Thing 23: Art

Muse: I browsed through several categories of art - who knew there were so many? I especially enjoyed the "Op Art" group, and saved a couple of those in my gallery. However, I think this would be a much more enjoyable experience on a bigger screen, such as an iPad. It is nice to have access to art galleries from around the world, though. And the Salvador Dali paintings that appear on my phone's lock screen are much more interesting than the default that came with the phone.

Bitstrip: Now I know where my friends have been getting their avatars! I have seen many of them on Facebook and Ravelry, my other go-to social media site. I tried out the Bitstrip app, and created an avatar of myself, but somehow it doesn't really look like me. I had tons of fun playing around with it though! I also played with building a comic strip, and can see how people can sink a LOT of time into this! It would also be a lot of fun to make avatars for my kids, husband, etc. I have to admit that whoever created this app is really clever.

Thing 16: Presentations

I have worked with PowerPoint for many years, and have even shown students how to create slide shows during some of my school-age technology programs here at CCPL. It is nice to know that the app is available on mobile devices too. The one thing I really don't like about PowerPoint is its tendency to turn presenters into "PowerPoint Slide Readers" - something I try really hard NOT to do as a presenter!

I am working with a couple of other members of the Children's Staff on a presentation for the CYPD Conference coming up at the end of August. We explored the possibility of using PowerPoint, or maybe Prezi, but finally chose Haiku Deck as our presentation tool. Since we are working as a team, we were planning to all export our slides onto Elizabeth's presentation, which apparently was working in the past couple of weeks. However, now it seems that we cannot export without paying for the "Pro" upgrade. The GoogleSlides look like they might be a nice option for our "sharing" purposes, but it's probably too late in the game to make the switch.

I really like the professional look of the Haiku Deck slides, but I wish it doesn't auto-save quite so quickly. And I tried editing and adding slides to my presentation using the app on my phone, but didn't find it nearly as easy as just working on my laptop,

Here is my presentation so far:
Take Me There!

Thing 22: Languages

I have used Pronunciator before, and have recommended it to a couple of patrons who were looking for World Languages materials. So for this Thing, I decided to try Duolingo, something brand new to me. One of my big goals in life is to learn Spanish - I actually taught in inner-city Houston and didn't make the effort to learn it then, which is something I have always regretted.

I downloaded the Duolingo app to my phone, set up an account, and completed the "Basic Lesson 1". Each lesson is supposed to take approx. 10 minutes, which is perfect for my short attention span. I learned the difference between "el" and "una", and heard the correct pronunciations of several phrases. I moved the app's icon to my main home screen, and really do plan to continue with one or two lessons per day. The reviews are somewhat mixed, so I don't know how far it will actually get me in my functional language learning, but it certainly cannot hurt!

I took quite a few German classes in college, and might also try Duolingo's "placement test" to see where I fall in their German lesson sequence.

Thing 21: CCPL

I just had a major "Aha Moment" with this Thing. I learned how to add a shortcut to a website on my home screen! I access a knitting website called Ravelry several times per day, and now I have a little icon on my home screen to click on to go to it! I also added the CCPL site to my home screen. I don't think I will use it very often, but I would recommend it for parents who like to check the Children's Calendar for programs throughout the week.

I like the mobile version of CCPL's web page. I need to remember to recommend this to patrons more often.

Thing 20: Email

When I tried to download the Acompli app on my phone, I noticed that it came up as Outlook. Sure enough, when I went to Acompli's website, it says that "Acompli is now Outlook." So I guess I will talk about Outlook instead! The one thing that I noticed right away when I opened Outlook is that I have access to all of my husband's files as well, which is nice. He stores things like bills, bank statements, and other boring but necessary documents in Outlook, so now I won't have to ask him to forward them to me when needed. I also connected all three of my email accounts onto the Outlook app, which I might like from time to time, but I generally like to keep my emails separate.

I have had CCPL Webmail set up on my device for many months. Since I only work part time, it is really nice to be able to check in and be able to respond to quick questions. Tech Services staff often have small questions about an item that I have ordered for the Children's Collection, and by answering right away, their work flow is not held up.

Thing 18: Calendars

I didn't know anything about Sunrise before starting this Thing. I already occasionally use the calendar app that is built into the phone, but after downloading Sunrise and signing in through Google, I can see that it is something I will use all the time. I love that it links to Google+, which means I will see all of my family's other activities. And more importantly, they will see MY activities, so I won't have to keep answering questions like, "Are you working on Tuesday night?" (although I have worked just about every Tuesday night for the past, oh, 7 years or so??)  :)

Since I have special friends' and family members' birthdays included in my Google calendar, it's nice to see it already loaded onto my Sunrise calendar as well. I don't plan to add any of the "special days", as I don't want to clutter my calendar, but it might be interesting to play with some of the others, such as the "TV" category.  I think my dad would love to play with the "Stock Market" category.  I also practiced adding several events to the Sunrise calendar, and found it to be much more streamlined even than the Google calendar. It just seems easier to view events for the upcoming week and month in Sunrise too.

Thing 17: File Sharing and Cloud Storage

We have used Google Drive in the Children's Department for a couple of years now, and I really, really like having access to all of my documents wherever I am. I also have the app on my phone, but haven't used it very often in that format. I have tried to access our desk schedule through my phone, but I have found it to be cumbersome. After some trial and error, I learned that by giving the desk schedule a "Star", it rises to the top of the list of items in my Drive, making it easier for me to find.

I have just begun to explore storing and accessing my photos in the Drive. Up until fairly recently, I uploaded all of the photos off my phone onto my Shutterfly account, which also has a sharing feature. We just returned from a vacation with our neighbors, and I decided to share the photos we took in Google Drive this time.

I also looked into Dropbox for this Thing, but the reviews I read indicate that it has many of the same features as Google Drive. I think I'll just stick with Google Drive, as it is great to use just one login for photos, documents, calendars, etc.

Finally, I used the Google Drive app to share this photo from our trip.