Best Apps

When my kids were little, I couldn't wait to take them to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July. Unfortunately, they didn't want to stay up that late, hated the booms and generally made it hard to relax and say my required "oooos" and …

I have my iPhone 4 to thank for the piles of home videos I've been collecting since upgrading last year, but I've yet to figure out exactly what to do with them all. Since I don't really want to upload every cute spaghetti on the head mo…

Our first child was born perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes. Still, we had to wait a couple of years to see if she had inherited one very important trait. When she picked up her first lightsaber at age nineteen months, we knew. We had a nerd…

As soon as I could turn my back on my kids with the safety scissors, I knew it was only a matter of time before they decided to give themselves (or each other) a trim. A far better way to scratch their itch to play hairdresser, comes in …

Maybe I'm just getting older, or maybe it's the fact that I'm a busy working mom with two kids. But lately, my mantra has been keep it simple . It's probably the reason we've been having one too many breakfast-for-dinner meals lately. It…

Most of us know that George Washington was the first president and Al Gore was never one, but there are a whole lot of years in the middle there that are not my strong suit. That's why I love a new app that helps my kids and me brush up …

This holiday season, my family enjoyed the spoils from my experimentation with the very cool Martha Stewart Makes Cookies iPad app , so you can imagine how excited they were when I decided to give her new smoothies app a try, just in tim…

Every month, my husband and I comb through Netflix and try to figure out what to put in our queue. We generally give up and just end up putting in something for the kids. But since finding this new app, I've already got a slew of awesome…

When I was younger, I was only allowed to watch TV on the weekends. I remember scouring the TV Guide that came with the Sunday paper and figuring out which shows I'd watch that week. Boy, have times changed. Peel is a free iOS app that i…

I never actually realized how much I relied on my print-scan- fax trifecta of printer features until the thing bit the dust a few months ago. Since then, I've been begging neighbors to scan docs for me, and hitting the local office store…

Ever since he was a little guy, my six year old has been obsessed with maps, so it was a no-brainer that I'd look for fun apps that capitalize (ha, get it?) on his obsession. What I didn't expect was to find an app that I'd want to play …

This is a sponsored message from DK Publishing It's an amazing feeling to watch your child develop a love of reading and learning, especially if you've always been a bookworm yourself. But if your son or daughter needs a little more coax…

I've lamented many times in previous posts the sheer number of photos I have on my phone, and the many ways I attempt to organize, manage, fancify and distribute. There are so many apps and services available to help with this process, b…

If you're an Instagram devotee, you're going to love a super fun new API that turns your (and your friends') Instagram feeds into probably the coolest screensaver you've ever had. By downloading the Screenstagram file onto your Mac OS (S…

If you're especially proud of all the hard work and time you've put into Facebook--writing funny comments on people's walls, creating clever status updates and choosing only the cutest photos of your kids for your photo albums--you'll lo…

As much as my little ones love to play with my iPhone, my nearly 7 year-old daughter enjoys her fair share of play time, usually with games that I've downloaded for myself. (Who can resist Angry Birds and Tiny Wings ?) So this past week …

One nagging project of mine is getting prints of all the digital pictures I have on my phone so I can keep our family photo album (yes, with actual 4x6" prints!) somewhat up-to-date. I just checked and the last photo in our album is from…

Yes, I may be the last person in America to discover the awesomeness that is Tiny Wings , now an essential part of my morning commute. The game is every bit as addictive as Angry Birds, only with less anger and more flying. Can tens of t…

Chasing after four kids means that pretty much all my pictures are taken with my iPhone 4 camera. Not such a bad thing if you've seen some of the shots it can take, though I somehow still feel guilty when I see moms whipping out their fa…

Q: Aw man...where is the Hipstamatic for us Android users? -Cool Mom Tech fan via Facebook . A: Lots of readers agreed with Debi Mazar's Hipstamatic app recommendation on our site last week, but our Android users are again asking, "where…

Welcome Dads Dig This guest blogger Jim Higley, Chicago Tribune columnist , cancer survivor, and single dad to three kids. His book Bobblehead Dad comes out on June 1. I'm a big fan of LIVESTRONG not just because I'm a cancer survivor, b…

Over the years, I've spent a lot of time and money adding music to my digital collection, and making playlists for every event imaginable. With warmer weather just around the corner, I'd like to think that my "BBQ Music," "Summer Mix" an…

Having just gotten my first iPad a few days ago, I have to hold myself back from loading up on every single app that looks entertaining. But I couldn't resist trying out one new free app that puts the perfect spin on playtime, and it is …

If you're a fan of Pinterest, then you're just as excited as we are that their iPhone app has just launched today. If you don't know what Pinterest is? You are in for a very special treat. Think of Pinterest as a beautiful digital corkbo…