allison Sheridan showed Melissa the spreadsheet (pre-Excel days!) she saved of her basal temperature when she was trying to conceive her daughter. What an adorable little memoir!

Baby Registries

Suggestions for Baby Registries

External Hard Drives for backing up all those precious memories and all the data our kids now generate

Products

Pumpin’ Pal

ItsBeen Baby Timer

Digi Time Capsule

Resources

BabyCenter

BabyNames.com

Babyname Wizard

Awesome Geeky Dads at DadLabs.com

Reviews

TheMacMommy Reviews Diaper Pails

TUAW Reviews Parenting Apps for the iPhone

iPhone/iPod Touch Apps

Baby Monitor

Baby Namer

My Baby (for saving your favorite baby names)

Pregnancy Kick Counter

Total Baby

Baby Tracker: Nursing

Baby Tracker: Diapers

Pregnancy Tracker

Special Thanks to Aaron Griffith of Baby Activity Logger for the iPhone.
TheMacMommy will be reviewing the app to report on later. Thanks for the review code!

For Fun

Lilypie Tickers

Bonus Trivia Sound Clip Answer

The Song: “Full of Love”
Written by Stephen Duffy and Roger Freeman
Performed by Dr. Calculus

The Movie: “She’s Having a Baby” directed by John Hughes 1998

Babies Don’t Keep

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

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We’re drinkin the Google Juice! It’s so yummy and refreshing! Won’t you join us? We discuss GTD with Google IMAP and CalDAV along with the myriad of apps and products that go good with Google. What the heck are we talking about? Listen to this episode to find out more and get your fill of geeky goodness!

Everything AND the Sync

What is IMAP?

This Nuevasync hack predated Google Sync, but you might want to take a look at it for comparisons. BusyMac was another tool that predated Google Sync, but it costs $25.(whatever blows your skirt up, if you think it’s easier!)

Getting Started with CalDAV Support for Syncing Google Calendars iCal and iPhone or iPod Touch

Syncing Google’s Mail and Calendar Products:

Household CTO Tools of the Trade

As part of my “Nesting” phase during this pregnancy, I became very determined to find a way to easily sync the communications and scheduling information my husband and I share between several devices. Those devices being: our iPod Touch (a.k.a. “The Practice iPhone” or the “Gateway Drug to the iPhone”), MacBook Pro and my husband’s PC at work. Between the two of us, we manage several work and personal email accounts and calendars. Now with children added to the mix, they’ll also have their own calendars for scheduling information like school activities and doctor appointments. I wanted a solution that would enable us to easily see the same information no matter which device was accessed for emails and calendars. I also wanted the ability to read as well as modify each others’ calendars.

click to enlarge image Fig. 1

For example, our first son now has his own Google account with calendar. He’s only 3, so we manage it for him and share that calendar between all of us. Some time after the baby is born, I’ll likely set up an account for him so I can easily manage his doctor appointments. For the time being, a secondary calendar will work fine. We also have another secondary calendar dedicated to our activities and events — things we do together as a family. This calendar is then shared with other family members like my mother-in-law.

Either my husband or I have the ability to modify each others’ calendars so that any changes made are synced no matter which computer or device is accessed. When my husband is at work, he can easily log in to his Google account and check all our calendars to see what appointments I’ve scheduled here at home. Since he doesn’t have time to make phone calls during the school day at work, if I schedule a doctor’s appointment for him, I can put it directly onto his calendar for him to see and email him a reminder. He’s already entered his work activities so that makes it much easier for me to book appointments when needed and make sure there are no conflicts. If he has an activity that needs to happen after school like a social or after-school meeting with a parent, he can enter it on his calendar while at work and then I will see it when I log in.

