Best Buy is one of my most favorite stores. Usually. However, last night was an entirely different story (and this review is actually going to be more like rant instead). On Sundays, Best Buy closes at 7. I personally thought I had plenty of time. What I didn’t know was that out of the three people in the computer department, 2 of them were new. Interesting times, let me tell you. In the amount of time it took me to get waited on, I could have seriously taken a CDL training course. The other thing is that I went looking there for a desktop. This weeks ad had a ton of them in there. Surprise, Surprise. Of all the desktops that had in their ad, they had 1 in stock. Yes, 1 in stock. They had some not in their ad but the CPUs along were over $1,000. Ummm, no thanks. I ended up walking out of Best Buy at 8:00 pm — one hour after they closed due to their employees having no training!
Well, the first question you need to ask yourself is how fast do you type? Personally, I type pretty darn fast (over 70 wpm). However, what Dragon Naturally Speaking does for you is allows you to talk, and it types what you say. You do need to “say” the paragraph breaks and punctuation. However, you end up with typing 150 words per minute! Most people I know cannot type that fast! It makes it much easier to generate more content in less time too. I know when I am composing a post like this I am actually saying the words in my head anyway. However, my head works faster than my fingers. That is why I love this product. Do you do podcasts? You can use Dragon to convert your podcasts into a transcript that you can also post on your site! There are just so many uses that I can come up with for this. I know people who use this and absolutely loved it including the New York times (click here for the NY Times Review of DNS10). Some other uses include people with disabilities such as dyslexia and even people with carpal tunnel who can’t type anymore. Heck, I’ve heard that John McCain doesn’t use the computer due to his injuries suffered when he was a POW. This is would even be helpful for him!
If you would like to see this in action, watch the videos below:
Don’t you want one of these to make your blogging easier?
Brighter Minds Media has now introduced Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo. It has already been awarded three awards — that’s how good it is! I let my greatest kid tester in my house try it out — that would be Madison who is 4. Since we have gotten the game in the mail (thanks Family Review Network!), Madison goes around singing “Bob the Builder . . . We can do it . . . Bob the Builder . . . Yes we can”. That has been my house for a week now. However, I don’t actually mind all the much, because we really like this game. As soon as I found out the Diner Dash (my favorite computer game ever) was behind this, I knew we had a winner.
Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo has 3 modes of play - Story, Free Play, and Sticker Book. There is also 6 animal habitats to build, 7 unique learning activities, and hundreds of stickers to collect for building achievements. There are three levels, so it is quite easy to pick the level that is best for your kids. You are able to play in both English and Spanish. There are also many skills taught through this game - problem solving, critical thinking, object classification, planning and time sequencing, pattern, size, and spatial recognition, and shape and color identification.
Why is this game a winner in my house? That is actually pretty easy. First, this game works on our desktop that is 8 years old. Most games won’t work on there, and we actually consider that Madison’s computer. When a game works on there, we all cheer for joy. The second thing that I loved was that she was actually learning something while playing. There are a lot of games out there that are just mindless, and I would much rather have her playing games like this. Next, the price is right. It should retail around $19.95 which is very cheap and affordable for a computer game. Lastly, Madison can play this herself. I didn’t have to help her at all. She is only four, but that say a lot about this game. It is truly simple and age appropriate. Nothing is more frustrating than to get a game for her, and I have to play it because it is too hard to do and/or navigate.
If you are looking for a great Christmas or birthday present, I highly recommend Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo. It was a big hit in my house and will be in yours too!
If you just got done reading diet pill reviews, this is not a review you want to read. This doesn’t fall under anything I personally would eat on diet. However, getting my 4 year old to drink milk is like pulling teeth, so anything that makes her want to drink is a good thing. When I saw these (and the coupon I found helped too), I thought this may be exactly what I was looking for. The straw is about 6 inches long. It has a crunchy cereal shell on the outside and a fruity flavor lining. Madison (my four year old) loves them! It has gotten her to drink more milk. Would I buy these again? Probably not. There were two things that I wasn’t exactly pleased about. First, once you open the packaging there is no way to keep the other straws fresh. The second problem is why I probably won’t buy them again, and that is that I’d say 3/4 of the straws were broken. You can still use them as a straw, but when you have a 2-3 inch straw, it is kinda useless. If Kellogg’s can solve their packaging issue with this, I will definitely buy these again!
Well, this isn’t a review for you. Instead, I have some great promo links. I have started my Christmas shopping here already, and I want to pass on some of the great deals I have found around the web!
Challenges of Life is a blog that has a little bit of everything. I read posts about how to get your kids to eat vegetables and tips to applying makeup. As you can tell, she covers all aross the board. Normally, orange is not a color I like especially on a theme. However, Challenges of Life pulls it off with style. This blog has an awesome design. You don’t have 40 million widgets blinking at you. Everything just compliments each other. Her blog theme is very pleasing to the eye, and her sidebars definitely do not take away from the post content. Like I stated in my last review, the only thing I would change is that she needs an about page. I like to read about the author of the blog. It gives one a better understanding of why they write about what they do and gives another glimpse into their life.
Back in April, I wrote a review on the That Baby CD and DVD. They both are still a huge hit in my house. The part I love most about the songs that are on there is that they aren’t kid songs. You won’t find yourself climbing the walls with some sing songy tunes. These are covers written by some of the best artists of our time: Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Natalie Merchant, The Beatles, and The Pretenders. You will find yourself singing along with a lot of these songs. This CD is played every time Will goes to bed (naptime or nighttime). That is how great I think this is!
Now, they are sure you are going to love this DVD and CD. If you don’t, they have a money back guarantee. They also offer free replacement of scratched or damaged discs too. (This is worth its weight in gold!). For those of us who want to be enviromentally friendly, they are made in the US with recyclable materials. If you do purchase them, free shipping and handling in the US (you all know how much I adore free shipping!) Also, if you need it quickly for a baby shower or birthday that you forgot about, call them. They will figure something out to get it to you in time! How awesome is that customer service?
Now, I have kept in touch with the awesome company who makes these unique baby gifts, and the owner agreed to give away a copy of the That Baby DVD and CD away to one of my lucky readers!!! This contest will be open to all my readers. To quote the owner: “Kids around the world need to rock, so we’re open to all of them!” I am going to run it until the end of the month (July 31st) till 8 PM CST. So what do you need to do to enter?
Each one of these give you one entry:
1. Leave a comment on this post. I want to know which song you think you’ll like the best. You are able to actually listen snippets of each song right on That Baby DVD’s site (I’ve linked the page, so you can easily find it), so that should help you make your decision. One comment only please and let me know everything you did for your entries in that comment. If you do not leave which song in your comment, your entry will not count.
2. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.
3. Vote for this post on other social media sites. One extra entry for each social media site you vote for this on.
3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed.
For 5 additional entries, blog about this on your blog or add it to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
Good luck to all!
UPDATE: The winner has been chosen for this giveaway. However, if you use the coupon code LISASENTME, you can get 20% off your own copies!
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Back in April, I wrote a 
