You, on the other hand, are lucky to print out the photos you take. You lost that cheap digital camera (though it is probably in one of those heaps in the closet and one day you’ll dig in there to find out but it doesn’t matter anyway because it’s probably outdated by now). Hell, if memory serves, that thing is bigger than your head! Summoning up enough creativity to crop those photos (the ones you didn’t print out) and paste them on a page with colorful captions and fringe is enough to make you wince.

No, your mode of preserving family memories is less showy. You just pull out your iPhone and snap your kid playing in that fountain in the park –the one the security guards say you should stay out of. Then you e-mail it to yourself and, when you get home, post it on your personal blog, the one whose address you share with family who are less apt to visit it than some complete strangers who are nice enough to sympathize and comment.

Don’t fret. Those family blogs are just as precious a keepsake as your best friend’s Creative Memories books. And now you can preserve your blog in book form, too! The folks at Blurb.com can pull your blog posts from WordPress, TypePad and a number of other blogging platforms and turn them into a book. Your book can have its own hard cover, dust jacket and even paper choice. And your book can be delivered to your door in just seven to 10 business days for as little as $12.95. You can even place your blog book in Blurb’s bookstore for fans to purchase.

So there, no more feeling less-than-adequate because you don’t scrap. Your blogs can be keepsakes, too.

Photos, www.Blurb.com (lower right) and JWJourney, (upper left)

Post from: Blisstree

Cool Keepsake: Turn Your Blogs into Books

These days, though, I’m more apt to be associated with another demographic, iPhone Moms. That’s right. A study done by Greystripe, a mobile ad network, has identified iPhone Moms as a new advertising demographic as part of its quarterly Advertising Insights Report. iPhone Moms differ from Soccer Moms in that, according to Greystripe surveys of the past, Soccer Moms are late to adopt high-tech trends. iPhone Moms, on the other had find those little devices imperative to household management such as vacation planning, compiling to-do lists, managing finances, shopping, and budgeting. We iPhone Moms are also downloading kid-friendly apps to entertain our kids during waits in the carpool line and sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for flu shots.

According to Greystripe, we iPhone Moms are the sexiest demo out there for advertisers because we are most overwhelmingly involved in household purchase decisions. For example, 69.9 percent of iPhone Moms surveyed own a Nintendo Wii. I suppose you could say the minivan is to the Soccer Mom as the Wii is to the iPhone Mom. Nice.

Source: Washington Post
Image, Apple, iPhone

Post from: Blisstree

Are You A Soccer Mom or an iPhone Mom?

Today my family packed up our Volkswagen, a Touareg, and headed off on our own cross-country excursion. This is not my parents’ driving adventure. For starters, Truman is secure in a booster seat and we’re all wearing seat belts. Secondly, this smooth-riding Touareg is nothing like the roaring loud VW my parents drove. That camper – and the green one that followed a decade later – caused me years of preteen and teenaged embarrassment until my father finally graduated to an SUV. (I won’t even mention what he’s driving now.) We also have air conditioning in the Touareg , which we will be even more grateful for as we travel to the center of the desert. Unlike the camper I rode in as a kid, we can’t camp in this car. There is no pop-up roof with a pullout bed, which is fine for me. I’m more of a hotel girl anyway. (Those outdoor bathrooms scared me as a child.)

Easter Gnome loves Old Man River

Technology has changed considerably for road travelers since then, too.

The Touareg doesn’t have a GPS, and I was THISCLOSE to buying one, but I had two friends insist we use theirs before we make the purchase. So we are using a borrowed GPS, a TomTom What is up with that keyboard? Setting the thing caused me more stress than packing for this trip. Old TomTom will have to work hard these next few days to convince me to buy one of my own.

The GPS may eventually prove its worth, but the one gadget I would not do without on the trip is the portable DVD player. Sure, books and toys and markers and games are a great way to entertain a child on the trip, but we have sanity to maintain. I’m learning to tune out Spongebob so I can concentrate on my own work, here on my laptop with my air card. I’m lucky to have a husband who will likely drive most, if not all, the 3,000 miles we will travel these next two weeks so I can have the pleasure of writing and going online to shop for new cars … you know, just for entertainment.

I won’t gush about my iPhone. You already know how fabulous those are. But my new gadget – an early birthday gift – is certainly worth mentioning and will likely prove valuable for the trip. It’s a Flip, a little, cordless camcorder that stores up to two hours of video. It has an attached jump drive and you just hook it up to your computer and download your films, quick and easy. What took us so long to get one? Don’t worry … I don’t plan to bore you with home movies. But we can definitely bore our families with them!

And we’ll have plenty of time to capture this vacation on film. It’s now seven hours until we reach today’s destination. Wishing you all safe travels.

Photos:
VW, Flickr, splattergraphics
Flip

Post from: Blisstree

This is Not Your Parents’ Road Trip

Today I slept until 7:30 a.m., ate two cinnamon rolls, got a massage and read People magazine on the beach until my skin was scorched. I caught American Idol’s Adam Lambert’s version of U2’s One on my iPhone (heart) while poolside and sat in a hot tub drinking fru-fru festive drinks. Now, with wine in hand, our biggest decision is where to go for dinner. We have reservations at three different restaurants. Where should we go? Boraggo’s, Café 30-A or Onano?

photo, JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

Life’s a Beach

The Daily Puppy iPhone app lets you browse the cutest featured puppies and grown-up puppies on a daily basis!

