A few months ago, I wrote an article on how Canadians can get access to US Netflix. It’s a pretty popular article for good reason. US Netflix is amazing, much more so than Canadian Netflix.

Today I wrote an updated version for The Vancouver Province. Check it out if you are still looking for an easy way to tap into the best video streaming in Canada.

Want to keep up with the latest tech trends and read a great newspaper at the same time? Check out my Tech Blog on The Vancouver Province.

Get the 411 on Dual-Band Routers and weigh in if you think your home needs one.

Spring has sprung, at least in most places, and you know what that means? It’s time to get off your duff and get back into your exercise program.

I’m a huge proponent of using Apps for Exercise. There is literally an App for everything, including situps, pushups, Pilates, Yoga, and all around strength training. But in my humble opinion, the best of the bunch are Running Apps.

I’ve written about Couch to 5K before, and I’ve discussed Bridge to 10K and Nike + GPS. They’re great, but I’ve found something even better. It’s motivating, it’s fun, and it has Zombies – I’m not sure you could ask for much more.

Cool Fact: The company that created the App did a fundraising campaign for it on KickStarter.

Zombies, Run! is a running game/audio adventure, and once you put your ear buds on you are literally immersed in the middle of a Post-Apocolyptic world full of crazed Zombies. As Runner 5, your goal is to pick up items and help the township fight off the Zombies.

Here’s the lowdown on Zombies, Run!

The Cost

$7.99. It appears to be quite a hefty price in a land of Apps not priced over $2.99, but I think it was money well spent.

Why does it work?

Most of us are lazy by nature. I mean, we aren’t 1975 style lazy where we watch hours of soap operas, blissfully unaware of where our children might be, but we definitely can be on the sluggish side.

Zombies, Run! works because it’s a really good story, and if you have a hard time putting down a book once you get really into it, you’ll definitely want to discover the next adventure. You just have to run to listen to it.

Where can you run?

Everywhere, even on a treadmill. It doesn’t track your distance the way Nike + GPS does. Instead, you are sent on a variety of ‘missions’ each day, picking up items as you go (in the game, not literally) and once you complete the mission radio mode kicks in. The more you run, the more missions open up to you.

Play your own music

Zombies, run! will access your playlists and play your favorite running music in between the vocal parts of the mission. I truly think one of the voices is Ricky Gervais. Someone please confirm this.

Want to sprint? Of course you do

Turn on Zombie Swarms and get ready for some teeth gnashing good times. It sounds like the Zombies are right on your back, and it’s motivating in a ‘I’m truly terrified’ kind of way. Because even if you are a skeptic, it’s hard not to believe in Zombies. I blame the Thriller video.

Just be sure to keep clear of high traffic areas, because you might get distracted and actually run into a car. Parks are good for Zombie swarms, as are dimly lit bike paths just at the point when the sun is going down. Think of how much weight you’ll lose if you turn it on at Twilight.

It works with Nike + GPS

I couldn’t find a FAQ on how to work it with Nike + GPS, so I figured it out myself. Open Nike + on your phone. Start your run as normal, but without music. Tap to close Nike + GPS (only once, not twice to completely close it). Then tap on Zombies, Run! and select your run. Be sure to enable music and choose your playlist. Keep the App running and you’ll hear updates from both Nike and Zombies, Run!

It’s a nice way to keep your miles adding up on Nike while still having a scary old time with the  Zombies.

—

Have fun, out run the Zombies, and be sure to share your tips and tricks with us.

I will admit it. I skipped out on the iPad 2. I’m all for upgrading gadgets on a yearly basis, but even with the camera built-in I didn’t see the need to upgrade. I was, and still am, extremely happy with the first generation iPad. Basically, I was waiting it out for the #3.

And with the announcement of the new iPad, now might be the time to pick one up. Here’s a few reasons why:

But Mom, everybody has one!

Yes, they really do. Well, maybe not everybody but the numbers are definitely increasing. And in recent research, a whopping 70% of tablet owners said their kids used the device. Even if you didn’t want them to play anything but educational games, having a tablet is a brain-opener for your kids.

