Evaluate 23 Mobile Things
I'm really glad I did this. I can't say it changed my life or anything, but I found some really useful apps and feel much more familiar with my smartphone now. I don't see myself using a huge number of the apps I tried, but there are certainly some. I'm saddened that Springpad is shutting down next month. I'm glad someone tweeted about it on the main 23 Mobile Things page, as I don't sign into Springpad all that often, and I would have hated to lose what I do have there. I really don't like Evernote nearly as well - it's not anywhere near as versatile as Springpad, but it'll hold the information until I don't need it anymore. Why does it always feel like the things I like are the ones that go away?
I think my main reason for not using many of these apps is the limits under which they operate. For example, QuickOffice is the palest shadow of the real thing. Since most of my Word, Excel and PowerPoint work is for work, I just do it with the full versions. Almost any other time I need to create documents, I'm home, and, again, use the full version. It's too hard on a phone - I might feel differently about a tablet. And I'm used to the full versions and feel these fall really flat in comparison. I wasn't all that wild about the photo editing software, either, but I must admit that may be user ineptitude.
I'm probably not the best audience for this kind of project, as I consciously choose to not be engaged online all the time. I'm online enough, and don't want all my free time sucked up by my phone. I'd far rather interact with real people. I don't have Facebook on my phone, even though I'm a reasonably active user. I'm going to own my phone, not the other way around. I also don't want all my social media apps connected to each other - I protect my privacy more than that.
That said, I probably will continue to use Flipboard, and I absolutely will use the app that locks my mail and messaging behind another layer of security. I'll continue to use my library app, and likely some of the connecting to community apps. I think this program has mostly expanded my knowledge of what my phone can really do! I feel more confident in trying things. But I remain cautious in what I download to my phone. There's too much dangerous stuff out there to download everything under the sun. I'd try something similar again. My recommendation would be to not get stuck on 23 things. I'm not sure why that number, but I think making yourselves stick to it is an artificial limit that can mean you include things not necessarily worth including, or not that different from other things.
My one sentence summary?
You'll never know what you can do until you try!
Thursday, June 5, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 16
Audio
I gave ipadio a try. It took a while to figure it out, but it was fun. We have a librarian here who's having a baby soon, and we're throwing her a shower. We know it's a girl, and somehow everyone working here is female, so I'm going around to the staff and asking them to say something short and sweet about their favorite book growing up. I'm adding a picture of the book cover to each short audio track. We'll get her exposed to all kinds of stuff she may not have thought of.
I have a couple of quibbles. First, I had hoped to be able to add pictures to specific sections of audio, so I could change book cover images as the recording went along. While you can add multiple images to a clip, they're just all there. But at least I can do four at a time, instead of just one!
And even though the app says it supports jpeg files, I couldn't get those to work. Fortunately, it takes .png files, so it was fine.
I like that ipadio has fairly detailed instructions easily accessible on my phone. For too many of these apps, you have to go on the full web version, or search somewhere else for help. That kind of defeats the purpose.
This could be a quick way for teens to create quick and easy book reviews.
I gave ipadio a try. It took a while to figure it out, but it was fun. We have a librarian here who's having a baby soon, and we're throwing her a shower. We know it's a girl, and somehow everyone working here is female, so I'm going around to the staff and asking them to say something short and sweet about their favorite book growing up. I'm adding a picture of the book cover to each short audio track. We'll get her exposed to all kinds of stuff she may not have thought of.
I have a couple of quibbles. First, I had hoped to be able to add pictures to specific sections of audio, so I could change book cover images as the recording went along. While you can add multiple images to a clip, they're just all there. But at least I can do four at a time, instead of just one!
And even though the app says it supports jpeg files, I couldn't get those to work. Fortunately, it takes .png files, so it was fine.
I like that ipadio has fairly detailed instructions easily accessible on my phone. For too many of these apps, you have to go on the full web version, or search somewhere else for help. That kind of defeats the purpose.
This could be a quick way for teens to create quick and easy book reviews.
23 Mobile Things: Thing 14
Videos
I gave Viddy a try. I'm not a fan. In some places it says you get 30 seconds; in others, 15. It's 15. I was able to record without issue, but editing was another issue. You can add a few filtering effects, you can add some sound tracks, but I couldn't figure out how to do much of anything beyond that. Supposedly you can change the volume of the soundtrack vs. the recorded audio, but I never found the controls to do so. Just about all the instructions I saw were for iPhones, not Androids, and you can hardly tell the interfaces are for the same product.
I went to the website and looked at the help page to see how to delete a viddy. It said to go to my profile page. I tried that 3 times, and the app crashed every time. I never got there. That was the chief complaint I saw in the Google Play Store. Perhaps it's the age of my phone? I have the Galaxy SIII. At any rate, I uninstalled it, with my crummy little test videos still there, unable to do what I'd hoped to do.
Not only would I not recommend this app, I'd discourage people from using it.
I gave Viddy a try. I'm not a fan. In some places it says you get 30 seconds; in others, 15. It's 15. I was able to record without issue, but editing was another issue. You can add a few filtering effects, you can add some sound tracks, but I couldn't figure out how to do much of anything beyond that. Supposedly you can change the volume of the soundtrack vs. the recorded audio, but I never found the controls to do so. Just about all the instructions I saw were for iPhones, not Androids, and you can hardly tell the interfaces are for the same product.
I went to the website and looked at the help page to see how to delete a viddy. It said to go to my profile page. I tried that 3 times, and the app crashed every time. I never got there. That was the chief complaint I saw in the Google Play Store. Perhaps it's the age of my phone? I have the Galaxy SIII. At any rate, I uninstalled it, with my crummy little test videos still there, unable to do what I'd hoped to do.
Not only would I not recommend this app, I'd discourage people from using it.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 21
Free-for-all
Boy, do I have an app. My daughter started us on it, and after seeing how it worked for both her and my husband, I decided to give it a try. It's called MyFitnessPal, and it's helped us do something none of us have really been able to manage on our own: lose weight.
It's no miracle app. It's a calorie counter, really, when you get right down to it. But it's so easy. That's what makes it great. If I remember the numbers correctly, it has over 3 MILLION foods in its database. You can scan them in by barcode, you can look up restaurant food, you can create your own foods - all kinds of ways to track the data. Like any food diary, its success completely depends on how diligent you are in tracking every bite you eat. But doing it on your smartphone makes it so convenient that it takes little effort, and I'm convinced that's why it works. Mine is generally close at hand, so every time food goes in my mouth, out comes the phone and in goes the entry. I'm getting a lot bettet at estimating what my intake is, and I think that's key to long term success, along with being far more conscious about what I'm eating. I'm missing cheese... I still eat some, but nearly as much as I'd like!
The app asks you for your starting weight, your goal, and how fast you want to to get there. Then it sets a daily calorie limit. When you enter your foods, it keeps a running tally of how many you have left. You add in exercise and it takes those extra calories earned into account.
I do have some quibbles about the exercise portion. I think some of them are really too, too generous in how many calories they say you've burned. So I adjust my minutes to get to a more realistic total. I must not be too far off, as I'm losing at the rate I set. I didn't have a lot to lose - just 10 pounds - but I've been unsuccessful in previous attempts over the years. I'm seeing numbers on the scale now I never thought I'd see again! And my husband weighs less than he has in more years than I'm going to mention here.
I've started a few more people on this app, and they seem to like it, too.
Boy, do I have an app. My daughter started us on it, and after seeing how it worked for both her and my husband, I decided to give it a try. It's called MyFitnessPal, and it's helped us do something none of us have really been able to manage on our own: lose weight.
It's no miracle app. It's a calorie counter, really, when you get right down to it. But it's so easy. That's what makes it great. If I remember the numbers correctly, it has over 3 MILLION foods in its database. You can scan them in by barcode, you can look up restaurant food, you can create your own foods - all kinds of ways to track the data. Like any food diary, its success completely depends on how diligent you are in tracking every bite you eat. But doing it on your smartphone makes it so convenient that it takes little effort, and I'm convinced that's why it works. Mine is generally close at hand, so every time food goes in my mouth, out comes the phone and in goes the entry. I'm getting a lot bettet at estimating what my intake is, and I think that's key to long term success, along with being far more conscious about what I'm eating. I'm missing cheese... I still eat some, but nearly as much as I'd like!
The app asks you for your starting weight, your goal, and how fast you want to to get there. Then it sets a daily calorie limit. When you enter your foods, it keeps a running tally of how many you have left. You add in exercise and it takes those extra calories earned into account.
I do have some quibbles about the exercise portion. I think some of them are really too, too generous in how many calories they say you've burned. So I adjust my minutes to get to a more realistic total. I must not be too far off, as I'm losing at the rate I set. I didn't have a lot to lose - just 10 pounds - but I've been unsuccessful in previous attempts over the years. I'm seeing numbers on the scale now I never thought I'd see again! And my husband weighs less than he has in more years than I'm going to mention here.
I've started a few more people on this app, and they seem to like it, too.
