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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

what's an 'ap'?

i have a lot of time on my hands lately.  sleeping seems to take up a fair chunk of it.  i guess i must need it.   i happened to hear Rick Mercer do a Remembrance Day rant about the Canadian Government's treatment of our war veterans.  he's a very funny man; a brilliant satirist.  in his rant, he mentions that veterans of 80+ years are told they can download an ap for their iphones, to help them contact the gov't Veteran's Affairs branch for various reasons.  how many folks of 80+ do you know, who have an iphone and are all over the 'aps' thing?  

But when i'd stopped howling with laughter, i got thinking.... i do have an ipad.... a Mother's Day gift from the kids....  and so far the only aps i've used are email and ibooks.... a calculator, the weather network and skype.... i've taken a few pictures and learned how to enter people in the contacts ap..... downloaded a few maps....  so, as i couldn't sleep last night, i went to the ap store.    i found all sorts of lovely things that are free!  of course, they just have enough contained in them to get you wanting more, but what fun!  i now have a real time piano i can play by touch-screen (Real Piano HD), a build in microphone and recording software (MicPro), a touch screen drum kid (BeatPad), acres of on-screen sheet music (VSheetMusic) and the coolest set of finger paints ever(BambooPaper)           

here's a sample of what Bamboo Paper doodled up for me.. all done with my fingers on the ipad screen
way too much fun
i may have to learn some self restraint though.  @ 3 a.m. (just as i was beginning to really get the hang of BeatPad) my granddaughter told me to be quiet and go to sleep

4 comments:

Cicero Sings said...

Not too many 80+ year olds into aps! even if their eyesight is up to stuff! My aps are minimal and I like my sleep too much to be up at 3 a.m. ... my goodness girl ... get some sleep. Your granddaughter is right.

gfid said...

Cicero - lol! Of course she's right.... Not usually up that late - was having a rare bout of insomnia.

susan said...

Equally bad as the govm'nt apps for veterans are the somersaults, backflips, and virtual headstands required for people to actually get to speak to anyone at a company providing medical insurance in the US.

Terrific granddaughter you have.

gfid said...

su - i guess, like most canucks, i take our health care system very much for granted.... more so because i'm abnormally healthy, and seldom need it.

yes, the grandgirl is very terrific.