Technology as Friend: HTC Rhyme Review

Stewart will tell you that technology is not my best friend. I once tried to get the wireless router at my in-laws house to work so I could watch a bar exam review lecture and managed to bring down the entire system. I had a smartphone for work but didn't use the data feature for a year and a half because I was scared that I would break it. Even something as simple as scanning a check to deposit it online has been something I've been avoiding for some time. But as my mid-life crisis age approached, I've decided that I need to be more adventurous and find my inner tech geek. I downloaded skype and talked to Stewart while he was working in France. I signed up and started reading Mashable. Then when HTC contacted me to review the new HTC Rhyme (available only through Verizon), I signed up to do it because I did not want to simply be comfortable with my old people phone!

The first thing that made me like the phone was that it came in PURPLE. I have long been a lover of all things purple and having a purple phone, even for a little while, to match my purple purse and my purple pea coat was fabulous! When I turned on the phone, one of the first things I noticed was that the screen is bright and vivid. The 3.7” size is more than adequate to allow you to watch video or a quick clip on Youtube without feeling a pressing need for more space. The slick user interface known as “HTC Sense” is an added layer of software that actually enhances the user experience. It allows for quick access to your camera, contacts, friend updates, and any multimedia you might have, and more importantly, doesn’t appear to bog down the operating system or performance in any way. The 1 gigahertz processor readily handles all the tasks that I’ve asked of the phone, including streaming video, without much of a hitch.  This phone doesn’t have access to 4G, but 3G seems to handle all the data requirements I’ve asked of the phone.

I’m pretty impressed by the quality of the camera (5 MP 28mm f/2.2 camera with auto focus and power LED flash).  Outdoor shots look beautiful with vibrant colors.  Indoor shots tend to require more light, but in the right settings, can do the job. The HTC Rhyme takes much better indoor photos than my old people phone. There is an added LED flash in the back of the phone which does provide some additional light when needed. H had fun with the HD 720p video recording feature. The phone comes with 4 GB onboard memory, 768 MB RAM, and 8 GB microSD pre-installed so you can take a lot of photos and video before you have to download to your computer. (The photo on the left was taken with the HTC Rhyme.)

The primary operating system, Android Gingerbread 2.3.4 feels more polished that previous versions of Android. Among my favorite apps that come with the phone is the Google Maps Navigation, which I’ve found to be the most accurate and easy to use GPS systems. That reason alone is almost compelling enough for me to select Android over iOS, which doesn’t not come with a native GPS system.  Sure you can download one on iOS, but I recently had a melt down when Stewart told me to use it and I couldn't figure out how.

I like the fact that the phone comes with great accessories. When you open the box, you’ll see the Tangle–Free Headphones, a multifunctional Docking Station, and the Charm Call Indicator. When your headphones are in the bottom of your purse, they have the tendency to get so tangled up you just decide to forego untangling them and put the speaker on low. The HTC Rhyme’s Tangle–Free Headphones remain untangled, despite the jostling you put them through so the person working out next to you won't get annoyed. It also comes with a multifunctional Docking Station, which is a charger, an alarm clock, and external speakers for your Rhyme phone. For some reason, the alarm clocks in hotels hate me and I can't figure them out. With the docking station, I wouldn't have to anymore! And what mom hasn't missed a call or text because you can't hear the call or notifications over the chaos of a playground playdate? The Charm Call Indicator dangles discreetly from your bag or purse. The Charm illuminates whenever you get a call or text, so nothing or no one goes unnoticed.

I have to return the phone next week so that ends my purple matchy-matchy ensembles. I'm glad I had a chance to be one of the hip next generation phone people! Thanks HTC for expanding my tech horizons.

I was not compensated for this review. I was provided the HTC Rhyme to test for a two week review period. 

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Freschetta Proud to Support Pink GIVEAWAY

If weren't aware of the meaning of all the pink ribbons in the supermarket, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States, other than skin cancer. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women in the United States this year. An estimated 40,170 women are expected to die from the disease in 2009 alone. Today, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.

