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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

On a Pedestal

     To put something "on a pedestal" is to figuratively elevate it to a position of honor or reverence...to believe that it is perfect.
     For today's photo-a-day challenge prompt of "phone", I literally put my phone on a pedestal.  I do think my phone deserves a position of honor and reverence.  It is perfect.

     You see, I have an iPhone.  Before this, I had just a plain old cell phone.  It wasn't smart, but it was just enough for me.  I had it to use in case of emergencies when I was out and about.  I rarely used it for non-essential phone calls and I always left it in the car.
     Then a few months ago, for my birthday, my husband bought me this iPhone.  I opened the present and was a tad bit underwhelmed.  Of course I didn't show it at the time, but I was pretty sure that he'd just wasted a bit of money on something that I didn't need.  I graciously accepted the new phone and to humor him (and my kids who were thrilled that Mama had a smart phone!) I began to familiarize myself with its features.
     Ummmmm....in no time at all I was hooked.  I started downloading apps and customizing things, playing with the camera, trying my hand at Angry Birds (still haven't figured that one out - I cannot figure out how to get the bird to land where I want him to!)
     I downloaded Wuthering Heights and read that (finally).  I love that when you're reading an iBook you can double-tap a word and get the definition instantly.  A-may-zing!!
     I found a wonderful grocery list app, Grocery IQ, that lets you scan the barcode of an item and it automatically adds it to your grocery list.  How cool is that?!
     And one of my very favorite apps is called Pulse News.  Have you heard of it?


     Pulse takes your favorite websites and transforms them into a colorful and interactive mosaic.  In the screenshot above, you can see three blogs that I read daily.  Each little square represents one blog post, and when a blog is updated, the screen on Pulse is also updated.  You can scroll to the right to see 25 total pages within that blog!
     Right now I have 30 different blogs on my Pulse app.  Since I really don't have the time to go to each blog's website every day, I can just open Pulse and quickly see which blogs have topics that day that I'd like to read.  And reading a post is simple: just tap the square and the post is loaded!
     And it's not just for blogs.  I have news websites on my Pulse as well.  If I'd like a quick peek at the local news stories, here's where I look:


     Pulse is one of 50 apps in Apple's App Store Hall of Fame and was one of TIME's top 50 iPhone apps of 2011.  It's available as a FREE download for iPhone, iPad, and Android.


     By the way, if you have the inclination, check out the 3 blogs that are pictured on my first screenshot above:
     A Speck of Dust  
     This is my sister's blog!  She's an exceptionally talented scrapbooker, cook, and photographer (not an all-inclusive list) and her blog is fun to read and inspiring.
     The Marsha Brady Fan Club  
     I found this blog just a few weeks ago when I began the photo-a-day challenge.  Quite frankly it was the name of the blog that caught my attention - I love it!  The writer, Gary, is also doing the photo challenge and his posts and pictures are entertaining and well-written. 
     Eighteen25  
     The girls at Eighteen25 always have cute crafts and printables, great giveaways, and a ton of other fun things going on in their blog.  
     And if you visit any of them, leave a comment and show them some blog love!
♥C



4 comments:

  1. This is such a cute post, you are so clever!! Thank you for all of the tips, I didn't know about a few of them...I am excited to check them out!

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  2. WOW, thank you so much Catherine for not only mentioning my blog, but showing it on the screen shot of your iPhone. I now totally understand what you meant when you said how amazing it is to have another blogger mention/reference your blog. This is a first for me, so thank you.

    Now I also have to thank you for introducing me to Pulse - how cool is that App?! I didn't know it existed, but it is fast becoming one of my more frequently used Apps. I noticed another App on the screen shot of your iPhone that I checked out - Dragon Dictation. I'm loving the simplicity of this and the 'no more typing' text messages.

    I also have to confess that I had a little chuckle that you were a reluctant iPhone user (like I was) and are now a total iSlave (yes guilty here too!).

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    1. LOL...I hadn't heard the term iSlave! Love it! I'm glad you hadn't heard of Pulse and that you like it. I wondered if I was writing about old news, y'know everyone reading would say, "Duh. Of course I've heard of Pulse. Everyone has it - where have you been?" So I'm glad to have shared something new. And Dragon is awesome, but be careful to check your text before you send it! Sometimes it misunderstands what you've said - I've had some good laughs when that's happened. :)

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  3. I didn't know about this app. So glad you shared!!!

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