23 Mobile Things 2014 #23 Evaluate

So proud that I finished the 23 Mobile Things program (just under the deadline!) It was time consuming and could have been even more so. I began the program right after purchasing my first tablet, a Kindle Fire HDX, and it really helped me learn how to use it. I'm a lot more comfortable with it now, in spite of rarely using it due to my kids playing games on it all the time. I like the Kindle Fire for the ereader and tablet functionality, and the price, but Amazon limits the apps that can be used. It is an Android, but Amazon prevents Google Play use, which is a shame. If I had to do over, I might have bought an iPad mini instead. This course also gave me practice using the iPad at work.


My favorite Things were #9/#10 photos (I'm a shutterbug), #12 Books (why I went with the Kindle tablet), #19 Hobbies and #20 Games (fun!).


Our library system supported 23 Things training, so I was able to consult with my colleagues who were also working on them. I learned how to make photo collages from Sarah with the iPad during our Flickr program (#9). Christina showed me her blog using Tumblr. I worked on creating a video from photos of our booksale with Deb. It was helpful to be able to reference other people's blogs when I was stuck.


I was amazed at all the useful apps, often for free! It's not just all fun and games. For example, code reader apps and  Duolingo for learning a language. Some of the apps featured in the 23 Things were not applicable to our library, but I am glad to have exposure to them and will use them at home.


Suggestions on what to do differently to improve the 23 Mobile Things are:


1. Don't ignore the Kindle Fire HDX. I know you can't address every kind of device, but I think that is in the top three and is just different enough from Android to require Amazon app examples.
2. Have more coaching. Mine might've been overwhelmed, but I posted a question for him about Thing #6 and have not hear from him ever again. Just that one "Welcome, I'm your coach" message.
3. Put Thing #22 "Discover apps" earlier in the program.


Yes, I would participate in another 23 Things program! Very well done! I did the original one in 2008 but only got 1/3 of the way through due to being busy with my young kids. Now they are busy teens, and it was challenging to find the time to work on them, but I completed it! If there is another program in the future that is different (a lot changed between 2008 and 2014 technologies!) I will participate again.


My feedback for future participants:


Overwhelmed by the sea of apps and don't know where to start? 23 Mobile Things provides structured learning in many facets of mobile devices.


Thank you everyone who made this training possible!

23 Mobile Things 2014 #22 Discovering Apps

This Thing should have been earlier in the lineup, such as #5. It would have helped with some of the other lessons.


I really liked Quixey "The Search Engine for Apps" and will definitely use it. I found some apps I had been looking for, such as a large selecting of Geocaching apps and a free Algebra game: "The Fun Way to  Learn Algebra." (Dragonbox is there too.)


Other sources for finding apps are the website LoveMyFire which focuses on Kindle Fire. Browsing magazines at the library often feature "Best apps." One of the "Best of" web searches listed "Cinex Player" which allows the Kindle Fire to play many Media File Formats.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #21 Free For All

I recently downloaded a Free for the Day app called Stellarium Mobile Sky App. It is a sophisticated astonomy app. I'm not much of a star gazer, but it makes me want to learn. It uses GPS to diagram the night sky for your time and location. There are cool overlays, such as constellation drawings and pictures. You can search for a star or planet by typing the name. It compares different cultures', such as Aztec or Navajo, views of the heavens. One drawback for the Kindle is that it requires wifi, so if you are out in the wilderness, away from city lights where stars can be best seen, there is probably not a wifi signal. It would probably work on a smartphone. I will have to practice more, because when I tried it in my front yard, I couldn't see many stars as it wasn't quite dark and a little cloudy.

Another app I want to try is Facetune. [ Facetuneapp.com ] Last time I checked it was only available for Apple and costs $4-8 (therefore I can't load it onto the library's iPad). It claims to easily touchup portraits but making the Photoshop features for face correction, such as airbrush, easy to use. (It says it can even add hair to bald people.)

23 Mobile Things 2014 #20 Games

Another Fun Thing!

I have TONS of games on my Kindle Fire, downloaded by my teenagers. My daughter is addicted to CandyCrush Saga. It reminds me of my old favorite, Tetris. My son is addicted to Battle Friends and Temple Run. My husband likes Plants vs. Zombies. Since we share the Kindle, I don't get much time to play games. However, I like "Flow Free" where you must connect pipes without crossing them. I hate Flappy Bird and can't get further than the second level.

