Birthday bash at Buca di Beppo

We've lived less than a mile from Bucca di Beppo for almost 20 years, but Alfie and I were always too intimidated by the large crowd (and implied long wait times) to bother taking the kids there. We finally took the plunge and booked a table six months ago, and we had such a great time that I knew I wanted to go back to Buca di Beppo for my birthday dinner.  I've had such a crazy week that it ended up being my day-after-my-birthday dinner, but I can't think of a better way to celebrate my 42nd and start the Memorial Day Weekend.

Open MAKE: Inspiring young Makers everywhere

This weekend we were invited to the San Francisco Exploratorium to meet some amazing young inventors who will be showcasing their creations at the 2010 Bay Area Maker Faire. We thoroughly enjoyed last year's Maker Faire, so I knew it would be an event worth seeing, and great run-up to the main event on May 22 and 23.


Sure enough, we got a great sneak peek at some really cool inventions -- a marble run, a levitating machine, a fire breathing dragon and a rotating light sphere. We got to listen to several inventors explain how their inventions worked, what challenges they encountered and what they love most about their inventions. The Open MAKE exhibition area also had some great interactive exhibits like a marble run wall, where the boys could make their own marble run with wooden pegs, ramps, pipes, platforms and other doo-dads.

But their hands-down favorite activity was making these Scribbling Machines.



All you need is a small rotary motor, a hot glue gun stick, a box or plastic tub, some markers and tape. You stick the glue stick into the rotating shaft of the motor to make a propeller -- but you don't stick it in the middle, stick it slightly off-center so that your machine will actually travel instead of just vibrate. Attach one of the motor's wires to one end of an AA battery with a rubber band, and attach the motor to a plastic cup with tape. For legs, tape 4 or more markers, marker-side down, to the bottom of the cup. They also had bits of feathers and pipe cleaners and stickers so kids could decorate their contraptions.

To make the machine go, attach the motor's second wire to the other end of the battery. This turns the machine and the propeller, which makes the whole thing wiggle around. The markers will write on whatever surface you place your machine on, since it's vibrating so much.




The boys were absolutely entranced! We had to give the motors back so that another museum-goer could get the chance to try it out, but they had vending machines which sold the motors for just 50 cents. I bought one for each kid, and now they're have a wonderful time inventing all sorts of contraptions using the motor. What a great way to inspire future makers!



Disclosure: We received complimentary admission to the San Francisco Exploratorium to attend this event. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

My Mother's Day Hi-Tech Present List

Here are five hi-tech presents I'd love to see on my bedside table when I wake up on Mother's Day! Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?


1) Retractable earphones. I'm still in love with the retractable convenience of ChicBuds earphones, but mine have fallen apart. I need a new pair!

2) A digital camera. Our Canon point-and-shoot is really on its last legs. Half the time, we need to manually pry apart the lens! I'm quite happy with the Canon interface, so I'd love any of the Canon Powershot A-series cameras.

3) A smart phone. Now that I have an internet data plan on my phone, I'm really feeling the limitations of my Samsung Reclaim. Sure, it's cute and it's made of corn, but it's hard to email and tweet and browse the web. I don't really want to switch from my Sprint plan, so unless Sprint starts offering the iPhone soon, I wouldn't mind an HTC Hero or EVO.

4) Virgin Mobile Broadband. I don't use my laptop on the road often enough to justify paying for a monthly mobile broadband contract, so Virgin's pay-as-you-go plan is perfect. You buy the USB device for $99 and you can pay for service only when you need it. The cheapest service is $10 for 100MB or 10 days, whichever you use up first.

5) An iPad. How can you not want one? It's an e-book and a netbook and game player all in one! That's why I’m participating in a contest at Best Kids Apps, a blog about iPhone apps for kids, for a chance to win an iPad. Wish me luck!


Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. By posting this, I gain an entry into a contest for the chance to win an Apple iPad. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

It ain't home until the wifi's working.

Today the boys dug out their pop-up play tents and connecting tunnel from the black hole that is our garage. They set the things up and decided to play House. The first thing they decided to make? Not chairs. Not beds. Not toychests or cooking stoves.

Laptops.

Hack Attack!

This morning when I checked my inbox I found an email from the parent of one of The Pea's friends, entitled "I Need Your Help". Babysitter cancel on her? Does she need me to pick up her daughter? No problem.

The body of the email read:
Hello,
How are you doing ? I hope you are doing fine, I'm sorry that I didn't inform you about my traveling to England for a Seminar. I need a favor from you as soon as you receive this e-mail because I misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money,and other valuable things were kept, I will like you to assist me with a soft loan urgently. I will be needing the sum of $2,500 to sort-out my hotel bills and get myself back home.

