WILL BE BACK SHORTLY

Sorry for the lack of posting.  It's crunch-time for me.  I will be back to blogging in a few days!

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE?

Ok, I'm busy with my MA thesis so, unfortunately, here is another filler. 

Still, this is an interesting question.  Within the realm of things that are possible, what is your dream app?  Is there something you are dying for your phone to have?  Let me know!

NOOM WEIGHT LOSS

I have not tried many weight loss/calorie counter apps previous to this one, but Noom is very unique and convenient in the way it conceptualizes your eating habits.  I have given up on a couple of applications that required me to log every food item I've eaten because it would simply take too long.  Noom is not concerned with super-accuracy but rather the amount and healthiness of the foods you eat.  When you log a meal, instead of picking specific foods, you pick one of 3 colors and a portion size. You can set a weight goal and it will calculate your ideal daily caloric intake.  There is also an exercise log but I haven't gotten off my butt long enough to try it out :)

YOUR FAVORITE APPS

Sorry, I've been busy with school so I didn't have time to update.

Meanwhile, lets change roles!  What are your favorite Droid apps (iphones are cool too :)

NINJUMP

It's quick-game-review time!

NinJump is a deceptively simple and fun little game.  You play a ninja running up a wall.  On your way up, there are many obstacles from squirrels and rooftops to other ninjas who would like nothing more than to make you fall off.  The object of the game is to get as high up as possible without falling off.  You play by tapping the screen once to jump from one wall to the other.  While you jump, if you happen to kill 3 of a kind (3 birds, squirrels, ninjas, etc.) you get a bonus speed up.  There are also shields you can pick up that will protect you once from any bump! Enjoy!

AUTODESK SKETCHBOOK MOBILE EXPRESS (SBMX)

I can't say I've researched all of the drawing/sketching apps out there, but I came across Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile Express (SBMX) and I can't stop playing with it!  It seems pretty fine-tuned for both amateur sketchers and serious graphic artists alike.  If you are in the latter category, you may consider getting the full version which includes more tools.  However, SBMX has plenty to offer without upgrading.

The interface is intuitive and easy to use.  You have a variety of tools to work with (pencil, pen, marker, various paint brushes, shading) and you can adjust the size of the brush and the opacity of the color.  You can also choose any color from a color-wheel.  Possibly the best part is that you can also work with various layers. When you are finished, you can obviously save your work and share it with the world.


Give it a go! 

HD WALLPAPERS VS. BACKGROUND 10,000 WALLPAPERS

I love changing wallpapers. I change my desktop almost every day, and have begun doing the same with my droid as soon as I found these two snazzy apps.  HD Wallpapers has some gorgeous backgrounds for your droid, neatly organized by category.  Open the app, pick a category, and a beautiful screen full of eye-popping thumbnails will unfold before you.  There are many choices and you can be fairly certain that the image will be of excellent quality.  You can also mark your favorites for easy finding later.

Then you have Background 10,000 Wallpapers:  this is simply strength in numbers.  Unlike HD Wallpapers, you might need to look a little longer to find a background that is worthy of your phone, but eventually you will almost certainly find one.  Despite the many failures on there, there are lots of goodies and I have personally used several.  This app also has a favorite function and allows you to browse by category.

Hope you give them a try and enjoy your new snazzy Android wallpaper!

RELAX AND SLEEP

So... sticking with the topic of sleep (can you tell it's on my mind lately), this nice little app is basically a white noise generator.  I actually use it mostly for reading or working when I need to tune out other people in the room, the television, and/or other distracting noises--- but you can also use it to create a soothing sound to help lull you to sleep.

Relax and Sleep contains 49 different noises you can mix and match to create the perfect combination for you.  Noise categories range from nature (ocean, rainstorm, forest birds) to various humming appliances (running dishwasher, large fan, air conditioner) and everything in between.  You can also save your favorite combinations, generate a random combination, and set a timer for how long you want the noise to continue.  Pretty neat!

SLEEP BOT

I am a sucker for data and any apps that are able to track these data with any measure of accuracy, display them in a neat format, and allow me to export them to my computer for further analysis are pretty much winners in my book. 

Sleep Bot tracks how long you sleep each night, with a nice little 1x1 widget with which you can punch in right before you go to bed and punch out when you wake up.  There are various settings that allow you to set your ideal sleep time, set up a "punch in" offset to more accurately match how long it takes you to fall asleep after you go to bed, and some alarm clock settings which I personally have not experimented with yet.

The really neat thing about Sleep Bot is that unlike most apps I find, you can graph your sleep data in a variety of ways:  hours per day, most frequent sleep durations, the distribution of your sleep time by hours of the day, and others.

Finally, Sleep Bot has a nice tab for sleep resources that gives you a variety of sleep tips, guides, and other handy information to help you get a good night's sleep!

GOWALLA

First up is Gowalla, a "check-in" social networking app similar to Foursquare.  This app allows you to check in to any location you happen to visit from restaurants to stores to universities or even doctor's offices if you are so inclined.  You can share this information with your friends (which I believe is more fun) and of course post it on facebook (which I personally find a tad creepier).  You can earn badges for doing certain things (such as checking in to several different locations) as well as find virtual items which you can keep forever, swap with other users, or drop in various locations. 

One of the big selling points for me is just how polished and pretty the app looks (which is why I prefer it to Foursquare which I am also using).  The badges, locations, items, etc. are fun to get and having a little visual record of where you've been is very fun.

MY ADVENTURES IN APP EXPLORATION

I just wanted to briefly introduce what this blog is going to be about.  As the title suggests, it will almost exclusively feature brief reviews of apps I enjoy on my Droid (and why you should get them too).  I will also be extremely interested in your feedback and experiences  with the reviewed apps or related apps which may be doing it even better.

Thanks in advance for following!
First review coming right up!