Locky's English Playground

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

News & Opinions: New Digest (16th,17th & 18th Nov)

Drinking McDonald's original coffee after finishing a Big Mac meal, extremely unhealthy and I find no explanation to my action, except that I feel like one, the Big Mac was all right, but the coffee, yucks!!! I'm going back to Starbucks next time even though it asks for triple the price.

Two-days' news digest.

Image from smh.com.au

Twenty-odd whales were stranded on the beach of Macquarie Harbour, near Strahan, Tasmania. From 12 rescuers increased to 30, a rescue crew made up of marine biologists, Parks and Wildlife Service staff and professional fishermen managed to refloat 4 whales and two of them have returned to open waters while the other 24 sperm whales and 2 minke whales have died, adding to the 65 pilot whales deaths (91 in total) in a week in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.

Some Whale Types
Image from faculty.scf.edu

In order to understand why whales often beach in groups, we have to read an extract of the news article by NPR,

Paradoxically, mass-strandings in most cases appear to be triggered by the survival strategy of a single whale, said Anton van Helden, a marine mammal expert at New Zealand's Te Papa museum. When a whale is sick or injured, it will often seek shallower water to recover, he said, so it doesn't have to swim so far to reach the surface and breathe.

Unfortunately, he said, a sick whale will often become beached as it tries to recover. It will then send a distress signal to other whales in its pod and they will join it as part of the group's strong social cohesion.

"The key thing about life in the ocean is that whales are highly dependent on one another to deal with any ailment," van Helden said.

He said Farewell Spit provides a "classic whale trap" because it has long, shallow beaches that can confuse whales into thinking they are in open ocean, as well as large tidal variations which can strand whales. The peak time for strandings in the South Pacific is between October and February, van Helden said, as conditions change and whales move closer inshore.

He said that one of the worst mass-strandings in New Zealand occurred in 1918 when about 1,000 pilot whales were beached on the Chatham Islands.

In general, worldwide whale populations have been slowly recovering since major nations agreed to a ban on commercial whaling in 1986. However, some species of whale remain endangered and Japan's practice of hunting whales for what it says are scientific purposes continues to cause controversy.

It turns out that what kills them is the basic instinct that is trying to protect them. All my life, I have loved sharks, dolphins and whales, and having heard this, there is a rush of blood to my chest that I wanted to go and save some whales right now! One day, I will definitely go and save some whales and communicate with them up close, for now, I still need to work hard to earn a living first, and so here is a nice blog by Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDSC) with lots of beautiful pictures of whales in the wild.

And there is more you can do to care for other animals really.

See Mario like never before?
Image from ideogamesblogger.com

The new Nintendo Super Mario 3D Land is making many animal lovers, in particular PETA, unhappy as it once again, designed Mario wearing the skin of a Tanooki Dog. As we all know, in reality, the skin of Tanooki Dogs are used as fur in coat and PETA says the new Mario game is trying to promote fur coat, thus the killing of Tanooki Dogs. As many of you should know, the slaying of Tanooki Dogs is extremely inhumane as the dogs are often beaten and skinned alive while the animal is still conscious, leaving the dogs to die in great pain. So, in order to promote FUR-FREE, stop wearing anything that has the fur or leather of an animal, will you?

Image from peta.org

If you want to play the anti-Tanooki Dogs killing game, you can go to this PETA website.

Moving onto business news, in these very choppy years, especially in recent months, investors are manipulated badly by the swings of the markets. Finding a good investment is really hard, could gold be the solution? Many authors try to support their arguments and data, which is logical, how else can one make a point? But how many reasons are true? Only the performance is true and author Steve Schaefer has it in this article. Read it if you are interested.

Image from forbes.com

Still on business news, title "Temasek Said to Buy China Construction Bank Shares From BofA" of the next news article speaks for itself as Temasek bought 1/3 of the shares from Bank of America Corp. at HK$4.93. The stock reacted positively on the same day as the news was released with the share closing even higher. Today's market price at 12:51pm is HK$5.41. Good choice made by Temasek? Sure! Because they are earning now, good choice for you to buy in now? Unsure.

