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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 a way to message through your lock screen, an adorable puzzler that’s all about rotating worlds, and a powerful photo editor.
ScreenPop
For: Android
Cost: Free
- Instant messaging pretty much dominates the app stores, but one messaging area that hasn’t been tapped into is the lock screen. So far, we’ve LokLok but that’s really it.
- ScreenPop is looking to jump into this area as well, allowing you to send an image to a person’s lock screen.
- Simply take a photo, write or draw whatever you want, and send it off to a friend of yours.
- The app acts as a layer over your regular home screen so you unlock that screen to access your lock screen. It’s easier to understand in practice.
- If your friends communicate mostly with photo messages, then you may enjoy this.
DarkRoom – Photo Editor by Bergen
For: iOS
Cost: Free (€2.99 for curves)
- There are photo editing apps and then there are comprehensive photo editing apps, and DarkRoom very much falls into the latter (provided you’re willing to pay for it).
- On first glance, it looks like it’s every photo editing app that’s ever been released. Filters, temperature and lighting are all covered, but there’s more to it than that.
- The real star is Curves, which gives you access to raw RGB editing features. It’s incredibly handy and gives an extra layer of control similar apps don’t have.
- If you like the setting you created, you can save it as a filter and refer back to it at a later stage. Handy if you know what you want from it.
- Those with experience with Photoshop and other image editing tools and want to bring the same customisation to the small screen will love this.
AppLock – Hide Photos and Videos
For: Windows Phone
Cost: Free
- No matter who you are, there will always be a few photos or videos you would like to keep to yourself. You don’t know what nosey friend will try to look through them when given the chance.
- That’s the purpose of AppLock, which allows you to hide and lock certain photos and videos away and encrypts them.
- It’s simple to use. Just set your password and choose the photos you want to be hidden away and that’s it.
- You can restore the photos and videos to their original place if you want or get rid of them entirely.
- The use case is pretty obvious so if you have a number of photos you want to keep private, you know where to look.
Peak
For: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
- Peak enters a crowded field, there are more than enough brain training apps out there, so it relies on clean visuals and bright mini-games to separate it from the rest of the pack.
- Like all good brain training apps, Peak combines a number of different training games (15 to be exact) to help keep your mind in good shape.
- You do have to go through five menus first though as you tell the app what it is you want to work on. It could be everything or nothing, depending on how much improvement you feel you need.
- Once you’re through. you can jump into the mini-games straight away, solving word puzzles or sorting out images.
- For those who want to keep their mental abilities in tip-top shape.
Twisty Planets
For: iOS, Android
Cost: €0.99 (Free on Android)
- Think of Twisty Planets as a cross between Super Mario Galaxy, Qbert and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and you’ll have a decent idea of what to expect here.
- The premise is the classic ‘collect three stars and reach the end’ gameplay, but the controls and mechanics separate it from other competitors.
- Tapping helps you move Qub, but swiping up and down or left and right rotates the planet to help you move. You have to keep an eye on where Qub is otherwise he’ll fall off.
- The visuals are great, if not amazing, and while the controls may cause you to misstep, the levels are too concise for this to be a real issue, even when extra elements like moving platforms are added in.
- A fun and charming puzzler that’s much smarter than it looks.
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Bloody idiot.
Why? For expressing reservations about a man who overlooked 3.5 billon euro? The article is short on detail so far, but it seems reasonable enough to me.
He is supposed to be an independent civil servant. ie should not be trying to influence the decision of committees. This could possibly open the door for Cardiff after everything.
O’Shea is a chartered accountant and a barrister not a civil servant. Got no problem with him offering an opinion on the person who is suggested as his replacement. Possibly because I agree with him.
independent public servant then.
This carry on will probably hand the job to Cardiff now. He looks like the victim now ffs
Too much self interest and not enough public interest.
So our Independent Auditor in Europe explains to the Europeans that our Government have nominated someone unsuitable for the role, echoing what the whole country here has been saying for the past 3 weeks, and now he’s seen as undermining the government??
