Tuesday, July 10, 2012

An iPad App Overview

Been a while since I thought about what apps I'm using on a regular basis.  I don't think I even had the iPhone last time, which has some apps I don't use on the iPad, like the flashlight app Kyle got me, and Draw Something, which was fun during recovery, but everyone has fallen off.  Mostly I just remind Klund and Pooteewheet it's their turns, despite not caring if they actually take a turn.  So what am I using on my iPad?

  • Kindle - obsessively.  You can't begin to imagine how liberating it feels to be able to just buy a book while you're stuck in a small room and not capable of going to the library or book store.  And I could justify it because I wasn't paying for gas or coffee.  That's a book every other day.
  • Zite - the Board games and Doctor Who categories make it worthwhile alone.  Adding in the science blogs is frosting.  I've found myself looking for a comparative app for the PC.  I wish Zite would just let me sync my subscription to a PC version.
  • A link to Geek and Sundry - Felicia Day's Flog and Wil Wheaton's Table Top.  I taught Eryn to enjoy Wil's videocast.
  • Facebook and Twitter- no surprises there.  Although I like Facebook better on the PC.
  • Caring Bridge - I am not the only injured person I know.  I have a friend with cancer and a friend with...cancer.  I keep track of their progress and chemo via Caring Bridge.  Invented by a Minnesotan - cool beans.
  • Notes - because I added the Harvard Business Review to my Kindle downloads, and notes lets me summarize what I've learned and I can send it to my email.  Only downside is my first gen iPad can be rather slow to hop back and forth.
  • Calorie Counter (Fat Secret) - so I don't blow up while I'm not bicycling.
  • Dragon Vale - I help Eryn keep her dragons in check.  Just a click game, but it's impressive that they add new items on a regular basis.
  • Scramble and Words With Friends - I find myself using them less and less.  I could respond immediately when I was in bed all the time.
  • Dominion - free card game based on the real card game.  Obsessive!  Easy way to learn strategies you don't get to explore playing with a person/s.  Very easy to get 100+ games (or perhaps 177) under your belt in a very short time.
  • Tigris and Euphrates - no one will play me the board game.  So this is a true to the original rendition that's a lot of fun.
  • Elder Sign - still a favorite.  Recommended on Twitter by Felicia Day. Plays so much like the board game without all the overhead that takes hours to set up and play.
  • Ascension - another card game.  Less like Dominion and more like Magic the Gathering, but without the endless variety of cards.  Once I learned the rules and the expansion rules, I play it all the time.  I taught Eryn, who picked it up quickly, and we play over breakfast if we go out.
  • Morphology - I play around with it because a friend created it.  It's card packs for the game, which I received as part of their Kickstarter Morphology Jr. campaign.
  • Hacienda HD - I can't tell if I really like this or not.  But I've been playing it lately because it's different.
  • Not: Minecraft.  I know I can play it on the iPad.  I just haven't chosen to do it, despite Eryn's interest in Minecraft.  I don't want to dissuade her from the PC version which seems much richer.  Topic of conversation over lunch with some of the developers today.


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