Thing #20--Games

This time I got to try out a game.  I decided to download the (in)famous Candy Crush.  After hearing about how addictive and fun it was I was tempted to give it a try. 

My contrary nature wishes I could say that I hate it.  But that would be lying.  It can get rather addictive.  Mostly because it's a rather mindless game to play.  It doesn't take a lot of skill.  Luck yes, skill no.  It's fun to pick up and play when you have a few minutes to kill and don't really want to start something new. 

Two annoying aspects of the game are the sound (I turned it off after just a few minutes of playing) and the options to buy extra lives and boosters to win easier.  I'm not going to spend money playing a free game.  That's just silly.

So if you need a colorful way to while away your time, Candy Crush is a good way to do that. In all honesty, looking through a lot of the free games out there, most are pretty the much the same, just different themes.  Candy Crush is probably the most well known.  Have fun playing!

 

Thing #18--Education

Thing 18 is all about education.  Which could be a very boring subject, but being a librarian and married to a science teacher, I have discovered that not all things labeled "educational" are boring.  And there are a few apps under this heading that are quite entertaining as well as educational.

I'll start with my least favorite of the ones I tried and that is Duolingo.  This app is designed to help you learn a different language.  I didn't find it especially helpful.  I tried German language.  I took German in college and thought this would be a good refresher for me.  Instead I found myself grateful I already knew the vocabulary the program was going through.  It goes quickly between listening exercises, spelling exercises and fill in the blank.  If you already know some of the language you choose, this could be a good way to get up to speed with some of the basics, but if it's a totally new language, I'm not sure how helpful this app would be.

The next app I tried was TED.  If you're at all familiar with TED Talks this is the app for you.  If you have no idea what TED Talks are, try it out.  TED Talks feature presenters on any subject you can think of.  They're highly entertaining and, yes, educational.  Using the app I watched a video of Susan Cain do a presentation on introverts and their contributions to society.  I chose this talk because I read her book Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.  Being rather introverted I found the book fascinating and her talk was as well. 

A third app to try out if you love maps and/or traveling is Google Earth.  You can easily lose yourself on a virtual trip around the world.  You can check out satellite images of anywhere on earth.  Or pictures of certain locations that people have uploaded.  Try looking down the Grand Canyon, see images of Chernobyl, or maybe your own home.  Super cool.

 

Thing #19--Hobbies

For Thing 19 I was to explore apps that go with hobbies.  The one I selected from the list provided is called Spotify.  Spotify is a free online music app similar to Pandora or Google Play radio.  With it you can search for various songs, artists or genres of music.  It was fun searching through some of the provided playlists.  Two lists I searched through were the "Decades" and "Kids" lists.  Having grown up through the 80's made this music playlist especially entertaining for me as it brought back memories of bad hair bands and the angry grind of electric guitars.  And there were so many 80's lists to choose from!  I also listened to some from the 90's.  We listened to some strange music when I was in high school.  In the kids list I chose a Disney song list.  Fun.  Except it mainly played songs from The Lion King and The Little Mermaid.  Good movies, but I can only listened to those songs so much.  The radio feature is nice.  It will give a "station" based on the music you've searched for and listened to.

Even so, I'm not quite sold on this app. I already use Pandora and I find it easier to use than Spotify. Still, it's worth checking out if you don't already use an online music player.

Another app that I've tried out that could fall under this category is the app for All Recipes.  I love to cook and I love to read recipes.  This app features enough recipes to keep me occupied for a long time.  I like their mix and match option.  You can pick and choose ingredients and it'll give you recipe options based on that.  How cool is that?

Now I just need to find an app that covers crochet patterns.  I'll never have to buy another magazine again!