Thing 23

I just gave myself a pat on the back. This was not as hard to complete as the first 23 Things on a Stick, but it still took determination and discipline to keep working at it.  My husband and I are taking a dream vacation starting in mid-June so I had a big incentive to finish this commitment as soon as I could.

About the apps:

• Useful when I know about them or actually have them - and then remember to use them.

• There were many fun apps, useful apps. Haiku Deck was great. There were a couple of 5th grade girls who went home after the library lesson and made their own "deck!"

• I am the only one I know doing the "23 Mobile Things."

• I liked to know that there is actually an app that helps you find apps that would be useful for you.

• I thought that you all had done a fabulous job putting together this "23 Mobile Things." What impressed me the most was your screen shots and tips along the way for so many of the apps. That was truly remarkable and helpful. It made going into the actual app itself so much more comfortable - like I knew what I was looking at. In the future I hope you keep doing that!

• Yes, I would participate. All your hard work has some payoff in me in my personal life and my life as an educator.

• Take the time to stretch and learn with the "23 Things" and you will be rewarded - personally and in your professional life.

Thing 22

I played with Quixey. I tried to find an app on bicycling. I am getting more into biking here and there and wanted cycling tips and also wondered about proper cycling attire. Not much luck except to subscribe to Cycling Magazine from their cycling app.

Then I tried to find an app that would help me put together outfits to be made from my pre-exising wardrobe. Not much luck there either - one of the few apps that came up was a "design your own look and share it with your friends." Not exactly what I had in mind.

Now that I know such an app search website exists, I will keep that in mind as I have needs that come up.

I scrolled down the page after I googled best apps 2013 and found some you have already recommended and many other amazing ones. So little time, so many apps!

Thing 21

O.K. I have a few. They get daily use, almost. One is the Calculator app that I upgraded to Calculator Pro to say good-bye to the annoying advertising. I had always wanted a BIG! calculator - well, this one is the size of my iPad. Love it!

I also use the MyRadar Weather Radar app a lot. It is super handy to predict the weather or how close a storm is, before it actually hits. I should upgrade to the Pro version on this one, too.

And, I do use the OverDrive app with the Hennepin County Library System to download audiobooks.
This has been a God-send!

Thanks for all the new apps you have exposed me to!

Thing 20

I used to play Solitaire and Cryptogram every day for maybe 4-5 months. Then I said to myself, "This is a waste of time." At least for me. I would rather be catching up on my reading, reading a good story or being active in some way.

I did get the Word Warp app and played it for a few minutes. It is similar to the PopWord! app I got a few years ago. It is good to "play" and stretch your mind. I guess I'd rather find other ways to do that than staring at a screen.

Thing 19

I did not find the MyGarden app useful - I am an avid gardener, just not that social.

I did get the Vivino Wine Scanner app - that should be fun - even if I only use it on Trader Joe's wines.

I spent over an hour with the Spotify app. I followed one playlist, but I think what I will most enjoy is the Spotify "radio."  I also discovered that Spotify accessed my iTunes playlist. Voila - there they were!

Thing 18

Zow! Way too many cool apps. I love language learning, nutrition, world geography - just learning in general. TEDTalks were created for me!

So I started to play. Got myself Duolingo and passed the first lesson.

I got the Fooducate app and played around. I probably don't need to track my daily diet but some other features like the scanning of food items and browsing food nutrients/calories could come in handy.

I got iTranslate. I learned Danish the year I lived in Denmark, but forty years later it is a bit rusty. I typed in a few phrases and listened to how I should say it in Danish. Way cool!

I already had Google Maps, but fooled around long enough to learn some new things I had never used before: dropping pins, turn-by-turn directions, street view to name a few.

It's true - so many good (books) apps so little time.

Thing 17

Today I explored a bunch of local Minnesota apps that could help me keep in touch with my community.

The only app that worked at all on my iPad was the Highlights of the Superior Hiking Trail. I couldn't get Minneapolis by Open Spaces or the Star Tribune's Going Out app to come up on my iPad. I managed to get them both on my iPhone but they seemed to not live up to the app introductions in the App Store.

I also wanted Explore Minnesota but that was a total bust. I am beginning to see the elegance of a finely tuned app. Many are not worth the bother. But I like the idea of these apps I checked out - hopefully I will remember to go back to see if they were more finely tuned.