Thursday, June 19, 2014

A Little Bragging

 
Completed all 23 Mobile Things! Yay!  It was a fun program, but I'm glad it's done.  On to something new!
 
 




Check out the 23 Things if want to check out all the apps we had to choose from.  I didn't try out even half of them.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Thing #23--Evaluate 23 Mobile Things

Doing this project was very fun and interesting.  Many of these apps I don't think I would have heard about, much less tried out, on my own.  I also came away knowing that there are more to apps than social media, games and buying things.

My favorite app has definitely been Wattpad.  My husband told me my motivation level has gone way down since I downloaded that one.  And of course the Facebook app I use a lot.  Both for checking my personal account and the library's account.  I have also found myself posting more and more photos on Instagram.  Never thought I'd be doing that. 

All in all, I'm glad I participated.  I learned a lot and I would definitely do something like this again.

Thing #21--Free-for-All

For this Thing I get to write about any app I want to.  Which is harder than it sounds since I just started using apps when I began the 23 Mobile Things. 

There are a couple that I use frequently (and I'm using the word frequently loosely).  One is the app for my bank.  It's super convenient when I just want to check how my accounts are doing (can I afford that new pair of shoes?).  Not a very exciting app, but very useful when on the go.

I've also been having fun with a QR/Barcode scanner app.  There are many of these out there.  I discovered I needed to try a few of them out to see which one worked the best on my phone.  I still can't scan every code I come across, but enough to make it worth while.  In fact, I thought QR codes were so neat, I decided to create and use them for the library.  I found a few websites where I could create them for free.  I made one and added a QR code to our Paws to Read bookmarks that lead to the website to register for the program.  Sweet.

And finally, being a weather junkie, I have the NOAA app.  Very handy when you need to know what kind of weather you'll meet on the trails. 

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Thing #16--Audio

OK, so I finally tried out one of the audio apps.  I gave SoundCloud a try.  I'm not sure how long I'll keep this app.  It does have a lot of music and podcasts to explore, so I'll give it a little while.

So, SoundCloud is a social media audio platform.  You can listen to and share music, podcasts and other audio.  You can also record your own audio and share it.  Since I logged in using my Facebook account I automatically started "following" my Facebook friends who have SoundCloud accounts.  I could then see what they have recorded and shared and their playlists.  I also browsed what I could listen too.  Lots of music I've never heard of.  Under music genres I discovered such things as techno, tech house, minimal techno and hardcore techno.  Who knew there were so many versions of techno?  There are also the familiar genres such as country, classical, hard rock, and hip hop.  Under audio genres I found a podcast from Freakonomics that I saved to listen to later.  Looked (sounded?) really interesting.  Many news items about the world cup.  So many that I don't think I'll have time to browse through them all.

So far I haven't recorded anything yet.  It's not my favorite thing to do, record my own voice.  I also couldn't figure out how to do it.  It's probably super easy and I'm just over thinking the app.  I don't see ever doing podcasts.  They seem like they'd take a long time to set up.  And like I said, I'm not a huge fan recording myself talk.  Writing is so much easier!

 
 
Also, the badge for completing 20 Things! 
 
 

   

Saturday, June 7, 2014

So Much To Do, So Little Time

At least that's how it seems here at the BPL.  Summer is finally here and with it comes the busy season.  The Library will be a hopping place during the month of June.  We'll be breaking up with the old stereotype that says the library is "a quiet place."

On Monday the summer reading program begins.  The theme this summer--Paws to Read.  Cute.  And since our online experiment worked so well last year, all registration and recording of minutes will be done online.  Our calendar of events for Paws to Read can also be found there.  Our first big event will be Thursday evening at 7:00.  We're hosting musician and storyteller, Jack Pearson, for a concert. 

The following week, June 16-21, is our annual Bemidji Library Book Festival.  We really out did ourselves this year with the number of events crammed into one week.  There are children's authors every morning, workshops in the afternoon, and at least one author presentation later in the day.  Whew!  Check out the link for the whole schedule of events.  Should be awesome.

New wall display in the children's area.  Looks a bit empty now, but I'm sure that won't last long!
 

Thing #22--Discovering Apps

So this Thing is one I should have tried nearer the beginning.  For this thing I had to try out an app (or website) to find new apps to try out.

I tried out Droid of the Day (DOTD).  This app sends you a notice once a day about a featured app from the Google Play Store.  So far, it's been a bust.  At least for me.  None of the apps it's recommended have appealed to me.  I did look at one of them briefly, just because I didn't know what it was.  Something about discovering what days in the future will be my bad luck days.  Or something like that.  I would rather be surprised, so I didn't install that app.  I'll keep DOTD installed for now.  It's rather interesting to see what kind of apps are out there.  Perhaps I'll get lucky one of these days and it'll tell me about one I can use.

I've had more luck discovering new apps by just browsing the Play Store and seeing what's available.  I've also found some by visiting websites or reading blogs.  And people always want to share things they like, so ask your friends!


I just had a sad realization.  I thought I only had 2 Things left.  It turns out I skipped Thing #16--Audio.  Oops!  I'll have to go back and do that one.