I will appreciate whatever you can afford to help me with, I will pay you back as soon as I return,I'm counting on you on this, Kindly let me know if you can be of help so I can send you my details to use when sending the money through western union.I look forward to read from you later today.

Your reply will be greatly appreciated.

It was signed with her name.

Now, I'm no fool. I wasn't about to head to the nearest Western Union. For one thing, they live in a big, beautiful house in Palo Alto, so I doubt if she'd need to turn to me for a couple of thousand bucks. For another, any friend would call instead of email. If anyone doesn't know that email is a blatant scam, I've got a nice bridge I'd like to sell you.

So I emailed her back, --typing in her email address directly into the "To" field, not replying to the scam email -- and let her know that some phisher was masking their "from" address and using hers instead.

Imagine my surprise when I received her response:
Thanks a lot for your response and concern,I really need the money and I will appreciate if you can send it today. You can send the money to my details below through western union transfer or money gram, all you have to do is go to the closest western union location or money gram with the money in cash and instruct the agent to wire it to my personal details below.

Name : My friend's first, middle and last name
Address: 327 Great Peter Street.
London. SW1P 3NQ

Please As soon as you send the Money I will like you to email me the 10 digits (Mtcn) Numbers and all the details used in sending the money to me, I am counting on you okay.
I look forward to read from you later today.

Again, it was signed with her name. The email really was sent from her email account!

So I tried to call her home and mobile number, but couldn't reach it. I called her husband's mobile and he told me that someone had indeed gotten hold of her email account (she can't access it now) and was spamming everyone on her address list. The hacker stole her credit card information as well, and charged $4000 to her card.

Ick! Ick! Ick! Needless to say, she's a bit internet-shy at the moment, and they'll be running some serious anti-virus and firewall software on their home computer before she attempts to log on again. And it's a sober reminder that these things do happen. The only things I can think of to minimize the impact would be:

1) Periodically backup your contacts and email list to your computer so that if you get hacked like this, you can always create a new email account and let your friends know that they should treat your old account like spam.

2) Don't include sensitive information like credit card numbers or passwords in your email account (like Yahoo! Notepad, etc..).

3) Make sure you have a firewall and virus protection software.

Even if you do take precautions, I think we all still have to pray that something like this doesn't happen to us. And Thank God (or big banks) for credit card fraud protection.

Wassup for Fall -- A Disney Electronics Sneak Peek

As a blogger, I've been invited by various PR firms to various events, and to tell you the truth, it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes one event memorable and another event forgettable. Sometimes it's the chance to meet some heroes, both real and fantasy. Sometimes it's the awesome food. Or Swag-to-Die-For. And sometimes, all it takes is the chance to say I Saw It First.

Last week I was invited by Disney Consumer Products to get a sneak peek at their lineup of kid tech products coming out in the fall. I joined fellow SV Moms Linsey, Jessica and Nicole for our own private product demo by Thom Richmond, Disney's Director of Consumer Products.

All the toys and gadgets Thom showed us would easily make it on any kid's 2009 holiday wish list, like Mix Lights MP3 player that lights up to the beat of the music, or the Disney Pix Twist, a kid-friendly digital camera with a viewfinder that they can twist around to take pictures of themselves. And it's quite possible that the Ultimate Buzz Lightyear Robot -- with programmable actions, voice recognition, interactive game play, and the coolest animatronic moving mouth ever -- might be the Tickle Me Elmo of 2009.


But the crown jewel of Thom's demo was the Disney Netpal, a full-functioning, Windows-based netbook made exclusively for Disney and marketed to 6-12 year olds. Disney's Consumer Products has really leveraged Disney's knowledge of what kids enjoy, and added in some cool parental controls to make it fun, safe, and easy to use. In fact, the Netpal is loaded with so many features that it deserves a post of its own (so watch out for a separate review sometime this summer on Bonggamom Finds).

The event was simple and low key, but it was so exciting to be shown products that aren't even on the shelves yet. Even occasional glitches during the product demo didn't detract from my positive impression of the products because they just added to the sense that we were true Disney Insiders ("Sorry, that doesn't work quite well yet, it's still in beta but we'll fix that for the final version"). Yes, probably with the other bajillion or so reporters they've given sneak peeks to at trade shows and other demos like this one, but it was a nice feeling anyway. And it sure doesn't hurt with the "Moms Know Everything" mystique -- because now I know what my kids are going to whine for even before they do.

Making Memories at the Maker Faire

Our jam-packed schedule last weekend has left me with a sore throat and bad cold, but as far as I'm concerned, our Weekend of Science was worth it. After all, how many opportunities do you get to meet Bill Nye the Science Guy, see things blown up, watch bowling balls trigger a giant mousetrap and do other fun experiments? We barely had enough time to recover from our visit to the San Jose Tech Museum on Saturday, then on Sunday it was off to see all kind of gizmos, contraptions and inventions at the Bay Area Maker Faire.

