A Collection of Thoughts

New Photo App

via rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com.au

I was so excited to see this pop up in my feedly reader -  Rhonna has created her own app due for release soon.

 Hurry up soon!!!

Loyalty Card App

Run and grab your iphones there is a new app in town that you so can not live without.

 1.It's free

2.You no longer have to carry any of your loyalty cards with you!

  Spotlight Myers One Everyday Rewards Cine Buzz Katies and many more!

No more fiddly around I think I have it - it was in this purse- I must have lent it to my husband  grrrr

 

Stocard I think originated in the UK  and has a version for Australia - Many of our cards are listed and more importantly you can just add your own

 Like Cafe Crema :)

Simple to use - find the loyalty card  scan the bar code and your cards are all there on your phone - you just open the app and show it as the register.

 YAY I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this.  I now carry 35 less cards in my wallet!

 Read more here  Available for Aus here

 

 ##### Edited #### I just had a question about what data the app collects! Good question so I checked it out for you :)

 

What kind of data does Stocard save?

The safety of your data is very important to us, therefore we do not collect any data on your purchases. We do collect some anonymous usage statistics. To optimise our website for a better user experience, we are running Google Analytics.

Best Photography Apps

I go through spits and spurts of using different apps for my photos on my phone. I find I have some that stay as a favourite - and then others tend to drop off. I like just a few steps and I love if they integrate with instagram- it's a pain to save then reload- I like fast:)

Today I'm having a crazy to do list day - life happens like that and so I'm snapping more as I want to grab snippets of it.

If you haven't jumped on the instagram bandwagon yet - you so need to - even if you don't do the followers thing and just keep them for yourself - it's an easy way to document the little things.

via pinterest.com

 

So my current favourite apps are

Instagram ( of course ) and I add all my photoaday shots to  Project 365 ( here is an android version )

Typic - simple interface  6 nice filters not too OTT - white words with some nice fonts you can add a frame or not and integrates with instagram

AfterGlow - awesome for contrast brightness etc - as it has a little slider and it changes as you slide. The filters are VERY subtle I like them alot  and it has a cool feature where you can make your photos into a circle with a white background

Snapseed- I really like this - not as simple to use as some of the others and allows for  tweaking to get your photo as you would like- some good filters grunge and frames which I tend not to use - I use this one just for editing. It's also available for desktop too you can see all the details on their website here

Vintique - LOTS of filters - many I don't like but that's because I tend to take everyday moment shots rather than landscape arty ones - so quite a few filters are a bit way out for my liking - BUT - easy interface and easy to use to increase decrease saturation  brightness etc - I use it when I take a "bad" shot and I want to fix it because it captures the moment- and I nabbed it when it was free

Foto Frame - is still my go to app for making compilations - which I do like to do. It's no longer available though.  I'd love some recommendations for another one. I have had a look and found one called Pic Frame which looks good but I haven't tried it.

  Time to start taking some more photos I think ;) Hope you are having a lovely day

 

Time Munching Games

I have never been one to sit playing games but since I was diagnosed the nights stretch out endlessly before me. They still do even now that I am on the mend. I just don't sleep.

My Ipad is a heaven send and if I'm not researching something then I am lost in some sort of game. I am however very fussy and have rules about what I play.

1. It has to be easy to understand- like really easy
2. It can be stressy - as in time limited but not "skilled" like shoot this guy run through this hole etc etc because I'm mega uncoordinated
3. I prefer it to be cute
4. It has to have an end and be sequential because I become a little obsessive and play until I have it completed

Right now I'm in love with Bubble Mania

  A cute little dude who shoots bubbles to save frozen babes - yes that is a little weird-  pretty colours and he moves through different lands.

I don't love that you don't have unlimited energy so you have to keep waiting to repower - but then that's a good thing because otherwise I may just play obsessively. There are ample opportunities within the game to buy power and bits but I just keep it free.

  Where's my water?

Strange name but oh my goodness it's fun to play. There are a million levels (not really) - you have to fill the bathtub - each scene is different. I love it.

The crocodile puts on a tanty if you don't get him enough water. You also have to try to rescue the three ducks each time and there are hidden items to collect.

Also free.

 

 

 

 

In between I also play monopoly. I have become quite ruthless when negotiating trades with my non human partner.

I like to be the thimble. I also like to control all the railroads.  It's not free $7.50 but totally worth the dollars. You can pause your game too and come back to it. I love making my opponent be the race car or the dog or the battleship. They zoom around the board. You can also customise your "house rules". So I double the landing on go money and I always have us start with $2,000 in the bank. For the record I have won half the games and the computer the rest. I really want to win more LOL.

I haven't played this for a while but I went through a Plants VS Zombies stage. I worked through to the very end  (using utube cheats - told ya obsessive ) so I'm not sure if they have released more lands. This one is $3.00 I think but I was happy to pay for it.