How about we look at the Governments nomination, which is the the actual issue here, and not the attempts of the credible people working for us to keep our reputation intact?
Come on…do you really think he is trying to keep our reputation in tact? He says himself he wrote the mails because he was annoyed at not getting rappointed….self interest.
Who is this guy anyway! Who nominated him, what did he do before? I think Cardiff should not be appointed given his role in the financial crisis and his part in the bank guarantee not mention the €3.5 billion fiasco but what’s O’Shea’s beef with him, playing party politics? Gavan?
Hi Ed – as updated in the piece now, O’Shea said he sent the email because he was frustrated at not having been nominated for reappointment by the Irish government.
It would appear that there is little honour among thieves or civil servants.
http://politicaleconomygroup.blogspot.com/2011/10/noble-highwayman.html
What on earth was O’Shea up to? Did he act alone? Extraordinary behaviour and totally inappropriate for an outgoing auditor.
You read this and think ‘ finally someone grows a pair’ and does the right thing. Then you read on, and the guy says he acted in haste and regrets! WTF!
and he is p.o. he didnt get to retain his position, nothin like a bit of self interest to get you motivated to stab someone in the back who is equally not suitable for the job.Someone said it already..cardiff is definitely going to get the job now, he looks like the victim ffs!!!!
I don’t know what is worse, the outgoing office holder giving his opinion on his purported successor – and nothing in that e mail seems to be inaccurate by the way – or an mep trying to subvert the decision of the committee by seeming to know what the parliament will be officially told is their decision even though it wasn’t.
oh and its probably a sheer co-incidence that it was Joe costelloe, same party as said mep, who produced this e mail by way of ambush today.
they REALLY want this guy elected don’t they?
The guy is clearly an unstable snake
Can I ask please, what is the salary going with this position? How much airfare, lodging, relocation, per diem gob stuffing expenses go with it? Bit rich to have some from the FF gene pool lament the financial state of the banks. Pot, kettle and brass neck come to mind.
Why do we need a new appointment.is there a time limit on how long a person can have the job?
Think you can do 2 terms. Each term is for 7 years.
You get two six-year terms; Geoghegan-Quinn was appointed in March 2000 and was reappointed from March 2006. Because she left for the Commission in 2010, leaving two years left to serve, O’Shea was appointed only to fill those two years. The vacancy now arises because Geoghegan-Quinn’s original second term was due to expire at the end of February.
Well if people think that Cardiff is bad, they should look up Maire Geoghan Quinn’s appointment and her record in the Dept. of Justice. That she was let through just says what a joke the standards of the EU commission are.
Great to see him kicked out on his hole and great to see Mr. bitter at not getting a 2nd term so i’ll write bitchy email getting a hop as well.
One can’t count and the other can’t write properly!
can anyone explain what kind of weight Kevin Cardiff has around the ruling class here, to say eoin O’shea has become so apologetic, and the government are so behind him despite the fact he should clearly be fired, and banned from any future public position, and i’ve yet to here any questioning of the clear lack of respect he showed Mary Lou McDonald while being questioned on his failures within the department of finance,,this guy seems untouchable
Yep! gerard. He’s a senior civil servant.
This is a classic case of sour grapes.
The most telling aspect of this whole episode is the level of backbiting that goes on in the upper echelons of the civil service – seems like a snake pit crawling with talentless wasters who thrive and compete on political connections.
Interesting to note that DeRossa – the so called champion of the ‘working man’ late of The Workers Party and Democratic Left and now Labours man in Europe is the champion of the ruling elite in their efforts to get their incompetent fat butts onto snug seats while being aided and abetted by Gilmore back home.
Does anyone think we’re being distracted here???
We’d be better off with pitchforks at the gates of Leinster House alright.
which guy is worse? At least Cardiff sticks to his story.
Which story – that the banks are solvent? We’re not bringing in the IMF?
I think O Shea has stuck to his story, and its a more relevant one…
“And the animals did turn and eat each other”.
No we won’t. I’m the ref and I won’t allow it. Lol
have your say