HiTechMommy

Winners!!

Here are the winners of the Skype Fon and SMC WiFi phone bundle.  Thanks you everyone who wrote me and to Skype for setting up the whole thing.  This was a very hard decision and in case you were wondering, I did in fact read all of them.  Each one of you who entered had great reasons,  from talking to your mom while you're away at college to helping a disabled friend who is living on a fixed income.  This made me realize the realm of this technology and just how powerful it can really be in allowing thousands of people communicate.

 

Terri Mensing- Terri will use the bundle to communicate with her doctors.

Mark Hizon- Mark will use the bundle to help in the process of founding the "Media Technology Club" at Troy High School  in Fullerton, CA.

Lori Gagnon-  Lori lives in Curchill, Manitoba, Canada, "Polar Bear Capatial Of The Wrold" where there's no cell service and will use her bundle to essentially have one!

Paul Evans- Paul and his wife are a military family and will use the bundle to communicate while she's on active duty.

Rob Pitruzzella- Rob is a stay at home Dad whos wife can not take a cell to work but can get net access.  He'll use the bundle to ask her important questions about the little ones.

I'm working on the next giveaway now.  It's going to be good so keep checking back in.

Congrats to the winners!

-Cat

In The Lab With Leo

I was recently a guest  on Leo Laporte's new TV show up in Canada called, "In The Lab With Leo".  What a cool set up they've got going on.  It was great to see Leo and take a trip with baby Jack up to Vancouver.   That city is beautiful and filled with amazing sights like the aquarium and the flags. I hope to go again soon.  Oh, and my old pal Chris Pirillo was there with his new wife.  They are a sweet couple and it was nice to see them.

When I was up there I taped two segment.  One was about mommy gadgets (I'll post about it next week) and in the other I talked about Skype, the free service that allows you to make phone and video calls over the Internet.  I've been doing representative work for them over the last year so when Leo told me they were using Skype as the main form of communication on the show, he asked me to do a demo.  If you saw the show then you saw the demo and you know that the folks at Skype hooked me up with some stuff to giveaway !!! Lucky you!  The bundle consists of a FON router and an SMC WiFi phone. They sell this dynamic duo on the Skype site for about $160.  The router gives you an easy and safe way to share secure net access with anyone who can get the signal and the phone allows you to make Skype calls via the open network.  The idea is that if enough people open up their networks with FON and carry their SMC WiFi phone, there really is no need for the phone company! Hehehe. Now that's not really the goal here , but you get the idea of just how cool the vision is.  I set mine up and it's pretty easy to use.  The phone allows you to sign on and access all of your Skype contacts and the sound quality is totally clear.  When you're using it you really feel like you've hit the next level in the realm of communication.

I have a few to give away.  If you email a good reason as to why you deserve one, you'll win!

-Cat Schwartz

THE CONTEST IN NOW CLOSED.  I'M READING HUNDREDS OF EMAIL FROM YOU ALL NOW.  W00T!  I'LL POST THE WINNERS IN A DAY OR SO.  THANK'S FOR PLAYING.

DUE TO SUCH A POPULAR RESPONSE, I'LL BE DOING A GIVEAWAY ONCE A MONTH. STAY TUNED.

Jack's First Friends

This is Jack's first group of real friends.  These are the kids in my Friday playgroup and we call ourselves, "The Fireflies".  It's amazing to think about how Jack will look back on this photo in 30 years and try to remember this day.  He'll laugh at the furniture (and this house is decorated modern) and think it all looks retro. 

I love these kids.  Each one of them is so special and lovely.  They're all about 9-13 months and are really beginning to form their personalities.  Jack is pretty mellow when one of them happens to hit him or take away his toy.  I hope he stays like that in life.  Anyway, enjoy this picture of Jacob, Harper, Ashleigh, Jack, Sophia, Jessica, Jack, and Jack's BFF, Nolan.

- Cat Schwartz