As a member of the Freschetta Fresh Connection Community, I'm happy to share information about how Freschetta is doing its part to support breast cancer research. From September 25th-October 31st when you purchase specially marked-packages of Freschetta pizzas and Artisan Pizza Crusts you will be helping the company reach its goal of a $50,000 donation to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Specially marked packages are printed with codes that you can enter at the Proud to Support Pink website. For each code entry, $1 will be donated to this center to support breast cancer research. The site also has a place for people to share their breast cancer journey or the journey of a friend or loved one. 50 pink iPod Shuffles will be given away each week in October as part of a giveaway on the site with an additional 50 pink iPod Shuffles being donated each week to four cancer centers for use by breast cancer patients during treatments.

To encourage Random Mommy readers to check out the Proud to Support Pink website, Freschetta is offering a fun giveaway of a coupon to try any Freschetta pizza and two pairs of Freschetta Proud to Support Pink earphones--one pair for you and one pair for you to share with an IRL pal or family member as a reminder of proactive health. I will also pick two additional winners to receive the earphones I received from Freschetta!

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:  Contest period runs from Thursday, October 6th, 2011 at 12:01 AM (Pacific) until Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving a comment on your favorite type of pizza, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url (once per day)
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar
4) Like Freschetta Pizza on Facebook
5) Follow Freschetta Pizza on Twitter

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winners. The winners will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winners do not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. Good luck!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I did review product samples to facilitate my review.

Baking is Back: Pillsbury Cookie and Brownie Mix Review

The boys and I used to bake a lot. From scratch. They love to measure out the teaspoons of baking powder and vanilla and mix up the batter. We especially love to make cookies. This all, of course, was pre-Baby E. Dragging out all the baking ingredients, the time it would take and the mess are just too much for me to handle right now. So I was especially happy when my friends at Pillsbury contacted me about their new baking products. Would I like to try them out? Yes, yes, yes!

We received three products from the new line: cookie mixes in Holiday Funfetti and Perfectly Pumpkin flavors and a family size brownie mix in dark chocolate. I didn't specify which flavors we wanted so it was as if Pillsbury read our minds as to what would be a good fit for us. R LOVES sprinkles, one of the few flavors that H would tolerate in sweets is pumpkin, and Stewart will only eat dark chocolate. We were so excited we decided to try the pumpkin cookie and brownie mixes out as soon as we received them!

H&R had a great time mixing everything up. Since the mixes don't require many more additional ingredients, just butter/oil and egg, it didn't create much of a mess. I really liked the fact that the cookie mix asks for butter. I don't like the way that refrigerated cookie dough cookies taste because they don't use butter to make the dough. The box gives the consumer the choice of whether they will use butter or some alternative. You could go super healthy and even use something like Benecol! The boys tasted the cookies as soon as they were out of the oven and cooled down enough to touch. When H likes something, he says, "MMMM..." When he doesn't, he immediately makes a gagging sound and runs to the trash to spit it out. No gagging sounds here.

The brownie box says "13x9 Family Size," and it really did fill the entire 13x9 pan. Usually when I buy brownie mixes they only fill a 9x9 pan and then I feel like I have to buy two because Stewart can eat an entire 9x9 pan by himself in one sitting. The box actually delivered on its promise. I later checked out the baking aisle at the supermarket and no other brownie mix makes this claim. And the taste? They were delicious. They didn't have the overpowering, cloying taste we've found with other mixes so this is definitely one I will buy again. I had to stop the boys from eating them because we wanted to share them with our church community group the next day. The boys were really proud that they had made the treats. Both brownies and cookies were a huge hit and every last one was eaten! 

From September 21 through November 30, 2011, fans of Pillsbury baking mixes, frostings and flours can visit the Pillsbury website to enter the Pillsbury People Celebrate More Photo Contest. Fans are asked to submit a photo capturing an everyday family celebration, plus a brief description (200 words or less) describing the moment and how the family experience made them feel. Ten finalist photos and captions will be chosen and posted on the site for a nationwide online vote to help decide the winner beginning in January 2012. The winner will also be invited to the ultimate hometown celebration for the Pillsbury Doughboy’s birthday this spring in Celebration, Florida. The Random Mommy family will be entering!

