Techmamas

You Tube Viral Videos are the New Joke Emails for Moms

Sarah's post on online addictions got me thinking about my own. I feel like I live in two different worlds, my live network of friends and my online social network. Luckily there is some cross-over. But many of my mom friends don't know much about blogs or would not consider socializing with moms online. I will call them my live social network friends.

Well, those live social mom friends who may be very technology savvy, but never read blogs or have ever joined online social networks are passing YouTube videos around in emails instead of jokes or mushy mom inspirational thoughts. I feel as though things are staring to change. Maybe I can get them to join Facebook and post that video to their profile.

And here is the completely viral YouTube video that inspired them to join into the technology fun......

A Chat With A Twins Techie Mom

I had to chance to chat the other day with Jen "Digital Mom" Grant, a Product Marketing Manager for Google, who posts on the Gmail blog with tech advice for moms. Her most recent post is on managing emails while picking up toys. Jen and I bonded over being moms of twins and an older sibling.

After talking to any twins mom we seem to always come to same conclusion; while our children are the shining stars of our lives, they also provide family management challenges which takes multi-tasking to a new level. So, yeah for multi-tasking moms! Or as I say, multi-tasking for moms is not a choice - it is survival.

Blogging Dads

Over at the blogs I help manage: Silicon Valley Moms Blog, Chicago Moms Blog and DC Metro Moms Blog we had some fun asking the Dads to post. They did, and had some fun things to say.

My hubby posted on the 2007 Blogging Wife. I commented that we are just another Silicon Valley couple that blogs together. Neil's blog is 3SuperHeroes and I have a growing list of blogs. This allows us to spend time together sitting on the couch blogging on our notebooks (thanks to our wireless network).  Matt, hubby to Jordan of the Chicago Moms Blog calls it ""parallel play with laptops".

We even send romantic notes to each other's BlackBerrys during the day. This may seem like an odd way to spend time, but it may be the evolution of modern romance. This all makes me wonder how did couples spend time together before technology hit the homefront? Reading books? Listening to the radio together? Sitting outside rocking on a porch swing? I kinda like sitting next to my hubby blogging together. It inspires me..... And he is one of my great sources of technology information.

Any other blogging couples out there? Or does this type of thing only happen in Silicon Valley?

Lactivists Take On FaceBook, Bill Maher, Harvard and the List Goes On....

This morning I saw this post from IzzyMom called "First MySpace, Then Facebook, Now Harvard? (Edited to Add)". That post discussed the recent mistreatment of breastfeeding mother during a Harvard exit exam, Bill Maher's completely offbase (even discriminatory) "joke" about breastfeeding moms and now Facebook's wrong move to delete pictures of women breastfeeding on the site. PunditMom also wrote a post titled "Breast Practices" and posted on the DC Metro Moms Blog ("Breastfeeding Moms are Lazy and Narcissistic"). The best soundbyte was from the link that IzzyMom provided to the blog post from Mojo of a Mama: "“boobs for breastfeeding = bad! ~ boobs to sell stuff = good!”. Thanks IzzyMom for providing the great summary of the current controversy.

I am big Facebook fan, but this is ridiculous. I can only guess that that the people making the call at Facebook are young guys uncomfortable with looking at breastfeeding moms. I do appreciate the open nature of Facebook, I found the petition  "Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!(Official petition to Facebook)" and joined the group. I am already a Facebook member,  but for those that are not it may be worth joining just to join that group.

NOTE TO THESE PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH (AND MAKING POLICIES AGAINST) BREASTFEEDING MOMS: GET OVER IT! THIS IS YOUR PROBLEM NOT BREASTFEEDING MOMS!

My personal contribution will be to ask moms to list organizations and companies that support Breastfeeding Moms. Please comment below so we can publicly thank them.

THANK YOU: To Deloitte & Touche - I was a Senior Manager there and was always given a safe place to pump and all the breaks I needed to do so. Thanks to their supportive policies I was able to breastfeed my first son even though I went back to work.

This is cross-posted on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Is Eva Longoria A CrackBerry?

I was watching the 2007 Emmy's on t.v. when I saw an interview with Eva Longoria. They asked her what she is carrying in her adorable clutch, and she pulled out a lipstick and a BlackBerry. She even mentioned that the clutch was the perfect size for the BlackBerry. When she showed her BlackBerry, it was from the back and it looked like the Curve (I recognize it because I have one).