Image from forbes.com

Moving onto my recent favourite topic, even though that iPhone 4S is truly disappointing for most non-Apple fan but iPhone 5 "anticipators", the speculators are still taking big bites out of Apple's (logo?) latest phone. Then on the other hand, statistics are statistics, Apple's "sales of smartphones decreased to a 7 percent growth rate between Q2 and Q3 of 2011, while still growing 42 percent from the previous year." Don't tell me that there is nothing to do with the disappointment!

Although the article said, "While Samsung became the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer during this time period, shipping 24 million units to Apple’s 17, its sales were down 3 million from the previous quarter,"
let's not forget that the Samsung Galaxy SII was only available in the big market of North America on the 12th October, so there is still a lot of time to show it's power! And FYI, "Samsung overtook Apple in smartphone sales during Q3 2011, with a total market share of 23.8%, compared to Apple's 14.6%."

Way to go, Galaxy SII!!!

Image from wikipeers.com

Next, news from heaven, after defeating Adobe in the war of Flash versus HTML 5, Steve Jobs wanted more! He wanted to have his very own network and need not rely on AT&T's network. Will this become true one day? Maybe, since Apple has so much cash on hand. How long will that take? Years maybe, if Steve Jobs were here, things will be done much faster. Now, it is a lot of waiting and waiting...

Image from wired.com

Waiting for what? Waiting for iOS 5.0.2. Why? Because iOS 5 drains the battery so much and iOS 5.0.1 which was meant to fix this problem DOESN'T fix it!! Some upgraders even reported that the battery drain problem has got "significantly worst" and author Adrian Kingsley-Hugh of ZDNet argues that iOS 5.0.1 is in fact THE problem! Now that is disappointing! If you haven't upgraded to iOS 5.0.1, here's my advise:

DON'T DO IT!!!

Image from i.i.com.com

Vocabulary:
-odd -- (suffix) informal used after a number, especially a number that can be divided by ten, to show that the exact number is not known
stranded -- (adj) unable to leave somewhere because of a problem such as not having any transport or money
paradoxically -- (adv) paradox (n) [C or U] a situation or statement which seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics
trigger -- (vb) [T] to cause something bad to start
distress -- (n)[U] when you are suffering or are in great danger and therefore in urgent need of help
tidal -- (adj) relating to the tide (water waves)
variation -- (n) [C or U] a change in amount or level
controversy -- (n) [C or U] a lot of disagreement or argument about something, usually because it affects or is important to many people
inhumane -- (adj) cruel and not finding the suffering of people or animals important
choppy -- (adj) (of sea, lakes or rivers) with a lot of small, rough waves caused by the wind
manipulate -- (vb) [T] mainly disapproving to control something or someone to your advantage, often unfairly or dishonestly
swing -- (n) [C] a change
"anticipator" -- (n) [C] Locky's created word, people who antipcate
significantly -- (adv) in a way that is easy to see or by a large amount

Resources:

Joy as rescuers free stranded whales in Tasmania @ news.com.au
http://www.news.com.au/national/joy-as-rescuers-free-stranded-whales/story-e6frfky9-1226193921752

Stranded whale succumbs @ The Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/stranded-whale-succumbs-20111115-1ng93.html

Rescue continues in Tasmania whale tragedy @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRsfkerjiLc&feature=player_embedded

Final stranded whale dies in Tasmania @ The Age
http://www.theage.com.au/national/final-stranded-whale-dies-in-tasmania-20111117-1nkri.html

Last Of 91 Whales Stranded In Australia, NZ Dies @ NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=142428161

WDCS Fieldwork Blog
http://www2.wdcs.org/fieldblog/

PETA continues web campaign with Super Mario send-up @ Times Live
http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/gaming/2011/11/16/peta-continues-web-campaign-with-super-mario-send-up

