Tag: ipad

Technology Tuesdays on a Thursday? Over dependancy on Technology!

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I wanted to write my Technology Tuesdays this week but my iMac froze on me.  That made me think how dependant we are on gadgets.  We expect them to work all the time – and when they don’t – a wave of frustration comes over us.  I could have written a post to upload later from my iPad or iPhone – but I was simply too annoyed.

I got over the annoyance in a day.  The next day another technology mishap was waiting to happen.  Yesterday I was out at Westfield with a friend and realised I forgot my phone at home.  I realised when I reached the tube station – before meeting her. I stood there paralysed for a minute.  How do I contact her?  How do I ask my husband to pick me up from the station in the evening?  How will he gauge the time?  I was stressed.

I regained my composure and used a public pay-phone.  To my surprise, they are hard to find and the price reflects the fact that they take advantage of people’s desperation.  60p as a starting rate is a joke in my opinion.  Funnily enough, the credit expired after a second of me getting through.

Fortunately,  I brought my iPad mini along in my handbag and upon reaching Westfield made full use of the free wi-fi. THANK YOU WESTFIELD!  🙂  I iMessaged my way into successfully meeting up with my friend and contacting my husband too.

Sadly, Wifi saved my day.  We depend on technology more than we know.  I’m questioning the effects of technology on my everyday life.  Certainly, it makes life easier.  Yet, the absence of it paralyses us in a way it would not if we weren’t so dependant on it.

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App Review: Flipboard

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Flipboard is one of my most used apps on my iPad (it’s the mini, in case you were wondering!  And I absolutely love it.  It was a gift from my husband 🙂 I should bake him more cookies, it seems to be working ) 🙂  It’s become a digital age magazine, where while watching TV you can browse through saved sites, RSS feeds etc.

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This is how it looks.  I love the format, as its easy to use and easy on the eyes.  Nothing too complicated – which is good as that would contradict the very notion of it being like a magazine.  It’s meant to be relaxing, not complicated.  I usually browse News, Recipes, Blogs, Fashion, etc.  Since I have a blog now, I’ve added it to Flipboard 🙂 And besides, the brownies look far too tempting for it to be denied attention!

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The latest update allows users to save articles to read later and personalize their very own magazine.  This magazine would consist of articles that interest them which they have selected.  I think this feature is extremely helpful when users are commuting on the tube.  That is if they get a seat.  I can’t imagine using my iPad while standing in the tube next to thirty thousand other commuters.  The tubes here are a nightmare.  London should really learn from Japan.  The train system was brilliant 15 years ago compared to the present day tubes.  I seem to be going off tangent! 😉  If you lived in London you’d empathize with me completely.

In a nutshell – things I love about it:

  • Easy to Use
  • Digital Magazine Style that has gone right!
  • Saving articles for later is a brilliant idea (esp for commuting)

 

VERDICT:

TO DOWNLOAD OR NOT TO DOWNLOAD:  TO DOWNLOAD

 

 

Technology Tuesdays: Paprika (Recipe Manager App)

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Today’s app – PAPRIKA.  My favorite Recipe App!Image

Hello there!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Weekends we mainly eat out and try different restaurants.  Or we go to the same restaurant and end up ordering exactly the same thing to avoid disappointment!  Sounds ironic but when you get to one of your favorite restaurants, you know exactly what would satisfy you and the risk of a new dish is almost frightening.

Weekdays we eat at home, which means I get to show-off my culinary skills or the lack of. haha! Which brings me to today’s featured app – Paprika.  It’s actually the only app I use for recipes.  I usually download mainly free apps unless the paid app proves to be very useful.  I’m quite frugal when it comes to apps (not so when it comes to designer handbags).  We have to save somewhere! 🙂  This app is usually $4.99 and you can check it out here: http://www.paprikaapp.com/blog/ (apparently there’s a sale at the moment!)

Firstly, the APP lets you search for recipes from all over the web through your internet browser.  It also provides suggested supported sites which are very useful.  I especially like to go to AllRecipes and BettyCrocker.   However. there are times I like to go to other sites and Paprika gives me this flexibility.  When you come upon a recipe that you would like to save – instead of a snapshot, it will save it in a uniform template into your recipe organizer.  Prior to this app, I used to snapshot what I liked and had to go through my photo gallery frantically when I was about to try something new.  That was pretty inefficient and time consuming.  Now I am able to save, categorize and store in an effective manner.

Sometimes, you come across a site that is not supported by this app as it cannot differentiate the text in the blog from the recipe.  There is toolbar at the bottom of this app that overcomes this problem.  You are able to manually copy the ingredients, method, title and store it in the template where you can then save.

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The picture above is a snapshot of my Paprika Recipes.  This demonstrates the way in which my recipes are stored.  There is a search button on the top which allows the users to search their own saved recipes.  Also, you are able to save your own recipes in the same format to add to this collection.

Secondly, if technology isn’t quite your “thing”, it allows you to print recipes so you can have them in a recipe file if that’s how you are used to storing them.  I have to admit, that I print some of my recipes instead of taking my iPad or iPhone in the kitchen with me all the time.

The last feature that this app is able to do is – plan meals.  Frankly, I do not use this feature much as I rather plan my recipes weekly.  Also – my husband sometimes doesn’t quite like sticking to the plan and has spontaneous food cravings.  🙂  Eitherway, the picture below shows how this feature can be used.

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