Richard just shakes his head when I enter game playing mode. He says it's so out of character for me - which I gues it is but it makes me happy.

So tell me any must play games that fit my criteria?  They also have to be for ipad (so an app) as I tend not to sit in front of my computer much these days. Please don't recommend  Angry Birds - I've really tried to like it because I know so many people do but I can not for the life of me work it out.

 

 

Getting In the Picture

Janelle and Tammy have been regularly scolding me about making sure that I take pictures of me. I become more conscious of it each year after the Day in the Life project where I always take a picture of myself each day. But realistically with iphoneology there is no excuse-  I have a camera with me all the time and all I need to do is click away until i find one i can bear LOL You know how it is. Also I think back to the photos that I love - the very very scare ones of my grandma when she was younger - often kind of blurry with things cut off and random bits in the background- very iphoneology like I think.

So today I was determined to put myself in the picture and I hope to do it regularly.

 

 1. At the hairdressers - a long overdue colour and cut. I need to share my hairdresser story  I go to a little place in Helensvale and it's so so reasonably priced  $14 if I just want a trim. The last two times they have used a new colour process which takes a little longer it's like 40 minutes for developing and costs a smidgin more but lasts for ages and does a wonderful job of covering the grey. The best I have ever had as I am actually quite grey.  So all up was $49.50 today and I got a goodly way through Sing you Home - which I' m loving - by Jodi Picoult.

2.  Tals needed an "Englishman" costume for guides next week -so we decided a suit taken in would be the way to go- we found the perfect one at one of our favourite op shops for $9 for the two pieces - jacket and pants

3.  It's turned quite cool as the day went on -we were out and about wandering between stores- these are my bargain boots I bought at Target quite a few weeks back they are lasting well.

4. My fab sideboard find - I blogged about it earlier - and there I am in the shadow

5. As we were heading to Lifeline I noticed an Endeavour store I had never seen before - Oh MY goodness it's so fabulous ) I took lots of photos and will share the details and location later. My most favourite op store on the Gold Coast.

6. Heading home - tired and ready for an afternoon nap! I pulled an all nighter last night and went to bed at 5.00am this morning- I had a unit of work to get sorted for school and needed to get it happening. It took all night. I'll share the details round that later in the week too for any Education Queensland readers -I'm using the new Ed studio and oh my goodness so fantastic. Possibilities are endless.

and there you have it - getting in the picture.

What about you ?? I'd love to see you get in the picture. If you do - post a link here - or if you don't have a blog send me a piccy and I'll share it for you :)

 

 

 

 

Top Apps for Kids

I stumbled across this lovely blog in my interweb searching .

I am always on the look out for fun things for the girls to do on my ipad for trips in the car and while I'm not a huge fan of just games we do have some. This is an awesome blog for reviewing apps and I loved that they had quite a few for me to check out that suited the girls age ( 8 ) as many of the apps for ipads in particular are aimed at the  younger ones.

Bookworm - available here

LOVE this -we are all playing it -  Tals and I are great at it - and Daddy is a bit dodgy!

 

 Animal Creator -available here

The girls love this one - you mix animals up to make new ones and colour and add to backgrounds

 Motion Maths -available here

This is mostly about fractions- it makes it really fun-the girls like it and play it but their review was they think boys would really like it - LOL that could also be my non mathematic loving girls though :(- Mind you its all about relevance they can double and half a recipe in the blink of an eye - including all the tricky fraction cup measurements.

Slice it -available here

I love this one - it's really quite challenging and the girls do too

and just for fun - Cake Doodle available here

Hands down the favourite - and Sofs review on it - I can't believe it was so cheap you can make sooo many cakes and decorate them so nicely LOL

So they are our new favourites we are giving a whirl but do check out the blog for others that may suit your children's ages.

If you have any great kids apps I'd love to know- especially ones that will suit my girls

 

I Spy Mystery

One of the best parts of a trip to the apple store for my girls is the chance to sit and play on the computers. They always rush there with Richard which gives me time to shop in peace. He is in boy IT heaven and they are in game playing land.

Their favourite game is I Spy Mystery. After much harping I finally looked into the actual game and where buy it from.

Here is the little you tube promo. I had assumed it was a boxed game on the wall- which maybe it is but I did find it online.

It's managed - not sure if that is the right word through Big Fish Games - which you download as well.

The full games are not free - but you can try before you buy with an hour free trial available. The first one we purchased was only $3.50 as there is a coupon discount - NEW50 if you are a new customer.  The next two were $7.49 each.

So we have I spy Mystery, I spy Spooky mansion and I Spy Library has just finished downloading in our little game thingy at the moment.

The girls love them - beautiful  illustrations and challenging enough to keep them quite occupied but not impossible to cause tears :) they have both worked their way through I spy  mystery.