This was the first I had ever heard of the Make Faire, but apparently this is the largest DIY fair in the US, and it attracts hundreds of people. Alfie and I couldn't believe that people would pay 50 bucks to get in, but the place was packed! The high cost became more understandable when we got to the workshop section; fairgoers can make all kinds of crafts there and take them home for free. Alfie could probably have stayed at the whole morning. . Stuff gets blown up, lasered, melted, sawed off, cut, hammered together, riveted and soldered, all in the name of innovation, experimentation and fun.




3Po and Jammy were really getting into the wooden structure they were building, but we had to drag them off to see the rest of the fair. They protested bitterly, of course, until they saw that the Maker Faire had so much more to offer -- robots and bikes walking all over the fairgrounds.... crazily-decorated cars on display.... steam engines.... rocket launchers.... huge flamethrowers......


.... a fun mini-golf course......

....a life-sized Mousetrap, just like the board game..... and tons more. We probably only got to see a tenth of what was on display.



They also had a food section with beer brewing demos, cheese making demos, and lots of booths featuring organic, artisanal, homemade, alternative food and drink. At one of the booths, The Pea and Jammy agreed to be interviewed and dance like a monkey for 20 seconds, in exchange for a free bottle of juice. Just like their mama, my babies' swag-gathering instincts are strong and I grew misty-eyed thinking of it. Besides, it's not like they don't ham it up for me and the blog every other day of the year anyway.

There just wasn't enough time to take it all in ! In fact,as we were eating lunch (delicious maize-wiches with fillings like pork and avocado, shredded beef and tomatoes), the phone rang. It was the mother of Pea's friend, telling us they were just about to leave to pick The Pea up for her ballet recital. Horrors! My memory had failed me again; turns out The Pea's recital was at 3PM, not 4PM, so we had to leave even sooner than I had planned (and do yet another mad rush in order to get her into costume before the curtain went up).

Everyone was disappointed that we didn't get to stay longer, but The Pea's legions of fans were calling, so we left with our photos, our memories, and some lessons learned for next year:

1) Go early.
2) Plan to spend the whole day.
3) Pack a lunch, or line up to buy lunch before noon.
4) Grab a map so you can check everything out and see what you really want to see.

A Day of Science, Fun and Eco-Discoveries wtih Bill Nye the Science Guy

With the schoolyear just about wrapped up and summer around the corner, our weekends seem to be getting crammed with festivals, recitals, lessons, and last-day-of-this-and-that-session-parties. But when you've got the chance -- thanks to the Silicon Valley Moms Blog and the Activeion Cleaning Solutions company -- to visit San Jose's Tech Museum, watch an IMAX movie and meet Bill Nye the Science Guy all in the same day, you find a way to make room in your schedule for it. And all those other events? Insignificant little blips on the calendar that can be rescheduled or forgotten.
After all, who can pass up the chance to meet Bill Nye? Not my kids. It's a scientifically proven fact that kids love Bill Nye. He's On TV. He's funny. He wears a cute bow tie and lab coat. He does cool experiments. Only Bill Nye can make a topic as mundane as housecleaning and soap seem interesting (do you know that if you rub some soap on the edge of a small sliver of wood and place it in water, it'll take off like it was a motorboat? It has something to do with surface tension.). He's the perfect person to lead our budding scientists in some fun science experiments. And only Bill Nye can explain the science behind a product without turning it into a product plug.


The second reason why the event didn't feel like a product plug is that the product in question -- Activeion, a chemical-free, eco-friendly cleaning system -- is actually so cool that I'd still be interested in it even if Bill Nye hadn't been the one to explain to us how it works. Would you believe that they've found a way to make ordinary tap water behave like a cleaning solution? To put it simply, they introduce a tiny electric charge into the water so that dirt and germs attach themselves to the water in the same way that they would attach themselves to soap or detergent.

It's the kind of thing you have to see to believe, so Activeion generously gave each of the SV Mom bloggers that attended an activeion spray bottle to take home. Yup, far-out science has entered my cleaning closet! We tried it out and it looks like a winner -- stay tuned for a review of Activeion on Bonggamom Finds, including a video of Jammy spraying some of activeion's cleaning solution, aka tap water, straight into his mouth.