If you are looking for an easy way to bake, with or without kids, cookies and brownies that have a more authentic from-scratch taste, the Random Mommy family suggests you try out Pillsbury baking products. Next time you're at the supermarket, look out for the new flavors:

• Mocha Fudge and Dark Chocolate Pillsbury Brownie Mixes
• Pillsbury Cookie Mixes in Chocolate Chip,Chocolate Funfetti and Sugar Cookie 
• Sugar-Free Moist Supreme® Cake Mix in Classic Yellow and Devil’s Food
• Sugar-Free Brownie Mix in Chocolate Fudge and Milk Chocolate
• Pillsbury Sugar Free Creamy Supreme®Frosting in Chocolate Fudge and Vanilla  

Thank you Pillsbury for a fun-filled afternoon of baking!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I received product samples to facilitate my review.

From Left to Write: Cleopatra

In Cleopatra: A Life, Stacy Schiff digs into the history books to share with us who the true Cleopatra was. As a member of From Left to Write book club, I received a copy of this book for review. You can read other members posts inspired by Cleopatra: A Life on book club day, September 27 at From Left to Write. I need to emphasize this post is not a review of how well the book was written, but simply thoughts springing from what I learned from the book.

I didn't really know much about Cleopatra before I read this book. I had this vague notion that she died tragically but I had no idea at what age or why. I think like most people my age or older, if someone mentions Cleopatra, I immediately think of Elizabeth Taylor (need to watch that movie!). I learned from the book that Cleopatra was 39 years old when she died, having ruled Egypt for 22 years. During her life, she committed all sorts of atrocities to stay in power, but she also enjoyed peace and prosperity in her realm for the most part, unlike any previous Pharaoh. She is one of the earliest examples of a working mother who reached the pinnacle of success in her profession. But how her life ended makes me really angry.

Instead of facing utter humiliation by walking down the streets of Rome in shackles as a prisoner of war, she chose to kill herself. Sorry, but to me that erases all the incredible things she did during her rule and makes all the things she had done utterly meaningless. At this stage in my life I need inspiration from history and today on how to be a good mom, whether that be a good working mom or a good stay-at-home mom. Killing yourself and leaving four children behind, three of them under the age of majority, is not being a good mom. Even a bad mom is better than a dead mom. H&R have both told me that I'm a bad mom on many occasions but when I offer to let them exchange me for someone else, they don't take me up on it (most of the time).

Being a mom of three young children, I am constantly reminded of how fragile they are and how much love they need. Because I chose to bring them into the world, I have a sense of responsibility that I need to take care of them. Yes, it's true, as a leader Cleopatra suffered the ultimate defeat of losing the sovereignty of her nation to another. But she still had her responsibility to her children. If she had stayed alive, who knows, perhaps she would have found a way to save her son Caesarion, instead of his life being cut short at the hands of Octavian. Because of her selfish act, her three younger children became orphans and were raised by her lover's wife. I can't help but feel sorry for those kids--if they ever wondered why they weren't enough to keep their mom from killing herself.

Yes, I'm judging this woman harshly and she may have acted within reason in the world she inhabited. But when I look at my newborn daughter and I feel the love just surging out of my heart, I just can't understand how any parent could commit suicide and leave their baby. Yes, sometimes it's difficult and some people truly can't cope with life, but there is help out there. If you're a parent and you need to get healthy mentally or financially or overcome substance abuse before you can be a parent, there are resources that can help you and your child. Even if the best decision for your child is that you give your child up for adoption, don't end your life and leave that child with a lifetime of unanswerable questions. 

When you have a child, you lose the right to do whatever you want all the time. No more late nights at the club, drinking with your buddies till dawn. If you have school age children, you can't just take vacation whenever you want (unless you home school, of course). You can't spend your (or your spouse's) entire paycheck on designer clothes and handbags and meals at celebrity chef restaurants. And you can't kill yourself! That's just my opinion and, I'm sure, not the takeaway that Ms. Schiff intended with this biography. I plan to reread this book in ten years when I'm at a different life stage. Hopefully by then I will be a good mom.

