Monday 5 December 2011

Studying..?

I probably use 7 apps a day. Today, as I'm supposed to be studying, I think I've used forty. The games that I have uploaded today aren't even that fun, and I'm not good at them and yet I found myself playing them for far to long.

Sooo.. the only good one I found in my search through the top 50 free apps was World Hardest Game. So good I even paid for the 99 cent version.. ha.

The game is a series of mini games starting with easy, going to medium and finishing up with crazy. Now don't get too intimidated, because it's not thaaat crazy.

The games are all about reaction time and speed, which doesn't sound that fun, but check it out, at least the free version!

Buuuut CreCommers and other students.. wait until the end of this week or whenever your exams are done - the game is addicting and perfect for procrastination :D

Monday 28 November 2011

Did you know?

Alright, so this app is pretty straight forward. Everyone has that friend that knows a lot of useless, random, weird, odd and/ or funny facts. Where the heck do they find these?

Maybe they watch a lot of Jeopardy or study Trivial Pursuit cards constantly. If you want to be the one that busts out the facts or just have them handy for when your friend uses you for the call a friend life line, download - Weird Facts.

It just brings you through facts that you can then post to Facebook or Twitter, text to a friend or e-mail it to someone.

"There are more plastic flamingos in the US than real ones."

iiinteresting.

Monday 14 November 2011

The app that made me happy this week.

On May 31, 2012 I will be listening to Roger Waters make my ears smile.  Alright, that kind of sounds creepy/weird, but I will be listening to The Wall and be beyond overjoyed.

 The handy app that helped me to get tickets without standing in the hallway at school at 10 o'clock swearing at a busy signal and end up with no tickets to the sold out show was the Live Nation app.

So I took part in some presale action. They have more presales on the app than on their site, with no password necessary!

You can set alerts so you are told when new presales start, new concerts are announced in your area or when artists you have selected under your favourites announce a show.

As soon as you download the app, it takes the artists from your iPhone, iPad or iPod's music library and puts them in your favourites. You can then take out ones you don't want, or add any that you would like.

When you go to any of your favourite artists, or ones that you search, you can check out their set lists at previous shows. Once you're on a set list you can preview songs and go straight to iTunes to buy them.

You can also post anything from the app straight to Facebook and Twitter.

Another sweet thing, although this is mainly helpful for if you're running late or not going to a concert is you can check out what's going on at the show while it's happening. What time the artist took the stage and a live set list can both be found on the app.

So I bought my tickets and checked out my view right from the app. Sounds like this app is going to be dangerous for my student budget.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Stumble Time!

Today I'm going going to talk about the magical boredom killing app - Stumbleupon.

If you don't want to kill time with random games or creeping that girl you sat behind in second semester in high school on Facebook, this app will be pretty handy for you.

The first thing you do when you open this app is go through a list of around one hundred possible interests. Art, books, crafts, cats, travel, advertising, bio and sooo on..

Then, you can either click on Start Stumbling or one specific topic.

If you click one topic a random page will open dealing with said topic - an article, video, picture, review or blog.

If you'd like a wider verity of entertainment click Start Stumbling. That will also bring you to articles, videos, pictures and so on, but will be more random, going through all of the interests you chose.

When you're on a page that you like, you can give it a thumbs up so you can get other pages like that. You can also e-mail it to someone, put it on Twitter or Facebook, open it with Safari, send it to Stumbler or bookmark it to "read it later."

If you don't like it, you can mark it as "not for me" or even block the specific website that came up, not just the specific article.

I've spent quite a bit of time on this app, but I don't consider it a waste of time. You're really learning a lot about topics that actually interest you. :D


Download it for sure. It's Free!

Tuesday 25 October 2011

A tad off topic today..



I can tell that the way I view and consume media annoys those around me at times. Mainly my boyfriend.

"Well that was a stupid ad. How could they think that would work?"

"How much do you think they have to pay for an 3-D advertisement like that?

"Oh very effective! clever AND funny!"

"Wayyyyy too monotone.."


Now I'm just obsessed with analyzing ad and PR stunts..good and bad. IThat being said, I'm no where near mastering the art forms of these topics, but I have always been interested in ad. I guess any kid that didn't have one of those parents that wouldn't let them watch TV was interested in Ads. How could a kid not be?






