Skip to main content

5 favorite apps for business (plus one for fun)

By WTOP Staff

Here are Spider Graham’s favorite smartphone and tablet apps. Rob “Spider” Graham is founder and CEO of Trainingcraft, a provider of digital advertising, marketing and sales consulting, and training solutions. He also teaches at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, covering digital media development, web store creation, business strategies, and interactive marketing best practices. He is also a contributing writer for The Business Journals.

My tablet: iPad

My smartphone: Android

My five favorite apps

1. Flipboard

While I have tried a number of news apps over the years, I often find that what they report and what I want to know are often very different.  Flipboard is a news aggregation program that allows me to customize my news to include topics that are of greatest interest to me.

The app displays the collected articles in a magazine-like format, which is super intuitive and attractive. Setting up a personalized Flipboard is as simple as scrolling through information categories such as business, tech and science, arts and culture, food and dining, travel and style, among many others, then selecting from different sourced news feeds for each category.

SEE ALSO:  Patrick Stroh’s favorite apps

2. Evernote

I’m a constant note taker. While out for a walk, driving in my car, or sitting in the office, ideas for new training courses, business ideas, and chores occur to me. As a result I need to have a way to make sure all these different note have a single place to call home, and that’s what Evernote does for me.

Apart from thoughts and ideas I don’t want to lose,  Evernote allows me to also take pictures and archive them. This means that whether I’m using my iPad, my Droid phone, or my laptop computer, I can add to and have access to all my (near) brilliance anytime I need it.

3. Band of the Day

I’m a huge music fan but find that discovering new bands that match my tastes isn’t always that easy.  BoD offers a calendar driven opportunity to explore a new band by reading about the band’s history, watching live video performance, following the band’s Twitter feed, and listening to tracks from a recent album.

The bands profiled represent an international collection of diverse genres. While not everything is going to make you want to purchase an album, you will definitely get a change to broaden your musical horizons.

4. Paper

While I’m far from being an accomplished visual artist, I do like to pretend to make art from time to time.  Paper is an incredibly well made and intuitive app which allows users to grab a colored pencil, marker, stylus and other tools to create drawings and paintings using just their fingers. What particularly nice is a “rewind” feature that allows users to back away from recent changes to a drawing they thought better of.

The paid version of the app offers users a greater range of art tools, paper types and even colors.

5. SimpleMind+

SimpleMind+ is a mind mapping tool and absolutely one of my favorite pieces of software ever. I use it to develop curriculum, put together business and marketing strategies, and make to-do lists. It allows me to start anywhere in the planning process and add new elements as they occur to me. In short, it allows me to think the way I do and pull together all the loose pieces into a cohesive pile very easily.

I opted for the paid version of the app, which gave me access to better formatting and layout options and access to more robust tool. Some of the best money I’ve ever spent in my career.

My favorite app for fun

Guilty Pleasure App: Perhaps the one app I use almost daily is the Wimp.com app.  Wimp.com is a web site that posts five really interesting, amazing, positive and very safe-for-work videos every day. This app makes it very easy to access and watch the full collection of videos on the site.

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
Read Next Story

Related News

Frustration grows in Venezuela as earthquake death toll reaches 1,430

Israel and Lebanon sign framework agreement with US in ‘first step’ toward peace, Rubio says

Trump-endorsed populist poised to become Colombia’s next president as rival challenges vote