thing the twenty-third | evaluate 23 mobile things

The 23 Mobile Things initiative was a pretty cool experience. I would have considered myself an expert app user/downloader/discoverer previously, but I still learned about some new ones I'd never before encountered. In my library there were at least a half dozen staff participating in 23 Mobile Things, so it also provided me an opportunity to assist some of my colleagues who were less comfortable or tech savvy in their own discovery.

My favorite part of the experience, as one might guess upon reading the bulk of my blog entries and sensing something of my personality, was the documentation process. I do like to document things, particularly a project that has a defined beginning and end -- it's satisfying to look back and be able to see the visual confirmation of my experience. I do regret that, due both to projects at work and a general habit of procrastination, I really had to scramble these last three weeks to finish on time. It would have been nicer not to feel so rushed, but that's my own fault. If 23 Mobile Things v2.0 were offered, I'd definitely consider participating again, depending on my other obligations.

Thank you, 23 Mobile Things organizers! It's been fun!

thing the twenty-second | discovering apps

I didn't have to download anything for this thing -- I already use Apps Gone Free. I try to remember to check it daily, and I have discovered a number of new apps that I would not otherwise have learned about. I also use it to spot highly-rated apps that would be appropriate and educational for my four-year-old, and watch for others I already know about but am just waiting for the opportunity to get them free. I've acquired Grandpa's Workshop, Grandma's Kitchen, Grandma's Garden, Lulu in Polynesia and Lulu in the Amazon in this fashion. They are absolutely fantastic and have proven to be some of her favorite apps. I love Apps Gone Free!

I may or may not check out the Quixey website. There have been times when I'm wondering if there's a good app for a particular task or purpose I have in mind, but since I find myself so often battling the iPhone storage limit daemons the last thing I need is to find a million more apps I really, really want but don't have room for. I'll keep it in mind.

thing the twenty-first | free-for-all

I have a couple of apps I'd like to recommend:

First, for managing the family calendar, shopping lists and to-do lists, I've found nothing better than Cozi. There are a number of apps that do one or two of these things really well, but Cozi does them all at least well enough that I have abandoned the alternative apps I once used. The calendar, in particular, is really where it excels. Have all your family members install it and log in using the same credentials, and you have convenience at your fingertips.

I think I already mentioned it in a previous thing, but My Fitness Pal is also a fantastic all-in-one app for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is completely free and tracks weight, food and exercise, adjusting your daily "allowed" calories accordingly depend on your goals. It also has a (slightly clunky) recipe nutrition calculator you can use to save frequently made meals into your own personal database.

When I had a newborn, the Total Baby app satisfied my need to document everything. We used it religiously the first four months of my daughter's life to track diapering, nursing, sleep and doctor visits, up until she started daycare. I still keep it installed on my phone (she's now four), for nostalgia and also because we still use it to track her vaccination history. (Amusingly, according to the app today, it's been 1,464 days since she has eaten, slept or had her diaper changed.)

A few other apps I use frequently include The Weather Channel, AP News, Care Care (documents gas/service history), Kids Media and BigOven. I think I paid a fee for it, but I also highly recommend (for women) the app P-Tracker for keeping track of period cycle/fertility. The future prediction calendar is also invaluable for vacation planning!

thing the twentieth | games

I'm a gamer, so I was both anticipating and apprehensive about this thing. I was looking forward to trying out some new games on my phone, but my experience so far with mobile games has been disappointing. Many of them are time/turn-based -- i.e., you are granted only so many "lives" in a given time period. If you use them up, you have to wait a set amount of time for a new one to generate, or pay a fee for instant gratification. I understand that this is how the app developers make money, but it's such a turn off for me and such a different format from other games I've played previously in my life that I would rather not play at all.

As one might expect, the mobile games that are actually worth playing are purchased with a single fee upfront without multiple in-app purchases or add-ons. One in particular I'd recommend is The Settlers, a mobile version of the popular (at least in Europe) strategy/building series of the 1990s and 2000s.