Accomplishing Sync Zen

click to enlarge Fig. 2

Let’s start with Apple Mail. Here is an example of how I’ve configured my Mail application to manage several accounts at once. (See Fig. 2 and 3) Log in to your Gmail account. Click on Settings in the upper right, then click on Forwarding POP/IMAP and then click the radio button to “Enable IMAP.” You’ll need to do this before you set up accounts in Mail.

click to enlarge Fig. 3

Follow the instructions from Google on how to configure your Mail application. Be careful when reading Google’s instructions for Recommended IMAP Client Settings. I got a little confused and frustrated in the beginning when my messages wouldn’t delete when I deleted them by pressing the delete button on the keyboard or by clicking the delete icon in the tool bar. Manually dragging each message to the Trash folder was annoying. Turns out you just have to ignore the information where it talks about deleting messages off the server. Basically, just leave the Mail trash settings as they are.

click to enlarge Fig. 4

Google does not explain how to make the Inbox, Draft, Sent and Trash Mailboxes in Mail act as one — or at least not where I saw in the instructions. (See Fig. 4) For that part, I followed the advice found at 5ThirtyOne by Derek Punsalen. Thanks Derek! Here is an excerpt from his instructions: Properly sort Drafts, Deleted, and Sent mail in Apple Mail

Highlight ‘[Gmail] Sent Mail’ in the sidebar and select ‘Mailbox’ (menu bar) > ‘Use This Mailbox For’ > ‘Sent’.

Highlight ‘[Gmail] Drafts’ in the sidebar and select ‘Mailbox’ (menu bar) > ‘Use This Mailbox For’ > ‘Drafts’

Highlight ‘[Gmail] Trash’ in the sidebar and select ‘Mailbox’ (menu bar) > ‘Use This Mailbox For’ > ‘Trash’

Highlight ‘[Gmail] Spam’ in the sidebar and select ‘Mailbox’ (menu bar) > ‘Use This Mailbox For’ > ‘Junk’

click to enlarge Fig. 5

If you’re like me and are managing multiple accounts in Mail, you’ll need to repeat those instructions for each folder in each account. I took these instructions a little further and manually dragged — what Gmail calls “labels” which are actually displayed as folders in Mail — to the parent [Gmail] folder in Mail. This is also referred to as an IMAP Path Prefix in the Mail Account Preferences. I achieved it by manually dragging those folders and it was much easier than trying to figure out what to type exactly in the account configuration.

Next, let’s take a look at Google Calendar, Apple’s iCal and the iPod Touch/iPhone Calendar layouts. The colors are consistent. Whatever changes I make on one device are immediately synced to the others.

Following Google’s instructions, I was able to set up several calendars in our separate Google accounts and then manage them in iCal and on the iPod Touch using Google’s CalDAV Calendar Sync. Similar to Gmail, while logged in to your Google Calendar (or anyone else’s), you’ll need to click on Settings in the upper right, then Calendars from the tabs at the top. Once on that page, you’ll need to edit the Sharing Settings for each calendar you set up and also in each account you have access to (See Fig. 6). For my family and I, my husband and I each have access to each others’ as well as Lucian’s Google accounts. I went in to each of their calendars and shared them with myself and gave myself the ability to “make changes and manage sharing.”

Once you have your Google Calendar settings configured, you’re ready to set things up in iCal Preferences.

click to enlarge Fig. 6

Here is what that may look like. (See Fig. 6) Once you have added the “Delegates” you can then make changes, edits, additions, etc. in iCal and they will all be reflected in Google’s web UI (user interface). You’ll notice the individual calendars appear in the left sidebar in iCal. I don’t like the fact that there is a parent for each item. It’s kind of redundant to have to click another triangle down to get to the calendar, but it is what it is for now.

Now let’s move on to configuring the iPod Touch/iPhone. This is where it gets a little tricky. In addition to Google’s instructions on configuring the settings for the iPod Touch/iPhone, you’ll also want to read this article on how to set up the secondary calendars. Google Calendars Sync Both Ways, Including the Secondary Calendars (Special thanks to Allister Jenks for this link!)

click to enlarge Fig. 7

For example, on our iPod Touch, I have added all of the accounts for myself, Lucian, and Nate — both Gmail and Google Calendars. I’ve found it’s really pointless to use POP mail accounts because it’s a pain to have to delete messages on different devices.

click to enlarge Fig. 8

Within my own Google Calendar, I have 2 secondary calendars that I share with Nate and Lucian. One is for my freelance consulting (TheMacMommy) the other for our family activities. I also plugged in the calendar for Moms Gone Geek that I share with Naomi for scheduling. Once they are all added and configured, it’s easy to see them all at the same time and see where conflicts and scheduling might overlap because everything is a different color. I LOVE color-coding everything! It just makes things so much easier to see when you have limited concentration and lots of dis…

click to enlarge Fig. 9

This all seems like a lot of work, and it was, but when you view it in the List view on the iPod Touch or iPhone, it’s all nicely color-coded and cohesive and flows nicely. It was worth all the work and tinkering. I feel much better now!