Before I had my iPad, my kids would play games on my computer. And when they’d get bored of that game, whether it be the ‘Grade One Fun Curriculum” game I spent $30 on or the drawing game I spent $50 on, I’d be faced with the cost of purchasing new games. Not to mention the fact despite my net-nanny and pop up blocker, when they surfed the Web stupid stuff still managed to infiltrate their computer and pop up at the most inopportune times. It was minor, but I don’t want to have to explain again the concept of scammers and why some Mom from Nebraska really isn’t making $2000 per day working at home.

With a tablet, you control the experience. If you don’t want them to surf the web, delete the web browser. Need to find a new game for them to play on a road trip? Download 5 for under $5. With a touch screen, it caters to toddler’s fingers. My 2 year old is so immersed in touch screens he’ll look at my computer and try to move things around the screen with his finger.

1080p Video recording

I don’t know about you, but my old camcorder doesn’t let me tape in 1080p. I’ve been sending my old tapes from previous camcorders into Costco to be put onto DVD and the result is dismal. Blurry, shaky, dark – It’s not really how I want to relive my kid’s at Disneyland or their Christmas concert. With 1080p video recording and built-in software stabilization to stop your shaky hands from ruining the moment, the new iPad will become your go-to recording device.

AirPlay Mirroring

If you have an 2nd generation iPad and Apple TV, you already know what AirPlay Mirroring is about. With AirPlay, you can display your iPad screen on your big screen TV. It’s a wireless feature with the new iPad, so you don’t even need to hook up via an HDMI cable anymore.

You can stream the videos and music you have on your new iPad to your big screen, which appeals when the kids are fighting over the iPad and everyone wants to watch one thing. But what about Apps? This is where it could get interesting.