23 Mobile Things: Thing 22
Discovering Apps
I tried out Droid of the Day. There's some fun stuff out there, no doubt about it. I even found some I thought I'd like. But I'm married to a tech guy. So maybe I'm a bit more cautious than most about downloading stuff when I don't know anything about it. How do I know there's not a Trojan horse hiding somewhere in that free app? I don't think it's possible that whoever puts out DOTD can dig deeply enough into the code for any given app to make sure there's no malware lurking. I'm also pretty protective of my privacy, and don't feel like letting any little app know all the things they seem to want to know.
So I looked at these for a few days, but decided to uninstall it. I'll take my app downloading a bit more slowly, and only download those I'm at least somewhat sure won't come back to haunt me.
I tried out Droid of the Day. There's some fun stuff out there, no doubt about it. I even found some I thought I'd like. But I'm married to a tech guy. So maybe I'm a bit more cautious than most about downloading stuff when I don't know anything about it. How do I know there's not a Trojan horse hiding somewhere in that free app? I don't think it's possible that whoever puts out DOTD can dig deeply enough into the code for any given app to make sure there's no malware lurking. I'm also pretty protective of my privacy, and don't feel like letting any little app know all the things they seem to want to know.
So I looked at these for a few days, but decided to uninstall it. I'll take my app downloading a bit more slowly, and only download those I'm at least somewhat sure won't come back to haunt me.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 6
Creating and Editing Documents
I really wanted to try SignNow. While not a frequent occurence, every once in a while it would be most useful to have access to an electronic signature. But then I started to wonder about just how secure my signature would be. I'm pretty protective of my information, and decided I didn't want to take the risk of putting my signature in an app I doubted I'd use a lot. And while you can uninstall the app, I can't imagine that SignNow doesn't, somewhere in the depths of their data, keep a copy of it for a long time indeed.
I'm not quite sure of the audience for QuickOffice, the app I ended up trying. While I really like the ability to access documents in my GoogleDrive account, they're already accessible through (what a shock!) the GoogleDrive app. No need to duplicate that.
To my mind and fingers, creating files in QuickOffice is 1) too difficult on such a small screen and 2) too limited in the options available.
Too difficult - this would probably work far better on a tablet than a phone (can you tell I'm not a member of the generation that pretty much grew up texting?). But unless the tablet didn't have the software (and those I've seen pretty much do), why work with this version instead of the full one?
Too limited - yes, you can put together a passable document or presentation using this. And it would do in a pinch. But they're pale imitations of the full versions. Word only has about 6 fonts, and I couldn't figure out how to highlight words to change the font, or bold it or whatever. Again, probably far easier on a tablet. PowerPoint doesn't have any animations or transitions - at least that I saw. It had only one theme, too, without any color or graphics at all. That made the little presentation I made very, very bland.
So maybe in a pinch - but I think I'll stick to my laptop or work computer for ease of creation and available options.
I really wanted to try SignNow. While not a frequent occurence, every once in a while it would be most useful to have access to an electronic signature. But then I started to wonder about just how secure my signature would be. I'm pretty protective of my information, and decided I didn't want to take the risk of putting my signature in an app I doubted I'd use a lot. And while you can uninstall the app, I can't imagine that SignNow doesn't, somewhere in the depths of their data, keep a copy of it for a long time indeed.
I'm not quite sure of the audience for QuickOffice, the app I ended up trying. While I really like the ability to access documents in my GoogleDrive account, they're already accessible through (what a shock!) the GoogleDrive app. No need to duplicate that.
To my mind and fingers, creating files in QuickOffice is 1) too difficult on such a small screen and 2) too limited in the options available.
Too difficult - this would probably work far better on a tablet than a phone (can you tell I'm not a member of the generation that pretty much grew up texting?). But unless the tablet didn't have the software (and those I've seen pretty much do), why work with this version instead of the full one?
Too limited - yes, you can put together a passable document or presentation using this. And it would do in a pinch. But they're pale imitations of the full versions. Word only has about 6 fonts, and I couldn't figure out how to highlight words to change the font, or bold it or whatever. Again, probably far easier on a tablet. PowerPoint doesn't have any animations or transitions - at least that I saw. It had only one theme, too, without any color or graphics at all. That made the little presentation I made very, very bland.
So maybe in a pinch - but I think I'll stick to my laptop or work computer for ease of creation and available options.
23 Mobile Things: Thing 20
Games
I tried out Take Ten!, as it looked to be more of a logic kind of puzzle than one that relied on speed or excellent hand/eye coordination. While I love games, I'm not into video gaming, in large part because I find the rushing necessary to complete a task in a given time most stressful. I thought having to pair up numbers to clear the screen would be fun.
Not so much.
For one thing, there's a time limit. For another, from what I saw in the few games I played, there's often no way to win. The game presents you with several lines of numbers. The object is to clear the screen, either by pairing identical numbers, or adding two numbers together to get to 10. Those numbers must be next to each other, either horizontally or vertically, or only separated by blank spaces. If you get stuck, the game will give you a clue - if there's one to be had. If not, your options are to quit, add more rows, or shuffle the existing numbers. I tried adding more lines, but not the shuffle. I didn't come close to winning. When I stopped, I realized my shoulders had risen to ear level in the 5 or 10 minutes I'd been playing! I've left it on my phone for now, but rather doubt I'll be doing much with it.
I see so many people on Facebook who spend all kinds of time playing Candy Crush or some such game. Frankly, it gets annoying, to see all the posts asking for one thing or another, or proclaiming the level reached.
Perhaps I'll look for some other game - maybe crossword puzzles, where I can take my time...
I tried out Take Ten!, as it looked to be more of a logic kind of puzzle than one that relied on speed or excellent hand/eye coordination. While I love games, I'm not into video gaming, in large part because I find the rushing necessary to complete a task in a given time most stressful. I thought having to pair up numbers to clear the screen would be fun.
Not so much.
For one thing, there's a time limit. For another, from what I saw in the few games I played, there's often no way to win. The game presents you with several lines of numbers. The object is to clear the screen, either by pairing identical numbers, or adding two numbers together to get to 10. Those numbers must be next to each other, either horizontally or vertically, or only separated by blank spaces. If you get stuck, the game will give you a clue - if there's one to be had. If not, your options are to quit, add more rows, or shuffle the existing numbers. I tried adding more lines, but not the shuffle. I didn't come close to winning. When I stopped, I realized my shoulders had risen to ear level in the 5 or 10 minutes I'd been playing! I've left it on my phone for now, but rather doubt I'll be doing much with it.
I see so many people on Facebook who spend all kinds of time playing Candy Crush or some such game. Frankly, it gets annoying, to see all the posts asking for one thing or another, or proclaiming the level reached.
Perhaps I'll look for some other game - maybe crossword puzzles, where I can take my time...
23 Mobile Things: Thing 15
Infographics
I was kind of stuck on this one. I have an Android phone. Three of the four listed apps work with Apple products or tablets only. The fourth, Infographics Hub, isn't compatible with my device!
So I just ended up going to the website and looking around. It can be kind of fun, but it shares the pitfall of all things Internet: Anyone can post to it. And "anyone" isn't always right - either through ignorance or to push a particular point of view. And "anyone" is sometimes clueless about sentence structure and/or grammar.
A prime example:
I was kind of stuck on this one. I have an Android phone. Three of the four listed apps work with Apple products or tablets only. The fourth, Infographics Hub, isn't compatible with my device!
So I just ended up going to the website and looking around. It can be kind of fun, but it shares the pitfall of all things Internet: Anyone can post to it. And "anyone" isn't always right - either through ignorance or to push a particular point of view. And "anyone" is sometimes clueless about sentence structure and/or grammar.
A prime example:
Hoaxes that fooled the world
Internet is probably the biggest venue when it comes to staging a
hoax. The fact is hoaxes have been around before even the dawn of cyberspace,
before the Internet when elaborate scams and deceptions were not known. But we
still fall for them at one time or another. Despite it lacks the one thing
called the truth, they still manage to be the biggest trolls in human history.
The following infographic breaks down some of history’s best known
hoaxes.
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm immediately skeptical of anything this poorly written. Maybe that's not fair, but that's the way it is. I'm not quite sure what's meant by "the biggest trolls in human history." This one, though, at least listed sources! I saw a few for wedding to-do lists, and they seemed to be created by businesses connected with weddings. That's fine - that's a way to get customers. But I wonder how many viewers of the infographic look to see just who created it, and how that might slant the information presented.
Using this app regularly would mean having your b.s. radar going at full capacity, and making sure you checked facts somewhere else if it were something you might want to actually rely on.
23 Mobile Things: Thing 18
Education
For this thing, I chose the Advanced English Dictionary & Thesaurus because I love words and learning their meanings and origins. I find it deplorable how so many people in the US have about three adjectives to their name: cool, awesome and sucks. Our language has such richness, and I try to do what I can to support that.
The app was OK. I found the idea of connecting a word to synonyms, etc. intriguing, as I sometimes struggle to come up with more than one way of saying something to avoid the sin of monotony in writing. I did not see any words listed with synonyms, and at least a few of them could have. For example, I looked at picture. One of the listed meaning described motion pictures. Well, shouldn't movie be listed as a synonym in that instance? Or film, flick, something? I didn't see any etymology in the definitions, either, and that's very often important in learning a word. It's frequently what I'm looking for!