You can also shake the phone to view randomly selected Puppies via the Pupfolio feature.

The app can be downloaded for .99 cents and the Daily Puppy will give 10% of net proceeds received from the sale of the application to nonprofit Animal Rescue Organizations and Shelters.

[image used with permission from the daily puppy]

Post from: Blisstree

The Daily Puppy for Your iPhone

If you have no limit on your cell minutes, or have someone else paying the bill, it probably doesn’t matter.  But the last thing you need when you get home from vacation, along with all those other bills, is to find an outrageously high cell bill.  And if you have teens with their own cell phones, this probably is an issue even when you’re not traveling.

The release of Cell Minute Tracker for the iPhone helps integrate the detailed billing information into a personal productivity application that allows you to monitor usage for all accounts on your family cell plan in real time.  You can view daily logs of minute usage, track rollover minutes, and monitor text usage.  You will receive an alert when your are at 90% of your limits as well as when your bill is due, hopefully keeping you from the expensive over limit charges or late payments.  The information is encrypted, and you have a pass code for additional security.

The Cell Minute Tracker application can be downloaded directly from your iPhone or via the iTunes App store.  At a price tag of 99 cents it’s the equivalent of about 2-3 minutes of over limit air time.  Available for the iPhone and AT&T users only.

Do you worry about your cell phone minutes and text limits?  Is it worse when you’re traveling?

Photo credit:  flickr

Post from: Blisstree

Cell Minute Tracker for the iPhone

Hello, my name is Jennifer, and I am married to a CrackBerry addict. For two years he used daily, often neglecting important things like yard work and refilling my wine glass. But I was an enabler. I would e-mail and text him constantly while he was at work, and knew it was the best – and often only way – to get a speedy reply.

BlackBerry Pearl 8100

But then I got an iPhone and began the process of switching many of our services to AT&T. The bundling reduced our monthly bills, and would benefit us more if I could pull Rick over from our former provider once his contract renewed in January. It was an opportunity for him to upgrade from his CrackBerry Pearl. He could have the new Blackberry Storm or better yet, switch to the iPhone. He was reluctant. After all, he was addict.

Just after he ordered his last stash – a new CrackBerry Pearl – I convinced him to give the iPhone a try. After all, we were an Apple family. We have a iMac, MacBook, iPod and my iPhone. We even own about $2 worth of Apple stock. It made sense for us to share our vices. I did eventually win him over. But, we never ended up returning his new-in-box, never-been-touched BlackBerry Pearl 8100.

The box says it comes with the phone, SIM card, battery & charger, headset, USB cable, BlackBerry Desktop Software CD (I believe it’s for Windows, so good luck if you’re an Apple user), Get Started poster, and reference guide.

New in Box

After months of hanging on to it for no reason I thought I’d gift it to a friend. But all my friends are iPhone users. So, to you CrackBerry heads, it’s yours for the taking. Just leave me a charming comment by Thursday, April 23, and I’ll devise some random way to select a winner and announce it the next day, Friday, April 24.

Photos, TMobile (top) and JWJourney (right)

Post from: Blisstree

Win this New BlackBerry Pearl

For those of you who are as tech savvy as you are love unsavvy, there’s a new Match.com application for iPhone and iPod touch.

It’s basically the same as the company’s web site, and lets Match.com members edit their profile fand upload photos to their profile.

But the wackiest part? Taking full advantage of the built-in location-based technology, the application has an opt-in feature that gives members the ability to check out other singles in their area, making setting up a first date easy.

Hello, blind date. Sort of. Would that even be what it is?

In any event, it’s pretty darn cool – or scary – I haven’t decided yet.

Image: Sxc.hu

Post from: Blisstree

Find True Love on Your iPhone

When you’re traveling, it can often happen when you’re in unfamiliar surroundings, and the last thing you want to do is spend time looking in the wrong place for bathroom facilities.

If you use an iPhone or iPod Touch, Have2P is a handy little app that claims to find a listing of nearby spots that have public restrooms.

Here’s how it works:  The app determines your current locations, and then scans a lists of nearby restrooms.  It includes some helpful notes, like if there is a changing table available or if it’s available for use by patrons only.

Sitting here in my home, I decided to download it and give it a try.  Sure enough, it pulled up a listing of every gas station, restaurant, and business in the area.  Many were flagged as for patrons only (typically with restaurants).

I’m not certain how useful this app really is.  Even if I’m traveling in a city that’s new to me, I can probably figure out how to find a restaurant, buy a cup of coffee and use the restroom.

Anyone out there put this app to a real test?

Post from: Blisstree

Have2P Mobile Travel App

Hands up if you’re not addicted to your laptop or your mobile phones? Ok, I am addicted to my MacBook Pro. Who wouldn’t be with such a sexy and slick machine?

My phone, yes I suppose I’m addicted to it. I never used to bother with its camera and video capabilities but now I’m finding that I’m using these more and more.

Who knows in the next iteration of iPhone, Apple might be offering mobile scrapbooking functions. Won’t that be cool?

Image credit: Apple

Post from: Blisstree

Mobile Scrapbooking — a way of the future?