Darien Library
  1. Appy Hour: TED Price: Free What I like about this app is that you can watch a TED video while you’re waiting in line at the ATM or as has been the case for me lately, at FedEx Kinko’s. But as one reviewer noted, “Needs the ability run in background so I can surf the Internet. No fun to learn about woolly mammoths on TED w/o simultaneously researching on Wikipedia.” We agree. Bring on the wikipedia-ing of wooly mammoths! More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: TED

    Price: Free

    What I like about this app is that you can watch a TED video while you’re waiting in line at the ATM or as has been the case for me lately, at FedEx Kinko’s. But as one reviewer noted, “Needs the ability run in background so I can surf the Internet. No fun to learn about woolly mammoths on TED w/o simultaneously researching on Wikipedia.” We agree. Bring on the wikipedia-ing of wooly mammoths!

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  2. Appy Hour: Heads Up Price: 99 cents Maybe you’re going on a road trip this summer. Maybe you’re planning some porch hang out sessions with friends over beers. Maybe you’ve got toddlers and you’re taking them on their first plane trip. WELL DO I HAVE THE APP FOR YOU. Place your iPhone on your forehead so you can’t see what words appear on your screen. Then challenge the person you’re playing with to describe whatever is written on your forehead. Decks include celebrities, accents, animals, and movies. There is also a special surprise feature that is HIGHLY entertaining but I’m not going to tell you what it is. You’ll just have to play. More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: Heads Up

    Price: 99 cents

    Maybe you’re going on a road trip this summer. Maybe you’re planning some porch hang out sessions with friends over beers. Maybe you’ve got toddlers and you’re taking them on their first plane trip. WELL DO I HAVE THE APP FOR YOU. Place your iPhone on your forehead so you can’t see what words appear on your screen. Then challenge the person you’re playing with to describe whatever is written on your forehead. Decks include celebrities, accents, animals, and movies. There is also a special surprise feature that is HIGHLY entertaining but I’m not going to tell you what it is. You’ll just have to play.

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  3. Appy Hour: Ingress Price: Free but this app is invite-only, so it may be a few weeks before you receive your invitation after signing up. “The world around you is not what it seems” warns the text on the Ingress website. There is another lifeform coming to Earth. Will you greet them as one of the Enlightend or fight them as part of the Resistance? This virtual reality game gives you the option to choose which side to take: Enlightenment or Resistance. You then battle other smartphone-wielding Ingress users to “take over” historical and public landmarks around your town. Each landmark is referred to as a portal. In order to “hack” a portal, you need to be physically within 40 meters of the landmark. Then you tap the landmark on your phone. You gain experience by taking over unclaimed portals and forcing the other side to relinquish their hold on a landmark they had previously claimed. I am not usually interested in games, but Ingress is exhilarating! My spouse and I will visit another town and then go around kicking our rivals off the portals so we can take them over. This gives us a chance to see historical landmarks and encourages us to exercise as we walk around to places inaccessible by car. Occasionally, we will receive an incoming taunt on our Ingress screen as a rival posts that they are going to undo our work. My spouse has made several friends on the local Ingress forum as players from our team get together to strategize. I would not recommend this game for people who have difficulty with mobility. Or anyone who is not up for a challenge. If you are, then sign up for your invitation today! More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: Ingress

    Price: Free but this app is invite-only, so it may be a few weeks before you receive your invitation after signing up.

    “The world around you is not what it seems” warns the text on the Ingress website. There is another lifeform coming to Earth. Will you greet them as one of the Enlightend or fight them as part of the Resistance?

    This virtual reality game gives you the option to choose which side to take: Enlightenment or Resistance. You then battle other smartphone-wielding Ingress users to “take over” historical and public landmarks around your town. Each landmark is referred to as a portal. In order to “hack” a portal, you need to be physically within 40 meters of the landmark. Then you tap the landmark on your phone. You gain experience by taking over unclaimed portals and forcing the other side to relinquish their hold on a landmark they had previously claimed.

    I am not usually interested in games, but Ingress is exhilarating! My spouse and I will visit another town and then go around kicking our rivals off the portals so we can take them over. This gives us a chance to see historical landmarks and encourages us to exercise as we walk around to places inaccessible by car. Occasionally, we will receive an incoming taunt on our Ingress screen as a rival posts that they are going to undo our work. My spouse has made several friends on the local Ingress forum as players from our team get together to strategize.

    I would not recommend this game for people who have difficulty with mobility. Or anyone who is not up for a challenge. If you are, then sign up for your invitation today!

