I recently attended PSFK’s Good Ideas Salon with Seth Godin at Soho House. Seth presented ideas from his new book, Linchpin, in a dynamic atmosphere sorrounded by some amazing minds. Seth described historic changes in the economic landscape, specifically the advent of the Linchpins, employers/employees who are independent thinkers and passionate creators. These Linchpins own their own means of production, and, according to Godin, will be the only truly indispensable professionals in the future. Linchpins create “art” regardless of what they do, and they go out of their way to generate a human connection with their customers. To create “art,” Linchpins are challenged to overcome their ever-present “lizard brain,” which promotes safety, security, and adhering to the historical professional role of working as a cog in a business machine. Godin urged everyone to seek out and solve interesting problems and to keep “shipping” (i.e. creating), sometimes for free, in the quest to become a Linchpin.

Seth touched all of us in the audience. He inspired me to continue to create “art” and personally challenged me to expand my business with or without the necessary funds. I sincerely thank him for that.

Who knew that The American Museum of Natural History was developing iPhone apps? And good ones too! A couple of weeks ago AMNH launched their first iPhone app called Dinosaurs: The American Museum of Natural History Collections. The app allows paleontologists, both big and small, to discover and explore the museums famous dinos through hundreds of beautiful photos, renderings, and detailed descriptions. If you are at the museum, the app will act as your tour guide. If you are at home, the app brings the collection to you. What a great way to explore the history of dinosaurs with your kids! Oh, and did I mention that it’s FREE? Check out the app demo on You Tube.

According to the Museum this is just the first of many “Collections” apps to come. Good thing, because this is just ANOTHER reason for us to get excited about The American Museum of Natural History!

The American Museum of Natural History
(212) 769-5100
Central Park West & 79th Street, New York, NY 10024

This morning we checked out the petting zoo at The Art Farm in the City. It was such a great family outing and we keep asking ourselves why we have not been going there on a regular basis. The Art Farm is located in a brownstone building on 91st Street between 1st and York. On Saturday and Sunday mornings they have a petting zoo where kids can come and feed the animals breakfast between the hours of 8am and 10am. It costs $15 per child and parents are free. Each child is given a basket with three different containers of food and and they walk around and feed all the different animals. My son especially loved the rabbits eating out of his hand! We held a guinea pig which he adored and we touched a huge tortoise. We admired birds, fish, chinchillas, and even a skink.

The Art Farm is now offering a winter playtime drop off for kids 2.5 and up Monday through Thursday from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. They also offer classes from art and cooking, to how to care for the animals. They even book birthday parties in the petting zoo!

The Art Farm in the City
www.theartfarms.org
419 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128
(212) 410-3117

Finally a BRILLIANT invention for cold weather iPhone/iTouch/iPod users! Echo Touch Gloves allow you to keep your hands warm AND use your mobile device. Echo’s gloves have electromagnetic fabric on the fingertips so you can tap away as if you were using your bare hands. I am so grateful to have discovered these gloves after constantly having to stop to take my gloves off to use my iPhone and then freezing to death!! The gloves are actually quite cute and come in four sizes and eighteen colors. Now go pick some up before it gets warm again!

I often get asked what apps I have on my iPhone.
I don’t know if that is because I am an iPhone app developer or because people are just looking for the latest and greatest in a sea of 140,000 iPhone apps. Either way, here are my top 10 at the moment:

- Exit Strategy – Tells you where to stand on the subway platform to shave minutes off your subway trip. Invaluable time-saver for busy moms.
- Around Me – Shows you all the businesses “around you”. Great for finding nearby restaurants, movie theatres, or practically anything.
- CNN – Busy moms on the go don’t always have time to sit down and read the newspaper. Enjoy the “power of CNN in your hands” with videos and all.
- Old MacDonald – This really is my son’s favorite but I’ll include it here since it’s a mainstay. Hours, well at least minutes, of enjoyment for the little one.
- Starbucks – Since I am often out and about all day long, I need coffee on the run and sometimes some internet access too.
- TweetDeck – My favorite of all the Twitter applications. It’s well organized and simple to use.
- PrimoSpot – This is a must when driving a car in NYC. It helps you find the closest on-street parking spots and lets you know when they will become available.
- Hop Stop – Gives you directions or a subway route from point A to point B. I use it at least once a day.
- Yelp – Reviews on anything and everything.
- Menu Pages – NYC restaurant menus. Definitely my go to when finding a place to eat.