Thank you to who?Comics for sponsoring this post and encouraging my child to read biographies in comic book form! Please click here to learn more about the app. And follow who? Comics on Twitter for updates!

who?Comics On The iPad

The who?Comics is an iPhone & iPad app which takes the biographies of currently popular figures and turns them into comics for your children 8 and up to read.

I have found comics a great way to get kids to read books that they normally would not find interesting. My 8-year-old never liked to read books because he gets overwhelmed by all the words and would tell himself he can’t read it before he even started reading. With comics, the words are not overwhelming and he just digs right in and starts reading.

Biography Comics for Kids

My 15-year-old son read the J.K. Rowling and Bill Gates biography comics. He had a difficult time getting into the biography comics. He loves comics, but he said they were very difficult to read and he didn’t find them interesting. He said he didn’t really remember much of what he read because they were a difficult read. He did love the timeline feature at the end of each comic.

The biography comics are from a Korean company and they are working on making the translations to english much smoother. I think that now, the comics feel very choppy and we ran into a passages in each comic where we really were not sure what they were trying to say. This is definitely still a work-in-progress.

My 12-year-old daughter started to read the J.K. Rowlings and Warren Buffet comics and after about 10 minutes she said she could not read anymore. In her defense, she generally does not like comics as much as her brothers do. She said she found the comics very difficult to read

J.K. Rowlings Biography Comics

My 8-year-old son loved the who?Comics. We read the J.K. Rowlings biography comic. I did have to sit with him and explain a lot of it to him. There were some topics that I had to explain further, such as, when J.K. Rowlings mother was sick, my son wanted to know a lot more about that. We completed the comic and he did like it a lot.

My Thoughts On who?Comics

Overall, I think the who?Comics biography comics are a good tool for kids to read about their heroes, but they need a lot of work before they are completely ready for kids.

Each one of my kids felt the comics were too long and told parts of the person’s life that they didn’t think was necessary. I would also read each comic before you let your child read them to be sure it’s appropriate for your child.

Thank you again to who? Comics for sponsoring my post. Please click here to learn more about the app. Visit who? Comics for updates. I was selected for this opportunity by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own. #CleverWhoComics #spon

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who?Comics; An Interesting Biography Comics Read For Your Kids originally posted at Scraps of My Geek Life.

Instagram Pictures Video

Here is a video I created with all Instagram pictures of my family’s holiday break.

Make your own slideshow at Animoto.

Animoto is free for a non HD 30 second video. If you want a longer video, you will need to upgrade to Pro which is $30/year. I’ve made a lot of Animoto videos in the past because they are so easy to make. Animoto has a very simple work area where you pull in your pictures and videos, add music and text and then click “Produce Video” and Animoto goes to work creating the video for you.

Animoto has an iPhone app too.

Let’s Try Making a Video With Your Instagram Pictures!

Go make a few videos with your Instagram pictures and put a link in the comments below.

Disclosure: I wrote this because I wanted to. I am not affiliated with Animoto or Instagram in any way (and never have been.)

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Create a Video With Your Instagram Pictures originally posted at Scraps of My Geek Life.

Into_Now App

This is what the Into_Now app on the iPad looks like when it is listening to your TV.

And Into_Now on the iPhone…

And this is what you get when the Into_Now app listens and finds the show you are listening to.

You can also find shows that are on now if you are looking for something to watch on TV.

You can connect with your friends and when you check into a show you will know whether your friends have watched that show before or if they are watching it now. The checking in part is similar to Get Glue, but I love that the Into_Now app listens for the show rather than me having to find it.

Here is what you see on the iPad. There is more space, so you can see more.

Testing Into_Now

I have tested both the iPad and iPhone Into_Now app extensively trying to trip it up. I have never had the app tell me it was the wrong show. If there are commercials on, the app will tell you it thinks there may be commercials on. If the sound is too soft or there is a lot of other noise in the room, then the Into_Now app will have a hard time listening. But when it can hear well, it finds the show almost every time. There was only once that it wasn’t finding the show and I can’t remember what show it was.

How Into_Now Works

I checked on the Into_Now website to find out how it find the shows by listening. It uses something called SoundPrint, which is their own patented indexing technology

With SoundPrint, IntoNow can identify what’s being watched, down to the individual episode, within seconds.

- Into_Now website

It just amazes me what technology can do.

Follow Into_Now on Facebook & Twitter.

Let’s Talk About The Into_Now app!

Did you download Into_Now? Do you use check-in apps when you are watching TV?

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Into_Now App Knows What You Are Watching By Listening; Daily Geek Find originally posted at Scraps of My Geek Life.

Why Do You Need a Personal Safety Device?

Maybe you are thinking you don’t walk in dark allies at night alone so why do you need a personal safety device? How about when you walk back to your car at the mall at 7:00 pm and it’s dark. You had to park miles away because it’s the holidays and everyone must go to the mall on a Monday night at 7:00 pm.

I have 2 older kids who walk to and from their friend’s house. I have given them all the speech about what to do “just in case,” but installing bSafe on their iPhones makes me feel even better. I have them open the app when they are walking home (even when with a friend.)

