Category Archives: New posts

2012 Mercedes Benz M-Class SUV Review

Car Reviews, New posts, , , , ,

Moms drive.. a lot.   Between school, after-school activities, gymnastics, swim, Boy Scouts, doctor appointments, shopping, and visiting family and friends, moms are always on the go. That’s why it’s extremely important that our vehicle be safe and comfortable.

The 2012 Mercedes Benz M-Class, the 3rd generation M-Class SUV, covers both of those areas very well and you’ll be surprised by the affordable price.

For the launch of its brand-new 2012 M-Class SUV, Mercedes-Benz invited myself and other writers to Montana’s Paws Up ranch, the perfect place for test driving an SUV.

Drive and Handling

Starting off with a tame ride, myself and my driving partner took turns driving the M-Class from Paws Up Resort to the Continental Divide.  During the drive, I found steering the M-Class through sharp turns and steep hills to be precise and efficient.  The M-Class handled less than sexy off-road terrain with ultimate grace.  My driving partner (Stacie) and I took the M-Class on an off-road course which you’d think would have given me aches and pains from the bumpy ride but the ride was unbelievably smooth.  Stacie kept asking me “Did you feel that?  We just went into a pothole Alicia!”.   We’re talking pretty hard core off-roading, not a dirt road.  The M-Class has great suspension making for a smooth ride on the bumpiest of dirt roads.   Fragile wooden bridges, steep cliffs, and fast driving were involved.  Yes, we were happy women during that drive!  Stacie even had me photograph a part of the drive.  We call lovingly refer to the photograph as “Eat My Dust”.

 

M-Class steering wheel accented with Burl Walnut wood to match interior finish

Interior

What I noticed right away when I first drove the ML350 was how soft the steering wheel was.  Just ask Stacie, I said “I love this steering wheel!  It feels like butter”.  The M-Class interior is sexy and easy on the eyes.

 

Safety

ATTENTION ASSIST is a standard feature on the M-Class.  The innovative ATTENTION ASSIST system alerts the driver to the first signs of drowsiness, a factor that causes more than 100,000 accidents a year in the U.S.  A steering sensor is coupled to smart software that uses 70 different parameters to establish a unique driver profile during the first 20 minutes of driving.

 

Featuring a color-LCD display, the Cockpit Management and Data (COMAND) system gives you convenient control of audio, video, hands-free calling and optional navigation functions. Many features can also be accessed via the integrated steering-wheel controls.

Technology

The COMAND system (optional) features a color-LCD display and gives you convenient control of audio, video, hands-free calling and optional navigation functions. 

 

The M-Class comes in two models:

  • The thrifty ML350 BlueTEC diesel now has considerably more power (240 horsepower, 455lb.-ft of torque)
  • ML350 4MATIC is equipped with a brand new direct-injection V6 engine (302 hp,273 lb.-ft.)

More about the Mercedes 2012 M-Class:

Disclosure: Mercedes Benz paid for my flight and accommodations on this trip, but did not compensate me for this review or require that I write a review. My opinions are my own.

Alicia Hagan, Editor

You Don’t Get a Second Chance to Protect Your Child Online! Net Nanny Review and Giveaway

Contests, New posts, Safety, ,

Net Nanny

 

 

Many children are ignorant, and rightly so, to the risks of playing games and socializing with friends online. Whether working on a school paper or playing a social game, Net Nanny will keep your child safe from online predators, pornography, and cyber bullying. Parents, remember this.. you can’t turn back time. If your tween see’s an obscene image just once, that image will be engrained in their memory forever. You can keep that from happening by using software such as Net Nanny. It takes just one image or one obscene comment via a social network to impact and confuse your child. Why take that chance?

Net Nanny
Screenshot of what you'll see if you try to access a blocked keyword

I’ve been working online for over 10 years and was sure I knew how to keep my kids safe online.  But I’m not so sure these days.   A lot has changed in 10 years.  While the internet can provide our children with a lot of educational information, we need to remember that the internet is also full of websites that are inappropriate for children including pornographic and hate websites and once your child sees that material, you can’t make it disappear from their memory.

With Net Nanny, you can filter out harmful websites.  This is priceless to me as a parent.  Net Nanny allows parents to customize what kind of sites our children are able to view and what sites are restricted. This means that we are able to control our child’s activity on the internet even when we are not around.