That said, I did actually download and play one of the recommended games for this thing, Candy Crush Saga, just to see what the fuss was all about, and I admit with no shame whatsoever that I spent most of my weekend playing and progressing to the point where I must now wait 24 hours before having another opportunity to advance. That might mean I'm now at the end of the road and my interest will wane, but I'm not sure yet. It was addictive, though that isn't necessarily a good thing, and I did enjoy the strategic aspect of gameplay.

thing the nineteenth | hobbies

The new app I downloaded for this thing was Road Ninja. I was searching for an app like this a few months ago and ended up with something that left a lot to be desired. I can tell immediately that Road Ninja is superior -- to start with, it's pretty! Visual appeal and intuitiveness is huge when it comes to mobile apps. It's hard to forgive an app for being ugly and difficult to use. Road Ninja appears to be accurate and well-organized, and I can't wait to use it on my next roadtrip!

Spotify is an app that I've already been using ever since it became available to U.S. citizens (it was available in Europe for several years prior, it seems). I use the free version only, which means that I can't choose a specific song and play it immediately, but I have created a starred list of the favorite tunes I like to sing along to and that is great for listening in the car when I'm not listening to a podcast of some kind.

I would like to recommend another hobby app, Geocaching. It is a paid app, unfortunately, but absolutely essential for finding and logging geocaches on the go, especially if you didn't take the time to load up your dedicated GPSr unit or are stopping to find a cache spontaneously while out and about.

thing the eighteenth | education

I downloaded just one new app for this thing, but I have already downloaded and used several of the other suggestions. I'm going to mention only a few, because the 23 Mobile Things project deadline is next week and I don't feel like I have as much time as I would have liked to mess around.

The new one I picked: Bill Nye the Science Guy. We are enthusiastic about science in my household, and I love encouraging my 4-year-old in critical thinking and scientific thought. This looks pretty cool, and it will be fun to try out some of the experiments.

I have used the Fooducate app before. It's helpful to get a quick snapshot of a product in terms of just how healthy it is -- not only in terms of calories and vitamins, but also if there are ingredients in the product that are concerning. For food logging or calorie counting, Fooducate wasn't compelling enough to pull me away from my old favorite app, My Fitness Pal.

Project Noah is a nature app that I had installed for a few years, but I never seemed to find a way to incorporate it into use. It's possible that it has changed or expanded, so I might give it another try.

thing the seventeenth | connecting to community

From the start of this endeavor, I have completed each of the things in the same order they are listed on the index page. As I've watched it creeping ever closer on the list, I have been looking forward to working on this thing for quite a while now!

My first download was the Highlights of the Superior Hiking Trail app. My husband and I have long dreamed of hiking the SHT, but so far life has gotten in the way and we have yet to complete even a single leg. As advertised, this app is pretty high-level, so you probably wouldn't be able to use it as a tool while actually on the trail itself, but it could definitely get someone excited about a SHT adventure and learn more about some of the high points.

I next attempted to download the Minneapolis Skyway app, just to see how in-depth it was. I don't work downtown, but if I did I would certainly appreciate a handy skyway map. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the app in the app store, so maybe it's been removed?

Next up was the Minneapolis app. It looked pretty. When I downloaded it it failed to produce any content whatsoever. I tried selecting both "Explore" and "Events," but each time the results list came up completely empty. I went to the search utility and entered simply "Minneapolis," but it just spun and spun, never ultimately returning any results. I may try again later.

The next app that I thought might have some potential was the Going Out app created by the Star Tribune. So far it looks pretty decent for finding a bite to eat while out and about. Since I have theater tickets for this coming Saturday, I thought I'd see if I could cause my show to appear among the search results. Sadly, when I tried to search the venues for "Guthrie," it said nothing by that name was found, despite it being perhaps the most famous theater in town. I do like the Family Entertainment search option, and I could see myself using that during one of those "what should we do today?" moments in the dead of winter. Would be nice if it were a bit more comprehensive.

