Thing 23, The Best for Last!

 

The Daily Mail

 

I've finally made it! The 23rd Thing.

I feel it's appropriate to end this blog off with a suggestion for my favourite app of all time - my guilty pleasure, my daily escape, my news source and my celebrity gossip updates: The British Newspaper app - The Daily Mail.

 

Ok, ok, there's some trashy content. But there's also a glut of fascinating news, science, and  human interest stories to be had. There are quite literally hundreds of news articles every day, with updates every hour or so. You almost can never read it all. It would take you hours to get through all the content if you wanted -there's the Australian and American news sections, the "Femail" section and the Sports section, plus many more.

 

I can scroll through the different sections, clicking on stories with titles like "LA woman has her 8ft alligator pet seized by cops after claims she was feeding it feral cats after the creature was found surrounded by kitten carcasses"

or

"The evolution of the Oscar dress: From Janet Gaynor's off-the-rack skirt to Jennifer Lawrence in Christian Dior, EVERY gown worn by the best actress winners since 1929 revealed"

I've also found that The Daily Mail has THE most in-depth news articles about all major world events too, with loads of photos. When there was the shooting on Parliment Hill in Ottawa just recently, it was the Daily Mail that had the most information - also being the most accurate and current.

 

I've got both my sister and sister-in-law hooked on the site too. It's such a fun app for browsing heart warming stories, or the latest breaking news, or fun gossipy pictures of Beyonce.

 

And now you know my secret! Daily Mail is the way to go :)

 

 

So to end this blog off, I'd like to say - I've had a ton of fun. I've learned a surprising amount, and I enjoyed doing it. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as well!

 

Sayonara!

 

 

Thing 22: Games

Bejeweled

 

 

I was looking at all the games listed and while I recognized a few (Candy Crush, Clash of Clans) - the majority of them didn't sound appealing. So I decided to try out my favourite game, for old times sake. I used to be obsessed with Bejeweled when I was younger (think MSN messenger days) and got a little too good if you know what I mean. Like, I should have been doing something more practical and worthwhile with my life.

 

Turns out that I am still easily addicted to Bejeweled and possibly even more obsessed now that it comes on my beautiful shiny iPhone 6 Plus. I can play it wherever - on the couch, in my room, waiting for an appointment. It's scary how easy it became to just want "one more game". ;)

While playing, I was actually reminded of this meme for Netflix that was eerily similar:

 

 

 

 Alright, so what exactly is Bejeweled? It's a matching game - you group together different coloured jewels to gain points. There are several versions of the game - "Diamond Mine"/ "Lightning Speed" / "Butterflies" and "Zen". All of them are roughly the same amount of addicting I've found. There's also the option to play the "Poker" version but you have to pay for that one, so I avoid it.

To be completely honest, I've earned all the highest badges for the game, except for 3.

 

I would recommend this game as a great escape - and that's all. It's not educational, it's not really strategic in the way that other games are, and it's a game that will bring about long lasting life benefits. But hey, if you've got a couple of minutes to kill at the doctor's office and you can't be bothered to pick up a 2 year old magazine - Bejeweled is your answer!

Thing 21: Hobbies (Food!)

Kraft: iFood Assistant

After looking at the hobby apps suggested for this week I felt like none really interested me in particular.

The closest one to being useful was the food app - which then got me thinking about what food websites I like. I realized that one of my go-to food/recipe websites is the Kraft Canada site (I admit I'm not a real "foodie" - just someone who likes to make simple, quick, cheap and healthy meals at home).

So I decided to download the Kraft app and it blew me away! It is super fun to use and has tons of features.

I was mentioning it to a co-worker at the Langley Library and she exclaimed about how she regularly uses the app and has a friend that loves the "On a Dime" feature - which gives tips for recipes that are cheap.

Although the app relies heavily on Kraft food products, it's still worth downloading in my opinion. You can always subsitute different food items instead of Kraft if you want to make it more organic/gluten free/less sugar/kosher/vegetarian/lactose free.

I think it's neat finding apps like these - ones I can recommend if someone asks what a good app is for ideas for making dinner or appetizers for a Superbowl party.

I like apps that are practical for both my professional life and personal life. Then, when people ask me if I'd personally recommend something, I can answer honestly. Check it out people!

Education: Thing nineteen

DuoLingo

I was so happy to discover this app! I honestly got a bit obsessed with it actually (my co-workers can attest to my fascination with it).

It's a wonderful app for learning languages and I would highly recommend it to anyone - both personally and professionally.