When it comes to parental control software it is important that the software can monitor your child’s behavior on the internet not just block websites and keywords.  While Net Nanny not only blocks pornographic and other undesired material, it also monitors activity on social media networks, chat, and gaming websites.

From the NetNanny.com website

Did you know that there are many ways your children can access pornography and questionable content on the Internet? Net Nanny provides full internet safety on not just the World Wide Web, but also less known but equally dangerous parts of the Internet like the Usenet, Peer-to-Peer downloading networks, Chat Rooms, Instant Messages, FTP, Forums and email. If you have never heard of some of those areas of the Internet, it is possible that your kids have. But don’t worry. Net Nanny knows about them, and protects your children from the bad content on them.

Features of Net Nanny For PC and/or Mac Include:

  • Blocks Pornography and Protects Families and Children
  • IM Alert & Analysis
  • Customizable “Allowed” or “Blocked” Lists
  • Detailed Logs
  • Schedule Internet Access
  • Secure Website Filtering/Blocking
  • Game and Application Blocking
  • Browser Alerts
  • Configuration Assistant
  • Predator and Cyber Bully Alerts
  • Unlimited toll-free technical support
  • Cell Phone Alerts – Cell phone alerts are sent out within five minutes, giving you the opportunity to intervene.

Net Nanny 6.5 has been specifically designed to address your concerns, here are a few more customer requested features you’ll find in the latest Net Nanny release:

  • View conversations for web-based IM like Facebook, Meebo, and MySpace
  • Receive email notifications in real-time, hourly, daily or even weekly
  • Block uploading of pictures
  • Keyword blocking lets you decide if kids should see pages with specific words
  • Block posting/commenting on Blogs and Forums
Disclosure: Net Nanny provided me with software for review purposes.  All opinions are 100% mine and were not influenced by compensation.
UPDATE!
I  have been blogging since 2005 and just started attending blogging and social media conferences just last year.   I am thrilled to announce that I am attending BlogHer ’11 in San Diego August 4-7th and that I am being sponsored by Net Nanny.   Thank you Net Nanny / Content Watch!

GIVEAWAY!

We are giving two lucky readers a license for a copy of Net Nanny software!  To enter to win, leave a comment below.  Entries accepted through August 25th.  Winners will be chosen by August 27th and will be notified via email.

Earn extra entries by doing the following:
Alicia Hagan, Editor

Working From Home, Talking on the Phone, All While My 5 Year Old is With Me

Blogger Resources, New posts, Personal, Work From Home, , ,

Work from home and talk on the phoneMy Mom brought my five year old two activity toys this morning.  My mom felt bad because she had planned on taking my daughter hiking this morning at 9:30 but while she (my mom) was on the treadmill this morning, she remembered that she has class and can’t take my daughter hiking after all.  She was going to take my daughter hiking because I have an 11am conference call and she knows that it’s difficult for me to talk on the phone when my daughter is with me.

Despite the fact that she’s five years old she doesn’t seem to understand the concept of not interrupting.  I’ve been telling her for years to not interrupt me while I’m on the phone, she thinks that tapping on my leg repeatedly or asking me a ‘very important’ question isn’t interrupting.

How I’m going to try to get my five year old to not interrupt me while I’m on my conference call today:

  • I will set up a play space for her with the new activities that my mom brought over for her this morning.  The activities involve coloring and easy things that she should be able to do by herself.
  • I am going to make a “No Talking!” sign which I will hold up whenever my daughter looks like she’s going to interrupt me while I’m on the phone.
  • I will talk to her before the phone call and explain to her that she is not to interrupt me and that there will be consequences if she does.  What those consequences are yet, I don’t know.
  • I will probably also reward her if she doesn’t interrupt me at all during the phone call.
Conference and business calls are an almost daily occurrence for me but, either my husband or son are usually here to watch or entertain my daughter while I’m on the phone so that helps and is what makes today’s call a little different.  Neither of them are here so I don’t have anyone to watch her.  I told my mom this morning that she is like a little suction cup.. she’s stuck to me all of the time, so trying to get her to spend 30 minutes doing something by herself will be quite a feat but I know she can do it and I hope to report back to you with good news!

Add Your Tips!

