Big Brother is Watching You...

It's true! And in a shocking turn of events, this time Big Brother turns out to be none other than the pint sized pop diva Lady Ga Ga.

For she has taken on and effectively gagged Hoxton based Mind Candy, creators of the globally successful Moshi Monsters from 'promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or which otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon.'

If your children aren't into Moshi Monsters, you probably won't have a clue what I'm talking about but as the parent of three hardcore 'Moshettes' this story is nothing short of a scandal.

Gaga's lawyers claimed that children might not be able to tell GooGoo from Gaga. Yes seriously.

On the left we have Moshling Lady GooGoo, a dummy toting, nappy wearing inhabitant of the Moshi Monsters world. On the right we have Lady GaGa, a pop star who makes headlines by wearing dresses made from meat and recently announced that her alter ego is a panda.

Yep.... easy to see how my daughters might get them mixed up.

The success of Moshi Monsters should be applauded not dragged through the mud in this way. Their site is educational, safe and fun. It brings my children together as they work through puzzles and missions to gain access to new and exciting Moshlings. Together as a team, no other game they play does that.

At the risk of confusing you parents too I feel that I should point out that the video clip below is of the Moshling Lady GooGoo singing the offending Moshi Dance that sparked the controversy and has nothing at all to do with the American singer Lady GaGa. OK?

My girls meeting the REAL McNaulty (and his mummy).

Watch out Moshi Monsters - if Lady GaGa's alter ego is a Panda, perhaps Shishi's next on her list!

Top of my girls Christmas list is the new Moshi Monsters Moshling Zoo game for Nintendo DS. out on 11/11/11, you can pre order your copy from amazon now!

We shall not be deterred. Moshi Monsters rocks!

Charity help request

Are you interested in helping UNISEF to road test a couple of fundraising ideas ahead of the campaign release dates?

The ideas are based around parents involving their kids in the lives of children in other cultures in a fun way, whilst also raising money - hopefully it's good for everyone; the charity raises money and the parents get to expose their children to the lives of other children in Africa. If you are a parent with children aged between 3 and 12, I would love to hear from you.

We're looking for people to test these in October half time and on Halloween (Oct 31st).  Please leave a comment with your details or email me for more information. mummytips [at] gmail [dot] com

The Help - My Movie of the Month

This time last week I was snuggled up with a group of girlie buddies for a private screening of the eagerly anticipated film adaptation of the best selling book The Help. 

The last time I set foot in a cinema with a group of girls was to see Back to the Future. It was so long ago that everyone still thought that Michael J Fox was hot. He wasn't and we were really only there to check out boys but that's another story.

I'm a reader by nature and I'm never satisfied by a big screen portrayal of a book that I've read but as I hadn't started reading The Help I was a blank canvas and ready for the journey.

Set in Mississippi in the 1960's, The Help is essentially a tale of female friendship and the ability to come together to create change. Only things were pretty messed up in 1960's Mississippi. White children raised by black maids only to turn into their parents and continue and expand on their racist ways.

Skeeter (Emma Stone), saw things differently and on returning home from college, determined to be a writer, set about interviewing the black maids so that their stories could be told.

After a bit of cajoling the maids have a lot to say and despite the dark undertones of the main civil rights story, The Help manages to be a feel good movie.

If you liked Fried Green Tomatoes and Driving Miss Daisy you'll love this movie. If you like tales of hope, of good over evil you'll love this movie.

What I took away from it is that friendships really can conquer all and a reminder that revenge is always a dish best served cold.

The Help opens in the UK on October 26th. Go see it.

Disclosure : 

Back to the Future was released in 1985. If you have 13 year old children DO NOT consider it OK to let them go to the movies with a group of their friends. Don't ask why - take my word...

Name Change Alert!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I'm giving my blog a major makeover and today saw me move that little bit closer with a new Twitter name...

@mummytips has gone and I'll be tweeting at @geekisnewchic.

