I love a freebie, and similarly-minded Dublin-based folks with a commute that takes them through the city centre may be interested in the Arnotts Gifts app for iThings.
Tag: Frivolity
Black Friday Week on Amazon
It’s Black Friday week on Amazon again – already! I did very well on this last year once I got the hang of it, and I’ve been haunting the daily deals Mon-Weds year-round ever since. If you haven’t experienced Amazon’s Lightening Deals before, here’s a quick guide to help you make the most of them.
Hearst Magazines Summer Sale for iThings
I love Newsstand on iThings, mainly on the iPad, though content is surprisingly accessible on the iPhone too. I love that I can decide over breakfast that I’d like to read a magazine, then download one without leaving the house; I love that I can access some obscure titles without placing a special order with my newsagent; I love that the magazines cost less than they do in the newsagent’s (there’s a shocking markup on magazines here in Ireland); I love that I don’t wind up with stacks of paper creating clutter and needing to be recycled, and that even if I’ve deleted an issue I can download it again for free any time; I love that I can bring a stack of magazines with me in my pocket when I leave the house; I love that I can zoom in on content if it’s not clear enough at standard size. There’s a lot to love.
I Shot the Serif
@DaveGorman gave this a mention on twitter a couple of days ago, and I had to give it a try.
Available for free as a web app and for iThings, I Shot the Serif is a fun way to squander a few idle moments. And you can tell yourself that you’re developing useful proof reading skills while you’re at it.
Basically, you’re presented with a grid of random letters, half of which are in serif fonts and half in sans-serif. You have to select (shoot) the serifs, and leave the sans-serifs alone. You’re playing against a timer, and are allowed a certain number of mistakes. The higher the level you play at, the less time you have, and the fewer mistakes that are allowed.
The 5yo (still high on his zombie shooting buzz from last week) was keen to have a go when he saw me playing, and I was impressed by how well he did. I’m kidding myself that it’s helping him improve his reading skills (he does whisper the names of the letters to himself as he inspects each one), but really I know he just likes the sound effects.
Downsides: I found that on the iPhone this crashed very frequently, often when I was on my way to a highscore. And the shooting sound effects were a bit much for me, so I played with the volume off. Aside from those 2 niggles, it’s great fun.
Foozle
For a bit of Friday Frivolity, I thought I’d share a current favourite iThing app of mine and my 5 year old’s: Foozle! Great name, great game. It’s less challenging (and frustrating) than Angry Birds, which is good for the 5 year old in particular, but it’s still quite engaging.
The basic premise is that you have a bunch of furry little shape-shifting critters, some of whom are good and some of whom are bad (and occasionally some of whom are neutral) sitting around on platforms. Some platforms are level, some are angled, some are bouncy, some swing… You want to make all the bad guys fall off the screen, while hanging on to the good guys. Tapping a Foozle changes its shape from a square to a circle, and depending on where it is, that’ll either start or stop it rolling. The fewer times you tap to get rid of the bad guys, the higher your score.