I would have liked to experiment with the Explore Minnesota app, but it opened each time with an error message, indicating some kind of conflict with the API and Google Maps. Sad.

I next downloaded the MN Museums app, and so far it looks pretty cool. It's definitely helpful to know where all of the children's museums are! I could see this being handy while traveling out-state and encountering a rainy day.

thing the sixteenth | audio

Of all the things I've learned about so far, audio is probably the area for which I have the least need or interest. I read a little about each of the three suggested audio apps and none really inspired me, but I thought I'd better download SOMETHING in order to complete this thing.

So I downloaded Audioboo and created a single sample recording, and it appears to perform as expected. I don't quite see the attraction in sharing homemade audio recordings in this age of instant video, so the social aspects of this app are kind of lost on me. My iPhone also came with a microphone app that seems to perform the same basic function as these audio recorders. While I've used it perhaps a handful of times in the years I've had my phone, I can definitely live without it, and in fact I more often than not forget that it exists.

I guess I have very little meaningful to say about audio apps since I can't imagine when I'd ever want to use one.

thing the fifteenth | infographics

The only app for this thing that was compatible with my iPhone (all others required an iPad) was info.Graphics. My first impression? Pretty visuals, but SO MUCH CLUNK! I first navigated to the categories page, where I was greeted by a misspelling of the word 'developed' (developped). Upon selecting a category, nothing happened -- no visual acknowledgment of any kind that I had made a selection, until eventually, more than five seconds later (which feels like eternity on a mobile device), the screen changed to show infographics in that category. However, as I proceeded to scroll down the page with my category results, pop-up messages asking me to "please wait" appeared constantly. The number of total results, perhaps a dozen, was also a let-down, especially after all the patience required.

I'm kind of intrigued by several of the other apps that were iPad-only, so there's a small chance I'll download and play with one of those at home.

thing the fourteenth | videos

I'd sort of been putting off this thing, because I'm just not that enthusiastic about videos. I occasionally record my daughter's activities with my phone or with our "nice" camera, but other than sometimes stitching a few clips together to create something longer, I do little to no editing or enhancements.

For this thing I downloaded the Vine app, which can be used to generate 6-second videos. They can be one single clip, or any number of short clips that are automatically merged together. Starting and stopping video recording is as easy as holding or removing your finger on the screen. I was already somewhat familiar with Vine due to exposure via Twitter. In fact, I've been following Brendon Urie, singer in the band Panic at the Disco!, who was an early adopter of Vine, and has created some amazing, inspired and amusing videos.

My first video was a recording of my cat Tycho just as I walked in the door home from work. I somehow had the luck to capture her yawning, so it's a bit cute but admittedly uninspired. A feature I wish were present but which seems to be lacking, is finding friends through connections other than Twitter. I would have liked, for example, to discover which of my Facebook friends also had a Vine account, but that doesn't seem to be possible. I've composed a few other videos since I began playing with Vine, but without a perceived audience other than myself, I don't feel very motivated (or have the time, really) to create simply for the sake of creation.

I initially thought I'd download the Magisto app as well, and try my hand at video editing with music or graphics, but ultimately ended up changing my mind. I don't expect to have much use for an app like this because I simply don't have time to create fancy videos.

thing the thirteenth | presentations

For this thing, I downloaded just one app, Deck. Two of the four suggested apps were for iPad only, and I never bring my iPad to work. The other, Haiku Deck, required that an account be created. Since I don't expect to keep a presentation app on my phone once 23 Mobile Things is over, I opted not to create an account I'd never use.

