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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 jetpack fighters, habit trackers, and a music player for Dropbox users.
Jukebox
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- Sure many people use online music streaming services like Spotify, but there’s still room for offline music services.
- Jukebox is for those who save their music onto Dropbox. Download them, sort them out by artist, song, or album and listen to them.
- That’s all there is to it really. It’s simple, has its own built-in music player and searching and uploading is easy.
- For those of you with limited space, it will tell you how much space it will take up and how much you’ll have left so you’re not left with any surprises.
- For those who regularly save or transfer music via Dropbox, this is a handy workaround.
Personal Trainer: Home Workout
For: Android
Cost: Free
- Yes, since it’s January, there is bound to be a number of people who have exercise down as a resolution. And that’s reflected in the many fitness apps released this month.
- Personal Trainer: Home Workout is one of the nicer examples out there. It provides workout schedules and drills for beginners and those who would like to step it up a notch.
- It’s a collection of videos and drills, designed to be accomplished even if you don’t have any equipment. You’re given a number of videos and routines to complete to get you started.
- If you really need to, you can do fitness routines targeting a specific topic (legs, arms, cardio, etc.). It’s pretty flexible all the same.
- For those who like to ease themselves into training when not in the gym.
Movesum
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- With Christmas done and gone, chances are you’re may have had more treats over the month and are looking to get back in shape again.
- Movesum is a step tracker app that encourages you to set goals and complete them over the week.
- That mightn’t sound interesting but what it does is show you the type of foods you’ve burnt off after you’ve taken so many steps.
- So while a bit of walking will help you burn off some pieces of celery, many more would be needed to burn off a burger, or a bottle of coke and so on.
- For those who need a different kind of motivation to get up and start getting active again.
Trackendar – Calendar Tracker
For: Android
Cost: Free
- Tracking your progress in something new is always tough, especially if it’s based around self-improvement.
- Trackendar is a calendar app that’s about logging in and completing tasks. It’s designed to help you build up habits as a whole.
- You fill in three different types of events: occurrences (simple events), habits (for tracking events that did and didn’t happen) and values (tasks that can be quantified).
- If there is a problem, it doesn’t link up to existing calendars like Google Calendars. It means you will have to add things in manually although it keeps things separate from your usual schedule so that could help.
- A basic app but one that could be what you need to develop a new habit.
Jetpack Fighter
For: iOS (Android version arriving soon)
Cost: Free
- Jetpack Fighter is an anime-inspired endless runner where you dash through a futuristic city destroying robots and other assorted enemies.
- It’s quick, frantic and easy to get into. You swipe to move and attack, you deal with different robots and obstacles and you earn upgrades along the way.
- It’s the very definition of a pick up and play game. Missions really only take a minute to complete, but those who want to delve deeper have a crafting system to work with.
- It’s a freemium game but it’s not an overbearing one. You can go through the game without having to pay for anything and there’s enough there to help you progress anyway.
- It’s not without its problems, (there were one or two slowdown issues) but it’s good fun.
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I don’t trust media-produced opinion or exit polls. They tend to carry something of a bias toward outcomes that the media themselves would like to see, such as the utterly contrived “green wave” that the monolithic, group-thinking Irish media have been salivating and manipulating about since the first exit poll was produced last Friday.
In reality, the vast majority of the Irish electorate did not vote for the Green Party in the 2019 Local and European Elections. The vast majority of voters voted for either Fianna Fail, Fine Gael or Independent candidates.
Media-produced opinion and exit polls tend to exaggerate scenarios that the media would be ideologically in favour of, and they downplay scenarios that the media would be less in favour of. Like most voters, I have never once been asked to contribute to an exit poll. Nor have I ever been asked to contribute to an opinion poll between elections.
@J. Reid: I think the main reason the exit polls predicted a green surge is that green voters vote later in the day and when you tip the box upside down their votes are at the top distorting the exit poll. But why do they vote later? Root cause analysis suggests they may not work 9 to 5 jobs as their principles restrict where they can work but further analysis suggests that those that do work, cycle to workplace and take longer to get there, get changed out if hi vis soaked lycra and thus leave work later, this voting later. Also the green voter will not waste paper by voting if they the know the seat is in the bag thus they wait and surge later. Once the box tips upside down you have the LIFO principles at play that media run with. QED.