Here’s a list of AirPlay-enabled apps, and although there aren’t very many, you can bet your hat on the fact more will be coming soon. I don’t know about you, but the option of playing my favourite apps on the big screen appeals to me. However I have been known to have issues with people peering over my shoulder, so it could be just me.

~~~~

There are many other features in the new iPad that make me want to get one, including a faster processor, retina display, and dictation (which appeals to the writer in me, although if I started dictating dialogue around the kids they’d think I’d lost my mind). If you’ve never had a tablet, this might be the time to pick one up.

Questions about the new iPad? Just ask - Email us, we’ll answer.

Check out my newest list of Top Tablet Apps for Kids on the Best Buy blog this morning.

My favorites include Thematica’s Cars in Sandbox, MyPlayHome, and everything Toca Boca.

Before you become a parent, no one really shares with you how small, seemingly trivial things can become urgent in ways you never would have expected. An example? Your toddler is in full scale riot mode and he’s completely finished with the firetruck you just bribed him with so he’d sit still at the store. Your personal internal resources are lagging due to a lack of sleep and the fact that your Keurig cups are still out in the car. In this situation even the most mundane things take on an aura of urgency, and my stress level shoots through the top of my head like a car just crashed through my fence.

I was standing in the middle of my destroyed kitchen the other day, avoiding the piles of Costco groceries that needed a home and trying to make lunch for my little guy. It became clear that without cleaning off a cupboard at the very least, he wasn’t going to get lunch. I had two choices: Do I let him have cookies and hope he still eats his lunch or do I distract him with something else? Because he’s a notorious cookie monster, I choose plan B.

For me, Plan B means coloring, because he likes it almost as much as he likes cookies. Coloring means finding a coloring book, which in my current situation wasn’t going to be possible. So what do I do? Pick up my iPhone, hit the Epson iPrint app, and print off 5 coloring sheets from the the Disney Junior website in less than 2 minutes. I didn’t have to crack my computer or dig through the toybox, I just had to pull my phone out of my pocket.

And I’m saved, if only for 1/2 hour.

My Epson WorkForce 633 shares features with many printers across their lineup, and these babies are serious sanity savers. Unpack it from the box and run through the easy setup. Not only did it instantly hook up to my home network, my computer found it and started printing with 10 minutes. I’ve had another printer that promised Wi-Fi connectivity and despite knowing how to program a computer and take one apart myself, I couldn’t figure out how to use wireless printing on that thing.

Plug it in and use it to fax. It actually loads the paper and spits it right back, so I could send a 12 page fax without worrying about paper jams. Its even easy to print off photos. You can print photos on the go via the Epson App on your smart phone, or load them on your computer and print them that way.

I’ve done a ton of printing and haven’t had to change a cartridge yet, but with individual color cartridges, it’s cheap and easy to switch them out when you need a new one.

Whether you need one for your home office or just for frantic coloring situations, the Epson lineup of WorkForce printers are an amazing addition to your technology lineup.

Oh Canadian winter, how you deceived me one again. Right when I had just become comfortable with the level of chill and rain (I even pulled out my lined hoodie, just to stay a little warmer) you flipped the switch on me and covered me in snow.

And not just any snow. Instead of the light, fluffy, isn’t it pretty, oh-look-its-melting type, you choose to drop the ice cold, thick, heavy and hard to drive in type of snow. The snow that shuts down an entire city and keeps me housebound, often with 4 small children who spend the day asking me to actually go outside and sit in it.

The bonus to this type of weather? I have a roof over my head, several small creatures who love to sit on my feet to keep them warm, and an iPad full of content to keep me busy. When you get the winter blues, flip the switch on the app store and check out a few of my cabin fever favorites:

Thematica Cars in Sandbox

This isn’t an app specifically for me, but any app that keeps my 2 year old busy for as long as this one does is high up on my most loved. Cars in Sandbox lets you pick a truck to drive through a virtual sandbox. Tap to start it up, push it to drive. Some trucks have scoopers, some are dump trucks, and you can even open the doors and watch it idle.

To say that this is a young truck-lovers dream come true is an understatement. This app is bright, colorful, and engaging. I can’t say enough about it, and at $1.99 is a steal for the amount of peace and quiet it buys.

Faces iMake by iMagine machine

Another kids app, but I love to play with this one too. Faces iMake lets you doodle on your own photos or create a masterpiece with different fruit, buttons, bows, and almost any object you can think of. You can take lessons in how to decorate your own faces or just improvise.

And the entire time it plays cute little songs that, even if you are in the worst mood, can’t help but make you smile. Try it, you’ll love it.

Visualize Success with Andrew Johnson

You just can’t beat the lull of a Scottish accent. When I start this app up, I imagine Mel Gibson in Brave Heart, before he turned all crazy and stuff.

I picked up this app when I was looking for something to help me sleep. I can definitely say that it works in that regard. As far as achieving success from it, I have no idea. I have listened it it three times, and each time I fell into a deep sleep while it was on. When I woke up, I had no idea what type of subliminal messaging they implanted in my brain. I’ve asked my husband to hide the knives, just in case it’s an anti-husband type of message.

iSad lamp

I haven’t tried this one myself, but I found it in the app store and it’s so unbelievable that it deserves a mention.

You know how certain people, say people who live in Northern Pacific climates and don’t get exposed to enough sunlight, end up feeling blue in the winter? Their toes curl up into their body like the bad witch in Wizard of Oz and they get that patchy grey look on their faces that comes with an increase in gloom and a decrease in light. Sometimes a UV lamp will help those people. You can buy UV lamps at Costco now without a prescription, or you can download the iSad lamp from the app store.

Apparently daily iSad sessions will re-kindle your interest in interacting with the outside world, as well as stop you from stuffing your face with cookies and hot chocolate in an effort to compensate for your cabin fever.

If you try it, let me know what you think.

~~~

No, having a tablet computer full of fun apps won’t take the edge off winter every single day, but it certainly helps you out in a pinch. And sometimes that 5 minute break is all you need to get through the next hour.

Now please pray for sunshine to melt this snow. If I have to endure one more argument about bacon and who gets to eat it all, I’m not sure if I will survive the rest of the month.

I signed up with Netflix pretty much the day it launched in Canada. Having fiddled around with it in the US a few times, I knew what type of movies/shows/ etc. it offered, and you didn’t have to ask me twice if I wanted access to unlimited episodes of Hoarders (when you trip over toys and laundry all day, programs like that are good for one’s self-esteem).