I hope you’ve found this helpful. Remember, you can right-click on the images and load them into another page to see them larger. I blurred out some of the information I didn’t feel comfortable sharing, but I think you get the picture. Ha ha! Picture!! Get it?!!

This concludes my review of how Google Juice does a body good by managing all of your communications as the Household CTO. I hope it’s just as tasty for you!

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Special Note: When Googling information on this topic use the following terms and acronyms: PHR (Personal Health Records) or PHRM (Personal Health Records Management).

There are a lot of applications and services out there for managing your personal medical records at home on your computer, up in the cloud for online access or both — so much that it’s overwhelming. We’ve reviewed just a few that we’ll discuss here, but please give us some feedback on services, methods and apps you’ve tried and liked.

Melissa reviews and discusses the current state of EMR for public and private sectors and what you should consider before investing the time and effort into the task of electronically documenting your medical records for the family.

What You Need to Know About Privacy in Medical Records

Understanding HIPAA Privacy for Consumers

Articles on Healthcare Reform in Politics and Technology Concerning EMR

State Privacy Laws May Undercut Electronic Medical Records (via ars technica)

Obama: We need EMRs; NAS Report: Be Careful What You Ask For (via ars technica)

NY Times reports: “Our experience here is that it’s just hard,” Dr. Mostashari said. “It’s not impossible.”

Personal Consumer Services & Applications for Managing Yours and Family Records

Polka

iPhone app for Polka Health
(called My Health on website)

Google Health

Review Notes

• Google Health is currently only available in the United States. Polka is available for registration outside U.S., however, all records are stored in the US where US privacy terms apply. (Probably a good thing?)

• Use Google Health at your own risk understanding that transmission to third parties, for example, a prescription service, is governed by THOSE sites, their technologies and security methods. You’re safe with Google, but you open a hole when you share with third party services, so be sure to thoroughly review their privacy and protection policies as well before sharing information.

• Section 4 Use of Your Information in the Google Health TOS states: ” Google is not a “covered entity” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the regulations promulgated thereunder (“HIPAA”). As a result, HIPAA does not apply to the transmission of health information by Google to any third party.”

• Polka discloses the following in their Privacy Statement under Use of Contact Information (emphasis is our editorial): “In addition, we may use your contact information to market to you, and provide you with information about, our products and services, including but not limited to our Service. If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to receive such information or communications from us, please follow the unsubscribe instructions provided in any of the communications.”

Furthermore, they also state in their Information Sharing and Disclosure regarding Service Providers: “We engage certain trusted third parties to perform functions and provide services to us, including, without limitation, hosting and maintenance, customer relationship, database storage and management, and direct marketing campaigns. We will share your personally identifiable information with these third parties, but only to the extent necessary to perform these functions and provide such services, and only pursuant to binding contractual obligations requiring such third parties to maintain the privacy and security of your data.”

These are just some things to consider when signing up for these services. Both services are extremely similar in their TOS and Privacy Statements, just worded slightly differently. Polka clearly states they may use your information for direct marketing campaigns which may be kind of disconcerting no matter how carefully your information is closely guarded. It may be that Google Health does the exact same thing in a different way, but they have not chosen to word like this. As always, use at your own risk and know your mileage may vary.

Another thing to look for when deciding if a particular service or application is right for you is what kind of continued support you can reasonably expect. If a service loses focus or goes belly-up, where does your data go? There have been applications released in the past few years, but when I went to their site for a review, the information was grossly outdated or the link had a bad address. Look for services that have a large following, lots of reviews (and positive ones at that) and also look at their help or support section. Check to see what, if any kind of exporting features exist. If you’re able to export your data into a PDF or text file, at least you’ll have a backup in case the service fails your expectations. Think carefully about sharing your digital information with third party partners or affiliates. Do the same kind of homework on them as well. Review their privacy policies and TOS.