Mario Kills Tanooki @ PETA.org
http://features.peta.org/mario-kills-tanooki/

The Gold Debate: Miners Vs. Metal @ Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2011/11/15/the-gold-debate-miners-vs-metal/

Temasek Said to Buy China Construction Bank Shares From BofA @ Bloomberg BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-15/temasek-said-to-buy-china-construction-bank-shares-from-bofa.html

Say What? iPhone 4S anticipation slowed global smartphone growth in Q3 @ VentureBeat
http://venturebeat.com/2011/11/15/iphone-4s-slows-smart-phone-growth/

Samsung Galaxy SII @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_SII#Reception

News & Opinions: News Digest (10th & 11th Nov) @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/11/news-opinions-news-digest-10th-11th-nov.html

Steve Jobs Wanted iPhone on Its Own Network, Carrier-Free @ Wired
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/11/steve-jobs-iphone-no-carrier/

News & Technology: iPhone 4S Battery Problem? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/10/news-technology-iphone-4s-battery.html

Apple's iOS5.0.1 Does *Not* Fix Battery Problems @ Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/11/12/apples-ios5-0-1-does-not-fix-battery-problems/

Another iOS 5 update to address battery issues?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57326163-1/another-ios-5-update-to-address-battery-issues/

Test suggests iPhone battery issue not a hardware problem @ ZDNet
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/test-suggests-iphone-battery-issue-not-a-hardware-problem/16250

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/odd_5
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/stranded?q=stranded
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/paradox?q=paradoxically
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/trigger_3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/distress_1?q=distress
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/tidal?q=tidal
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/variation_1?q=variation
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/controversy?q=controversy
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/inhumane?q=inhumane+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/choppy?q=choppy
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/manipulate_1?q=manipulate
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/swing_5
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/significantly_1?q=significantly+

Song: Colours -- Amos Lee

Image from Wikipedia

Haven't recommended songs for awhile, so it is time for one.
Interesting to know that English speakers have Chinese names? Actually, "Lee" is not a rare surname in English, and "Lee" is not his real surname anyway [1].

Anyway, another nice song I heard from House M.D. Season 2 Episode 7 Hunting, quite a nice little downtempo song, relatively sad, talks about the missing feeling after the girl is gone. The exact case has not been thoroughly described, and the song is a little too short to add more details, but there are a few words to pick up from the song, and the most important of all? It is a song with romantic guitar as melody with some pump-and-release vocal near the end of the song, quite soothing, like the high-key falsetto by Amos, then the second version also features Norah Jones, should be quite some jazz?

Norah Jones
Image from paraorkut.com

A special note: Norah Jones is half American and half Indian [2].

Lyrics:

Yesterday I got lost in the circus,
feeling like such a mess.
And now I'm down,
I'm just hanging on the corner.
I can't help but reminisce.

Cuz when you're gone,
all the colours fade.
When you're gone,
no New Years day parade.
You're gone,
colours seem to fade.

Your mama called, she said,
that you're downstairs crying.
Feeling like such a mess.
Ya, I hear ya,
in the background bawling.
What happened to your sweet summertime dress.

I know we all,
we all got our faults.
We get locked in our vaults,
and we stay..

When you're gone,
all the colours fade.
When you're gone,
no New Years day parade.
You're gone,
colours seem to fade,
colours seem to fade.