I must confess I had to go look up definitions for holonym, meronym, hypernym and hyponym! (There's a hint for the creators - I doubt everyone downloading this app knows them.) I think I'd have a hard time keeping all the "h" words straight... Once I did that, the app made a whole lot more sense. But it just seems to lack something. For example, the definition of "picumnus" is that it's a genus of Picidae. OK... I know genus means we're talking biology, but what's Picidae? That word isn't a link, so I had to look it up separately. Turns out it's a kind of woodpecker. That would have been really good to know, without having to take the extra step.
I think this app has a lot of potential, but leaves something to be desired at this time.
For this thing, I chose the Advanced English Dictionary & Thesaurus because I love words and learning their meanings and origins. I find it deplorable how so many people in the US have about three adjectives to their name: cool, awesome and sucks. Our language has such richness, and I try to do what I can to support that.
The app was OK. I found the idea of connecting a word to synonyms, etc. intriguing, as I sometimes struggle to come up with more than one way of saying something to avoid the sin of monotony in writing. I did not see any words listed with synonyms, and at least a few of them could have. For example, I looked at picture. One of the listed meaning described motion pictures. Well, shouldn't movie be listed as a synonym in that instance? Or film, flick, something? I didn't see any etymology in the definitions, either, and that's very often important in learning a word. It's frequently what I'm looking for!
I must confess I had to go look up definitions for holonym, meronym, hypernym and hyponym! (There's a hint for the creators - I doubt everyone downloading this app knows them.) I think I'd have a hard time keeping all the "h" words straight... Once I did that, the app made a whole lot more sense. But it just seems to lack something. For example, the definition of "picumnus" is that it's a genus of Picidae. OK... I know genus means we're talking biology, but what's Picidae? That word isn't a link, so I had to look it up separately. Turns out it's a kind of woodpecker. That would have been really good to know, without having to take the extra step.
I think this app has a lot of potential, but leaves something to be desired at this time.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 19
Hobbies
I was prepared to love MyGarden. I do a ton of gardening, and have several different kinds of gardens: Veggie, a big bed of mostly perennials, some annual beds and a large native garden. Some of it's sun, some of it's shade - it's all over the place and takes up a pretty large amount of my time during the growing season.
But I didn't love MyGarden. I didn't even like MyGarden. The plant information is so incredibly limited. It gives no climate information beyond "needs protection." Well, what on earth does that mean? There are plants that are perennials in the southern US that are annuals here in Minnesota. I noticed a number of the gardeners are in the UK. Well, there's not much that's a perennial there that's also one here! We hardly have daffodils blooming in February. I remember visiting southern England one year and staying at a lovely home with beautiful, expansive gardens. In talking to the owner, she said she never watered anything but the pots, feeling that if the plants couldn't survive without water, there wasn't much point in having them. She had had a grand total of 12 FROSTS the previous winter - not freezes, but frosts. That soft, mild climate is a far cry from here, where the frost went several feet into the ground and we had 50+ nights below zero (F, not C!) this past year, and we'll likely have long stretches in the 90s this summer - if it ever gets here...
I also didn't care for the way it described plants. All hostas were lumped together, with heights ranging from (I think) 20-70 cm. Well, I have hostas, and the range in size is huge! Some get barely 5 inches high, while others are over 2 feet - and I know of cultivars that get 6 feet across. Some will take sun, some won't, there's a lot of color variation... You get the idea. A good app would differentiate cultivars.
I had this app on my phone for about 15 minutes. I wish it were better. Maybe I'll look for another one...
I was prepared to love MyGarden. I do a ton of gardening, and have several different kinds of gardens: Veggie, a big bed of mostly perennials, some annual beds and a large native garden. Some of it's sun, some of it's shade - it's all over the place and takes up a pretty large amount of my time during the growing season.
But I didn't love MyGarden. I didn't even like MyGarden. The plant information is so incredibly limited. It gives no climate information beyond "needs protection." Well, what on earth does that mean? There are plants that are perennials in the southern US that are annuals here in Minnesota. I noticed a number of the gardeners are in the UK. Well, there's not much that's a perennial there that's also one here! We hardly have daffodils blooming in February. I remember visiting southern England one year and staying at a lovely home with beautiful, expansive gardens. In talking to the owner, she said she never watered anything but the pots, feeling that if the plants couldn't survive without water, there wasn't much point in having them. She had had a grand total of 12 FROSTS the previous winter - not freezes, but frosts. That soft, mild climate is a far cry from here, where the frost went several feet into the ground and we had 50+ nights below zero (F, not C!) this past year, and we'll likely have long stretches in the 90s this summer - if it ever gets here...
I also didn't care for the way it described plants. All hostas were lumped together, with heights ranging from (I think) 20-70 cm. Well, I have hostas, and the range in size is huge! Some get barely 5 inches high, while others are over 2 feet - and I know of cultivars that get 6 feet across. Some will take sun, some won't, there's a lot of color variation... You get the idea. A good app would differentiate cultivars.
I had this app on my phone for about 15 minutes. I wish it were better. Maybe I'll look for another one...
Thursday, May 8, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 13
Presentations
I chose to try out Deck. I can't say I was all that impressed. It was reasonably easy to use, but it's so incredibly limited. As an example, there are only 3 free formats. That's not many. I designed a four slide show about different kinds of lava - because I had pictures of several kinds already on my phone, making the selection process simple. It was easy enough to create the slide, but I noticed I often had to tap several times to get the text box for the slide to open. It should go with one. I'm not sure what it's called, but the programming that controls text entry needs a lot of work. It doesn't capitalize first letters in sentences. It doesn't work with the feature on my device that lets me run my finger over consecutive letters to create words (I can't remember what that's called, but I use it constantly), so it doesn't make suggestions as you go along, either.
The actual slide show was cute. I liked the way fingers moved the sticky notes around, and then the pictures enlarged when you clicked on the next arrow. But it certainly lacks the versatility of PowerPoint. You can't choose transistions or animations, you can't change fonts - you're just stuck with what they come up with for formats. And it's just so much easier to work on a larger screen! It might be better on a tablet than a smartphone.
I'm going to do a program in June with teens using something called Instafeed. It's based off Instagram. Users tag photos with a custom hashtag, and Instafeed instantly (go figure...) puts them all in a slideshow. There's a bit of customization available, but for a teen photo scavenger hunt, the big thing is just for teens to be able to see all the pictures taken. I'm sure they can view the presentation on their phones, too.
I chose to try out Deck. I can't say I was all that impressed. It was reasonably easy to use, but it's so incredibly limited. As an example, there are only 3 free formats. That's not many. I designed a four slide show about different kinds of lava - because I had pictures of several kinds already on my phone, making the selection process simple. It was easy enough to create the slide, but I noticed I often had to tap several times to get the text box for the slide to open. It should go with one. I'm not sure what it's called, but the programming that controls text entry needs a lot of work. It doesn't capitalize first letters in sentences. It doesn't work with the feature on my device that lets me run my finger over consecutive letters to create words (I can't remember what that's called, but I use it constantly), so it doesn't make suggestions as you go along, either.
The actual slide show was cute. I liked the way fingers moved the sticky notes around, and then the pictures enlarged when you clicked on the next arrow. But it certainly lacks the versatility of PowerPoint. You can't choose transistions or animations, you can't change fonts - you're just stuck with what they come up with for formats. And it's just so much easier to work on a larger screen! It might be better on a tablet than a smartphone.
I'm going to do a program in June with teens using something called Instafeed. It's based off Instagram. Users tag photos with a custom hashtag, and Instafeed instantly (go figure...) puts them all in a slideshow. There's a bit of customization available, but for a teen photo scavenger hunt, the big thing is just for teens to be able to see all the pictures taken. I'm sure they can view the presentation on their phones, too.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 12
Books, books and more books!
I tried out Wattpad. What a fabulous idea! I love that anyone - within the guidelines of the site - can publish their writings here, along with other previously published works. I looked for Pride and Prejudice, and found several versions. Not hard to do, since it's so easily available. But I also found lots of fan fiction, for lack of a better word. There's one titled Poise and Rationality that looks like it could be fun. Writings are published in installments - how we repeat ourselves! Many, many famous novels were published in serial format - Dickens is a classic example. Wattpad lets you sign up for the latest chapters in books you're reading.
I do admit to being a bit skeptical about the quality of the writing. In just a quick look, I saw a fair number of misspellings and other errors. The comments from readers show a lack of a firm grasp of the English language. And as a librarian, it's my experience that much self published material isn't picked up by a publisher because it isn't really good enough for publication! But how do you get better if you don't practice? Wattpad provides a great way to get feedback for beginning writers and may very well serve as a springboard to paid publication for those with the necessary drive and talent.
I can see promoting this to teen (or adult - I just work more with teens) writers as a place to get their work out in the public eye. And I might just start to follow Poise and Rationality...
P.S. I did read the start of Poise and Rationality (that's all there is), and it confirms my opinion of self-published materials. The author needs either to learn how to proof read (although that requires spelling skills she (I think) seems to lack) or get an editor to correct all the spelling errors, grammatical errors and discrepencies in verb tenses. It's not, so far, much different from the original - a bit too literal retelling - but I'll give it a chance. At least for a while - I can only read poor writing for just so long!