Although quite basic, Deck was fairly intuitive. I created a new slideshow of about 6-7 slides. I added some text, added a photo/caption. I didn't really play around with themes very much, but some of them were quite visually appealing. If I had a reason to create a simple slideshow on the fly, and I can't actually think of one, this wouldn't be a bad choice.

thing the twelfth | books, books & more books

For this thing, I first downloaded the Free Books app, which appears to be called simply 'Books' nowadays. Due to the name change I had a heck of a time, first finding it in the app store, and then being certain that I had the correct app. I poked around a bit, downloaded a sample ebook (Benjamin Franklin's autobiography) and paged through it. Overall, the interface seems pretty slick. While I'm not a big consumer of ebooks in general, I could easily see myself using this to read free classics while on vacation or in another situation in which I'd rather not be lugging around a print book.

Because I have a 4-year-old child, I was very interested in trying out the iStoryBooks app, but to my disappointment it appears to have been pulled from iTunes. (I'm uncertain whether it is still available to Android devices.) I attempted to find it via both a general search and a direct link from the 23 Mobile Things website. Both came up empty. If I ever find it, I'll post an update.

I passed on the Wattpad, Audiobooks and YALSA Teen Book Finder apps since I'm less interested in these topics.

My go-to app for interacting with other readers and gathering ideas for new things to read is GoodReads. I've never checked to see whether it offers downloadable, copyright-free titles, so I can't comment on that aspect, but I love that I can see what my friends and family are reading, keep track of what I read, and share ratings and reviews.

thing the eleventh | library & reference

My library system, Hennepin County, has a mobile app that seems to be both popular and a source of complaint from our users. I have it installed on my mobile device, but I have to admit I rarely use it. Until today I was never fully conscious of the reason, but it just came to the forefront of my brain: it's because on the full website I can store all three of my family members' cards and easily toggle between them. On those mornings when I'm running around the house scrambling to find all of the books that are due that day, the full website -- even on a mobile phone-sized screen -- is vastly more helpful. Since that is the only situation in which I access library accounts on a mobile device (I do everything else from a desktop computer), HCL's mobile app holds little appeal. Having said that, I very much appreciate that the full website is easily navigable via my iPhone or iPad.

I haven't used any of the vendor apps. As above, I take care of nearly all of my library business in a non-mobile setting.

thing the tenth | sharing photos

Yay, Instagram! I'm already a happy Instagram user, so I was pleased to see this app included in 23 Mobile Things. I use it to tweak and share photos, as well as post selected photos to Facebook. I sometimes wish it had more filters and frames to choose from (I'd happily pay for such an upgrade), but I find that it's easy to use other apps for missing features and then import the modified photo into Instagram for publishing.

I chose not to download Snapchat for ideological reasons. Its creators have come under fire for providing a false sense of security (i.e., photos are deleted after a length of time) which turned out not to be completely true. There are a number of ways to get around this feature. Added to the fact that Snapchat has been heavily marketed toward teenagers, who are inherently more likely to take photos that they wish to have disappear, I do not wish Snapchat to have my business, even if merely in the form of downloading a free app.

thing the ninth | taking and editing photos

For mobile photo editing, Instagram is my go-to app, although I also use a handful of others (BeFunky, ABM, Rhonna) for other occasional special effects. I exclusively use the iPhone's built-in Camera app for taking photos, even though many, if not most, of these apps also have a photo-taking feature.

I had not used LINE Camera previously, and I have to admit that I didn't find the interface especially intuitive. For example, it was not immediately obvious to me that there were free frame options available. It seemed that I first had to navigate through a number of paid, downloadable options in order to find them. Once found, however, I was pleased to note the variety (more and more varied than Instagram). From there it was simple to add a frame and text to the photo, and I'm somewhat pleased with my first hurried creation (below). LINE Camera is a photo app I probably will keep.

I next tried Aviary, but was not impressed at all. It didn't appear to offer anything new that isn't already available with most of the other popular photo editing apps out there.

ColorSplurge seemed intriguing, but HOLY CRAP the ads are annoying! There is a wiggling camera lens up in the right-hand corner that wiggles every 2 seconds or so and has nothing to do with the app itself. Clicking it leads to the app store page for a completely different product. Ads also appear on the bottom as you begin to edit a photo, and ads also pop up to take up the entire screen. I was too annoyed to really even test this app out, sorry.

