There’s an app for that
The phone rang the other day. MY phone, which distracted me from other things like (just about anything you can imagine). You see, several months / billing periods ago, I joined the smartphone generation. And several hundred dollars later (it goes with the territory), I’ve learned that the cellular providers do not forget their customers. Email messages. SMS (it stands for something something something). A phone call! Even one day is too many when your bottom line depends on selling minutes.
In return, let’s look at how I’m performing. 3 minutes use, so far. 24% of my data cap. No long distance. Bill paid completely. I’m due to get a customer of the month commendation, really, really soon.
It doesn’t matter that I don’t talk on the phone. I’m having more fun playing with the various apps that catch my eye. Shiny! My crow genes are showing. In case you’d like some recommendations, I’m here to help. These are not ranked (I’m too new to think that any one app is better than another).
Shazam (and the generic version, TrackID) – Salvation for the musically curious. You hear it, and your phone names it; the song of the moment, I mean. So much easier than trying to memorize lyrics and plug them into Google (particularly with instrumental pieces). Not too hot at identifying the songs I hum at 07h15, but that will improve. I can feel it.
Color Grab – When you’re colour blind, there’s a secret fear that someone will ask you to help in matching two pieces of clothing. Just point the camera and read the name and Pantone code. It works! Now I can try to match paint colours without reading the rusty paint can from the basement.
Sound meter – Things can get loud out there. Cars, boats, planes, barking dogs and hissing cats. The kid with the 8-track caught in the dash. Just hold up your phone and you have a numerical readout of the excesses in volume. Doesn’t do taste in music.
Colossal Cave – For anyone old enough to remember the CLI, or able to understand the significance of “a maze of twisty little passage”, this is the app you should load… right now!
Make Me Old – The prune faced answer to something.