It would be a good idea to have a printed hard copy of the most important emergency medical information in your wallet near your ID because what good is digital data on your phone if your device is either locked or too cumbersome to access by hospital staff? Think of a mobile app as a handy way for YOU to access the information you need at the time you need it, but don’t think of a mobile app as something to be accessed by emergency personnel. Research in public forums concludes that most EMTs will not be checking your mobile device for information in a crisis situation so do not count on an app to assist in saving your life. Google Health does have a print wallet-sized feature and I thought that was handy and a good idea.

For you non-Google supporters (we still love you) there are other PHR web services out there, but we’re only going to list a couple:

Microsoft HealthVault

PassportMD

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Are we just fickle when it comes to new social networking services and apps? Do we give each one a fair shake? What makes us stick around or move on to the next new shiny thing? Developers will want to pay close attention!

Kids and money — let’s not forget about who might be deciding our living arrangements when we’re old! It’s never too early to start teaching kids about money. We’ll discuss some tools and tips we’ve discovered in our parenting journeys thus far. Let us know yours!

Dead and Abandoned Web 2.0 Services

Social Media Services that were once in the cloud but have since kicked the bucket. Pownce, Rejaw, Ma.gnolia, Dodgeball, I Want Sandy, Jumpcut and Google Video have all gone away. How do you know when to invest your time in a service? Are there any warning sings for when these apps and services will go under? What about all your data and posts?

What about those services that we in the social media world were so hard pressed to get invites for, but then abandoned them? Remember Chandler Project, Orgoo, Social Thing, 30Boxes? We were all once so excited about these services, but then dropped them off on the doorstep of a church with a note that said “sorry, we’re just not that into you anymore.” Even MySpace has taken a hit to their staff and numbers now show Facebook is King.

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Kids & Finances: Some Tools to Check Out

Smarty Pig

Teen Visa Buxx Card

Mint.com

Parent Hacks discussions: “Give Your Toddler His Own ‘Credit Cards’” and “Introducing Money Management to PreSchoolers”

Kids Cash Connection

Cash Cache

Just Thrive

Tips to Teach Kids

• Pay yourself first!! Put 10% aside for savings.

• Teach little ones about money, math and denominations
by playing with coin & money stamps in TuxPaint

• Tessy & Tab Printables

• Book Pick: The Power of the Penny

There isn’t just one way to do something when it comes to technology – the possibilities seem endless. In this episode, we moms put our heads together to think of alternative ways for using common devices and new technologies like: Seesmic Desktop for Twitter AND Facebook, Multimedia Centers using Hulu and/or Boxee, mobile wifi with Mifi or Cradlepoint and ways to use an iPod Touch for more than just an MP3 player. We’re thinking differently and we’d like to know your creative ideas. Leave us a comment here on the blog.

Software

Seesmic Desktop
As of this recording, Preview v0.2.1 is the current release and you have to be a member of Team Seesmic to receive updates. It’s easy to join, just go tohttp://desktop.seesmic.com/and sign up. Followhttp://twitter.com/seesmicfor updates.

Tweet3
An Advanced Web Interface for Twitter – a good mobile solution or alternate to a desktop application

Home Media Centers Revisted

On a previous episode of Moms Gone Geek – Episode 8 Home Media Centers, we discussed preparing for the digital television transition (DTV), alternatives to cable TV and different methods for putting together a media center using a computer and TV. We’ve since elaborated on that concept and have been putting it into practice.

Hulu Desktop Application

Hulu Website

Boxee

Front Row

Hardware

Mifi

Amazon.com deal: get the Mifi for a penny vs through Sprint at the subsidized price of $99.00

Cradlepoint

Cradlepoint CTR 500currently on Amazon

Cradlepoint CTR 350currently on Amazon

TheMacMommy Reviews Sprint’s Mobile Communications Services At-A-Glance
“Can I really get the same benefits of an iPhone without having to switch to AT&T and buy an iPhone?”

Mobile Broadband is a separate service plan and you either add it on at $59.99 a month extra or you can bundle it, but only with the Simply Everything Family plan.

