review

Piper nv: Super Easy — Home Automation and Night Vision {w/ Giveaway} #MyPiper #PiperSecurity

June 26, 2015 by Lisa 16 Comments

This is a sponsored post

I’ve been using the Piper nv for several weeks as an addition to my home security. We recently returned from our summer vacation and the Piper nv was added piece of mind to have while traveling. The Z-wave technology allowed me to connect other home automation processes, such as controlling lights, additional sensors monitoring doors and windows, not to mention night vision technology that allowed me to log in and check on my house, even at 3:00 a.m.

With Piper, You’re Always Home

The Piper nv is about the size of a soda can and connects to your smart phone via wi-fi. You can place it where you would like in your home, or use the adapter and mount it. This photo was taken when I was in Florida and had turned the lamp on in the living room using Piper. However, images taken using only the night vision feature were also crisp and clear.

Visual Impact with Night Vision and HD Camera

The resolution is great. While I’d love for it to have the clarity I have when I’m looking through my camera with a prime lens on it, the HD camera features a 180˚ iewing angle and a 3.4 megapixels. (The original Piper had a 2 megapixel camera.)

Home Vital Statistics

With Piper, I am able to log in and check on things at different times throughout the day, as well as turn lamps on and off, and not worry about an automatic switch or timer starting, or not turning off. Piper nv kept me alerted to temperature changes in my house, severe weather issues, and when my best friend forgot to set Piper nv to the home setting when she was in watering my plants I was sent a text message and video started recording.

This photo is a screen shot of my “Home Vitals” as monitored by the Piper nv. This is the past 48 hours in my home, showing temperature differences, changes in light, when people are moving, and spikes in sound.

Two-Way Audio

It’s surreal checking on your home while you’re away and hearing the train chugging by as you sit in your hotel room far away from any train tracks. The two-way audio provided by Piper allowed me to check in and do not only a visual, but auditory check.

As you know, I have a teen and his favorite thing to do so far on his summer break is nothing whatsoever. When I’m in my office working, I like to open up my Piper nv app and use the two-way radio to talk to him. I’ll be honest with you, I normally start whispering his name to see if I can get his attention. It’s also brought a little relief while he’s cooking to make sure I’m not walking into a huge mess in the kitchen.

What is Piper nv missing?

Not much. If your wifi was to go down while you’re away, your piper would not work. There is also no current way to export or access the data from the device. After checking their site, I couldn’t find anything about a public API, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future. My husband is a big fan of the website “If-This-Then-That” and is hoping he’ll be able to integrate Piper into his IFTT automation scripts.

Would I buy Piper for myself?

Without a a doubt and there are more on the way for my home, along with sensors for every window, as well as more plugs for me to automate outlets in every room. All of these items connect together and are easily monitored and controlled by your smartphone or tablet.

Win a Piper nv!

Do you want to win a Piper nv of your own? Please enter my giveaway hosted by Rafflecopter. It runs until midnight on July 5 and the winner will be notified July 6.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
You can also visit these blogs for more chances to win a Piper nv of your own!

Piper nv: Automate & Monitor Your Home in Less than 10 Minutes by Thien Kim of I’m Not the Nanny

Piper nv Home Security Camera by Michele McGraw of Scraps of My Geek Life

Piper nv: Easy to Use and Upgraded Camera Automates & Monitors Your Home (w giveaway!) by Leticia Barr of Tech Savvy Mama

Read more about the Piper nv here: Securing your home during summer vacation with Piper nv

Piper NV Technical Specs:

Night Vision
Enhanced HD Resolution
3.4 Megapixel Camera
180 fisheye camera to monitor in many directions.
Pan, Tilt, Zoom & Quad-view
Motion sensor
Temperature sensor
Humidity sensor
Light sensor
Sound meter / microphone — you can listen to what’s going on in the room remotely
Internal accelerometer — to tell if someone is tampering with the Piper unit

Find Piper Online:

Piper: http://hubs.ly/y0Try20
Piper NV: http://hubs.ly/y0Try20
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PiperByiControl
Twitter: @HelloPiper

Giveaway Terms and Conditions:

Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, Eighteen (18) years of age or older. Void where prohibited
Approximate retail value of the prize will be $279 USD, courtesy of Piper. No substitutions or cash exchanges.
Winner may be required to provide email, shipping address and/or phone number for shipping purposes ONLY. Information will not be used for anything else.
Winner is selected by a random Rafflecopter drawing.
Winner will be notified via email ONLY.
Winner has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
Complete contest rules, prize description/value/number of prizes available upon request.

Disclaimer: I received products from Piper for testing purposes and was compensated for this post and giveaway. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Shedding the winter coat with Gillette VenusSwirl™

March 23, 2015 by Lisa 30 Comments

I spent the earlier part of last week shedding my winter coat with the Gillette Venus Swirl™ razor. I would love to say “no judgment” as a southern gal never develops a winter coat, but it has been cold and I had no desire to shave my legs every day. Seeing as how I have been hiding out in cozy pants and sweaters, there was no need. (I also moved during the month of February and my razor has yet to appear among the boxes.) However, North Carolina is known for its changing weather and we jumped from 40 degrees to the 70’s and I needed to clean my act up in a hurry. Imagine you’re Magilla Gorilla and you want smooth legs for a cute dress. That’s your mental image for this review.