I figured out quite quickly after I signed up that Canadian Netflix was sadly lacking in comparison to US Netflix. For one, US Netflix has Disney animated features like Toy Story 3 and Tangled. They also have interesting documentaries and full length episodes of Glee. Although I was happy with the 3 seasons of Mighty Machines available to Canadians and also delighted to note that there were NO episodes of the Beachcombers on there, I was a bit unhappy that the selection was otherwise lacking.

I wanted to access the US Netflix content, but as I live in Canada, it seemed like it would be difficult to do so. Turns out, it wasn’t. You can do one of two things:

A.) Physically move your computer to the USA and watch US Netflix that way.

Netflix automatically determines your DNS settings and, if you are in a different country, Netflix can tell. So just move thyself to a different country (like Bellingham if you are close by), and ding, you have US Netflix.But you might not want to drive to Bellingham just to catch up on your Netflix viewing (but if you did, you could get groceries at the same time).

B.) Change your DNS settings

There are two options that I know of to change your DNS settings to USA based. UBlock.US is a DNS re-router. It costs $4.99 per month and you gain access to USA based DNS settings. Change your settings on your computer, iPad, or iPhone and instantly gain access to US based Netflix content. Not only that, you can also watch videos online that would normally post that annoying, “I’m sorry, this video is not available from your location.”

Hide My Ass is another re-routing service. I’ve read rave reviews about their service, but it comes in a bit more expensive.

If you do one of these two things (and there could be more, these are the only options I researched), you can watch Netflix the way it was intended. As well, you can sit back and enjoy the unlimited freedom that comes with being able to watch any gossipy web clip on People.com (Nicole Ritchie’s makeup tips! Who knew?) and you won’t be restricted.

Have fun, and be sure to check out my updated post on How to Watch Netflix USA in Canada.

Whenever I hear the words, “TocaBoca” I think of George Costanza’s parents trying to move in with Jerry Seinfelds’ parents at Del Boca Vista. I can’t help it, it just pops in my head.

And to make it even more confusing, I only hear the phrase coming from my kids, and it only happens when they are asking me to buy another Toca app. Luckily for them, I’m happy to do it. Not just because I want to distract them with a game for a 1/2 hour so I can make dinner in peace and relative quiet. No, I like TocaBoca apps because they are fun, even for Mom. I challenge you to pick up Toca Hair Salon and not laugh when you give them a really bad hair cut.

The newest release Toca Kitchen is an instant winner. Pick your dinner companion; you can choose from slightly squirrely looking people, a fuzzy brown cat, or a ultra-blue cow. The fun starts when you open the fridge and pick something for your animal/human to eat. You learn pretty quickly that the cow isn’t a fan of eating meat (it’s refreshing that he’s not a carnivore, although most kids won’t make that connection), and his favorite meal is a stack of wheat. Fry it, boil it, microwave it, it doesn’t matter. He loves it all.

Slice it, dice it, food process it; Toca Kitchen keeps your little chef busy in the kitchen (and not your kitchen, which is best of all). You might even pick it up yourself. It’s hard not to want to pop a pear into that happy little girl’s mouth.

Check out Toca Kitchen on iTunes or at the TocaBoca web site.

Very occasionally, I’ll stumble across an app that will keep my kids entertained for longer than 10 minutes. When I find it, I covet that app, because it gets me through crazy moments when all four of them want something at one time, everyone is talking at once, and I feel as though my head has the ability to pop off my body.

The app in question is Toontastic. It lets you kids create cartoons based on various themes, and it is amazing for stimulating imagination. They get to move their little characters across the screen and give voice overs, and its even laid out in story board format so they feel just like the director/producer of a real movie.

I paid for my copy months ago, and it was worth the money. But lucky you, you get to try it for free!

I’ve got 9 promo codes for Toontastic. To get one, just like our Facebook page and comment here or there. I’ll randomly pick 9 people out of those who like our page.

Just remember, you need an iPad to use Toontastic.