Vocabulary:
falsetto -- (n) [C] (plural falsettos) a form of singing or speaking by men using an extremely high voice
reminisce -- [I] formal to talk or write about past experiences which you remember with pleasure
parade -- (n)[C] a large number of people walking or in vehicles, all going in the same direction, usually as part of a public celebration of something
bawling -- (vb) [I or T] to shout in a very loud voice
fault -- (n) [U] a mistake, especially something for which you are to blame
vault -- (n)[C] (UK also vaults) a room, especially in a bank, with thick walls and a strong door, which is used to store money or valuable things in safe conditions

Resources:

Colours - Amos Lee @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeVLJKS0XmU

Amos Lee - Colors (feat. Norah Jones) @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/embed/1FtvF4k2QaQ

AMOS LEE LYRICS @ azlyrics
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/amoslee/colors.html

[1] Amos Lee @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Lee

[2] Norah Jones @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norah_jones

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/falsetto_1?q=falsetto+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/reminisce?q=reminisce
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/parade_1?q=parade
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bawl_1?q=bawling#bawl_1__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/fault_1?q=fault
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/vault_2

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Academic Research (Literature Review): YouTubating Teaching –The Techno-Behavioural Cycle & Its Influence on Education

Title:

Author:

Descriptors:

Publication Date:
Pages:
Last Updated:

Literature Review: YouTubating Teaching –The Techno-Behavioural Cycle & Its Influence on Education

Law, Locky

English, ESL, EFL, Multimodality, Internet Culture, Popular Culture, YouTube, Video, Internet, Learning, Teaching,

2010-12-08

2012-07-11

Introduction:

Today, internet users immerse themselves in this gigantic internetwork in which the "World Wide Web that is “read only” becomes “Read Write Web” (Gillmor, 2007) (Duffy, 2008), when static contents undergo a paradigm shift to become multi-dimensional, when YouTube has become a significant part of virtually every netizen’s life. How is this affecting human relations and how should teachers react to this drastic and inevitable change? This paper will look into the effects of digital technology on human interactions while focusing on YouTube, introduce and apply the techno-behavioural cycle to explain the needs of students today, and discuss the pros and cons of using YouTube in teaching with relevance to my own teaching experiences. I conclude with some suggestions for teachers to “YouTubate” ourselves -- to intubate resources on YouTube into our lessons.

Opinions:
For those of you who would like to read academic papers written by me. Hope this will be useful for those of you researching in related areas as well.

Resources:
Academic Research (Literature Review): YouTubating Teaching –The Techno-Behavioural Cycle & Its Influence on Education @ Locky's English Playground

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9emHQBd5COmbFZGRDVUNlNZeVE

Thursday, 10 November 2011

News & Opinions: News Digest (10th & 11th Nov)

I was actually planning to write this entry last week and so I collected a number of news articles but I was occupied with my own assignments and so I couldn't find time to write it.

I still hope to maintain this blog as tri-weekly but when time gets scarce before mid-December, then I can only try to keep it bi-weekly.

Okay, let's begin!

Fans outside the Los Angeles Superior Court, cheering the verdict

First article, Michael Jackson's former doctor Conrad Murray "was found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter" and will face imprisonment. MJ's family members admitted that they are satisfied with the judgement and seems like this is case closed for many MJ fans. What did catch my attention was MJ's final words, "Let Me Have Some Milk", and "milk" refers to the medicine, Propofol, that eventually took his life. If the word "milk" came out from another person's mouth, I will think this is some kind of urban slang, but from MJ's, I can see that his mind does stay forever young. Even the last of his last words stuns the world!

Image from Reuters

The second news has quickly become olds, and that is because on the 10th Nov, the market was still plunging deeply due to the instability of Greece 's referendum and Italy's heavy debt, and already in two days what has dropped like a 1000 points in Hang Seng Index has been regained by this morning. Hong Kong's market is the best place for quick gain and loss. Looks like any 1000 points drop is a chance for buying.

Image from thinkdigit

The third news really shocked me! Olympus makes state-of-the-arts cameras and its PEN-EP3 is one of the best micro-four-third in the world!!! But because of the "wrongdoings" which dates back to 1990s, the president's sacking, fraud and other allegations surrounding the company, the company's stock price has dropped 80% in value this year and is still plummeting. The company may also face delisting by the Tokyo Stock Exchange! No wonder they are updating their cameras models so quickly!