I really liked CamMe! I tried it out at work, and it performed precisely as advertised. I don't take many selfies, but this app would allow for a lot more creativity than merely holding a camera at arm's length. I think I'll keep it.

thing the eighth | social media management tools

Here is a thing I have a lot of experience with!

While I am a Twitter user, I'm more of a lurker than a poster. I've never been comfortable enough with my grasp of twitter protocol, I guess. I follow a fair amount of folks, both people I know and others, mostly skeptics. I don't check it daily, usually just when I've already exhausted every other social media outlet and I'm still bored.

Facebook seems to be my (and half the rest of the world's) go-to choice for social media. While I'm not thrilled with every aspect, I'd rather be with it than without it. My 20-year high school reunion is coming up this autumn, and I suspect that Facebook's existence and current popularity (as opposed to ten years ago) is going to make a significant difference in attendance. My library once had lively and engaging Twitter and Facebook accounts, but ownership changed and sadly they are no longer.

I have a Google+ account, but I rarely look at it. If there had been a tipping point at which millions of users suddenly spilled over to Google+ from (or even in addition to) Facebook, in the same way that users switched from MySpace to Facebook, there would be reason to. As it is now, there is nothing that compels me to visit.

I was invited to LinkedIn by a long lost childhood friend who was not on Facebook but wished to reconnect, so I really joined for that solely that purpose. Shortly thereafter I was contacted by another long lost childhood friend in the same manner, so I guess it was worth it! Otherwise, I'm neither in between jobs nor looking for new employment at this time, so I don't feel that LinkedIn currently has much to offer me.

I was was an active user on Foursquare a few years ago, and diligently checked in just about everywhere I went for perhaps the first six to nine months. After a while, the sloppiness of the location database was so frustrating to my mildly OCD tendencies (locations in the wrong place on the map, multiple listings for the same place, made-up places, etc. and not seeing any corrections being made) that I simply abandoned it.

tvtag holds little interest for me since I rarely watch TV, and the last things we need are incentives to watch more TV!

The next few recommended apps appear to allow for management of social media across multiple platforms, so I'm declining trying them out. As I mentioned in thing the fourth | keeping up, I prefer to keep my social media feeds separate from one another in order to maintain a sense of control.

thing the seventh | content saving & sharing

No new download required for the first app here -- I'm already a user of Pinterest! I'm not the obsessive stay-up-all-night-pinning type, more of a copycat pinner, letting my friends do all the work searching out the cool and useful stuff that I just swoop in and repin like a Pinterest ninja. Pinterest has some practical applications for libraries -- ideas for programming, displays, visual book lists, etc. I also use it to collect bathroom humor (no, not that kind) for the staff restroom in my library. To bring a little levity into what is otherwise a professional workplace, we collectively post humorous (and often library-related) memes on the restroom wall. Searching the "humor" category on Pinterest is a great way to find some of these gems, but whether this could be considered a "professional" application of is debatable!

At first glance, I'm not entirely sure what Bitly is supposed to do for me. It appears to be a way to manage bookmarks, as well as access them universally, a service which Chrome already provides to me. To test it I hit the '+' and entered a URL, but it just kept spinning and spinning, never ultimately doing anything with what I had input. Since this was my first and only experience with the Bitly app, I'm not terribly impressed. Pass.

thing the sixth | creating & editing docs

For this thing I first downloaded CloudOn to give it a test drive. I don't typically find myself creating or editing documents on the go, so I'll be evaluating these primarily on interface, intuitiveness and usability rather than practical application. CloudOn was easy to link to Google Drive. I edited an existing document and also created a new one. The one huge, glaringly obvious deficiency in CloudOn is lack of auto-correction, which I automatically come to expect in everything I do nowadays.

I next tried Quickoffice, which I immediately noticed DOES automatic auto-correction. Yay! Perhaps this shouldn't be the deal-breaker when the app can do so much more, but when you expect it to be there and it isn't, it's kind of a drag. So Quickoffice wins this battle of the document apps. I could see myself using this if I had reason to be working on office documents on the go.

