This week I downloaded a few new apps that I already love. Two are just dumb fun, one helps me track my exercise stuff and another is fun in meetings around the office (or in my classroom).

Action Movie FX

OK, this app is just dumb fun. But I laugh every time. The basic premise is that you can create a Michael Bay movie at the touch of a button. Record you favorite landmark and blow it up. Record video of Broadway during rush hour and have a huge asteroid drop in the middle of the road. Cars crashing, bombs flying. It’s all good clean fun. What makes it really fun, it to record someone saying something really stupid and blow him or her up. Trust me – everyone laughs.

I plan on blowing up a lot of things (via special effects) this weekend. I’ll let you know how it goes.

FitBit

In my quest to get into better shape, lose a few pounds and become overall healthier, I downloaded FitBit. It allows you to track everything. How much you exercise, how much you walk, how much you eat, the number of stairs you climb and the amount of water you drink. It syncs to your computer and mobile phone, so you have a constant reminder of how you’re doing against a BMI goal. It’s pretty cool. I also purchased a little sensor you wear on your clothing. It tracks everything you do. In fact, last night I wore it to sleep. It told me exactly how long it took me to fall asleep (7 minutes), how long I slept (5:35) and how many times I woke up during the night (3 times for a total of 12 minutes). So my total sleep quality was 98%. So when I’m sleeping, I’m really sleeping. It also didn’t yell at me for not getting more sleep.

Let’s see how I do over a longer period of time. I know that just by wearing the monitor I’ve adjusted my activity. Last night I chose to walk up 5 flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator – since my goal for the day was 10 flights. Hopefully this will help.

Applausometer

Yes, people tend to clap in meetings. People clap when they don’t mean it. People clap when the do mean it. Sometimes we’re being polite. Sometime we’re excited. So I downloaded an applause meter to really judge how people are feeling. It’s a lot of fun. In fact, I used it in my class last night. After every student presented, people clapped. I was looking at my phone to see who got the highest amount of applause. (I’m not telling!)

Atari Greatest Hits

I loved arcade games. I spent plenty of time and money playing games in the 80s. Now there’s an app that captures all the great Atari games. Missile Command, Pong, Breakout, Asteroids, Centipede, Gravitar, Liberator and Millipede. In all, there’s dozens of games in the App. And here’s the cool part, there’s a Bluetooth arcade controller that makes it feel like you’re playing the real arcade game. Of course, my son thinks this App sucks. The games are old. The graphics are old. And I have to admit, when you look at Asteroids, it’s kind of funny how basic the graphics are by today’s standards. But I don’t care. I’m play my game and I’m 15-years-old again.

That’s about it for today. Clapping, playing, dieting and blowing things up. Sounds like a microcosm of my life.