Since last holiday season when I bought my husband the Flip camcorder, Pure Digital has released two updated HD models, the most recent, the MinoHD 2nd Generation, which made its debut on October 15 (I reviewed the earlier HD on GHM in July). Nice timing, Pure Digital (disclosure: a friend works for the company and sent me the latest model to use and review). The MinoHD is perfectly sized and I predict it will be a winning gift this season.
You may recall that I had some gripes about the Flip UltraHD, among them that the editing software (plug in your flip-out USB port to your computer, and voila! it’s there) didn’t allow for subtitles mid-movie. I still have that gripe, although the updated FlipShare software for the Mino makes “Magic Movies” using highlights from the videos you select—a sort of automatic video collage that saves time editing. You can now capture still photos from video, a plus if you’re at the pumpkin patch as I was this morning, trying to juggle camera and camcorder. Flip’s new Facebook interface (direct uploads to all your friends and family) will win over many users, too.
I’m afraid to burst the bubble of our readers, since I am sure that you are all convinced that Missy and I are hip, happenin’ mamas in our late 20s, but I have to announce that recently my BFF and I celebrated our 20th High School Reunion. That’s right folks, we’re pushing 40. Luckily, so was everyone else at that party. [Ed. Note: We looked hot, pushing 40 or not.]
What does this have to do with GHM, you might ask, besides the fact that we’re mamas who often feel old and tired, with gray hairs we hastily covered with dye before we greeted our old prom dates (we’d long given up on major weight loss)? It’s the Flip Camcorder, friends! I’ve been needing a compelling reason to review my little videotaping gadget, and our reunion is providing it.
The week before our reunion, I was talking to the wife of our classmate, a SEAL who is deployed in Iraq and unable to attend the reunion. I was hoping to talk her into attending without him, but, you know…reunions are so much fun when it’s not your class and all. She politely declined. But she was sad, she said, because it occurred to her that it would be great to make a videotape of her husband’s friends sending him greetings from the reunion.
“OMG!” I replied with excitement. “I will totally do that!
Diaper bag? Check. Baby Bjorn? Check. Food for toddler (just in case)? Check. Pumpkin pie? Check. Green bean casserole? Check. Out the door we go to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt’s house. We’re only 30 minutes late.
As soon as we walk in the door, we show off Baby G to the family, some who haven’t even met him. We know we have a short time window before he needs to go to sleep for the night. And this will be the first time he’s ever gone to bed outside our house.
About 20 minutes later, after being passed around from relative to relative, it was bedtime. Missy took Baby G to the spare bedroom and nursed and rocked him to sleep. Dinner was now being served.
Sy was having a blast with her cousins and aunts and uncles so I knew she was fine. I wolfed my dinner down so that I could relieve Missy. And then it occurred to me…
Crap. We forgot the baby monitor.
OK so I am totally intrigued by this company, check it out. How Fast They Grow, a mom-run company, is putting a digital twist on traditional scrapbooking. After the birth of her child four years ago, founder Cathy Bennett became disillusioned with the time-consuming nature of scrapbooking. So instead of sitting around and complaining about it like I would, she went and figured out a way to digitize the scrapbook.
How Fast They Grow allows parents to make lovely scrapbook pages on their computer in about 7 minutes and have them printed by HFTG. Just drag and drop your digital images into a cagillion different pre-designed templates, enter your own copy and boom, you’re done. You can even design and order just one printed page at a time. I like the idea of getting it done per event. Not as much pressure as sitting down with three rolls of printed pictures and no clue where to start.
OK, talk about an internet rabbit hole. My friend Micky sent me the link to Television Tunes the other day. I sort of wish she never had. The site has almost 6000 TV theme songs. I can’t get the song from Cheers out of my head to save my life. I made Sy a little mix of all of her favorite TV theme songs yesterday while she was napping. She was so geeked out she started jumping around dancing, meanwhile begging to hear the Clifford Puppy Days theme song just ONE MORE TIME!
The songs are not superior quality at all, nor are they for sale, but you can download them for your listening pleasure and send along a donation to the site if you really want to ensure that the theme song to CHiPs will be there for you always.
Must.Put.The.Computer.Down.
Congratulations to Kate M, Limit, Miri, Christine and Allison!
Welcome to Day 3 of the GHM Mother’s Day Giveaways featuring totally groovy Greeting Card 4-Packs courtesy of Flip Clips.
To enter the GHM Giveaways: Just leave a comment in the comments section of this post and hope you are one of the FIVE randomly selected Greeting Card 4-Pack winners! Thanks for your generous prizes, Flip Clips!
This Giveaway is now closed.
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[Ed. Note: Thanks to my husband for writing this post. He is referred to as “tech support” by most of our family. He’s like our very own personal Geek Squad (I mean that in the nicest way, dude). So keep your eyes peeled for more technology-based reviews from Rog. Enjoy the first one!]
Our friends and family often request the latest pictures of our girl Sy or the newest thing she’s learned. Like most people, our relatives and friends are spread out across the country and even the world (West Coast, East Coast, Canada, UK, Switzerland, Asia). Sending emails everyday or even every week with pictures would be a little much. But having an online presence of some sort would solve the problem. That’s where the family website comes in.
We have a blog with our own domain name and that’s where we can post little updates. Our peeps can check the site and see that most recent pictures and read about the latest Sy-ism.
Here’s how to set up your own blog and keep your friends and family up to date.