As a young Erin I loved the commercials for toys. Surprisingly not Barbies or Polly Pockets, but one of the best parts of Saturday morning cartoons was the spots for the sweetest new Hot Wheels track, Lego set and  designs of Pogs. (I had some sweet Sonic the Hedgehog ones. It's okay to be a little jealous)


The way things are marketed to children is kinda funny. Slapping their favourite character on a box of crackers or candy acting as the spokesperson is still around everywhere. Ever notice that all the sugary-horrible-for-you cereal with the friendly looking tiger on the front is on the bottom shelf-right in children's reach? And you better believe that box of cereal is complete with a prize they simply couldn't live without..sticker that barely sticks, anyone?

It seems a little messed up to be marketing so many things to kids rather than their parents.. but how many parents would go out of their way to buy all this.. stuff.. without being whined to or nagged by that little bundle of joy that's gripping onto their leg, screaming?

My all time favourite - COLLECT THEM ALL!

Pokemon is the first to come to mind as that is exactly what my brother and I tried to do. (until he stole mine and said he just magically got that many in one pack :| ) They came out with.. actually still come out with new ones constantly and make some "rare" making you have to buy many more packs in hopes to get that oh so precious Charizard card..




There's probably new "rare" ones now and this is making me feel old.. so moving on.

Another fun thing provided to the world, including to parents, was limited edition. If you're trying to collect them ALL.. you need to get those limited edition ones while they're available! Wouldn't want to miss out on such an opportunity as that ugly Beanie Baby they only made 3000 of or Fruit by the Foot with tongue tattoos.

But how far do you think marketing towards children will go and what's too far? What about marketing Mc Donalds and other fast food to children on the regular? You get a toy with your meal - collect them all - and it comes in a bag full of activities. (and a potential future heart attack..) Have you seen the redone Mcdicks with the sweeeeet new play places? I'm almost tempted to hop in there.

I couldn't even throw a guess out there how many people are persuaded or convinced by an ad each day, but children are particularly vulnerable to this sort of manipulation.

I wonder if I wasn't exposed to as many ads as a child if I'd be so interested in the way they work with peoples minds now. Probably not.. it's what builds Brand Relationships..

Does it kind of make me a bad person for still being blown away with interest in Advertising and PR even though there is so much salesmanship thrown at kids?.. Meh I'll figure out a way to spin it...
;)




Monday 17 October 2011

If you have some time..and an iPhone

If you're like me and can't quite justify buying the new iPhone 4S, I do believe the new upgrade to the operating system will hold you over.

Your text notifications have always popped up on your lock screen, now your Twitter and Facebook notifications do too. 
When you're in the middle of a sweet game of Fruit Ninja, and you receive a text, you will no longer be interrupted as your text will appear at the top of your screen. Easy to ignore without stopping to hit close :D

The new Notification Centre includes the weather, stocks (yippy) alerts from apps and missed calls. All you need to do to get to that handy location is slide your finger down from the clock.

The camera also has some wonderful new features. It's a pain in the ass trying to take a picture when the phone is side ways before the upgrade, now you can use the volume buttons as the capture button. Take the sub par picture you took at the Marker Social or Zombie Walk on Friday and edit it into a beauty right on the phone. It now has Auto-enhance, crop and red eye correction right there. Super.

Texting received a little face lift as well. It's instant, you know when the other person is typing and you know when your message is received. A little BB love thrown in there.

You know what's more fun than reading about it.. probably just getting the update. Or watch this nice video..



Monday 10 October 2011

iPhone 4S

I have an iPhone 4.. and I freakin' love it. So when I heard of this new iPhone 4S I kind of ignored it. But now that I've looked into it, I want one soooo bad!






How much better could it be that they didn't even make it the iPhone 5, but instead just the 4S well, it's rocking a lot of cool new features. It still looks the same as the iPhone 4, but they made a lot of changes to the inside. It has an 8-megapixel camera with a faster shutter speed and backside-illuminated sensor, a voice-activated digital assistant called Siri which completely understands what you're saying to it, and a new A5 processor that provides up to 7x faster graphics processing. And iCloud is sweet! The main thing I like about it is that is syncs up your Apple devices for you. So once I download music onto my phone, it would start downloading onto my laptop. Neat-o






I still don't know if I'll pay to upgrade, but this video is pretty convincing.. 




