Sunday, June 15, 2014

Thing #19 - Hobbies

I tried Spotify. It was okay but I still prefer Pandora. The app that I use the most for hobbies....any of my hobbies (cooking, crafting, decorating, gardening...) is Pinterest. I like that Pinterest has everything and lets me browse. I am more of a visual person so usually a picture is enough to get me going.

Thing 23

I enjoyed being exposed to so many topics. I would definitely do this again. I have gotten to the point I could do everything I need to on a tablet instead of a laptop. It is amazing what an android can do!

Thing #18 - Education

Advanced Dictionary - Liked it!
Duolingo - LOVE! I really had fun trying this out. I actually installed it on my phone after using it on my tablet. Hoping this will help me keep my Spanish language skills from completely atrophying.
Itranslate - LOVE
Ted - LOVE

The ITranslate got me thinking.....and I remembered that Google Translate had added my husband's first language (Nepali) within the last year or so. And so I checked - yep - Google Translate is also an app. Total score! :) Google Translate has over 80 languages...it will boggle your mind.

Thing #22 - Discover

I added Droid of the Day. Admittedly I haven't had enough time with it yet to see if it is a winner in my opinion. I'll post more after a couple days of getting its suggestions.

One article I liked this year: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393097,00.asp

Thing #17 - Connecting to Community

I liked the 511mn app - I was surprised that I hadn't downloaded the app already since I use their website a ton during the winter. I downloaded the MN State Fair app and hope to use it at the fair this year if I make it out there. ExploreMinnesota app crashed and I had to restart my device. It would be nice to have this one working as I really like the website. I was all set to use the MPR app but then read that it is a battery hog. So I'm going to pass on that one for now. All in all...a lot of winners - thanks for the list!

Thing #21 - Free for All

Crackle - You have to include Crackle. Crackle is free. It has movies and tv episodes....but even better? Episodes of Seinfeld. Crackle is typically a bit cheesy with its movie repertoire but there is usually a few solid movies on there....

SparkPeople - If you are trying to eat healthy, exercise more or watch certain nutrient intake (salt/sugar) then SparkPeople is a must. Or FitnessPal. Both are free.


Thing #20 - Games

Move over Candy Crush....I know have BubbleMania. Once in a while I like a nice little game when I am relaxing and waiting for my brain to shut off. I am also a fan of Words with Friends. It's a fun way to interact and I always have a couple games going with my best friend and a cousin in Washington state. I like that there is that social aspect with Words with Friends. (If you are not a fan of Scrabble you can try the Hanging with Friends - which is Hangman.)

Thing #16 - iPadio

I tried out iPadio. iPadio was user-friendly and did what it said it would. :) I was reading its background story and see that it was first used for nonprofits and corporations. Interestingly enough, several of its most interesting users are explorers/adventurers because of its ability to be so immediate. It would be a fun way to broadcast interviews and talks that guest authors give at our annual Friends event (if permission was granted). Personally, it would be a lot of fun to use when visiting with relatives and getting family stories to share with other relatives. It also has a function where a person can record a phone call...hmm.

Thing #15 - Infographics

First, I just wanted to share a website I have really liked that I have recently used in the last couple months to create some infographics: Piktochart. I downloaded and tried Infographics Hub since iVisual Info Touch Lite appears to be gone (for now). I liked that I could favorite infographics on Infographics Hub but really, infographics just don't seem to be a medium I want to be making and looking at on a device smaller than a desktop or larger laptop computer. It's a bit tedious. I'd rather Google my phrase or look on Pinterest for interesting collections.

Here's a good one: Read Aloud 15 Minutes Per Day

Thing #14 - Videos

One of my co-workers has been sharing grandbaby pics she gets from her daughter via Vine. So I figured I'd go with Vine. Vine's short and easy format kept the videos casual. None of my videos were masterpieces but I liked that I was forced to keep it short and sweet. I was even able to convince one of my girlfriends to sign up and swap videos with me. Cat videos. That's right I said it. Cat videos. Can't wait to get a video of one of my cats snoring...because I know who I will share it with. :)

In the meantime from elsewhere:
http://www.funnyvinevideos.com/vines/494/Snoring-Cat

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Thing #13 - Presentations

Lensoo was a nifty app....I can see a few different ways to use it both in my professional and personal life. It worked very well on my device. Before downloading the app, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of maker feedback on the reviews. It seems that a lot of apps go up without any customer-service feedback. (That's one of the main reasons I chose Lensoo over Deck Slideshow Presentations.) So hopefully this app will continue to improve.

Thing #12 - Books, Book & More Books

I tried out Wattpad and also surfed the website - just to see how the content differed. The Wattpad app more readily offers up content for reading while the website makes its social aspects more apparent. I think a lot of the appeal of Wattpad is that it lets everyone be an author. There are community forums for proofreading, suggestions and just hanging out. It is also a nice way to access many of the Project Gutenberg texts. And if you like reading fanfiction this is a fantastic place to be.