Homework Needed: ClickN Kids Review

H has been in public school kindergarten for two weeks now and I'm conflicted. If you've read my latest post on Technorati, you know that I have reservations about whether to move our family to another school district. The first week, H's homework assignment was to write his name. He's been writing his name for three years! The second week, his homework was the letter A. One of the pages had him draw lines from the top of the page to the bottom of the page. I could see that he was not going to learn anything anytime soon. I had asked the teacher what was required to move him up to first grade. She said that he would have to be evaluated by everyone in the school, including the district psychiatrist. I knew that meant it was not going to happen.

Last night was back to school night at H's school. I was hoping that I would learn in the presentation that things would pick up quickly and he might start to be challenged soon. Unfortunately I didn't hear anything that disabused my notion that H would not be learning anything this year, at least academically. It's my fault really--I put him in a pre-school that teaches one level ahead so he's already gone through the entire kindergarten curriculum. I put that to the test by having him read the list of 50 sight words I brought home from the presentation last night. He nailed every single one. So what to do? It's either put him back into his *expensive* private school or teach him outside of school.

Thankfully, I recently signed up to do a review of the ClickN Kids online learning products. There are three of them on the market right now: ClickN READ Phonics, ClickN Spell, and  Looney Tunes ClickN READ Phonics. H has been going through the lessons for a couple weeks now and it's definitely helped him keep up his skills and learn new things. In addition to learning the underlying reading and spelling content, the programs are helping him master computer manual dexterity and learn where letters are on the keyboard.

ClickN READ Phonics teaches the entire kindergarten to 3rd grade phonics curriculum taught at US public schools through 100 interactive cartoon animated online phonics lessons. Any child can learn English, and learn to read correctly, in a phonics game-like environment that is great fun and easy to use. The phonics program is designed for children as young as 4 years old learning to read English for the first time, older children struggling to learn to read, learning disabled children and even adults learning English as a second language.

All phonics lessons begin in the Letter Sound Chamber. The onscreen teacher, "ClickN KID", gently guides your child through interactive phonics sound exercises as they learn to read. Children learn all of the letter sounds and their corresponding letter shapes required for reading mastery as well as spelling and keyboarding skills. Each phonics lesson introduces a new sound which is then practiced along with five previously introduced sounds. Next, your child is automatically taken to the Listening Cube which systematically incorporates the letters taught in the first Letter Sound Chamber into beginning, middle and ending sounds in words. Those same sounds are then incorporated into a word blending exercise which teaches your child how to decode the individual sounds in a word and learn to read the sound of the word.

The Reading Room now incorporates the letter sounds and word blends, learned in the first two reading skills environments, into new words and progressively builds your child's ability to read complete English sentences and short stories with ease. Following the Reading Room, your child enters the Speed Chamber where all letter sounds and words taught in the lessons are reviewed and practiced. Your child must make as many correct responses as possible within a user set number of instruction minutes. This environment builds the automatic decoding skill mastery needed to learn to read. H really likes the Speed Chamber because it's a contest against himself.

Looney Tunes Phonics takes the ClickN Read Phonics program and links it to the zany antics of Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Taz, Tweety, and more to enhance children's engagement and motivation to read. The Looney Tunes gang entertains your child and kids will delight in meeting the new character Professor Wizbot, the on-screen instructor in Looney Tunes Phonics, who teaches one click at a time®. The program lesson control settings allow the teacher or parent to precisely match each child's individual needs for motivational content and positive feedback:

• Full length: Maximum motivation. Features entire curriculum and all entertainment content
• Medium length: Medium motivation. Features entire curriculum and reduced amount of entertainment content
• Shortest length: Minimum motivation. Features entire curriculum with extra entertainment content removed

"Entertainment content" refers to the additional animation that occurs between educational modules that is designed to entertain and also reward users throughout the lessons. No matter the setting, the curriculum portions are identical and no educational pieces have been changed. H preferred the shortest length of entertainment content. He actually is a bit afraid of the Tazmanian Devil (maybe it reminds him too much of R?) and is more comfortable with the original ClickN Read Phonics program. I could see, though, how the Looney Tunes platform would be helpful to motivate kids who aren't as interested as H is in the outer space and space travel features of the original ClickN Read Phonics.

