Archive for January

REVIEW: Sprint ID’s Spanish-language Lo2Yo Packs

Posted by PapiBlogger on Wednesday January 26th, 2011 at 06:58 PM

Even though smartphones keep getting more advanced and easier to use, there are still throngs of people who, like my mom and sister, marvel at what these handsets can do and believe they’re still too sophisticated to handle.

For my test drive of the Lo2Yo Sprint ID packs I used Sprint's exclusive LG Optimus S

Into the despair of technophobia comes Sprint with its refreshingly simple Sprint ID.  In a nutshell, Sprint ID is an exclusive Sprint service that enables consumers who either shy away from technology or don’t have the time to surf the Android market to customize their handsets with mobile apps that will help make their lives easier. The current Sprint Android handsets (the Sanyo Zio, Samsung Transform and LG Optimus S) make it easier to access a set of pre-defined packages of apps, widgets, ringtones and business tools for people with specific interests.

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PapiBlogger joins Latino Bloggers in Hosting Sprint Superbowl Twitter Party this Wednesday {Sponsored}

Posted by PapiBlogger on Tuesday January 25th, 2011 at 01:07 PM

GUEST POST

BY MIGDALIA RIVERA
Latina On a Mission

This Wednesday, PapiBlogger will join Hispanicize and several Latino bloggers as co-hosts for the first Hispanicize Twitter Party of 2011, sponsored by Sprint.  Of course, you don’t even have to ask: there will be nearly $1,000 in phones and Best Buy gift card prizes!  Appropriately, the topic of the party is the  SUPERBOWL taking place Feb. 6 between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers but don’t my dear readers because you don’t have to know anything about football to win the fabulous prizes!

No matter how or who you spend the Superbowl with, the one thing we KNOW is that you will have your smartphone with you.    On Twitter, Facebook, via text, or on a call, you will cheer, gloat, or bemoan your team’s play that day.

We know.  We feel you.  That’s why Sprint ID is important. It allows you to personalize your phone’s ringtones so you can avoid that annoying yapper. It also lets you add wallpaper to differentiate your phone from everyone else’s phone. You’re not a plain Maria, or Carlos for you men out there, so why should your phone be?

As for those of you who are dragged along and couldn’t care less about the Superbowl, shame on you! LOL No seriously I TOTALLY understand. I’m not a football fan myself, but my family is, which means I NEED  to keep myself entertained while they watch the game. Thankfully, Sprint ID offers that entertainment via widgets and more. But don’t take my word for it, check it out yourself and click HERE.

After you do, make sure you RSVP below and join us on January 26, 2011. You could win one of the great prizes shown below!

Sanyo Zio (Retail Value: $299.99)

Sanyo Zio (Retail Value: $299.99)

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Intelligent Giving Leads To A Movement For A Generation of Kids

Posted by PapiBlogger on Monday January 17th, 2011 at 01:59 AM

Today’s Guest Papi is Rudy DeFelice, CEO of Kidworth

As a parent of three kids, I remember hauling the detritus of a consumer gifts to the curb after every holiday and birthday – plastic packaging, wrapping paper, dead batteries, and a rash of trash.  The thrill of opening gifts faded quickly and what was left was waste and the feeling that there must be a better way to celebrate our children’s future.

To alleviate this ritual year after year, we as a family adopted a plan of long term goal setting as an alternative to plastic overload.  I talked to my kids (ages 8, 6 and 3) about the things they really cared about.  My older son wanted guitar lessons, my middle boy wanted a new mountain bike and my daughter wanted a computer.  We all want to save for college and as a way to support how every family should give to others, we suggested each kid identified a charity to support. (more…)

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The Day I ALMOST Became an Official Car Worshipper

Posted by PapiBlogger on Wednesday January 12th, 2011 at 07:11 AM

This Firebird concept car, the first one, literally cannot be driven anywhere but in salt fields because it moves with jet propulsion that would burn away any asphalt road. Of course, like most of the coolest cars all the automakers produce, it's "experimental." (Copyright PapiBlogger, 2011)

Ok, before I go anywhere too strange with this, let me start by saying that the folks at General Motors got me THISCLOSE to actually becoming an official car enthusiast.  Given that I’m in Detroit for their world class auto show you might assume that this is the natural progression of being dazzled by all of the latest and greatest toy cars on display but that’s not what tantalized me.  What got me THISCLOSE to worshipping cars was actually visiting the hallowed grounds of General Motors Heritage Center, a huge, private access museum that’s a 30-minute drive outside of Detroit.