First off, I liked how it starts you off with a "placement test". The test gives you an idea of your knowledge of the language and what level you can begin with. Even though I thought I had the basics of French down, my test revealed that I needed to start with Level 1.

It then launched me into the Level 1 program and I was immediately addicted. There were photos, quizzes, fill in the blanks, speaking and listening exercises. It was very repetitive and exactly how I'd imagine a strong language learning program would go.

I found myself hooked and kept wanting to "level up". Within half an hour, I'd already finished 4 lessons and was wishing I could do more.

One other useful feature was that I received a 'reminder' email when I hadn't logged in for a couple of days later. It  was a good prompt to bring me back to the app when I didn't have time.

Professionally, I think this app would be a great supplement to our Mango languages that is available through our FVRL database collection.

Personally, I appreciate that this app is free. I think it's awesome that something this well designed and fun to use comes with no charges (as far as I can tell).

Overall, I am delighted in this language learning app!

20 - Managing Your Finances

My Bank's App: Aldergrove Credit Union

Because my little tiny community credit union bank is not listed on any of the money tracking apps, I decided it was a bit useless to download them - with basically no functionality.
Therefore, I thought I'd talk about my experiences with my own bank's app.

To begin with, it's surprisingly user friendly. Maybe that is simply because there aren't too many options as my bank doesn't offer lots of options. It's a great little credit union, with about 5 branches in the Abbotsford/Aldergrove/Langley area.

All the things I need are on the app.
It shows my balance, all my different accounts (TSA Savings, Chequing, Savings, etc), and all my "recent activity" within those accounts.

It also gives the option for paying bills, scheduling regularly paid bills, transfering money into different accounts and more.

It's one of my most used apps as I check it on a regular basis - at least 3 times a week or more. I like how it's updated instantly, as soon as I make any kind of purchase or move my money around. It's detailed, but not overwhelmingly so.

I have always kept a pretty good eye on my money and know quite close to exactly where I stand, so I feel this app fits perfectly with my life. It's not bothersome with pop-ups and constant reminders (but I assume some people would appreciate those kind of features). It's easy to open, it gives me the information I'm looking for, and isn't too slow or cumbersome.

Once I do a joint bank account with my husband at a new bank, I will probably try one of the money management apps, but for now, I'm pleased with my community credit union's app :)

THING 18- Community Connection App

1. BC Health Services Locator App

After playing around with this app for a couple of minutes I decided it was:
A) super easy to use
B) helpful for finding clinics, especially ones that are open late.

The main reason it is easy to navigate is because there isn't a whole lot of information, but sometimes that is what makes it user friendly and attractive.

I can imagine using it in my personal life, for those times when you're really sick/someone in your family is really sick and you need to get to a walk-in clinic pronto but aren't sure where the nearest one is, and what their hours are.
My favourite part about the app is how they have all the addresses and phone numbers listed - and when you click on the icon for "phone" it immediately dials it for you. I was definitely impressed with that! I hate having to search for phone numbers on Google and then try to memorize it quickly enough to be able to punch it into my keypad.

I put this app right into my "Health" related app category and I think I'll keep it.

2. My Lower Mainland Guide

I like this app! I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It has local deals that I always have fun viewing; it has news that is updated regularly (I admit I like to read local stories about small town issues); and it has a complete listing of places to go out and eat.
The layout isn't bad and the information is detailed and pratical and yet not overwhelming.

In terms of it being used professionally - I'd say probably not.
Personally though, I can see this app coming in handy.

I'm just learning all sorts of new things! :)

17. Audio

SoundCloud

I chose this app for a couple of reasons.

 

1. I had heard about it previously

2. I wanted to check out an app with both music streaming AND voice recording audio capabilities

3. I did a quick review of music/audio recording apps on the internet and SoundCloud had what I was looking for

4. It is free, with no pressure to "upgrade"

5. No ads

 

 

After looking into the app, these are my thoughts:

 

• I love the "freshness" of it. Soundcloud posts new content all the time, and 'trending' music allows for new discoveries on a regular basis
• It is pretty easy to navigate. It took me about 3 minutes to figure out where I could upload my own audio, which isn't too bad I guess.
• I like how many remixes of songs there are - something fun and different
• I can see myself using this for studying - the categories of music you can select range from rap to ambient to classical.
• This is not really an app for uploading your own audio on a regular basis - definitely not for creating voice memos, lists and reminders. This app is designed for something like uploading an entire speech or a reading that you wanted to keep.
• The app is made for those who want to share their audio files
• I can't really see myself using it professionally, but that's OK