@Chewey Bacca: ;)
@J. Reid: Agree 100%.
@Hatchjaw: the exit poll is done prior to boxes being opened i.e. pollsters on the ground all day grabing people as they ahem; exit
@J. Reid: I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, I’m just wondering what ‘the media’ would get out of distorting this information? They’d only have between polling and counting to enjoy their fabrication; no time to influence anything and a hit to their reputation when it becomes apparent they reported the wrong result. Seems very short-sighted.
@iohanx: So Red C wandered down to some South Dublin polling station, asked random hipsters how they voted and put it out as a national trend?
@J. Reid: That is very Trumpian attacking the media. This poll is not a media poll. They do multiple polling research, on a myriad of topics/products etc.
It appears that you and others are unawares to your mistake, as it appears to be an easy mistake to make.
A media produced poll is similar to the following
https://www.thejournal.ie/poll-does-the-price-of-sunscreen-influence-your-usage-4657168-May2019/
@J. Reid: wrong in so many ways.
@Chewey Bacca: LOL. So you get paid to write this crap?
So what we have learned is to not believe what we are told in the polls pre or post voting time
At the end of the day its an exit poll. Who cares. Its the actaul results that matter. Media frenzie comes to mind.
Polls are useful to keep the status quo going, they create voter apathy. People are told constantly that either FG or FF are going to win , so they don’t bother voting which helps keep the big parties in power.
Opinion and exit polls for all their claims to scientific accuracy and reliability are susceptible to one thing that can render them worthless and that’s human nature. Sometime people just don’t tell the truth…
The thing I don’t trust about the explanation is that if the numbers had gone the other way an equally valid explanation would have been provided. When science meets people things get messy.
Polls are used by media to maintain status quo.. Always has and always will..
@Willy: If I follow your logic Willy, you reckon there is a conspiracy by the polling companies to influence people to vote for SF by consistently showing their numbers as much higher than they actually are. The scoundrels. Thankfully the people didn’t fall for it.
The only thing the Poll has done is give Leo and Simon a few quotes to weasel around and unexpected representation for the greens. That has trown up two things, Saoirse McHugh, likely to stay un-elected but has shown her morale backbone whith her FF/FG statement, which do her self no harm next time around as an independent if that be her decision. While the greens leadership show, they are only too keen to to jump into junior government partnership again. Very good to know that about them.
Polls have been proven to be inaccurate many times now so most people don’t pay any attention to them apart from the media who need to fill out their news output with something. Like on a quiet news week, you will get a Sunday newspaper revealing the entirely predictable results of some poll
Varadkar out! The party of spin , lies, deceit and ineptitude out! They think not sinking the economy again is enough for them to retain power. You can disagree and send them packing!!!! Send the rats scurrying come election time. Fool me once ….
@Shane Murphy: the economy isn’t sinking, its the fastest growing in Europe
@Virgil: Heard that before, before the Celtic Tiger Crash, which was fueled by a housing shortage too
@Virgil: Stagnating at the moment, number of jobs advertised has dropped since the beginning of the year. Brexit will trigger downturn here, lack of government preparation for Brexit will make it worse
@Virgil: Means f–all if it only benifits the few.
Just a waste of time and money
The only Exit that matters is the Sf Exit
@pat seery: ??
We have no Green party representation on Sligo County council..I think if they had put up a candidate they would have got a seat after seen what happened around the country.
@Marty from Sligo: eh, there was a green candidate.
Where do they get their ‘margin of error’ from? They should just say this could be totally wrong, we just don’t now. We think it’s a ball park figure
@Virgil: That should be RTE’s Motto !
Morto for them and their Poll Guessers !
Media demanding on radio the minister to introduce carbon tax as if the entire country voted green. If Aontu had recieved the same share of the vote would they demand a new referendum on abortion. No the wouldn’t. Most of the media in this country are biased which is a very dangerous thing.
have your say