If you work from home and have to talk on the phone for business, how do you keep your child from interrupting your phone conversations?
Alicia Hagan, Editor

Perfect Pairing Chips & Dip Get Together

Food and Drink, New posts, ,

Thanks to The Motherhood and Frito-Lay, I was part of a Perfect Pairing Chips & Dip get together with five other Atlanta bloggers.  We had a great time chatting and eating chips and dip. What better way to spend an afternoon?

Frito-Lay Perfect Pairing Blogger Get TogetherWe were asked to each come up with a homemade dip that pairs up perfectly with Frito-Lay chips.  Normally I wouldn’t have had a difficult time coming up with a dip to make as I am a huge fan of hummus but because Piera is the queen of homemade hummus I didn’t even think about going there and I’m glad.  Piera’s hummus was delicious!!  While my dip may not have been very creative as I didn’t have time to make a homemade dip after being out of town for several days before the party and feeling a little under the weather, I’m sure you love it and know it well.  Drum roll please…  I brought Tostitos® All Natural Restaurant Style Salsa.  It’s in the beautiful plastic container in the photograph above, to the right of the Hint of Lime Tostitos®.  Delicious, right?

Lays logoI am a pretty picky when it comes to what snacks and chips I buy. I look for snacks that includes ingredients that my 11 year old can pronounce and don’t contain food coloring.  That’s why we love Tostitos® Whole Grain Scoops and enjoy them will all sorts of dips.  We are partial to hummus at our house but we also love Tostitos Salsa.

Here are the delicious dips each blogger made and brought:
Pierra made Hummus
Kia made Avocado & Lime Black Bean Salsa
Renee made Clam Dip
Amy made Garlic Curry Dip and Peach Salsa
Heather made Cheesy Taco Dip

Not it’s your turn to have a Perfect Pairing get together with your friends or your family.  Why not grab a few bags of chips and a few dip recipes from Frito-Lay’s website and see what pairings you can come up with for your friends and family to enjoy this weekend?

You can search for dip recipes on the Frito-Lay website and check out Frito-Lay’s Facebook page to view cooking webisodes straight from Frito-Lay’s own Flavor Kitchen.

Disclosure: The Motherhood and Frito Lay provided me with compensation for the products purchased.  All opinions are 100% mine.

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Frito Lay and ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Books – Special Promotion and Giveaway

Books, Contests, Food and Drink, New posts, , ,

Frito Lay and Choose Your Own Adventure books

Frito-Lay Variety Packs is partnering with the Choose Your Own Adventure series in perfect time for back to school shopping!  During this promotion, you will be able to purchase Frito-Lay Variety Packs that have a code on the packaging to download three original digital Choose Your Own Adventure books online.

Choose Your Own Adventure books online

One of the things that makes being a parent so much fun is seeing my kids enjoy the same things I did when I was young. Correct me if I’m wrong..when you were young nothing was more exciting than mom coming home with a multi-pack snack bag of chips that had all of your favorite flavors in it.  Mix that with a Choose Your Own Adventure book.. Shut Up!.. the fun just didn’t stop! I LOVED Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid and now my 11 year old son loves them too.  These books are a fabulous way to occupy kids for hours and keep kids interested in reading during the summer break which is so important.

During this special Frito-Lay and Choose Your Own Adventure books promotion families can not only choose their own snack adventure but a book adventure to go with it.  Pretty great huh?

Look for the promotional displays in your local store.

GIVEAWAY!

I have a $25 gift card and a boxed set of Choose Your Own Adventure books for one lucky The Mommy Insider reader. Leave a comment below to enter and get extra entries for each item you complete from the list below.
Entries accepted through 11:59 July 23rd.
Winner will be contacted via email and must respond within 24 hours or an alternate winner will be chosen.
Contest open to U.S. residents age 18 and over.  No P.O. boxes.

Update: If you entered this contest before you saw the contest entry form below, don’t worry.. all of your entries will be counted!

Be sure to tell us in the comments below what you’ve done (Twitter, Facebook, etc)!

To enter leave a comment telling me why you want to win these prizes, in the comments below.

Extra entries:

Be sure to tell us what you’ve done in the comments below!
This review was made possible by MomSpark Media. I was given a Choose Your Own Adventure Book and Frito-Lay Variety Packs in return for posting information about this promotion. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Alicia Hagan, Editor