Liz Gumbinner

Ah, remember the days that you'd run to Blockbuster Video Christmas eve to find there was like one copy of Silent Night, Deadly Nigh t left and that was pretty much it? No more! We asked our staff and our Facebook fans for their favorite…

We're big fans of Santa around here, as you might have guessed. What, us risk making the naughty list? Never!) So if you're looking for some fun Santa apps to help bring the big guy to life on your phone, tablet, or laptop and make belie…

Sometimes I need just a little quiet at home over the holidays, you know? And since my kids are app-crazy anyway, they always think it's a treat to find cool new Christmas apps for kids that they haven't tried yet. While we have a few fr…

You know that same commercial they run every Christmas where someone rich gives someone else rich a Lexus wrapped in a big red bow? Well that's about as likely to happen around here as Lexus retiring that ad (ha) but now there's a more a…

While we always share the coolest advent calendars on Cool Mom Picks each year, though none might be quite so 21st century as the genius, photo-a-day Hubble Telescope Advent Calendar . Visit the Atlantic online each day for a new, remark…

We're continuing our series about kids and cell phones on behalf of our sponsor, the premium authorized Verizon retailer, Cellular Sales , because wow, do parents need help with this! And by parents, we mean, ourselves too! Because we kn…

Since we've always loved supporting indie makers and small brands, the entire Small Business Saturday effort, and cool tech...well, how awesome that it all comes together today! If you're supporting the #ShopSmall effort, here are some o…

I feel like I've become the queen of portable chargers around here, which is a good thing since I never leave home without one. Okay, often more than one. I am sad to say that I just can't recommend my formerly beloved Mophie charging ca…

Recently, we were thrilled to find Take Back Halloween , an amazing site for women (and girls) hoping for a few more Halloween costume options besides "sexy nurse." Or sexy anything, really. I loved seeing this Ada Lovelace costume which…

This being the year of the emoji , of course someone was going to rock the emoji pumpkin carving idea in a big way. What's better, is that it's BHG and they're making it easy for you to follow along with a whole bunch of cool, free emoji…

It seems the whole National Do Not Call Registry isn't always effective. Legit marketers have a lot of loopholes; charities, pollsters, political fundraisers and others are exempt; and then there are those shady marketers who simply don'…

Notice a little lightning bolt icon at the top of your Twitter feed? No, it's not a Halloween month tribute to Harry Potter. In an attempt to lure some new folks back to Twitter -- evidently 316mm monthly users isn't enough for some inve…

We have always been big proponents of the idea that all toys are for all kids, sharing finds like dolls made for boys and tech toys that appeal to all kids, which is something our own kids have naturally shown us through their play. And …

Those who know me know that deep down, I am a data nerd. And those who listen to the Spawned podcast know that it's not so deep down, since I'm always researching studies and quoting statistics and shooting down lame studies about why pa…

It's hard to believe this was my first ever year attending the Maker Faire in NYC, but yep. It's true. And now consider me an annual attendee. Thanks to our sponsor Sprout by HP who hooked me up with tickets (thank you thank you thank yo…

This week at the Maker Faire, which is kind of one of the best thing ever, it was so fun discovering not just the amazing tech activities and gadgets and inventions, but what some of the more craft-based makers were doing. One discovery:…

Okay all ye mothers who felt guilty about not getting those baby books filled with photos representing every little milestone: You are no longer alone! Because now, you don't even have to have kids to feel the pressure of owning a photo …

Last year we fell in love with the Anki Drive app-controlled racers, calling it one of our top tech toys of 2014 . Earlier this year at Toy Fair, we got a look (and a very fun if brief test drive) of the brand new Anki OVERDRIVE and as o…

I tend to browse lots of places looking for cool fonts that I may never use. (When it comes to typefaces I'm more of a collector than a designer; kind of like having lots of books at home you haven't yet opened. But I digress.) I've just…

I now have a couple of two-port USB chargers in the cigarette lighter socket, because the idea of running out of batteries in the middle of a Waze nav is terrifying. (And on a totally separate note, when are we going to stop calling them…

Leave it to NPR and Internet technology to create something as simple and wonderful as Playgrounds for Everyone , a community edited guide helping kids who require handicapped-accessible facilities find them easily. Turns out there actua…

We're as geeked out about Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens as anyone else, but let's all step back for a minute and take a moment of reflection for today's #ForceFriday national day that's really a giant unboxing and marketing event desi…

We have officially entered the "please turn that music off" stage of parenting. Yay. (Sarcasm.) We have been lucky to try various kids' headphones over the years, and I've compared some of the top affordable headphones for kids. They're …

Recently, I wrote about how totally in love I am with the Dot and Dash Robots from Wonder Workshop . So it makes me extra happy that they have joined us as as our newest Cool Mom Tech sponsor because, well, we all adore them! (Also, so d…