Thing 13

I’ve tested Haiku Deck before and I think it’s wonderful.

For this I downloaded Lensoo and Deck since they work on both Android and Apple.

Lensoo is good to use.  I would love to see what the premium package gets you.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m dense or if there just wasn’t enough in the informational intro but I had a hard time navigating from one page to the next at first.  It also seems as though you can add to the recording but not re-record, which is a pity.  We are extremely restricted at work with slide decks we can use and SnagIt is a great tool for making short demo videos with voiceover, so it doesn’t have immediate uses for me, but it’s a great tool with a lot of possibilities.

Deck seems to be much more appropriate to business with the ready-made charts and graphs.  I managed to crash Deck when I was playing with it and I doubt I will go back to it (bad omen).

I think Haiku Deck and Lensoo would be the most useful for my purposes – mostly for making things on the fly when I don’t have a computer with me.  Both can be used for vetting and testing ideas that I could polish up for later use.

Thing 12

I tried the Audiobooks app that you have listed because I love audiobooks.  I was surprised to hear in the introduction of the first title I tested that it was a LibriVox recording.

I already have the LibriVox app.

While the Audiobooks app does not allow you to download – only stream – the LibriVox app does, in fact, allow downloads (in sections, just like Overdrive downloads when you check them out of the library or Audible downloads when you purchase something.  It’s probably because the files are so big).

Anyway, I suppose it doesn’t matter much for people who have iPhones but I don’t have an iPhone.  I have an iPod and a Nexus so I am dependent upon wireless for streaming.  This means the LibriVox is a much better app for my purposes.

It’s kind of crazy that there are essentially two apps for LibriVox recordings (I tested a half dozen titles in the Audiobooks app and they were all LibriVox recordings).   I noticed that there are some that you can upgrade to a higher quality recording for not very much money, but I’m going to hold off on that.

Of course, the main reason I’m doing this is because of the overwhelming number of apps available, making it impossible to keep up with them all.  I’m grateful for the project because it has gotten me out of my rut and moving forward.

Still, sometimes I’ll stick with my rut.

Thing 11

I love the Hennepin County library app and have used it for some time.  I kid around that I had to move to Minneapolis because of the library, but it’s maybe not entirely a joke.

One thing that I wish were easier is moving between paper and electronic holdings, queues and request lists.  I’m not sure if it’s me, vendor restrictions, boopsie or some sort of cataloging thing, but to me that part of using the library is kind of clunky.

Still, it’s wonderful to have such an amazing public library.

Thing 10

Well, I did not know what Throwback Thursday was, but I do now.  Thanks for keeping me current 😉

I loaded Instagram and played with it a bit last night.  Ironically, I posted some old photos.  Found some friends to follow and since last night have two followers – yeah!  I’m not sure about linking to Facebook so I’ll have to think about that.

This is going to be a fun app.  Since no one blogs much any more and I don’t care for Twitter I’m thinking this could turn into something that I use a lot.  I love taking photos and following others’ photos (a picture is worth 1000 words which is a lot more than 140 characters!) so now all I have to do is find everyone.

Thing 9

I tried CamMe.  This is really slick for taking selfies.  Because I travel alone and live alone I can really use this.  Last night I took a few at home so that I would have a current photo to accompany a work bio.  I am absolutely fascinated with the way it works!

And look – no extended arm to hold the iPod:

Thing(s) 8

I belive I mentioned in Thing 7 that I’m not big on social media 😉

Linkedin seems to have helped me land my current job, so I’m warming up to it. I guess after my interview everyone Googled me. My only web presence is, apparently, my Linkedin profile.* I originally set up the account so I could model for students. At one point I had someone stalking me, critiquing my resume, so I amended my profile to show only my (at that time) current position, but I added a philosophy statement to make up for the missing history. To me it’s been a double-edged sword. I like the fact that I can keep some connections open through Linkedin. The app is handy to have.

Facebook is, for me, a way to keep up with people although I don’t use it much. Professionally I have never done anything with Facebook. From what I’ve seen, students aren’t very interested in friending their library. It seems to be more of a social thing. It may work better for public libraries, I don’t know, but to me there is not enough return on investment for all the time that has to be invested for a robust Facebook account.

Twitter is not for me. Too superficial. What can be said in 140 characters or less doesn’t interest me.

I love Ravelry.com for social media, but they don’t have an app (it’s like Facebook but for knitters which means for me it holds purpose).

*I did a minimalist resume on Prezi for fun and made it public, which I think you can find if you Google my name and the word resume, but apparently nobody Googles a name and the word resume. Go figure.

Thing 7

I tried Bitly.  I am intrigued.  While I don’t do much in social media, I can see where this will be useful.  I do pass on links to my kids and some friends via email, so this will bring some of the ridiculously long ones under control.  I like that.  And who knows?  Maybe some day I will be interested in social media.

I do have questions about Pinterest.  I had an account but I cancelled it.  It’s not just that Pinterest is another black hole for time…my big question is about sharing other peoples’ stuff.  It’s impossible to determine provenance of most of the images seen on Pinterest.  How does that work?  Is it legal?  How do the terms of use for Pinterest address copyright and permissions? (No, I’m not going to read the terms of use agreement).

Any comments or input would be greatly appreciated.

Thing 6

I’ve used Docs2Go before, but CloudOn has PowerPoint which, last I checked, was not an option.  So I first tried CoudOn.  Alas, when I went to try a PPT it took forever to load, and then when I tried to play it I was asked to sign in to my iTunes accout. Really? This will be great for Excel and Word but maybe not so much for PPT docs.

So off I went to Quick Office to test PowerPoint. Works great.

Found out PowerPoint is now available in Docs2Go – doesn’t work very well though.

I remember when I first got the iPad there was no way to do a PowerPoint.  Microsoft Office apps never had very good functionality.  It’s great that these things work on mobile devices now.

Truth is, I don’t use my iPad much for work, but I do have some personal documents stored on it.  Quick Office will be handy to have now for those files.

Thing(s) 5

I tried Bamboo and Dragon Dictation.  I like them both.

These will be very handy for when I’m on the go and want to make notes or lists.  I’m a big list person.  I really like the fact that Dragon Dictation spells it all out for me, although I may not always want to be talking to a device, so Bamboo paper will be handy when there is no paper and pen (or when the ink in my pen is frozen and won’t write – really, that’s happened to me).  The drawback is that I can’t always read my writing … but I guess I could work on that 😉

I will start using them for work and for personal use.  When I have an epiphany for a work problem (my random access memory) both of these will come in handy for keeping track of my bright ideas …. for personal use I can keep running lists of movies to watch and books to read in addition to my ongoing grocery list.

There are so many apps and I never browse the app store, so I appreciate the great suggestions that you have on this list – Thanks!

Thing 4

I have had Flipboard for a while, but haven’t opened it in ages. I loaded Zite, told it what I’m interested in and now, Saturday morning opened it up to have a look. An hour later I crawl out of the Zite vortex having enjoyed quirky news missed during the week, cooking and travel tips, and I’ve added to my Amazon wishlist and library holds.

Now I’m wondering if I should look at Flipboard again. Or maybe not. Because I may not get anything done today if I do.

Has RSS has come a long way or have I changed? I think it’s the graphic layout of the feeds that makes it so appealing.

Now I have to grab my laptop to find Niel Gaiman reading Green Eggs and Ham because it didn’t work on the Nexus or iPad…