Wattpad has also helped launch many writing careers that had stalled out in the traditional publishing world and has connected new, young writers with audiences (and eventually agents). Interesting!

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Thing #11 - Library & Reference

I enjoy the OverDrive app. It was the first thing that was ever really easy with OverDrive. (Thank goodness!) Our patrons are able to use it with relative ease which is great. (Just downloaded an audiobook of poetry by Billy Collins - I first heard his poetry on Prairie Home Companion when he was doing a reading of his poem "Hangover." He is hilarious.) 

I wish our library had Zinio. My spouse has a library account with a library that has Zinio and I love it. I can't think of anything better than magazines on demand when you are sitting someplace with time on your hands and you're not in the mood for a book. And....when reading magazines with Zinio on my tablet - I love to use the scrapbooker function that is on my Samsung Note tablet. I can easily copy bits of content to refer to later. 


Monday, June 9, 2014

Thing #10 Sharing Photos

I gave SnapChat a try. (I've used Instagram before.) I can see the allure that it has for teens. And I can see all of the ways that it could be used that wasn't its original intent:

SnapChat was developed by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, two Stanford University students who were convinced that emoticons were not enough to transmit the emotion that a person might be wishing could be sent with a text message. But they were also nervous that a quick snap of a cellphone camera showing a particular emotion might end up being inappropriate for a social media site where the picture could be posted for all the world to see. So the concept of a time-limited photo sharing application was born. http://fatherhood.about.com/od/fathers-social-media/p/Snapchat.htm

Anyone with kids will want to check this out: http://www.connectsafely.org/wp-content/uploads/snapchat_guide.pdf

Frankly, I think I might prefer SnapChat to some of the ways that I have shared photos on Facebook in the past. I very rarely share anything on Facebook because of privacy reasons (even though I have my settings set to what is supposed to be limiting.) SnapChat appeals to me in the way that I couldn't have anything drifting about and SnapChat seems to lack the personal data mining that Facebook does.

Thing #9 - Taking & Editing Photos

I really enjoyed Color Splurge. I wouldn't have found this app without 23 Things. There are so many out there, that unless you know what you are looking for you sometimes miss out on fun, useful ones. And it's ones like CamMe that make me envious of Apple products. (I'll have to tell me husband about this one.)

I often use Pixlr.com on my desktop. I do also like the Pixlr-O-Matic for fun, styled photos.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Things #7 - Content Saving & Sharing

Ah, Pinterest. I have been on Pinterest for a long time. And I love it. For my personal interests, I have pinboards for funny things, things to cook, a wishlist....I probably have about 20 plus boards of collected pins. If I have five minutes to kill and no book that I am eager to read, I likely go to Pinterest. I have also browsed Pinterest this year looking for Summer Reading Program ideas that have to do with science experiments with kids.

Do a Google search "pinterest fizz boom read" and you'll see many boards to look at and follow.

Pinterest appeals to that part of you that likes to collect pretty and curious bits and pieces. I have also seen collections of historical photos that blow your mind.

Thing #6 - Creating & Editing Docs

I love CloudOn. I had no idea it existed. It's great to be able to open up a Microsoft doc without having it go through all sorts of contortions to be viewed and edited.

Slowly at work I've been migrating many of my documents that I work with each year from my thumbdrive to DropBox and making backups on my GoogleDrive. Because someday, my thumbdrive is either going to croak or disappear. (I've had a patron disconnect and take a mouse off of the reference desk when I was away from the desk. She used it on her laptop. I thought I had lost my mind when I cam back to a desk with a missing mouse.) The security of knowing that there are backups of my likely 80-plus SRP docs (posters, handouts, ads, web content, etc.) gives me some peace of mind. I am really looking forward to when one of these apps plays nice with Microsoft Publisher.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Thing #5 - Notetaking

I love Remember the Milk. I've been using it since the last 23 Things. My grocery list, to do list, all those lists are there. But it's limited - it's only for those lists that you are organized enough to turn into bullet lists.

What I really use at work is www.padlet.com. Padlet allows me to post website links, notes, pictures, files and put them up visually in a shared space. It's like sticky notes on steroids. I gave up on physical note taking a long time ago as I have a tendency to lose items in the shuffle. The scrap paper at work is great for jotting something important down - but I can guarantee I'll lose it.

Springpad....I like it. But...still preferring Padlet.com for now.

Thing #4 - Keeping Up

Well, after my Google Reader bit the dust - and I lost all my subscriptions because I failed to catch on to the fact that they'd go the way of the dodo bird - I found that I couldn't recall several of the names of blogs that I loved to read. These would have come in handy.

I like Flipboard because you get to populate the information. I like that I can add content from Twitter (and Etsy - love Etsy)....it's getting harder to keep information corralled nowadays as I seem to get it from so many different types of sources and remembering to take a peek at stuff regularly is important lest I feel so behind that I feel like not even bothering.