Gillette and WalMart reached out to me to ask if I’d like to give the new Gillette Venus Swirl™ a test and I took it as a sign. I headed to the shower with my new razor and the Gillette Venus Olay VioletSwirl™ Shave Gel, took a deep breath and got to work. The Olay® VioletSwirl™ shave gel was a pleasant surprise. I don’t normally use a shave gel because I find their fragrance overpowering and fruity. VioletSwirl™ is subtle, without that cheap candle mimicking spring scent.

Here is where I noticed the differences. I have been a Gillette Venus user for a long time (years). It is a great razor. But the Venus Swirl™ beats the Venus by a long shot. Venus Swirl™ is the first Venus razor to feature Gillette’s most advanced blade technology, with five Contour™ blades that cut hair at lower cutting force and have thinner, finer edges — the thinnest in Gillette’s history. The Contour™ blades individually adjust to a every curve and contour.

Combine that with the new proprietary FlexiBall™ technology and it offers a totally unique movement like no other male or female razor on the market. Venus Swirl™ is the first and only razor with the FlexiBall™, moving in multiple directions to navigate all of the tricky areas of a woman’s body. It helps shave hard-to-reach places and capture hairs other razors might miss. (They miss plenty — I have yelped many times since I started shaving while plucking a rogue hair from the back of my knees with tweezers.)

What really sold me was VenusSwirl’s™ new Microfine Comb and five Contour™ Blades. Pesky knee and ankle hairs and other tricky areas are no match for it! The comb grabbed hair you might have missed at the back of your knee and guides it to the blade. The visuals were almost too much for me it works so well.

Where can you find this magical winter coat pulverizer? Look for the entire collection of VenusSwirl™ products in the shave aisle at your local Walmart store or at venusswirl.com.

Do you want to give the Gillette VenusSwirl ™ and Gillette Venus Olay VioletSwirl™ a try? I’m giving away a $20 Wal-Mart gift card so you can pick up your own VenusSwirl™ products today. Giveaway ends March 30, 2015, at midnight.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow Gillette VenusSwirl™:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gillettevenus
Twitter: @GilletteVenus, @Walmart
Website: venusswirl.com

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by SheSpeaks/Gillette Venus. I’m pretty sure the world at large is thankful for their intervention.

Karizmac Luminous – for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

July 11, 2011 by Lisa Leave a Comment

Thank you to Karizmac Luminous for sponsoring this review. For more information about Karizmac Luminous please visit .

I’m a horoscope checking kinda gal. My star sign is Scorpio and other than some cuspy Libraness, I’m a water sign through and through. When you’re younger? You live in the stars, at least it seems as if your head does. I still check my horoscope (not daily anymore) thanks to handy apps, but generalizations for one sign just don’t do it for me.

I also take the Myers-Brigg test every other month (Currently, I’m an INTJ). Let’s just say there is a lot of thought going on here.

My good friends over at the Clever Girls Collective reached out and asked if I would like to test the Karizmac Luminous, let’s just say I jumped. It gave me time to sit down, dream a little and focus of life. I’ve done multiple tests on it and find myself answering different questions each time, and coming up with results that surprise every single time I use this app.

For each decision you make, Karizmac Luminous shows you a famous woman who may think like you. You can discover the experiences and situations that may have influenced her decisions, and learn about how it affected her life, and often others.

Then, at the end of each question category, you can challenge your self-confidence.

Each choice you make lights up a star in your beautiful Charisma Map. The stars align to your personality traits, so it is uniquely “you”; a snapshot of your personality at that moment.

Here’s mine today:

My map makes a lot of sense to me. Everybody has a different map and there are 240 different decisions with insight into 480 Luminaries who’ve made decisions such as the one you’re making.

You can explore your Charisma Map by expanding and pinching the Charisma Map. As you zoom in, you can see the star that matches your individual answers, along with its Master and Sub-Category traits as constellations and galaxies. Save your Charisma Maps to compare your previous Maps with your current. And you can share them with friends through email or by posting on Facebook.

I selected vision and clairity. Something I’ve been seeking in my professional and personal life. Imagine my surpise to be compared to Annie Liebovitz, June Carter Cash, Mary Leakey, Anna Sui and Vera Wang.

“Life is a journey. Who needs a destination?” Vera Wang — signifying open mindedness

All of my Charisma Maps are stored on my iPod touch, so I can go back at any time and see how my decisions affected my day. Or how my answers in my categories could vary due to changes in mood.

Will I use it everyday? Quite possibly. I like reading into myself. That inward focus helps me take a hard look at myself and be a better person. I am seeing though this app where my associations lie, what my true feelings are on different statements that come from deep within and remind myself that I’m a gutsy broad. Just like the featured Luminaries.

Karizmac Luminous is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch through the iTunes Store for $1.99

While Karizmac Luminous provided me with the app to review, the opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Karizmac Luminous, Clever Girls Collective and I promote Blog With Integrity.