My philosophy is

Better safe than sorry.

Installing bSafe

bSafe is a free app and can be downloaded for the iPhone, Blackberry and/or Android device by:

• Enter your phone number on this page (http://www.bipper.com/bsafe/) and download via SMS
• Search for bSafe using the iTunes or the Android Marketplace
• Text bsafe to 84145

I have downloaded the bSafe iPhone app on both of my teenage kid’s phones and on my phone. It helps knowing there is an easy free option.

Created By A Mom

bSafe was created by Silje Vallestad because she wanted a safe mobile option for her own 3 kids.

Here is Siljie being interviewed by Fox News and explaining how bSafe came to be.

bSafe Features

SOS button to push when you want to send your chosen contacts an SOS message with your location. I tell my kids that when they are walking alone (which is rare) or uncomfortable, just open the bSafe app so you can hit SOS if needed.

bSafe will send a message with your current location to your “Guardians.”

Kids are sometimes in situations they are uncomfortable with and they don’t know how to get out of them. bSafe has a Fake Call option. Set it to call you in 5 seconds or up to 10 minutes.

Premium vSafe

Today, as I was writing my post, we had a situation where the premium version of bSafe would have come in handy. My daughter has bSafe on her phone, but I have not put the premium version on her phone yet. She didn’t come home on the bus. She told me that cheerleading was canceled so I was expecting her home. Usually she texts me if that changes…no text. I was worried. I tried calling her and texting her, but she was not near her phone, so she couldn’t hear it.

Fortunately, everything was ok and when my husband got to school she was there. But there was 30 minutes where I was very worried. I’m installing the premium version of bSafe today so I could have tracked her location and seen that she was at school. The premium version is $1.99/month or $14.99/year.

Let’s Talk About a Personal Safety Device!

Do you use a personal safety device? Do you talk to your children about being safe?

Disclosure: This post is part of a compensated campaign with Bipper where I was paid for my time in evaluating and sharing bSafe. All opinions are my own.

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bSafe Turns Your SmartPhone into a Personal Safety Device originally posted at Scraps of My Geek Life.

Here is my first post on Path last year.

My first post on Path in November, 2010.

Path recently went through a big overhaul and now I am in love with the app. As a digital scrapbooker, using a personal journal app is AWESOME! Let me go through a few of the Path features.

Path, Your Personal Journal App

Your path has a main photo and you have your own profile picture. This is my Path.

I took that sunset picture in the rear view mirror of my car. I love it! You can add pictures, videos, places, songs, comments, people and when you go to bed and are awake.

Adding To Your Path

Here is the screen where you start. Click on the “plus” circle.

And this menu will fly out.

Awake or Sleeping?

Click on the Moon and you can record when you “Go to Sleep” or “I’m Awake.” Do you know of any other personal journal app with that feature?

Your Thoughts?

Have a thought you would like to share? Here you can write anything you want to remember that doesn’t fit into any of the other categories.

Adding Music

Listening to a song? Click on the music note and you will get a list of songs.

Adding Pictures, Video & Places

The next two are for adding the place where you are and/or the people you are with. And the top one is for adding a picture or video. When you take a picture or video, you can choose from several filters. This one is the Old Time filter.

And here is a picture in my path.

And here is a video on my Path.

Adding Friends to Your Path

Your friends can add an emoticon (choice of 5) or a comment to any of the updates in your Path. By default, Path is a private personal journal app. Path is not the place where you will collect friends and share it with the world. You max out your friends at 150. I have decided that Path is the place where I share my personal life with those who are close to me. I won’t add everyone as a friend, so don’t be insulted if I don’t add you. I will add those who I spend time with (either offline or online.)

Social Networking Overload?

I plan to use Path as a personal journal app to aid me in my digital scrapbooking. I am part of several different social networks and each one has a purpose. Path will be a more private personal place for me.

Let’s Talk About This Personal Journal App!

So, that is Path. What are your thoughts? Is this something you will use? Does the maximum of 150 friends concern you? Is there a place for Path in your social networking bag?

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Skullcandy Sound

Not only are the Skullcandy earbuds the best headphones for running, but they also sound really good. I use the Skullcandy In-Ear Buds even when I’m not running because I like the sound I get.

I tried the Skullcandy FIX headphones in both the bud style seen in the blue/black above and the in-ear bud style shown in the red above. My personal preference was the in-ear bud style because I have small ears and I could change the size of the piece that goes into my ear.

Headphones For Running

I always run with my iPhone because it has all my music, my running apps and for safety, I have a phone with me. It would be really hard to answer the phone or make a call if I didn’t use the microphone style headphones for running.

The Skullcandy FIX earbuds also have a microphone. Another reason these are the best headphones for running. You can also change the volume and skip to the next song with the Skullcandy FIX earbuds.

For safety reasons, when I run outside, I only use 1 earbud (or have the sound very low) so that I can still hear cars and other noises. If I am running on a track with other people around, I will run with both earbuds in my ears.