I tried out Wattpad. What a fabulous idea! I love that anyone - within the guidelines of the site - can publish their writings here, along with other previously published works. I looked for Pride and Prejudice, and found several versions. Not hard to do, since it's so easily available. But I also found lots of fan fiction, for lack of a better word. There's one titled Poise and Rationality that looks like it could be fun. Writings are published in installments - how we repeat ourselves! Many, many famous novels were published in serial format - Dickens is a classic example. Wattpad lets you sign up for the latest chapters in books you're reading.
I do admit to being a bit skeptical about the quality of the writing. In just a quick look, I saw a fair number of misspellings and other errors. The comments from readers show a lack of a firm grasp of the English language. And as a librarian, it's my experience that much self published material isn't picked up by a publisher because it isn't really good enough for publication! But how do you get better if you don't practice? Wattpad provides a great way to get feedback for beginning writers and may very well serve as a springboard to paid publication for those with the necessary drive and talent.
I can see promoting this to teen (or adult - I just work more with teens) writers as a place to get their work out in the public eye. And I might just start to follow Poise and Rationality...
P.S. I did read the start of Poise and Rationality (that's all there is), and it confirms my opinion of self-published materials. The author needs either to learn how to proof read (although that requires spelling skills she (I think) seems to lack) or get an editor to correct all the spelling errors, grammatical errors and discrepencies in verb tenses. It's not, so far, much different from the original - a bit too literal retelling - but I'll give it a chance. At least for a while - I can only read poor writing for just so long!
23 Mobile Things: Thing 10
Sharing Photos
I elected to try out Instagram. I did not, at this time, make my profile very public. Again, a choice I made about my privacy. I had fun playing with a photo, adding a frame, changing the look and tilting it. I don't know that I'll use it much personally, as I don't take all that many picture with my phone when I'm at home. And when I travel, I never post that I've gone until I'm back. Seems foolish to me to broadcast to the world that you're away from home!
But I do have plans to use Instagram this summer with the teens at my library. I'm going to send them on a photo scavenger hunt. They'll do things like act out the title of a book, look for something red, find something shiny and so on. We're then going to use something called instafeedlive to create our slide show. instafeedlive allows users to create a custom hashtag for their photos. I'll have one set up beforehand, and can customize the display to a degree (they have some free basic styles - you pay for the more elaborate ones). The teens can then upload their photos and we have an instant slideshow. The site creates a slide show for you automatically and immediately, adding new pictures in as they're uploaded. So easy and fun! Yes, I could create a slide show with PowerPoint or something like that, but then I have to upload all the photos and that would be really slow. The advantage here is the speed. Teens aren't good at waiting, and this will let them see everything in a matter of minutes. There's a free trial going on through June right now, if anyone else is interested. Just google the name and look for the coupon. I found this through Pinterest - oh, the way things connect.
I elected to try out Instagram. I did not, at this time, make my profile very public. Again, a choice I made about my privacy. I had fun playing with a photo, adding a frame, changing the look and tilting it. I don't know that I'll use it much personally, as I don't take all that many picture with my phone when I'm at home. And when I travel, I never post that I've gone until I'm back. Seems foolish to me to broadcast to the world that you're away from home!
But I do have plans to use Instagram this summer with the teens at my library. I'm going to send them on a photo scavenger hunt. They'll do things like act out the title of a book, look for something red, find something shiny and so on. We're then going to use something called instafeedlive to create our slide show. instafeedlive allows users to create a custom hashtag for their photos. I'll have one set up beforehand, and can customize the display to a degree (they have some free basic styles - you pay for the more elaborate ones). The teens can then upload their photos and we have an instant slideshow. The site creates a slide show for you automatically and immediately, adding new pictures in as they're uploaded. So easy and fun! Yes, I could create a slide show with PowerPoint or something like that, but then I have to upload all the photos and that would be really slow. The advantage here is the speed. Teens aren't good at waiting, and this will let them see everything in a matter of minutes. There's a free trial going on through June right now, if anyone else is interested. Just google the name and look for the coupon. I found this through Pinterest - oh, the way things connect.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 8
Social Media Management Tools
I'm going to be honest here. I am very deliberately choosing to not do this thing. I'm on Facebook, but no other social media site - on purpose. Perhaps I should be on LinkedIn, but I'm not interested in Twitter or Foursquare and am not going to create a profile to finish this thing. Even if I were on another site, I wouldn't want one update to cross platforms. What I post on Facebook isn't relevant or necessarily advisable to post on LinkedIn. And I don't want to tell everyone where I am when I'm out and about. I work hard to maintain what I consider a reasonable level of privacy.
I enjoy Facebook and am certainly online enough because of work - and that's part of it. I want to use social media, not have it use me. It's far too easy to spend hours and hours with this, and I just have too many other things to do! I haven't even installed the Facebook app on my smartphone - again on purpose. This way, when I sign in, it's deliberate, and not something I'm doing to pass the time and ignore what's going on around me. Truly, it's just not that important to get the latest cute cat picture right now instead of tonight at 9. There are times I've been disconnected from any social media for a week and not felt like I've missed anything important. So why add to it?
I'm going to be honest here. I am very deliberately choosing to not do this thing. I'm on Facebook, but no other social media site - on purpose. Perhaps I should be on LinkedIn, but I'm not interested in Twitter or Foursquare and am not going to create a profile to finish this thing. Even if I were on another site, I wouldn't want one update to cross platforms. What I post on Facebook isn't relevant or necessarily advisable to post on LinkedIn. And I don't want to tell everyone where I am when I'm out and about. I work hard to maintain what I consider a reasonable level of privacy.
I enjoy Facebook and am certainly online enough because of work - and that's part of it. I want to use social media, not have it use me. It's far too easy to spend hours and hours with this, and I just have too many other things to do! I haven't even installed the Facebook app on my smartphone - again on purpose. This way, when I sign in, it's deliberate, and not something I'm doing to pass the time and ignore what's going on around me. Truly, it's just not that important to get the latest cute cat picture right now instead of tonight at 9. There are times I've been disconnected from any social media for a week and not felt like I've missed anything important. So why add to it?
23 Mobile Things: Thing 9
Taking and Editing Photos
Photo Editor by Aviary
I tried this one and just wasn't wild about it. Yes, I could add some frames around a photo, or put in a caption or some other stuff, but it wasn't really photo editing as I think of it. You can't crop a picture, or reduce red eye or other fairly standard edits. I did manage to lighten a really dark picture I took somewhat, and had some fun playing with another shot, but I found the interface kind of clunky. I added a caption in the wrong place - because you couldn't see it against the background - but didn't realize it until I'd moved on to another function. Then the app wouldn't let me go back and change the caption - either to move it, or, as I recall, to change the font color. I ended up deleting all the changes and starting over. I can see teens having fun playing with it, and perhaps I'll use it to alter pictures for publicizing a program, but it won't be something I use on any kind of regular basis.
I did happen to find another website (not an app) I used once and will likely use again. I wanted to combine four pictures into one. www.quickpicturetools.com was just the ticket. It took a few tries to get it to work, but pretty soon I had my four combined images.
Photo Editor by Aviary
I tried this one and just wasn't wild about it. Yes, I could add some frames around a photo, or put in a caption or some other stuff, but it wasn't really photo editing as I think of it. You can't crop a picture, or reduce red eye or other fairly standard edits. I did manage to lighten a really dark picture I took somewhat, and had some fun playing with another shot, but I found the interface kind of clunky. I added a caption in the wrong place - because you couldn't see it against the background - but didn't realize it until I'd moved on to another function. Then the app wouldn't let me go back and change the caption - either to move it, or, as I recall, to change the font color. I ended up deleting all the changes and starting over. I can see teens having fun playing with it, and perhaps I'll use it to alter pictures for publicizing a program, but it won't be something I use on any kind of regular basis.
I did happen to find another website (not an app) I used once and will likely use again. I wanted to combine four pictures into one. www.quickpicturetools.com was just the ticket. It took a few tries to get it to work, but pretty soon I had my four combined images.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 7
Content Saving
I've used Pinterest for a couple of years now, nearly always for work. It's great! Since local libraries no longer use the CSLP program, with its suggested activities manual, I tend to get stuck. What does one do for Bookawocky? The term doesn't lend itself to inspiration. Pinterest to the rescue! I can troll it for ideas from others using the CSLP program, and have found great stuff that way. I've found lots of inexpensive or free things I can do with my teen patrons, too, critical given my small budget. I had a Hunger Games party and found ideas for that as well. It's so nice for collecting items like this. I really only have one board that's personal, and I use it for recipes.
I downloaded the mobile app. I can't see myself using it much. Other than taking a bit to figure out how to get to my pins and boards, it looks much the same as the full app. But it's that searching for content on my little screen, instead of a full one... I like multiple windows, too. And honestly, an 8 step procedure to pin a page on my phone is a bit much. Since I use the site mostly for work, I do most of my work on it at, well, work!
I've used Pinterest for a couple of years now, nearly always for work. It's great! Since local libraries no longer use the CSLP program, with its suggested activities manual, I tend to get stuck. What does one do for Bookawocky? The term doesn't lend itself to inspiration. Pinterest to the rescue! I can troll it for ideas from others using the CSLP program, and have found great stuff that way. I've found lots of inexpensive or free things I can do with my teen patrons, too, critical given my small budget. I had a Hunger Games party and found ideas for that as well. It's so nice for collecting items like this. I really only have one board that's personal, and I use it for recipes.
