Well it took a last-minute holiday cram session, but I made it through to the last Thing. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon - and other hours in months past. The scope of choices vastly broadened my familiarity with some of the most popular apps out there. I'm not sure I want to embrace Twitter or Instagram or Soundcloud to the degree others have. My life is more opaque and I am fine with that. But knowing what they do and look like is worthwhile.
I mentioned the 23 Things to my colleagues - especially thinking of my manager, a newcomer to smart phone connectivity. I'm not aware that any of them gave them a try. As a private special library we may not have many opportunities to integrate apps into our workflow. But I appreciate having the chance to learn myself. I would do it again.
Info in the key of B
A knowledge maven's odyssey
Friday, July 4, 2014
Thing #22: Discovering Apps
As an Android user, I usually pick up ideas for apps from my feed reading and head for Google Play. Of course, there are thousands of choices displayed, with many of dubious quality even when payment is required. I thought Quixey might be a nice complement, but I found it to be too limited in scope. Its browse feature is very skimpy; it took two filters to see Facebook among the choices for social media apps. I might go back to the web site again but didn't waste time downloading the app. I think I will stick with recommendations and occasional peeks at the popularity rankings in Play.
Thing #21: Free-for-All
Thing #20: Games
Since I already spend too much time playing Solitaire and Mahjongg, I was reluctant to add another addiction to the list. Several of my FB friends seem to do nothing but play games but I'm not retired yet, with lots of time for such frivolity. But I decided to surrender to a top pick: Candy Crush Saga. Can over 5 million 5-star reviews be wrong? Did quite well for the first round, until my lives were gone - now I know what jellies are about!
Thing #19: Hobbies
Spotify appears to be a pretty comprehensive suite: songs and albums of all sorts, related artist suggestions, tour schedules, and bios. I searched out a few of my obscure favorites and was pleased to find them represented. Exploring Spotify will be a great time gobbler, I can tell already.
Thing #18: Education
I'll being heading to San Antonio next week for a librarians' convention, so I opted for the DuoLingo language instruction app. It's simple but useful lessons introduced me to some beginner's Spanish. It would probably be useful to also look for a translation app if I get serious about adding a language. I may try the French lessons - it has been 40 years since I took my last formal class in that.
Thing #17: Connecting with Community
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)