23 Mobile Things #19 Hobbies

This is my favorite Thing so far! I discovered Spotify
a few months ago and it became my favorite music site (farewell Pandora.)
I am #86 on the library waitlist for Katy Perry's new album "Prism,"
but I can stream the entire album for free any time I want on Spotify.
I wonder if it will stay viable, as it seems too good to be true, and I've
heard that some artists are disgruntled at the low royalties they receive
from Spotify. CDs still circulate at the library (but not as well as a few years ago),
and our library offers free music downloads on Freegal, however music streaming
seems to be the next step that will eventually make them obsolete (free instant
access to any music, or adless with paid subscription, and no files to download
and take up memory storage on your device.) I still like the independence and
permanence of owning music on CD, however.

I tried Wine Secretary for Kindle (similar to Vivino wine scanner) and the collector/librarian in me enjoyed creating a "catalog" database of favorite wines. (I had a notebook with wine bottle labels and ratings to input.) It was easy to search Wine Secretary's database of hundreds of thousands of wines and add to my list of "favorites." I can dictate comments via the microphone.

I've been considering a library Geocaching activity / program. There was not one for the Kindle, one wouldn't have access to Wifi in the "wild." iPad offers Travel Compass Lite Geocaching GPS Location Finder for free, and there were others, but I think an iPhone or Android smart phone would be ideal.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #18 Education

Duolingo is a fun app that uses short games or mini-tests to teach a language. Variety keeps it from becoming boring. I used it to brush up on my German. You can even speak sentences using the Kindle's microphone (found on the "keyboard"). I can see why this app has won many awards. (note to self: schn23 p2 ymail)

iTranslate also allows you to type or speak a phrase with the keypad microphone, and then translate it to another language, both textually and audio! The accents seem authentic (not robotic). I will try to use this when having trouble communicating with a patron who doesn't speak English.

I've tried Khan Academy on desktop computer in the past. I wasn't able to access it on the Kindle Fire.

I looked at math game apps. There are a lot, and there are a lot of "best math apps" lists, so it is hard to choose. (app star ratings are helpful). Parents.com has a list that looks promising. DragonBox 12+ seems to be a top app, but it was $9.99 and who knows if my jr. high algebra student will use it? HCL is developing lists of apps for Early Literacy.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #17 Community

I accessed Minneapolis Star Tribune's "Going Out". It lists events and schedules in the Twin Cities. I was able to bookmark some venues, such as the Guthrie Theater and Park Tavern Bowling schedules. It doesn't have much detail, but often includes links to the venue's website. I wanted to add the MN511 traffic site, but it wasn't available for Kindle (I searched and couldn't find any Minnesota traffic apps for Kindle.)

23 Mobile Things 2014 #16 Audio

SoundCloud is a handy app that turns your device into a tape recorder. I recorded messages on my Kindle Fire. I was going to actually try to post something to Twitter or Facebook, but the policies wanted me to agree that SoundCloud could read my Tweets and other things I wasn't totally comfortable with, so I didn't create an account. You can also listen to other audio (podcasts, songs, etc.) from people, famous or not. The British Library had a collection of bird songs.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #15 Infographics

InfoGraphics Hub is fun for finding visual representations of data on a wide array of subjects.

i Visual Info Touch Lite on the iPad was unimpressive. It was a basic copy of PowerPoint and I doubt it could create any of the sophisticated InfoGraphics seen in InfoGraphics Hub. Maybe the paid version has the "large objects library" described in the 23 Things description? The demo video shows various shapes (did not see in my version), but  only used circles and text. I didn't even see a way to add my own photos. I would just use PowerPoint to create an InfoGraphic.

I did not find any infoGraphics for Kindle Fire in the Amazon app store.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #14 Video

Magisto is a fun app for creating short videos of video clips or jpg pictures. I created a video of pictures, taken on the iPad, of our library used book sale. It added "motion" with interesting picture fade effects and music. I tried to take a video of our guinea pigs on the Kindle Fire, but with a front facing camera it was hard to aim. Luckily Magisto "edited" it by eliminating much of the dead air footage. One "style" was black and white (blah) so a chose another style that was more colorful and interesting.