I downloaded the mobile app. I can't see myself using it much. Other than taking a bit to figure out how to get to my pins and boards, it looks much the same as the full app. But it's that searching for content on my little screen, instead of a full one... I like multiple windows, too. And honestly, an 8 step procedure to pin a page on my phone is a bit much. Since I use the site mostly for work, I do most of my work on it at, well, work!
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 4
Keeping Up
I started this thing pretty skeptical of the whole Flipboard app. And then I struggled a bit figuring out how it worked. I finished setting my account up pretty sure I'd close my account after finishing this blog. But now I think maybe not.
I found the instructions for Flipboard incomplete, both the ones on the 23 Things site and on the Flipboard site. Perhaps it's obvious to more experience users, but it took me a while to figure out the difference between creating my own magazine and subscribing to something. In creating a magazine (at least the best I can figure it), you add articles of interest to a magazine about that subject. And nothing else gets added until you do it. When you subsribe to something, say a blog, it shows up under "My subscriptions" and you then receive new items as they come in. Once I got that straight, it all got a lot easier. It still took me a while to get the magazine part right, as I didn't realize you swipe up to get down to the cover to see your list of articles, so I kept thinking I wasn't adding anything.
I usually read all my work related feeds at, well, work, so having them available anywhere on my phone isn't a huge draw. But in looking over my subscriptions today in preparation for writing this, I realized it's a pretty nice way to get blog content. I can sit and read it at work. And maybe somewhere else if I'm stuck in line... I took a look at the news feed, too, and found a couple of things of interest to me there, so I might continue looking at it once in a while. The nice thing about the news feed is that, at least on the articles I looked at, it actually connects to articles of substance. It's not the crappy one paragraph stuff you see on news websites or yahoo or whatever - it's really got some body to it.
Color me surprised on this one - I may end up a fan after all.
I started this thing pretty skeptical of the whole Flipboard app. And then I struggled a bit figuring out how it worked. I finished setting my account up pretty sure I'd close my account after finishing this blog. But now I think maybe not.
I found the instructions for Flipboard incomplete, both the ones on the 23 Things site and on the Flipboard site. Perhaps it's obvious to more experience users, but it took me a while to figure out the difference between creating my own magazine and subscribing to something. In creating a magazine (at least the best I can figure it), you add articles of interest to a magazine about that subject. And nothing else gets added until you do it. When you subsribe to something, say a blog, it shows up under "My subscriptions" and you then receive new items as they come in. Once I got that straight, it all got a lot easier. It still took me a while to get the magazine part right, as I didn't realize you swipe up to get down to the cover to see your list of articles, so I kept thinking I wasn't adding anything.
I usually read all my work related feeds at, well, work, so having them available anywhere on my phone isn't a huge draw. But in looking over my subscriptions today in preparation for writing this, I realized it's a pretty nice way to get blog content. I can sit and read it at work. And maybe somewhere else if I'm stuck in line... I took a look at the news feed, too, and found a couple of things of interest to me there, so I might continue looking at it once in a while. The nice thing about the news feed is that, at least on the articles I looked at, it actually connects to articles of substance. It's not the crappy one paragraph stuff you see on news websites or yahoo or whatever - it's really got some body to it.
Color me surprised on this one - I may end up a fan after all.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 3
Utilities
I went on vacation recently, and tried out two of the utilities suggested for this thing. One I like and one I thought was pretty darn useless.
The useless one? Google Goggles. I know, it's hard to believe - a Google product not worth much. But that's my experience with it. I've read other reviews, and, while a number of people like it, just as many feel as I do. It looks easy to use, but it sure didn't deliver. In theory, you open the app, and point your device at whatever you want to identify or get more information about. The app scans across the screen and supposedly tells you what you're seeing, with links to related websites. We visited San Francisco on our trip, and I tried Google Goggles on both the Coit Tower and the Transamerica building. The program recognized neither of them. Now I'll grant you the Coit Tower, while very well known in SF, might not be well enough known to make Goggle's database. I do know they've been to SF, as the Golden Gate Bridge is in their tutorial! But the Transamerica building? Even if you don't know the name, I bet you've seen pictures of it. It is to SF what the Empire State Building is to New York City. The best Google Goggles could do, and that was through the GPS on my phone, was show me where I was on the map. Not quite what I was hoping for.
I had more success with the RedLaser Barcode and QR Scanner. We also visited Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. I scanned the QR code at the steam vents and went to this page:
So why, you ask, does a QR code take you to this page? Well, this is a park with active volcanoes. And volcanoes emit dangerous gases. Those gases concentrate in different areas of the park, depending on the wind's direction. The park's public facilities were built with the prevailing trade winds in mind, keeping visitors upwind of the most dangerous gases most of the time. One section of road is totally shut off since an eruption in 2008, as it's too dangerous too often - it's that serious. And note I said most of the time. Winds do shift, and there can be dangerous levels of gases and particulates anywhere in the park. Rangers actually carry portable detectors with them that will beep if levels rise out of a certain range. Pregnant women and those with certain health conditions in particular must be aware of what's happening to protect themselves. Having QR codes scattered throughout the park - much of which is far, far away from the rangers - allows visitors to make sure the air is still safe. I'm guessing this might be among the more unusual uses of this app reported here!
We've also used readers to get to calorie counts on restaurant menus - handy when you're trying to track your intake. My library has a geocache that utilizes a code, and one of our other librarians created a code to get teens to a video book talk. I can see creating codes to lead patrons to information about upcoming programs, or to connect to more information about something we're doing. It would likely work best for teens, who are comfortable with the technology and unafraid of experimenting.
I went on vacation recently, and tried out two of the utilities suggested for this thing. One I like and one I thought was pretty darn useless.
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coit_Tower |
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transamerica_Pyramid_July_2007.jpg |
I had more success with the RedLaser Barcode and QR Scanner. We also visited Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. I scanned the QR code at the steam vents and went to this page:
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| http://www.hawaiiso2network.com/havoalert.php |
We've also used readers to get to calorie counts on restaurant menus - handy when you're trying to track your intake. My library has a geocache that utilizes a code, and one of our other librarians created a code to get teens to a video book talk. I can see creating codes to lead patrons to information about upcoming programs, or to connect to more information about something we're doing. It would likely work best for teens, who are comfortable with the technology and unafraid of experimenting.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 11
Library & Reference
I tried out the Washington County mobile library app. I think that makes sense, since I work there and am thus familiar with what they offer and can judge what kind of access the app gives. And it's likely the only one I'd use, since I rarely use any other system these days.
I like the app. I found it intuitive to navigate and easy to read. The designers did a good job of not cluttering the screen and keeping things easy to read. The groupings are logical, with such headings at Search the Catalog, eBooks, My Account, Ask a Librarian, Locations and Hours. Tapping one heading opens up further options.
I hadn't know the app had a barcode reader (BookLook) that lets you scan a barcode and see if the library owns the book. I tried it out - way cool. It took me a bit to get the little window on the screen focused right on the barcode, but as soon as I did, the phone read the code and told me the library did indeed have it. No need to tell the app "go" - it's just that smart. I could easily have put the book on hold from there, but didn't, as I only wanted to see it work. I searched the catalog as well, again not putting anything on hold. I looked at the ebook function, but didn't go too far with it. Using it requires downloading yet another app, and, since I have no intention of reading an entire book on my phone, I chose to not install it. I find reading long things on my phone irritating, with the constant scrolling, plus keeping the font small enough to fit a reasonable amount on the page makes it too small for me to comfortably read for any length of time. But it did all look easy to do! I did not see any way to access the library's databases. My guess is that this sort of use is too complex to be done easily on something as small as a phone's screen. How would you manage to display of all the search parameters most databases offer? But the app could offer information about them, so users know they exist, what areas they cover and how to access them using another source. I also didn't see links to our reading pages/lists or Zinio. Again, my guess is this was done to keep the interface clean and intuitive, but not making any mention of them may well mean some users have no idea we offer these services. On the other hand, not mentioning something they can't access from a mobile device may keep frustration at a minimum!
Another heading allows you to explore classes, programs and events offered by the system. You can choose from several sorting options, such as age or branch. Since I concentrate on teen programming, I picked that. Again, it was easy to scroll through the offerings. But I didn't see a way to sort by branch and age, or any other combo. That might just make things too complicated on a small screen. To get detailed information about an event, the user simply taps the title. A link from the detail page allows registration in just one more tap.
Signing into my account was, again, simple and intuitive. It's a great way to see where you stand.
Honestly, I don't see myself using this much, although I think it's a great idea, given the predominance of mobile devices right now. I'm in the catalog all the time when I'm at work anyway, and don't see much point in pulling out my phone to put something on hold when I can just use the keyboard in front of my face! I might use the barcode reader if I find a book somewhere and want to get it, but that's probably about it. Maybe check on my account. If I didn't work here, I'm sure I'd use it more, as it's faster than turning on my computer at home and logging in. But, as it is, I see only limited use for me.
I tried out the Washington County mobile library app. I think that makes sense, since I work there and am thus familiar with what they offer and can judge what kind of access the app gives. And it's likely the only one I'd use, since I rarely use any other system these days.