These are Scholastic games so fit under the educational banner - but even better there are complementary  mix and match games over at the scholastic website which are free.

I did find one version for the Ipad through the US  Itunes store but it didn't have a good read up so I didn't get it though the girls really wanted  me to.

Instead we are sticking with it on my Mac ( its also available for PC purchase too)

Here is the link for the ipad version of spooky mansion. Ive chekced out the sppoky mansion it's not super spooky- spooky things but not like gross things for those of you who have little ones.

 Happy spying!

 

 

 

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore

As a book loving family we are always on the look out for new things to read. The other night I stumbled across a really interesting video about a new book that had just hit number one in the ipad app store.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

“Morris Lessmore loved words. He loved stories. He loved books”

It's based on the book by William Joyce and has been developed by Moonbot Studios. It’s not really an app- more an interactive book. The story in itself is just delightful  - it is about people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favour. But its the actual animation and what you cab do using the app which adds such a dimension to the story. This is what I imagined books would be like on the Ipad and now they are.

At $5.49 it will be the best dollars you will ever spend. Now I will apologise in advance because I am totally smitten with this story and beautiful app so this post is filled with every link I can find to share with you.

 

 Here is the promo video :-)

and then I found these little videos on vimeo which goes through the making process You must watch !

There are nine parts in planned apparently ( but for the life of me I can't find where I read that  )  but only four are up so far .  Here is part one.

The Making Of Morris: Part 1 (The Power of Story) from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

You can see the rest here.

Buy the app here. Go now!

Love Love Love

 

Super Food Ideas App

Two months ago I tweeted /blogged eagerly about the soon to be released SFI app.

I love my ipad and we use it a lot in the kitchen when cooking - more so than a traditional recipe book. So the thought of one of my favourite cooking mags loaded to my ipad was very cool!

And it is - TOTALLY AWESOME.  I will never buy another paper copy of SFI.

Here is my take on why I love it - filled with lots of screen shots  :)

Firstly you buy each mag as it becomes available - it's $1.19 and they sit in your library like this.

When you want to flick through one just touch and up it comes- this is the June edition

 

rather then flicking through pages you actually scroll down -with clickable links as you go

click the article you like and it takes your straight to that page ( you can still flick through like a normal mag too ) - See how it has those little two circles - click recipe

takes you straight to the recipe in cook mode

which is  awesome when you pop your ipad in it's stand - the print is large and you flick through each step as you cook

If you click fact - it gives you all the nutrition details for the dish

another nice feature that is within the app is a total measure chart - all different weights and sizes - I am forever googling how many grams in 20 ounces etc- so now I don't need to

There is a variety of different ways to view that allow you to flick through readily and see articles at a galnce

My most favourite  feature is the index - each mag has it as a quick reference with a pic and title of each recipe in that mag - and once again click and you are right there

Some recipes also have a video button

and the videos usually show either techniques or tricks to difficult parts of recipes

The final handy feature is the option to bookmark - you can easily just click the bookmark of a recipe you love and it sits in your bookmark section - the nice thing about this is it is not specific to one issue - so you'll gather all your fav recipes and be able to retrieve them with one click - Far easier than flicking through a huge pile of mags thinking where the heck is the chocolate muffin recipe I wanted to try.

LOVE it- can't rave enough- the girls do too :)  - oh and there is a trial issue which is part of May that you can download for free to see if you like it - I think you will.

You can download the app for free here

Learning Chess

 Chess seems to be making  a resurgence in poularity. One of our librarians is running a chess club at school during the lunch hour and we have 17 boards - each day its a fight to see who can get to chess club the fastest and students are being turned away.

At the girls school they offer chess before school one day a week -though its $75  a term to join- eeeeek (no lessons just games ) .  Tals has been desperate to learn to play and wants to join at school but we can't get her there early enough nor can I justify the dollars.

We had borrowed a couple of different books from the library and Richard had sat down with her numerous times but she still wasn't really getting it.

I'll be honest I have no idea how to play.

 Last night we thought about searching for an app and we have found the best one!

 Its called Dinasaur Chess .

 

You start out as a wee dinosaur - on the left hand side of the screen shot - and it steps you through a series fo activities to learn about each of the pieces

 Then you work thorugh mini games to ensure you are moving correctly.

After that here are mini versions of games against a series of dinosaurs stepping you right up to a full game

 Its so fabulous - beautifully interactive -with support the whole way through. Tals has already worked her way through and is challenging dinosaurs to mini games.

I love the look of it I think Im going to give it a go too so I can learn how to play.

HIGHLY recommend it .  It"s not a free one but totally worth the $3.99. ( We paid $3.99 through itunes its $4.99 in the app store? Not quite following the whole app store versus itunes )

It is also available as a software game for mac and pc - you can see the details here  and the app is available here

 

 Tamar x