The Skullcandy FIX Buds retail for $39.99 and come in 6 different colors. The Skullcandy FIX In-Ear Buds retail for $69.99 and come in 6 colors.

Disclosure: I received a pair of the Skullcandy FIX Buds and In-Ear Buds in exchange for this review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Let’s Talk About Headphones for Running!

Have you found the perfect headphones for running? Do you listen to music when you run? What do you use for listening to music?

Be sure to follow Skullcandy on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

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Headphones For Running; Skullcandy FIX Earbuds originally posted at Scraps of My Geek Life.

My husband gave me Siri for our 17th Wedding Anniversary and I think the 3 of us will be very happy!

Although I asked Siri how old she was and she replied, “Are you concerned?” So it seems she has a bit of an attitude, but unlike my teenagers, I can turn Siri off if she gives me too much lip service!!

I’ll keep you posted on how the relationship between Siri and I (and hubby) is going.

Let’s Talk About Siri!

Do you have Siri in your home? What are some of the funny things she has said to you?

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Will You Be Buying An iPhone 4S?

My Husband Gave Me Another Woman For Our Anniversary originally posted at Scraps of My Geek Life.

Image via CrunchBase

So Apple just made it’s big announcement and I’m rather unimpressed. Will I buy the iPhone 4S? Probably! But I don’t feel this great pull. Usually I feel like, “I gotta have this NOW!” But I don’t feel that this time. The big reason I want the new iPhone 4S is for the better camera. I use my iPhone as my main camera because it is always with me.

Here are the new camera features:

• 8 MP 3264 x 2448
• 1/2 Sec between shots
• f/2.4 aperture
• Video image stabilization
• 1080 p video
• Noise reduction (video)

The new Siri Assistant stuff is cool, but that alone isn’t enough to make me buy it.

iOS 5 will be out on October 12 as an update.

You can pre-order the iPhone 4S on 10/7 and it will be available on 10/14. I have 3 days to decide what to do. Prices are $199 for 16 GB, $299 for 32 GB and $399 for 64 GB.

Let’s Talk About the iPhone 4S!

Will you be buying the iPhone 4S? Why or why not?

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5 MORE DAYS of my half marathon training! I am getting so anxious because I’m ready. I want to do it now. I go back and forth being be afraid I won’t finish to I’m ready to run a marathon.

When Hurricane Irene hit Virginia Beach, I was worried that the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon would be cancelled. There goes my half marathon training was my first thought. There was a tiny part of my that was thinking, hmmmm…..that wouldn’t be bad because I can’t fail if I don’t try. I know…totally the wrong attitude to have. But the show will go on….

Half Marathon Training Update

This week I’m taking it very easy with my half marathon training. The last thing I need is an injury.  Today I am going to take a walk. I want to get outside because it is beautiful outside, but I don’t want to run.

Working hard during my half marathon training.

My half marathon training schedule this week looks like this:

• Monday – 4 miles
• Tuesday – Off Day – Birthday
• Wednesday – 2 mile walk
• Thursday – EA SPORTS Active on Xbox Kinect
• Friday – Walk 2 miles & Ubisoft YourShape on Xbox Kinect
• Saturday – Off, drive to Virginia Beach; Pick up my racing packet.
• Sunday – Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon Virginia Beach

Follow My Half Marathon Race

If you want to follow me live, I’ll be tweeting from @ScrappinMichele. I will also use the hashtag #momsrunning since that group of moms who run are so supportive.

I am using an iPhone app called PaceKeepr that will tweet out my progress automatically after every mile. I will tweet out pictures and a few personal updates along the way too.

Here is where you set up the auto tweets.

PaceKeepr will also help you keep your pace. I have no plans to keep up a pace for this race. My goal is to finish.

Pacekeepr will help you keep your pace too.

Let’s Talk About Half Marathon Training!

Were you nervous before your first half marathon? Is there anything you would have done different with your half marathon training?

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Since I’ve starting using the Gratitude Journal App, I’ve started to look at my day differently. I look for things that I can put into my Gratitude Journal…..positive things.

Quote from the Gratitude Journal app for iPhone.

The Gratitude Journal app is a very simple journal where you add text and you can add pictures (1 in the iPhone & 4 in the iPad app.) Each day you get a new positive quote and you can rate you day from 1 to 5 stars. It’s a very simple way to look at the positives in your life.

iPhone Gratitude Journal App

The iPhone version of the Gratitude Journal App looks like a page out of a yellow lined note pad. You can change the design behind the note pad. The quotes are on a separate screen like the picture above.

iPhone version of Gratitude Journal app.

iPad Gratitude Journal App

And the iPad version of the Gratitude Journal app looks more like a regular journal. You can choose from several different designs for the journal section on the right. I like the happy hour with the happy sun.

iPad version of Gratitude Journal app.

If you need a little positive thinking in your daily life, try the Gratitude Journal app. It is a positive way to use technology to enhance your life.

Let’s Talk About The Gratitude Journal App!

Do you use a gratitude journal? Do you or would you use a hi-tech Gratitude Journal App?

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