I like the app. I found it intuitive to navigate and easy to read. The designers did a good job of not cluttering the screen and keeping things easy to read. The groupings are logical, with such headings at Search the Catalog, eBooks, My Account, Ask a Librarian, Locations and Hours. Tapping one heading opens up further options.
I hadn't know the app had a barcode reader (BookLook) that lets you scan a barcode and see if the library owns the book. I tried it out - way cool. It took me a bit to get the little window on the screen focused right on the barcode, but as soon as I did, the phone read the code and told me the library did indeed have it. No need to tell the app "go" - it's just that smart. I could easily have put the book on hold from there, but didn't, as I only wanted to see it work. I searched the catalog as well, again not putting anything on hold. I looked at the ebook function, but didn't go too far with it. Using it requires downloading yet another app, and, since I have no intention of reading an entire book on my phone, I chose to not install it. I find reading long things on my phone irritating, with the constant scrolling, plus keeping the font small enough to fit a reasonable amount on the page makes it too small for me to comfortably read for any length of time. But it did all look easy to do! I did not see any way to access the library's databases. My guess is that this sort of use is too complex to be done easily on something as small as a phone's screen. How would you manage to display of all the search parameters most databases offer? But the app could offer information about them, so users know they exist, what areas they cover and how to access them using another source. I also didn't see links to our reading pages/lists or Zinio. Again, my guess is this was done to keep the interface clean and intuitive, but not making any mention of them may well mean some users have no idea we offer these services. On the other hand, not mentioning something they can't access from a mobile device may keep frustration at a minimum!
Another heading allows you to explore classes, programs and events offered by the system. You can choose from several sorting options, such as age or branch. Since I concentrate on teen programming, I picked that. Again, it was easy to scroll through the offerings. But I didn't see a way to sort by branch and age, or any other combo. That might just make things too complicated on a small screen. To get detailed information about an event, the user simply taps the title. A link from the detail page allows registration in just one more tap.
Signing into my account was, again, simple and intuitive. It's a great way to see where you stand.
Honestly, I don't see myself using this much, although I think it's a great idea, given the predominance of mobile devices right now. I'm in the catalog all the time when I'm at work anyway, and don't see much point in pulling out my phone to put something on hold when I can just use the keyboard in front of my face! I might use the barcode reader if I find a book somewhere and want to get it, but that's probably about it. Maybe check on my account. If I didn't work here, I'm sure I'd use it more, as it's faster than turning on my computer at home and logging in. But, as it is, I see only limited use for me.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 17
Connecting to Community
Going Out (Star Tribune)
I have to be honest and say I don't see myself using this one a whole lot. For one thing, many of the categories it has (Music & Clubs, Family Entertainment) aren't things that interest me much. We're not into the music/club scene and no longer have young children at home. We could use the segments for Movies and Restaurants & Bars - those are certainly possible. But I remain skeptical. How are items chosen? I can't find anything that says. In the case of Best Bets, clearly Star Tribune columnists are writing those, and that's fine. But what about restaurant listings? Who decides what makes it and what doesn't? More on this later.
The movie listings are certainly convenient if you're on the go, or not on a computer already. You can search by theater location or movie. Once you find what you need, there are links for theater websites and to showtimes, etc. You can reserve tickets right from here - handy. You get a short description of a movie, too, along with some review info (Rotten Tomatoes). Going Out also offers links to nearby resturants, and that's where I start to not like the site. I looked at the theater we go to most often and clicked on the restaurant link. There are at least four restaurants within a few blocks not listed. One of them is an Applebee's, so not exactly a small mom-and-pop operation that might slip under the radar. So does the Star Tribune get paid for who's listed? Is it based on staffer choice? If the latter, then why are many other Applebee's restaurants listed when you search by name, but not this one? And that's another quibble. While a few of them list city names in the title, most don't. How on earth are you supposed to find the one nearest you? Well, you can do some combining of categories. For example, you can choose "south suburbs" and then search for the name of a chain. I'm just not sure where the area I live falls in their categories... And what if you're traveling and don't know the local name describing where you are? It just seems to me you could miss an awful lot of good places that don't manage to make it into this app. The app also doesn't list all entries at once - I think it's 10 at a time. And they're not in alphabetical order - I have no idea what the order is, which, again, makes me wonder about how those decisions are made.
I do like being able to put in the name of a play or movie and find out where it is and all the relevant info, complete with maps and reservation links. It's convenient. But I get the paper every day anyway (that's clearly where most of it comes from - and, yes, I know I'm a dinosaur), so it's not uber useful to me.
Another problem: When searching for something like a play, with multiple dates, Going Out creates a separate item for each date, so a given play might show up a dozen times. And the date isn't visible in the title. Why not create one item for the play itself, with further links to performance dates/times?
Saint Paul Historical
Now this is an app I can see myself using. I'm a history geek, so this is right up my alley. I also live in St. Paul, so it's doubly golden.
I don't see any need to reinvent the wheel, so here, from their website (http://saintpaulhistorical.com/about), is what they're about:
Brought to you by Historic Saint Paul, Saint Paul Historical is a free mobile app that puts Saint Paul's history at your fingertips. Explore the people, places, and moments that have shaped the city's history. Click on any point on the interactive map to read historical narratives and to view images. Take curated historical tours of Saint Paul and share our stories and your experience using social media. Follow the project on Twitter @STPhistorical. ***ABOUT HISTORIC SAINT PAUL Historic Saint Paul was founded in 1998 by a group of committed citizens, with assistance from the City of Saint Paul. Our mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the historic character of Saint Paul neighborhoods. Historic Saint Paul works in partnership with private owners, community organizations, and public agencies to leverage Saint Paul’s cultural and historic resources as assets in economic development and community building initiatives. Historic Saint Paul envisions that our preservation work will result in an increased cultural, economic, and social value for the city. ***This project has been financed in part with funds provided by the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Historical Society from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.***
When you open the app, a map of the Twin Cities comes up, with a plethora of red pins all over St. Paul. Enlarge the map as needed until you can pick out individual pins. Click on the pin, and go to information about the particular building or area, along with pictures, some historic and some modern. The site also has guided tours. Pull up the menu (however that's done on your device) and choose Go To Tours. Pick a tour and there you go. It walks you through an area of the city, with different chapters for different segments of the tour. I imagine that's to make it easier to find the specific area you're looking for, instead of having to scan a really long document on what's likely a small screen.
Minneapolis has something similar at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/hpc/landmarks/WCMS1P-080694, but, as far as I can tell, they don't have a mobile app.
Going Out (Star Tribune)
I have to be honest and say I don't see myself using this one a whole lot. For one thing, many of the categories it has (Music & Clubs, Family Entertainment) aren't things that interest me much. We're not into the music/club scene and no longer have young children at home. We could use the segments for Movies and Restaurants & Bars - those are certainly possible. But I remain skeptical. How are items chosen? I can't find anything that says. In the case of Best Bets, clearly Star Tribune columnists are writing those, and that's fine. But what about restaurant listings? Who decides what makes it and what doesn't? More on this later.
The movie listings are certainly convenient if you're on the go, or not on a computer already. You can search by theater location or movie. Once you find what you need, there are links for theater websites and to showtimes, etc. You can reserve tickets right from here - handy. You get a short description of a movie, too, along with some review info (Rotten Tomatoes). Going Out also offers links to nearby resturants, and that's where I start to not like the site. I looked at the theater we go to most often and clicked on the restaurant link. There are at least four restaurants within a few blocks not listed. One of them is an Applebee's, so not exactly a small mom-and-pop operation that might slip under the radar. So does the Star Tribune get paid for who's listed? Is it based on staffer choice? If the latter, then why are many other Applebee's restaurants listed when you search by name, but not this one? And that's another quibble. While a few of them list city names in the title, most don't. How on earth are you supposed to find the one nearest you? Well, you can do some combining of categories. For example, you can choose "south suburbs" and then search for the name of a chain. I'm just not sure where the area I live falls in their categories... And what if you're traveling and don't know the local name describing where you are? It just seems to me you could miss an awful lot of good places that don't manage to make it into this app. The app also doesn't list all entries at once - I think it's 10 at a time. And they're not in alphabetical order - I have no idea what the order is, which, again, makes me wonder about how those decisions are made.
I do like being able to put in the name of a play or movie and find out where it is and all the relevant info, complete with maps and reservation links. It's convenient. But I get the paper every day anyway (that's clearly where most of it comes from - and, yes, I know I'm a dinosaur), so it's not uber useful to me.
Another problem: When searching for something like a play, with multiple dates, Going Out creates a separate item for each date, so a given play might show up a dozen times. And the date isn't visible in the title. Why not create one item for the play itself, with further links to performance dates/times?
Saint Paul Historical
Now this is an app I can see myself using. I'm a history geek, so this is right up my alley. I also live in St. Paul, so it's doubly golden.