There are several different devices that can be used with the Mobile Broadband service. Most of them are USB modems (also called “USB sticks” or “EVDO cards”). They are limiting in that you have to plug it into a USB port and keep it connected to a desktop or laptop. The MiFi is a broadband router that you can just keep in your bag or pocket. You can connect up to 5 devices wirelessly at the same time. A USB Modem only supports one device at a time unless you use some kind of internet sharing. The connection speeds of these devices are not as fast as a cable modem but comparable to close to DSL speeds.

The Simply Everything Family plan normally costs $189.98 and you can add Mobile Broadband to it for only $50.00 (as opposed to $59.99 – the bundle saves you $9.99) a month bringing that monthly total to $239.98

So, for ~$240.00 monthly you get everything 2 people can do with a phone: unlimited voice, messaging, email, and web browsing plus the ability to connect 5 devices to the internet using wifi – for example 2 laptops and 2 iPod Touches plus share with a friend’s laptop for a family that is traveling together.

Question is this: why would you need the wifi then if your phone can do everything the laptop does when it comes to simple needs like web surfing, email and texting? Seems like an extra luxury and would really only come in handy if you’re traveling together a lot or really need to work on a laptop beyond simple browsing and messaging.

Then I got to thinking, what if we just got the simplest family plan and the simplest phones without any data or texting capabilities and just use the iPod Touch for all the extra fancy features like web browsing, texting, messaging, email, and apps? Would that get me around not having to switch to AT&T just so I can enjoy the App goodieness, web browsing and messaging capabilities? I mean, I can do all that stuff (except for the smaller footprint and portable apps) with my MacBook Pro already and if I’d switch to AT&T, we’d pay more without promise of a corporate discount and we couldn’t make phone calls from inside our house.

The simplest Family share plan is the Talk for Family 700 for $69.99 a month. Add the $59.99 Mobile Broadband and Mifi for $59.99 a month and your new total comes to $129.98 a month. (The cost of the Mifi device is a one time $99.00 with plan activation and possible upgrade fee) With this plan the major drawback of course is that you still have to carry around a cell phone to make simple voice calls so the amount of gadgets you’re carrying is more if you factor in the phone, iPod Touch, Mifi and digital camera – that’s 4 devices total and you’ll mostly interact with them at separate times so it’s not like you’re juggling them all at once, but that’s 4 different times you have to reach into a pocket or bag or go find where the kid put one of them — and the higher liability (doubles with kids) that something will get lost. With an iPhone 3Gs, you could have everything in one gadget save a high res digital camera for taking photos that you might want to get printed or enlarged later on.

I asked the Sprint guy about that and he said that the Mifi connection, being similar to that of DSL, might not support something like Skype or Gizmo for use with VOiP calls.

I asked the great Twitterverse and a few people have confirmed that you can in fact use an iPod Touch as a VoIP phone using Skype, a headset with microphone (very important – it will not work with Bluetooth) and wifi, i.e. the Mifi. It’s important to note that because Skype can not determine your location, you can not use it to make 911 emergency calls, so it can not be a true replacement for a cell phone. That being said, you still have to carry a simple (“dumb”) phone around with you for making emergency calls, which adds to the gadget load.

So, it seems iPhone is really the best when it comes down to it. Now, if only the service carrier was just as good as the device!

I did some number crunching comparing for the overall costs (approximately) that my husband and I currently pay for our entertainment and communications services. Currently we use:

• basic cable TV for local channels, news and shows
• DVD player to rent movies from the library or watch collection we already have
• 5th Gen iPod 80GB Video with AV cables and dock connected to TV for watching movies & downloaded content
• MacBook Pro we sometimes use with Hulu Desktop, Boxee or Front Row to watch Hard Drive Source or Internet Streaming shows and content; sometimes we just watch it on the 15 inch screen, sometimes we hook it up to the 27 inch TV
• a landline for local calls only
• two cell phones with a shared minute plan (one of which my husband rarely talks on)
• 3 computers in the home that all connect to the internet via residential high-speed cable modem and a wireless router

Ideally we don’t currently use text messaging on our phones but would like to. We would also like to get a dedicated computer to keep hooked up to the TV like a Mac Mini, Apple TV or even another laptop so we could take it with us when we travel during the summers.

