Thing 5-Notetaking. Well, I downloaded the Dragon Dictation App because we have Dragon Naturally Speaking at home..well, at least we did until my computer started freezing and generally not working and now is being consulted about by tech people in India and worked on by people at HP so who knows when it will really work again. My son has fine motor difficulties and a really short attention span so typing has never been easy and I was excited to try this app with him. We used it to compose a short e-mail message and he was excited to see what he was saying show up on the screen (as was I). It is both a bummer and sort of a good thing that it makes you tell what punctuation you need..the bummer in that this slows down his flow of thoughts and the good part is that it is making him learn about punctuation. So, we'll keep working on this..it's nice that it is free because the version for PC's/Mac's is not. Springpad and Bamboo Paper sound interesting..maybe will have to try..Remember the Milk..it's hard not to like something with a cow app...I didn't try it because the ipad already has a note pad/reminder list..it's the thing I use to create reminders for my son that he ignores so he can more quickly get to youtube..sigh!

Professionally..I don't know how much I would use this because I would feel self conscious dictating something in the library..egads! However, I would recommend it to people, especially to those for whom typing might be trickier/frustrating...

The other apps sound like they might have more professional applications, at least for me, but again don't have a mobile device at work so....

Thing 4-Keeping Up. I have given up trying to do anything with my Blackberry..it is not "smart" enough to have the apps mentioned in this 23 things and frankly it's a little small to do much with..I just use it for phone calls, checking e-mail, photos/videos, and very brief internet searching, but I digress..

In any case, that leaves me with the family ipad which has become mostly my son's ipad which means I use it when he is busy with something else, like sleeping..sigh!

So I tried Zite and it seems okay..very nice photos..lots of info and it sorts of zooms around as you look at it. I suppose I should try the other app and compare...it could be useful for gathering info from different sites..I'm not sure if you can add from Facebook like you can for the one-Flipboard...for me this isn't terribly personally interesting..nor professionally only in that I don't have a mobile device that I use at work..if I did, well, then maybe..

In any case it seems like a nice idea..sort of recommended nf reading..wonder if my dad would like this..could mention it to him..

Thing 3-Apps...I have a Blackberry phone..it's smart-ish...I couldn't find the apps mentioned here in it..I did find a find wi-fi app that I downloaded..haven't had a chance to use it yet since there is wi-fi at work...tried downloading an app I found in the apps section of my phone about taking a breathing break, but I couldn't get it to work fully..it reminded me to take a breathing break, but it was supposed to connect to a video of showing breathing and this didn't work nor did it seem to register that I clicked on the button that I said I had taken my breathing break so I uninstalled it. I did download the free standapp on the family ipad at home, but unfortunately it displayed strangely and seemed "stuck"..it showed the buttons to choose intervals or alarm..I chose a 15 min interval, but when I clicked submit it took me to a timer, but when it timed down it stopped..I didn't get any videos or anything else..disappointing. Maybe I have to try the 99 cent version? I am willing to do this if it works. hmmm..maybe try another app for phone...

Thing 2: I went through Tips and Tricks, Getting to Know my smart phone and I learned how to send a file to my phone using a usb cord, I learned how to open tabs, I was made aware of the fact that there is a sym key on my keypad that I can press to bring up symbols for typing..and I read about how to conserve battery power and keep my information safe. I did password protect my phone so this is good I think.