Photo credits - Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com on Yahoo

I wondered why I am so obsessed about identifying celebrities with BlackBerrys? Just the other day I posted about Jennifer Garner and her BlackBerry. Then I decided I enjoy identifying celebrities that seem to want to take charge of their lives instead of handing everything over to personal assistants. Because carrying a BlackBerry/PDA enables management of their schedule and their life from one little gadget. That is something I admire.

OK, and I like to get ideas of cute clutches like the one Eva Longoria has to carry my BlackBerry. Not every small bag is big enough for a PDA.....I need to find out the name of that clutch...Does anyone know the name? Please help:-)

Who's The IT Expert In Your Family?

In Silicon Valley, it seems that families share more then time together - they share IT duties. When it comes to my family, my husband can fix anything if he had time (he has an Engineering and Business background). But I love tinkering with tech gadgets so I asked to be in charge of installing and managing our wireless network. At times I regret my decision, spending those precious moments when my kids are at school debugging our wireless network is not fun. But I do feel good when I fix the problem (the most popular way is to shut down our DSL modem and wireless router and just restart everything).

But I have to give extra credit to my sons. I put my eight year old in charge of figuring out how to use any kids gadget that we buy and put batteries in. When we did buy him an iPod, he had to figure out how to use it on his own (and he did quickly). I installed internet controls but he is constantly trying to hack it, recently he figured out where the "uninstall" application is on our family PC.

Even my 4 year old twins enjoy installing batteries in toys and taking things apart (sometimes putting it back together). When I take them to the Apple Store, they just sit down and start playing the computer games without asking many questions.

But I feel them gaining on me, even with my tech gadget obsession. I wonder what the future will hold, what types of computer applications and tech gadgets will our children have? When will I need to go to them for IT help?

Yesterday's New York Times had a great article titled "Wanted: I.T. Experts (No Adults Please)". It looks like the kids are gaining a lead with technology expertise. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that my first exposure to computers were punch cards in college. What would life had been like for me I had a PC like my son when I was 8!

Is Jennifer Garner a CrackBerry?

Jennifer Garner is my mom idol. She has a healthy attitude about being a mom, carrying on her career and can kick a** (at least she did in Alias). Best yet, her figure is healthy and not that I-want-to-fit-in-too-thin look. Today I was reading my (guilty pleasure) US magazine and saw that she always has "Gum, mints and her BlackBerry" in her travel bag. Glad to know we have that in common, and maybe kicking a**. Which is an important skill for me - being a mom of three boys.

Social Networking With Wrinkles??

Matt Richtel of the New York Times wrote an article titled "The Graying Of the Web" that discussed the social networking sites aimed at baby boomers and graying computer users. The sites mentioned in the article were:

• Maya's Mom - I am not only a fan of Maya's Mom but am also a member. This company was founded by Silicon Valley momtrepreneur Ann Crady. Maya's Mom was just sold to Johnson & Johnson. I view Maya's Mom not just as a site for baby boomers or graying computer users - but moms of all ages.
• Eons - Gathering place for people lovin’ life on the flip side of 50.
• Rezoom - The ageless generation.
• Multiply - Share digital media
• Boomj -  Social and Lifestyle network for Baby Boomers
• Boomertown - Social networking for those 50 and over..

I have not used the other sites but may take a look. I am a big fan of Facebook, I joined and am happy to have found many of my (female and male) friends on the site. So I would not call these other sites Facebook with wrinkles, because I think Facebook can be used for young and old social networkers. But there is value in sites that specialize in specific demographics. I am also partial to mom blogs, especially in Silicon Valley, Chicago or DC Metro!

ABC News Linklove: Cell Services Parents Can Use For Kids

Susan Donaldson James from ABC News wrote an article titled "New Cell Service Blocks Kids' Calls, Texts, Downloads" that discussed "a new service from AT&T — Smart Limits for Wireless — that gives parents wide-ranging control over the cell phones used by their children." Some interesting moms were interviewed. Ok, blush blush - I was honored to be mentioned in the article. Especially when I was interviewed on my cell phone while chasing my boys at the park.

I blogged about some of the other cell phone services that parents can use for kids on my post titled: Mom in a minivan shops for kids PC's and cell phones.

Has anyone used these services? I will demo the Kajeet cell phone over the next two weeks and will post with my results.

Do Women Want Less Pink - More Tech For Gadgets?

Monday Linklove - The Wired post titled "What Do Women Want? Less Pink, More Tech".  Finally, the word is out that women want the strong stuff when it comes to technology gadgets. Many moms I know are equal or even more geeky then their husbands are. Or is this unique for Silicon Valley? I suspect not so... But who knows...