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  4. Appy Hour: Face Juggler Price: Free This is the ultimate app for passing the time when you’re with a friend or two. Snap a photo of two people, indicate where their faces are in the picture and then BOOM. It will switch your faces onto each others’ bodies. Here is an example using my face and fellow librarian Tyler’s face: More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: Face Juggler

    Price: Free

    This is the ultimate app for passing the time when you’re with a friend or two. Snap a photo of two people, indicate where their faces are in the picture and then BOOM. It will switch your faces onto each others’ bodies. Here is an example using my face and fellow librarian Tyler’s face:

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  5. Appy Hour: TripIt Price: Free This is embarrassing to admit, but I am one of those people who totally travels with a manilla folder with printed out flight itineraries, hotel confirmations, and dinner reservation info. With this app, you forward any confirmation you receive to plans@tripit.com and then it automatically generates an itinerary for you. No more crumpled papers at the bottom of your backpack. More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: TripIt

    Price: Free

    This is embarrassing to admit, but I am one of those people who totally travels with a manilla folder with printed out flight itineraries, hotel confirmations, and dinner reservation info. With this app, you forward any confirmation you receive to plans@tripit.com and then it automatically generates an itinerary for you. No more crumpled papers at the bottom of your backpack.

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  6. Appy Hour: Air Display Price: $9.99 This app turns your Apple device (iPad, iTouch, or iPhone) into another monitor that you can use as an extra display or to mirror what’s on your desktop or laptop. Everybody loves more screen real estate! More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: Air Display

    Price: $9.99

    This app turns your Apple device (iPad, iTouch, or iPhone) into another monitor that you can use as an extra display or to mirror what’s on your desktop or laptop. Everybody loves more screen real estate!

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  7. Appy Hour: POETRY from The Poetry Foundation Price: Free National Poetry Month is over, so now it’s on you to keep in touch with verse; luckily, The Poetry Foundation has given you a very high-tech way to do so. POETRY greets you with a SPIN button: when you hit it, it randomly picks two descriptors (like “Optimism & Love” or “Disappointment & Life”) and then gives you a list of poems that fit the bill. The poems range from classic to contemporary, and you can easily slide through the types of poem to find a set that suits your mood. You can also search for particular poems and even save your favorites to revisit. Here’s one I keep coming back to, a new discovery: Flowers by Wendy Videlock They are fleeting. They are fragile. They require little water. They’ll surprise you. They’ll remind you that they aren’t and they are you. More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: POETRY from The Poetry Foundation

    Price: Free

    National Poetry Month is over, so now it’s on you to keep in touch with verse; luckily, The Poetry Foundation has given you a very high-tech way to do so. POETRY greets you with a SPIN button: when you hit it, it randomly picks two descriptors (like “Optimism & Love” or “Disappointment & Life”) and then gives you a list of poems that fit the bill. The poems range from classic to contemporary, and you can easily slide through the types of poem to find a set that suits your mood. You can also search for particular poems and even save your favorites to revisit. Here’s one I keep coming back to, a new discovery:

    Flowers
    by Wendy Videlock

    They are fleeting.
    They are fragile.
    They require

    little water.
    They’ll surprise you.
    They’ll remind you

    that they aren’t
    and they are you.

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  8. Appy Hour: Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum Price: £3.99 This app gives you a virtual, interactive tour of what we know about Pompeii and Herculaneum. A companion to the British Museum’s current exhibition on this topic, this app is fascinating for anyone who has ever exhibited even the mildest interest in these two ancient civilizations. More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum

    Price: £3.99

    This app gives you a virtual, interactive tour of what we know about Pompeii and Herculaneum. A companion to the British Museum’s current exhibition on this topic, this app is fascinating for anyone who has ever exhibited even the mildest interest in these two ancient civilizations.

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  9. Appy Hour: Reflector Price: $12.99 Do you regularly give presentations or tech technology classes? Well then prepare to have your mind blown. Now you can wirelessly connect your iOS device to your Mac or PC and reflect the screen image of your device. For example, I can teach a class on iPads and instead of walking around holding my device like a goober, I can show the class what is happening on my iPad screen by reflecting it onto my computer which, in turn, projects it onto the screen. No more loose dongles! Which is a weird sentence! This app will seriously change your life. You can even reflect more than one device at once. More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: Reflector

    Price: $12.99

    Do you regularly give presentations or tech technology classes? Well then prepare to have your mind blown. Now you can wirelessly connect your iOS device to your Mac or PC and reflect the screen image of your device. For example, I can teach a class on iPads and instead of walking around holding my device like a goober, I can show the class what is happening on my iPad screen by reflecting it onto my computer which, in turn, projects it onto the screen. No more loose dongles! Which is a weird sentence! This app will seriously change your life. You can even reflect more than one device at once.

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

  10. Appy Hour: Felt Board Price: $2.99 This app is based on actual felt boards. Choose your character, setting, and props and then the only limit is your imagination. And the pieces will never get lost because it’s all in an app. This could be adapted for storytime too. More information can be found here. Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.

    Appy Hour: Felt Board

    Price: $2.99

    This app is based on actual felt boards. Choose your character, setting, and props and then the only limit is your imagination. And the pieces will never get lost because it’s all in an app. This could be adapted for storytime too.

    More information can be found here.

    Every Thursday afternoon, we feature an app handpicked by our staff.