This 1911 Oldsmobile Limited is GM's most prized car, the automaker's Mona Lisa of vehicles and is worth between $2 and $8 million. In 1915 this vehicle, only one of three surviving, retailed for $5,000, an astounding figure for its time. (Copyright PapiBlogger, 2011)

GM's Heritage car exhibit has all of the automaker's most prized vehicles and is more impressive than any car collection you'll ever see. Even a car novice like me was blown away by it. (Copyright PapiBlogger, 2011)

You want to talk about a car exhibit that blows your socks off?  Nothing in the fancy halls of the Detroit auto show remotely compares to GM’s collection and I wasn’t the only one who felt like that.  All the fanatical car bloggers that came with me were saying the same thing, drool spilling from their mouthes as they literally almost started worshipping the vehicles in front of me.

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I’m No Car Guy But I Know Some Cool Ones When I See Them

Posted by PapiBlogger on Tuesday January 11th, 2011 at 05:56 PM

GM and Michelin need to seriously speed production of these Tron-like vehicles! The official name of this car is appropriately EN-V.

As my wife and friends will tell you, I really don’t know much about cars except that I own two and last year my family and I drove a Chevrolet Traverse 12,000 miles in 46 days as part of an epic family road trip we documented on this blog.

This week, at the invitation of General Motors, I find myself in Detroit with every car blogger nerd in the world for the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) and even though I don’t talk torque, horsepower or flywheels regularly, there’s a couple of things I can tell you worth noting about what I saw here in Detroit:

‘Green Cars’ Will Soon Be Mainstream

The Chevy Volt won the Detroit auto show's Car of the Year.

The fact the Chevy Volt was named the auto show’s Car of the Year yesterday is not just an ego-trip moment for General Motors, who I’m happy to see is back with a vengeance.  In my novice opinion, I think the Volt’s win is a watershed moment for the industry that shows that green cars will soon be mainstream.  A car blogger friend of mine told me that the Volt won because of the three finalists it was the one car that a family can take anywhere, anytime, including road trips.  (We’ll have to test that theory out, won’t we?)

I think the timing for this fever pitch around fuel efficiency in the industry could not be better for families because gas prices are predicted to spike again.  GM’s No. 2, Tom Stevens, the Vice Chairman of GM, told a group of bloggers yesterday that the fuel price crisis of 2009 will not take GM by surprise anymore because GM is already producing vehicles that are super fuel efficient. (more…)

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How to Use Twitter to Protect Your Family and Your Neighborhood, Pt. 1

Posted by PapiBlogger on Monday January 10th, 2011 at 06:04 PM


We live in a very quiet, historic neighborhood in South Florida but in the past year, a neighbor’s home and several cars have been burglarized, threatening everyone’s peace of mind.

In the midst of all this, our neighbors have decided to be more vigilant so the other day  it occurred to me that if we really thought this through we could use my good friend, social media,  to fight crime and help make our families and homes safer.

The Twitter crime prevention idea I’m going to outline for you here is probably not new but I’ve done some Google searches on this topic and I can’t find anything like it.   Hopefully this neighborhood watch trick will be as useful to your neighborhood as it will be to mine.     (more…)

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Posted in Parenting Tricks | 2 Comments »

Filtering Movies for the Family is Easier With These Handy Apps

Posted by PapiBlogger on Sunday January 2nd, 2011 at 08:46 PM

My wife and I often like to introduce some of our favorite 80’s flicks to our kids. My children are already big, repeat watchers of such classics as “The Karate Kid” and “Back to the Future” and we have to admit that it makes our hearts warm when we see them embrace our favorite flicks as their own.

In the past couple months, we’ve re-discovered many of these movies but on occasion we’ve also missed the mark greatly for accidentally picking films that upon closer review are not appropriate for children (“Grease” and “Gremlin” come to mind). (more…)

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