I don't see any need to reinvent the wheel, so here, from their website (http://saintpaulhistorical.com/about), is what they're about:
Brought to you by Historic Saint Paul, Saint Paul Historical is a free mobile app that puts Saint Paul's history at your fingertips. Explore the people, places, and moments that have shaped the city's history. Click on any point on the interactive map to read historical narratives and to view images. Take curated historical tours of Saint Paul and share our stories and your experience using social media. Follow the project on Twitter @STPhistorical. ***ABOUT HISTORIC SAINT PAUL Historic Saint Paul was founded in 1998 by a group of committed citizens, with assistance from the City of Saint Paul. Our mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the historic character of Saint Paul neighborhoods. Historic Saint Paul works in partnership with private owners, community organizations, and public agencies to leverage Saint Paul’s cultural and historic resources as assets in economic development and community building initiatives. Historic Saint Paul envisions that our preservation work will result in an increased cultural, economic, and social value for the city. ***This project has been financed in part with funds provided by the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Historical Society from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.***
When you open the app, a map of the Twin Cities comes up, with a plethora of red pins all over St. Paul. Enlarge the map as needed until you can pick out individual pins. Click on the pin, and go to information about the particular building or area, along with pictures, some historic and some modern. The site also has guided tours. Pull up the menu (however that's done on your device) and choose Go To Tours. Pick a tour and there you go. It walks you through an area of the city, with different chapters for different segments of the tour. I imagine that's to make it easier to find the specific area you're looking for, instead of having to scan a really long document on what's likely a small screen.
Minneapolis has something similar at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/hpc/landmarks/WCMS1P-080694, but, as far as I can tell, they don't have a mobile app.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
23 Mobile Things:Thing 5
Notetaking
As I mentioned in a previous entry, I've started using Evernote for organizing information on my phone. But since that wasn't one of the options mentioned for this project, I decided to try Springpad. I have a trip coming up, with lots of things to do beforehand and a fairly expansive packing list - much different than what I usually pack. And we're going to be remodeling our kitchen (after far too many years of living with only 4 feet of counter space...), so I'll collect ideas for that, too.
Springpad was easy to download on my phone, and simple to create an account for. I also signed in on a computer, and the two automatically sync, which is great. I have to admit I poked around somewhat on the computer as opposed to my phone, mostly because I find the larger size easier on the eyes! I started out creating tasks on my phone, and quickly realized that each task was a separate item, not a list like I really wanted. I created 2 checklists instead, one for things to do and one for things to pack, and put them both in one notebook. I haven't yet checked anything off, but know you can hide finished items. Creating notebooks lets you group all like items together. They can be private or shared. Since I don't know anyone on Springpad, and don't want to broadcast our plans to all and sundry, mine are private for now. I got a bit confused over how to save the checklists, and how to get them where I wanted, so ended up with duplicates. And it took me a while to figure out how to delete unwanted items! Guess I'm a bit slow, but that's why I'm doing this project. Anyway, to delete a task or list, you go to the bottom right of the item and a little trash can shows up. It's visible all the time when you're on a computer, but you have to hover over that corner on a mobile to see it. So now it's all organized just the way I want it. I also found a website I wanted to link to, with a tour for where we're headed. I was able to add that to my notebook, too. To link on your mobile, you simply go to the site, pull up your menu (depending on how your device works), pick share and then Springpad. To do it on a computer, you can click on the add button, which is a plus sign, and it asks what you want to add - a link, a note, a task, etc. Here, obviously, you'd pick link. Simply copy and paste the link. You can also add notes to each one - really handy. Now we'll just have to see if I have data service where we're headed... I know I have it where we're lodging, but not so sure about coverage as we're out and about. Just to be safe, I printed things out, too. That's not only because I'm concerned about coverage. Everything I'm reading is telling me to leave NOTHING of value in our car, and I won't always be carrying my phone with me, as we'll be in wet spots. Water + phone = bad idea.
I started doing just some general digging around on kitchen ideas to get that notebook started. This one is a home improvement notebook, and has tabs for ideas, notes and tasks. I like that. You can use Pinterest to pin webpages, sure, but it doesn't let you make lists or keep notes. Springpad lets you put it all together. It's really easy to add items. I did most of this on a computer - again, that bigger screen thing - but it's easily done from a mobile, too. I do find some aspects of the app frustrating. I added a blog that talked about using Ikea cabinets, and the link doesn't show up in the tab with all the others. I can search for Ikea and it pops right up. I can look at All My Stuff (one of the links) and it's there, too. But look under ideas and it's just not there. I scrolled up and down - nothing. Can't go side to side, so that's no help. It's not under tasks or notes, either. Tried logging out and logging back in - still no help. Same on my mobile. I remember the blog is there now, but will I later? It has some really useful information. I'll keep look for answers.
Here's a blog comparing Pinterest, Evernote and Springpad: http://www.40tech.com/2012/04/12/springpad-vs-pinterest-vs-evernote-vs-nobody/
It says pretty much what I said - Pinterest lets you pin websites, but not add notes or tasks.
Evernote is great at the notes part, but not the pinning part.
Springpad does both.
As I mentioned in a previous entry, I've started using Evernote for organizing information on my phone. But since that wasn't one of the options mentioned for this project, I decided to try Springpad. I have a trip coming up, with lots of things to do beforehand and a fairly expansive packing list - much different than what I usually pack. And we're going to be remodeling our kitchen (after far too many years of living with only 4 feet of counter space...), so I'll collect ideas for that, too.
Springpad was easy to download on my phone, and simple to create an account for. I also signed in on a computer, and the two automatically sync, which is great. I have to admit I poked around somewhat on the computer as opposed to my phone, mostly because I find the larger size easier on the eyes! I started out creating tasks on my phone, and quickly realized that each task was a separate item, not a list like I really wanted. I created 2 checklists instead, one for things to do and one for things to pack, and put them both in one notebook. I haven't yet checked anything off, but know you can hide finished items. Creating notebooks lets you group all like items together. They can be private or shared. Since I don't know anyone on Springpad, and don't want to broadcast our plans to all and sundry, mine are private for now. I got a bit confused over how to save the checklists, and how to get them where I wanted, so ended up with duplicates. And it took me a while to figure out how to delete unwanted items! Guess I'm a bit slow, but that's why I'm doing this project. Anyway, to delete a task or list, you go to the bottom right of the item and a little trash can shows up. It's visible all the time when you're on a computer, but you have to hover over that corner on a mobile to see it. So now it's all organized just the way I want it. I also found a website I wanted to link to, with a tour for where we're headed. I was able to add that to my notebook, too. To link on your mobile, you simply go to the site, pull up your menu (depending on how your device works), pick share and then Springpad. To do it on a computer, you can click on the add button, which is a plus sign, and it asks what you want to add - a link, a note, a task, etc. Here, obviously, you'd pick link. Simply copy and paste the link. You can also add notes to each one - really handy. Now we'll just have to see if I have data service where we're headed... I know I have it where we're lodging, but not so sure about coverage as we're out and about. Just to be safe, I printed things out, too. That's not only because I'm concerned about coverage. Everything I'm reading is telling me to leave NOTHING of value in our car, and I won't always be carrying my phone with me, as we'll be in wet spots. Water + phone = bad idea.
I started doing just some general digging around on kitchen ideas to get that notebook started. This one is a home improvement notebook, and has tabs for ideas, notes and tasks. I like that. You can use Pinterest to pin webpages, sure, but it doesn't let you make lists or keep notes. Springpad lets you put it all together. It's really easy to add items. I did most of this on a computer - again, that bigger screen thing - but it's easily done from a mobile, too. I do find some aspects of the app frustrating. I added a blog that talked about using Ikea cabinets, and the link doesn't show up in the tab with all the others. I can search for Ikea and it pops right up. I can look at All My Stuff (one of the links) and it's there, too. But look under ideas and it's just not there. I scrolled up and down - nothing. Can't go side to side, so that's no help. It's not under tasks or notes, either. Tried logging out and logging back in - still no help. Same on my mobile. I remember the blog is there now, but will I later? It has some really useful information. I'll keep look for answers.
Here's a blog comparing Pinterest, Evernote and Springpad: http://www.40tech.com/2012/04/12/springpad-vs-pinterest-vs-evernote-vs-nobody/
It says pretty much what I said - Pinterest lets you pin websites, but not add notes or tasks.
Evernote is great at the notes part, but not the pinning part.
Springpad does both.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 2
Mobile Device Tips
I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII and use it all the time - although not so much as a phone! We're members of the fast shrinking group of fogies who still have a land line. We've had it for more years than I'm willing to admit to here, and it's the number everyone has. It's such a pain to change your phone number that we just keep using it. I also don't carry my phone on me all the time. If I did that at home, I'd end up walking off without it. And since I have a long drive to work through some somewhat isolated areas (and it's dang cold here right now - it would be dangerous to get stranded and not be able to call for help), I want a phone with me. So since the smart phone lives in my purse at home, I often don't hear it, whereas I always hear the land line. I also don't want to have my phone with me at the reference desk. For one thing, I don't think it looks good to the public. For another, with the way our desks are set up, when I get up to help someone, it would be far too simple for someone to walk off with it. Our patrons are pretty darn honest, but it only takes one.
So what do I use the phone for? Well, I do use it for calls. I text, check email, and use the internet. Sometimes I use it for a camera, although I prefer a regular camera as it's faster. When I turn the camera on, it's ready to go, instead of me having to open the cover, draw my password pattern and pick the camera function. I also know the buttons on my camera - there aren't many - and I don't know them all on my phone. Since I need reading glasses to see all the icons and often don't have them on while out and about, I can't do anything but the most basic shots with the phone. I know there's more I can do, and intend to explore some of those in one of the other "things." It takes amazingly good pictures, and it's sure nice to just be able to send one to someone, instead of having to upload from the SD card and then go into email and so on. And it's nice to always be able to pull out that special picture!
