Quickflix review and giveaway

Scroll down to find out how to win one of two subscriptions!

I'm not a big TV watcher. There is hardly anything on when I've got free time that doesn't make me want to poke my eyes out with a sharpened pencil. I've got no interest in seeing how a bunch of teenagers are coping with life in Summer Bay High yet strangely, put them in Shermer High School circa 1985 and I'll replay it so frequently that I know it off by heart. Cult movies are my thing.

Enter Quickflix. The champion of cult movie watchers, insomniacs and mums up feeding in the middle of the night. Oh, and parents who just want a few minutes of peace to drink a cup of tea before it goes cold. Yes, this thing is packed with enough kids programs to guarantee mum gets some much needed alone time.

I've been trialing the Post & Play subscription and I am now addicted. Unlimited entertainment! I think I've watched more TV shows and movies in this past month than I ever have... it's a great help to someone like me who likes to speak only in quotes. Oh come on, you didn't expect me to get it and just leave it for Tricks to play with did you? I take this review thing seriously... for *ahem* your benefit of course.

I decided to get a kids movie from the Post section of the catalogue since, ya know, I was meant to be trialling this as easy unlimited entertainment for kids. I clicked on Beauty and the Beast and the disc was at my doorstep two days later (not bad for cross country!). Ahh that Mrs Potts is a good one, isn't she? Love her.

It was a little bit annoying when trying to watch a TV series via the computer where for a while I could only ever get it to play the first episode. But after asking some questions and getting a very quick answer (clicking on the title, rather than the play button shows you the episode list) I got it to work. PHEW! There are over 12 hours of Thomas the Tank Engine episodes on there and I was starting to panic I'd just have make Tricky watch the one episode over and over again! I predict a Thomas Marathon in Tricky's future, the kid is obsessed with his "Thomas toot toot"!

My favourite thing about Quickflix is that you can have one subscription working on up to five devices simultaneously. By rights you could be watching something on the computer, your partner on the SmartTV, one tween on an Android device, the other on the PS3 and a toddler on the iPad. There will be no more fighting over the remote. Ever.

The app has been the most used feature in this house and came in very handy when Tricks had an asthma flare up and I had to try to keep him from going a million miles an hour and making himself sicker. After two days of crafts he was completely over it and I succumbed to bribery by whipping out Bob the Builder along with promises of his dummy, a PJ day and being able to sleep in the big bed.

Bribery 101

I liked that the parental controls were only changeable from the PC and that you could determine which classifications required a pin number to watch. It mean that if I plonked it on Tricky's lap with a Charlie and Lola cartoon showing, I wouldn't find him 5 minutes later with Charlie and Lola Go Wild 5.

My password was 8008 because it looks like BOOB. I'm so mature.

The app also meant I spent a great chunk of time with the iPad in the bath after Tricky had gone to bed. What? Doesn't everyone use their iPad in the bath? DON'T JUDGE ME!

When Map Guy called out one evening to ask where I was I replied "Watching Miranda in the bath... wait... that sounds really wrong!". It was too late though, he'd already come running to take a squiz.

Other than taking a while to figure out how to play the episodes online and a couple small app glitches where a few times it loaded the movie/episode and wouldn't play (which could have just been my connection), I really enjoyed using Quickflix and being able to keep Tricky entertained, watch cult movies, check out awesome series from HBO and watch Gavin and Stacey in bed. Wait. Now that sounds really wrong.

If you'd like to give Quickflix a whirl to watch Miranda in the bath and Gavin and Stacey in bed, you can get a free six week trial here** or you can enter to win a six month subscription valued at $150!

There are TWO $150 Post & Play subscriptions up for grabs. You can enter via the form below and/or the Facebook app here. Enter daily and share the giveaway for more chances to win.
Are you a movie buff? Tell me your favourite movie of all time!!

This is not a sponsored post. I was given a complimentary subscription to Quickflix. As always, all opinions are honest and my own.
**trial does require a credit card for security reasons, though it won't be debited - it's how I got my trial activated too

What's App-ening? - Review & Giveaway

Since joining the Apple bandwagon I've gone App crazy, which is obvious because I've titled this "What's App-ening?" and rather than groaning at my ridiculous pun I'm sitting back smugly thinking I'm pretty clever.

I'm App obsessed. Appsessed. I also thought I was pretty clever coming up with that word but a quick Google search shows me I'm most definitely not the first to think of it. But points for trying, right?

I've been playing with some new apps lately, well to be more specific, Tricky and I have been playing them together.

Peekaboo Barn is the cutest little app around and encourages animal recognition. Tricky loves copying the animal sounds and then opening the barn doors to see what animal is behind. What I like is that you can choose to have the name of the animal said in an adult's voice, a child's voice or you can record it yourself. I've recorded it myself because the adult voice was American and the child's voice, whilst being super cute (especially when he excitedly says chicken) had some pronunciation issues.

The other thing I like is that there are no other buttons to press on the screen once the game has started. Tricky is a button presser and will tap at everything to see what it does which is not the best when he can get through to language settings or to actually upgrade an app and rack up an iTunes bill. There is no risk of that happening in this game so I don't have to worry. Phew!

So cute!

Peekaboo Barn saved us the other day when Tricky's eczema was so severe that he was screaming and clawing at his own skin. I slathered him in soothing creams but the itch was so bad that everything I was doing to distract him was just met with more frustrated cries and such furious scratching that his legs started bleeding. I whipped out the iPad and started Peekaboo Barn... within a few seconds it had caught his attention enough for him to stop scratching and give the cream time to work and soothe the incessant itch. Win.