The fun didn't stop, even after we posed for photos with Bill and reconnected with fellow SV Mom bloggers over lunch. The whole afternoon was devoted to the science of fun as we explored the rest of the San Jose Tech Museum. I came close to tossing the contents of my stomach into Jammy's lap after just 15 minutes of watching astronauts and starts spinning around in space at the IMAX movie. They say the large-screen, surround-sound IMAX experience might be too intense for toddlers, but it looked like all the little kids in the theater were fine; any screams of terror were drowned out by my nausea-induced moans.

Nausea aside, we all enjoyed our first visit to the Tech Museum. I had always heard that this museum was best suited for older kids, so I was pleasantly surprised at how many exhibits could hold the attention of toddlers and preschoolers. I especially loved the exhibits that we could access at home later on, using the barcode on our museum tickets, like this thermal family photograph....

.... and this photo of us voicing our views on transplanting pigs' organs into humans. It's nothing that we couldn't have done at home using the simplest photo editing software, but it's so much more fun when you're doing it at the museum.


Thanks to Activeion and the Silicon Valley Moms blog for making it all happen!

Monday Mornings: My cuppa joe

Ha! Fooled ya -- I don't even drink coffee. This is just as addicting, though. What do you reach for every morning to wake you up?

How is your morning going? If you leave a link to your Monday Morning post in the comments section, I'll go visit and leave a comment.

What's your PC's name?

In honor of today's random holiday, Name your PC Day, I'd like to introduce our home computers. Actually, the only reason we've named our computers is to distinguish them within our home network. Hence the oh-so-interesting names: We have Alfie's laptop (named "Alfie's laptop") and 2 desktops, named "Casita" (Spanish for small house, so named because it's our main home computer) and "Homeexp" (English for homeexp, and I have no idea why we named it that).

Ho-hum..... maybe I'll name our next PC Gertrude. And why not? People name boats and motorcycles and cars. They name guitars and foosball tables and other objects that they're passionate about. I'm sure a lot of people out there are obsessed about their Powerbooks and iPods and other gadgets, so I'll bet there are a lot of original PC names out there. Do you have a name for your computer (besides "worthless piece of shite")?

Mashed Potatoes, Mimosas and More: a Leapfrog party

Silicon Valley Moms Blog parties are usually a lot of fun, and the latest one, sponsored by LeapFrog, was no exception. Our sister site, the Chicago Moms Blog, held a family-themed LeapFrog event recently, but I'm kind of happy that ours was held at a very small, child-unfriendly conference room at the Four Seasons. After all, I rarely get a chance to spend some child-free time with my blogging peeps.

We knew we were going to have a good time when we were offered mimosas and red wine even before entering the party room. We feasted on ahi tuna rolls, prosciutto and melon, and the big hit of the night, a mashed potato bar. If you don't know what that is (and I didn't until that night), you choose from 3 different kinds of mashed potatoes -- including a purple kind! -- and a yummy toppings like roasted garlic, sour cream, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, (I'd better stop. Alfie and the kids had pasta and tomato sauce that night so he might feel bad if he realizes exactly how much better my dinner was than theirs. I still need him to babysit for future bloggy events), and more.

The other big hit of the night (what? bigger than a potato bar??) was the spirited discussion on the importance of early literacy skills, led by Dr. Anne Cunningham of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education. The SV Moms are passionate about their children and education in general, so it's no surprise that practically everyone in the audience chimed in on topics ranging from bedtime reading, improving opportunities for low-income students, challenging gifted children, and working within the bounds of No Child Left Behind. It was a fascinating discussion. My main take-away? That it's ok for 3Po and Jammy to doodle on paper or spin the wheels on their Matchbox cars while I read to them; they're still soaking it all up.

I really appreciated the fact that no attempt was made to plug Leapfrog products during the main discussion; it was just an engaging exchange of ideas about literacy in young children and in our public schools. Not that Leapfrog needs such a hard sell in this technology-loving community. In fact, I found out that almost all of my blogging sistahs already own several Leapfrog products. Still the Leapfrog people let us try some of their products and even gave us a few (ok, more than a few) to take home to our kids. Thanks, Leapfrog, for sponsoring such a great night!

For more Leapfrog products (and a coupon), visit my review site, Bonggamom Finds.

The bits and bytes of life

Many households revolve around their kitchen. I think the computer nook is becoming the center of ours. It’s my favorite spot in the house, right at the top of the stairs, bright and sunny, with a view of the flowers in our yard. The kids have a playroom full of toys, yet somehow they always find their way to the computer nook. Alfie and I spend many a weekend afternoon surfing the internet, the kids drawing or playing on the floor beside us. We take turns logging on, egg timers set to 30 minutes (for the kids, at least) so there’s no cheating. We type and talk and laugh and live there. The kids fall asleep to the tapping of the keys and wake to the sound of our noisy old desktop being booted up. If cotton is the fabric of our lives, the computer is the engine of ours.