Critics had been saying how big of a disappointment it was that it still was the same visually and they released it instead of the iPhone 5, but they were really proved wrong when they predicted crappy sales.
In the first 24-hours of being able to pre-order one of these bad boys, they sold over a million of them! Which is more than any other product Apple has sold pre-sale. 


Wanna order one toooooo? Do it right here :D


Think it's worth the upgrade?

Monday 3 October 2011

10-4

My Boyfriend has told me for ages to get the app Voxer. Being the super on top of things and nice girl that I am, it only took 2 months for me to take a minute to download it.

I am quite a fan.

Voxer is kinda a walkie-talkie, but it can also send pictures.

What is this useful for? Well, let me tell you..

For some reason my phone is a piece, and won't receive pictures from my man friends phone, but on Voxer, it sure can.

I could see why people would think the walkie-talkie aspect would be awkward or just useless since so many folks have voicemail. I'll admit the first couple times I was awkward, but I have a tendency to be like that. (Should have witnessed the first time I used FaceTime ahh haha) But how many people hate the process of checking a voicemail? I'm going to go ahead and go against what I learned in Journalism and assume it's everyone.

This takes no time. You hold down a button to record, click on the audio clip to listen that comes through as quick as a text and to see pictures just click and it expands. Easy as pie.

The audio feature is also super useful for catching up with people. Maybe you either don't have time to sit down for a lengthy chat, or perhaps you really don't have enough to say for a phone call. It's also much more personal that texting.

AND you can do group chats. If you want to bring back MSN group conversation memories, but 2011 style.. get Voxer.

I feel like I'll add the cost at the end of each one.. FRREEEE

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Paperless Paper

There are endless news sources online. Websites, apps, Twitter. If you have a smart phone, iPod touch or you're near a computer, (like you probably are right now!) they're all at your fingertips. Some websites have a paywall, but the majority are free.. so why would/do you read a physical newspaper?

On Friday, All first year Creative Communications students went to see a documentary on the New York Times. A fair sized portion of it was about newspapers going out of business. People can get their news elsewhere so the business' are going bankrupt. It's no wonder. Although I do once in a while like reading a physical paper better (oo nostalgia.. Saturday comics) it's just so handy to be able to find exactly what you want on your phone. There's countless apps too.

 I personally use Winnipeg Headlines, which has 12 different news outlets on one app. With the top headlines of today and yesterday it keeps me pretty up to date. (Don't judge the app from my Journalism quiz marks)

This kind of sounds like I don't care that newspapers are going under, which is completely untrue. Not only will commercials for breakfast cereals be altered since dad won't be reading the paper while the child enjoys his sugar in a bowl, but journalism as we know it will be beyond altered. That's crazy!

 I can't imagine what it would be like to be one of those having to make the switch from writing at a newspaper for most of your life then have to shift to the web. Times are changing, it's very evident, it's just odd to see. As much as I'd like to see the paper stick around, I'm honestly not going to purchase them. It's a huge part of history and made media what it is today. But that's just it. It's..sadly.. history.

Monday 26 September 2011

Dude, where's my phone?

Are you forgetful as can be or do you get trashed and misplace things on the regular? This app won't help with your purse, wallet or dignity, but it will help you locate your precious lost iPhone. 

"Find my iPhone" is an app designed to lock and/or locate your iPhone. You can also send messages to your phone, which would come in quite handy if some loser decided jack it from you. :D

Of course I tried this app, not only because of this blog, but it just seemed neat-o! It works like a dream. 

I had forgotten my phone at a friends and the tracker said her exact address when I "searched" for it from her computer. The messages option is also sweet. Many hateful, rude messages can be sent straight to your phone if someone happened to take it. Or you could send one with a number to call if someone found it and was actually planning on returning it, you're golden. 

If you have an iPhone, and care about your iPhone, which I assume, since they are wonderful inventions, I recommend downloading the app -- and it's FREE :)

Monday 19 September 2011

Poor students love food too

So I've been thinking I should start inventing apps. Not that they would be overly useful or would ever make a profit, but I would download this one for sure.