The Cybher 2012 Schedule is Live

Things are really hotting up Cybher wise and I'm really excited about the amazing speakers that are already lined up for the first event next May.

Lots of people have been asking about the schedule and its now live for you to take a look at over on the Cybher site. 

More sessions will be added over the next few weeks as speakers are confirmed so please do check back. 

Early bird tickets are on sale at £80 until 30/11/11 and we have a deal in place with a hotel just around the corner who are offering single rooms to Cybher delegates for just £80 per night. These rooms are limited and are selling out fast. Full information is on the Cybher blog.

You can join the conversation on Twitter @CybherUK 

Lead - don't follow.

Want to win £250?

Of course you do! All you have to do to be in with a chance is complete this short survey from Dettol. The deadline for completed surveys is midnight (GMT) on 11/11/10 and the winner of the £250 will be notified by email on 14/10/11.

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The Help

I'm really excited to be going to a screening of the US box office hit The Help on Friday, review coming soon.

Have you read the book?

Join the conversation on Facebook.

How To : Get the New Facebook Profile

You must have been hiding under a bush for the last week if you haven't heard about the new major Facebook update. Most of the  talk is pretty negative but I have to say that I absolutely LOVE the new look and usability. Finally your Facebook profile looks like a real page rather than an outfit that was thrown together in the dark. 

The update will be rolling out from next weekend but if you're keen to get ahead of the game, here's how.

Difficulty rating : Easy
Time : 10 minutes

Step 1
Log into your Facebook account.

Step 2
Go to the Facebook Apps Developer page.

Hit allow to confirm permission.

Step 3
After confirming permission you land on the Apps page (below).

Top right corner - click 'Create new App'.

Step 4

Name your new app.

It doesn't matter what name or namespace you give to your app but the namespace does need to be at least 7 letters.

Hit continue.

Pass the security check by filling in the Captcha.

If you haven't already confirmed your Facebook account you will be asked to do so now. If your account is already verified tick 'I agree to the Platform Privacy Policy' and move on to Step 5.

You can confirm with your mobile number or with a credit card.

If using your mobile, put in your number and wait for the confirmation code to arrive by text.

Put in the code and confirm.

Step 5

Once verified you get this screen.

Click 'Open Graph'.

Step 6

You have landed on 'Open Graph: Getting Started'.

You need to define an action here but it can be anything. Here's an example you can use. 

In 'People Can' box write 'Read' and in the second box write 'book'.

Hit 'Get started'.

Step 7

Page 'Open Graph; Action Type: Read'

No info to add to this page. Scroll to the bottom and hit 'Save changes and next'.

Step 8

Page 'Open Graph; Object Type; Book'

No info to add to this page. Scroll to the bottom and hit 'Save changes and next'.

Step 9

Page 'Open Graph; Aggregation

Scroll down and hit 'Save'.

Step 10

Takes you to the following page.

Wait a few minutes for the changes to take effect. 

Step 11

Go to your Facebook Profile Page. 'Introducing; Your New Profile'

Hit 'Get it Now'.

Choose 'Take tour' to see your new profile in action or hit 'Publish Now'.

And here's how mine looks...

Have a go and if you get stuck give me a shout.

Please do come back and share a link you your snazzy new page in the comments.

Off To BlytheConUK

Tomorrow is BlytheCon day, its also the start of Betty's birthday weekend. 

We are ditching the boys and heading off to London to spend the day shopping, knitting, dress making and staring in awe at all the other beautiful Blythe dolls gathered for this second UK Blythe fest. There will be pictures, quite possibly way too many of them and I will attempt to restrict them to my Instagram feed but I know that Biba will be snapping too!

The big decision that I still have to make is who gets to come with me??? (I'm talking Blythe doll here...)

I think it has to be Amy Lee, she's hit a 'dark phase' since she was photographed for my blog header back in January 2009. Perhaps its time for a new look for my blog too? Maybe its time to say goodbye to Mummy-Tips? Stay tuned...