I haven't gotten into Facebook on my phone. That's deliberate. I'm not on social media all that much and, frankly, don't want it to suck up huge amounts of my time. Maybe I'll change my mind sometime. I'm on Facebook as often as I want to be, and choose to not have it be all the time.
Given all that, what tips did I try?
Well, I added words to my personal dictionary. Since we have some names and nicknames in our family that aren't in standard dictionaries, adding words means I won't have to key them all in every time. I tried changing my font, but the one I liked is just too hard for me to read without those glasses. I can read the default font, and also Sansung Sans, so I'm giving the latter a try for a while. It's good to know it can be done! I learned how to turn off the sound and/or vibration when using keys, but I'm going to leave them on. I don't use my phone in places that are really quiet, and I find the noise or feel helps me know what I'm doing. For example, if I'm swiping a word into a message and don't feel the vibration, I know I've goofed somehow and the word isn't registering. That's another thing I love about this phone - the Swype keyboard! I could manage texting when I had actual keys on my previous phone, but I'm just clumsy with using thumbs to type, even when I turn the phone sideways to make the display larger. So "writing" the word by running my finger over the keyboard is fantastic! Much faster for me, and far more accurate. I tried using a stylus, but wasn't a big fan. It wasn't any easier than using Swype, plus it was another thing to haul around. I thought I might use it for notes, but writing with it wasn't all that much better than writing with a fingertip, and both were sloppy. So I often just send myself a message to remind me of something. I've recently added Evernote to both my home computer and phone. Evernote lets you create checklists, keep notes, photos, websites, documents all organized into notebooks. It automatically syncs them, too, so you always have access to all your items. I'm planning a trip, and am making lists of what I need to pack and things that need to be done, as well as keeping keeping all my relevant emails handy (flight schedules, reservations and such). It's a great way to be organized on the go. I also download documents to my phone for use offline. Since I think we'll be offline for much of our trip, already having what we need on the phone will be extremely useful.
The last thing I've tried is searching via voice. For the most part, it works pretty well. But it's not foolproof! My husband wanted to know how many calories there are in a game hen. So he asked for "calories in a game hen." It came back with "calories in a gay man"! Certainly interesting, but not what we wanted. The phone didn't get it right, no matter how clearly he spoke, until he added "Cornish" to the description of the hen. Then the right numbers popped right up.
One thing I plan to add to my phone that I haven't yet is an app to lock apps. I don't know if that falls into this category, but I'm putting it here anyway. I read about it this last week. I use an unlock pattern on my phone, but if anyone gets past that, it's open territory. There's an app you can install that lets you add a second unlock pattern to an app, like your email. I'm also planning to add something that will let me disable my phone remotely should it ever be lost or stolen. I think that's smart for everyone.
I have a Samsung Galaxy SIII and use it all the time - although not so much as a phone! We're members of the fast shrinking group of fogies who still have a land line. We've had it for more years than I'm willing to admit to here, and it's the number everyone has. It's such a pain to change your phone number that we just keep using it. I also don't carry my phone on me all the time. If I did that at home, I'd end up walking off without it. And since I have a long drive to work through some somewhat isolated areas (and it's dang cold here right now - it would be dangerous to get stranded and not be able to call for help), I want a phone with me. So since the smart phone lives in my purse at home, I often don't hear it, whereas I always hear the land line. I also don't want to have my phone with me at the reference desk. For one thing, I don't think it looks good to the public. For another, with the way our desks are set up, when I get up to help someone, it would be far too simple for someone to walk off with it. Our patrons are pretty darn honest, but it only takes one.
So what do I use the phone for? Well, I do use it for calls. I text, check email, and use the internet. Sometimes I use it for a camera, although I prefer a regular camera as it's faster. When I turn the camera on, it's ready to go, instead of me having to open the cover, draw my password pattern and pick the camera function. I also know the buttons on my camera - there aren't many - and I don't know them all on my phone. Since I need reading glasses to see all the icons and often don't have them on while out and about, I can't do anything but the most basic shots with the phone. I know there's more I can do, and intend to explore some of those in one of the other "things." It takes amazingly good pictures, and it's sure nice to just be able to send one to someone, instead of having to upload from the SD card and then go into email and so on. And it's nice to always be able to pull out that special picture!
I haven't gotten into Facebook on my phone. That's deliberate. I'm not on social media all that much and, frankly, don't want it to suck up huge amounts of my time. Maybe I'll change my mind sometime. I'm on Facebook as often as I want to be, and choose to not have it be all the time.
Given all that, what tips did I try?
Well, I added words to my personal dictionary. Since we have some names and nicknames in our family that aren't in standard dictionaries, adding words means I won't have to key them all in every time. I tried changing my font, but the one I liked is just too hard for me to read without those glasses. I can read the default font, and also Sansung Sans, so I'm giving the latter a try for a while. It's good to know it can be done! I learned how to turn off the sound and/or vibration when using keys, but I'm going to leave them on. I don't use my phone in places that are really quiet, and I find the noise or feel helps me know what I'm doing. For example, if I'm swiping a word into a message and don't feel the vibration, I know I've goofed somehow and the word isn't registering. That's another thing I love about this phone - the Swype keyboard! I could manage texting when I had actual keys on my previous phone, but I'm just clumsy with using thumbs to type, even when I turn the phone sideways to make the display larger. So "writing" the word by running my finger over the keyboard is fantastic! Much faster for me, and far more accurate. I tried using a stylus, but wasn't a big fan. It wasn't any easier than using Swype, plus it was another thing to haul around. I thought I might use it for notes, but writing with it wasn't all that much better than writing with a fingertip, and both were sloppy. So I often just send myself a message to remind me of something. I've recently added Evernote to both my home computer and phone. Evernote lets you create checklists, keep notes, photos, websites, documents all organized into notebooks. It automatically syncs them, too, so you always have access to all your items. I'm planning a trip, and am making lists of what I need to pack and things that need to be done, as well as keeping keeping all my relevant emails handy (flight schedules, reservations and such). It's a great way to be organized on the go. I also download documents to my phone for use offline. Since I think we'll be offline for much of our trip, already having what we need on the phone will be extremely useful.
The last thing I've tried is searching via voice. For the most part, it works pretty well. But it's not foolproof! My husband wanted to know how many calories there are in a game hen. So he asked for "calories in a game hen." It came back with "calories in a gay man"! Certainly interesting, but not what we wanted. The phone didn't get it right, no matter how clearly he spoke, until he added "Cornish" to the description of the hen. Then the right numbers popped right up.
One thing I plan to add to my phone that I haven't yet is an app to lock apps. I don't know if that falls into this category, but I'm putting it here anyway. I read about it this last week. I use an unlock pattern on my phone, but if anyone gets past that, it's open territory. There's an app you can install that lets you add a second unlock pattern to an app, like your email. I'm also planning to add something that will let me disable my phone remotely should it ever be lost or stolen. I think that's smart for everyone.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
23 Mobile Things: Thing 1
Blogging and Registering
Since this is my fourth blog, I found it easy to get the blog set up and registered. I think the book background is perfect for me, even if this blogs relates to modern technology. I don't ever foresee myself giving up books! I'm looking forward to this challenge. I consider myself reasonably tech-savvy (I DO spend most of my work time using a computer), but I know I don't keep up with all the latest things, nor do I use my phone beyond a fraction of its capability. Once I get to new things, I can usually figure them out, but one has to know something exists before using it! I seem to recall Dick Cheney getting grief for saying something on the order of "We don't know what we don't know," but it's one thing he said that I do actually agree with. It makes perfect sense to me.
I work with teens here at the Hardwood Creek branch of the Washington County Library system, and I worry that we don't do a good job reaching them where they are with our current online offerings. They're not following us on our Facebook page; I don't know if they read my emails... I'd like to see us do better. Certainly I'd like to see us offer something more interactive.
So my interest in this challenge is two-fold:
To get my skills up to date.
To find new ways to reach and interact with teens.
Since this is my fourth blog, I found it easy to get the blog set up and registered. I think the book background is perfect for me, even if this blogs relates to modern technology. I don't ever foresee myself giving up books! I'm looking forward to this challenge. I consider myself reasonably tech-savvy (I DO spend most of my work time using a computer), but I know I don't keep up with all the latest things, nor do I use my phone beyond a fraction of its capability. Once I get to new things, I can usually figure them out, but one has to know something exists before using it! I seem to recall Dick Cheney getting grief for saying something on the order of "We don't know what we don't know," but it's one thing he said that I do actually agree with. It makes perfect sense to me.
I work with teens here at the Hardwood Creek branch of the Washington County Library system, and I worry that we don't do a good job reaching them where they are with our current online offerings. They're not following us on our Facebook page; I don't know if they read my emails... I'd like to see us do better. Certainly I'd like to see us offer something more interactive.
So my interest in this challenge is two-fold:
To get my skills up to date.
To find new ways to reach and interact with teens.
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