I tried to get Socialcam for the Kindle Fire, but the Amazon app store offered "Keek" which did not work ("failed to connect to camera.")

Again, I like the control of using a real video camera and video editing software.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #13 Presentations

I LOVE the Haiku Deck! It is so easy to make eye-catching slides and add Creative Commons licensed images. I wish it were available for Android tablets (my Kindle Fire HDX).

I'm proficient with PowerPoint and use it for library display posters. It is more powerful (can add sounds and motion) and I have total control over layout. So I would continue to do that on my PC. My Kindle can run the PowerPoint presentation. But for a quick iPad presentation I might use the Haiku Deck.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #12 Books

Free books is an easy way to find and read classics. So much easier than checking out eBooks and downloading through library's Overdrive. The eReader app is slick and allows highlighting and notes.

Audiobooks were also easy to select and download. And they don't expire. The reader was OK, a little boring, but there is the option to "upgrade" to a higher quality for .99 cents. The file was large, 102 MB for an approx. 200 page book but they are easy to delete. I wouldn't want to save a lot on my device.

The above two would be good options for those times when someone needs a book for class or book club, and there is a waitlist, but they don't want to buy it.

iStoryBooks was so/so, limited and less professional.

I've used the YALSA Teen Book Finder in public library work during Teen Read Month. I used it to create a display of Teen Top Ten books that patrons could vote for.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #11 Library & Reference ELM

Explored ELM's mobile site (Electronic Library for Minnesota). It was a good reminder of the databases ELM offers, and I added an icon to our iPad for quick access. We have links to most of the databases directly on HCL website so I usually access them that way.

Hennepin County has a mobile platform using Boopsie (but vendor may change.) The app is accessible in the lower left corner. BookLook allows you to scan a book's barcode at the store and see if HCL owns it. The mobile site has a Metrowide Calendar of events at all county library systems.

HCL uses apps for Overdrive (digital ebooks and audiobook downloads), Zinio eMagazines, Freegal music downloads. I use Overdrive on my Kindle Fire for ebooks and audiobooks. When I teach an ebooks class, the thing that trips people up the most is remembering to sign up for an Adobe Digital Editions account first. It is recommended that people check out ebooks through the full library website, not the mobile version.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #10 Sharing Photos

Our Library system has an Instagram account. There are a lot of standardized guidelines on how we must tag and caption images at HCL. Instagram is like the Twitter of photo sharing.

I reviewed the Snapchat tutorials but did not make an account because I don't think I will use it. My teenagers are probably on Snapchat. Photos disappear after a few seconds after viewing, unless it is saved as a story, in which case they are viewable for 24 hours. This may give a false sense of security, because there are apps that can save the image, or someone can take a screenshot. More secure options are Wickr and Silent Circle.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #9 Editing Photos

I tried Line Camera for iPad. The beauty touchup tool is cool. I also liked the design Chalkboard. Unfortunately the borders ("frames") seem to need to be purchased.

We used PhotoGrid for National Library Week. On iPad we took a picture of patron answers to a daily question board and arranged them into a collage. Then we posted to Flickr.

BTW Flickr upgraded this week, changing "sets" to "albums". Also, tagging is different. I couldn't figure out how to tag on the iPad, but was able to do it on PC.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #8 Social Media

Earlier posts from the original 23 Things on a Stick introduced me to Facebook, which I use regularly. I don't post very often, as a reaction to certain people who overshare. It's a great way to keep in touch with out of town friends and relatives. I keep strict privacy settings.

I will not do Foursquare - too "Big Brother"

I tried Twitter a couple years ago but find no use for it. I don't have much interesting to say, and am not interested in 90% of the tweets and don't have time to sort through the minutiae. The "Mom This is How Twitter Works" tutorial only made me more confused! Who knew there were so many ways of following and being followed? 

When I was job hunting I took some classes on LinkedIn and set up a professional page. I visited it a lot, but not so much now that I am working. It is a good way to network and keep in touch with former colleagues.  I get invitations to annual "alumnae" get togethers through LinkedIn.

GetGlue/TV Tag: As if TV weren't enough of a waste of time. Aren't my favorite shows enjoyment enough, without needing to reinforce watching with stickers?

