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1 Bit Ninja/App Store

5 apps worth downloading this week

Featuring Microsoft’s cross between Word and Wordpress, playlists based around learning instead of music and a one-bit ninja.

EACH WEEK, WE highlight five apps that are worth downloading for your smartphone and tablet. There are a lot of apps released on a daily basis, but not all of them are worth paying attention to.

This week features Microsoft’s cross between Word and Wordpress, playlists based around learning instead of music and a one-bit ninja.

Office Sway
For: iOS,
Cost: Free

- Microsoft has really been pushing its new office apps on iOS and Android, with more services being released on both platforms.
- The latest addition is Office Sway, which is now available to the public after having a waiting list. Think of it as a combination of Google Docs, Word and Wordpress and you have the right idea.
- This is designed with online use in mind, much like Google Docs, all your work is saved on the cloud, allowing you to create visually-pleasing documents.
- It’s not the most accessible app out there. Once you get your head around the terminology it uses (for example, it calls layouts ‘moods’ now), it’s rather easy to put together a decent document.
-If you’re looking for an upgrade to Word, give this a go.

Office Sway Office Sway / App Store Office Sway / App Store / App Store

VLC Player
For: Android, Windows Phone
Cost: Free

- One of the most popular video players has finally arrived on Windows Phone, but under a beta tag mind.
- For those of you not familiar with VLC, it’s a portable media player that allows you to play both audio and video content.
- The interface is nice and bright. If you have any videos saved on your phone (from recording them) they will be placed here, but the real fun is uploading videos and music to it.
- If you don’t have videos, you can open up a stream and view it there, although you will need to have the URL address first before you can do anything.
- If you have a collection of videos saved on your hard drive, this will let you watch them on the go.

89634487-6e18-402d-b868-9faad48dcf54 VLC for Windows Phone VLC for Windows Phone

Adobe Lightroom Mobile
For: iOS, Android
Cost: Free

- If you’re going to go for an image editor, there are few out there that are better than Adobe.
- Now Lighthouse has arrived on Android, it’s somewhat lightweight compared to other similar apps, but that works to its advantage.
- The user interface is one of its strong points. Clear, concise and easy to use.
- The only flaw is that you need to have an Adobe account to use it, and since it’s designed to accompany the main Lightroom service, you will need to go for a 30 day trial to use it at the very least.
- However, if you’re already using Lightroom often, then this is an essential app.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom / YouTube

Gibbon: Playlists for Learning
For: iOS
Cost: Free

- There are a lot of music apps out there based around playlists for each mood, but what about education?
- That’s what Gibbon hopes to solve as it guides you to articles and videos that will help you learn more about a chosen topic.
- By choosing the type of material you want to read, it will go through step by step guides on topics like coding, science, photography and writing among other things.
- It keeps track of your learning, how much material you’ve gone through and will fire out reminders to keep you on track.
- If you want to learn something new but don’t know where to start, this is a good first step.

Gibbons Gibbons / App Store Gibbons / App Store / App Store

1-bit Ninja Remix Rush
For: iOS
Cost: €1.99

- If you’re going to do an endless runner, you need to do something original to stand out. And thankfully the standard of games being released is getting higher and higher.
- 1-bit Ninja Remix Rush has you rushing against the clock as you clear chasms, collect bits and bounce on enemies
- There are two ways to control your character. Holding down the bottom left-hand corner moves your character while tapping the right side causes you to jump. It’s easier in theory.
- It has a 3D viewpoint which may seem strange but really it helps you see what’s coming ahead so you can react
- A great blend of the old and new that will remind you of games from yesteryear.

kode80 / YouTube

Read: 5 apps worth downloading this week –  10th Jan >

Read: One of the best smartphone games of 2014 made almost €5 million >

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13 Comments
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    Mute Patty Cullinane
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:25 AM

    Creating these kinds of situations where higher education is becoming more out of reach for those in the squeezed middle and at even lower socio economic levels is no accident. What we are seeing is a purposeful perpetuation of the haves and the have nots in order to consolidate power and money for the select few. The rest can just go to hell and give up their hopes of doing better in life than a basic wage job where more and more are fighting for fewer and fewer jobs; where the pay will be a race to the bottom, and working conditions will become worse so that those at the top can continue to line their ever expanding pockets off the misery of the majority.

    172
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    Mute Thomas Francis
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:36 AM

    @Patty Cullinane: Absolutely, social engineering at its most subtle. Unfortunately a lot of the affected have lost, or have had their capacity for critical thinking and analysis numbed, by the constant inane noise that is ‘social media’; this facilitated by the ‘smart’ phone – and its immense capabilities to distract from reality.