Click N Spell uses the same outer space platform as the original ClickN Read Phonics. It is a spelling program for PreK through 5th grade that teaches the 800 most commonly used words in the English language. It is based on the educational research on the use of Copy, Cover, Compare spelling instructional practice proven effective. H really enjoys these lessons and is very proud of himself when he gets a 100% on the quiz at the end of each lesson.

All three programs come with the industry's best progress reports. All mouse and keyboard entries are saved and can be viewed any time from any online computer. The cumulative results report combines all Individual Reports into one easy to understand summary report customized for each user. Parents can see scores as a percentage and compare them to other users and also easily identify the exact areas in which your child may need help and then see the specific lessons to repeat if necessary. Individual lesson reports are shown at the end of every lesson showing exactly how each child performed on that lesson. Reports for all lessons (even repeated lessons) are auto-saved and can be viewed online any time.

 

ClickN Kids programs are among the World's Most Advanced Learn To Read Phonics And Spelling Software Programs. Guaranteed to teach children to learn to read and spell or your money back! Visit ClickN KIDS web site for more information and free trial lessons for each of the three programs. I'm so glad H has these programs to help keep his mind engaged during this school year.

I did not receive compensation for this post. I received product samples to facilitate my review.

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Huggies Little Movers Slip On Diapers Review and GIVEAWAY

CONGRATS TO #7 AS CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG! PLEASE RESPOND TO MY EMAIL WITHIN 72 HOURS. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED!
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We went to Baby E's two month check up yesterday and I was pretty stunned when the nurse said she weighed 15 lbs 12 ounces. I knew that she was big but I didn't think she would weigh that much. Although I should have known since my sister looked at her photo and immediately thought the word "giant." It was all the confirmation Stewart needed to push us past the size 2s and onto the size 3 diapers. So it was perfect timing, I thought, when I was contacted by Huggies to review their recently released new Little Movers Slip-On diaper. Huggies Little Movers Slip-On diaper is the first and only disposable diaper that slides on just like underwear, providing a simple and easy-to-use solution to baby’s kicks, twists and contortions during changing time. The new Slip-On diapers have stretchy sides for quick changes; a close, comfy fit and trusted leakage protection moms know and expect from Huggies diapers; and tear-away sides for quick and clean diaper changes.

The drawback to having a giant baby is that she needs size 3 diapers when she still doesn't move much. So the effort in diaper changing with the Little Movers Slip-On diaper wasn't altogether different from using a regular diaper. The diaper did fit very nicely, though, and I learned that Baby E definitely needs size 3s! The good thing about having a lot of friends with babies is that I knew an 8 month old who is on the verge of walking, meaning she's very squirmy and doesn't like to stay still for diaper changes. I drove over with the diapers to her house and handed them off to her very appreciative parents. They were able to change the baby's pee diapers while she was standing, which she preferred over having to lie down to get changed.

If you have a little one or know someone who does that might want to try out the Huggies Little Movers Slip-On diapers, here is an opportunity to try them out for free. My generous friends at Huggies will provide one Random Mommy reader with a Huggies Little Movers Slip-On Diaper Prize Package of diapers and a $25 gift card to use at any of the following stores that carry the new diapers: Jewel-Osco®, Albertsons®,Cub®, Farm Fresh®, SHOP ‘n SAVE®, Shoppers®,Hornbacher’s ®, Lucky® and Shaw’s®.

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:  Contest period runs from Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 12:01 AM (Pacific) until Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 11:59 PM (Pacific). Enter by leaving a comment on whether you wore disposable or cloth diapers as a child, and leave your e-mail address OR sign in to comments using your Blogger ID, making sure your Blogger profile is public and includes your e-mail address.

Bonus Entries (leave a separate comment for each entry, it counts if you've done any of these so leave a comment for each one)
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Tweet this contest and leave the tweet url
3) Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking on the sidebar

If you don't leave a qualifying comment and your e-mail address or public Blogger profile, your entry will be disqualified. I reserve the right to extend the contest period. At the end of the contest period, I will utilize Random.org to randomly choose the winner. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 72 hours to respond to my e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, the prize will go to the next place winner as decided by Random.org. This contest is open for US Residents only. Good luck and have a great week!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I did receive a product sample to facilitate my review.