Recent Posts By Erin Kane

I’ve been in the Silicon Valley this week, at a women in tech event hosted by Intel. In addition to meeting some truly brilliant women who work for the company (more on that later on Manic Mommies) the group of invited women bloggers had the chance to test drive a host of new products with Intel processor technology under the hood.

When I first heard about SmartyCard, the online learn-earn-play educational gaming site for kids, I knew it would be a hit in my house. My son is about to turn 7, so he’s younger than the target age for the site (kids in grade 3-6) but that hasn’t stopped him from logging on and challenging himself with vocabulary, spelling and arithmetic games. Like most little boys, my son is motivated by rewards.

Has anyone ever tried the Zeno Acne Treatment Device? I must know whether this little gadget really works or not. I’ve wanted to test the product and write a review since I first heard of it, but truthfully, I rarely get blemishes anymore. As I creep closer towards 40 (in just a little over 10 days) I’m generally more worried about crow’s feet, frown lines and the stray gray hair.

The other day I was searching through audio files on my computer when I happened upon an “interview” I conducted with my son when he was just two years old. I remember wanting to document his words at the time because unlike my other son—who was a chatterbox from birth—Brendan required months of speech therapy before he was speaking within normal range. Brendan turns five in June. And while he’s perfectly chatty now, hearing his little voice on my computer the other day filled me with unexpected emotion.

In this day and age, chances are pretty good you are already using some of Google’s most popular Web tools on a daily basis. Maybe you’re using Gmail to access all of your email accounts in one place, or Google Video Chat to connect with your kids while on the road for business. And yet there are several lesser known Google Web tools that are worth learning more about if you’re looking for new ways to simplify life’s information overload.

I’ve always said, I love pretty tech. My laptop is wrapped in a bright red plastic case. My BlackBerry is pink (still haven’t gone iPhone yet) and my iPod nano has orange skin. So it seems only natural that I would want my hands-free Bluetooth headset in a color described as “Lilac You Mean It” or “Drop Me a Lime.” Starting May 2, Jawbone’s popular and technologically superior headset—which really is better described as earwear—will be sold for the first time in four tasty colors: red, yellow, green and purple.

There’s no better time than Earth Day to think about your personal carbon footprint and what impact your day-to-day activities have on the environment. There are several great carbon calculators online and many offer suggestions on how to reduce or even offset your carbon emissions.

More and more these days we’re hearing about companies forcing employees to take furloughs as a means of cutting costs and preserving jobs. Taking a week of unpaid leave has almost become commonplace among media companies: newspapers, magazines and television stations have all implemented furloughs in recent months. But in this day and age, when technology has made it so easy for us to be connected 24/7, how many of us actually know how to take a full week off from work?

Two of my favorite past times, shopping and checking my BlackBerry, have come together with Amazon’s latest mobile offering, Amazon App for BlackBerry. Designed specifically for the BlackBerry, the free application offers customers who use a BlackBerry device with a track ball a quick and simple way to find, discover, and buy products from Amazon.com and thousands of other retailers. BlackBerry users can now rejoice knowing that iPhone users aren’t the only ones able to shop on the go.

Last week I spoke to a group of female CEOs—all of whom run very successful businesses—about the new media tools I use every day in my business. Each time I give this presentation I am surprised by the response. No matter the group, some in the audience will have already embraced many of the technologies I discuss. Others sit in awe, scratching their heads with one hand and scribbling RSS feed?