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    Mute Steven Fitzpatrick
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    Apr 6th 2018, 11:14 AM

    @Patty Cullinane: welcome to east america

    21
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    Mute Tom Molloy
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    Apr 6th 2018, 3:42 PM

    @Patty Cullinane: Why can’t those people living in city Centre accommodation for 27 a week avail of education.

    2
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    Mute gowfc@yahoo.com W
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:31 AM

    The carefree attitude allowing these huge percentage increases in prevalent throughout the rental sector. It is obviously a situation out of hand and despite Varadkar proclaiming it an emergency absolutely nothing is being done. Inaction bordering on criminal negligence.

    109
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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:36 AM

    @gowfc@yahoo.com W:
    There is only one thing a politician is afraid of, being voted out of the Dail. FG and by extension FF because of their support for the government, have made a complete mess of the rental sector but they are going up in the polls.
    Nothing is going to change.

    37
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    Mute Andy K
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:37 AM

    @gowfc@yahoo.com W: The classic Irish attitude of “If I can charge more I will” is the main cause of the problem for higher rental costs.

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    Mute Kal Ipers
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    Apr 6th 2018, 12:02 PM

    @Andy K: I think the 52% tax has more to do with high rents than anything else along with very poor protection for landlords when it comes to not paying rent.

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    Mute Cian O Donoghue
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    Apr 6th 2018, 9:26 PM

    @Kal Ipers: Company’s wouldn’t pay 52% Kal.

    2
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    Mute prop joe
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:08 AM

    Would love to know who is financing this project. One of our beloved state banks?

    94
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    Mute Thomas Francis
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:20 AM

    @prop joe: Perhaps not ‘our beloved state banks’ (the latter day government), by a little fluffy REIT from Canada – insofar as Canada remains a country rather than an estate.

    24
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    Mute Jonathan Whelan
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:50 AM

    It is sickening to think that students and there parents have to pay through there nose to try educate themselves and get a good start in life and the Gov. sits by, yet if all these students never went to college/applied themselves and just turned up at the social office they’d get dole a medical card , rent allowance and eventually a council house.. than the same gov would hand them back to education allowances etc. High time a higher percentage of the gov budget is directed towards people who want to better themselves and not just those with the hand out doing nothing.

    68
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    Mute Michael Mulcahy
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:13 AM

    Where does the money go if these are purpose built accommodation for students.What a government looking after the future of this country what with fees, incurance, and accommodation price hikes.

    42
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    Mute Andy K
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:33 AM

    Surely this is well over the rent cap they brought in, which has basically not been enforced at all.

    37
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    Mute gowfc@yahoo.com W
    Favourite gowfc@yahoo.com W
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:47 AM

    @Andy K: New tenants every year means they can hike it how they like. The 4% cap is for sitting tenants every two years.

    26
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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Apr 6th 2018, 11:09 AM

    @gowfc@yahoo.com W:
    Yes the 4% doesn’t apply but it’s because it is temporary accommodation, ie not their permanent home.
    The 4% is for people that live in their accommodation seven days 52 weeks and is 4% every year, not every two years.

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    Mute Brian Smith
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    Apr 6th 2018, 11:36 AM

    For a country that sells itself as having a well educated local workforce, we aren’t helping ourselves by pricing students out of further education. We are going down the American route where third lvl education is now a business and not a benefit to the country.

    36
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    Mute Albert Brennerman
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:45 AM

    A clear example of a publicly needed service being privatised.
    Will not be a big issue with Leo and the hipsters, the media battery chickens of PK and Rourkey spout all day long The Private Sector will drive down costs,the wealth creators, creating ruthless efficiencies, give it to the private sector and they’ll show you how its done. I want kids in college who’s going prescribe my meds and mind us when we’re old, fix my car, cook etc. Lost 6K myself to a dingy digs provider for daughter with all the compassion of a knife.

    Not to be confused with the private sector workers who are being equally as screwed by this setup. Compassion is the natural enemy to profit.

    44
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    Mute Philip Morgan
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    Apr 6th 2018, 10:52 AM

    We need to do more for the small landlords. Somebody who has been left a house, who decides to rent it out will pay over 50% of the rent on taxes, regardless of other incomes, coupled with the fact that laws favour bad Tennant’s, a landlord could be 2 years without rent by the time the eviction of non payers is complete. Students who have mammy and daddy paying rent will not look after a house and may just party causing damage so hence higher risk with students so higher rents.

    With all mentioned above you can’t blame people using short term rents.

    28
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    Mute Smelly Chemist
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    Apr 6th 2018, 6:15 PM

    @Philip Morgan: so many people want to buy and are stuck renting because landlords are hogging all the property. I don’t feel aorry for them at all. They can get jobs and work for their money like everyone else and not expect other people to pay for their assets for them through rent.