I'm in school, I pay rent, I have a car, cell phone and I just like buying things, so I'm broke. I also like eating at various dining establishments.

I can't really explain the look on my face when I walk into Subway and a sub I like is their sub of the day, and I can only assume you're overcome with joy when the similar case happens to you. Why not have this happen constantly and not only at Subway?

Tons of places have food specials on certain days of the week.. and I would have every day of the week filled with all of the establishments and their bargains. Of course directions too, but that's assumed with an app at this point. Goal for the end of the year.. have this chart good and full!

Monday
- Pizza Hotline extra large 2 topping pizza for 6.99 +tax (pick-up only)
- Gorbonzo's buy one get one pizza's (dine-in only)
- Moxie's wing night $.34 each
Tuesday
- Smitty's wing night
- Twofer Tuesday at Sals on a veriety of items
- Boston Pizza's Pasta Tuesday $6.95
Wednesday
- Whopper Wednesday $1.99 (That's my boyfriends contribution)
or $4.99 for the meal.
Thursday
Smitty's wing night
Friday - TBA    ? :D

Monday 12 September 2011

Tweet Tweet!

Some first year Cre Comm students were introduced to Twitter last week. I had been on it, but not at much as I am now! (Oh, I creep it hard) When it first came out I never understood the point. I thought of it as the status portion of Facebook. In ways I like it more now than FB.

If people I don't know follow me on Twitter, I'm not creeped out like when randoms add me on FB. People aren't (as) offended if you're friends and not following each other. You get less "OMG soooooo drunk RiGhT nOw!!!1 <3<3 vodkaaa" updates.. and when you do, it's easier to unfollow someone than the slight process to unfriend someone.

We were asked which app we like best for Twitter. I honestly wouldn't even think to try another one other than the actual Twitter app, if I wasn't doing a blog about apps....

It's super easy to use, even though I wasn't very familiar with Twitter. I don't sit here and yell at my phone like I tend to do with other social networking apps. (cough cough Facebook)


It's also just as easy to edit your profile, send direct messages and tweet as it is on a computer.
I would love to know which ones you creep on through out the day :D

Monday 5 September 2011

"What the Heck is an App?!"

My father seems to think he knows a lot about technology.

"My Internet doesn't work because you have MSN on there!"

And in more recent years..

"My computer shut down because you were on that Facebook garbage!"  And a couple weeks ago..

"What the heck is an APP?!"

I actually had to think about a good way to break it down for him or anyone. I started off by saying it's an application.

"Well.. what does it do?" he asked.

Well, there's almost an app for everything! There's games, how-to's, entertainment, news sources and many more options. An app can do almost anything.. but not one app can do everything.

That answer just received a confused look and he brought it up again a couple days later.

"So.. It's a program?" he questioned. Actually, dad, it kind of is! An app is a software program, a special type of software program. The term app is commonly used to refer to software on a smartphone or mobile device and that is the type I am currently referring to as well.

Now, I think there are quite a few ways you can make this what I'm going to call "explain to your parents friendly," these are the two I have gone with;

1. A program that is made for specific websites or functions, from anything from games to news. (Like I previously stated,) not all apps do everything, but they are all designed for their own purpose. You can compare it to having a short cut on your desk top on your computer, but what the app will bring you to is a smartphone friendly version of the site.
Perhaps chuck a couple examples in there like Google, an alarm clock, locating your car in a parking lot and finding recipes.

2. You can explain it the way The American Dialect Society did when they named the term 'app' the word of the year for 2011.

"The shortened slang term for a computer or smart phone application."

Helpful. If all else fails.. do what I plan on doing, buy them an iPod touch for their Birthday, so they can play bejeweled and figure it all out.. after all, he does know "everything" about technology. 

Thursday 1 September 2011

The Beginning


Hey there!

Everyone has heard of an App, right? Do you know what one is? Do you know what an App is capable of or which ones are even worth the 15 second upload? Has your mom or that uncle you only see twice a year at gatherings asked you “what the heck is an App?”

I plan on helping you out with these issues and more. The App is going to be around for a long time, so we might as well use them to our complete advantage.

:D