Sorry so negative (mocking even?) on the social media; I have better things to do with my limited time! But I appreciate learning about some of the options patrons might be using.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #7 - Pinterest

I took a look at Pinterest, even though I wanted to avoid that time-suck. I might use it to save websites (more visual than "favorites"/"bookmarks"). The library board sites listed were interesting.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #6 - Docs

This Thing is frustrating me on my Kindle Fire. I can't find the CloudOn app for Kindle. (Kindle doesn't seem to support Google apps either. Not sure I want to go sideloading.) The CloudOn pros: takes no space on your device and is so similar to the real Office 2010. cons: must be connected to the internet and I'm not able to access it. Help?!

Not to worry though, since the Kindle Fire HDX comes with OfficeSuite Viewer, which allows you to open, view and print office documents. To edit I could buy a Word app for $3.99. (Doubt I'd do much Xcel or PowerPoint editing on my tablet - full suite costs $15.)

Most impressed that I can open and EDIT pdfs!!

23 Mobile Things 2014 #5 Notetaking

I tried the Bamboo Paper notepad app on the iPad. It writes smoothly with a finger or stylus, but I didn't see typing capabilities. I tried Remember the Milk on the Kindle Fire and it is type-based. It would be good for lists. However, I share the Kindle so don't take it with me. And you must pay to upgrade to receive reminders.

Dragon Dictation would be of interest, but it seems to be Apple only. Another one to try: SpeakToIt . . .

23 Mobile Things 2014 #4 Keeping Up

Zite is newly available for Kindle Fire in the Amazon App store (formerly it had to be sideloaded from Google Play). It required five interest categories to create a site. Since I have limited time, I thought that was too many for me, but I was able to remove some later. Now I just receive news for "books" and "Kindle."

I wondered if this would be a time saver or a time sucker, and so far the answer is both. I have come across relevant articles I never would have seen otherwise. However, there are also some I regretted wasting time on. But overall, I think it is useful.

*************
A friend views a blog "I work at a public library" on Tumbler that I want to follow...

23 Mobile Things 2014 #3 Utilities

I could not find a good QR Code Reader for my Kindle Fire. It does not have a back camera, so it was awkward lining up the camera - mirror image. And when I finally got it centered, it did not link to anything. I did install RedLaser onto the Excelsior iPad, and it worked. I also installed a QR at Golden Valley's iPad. I used it with a patron once who had printed a Real Estate home listing with a QR code on it for more information.

Adobe no longer supports Flash for Android, so videos may not be supported. However, Amazon installed a new "Experimental Streaming Viewer" in the Silk browser on the Kindle HDX, so we have been able to view YouTube videos. An alternative would be to install Dolphin browser (not the latest release), but since videos are working so far it may not be necessary.

To install non-Amazon apps may require "Side Loading." This requires turning on "Allow unsupported Apps" in settings. Be sure to turn it back off to protect the Kindle from corrupt Apps.

I have difficulty finding where things downloaded so I can install them. I even contacted Kindle Help four times and they were not able to find my Zinio app download (even with the "directions" from Zinio that were incomplete or incorrect.) I finally stumbled upon it and am now able to access my magazines. LoveMyFire.com has a demo to sideload ES File Explorer to access device's file system, including "Downloads" folder.

23 Mobile Things 2014 #2 device tips

Thing #2 didn't have Kindle Fire tutorials, so I viewed the iPad instructions and tested it on our library iPad. They were iOS 7 new features but I need to get more familiar with the basic iPad features first.

The Amazon Kindle tutorials were pretty basic and I had already figured most of them out by playing. I found a good Kindle tips and tricks site: LoveMyFire.com . Rachel Bruner presents the steps in an enthusiastic and easy to follow manner with lots of screen shots. A lot of efficient keyboard tips, like "Swipe Type" where you slide your finger from key to key instead of tapping. There were ways to open alternate keys without switching between keyboards. (ABC / 123). There are also tutorials on using non-Kindle apps, such as Google Play apps and Flash.

I could spend hours and hours learning all the features!

23 Mobile Things 2014 #1

I've moved from corporate to public libraries. Got a new Kindle Fire HDX! E-Readers, iPads and tablets are big now and I'm looking forward to mastering these devices and learning about useful apps. Just helped a patron use OverDrive to check out books on her iPad, and download the Kindle app, this afternoon.