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    Mute Cian O Donoghue
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    Apr 6th 2018, 9:29 PM

    @Smelly Chemist: So you think all landlords should sell up??

    1
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    Mute Sean
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    Apr 6th 2018, 11:38 AM

    In the past student accommodation had to be priced more keenly because many students rented houses from private landlords. Through a series of disastrous policy decisions the Government has made many small time landlords leave the sector with consequent impact on rental supply. The aim being to professionalize the sector -well this is what professional sectors do – they hike up rents to the maximum they can get away with because they answer only to their shareholders.

    26
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    Mute Kal Ipers
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    Apr 6th 2018, 1:00 PM

    @Sean: DCU onsite accomadation was always higher than renting privately. It was never keenly priced. It was cheaper for a friend’s parents to buy a house and pay the mortgage than put 2 of them in student accomadation

    10
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    Mute Suil Amhain
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    Apr 6th 2018, 12:24 PM

    Keep in Mind that the professional tenements that FG wants are also not going to be regarded as permanent accommodation. By setting 1k as average student rent for a single room a month they can charge the professionals more.

    The only rooms more expensive than 1k a month are the hotel rooms that help with kickbacks to private enterprise for exploiting homelessness for profit.

    11
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    Mute Michael Bride
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    Apr 6th 2018, 12:54 PM

    Think of any other sector where a 27% hike is even conceivable- you cant; and that explains why FG will never, never, do anything about individuals like these students, and countless families of course, being in crisis. It’s just too damn profitable for their buddies. I’d like to think the lesson these youngsters are getting in the realities of rentier capitalism will inspire them to change our rotten little state in years to come but the fact that they come from relative comfort or they wouldn’t be at UCD implies they’ll go the traditional Irish route from exploited to exploiter; in a decade some will be landlords (on interest-only buy-to-let mortgages) and more will be employed by the banks and REITs who are the Blueshirsts’ masters. This is the worst of it; because people are ripped off themselves they feel entitled, impelled, to rip others off later and vote for the hard right parties- there’s nothing ‘center’ about FG or FF- that keep the exploitative merry-go-round going. It’s up to the permanently uncomfortable, the class who can’t dream of supporting kids at college, who can’t think of even having kids until they’ve sacrificed their best years on the alter of bankster, developer and landlord greed, to smash the circle of abuse. Vote socialist!

    10
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    Mute Kal Ipers
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    Apr 6th 2018, 2:32 PM

    @Michael Bride: Expense increases on landlords would have gone up that amount and more. As taxes are 52% for every extra €1 expense requires €2 increase to get the same money as before. So the government added more expenses to landlords and took away the tax relief on interest. (did come back but for a lesser amount) LPT, PRTB charges added too while the government then cut rent allowance and forced many landlords to accept it breaking leases.
    The public loved this and ignored the warnings that the costs would get passed on. Many landlords operated at a loss because of this and now are recouping these losses. The government then introduced the RPZs restricting landlords to increases a lot less than the government imposed on landlords.

    5
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    Mute Michael Bride
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    Apr 6th 2018, 2:58 PM

    @Kal Ipers: So the poor landlord is the real victim here? You could sing that if you had a tune Kal- I’m not buying it!

    8
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    Mute Kal Ipers
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    Apr 6th 2018, 6:35 PM

    @Michael Bride: No everyone loses and for all the complaints about landlords the reality is they are just passing on costs.

    1
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    Mute Joe O Reilly
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    Apr 6th 2018, 11:18 AM

    Absolutely disgraceful conduct

    10
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    Mute Jono
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    Apr 6th 2018, 1:19 PM

    Foreign investors pension funds

    4
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    Mute Kal Ipers
    Favourite Kal Ipers
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    Apr 6th 2018, 1:26 PM

    @Jono: No Irish people have money in this too. The vast majority of rental property is Irish owned.

    2
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    Mute Cian O Donoghue
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    Apr 6th 2018, 9:31 PM

    @Jono: If you have a pension, you’re probably a landlord.

    1
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    Mute Ronan McKeon
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    Apr 6th 2018, 4:22 PM

    I remember in the early 2000′s that students were paying €100/130 a week to share a pokey bedroom in Dublin. Tiny living area etc. all shared by 4-8 people.
    Adjusted for inflation, those DCU prices don’t seem too bad.

    1
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    Mute Smelly Chemist
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    Apr 6th 2018, 7:37 PM

    @Ronan McKeon: It’s about €250 a week now, so two and a half times as much. I don’t remember a pint costing €2 in the early 2000s. But yes, it was always bad.

    1
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