VTech KidiBuzz | See How a CREATIVE Kid Uses It!

Last updated on April 25th, 2021 at 11:39 pm

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

So I don’t know about you, but my kids always want to do what I’m doing. They want to drink from my cup, even when it’s the same juice in their cup. They want to dress like I do, going as far as borrowing my security pass from work to pretend they’re doing my job and working at my office. And of course, since I’m often typing away on my computer at home, they too want devices they can play on. And even though they sometimes get tablets to watch videos and play games on lengthy road trips, the number of times I’ve helped a whiny child because an accidental tap changed screens or made the movie “go away” is countless. Plus, your device might not be safe for them to use with your videos and internet cookies on them!

If we’re going to give our kids devices, wouldn’t it be nice to have ones tailored to their interests so we can feel secure knowing they’re not experiencing anything they shouldn’t?

With this in mind, I’d like to introduce you to the VTech KidiBuzz—the device that’s made for fun and made for kids!

The VTech KidiBuzz—The Device That’ll Give Your Kid’s Creativity the Tools it Needs!

The 2017 100 Wrap-Up: 31 Successes.

Last updated on April 30th, 2021 at 04:56 pm

Several weeks, a few dozen photos and four thousand words later, we’ve finally made it—the Casey Palmer, Canadian Dad 2017 wrap-up, filled with stories aplenty of 365 days spent in my not-so-orthodox life.

After wrapping the year up on a quiet note (because two sick children under five will do that to you), I still felt it necessary to do this. These year-to-year changeovers offer a lot of perspective for me—with so much happening all the time, I often forget what I had for breakfast, so I write everything down. And if the height of the pile on my desk is any sign, 2017 was quite the year. But it’s also the time where I’m the most transparent, looking back objectively at everything I’ve done and celebrating successes, owning up to failures, hoping all the while that I’m somehow growing from the process.

But yeah—let’s do this as we did in 2016: look at the year in excruciating detail, figuring out what’s worth taking with me into 2018 versus what doesn’t feel part of my world anymore.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me present—the 31 things I did well in 2017! Let’s get it!

iPad Pro | Helping Me Finding My Flow

Last updated on April 5th, 2021 at 12:01 am

They say ignorance is bliss.

We don’t know what we don’t know, and before I got my hands on an iPad Pro, I was blissfully unaware just how much this sweet piece of hardware would change how I live my life.

Finding My Flow with the iPad Pro—The Two iPad Pro Models

The iPad Pro’s not my first rodeo with the product line—I bought a 64 GB iPad 2 back in 2011 to work on my daily blog while we were away on honeymoon. (I even made a pit stop at a Paris Apple Store—twice—because I’d forgotten my Apple Wireless Keyboard at home. Twice because I’d picked up an AZERTY keyboard the first time instead of a QWERTY… but back to our regular program.)

In 2015, a couple of 16 GB iPad Minis came my way through my work with Swiffer and Netflix—their Bluetooth 4 meant I could use third-party styli like the Adonit Pixel and the Wacom Bamboo Stylus, but I always found the experience… lacking.

Sure it was great to draw right onto the screen, but part of the reason I’d never fully switched over to digital art was because drawing on paper felt so natural and I just didn’t get that with these tools. From everything I saw, I thought us still a good way from technology managing to capture the soul that makes art what it is.

And I didn’t know how completely wrong I was ’til I got my hands on an iPad Pro.

The iPad Pro: Changing the Way We Tablet!

Finding My Flow with the iPad Pro—Close-Up of the Apple Pencil

The iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil do more than let you draw on-screen smoothly and responsively—it’s actually inspired me to get back into drawing!

Finding My Flow with the iPad Pro—Doomsdayblaze Hovering Line Art

The 2017 100

Last updated on April 1st, 2021 at 01:08 am

Unless my life sees some major changes this year, 2017 may mark the last list of 100!

It’s January 13th—I’ve spent nearly two weeks of my new year agonising over 100 items that matter enough to hit a list of goals and aspirations for the year ahead. And that’s a key difference from the lists that came before it.

Before it was a task list—I’d look around at everything that needed doing and jot it down, because my life would obviously be better with them out of the way.

But task lists aren’t inspiring. They’re not motivational. As a creative, that’s like dropping a pile of 100 things I dread on my lap and nagging myself to get ’em done by the year’s end.

Once I realised what I was doing to myself, so much so that I just went through my least successful year yet for my list, I knew I needed to make a change for 2017.

The 2017 100—It's Not WHAT You Do, It's How You DO It.—New Year, New Perspective

I’m particularly proud of the list I’ve put together for The 2017 100. I didn’t take any shortcuts—I wrote out 100 things that’d help me live the life I’d like to lead and prove instrumental along the path there. Rather than hurriedly scrawl out a list I’d likely ignore ’til December, I wrote one that I’d happily check off, knowing that each accomplishment would take me a step closer to a far better 2018. I feel like I’m finally getting it right this time, and I hope that shines through as you give it a look for yourself!

But that’s enough of my chatter—I’ve already made you wait long enough. Here for your consideration is The 2017 100—because it’s not what you do… it’s how you do it!

Tile Mate: Helpin’ You Keep Your Stuff BY YOUR SIDE

Last updated on April 14th, 2021 at 12:23 am

I’ve always had a bad habit of losing my stuff.

I mean, it’s largely because I carry too much stuff, but Murphy’s Law runs true, and the things you lose are often the ones that matter most. Keys. Wallets. Phones. Jewellery. We’re so caught up in our hectic days that it’s easy to lose track of the things we put down. Or notice when something falls out of our pockets. Heck—we could be falling apart and not notice ’til it’s too late.

I mean, it’s 2016 and—thank goodness—we’re able to track our handheld devices just about anywhere on the globe… but why can’t we do that with our other stuff?

Presenting the Tile Mate—Your New Counter to Kleptomaniacs and Absentmindedness Alike!

Built to help protect the things we care about most, Tile’s Tile Mate is a mighty device in a tiny package making it easier to find your valuables when they become woefully misplaced!

Measuring an impressively small 11cm², the Tile Mate’s loaded with a number of features that help make missing possessions a thing of the past:

  • tiny speakers that play a loud melody heard even when under piles of laundry or several rooms away;
  • when you’re too far to hear it, the Tile App remembers your Tile Mate’s last location… even if you don’t;
  • for those of us prone to misplacing our phones, you can double-click your Tile Mate and make a noise on your phone—even on silent mode;
  • and my favourite feature—if your Tile Mate’s lost or stolen, you can set your Tile App to notify you when any other Tile gets near it. So the more Tiles people buy, the more chance you find your lost possession! How cool is that?!
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