The other app we've played with has been Counting with the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I adore that colourful caterpillar and have so many gorgeous memories of the book so trying out the app was a bit exciting... and sadly a bit disappointing. I do realize it's not aimed for my age group but I wanted it to be a bit more fun than just "Please eat one apple/plum/orange". You have to tap the correct number of fruit then click done and it just increases by one each time with the same fruit... and that's level three! It just seemed really boring and predictable. I like what they were trying to do and that they've used the original illustrations but maybe if they could have varied it up a little bit more it would have been better.

Level Three

If you'd like to win either of these apps for your kiddies leave a comment below telling me in what situations iParenting has saved your sanity (or your child's skin as the case may be). Tweet/Facebook about it and let me know in another comment for an extra entry. If you can't wait, both are available from the App Store and Peekaboo Barn is also available in the Android Market.

Entry is open to everyone but it helps to have a device that can play the games. Entries close at 10pm AEDST on Monday 7th November 2011 at which time a winner will be chosen using a random number generator. Make sure you sign in to the comment platform with a valid email address/twitter handle or leave your details as part of your comment so you can be contacted. Winner has one week to reply to notification, failing that, the prize will be redrawn. The prize is provided by Night & Day Studios and is not transferable.You will receive a code to redeem in the App Store or Android Market.

*I was not paid for this post but I did receive a free version of each app for review purposes*

iParenting vs Back In My Day

We are living in a Digital World and I am a Digital Girl. Are you singing now? I am.

The other day, as I sat writing a blog post with one hand on the iPad and the other cradling Mr Cranky Pants my darling boy, I marvelled at our Digital Age. Or iAge. Whatever.

It got me thinking just how much we rely on technology to help us parent, or more specifically, to stay sane as we parent. I am an iParent. I was going to say Digital Parent, but it's obvious I'm one of those, I've got the button in my sidebar to prove it.

So let's do a little comparison, shall we? iParenting vs Back In My Day (well actually my mum's day, but it doesn't have the same ring to it)...

iParenting: Vibrating rockers and swings will lull your spawn to sleep so you can do more important things, like play on Twitter
Back In My Day: Rock your own damn child. You're lucky to even have a cot that isn't a death trap

iParenting: Buy some book apps and record yourself reading a story ONCE. Your child can now play it ad nauseum without you having to look away from Neighbours or put down your tequila
Back In My Day: You will read See Spot Run, complete with character voices, until you are ready to give Sally and Sam the big green needle

No drooling on the iPad

iParenting: Let Walt Disney do the hard work on a long trip by whacking in a DVD or two in your air conditioned 4x4 Range Rover Sport
Back In My Day: You play number plate spotto til you reach 100 or Punch Buggy until someone is bruised and/or bleeding on the back seat of the orange and tan Datsun Stanza with no aircon and broken windows that don't roll down

iParenting: Shove an iPhone in to their tiny little hands with some animal noise app and let the little suckers learn about farm life while you Skype with your buddies. When they become bored and irritable (irritating?) threaten them with "I will stop your download if you don't behave!"
Back In My Day: Visit an actual farm and vainly attempt to stop your child stepping in sheep poo. Then scold the child when he runs around chasing his sister with the poo-shoe. When they're both exhausted battle to get them in the car with threats of "We won't go to the video store if you don't behave!"

OK so it's an exaggerated comparison, but you get what I mean.

Do you iParent? What 21st Century tools do you use to make the job easier?

iCame, iSaw, iConquered... iPad

Apologies to any Julius Caesar fans for bastardizing his famous quote for the sake of an iPad... but, ya know, it's an iPad and with it, all things are possible, including ruining famous latin quotes.

Do you remember waaaaay back when I won a little thing called the Aussie Mummy Blogger with the X Factor Award??? It was a collaboration between Home Loan Finder and Aussie Mummy Bloggers (now Digital Parents). There were caricatures and votes and tweets and Facebook likes...   No? Well, I did. Apparently, I have X Factor, which translated to everyday speak is the ability to get people engaged enough to vote. So massive thanks to everyone who voted!

And my prize was *drum roll* a framed certificate and a personalized iPad2!!!!!!!!! (need more exclamation marks) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

iHave iStuff iNow!

On the back it says:

"Glowless - 2011 Mummy Blogger with

the X Factor Winner - Home Loan Finder"

Which does allude to their being a 2012 version too... hrmmmmmmm.

Until it arrived last week, I was an iVirgin. Before that, the only Apple products I've touched have been of the Granny Smith variety.

Yet here I am, proud owner of a freakin iPad!

It arrived in a massive box of bubble wrap, which I'm pretty sure was an extra prize (who doesn't love bubble wrap?) and I opened it up and discovered that iPads are super thin and light (you knew that though) and that I have no freakin clue how to operate one.

Have you noticed how things don't come with physical manuals any more? I would always read a manual first - well not the whole manual, I'd only read the 'Quick Start' section and get on there and figure the rest out myself. Manuals are inside things these days so I didn't even know how to turn it on and had to confess my iTechnodouchery on Twitter in an appeal for help (thanks, Louisa!)

Who knew you had to have iTunes first?! All I wanted to do was fire this baby up and I had to bloody wait while iTunes downloaded and installed then tried to take over the iWorld.

So after major delays I finally got the thing started and did what all the people who've had iEnvy for so long do... went to the App Store to get me some free shit! As a result I'm now on Instagram and bombarding everyone with photos of Tricky (ooh look, Tricky sitting at the window, Tricky on a swing, Tricky standing up...).

My only problem with the iPad is that it has wooed my Mother-In-Law with it's e-reader and Chicktionary to the point where she has asked for one for Christmas...

Do you have an iSomething? What Apps should I get? Or do you have iEnvy?