I opted not to download and try out SignNow since I have nothing that needs signing, but it's nice to know it's around.

iPad to the rescue!

Several weeks ago our library experienced a power outage during open hours, and staff were compelled to resort to circulation procedures from the Dark Ages, i.e., hand-writing the barcodes from each patron's library card and from every single book they were checking out.

I thought that there must be some barcode apps out there that could 1) capture and store a string of barcodes, and 2) export the stored data via email. After downloading seven or eight free candidates and trying them out, the "winner" was the Bar-Code app. It is admittedly still somewhat clunky, but it would nevertheless be faster than writing dozens of barcodes by hand. I've introduced it to a handful of our staff, so that in the event we experience a similar situation at least one pair of hands could be scanning cards and items with the library iPad.

thing the fifth | notetaking

I downloaded both Springpad and Remember the Milk, and while I was sort of intrigued by the variety of "stuff" that can be tracked, I'm unlikely to incorporate them into my life. For keeping track of the family calendar, shopping lists and to-do lists, my family shares a Cozi account. Having these three key things together in one place has helped to simplify and coordinate our lives. Springboard offers to keep track of recipes, books and movies, but I already do this elsewhere at a level of detail that's not possible here. For me, Springboard is a case of an app wanting to do many, many things, but not being particularly expert in any one of them. It might be a good fit for someone who isn't as obsessed as I am with documenting the details. Remember the milk is purely a task-oriented app, so I'm unlikely to switch to using it for the same reason as above. I will note that both of these apps had attractive interfaces and seemed intuitive.

I was unable to find Bamboo Paper in the app store. Perhaps it's available only for iPad, not iPhone.

I was unsure how I'd get to try Dragon Dictation without feeling like a weirdo talking to myself at my desk at work, so I decided to make a phone call to wish my sister a happy birthday. I used my work phone but had my iPhone sitting near me while I spoke. When the call was completed and I reviewed what it had interpreted, it was surprisingly accurate! I can see this as a great, free option for dictation purposes, of which I have few, but I'll keep it in mind.

thing the fourth | keeping up

In all honesty, I didn't download and install either of the two recommended apps for this thing. I'm already efficient at managing and organizing how, when and what I wish to keep up with online.

For news, I prefer the Feedly app, and I currently access all of my RSS feeds there directly. For nearly everything else I prefer to visit each individual app separately (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, GoodReads, Pinterest, etc.). Although it sounds counter-intuitive, by instead having all activity from each of these feeds funneled to one place I would feel something like a loss of control.

thing the third | utilities

I downloaded and scanned a few things using RedLaser, but it doesn't immediately strike me as an app that I'll come back to. I don't do a lot of online shopping or pay attention to QR codes, so I expect I'll likely forget about it.

Google Search is an app that I did already have on my phone but rarely use. When I want to search the web I just launch Safari and begin typing keywords. The times I do occasionally launch Google Search is to access Google Drive. I tested the Google Goggles feature at my desk at work, but it didn't recognize much in the immediate environment. However, one of the two things it did recognize, I'm amused to note, was the Flying Spaghetti Monster logo. I just thought of a practical use I might have for it -- my father has hanging in his home a painting for which we know neither the title nor artist. Next time I visit, I'll see if Google Goggles knows what it is!

I next downloaded StandApp, which is an app designed to get you moving around more throughout the day if you have a desk job. Although I have a desk, I'm rarely sitting at it for more than 30 minutes at a stretch, so I think I'm already doing a pretty decent job of not remaining sedentary for hours on end. I'm somewhat intrigued by the exercise prompts, but not sure how my employer would feel if I were to spend 5 minutes of every hour exercising. And although it might be to my health benefit, I would not necessarily be willing to sacrifice the opportunity to relax during my regular paid breaks in order to exercise. I'll keep it in mind in the event that I ever do ever find myself sitting too long.

iHome Sleep is an app meant to take the place of an alarm clock. In addition, it can provide a weather forecast and music, as well as record sleep statistics. Since the built-in iPhone clock app meets my current alarm needs and playing music would actually prevent me from sleeping, I don't think this will be a keeper. I'm intrigued by the notion of sleep statistics, but I think if I really wanted to pursue that aspect I'd instead find one of the apps on the market that go one step further and record your breathing and sleep patterns.