Cost Comparisons for Entertainment & Communication Services

Note: Verizon’s Mifi service plan is similar price. Prices reflected here based on information available as of the publishing date of this post and are subject to change per service provider. Check your local resources for updates.

DigitalFanGirl says “Do Your Homework, First!”

Before you run out and buy the new Disney Netpal, do your homework and compare it with the HP Mini and the Dell Mini.

Disney Netpal
http://gizmodo.com/5292959/disney-partners-with-asus-on-netpal-eee-netbook-for-kids

HP Mini
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Mini&series_name=mini110xp_series

DELL Mini
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-10?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Apps in the iTunes Store to explore
(these links go to the iTunes Store)

Truphone for the iPod Touch (with Skype calling)

Skype S.a.r.l.

iCall Free VOIP

Articles

Hello Sprint Mifi Goodbye Cradlepoint

EVDO Forums Discussion

Mini USB vs Micro USB

What is Micro USB?

There is currently some confusion I’m trying to sort out about whether or not you get a Micro USB cable with Sprint’s Mifi. It’s been reported that you do get this cable with Verizon’s Mifi. There’s also some confusion as to whether or not you can use this same Micro USB cable to charge the Mifi while also using the Wifi at the same time. The Sprint guy told me we could use the Mifi wifi connection while plugged into a power source like a cigarette light outlet converter or a laptop so the device would stay charged throughout a whole road trip. According tohttp://twitter.com/jkkmobile you can not charge and surf at the same time unless you hack the cable like so in his demonstration video:http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-usb-charger-hack-for-novatel.html

Just to clear up the confusion about which cable is a Micro and which is a Mini

USB Mini is on the Left and USB Micro is on the right

Photo Credit: Mobileburn.com

Other Resources for Portable WiFi

T-Mobile webConnect USB Laptop Stick (NOT Mac Compatible)

Enjoy the freedom to stay connected, even on the go. The webConnect USB Laptop Stick provides fast, easy wireless Internet access for your laptop by automatically finding the best available T-Mobile network connection (3G, HotSpot/Wi-Fi, or EDGE). Catch up on work, check e-mail, surf the Web, or connect with friends and family all while on-the-go. The exclusive webConnect data plan includes unlimited Wi-Fi access through the T-Mobile HotSpot network.

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We’re still manic about mobile services and devices so we’re bringing you Part 2 of our (previous) Mobile Mania discussion about the new iPhone 3Gs, the impact of Apple’s WWDC iPhone announcement on the Palm Pre release and outraged AT&T customers.

TheMacMommy talks about her Sprint store experience and demo of the new Palm Pre. DigitalFanGirl talks about how her experience has been with the G1. We even give you a special bonus Twitter Rant at the end. You know you wanna hear it!

DigitalFanGirl protects her G1 with a rubberized snap-on cover and a mirror screen protector

• Rubberized Snap-on Covers
• Mirror Screen Protector

Note: I purchased both the snap-on cover and the mirror screen protector at a mobile accessory kiosk in my neighborhood mall (10 minutes from my home), which was cheaper than ordering these two products online. I suggest you do a cost comparison and see if it’s smarter for you to buy from the mall or order it online.

Notes and Links

June 6th
Palm announced it’s newest “iPhone Killer” the Palm Pre but was it bad timing next to Apple’s iPhone 3Gs release?

June 8th
WWDC Keynote announcement of iPhone 3Gs(watch the video)

The Smackdown – Gizmodo-Style

Gizmodo’sSmartphone Buyers Guide: The Best of the Best

Why are AT&T Customers so peeved about the new iPhone 3Gs price?

iPhone 3.0 Update: 10 Hidden Features by Daniel Ionescu

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Is TheMacMommy having a Girl or a Boy? Find out by listening to this Special Report from Moms Gone Geek.

Listener Feedback Requested

We want to talk Baby Stuff 2.0 so give us your feedback and let us know your ideas and tips for all things baby in the digital age. Leave us a comment here or contact us via email.

This podcast has out-takes at the very end.

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