Your New Favorite App: OverDrive

I know you all like reading, so this post is very good news for you.  There is an app called OverDrive that lets you connect to your public library both on the computer and on a mobile device.  Download the app, then put in your library card number (I think you also need to create an OverDrive account).  It will give you access to Southfield Library's collection, which you can get for free!  Once you check a book out, you can download it a few different formats.  I have the Kindle app for my phone and for Google Chrome, so I download the Kindle version of the e-book.  Then I can read on my phone or on my computer.

I still prefer a tangible book to a screen, but there are undeniable benefits to this.  You don't have to go anywhere, and you can access a large selection of books.  It's easy and convenient.  Let me know if it works for you.

App: Circa News

Being up-to-date and informed about current events is a great feeling.  It makes you feel knowledgeable and confident when talking with others.  And I think it's important to be aware of what's going on in the world.  However, keeping up with the news can be intimidating.  There's so much of it to wade through.  Then you have to worry about the bias of the source.  To really understand an issue, you often need to read several sources.  And that seems to be enough to dissuade a lot of people.  It seems so hard they don't even try.  Well if that sounds like you, I may be able to help.

My Arabic TA, who was also my TA over the summer, introduced me to an app called Circa.  Circa pulls together news from a number of sources and synthesizes it into bite-sized chunks.  So I open up the app and read the headlines (you can customize what kinds of news you want to see), and if something sounds interesting I open it up to read the little explanation.  If I'm still interested, I can scroll down and read past news about the same thing, and it will also suggest other related articles.  I can also "follow" a story, and my phone will give me a notification whenever something is added to that story.  Circa recently added a feature which has become a favorite of mine: the Daily Brief.  I pick what time I want to get it every day (I get mine at 7 am), and it lists the biggest news stories of the past day.  Even if I just scroll through the headlines, I feel a lot more informed about what's going on.

Here is a link to the Google Play page: Circa News