Wi-Fi Finder was an app that I installed last year in preparation for a vacation in Europe when I knew I'd have no phone service other than Wi-Fi. In my situation, had I been able to spend the required time researching where I'd be every hour of every day, it might have come in handy. In practical terms, though, you can't search for Wi-Fi if you don't already have an internet connection. I can see the appeal of this app, however, to laptop users who are using their phone to scout out a good spot to get some work done. My current phone plan has unlimited data, so I'm usually not desperate to find Wi-Fi when I'm out and about.

I didn't download and try any of the additional browsers. I'm satisfied with Safari for now.

iPhone to the rescue!

I recently was adjusting some cabinets with European-style hinges -- you know, the kind with three sets of screws that can adjust the cabinet door in one of three different directions: in/out, up/down or left/right. Once past the initial hurdle of mastering the mechanics of exactly what I was doing, I remembered that my iPhone had a built-in level in the Compass app! It sure came in handy as I was making the final adjustments and ensuring that the doors were all perfectly horizontal. And I'm now a cabinet hinge expert.

thing the second | mobile device tips

Thing 2 was to watch some general tips about iOS7 features. I watched the videos for both the iPad and iPhone.

My iPad stays at home, often not leaving my bedside, so I don't do a great deal of what I'd consider "advanced" things with it -- mostly just newsfeeds, Facebook, checking the weather in the morning, the occasional ebook and web browsing. It's also first-generation, so (at least as far as I can tell) I'm unable to upgrade to iOS7 and use many of the spiffy new features.

My iPhone, on the other hand, goes everywhere (except the dinner table!) and is used for pretty much everything. The iOS7 feature that was highest on my wishlist? Time stamps for texts! Hallelujah! I also appreciate having unlimited apps in a folder, because I'm unhappy if my apps are not organized just so. I'm intrigued by Siri's capabilities, but I have to admit that isn't how I search for anything and I never interact with Siri at all.

Having sung some praises of iOS7, I should also mention that they changed a feature that worked well into something that, for me, no longer works at all. Previously, if you double-clicked the Home button while in lock screen, you could bring up audio controls, and pause/unpause at will. I could even do this while wearing thin gloves during winter. In iOS7, double-clicking does nothing, and you can bring up audio controls only by swiping up from the very bottom of the screen. Add a case and winter gloves, and I can no longer control audio without a bit of hassle because I can't reach the very bottom of the screen. Annoying.

more housekeeping

I liked the quote, "The learner alone doeth," but it was kind of an awkward and archaically formed statement and, yes, pretentious. So I changed it again. In the meantime, I've accomplished no further 23 Things activities because I was thinking too intensely about a blog title I could be happy with. You see, this is where my some of my OCD tendencies really shine! Instead I'm settling, resigned to simplicity. Unless I'm struck by a bolt of brilliance and the perfect blog title is revealed to me, ever julia it will remain. Because it's true.

I promise actual content in the next post.

housekeeping

Changed my blog title. I was looking for short quote about education or learning, since that is supposed to be the theme here, and this new one was about all I could come up with that wouldn't spill onto a second line. Too pretentious?

thing the first | blogging and registering

Thing 1 was to create a new blog, on which to record all of my experiences during the 23 Mobile Things project. I already had a gmail account, as well as a profile in Blogger, so selecting that over Tumblr was the natural choice. All I had to do was select a username ("everjulia") and blog title (the relatively uninspired "Julia's 23 Mobile Things"). Et voilà, here I am!