Image from The Wall Street Journal

The fourth news doesn't get much attention in Hong Kong I suppose, but it is one big piece! Adobe Systems Inc. has announced that they have "capitulated to" Apple Inc. and very soon we will not be seeing "nothing" when surfing a Flash website using Apple's iPhone or iPad any more -- because these websites will be changing to HTML5. This is a mega victory for Apple! Steve Jobs really owns Adobe and he still does! Quoting from the article,

"My primary insight when we were screwed by Adobe in 1999 was that we shouldn't get into any business where we didn't control both the hardware and the software, otherwise we'd get our heads handed to us," Mr. Jobs said, according to the book.

Well, easy to say, but who will actually have the cash power to create both the software and the hardware? Who can raise and reproduce cattle and sell the beef and milk? Surely some can, but it is a really tough business!

2005 YU55
Image from NASA

A star rises and a star falls, the fifth news is about an asteroid that came very close to Earth, entering the moon's gravitation region. It was nothing to fear and so no one in Hong Kong really talked about it but it was a major event for astronomy lovers as it did help scientists to understand more about asteroids, its compositions, its shape, how it is formed, where has it been, or even answer some questions about our own planets! Then of course, it also tells us that our planets are not without threats from space, and plans are needed in order to defend our planets against these asteroids if they do try to come "kissing" earth.

Vocabulary:
scarce -- (adj) not easy to find or get
guilty -- (adj) responsible for breaking a law
involuntary manslaugter -- (n) LEGAL the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought. It is distinguished from voluntary manslaughter by the absence of intention. It is normally divided into two categories; constructive manslaughter and criminally negligent manslaughter.
referendum -- (n) [C] (plural referendums or formalreferenda) (formal plebiscite) formal a vote in which all the people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question
plunge --(vb) [I or T usually + adverb or preposition] to (cause someone or something to) move or fall suddenly and often a long way forward, down or into something
plummet -- (vb) [I] to fall very quickly and suddenly
delist -- (vb) [I or T] to stop a company's shares being traded on a stock market:
asteroid -- (n) [C] one of many rocky objects, with widths from over 900 kilometres to less than one kilometre, which circle the sun
astronomy -- (n) [U] the scientific study of the universe and of objects which exist naturally in space, such as the moon, the sun, planets and stars
composition -- [U] the parts, substances, etc. that something is made of

Resource:
Michael Jackson's Final Words: "Let Me Have Some Milk" @ MTV.com
http://www.mtv.co.uk/news/michael-jackson/336958-michael-jackson-conrad-murray-final-words-propofol

Asian stocks dive as bond yields push Italy to the brink @ Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/10/us-markets-global-idUSTRE79N45620111110

Olympus’s Possible Delisting Means ‘Japan Way’ No Excuse @ Bloomberg
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-09/olympus-s-possible-delisting-means-japan-way-no-excuse.html

Adobe Bows in Apple Feud @ The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577027923205009352.html

Asteroid 2005 YU55 Makes Closest Pass to Earth Today @ ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/asteroid-2005-yu55-makes-closest-approach-earth-closer/story?id=14904397#.Trt7MfQ2vdc

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scarce?q=scarce+

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Message: Living & Technology: Lithium Battery Care, Your Phones and Cameras Updated

Hi there,

The article, Living & Technology: Lithium Battery Care, Your Phones and Cameras has been updated today and an extra article has been added to your reading. You are recommended to read the article if you care about your phone batteries.

See you later!
Locky

Resources:
Living & Technology: Lithium Battery Care, Your Phones and Cameras @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/11/living-technology-lithium-battery-care.html

Monday, 7 November 2011

Technology & News: Free Apps To Recommend Part 1

Image from mail2web.com

Is our English Playground turning into a mobile technology blog? Nope, but really, mobile technology has become my recent favourite topic of research. Anyway, the election just finished in Hong Kong yesterday was boring, stock market has been quiet, Toy Story Playland hasn't officially opened, so, might as well return to the funniest topic!

So continuing this morning's 2am entry Living & Technology: Lithium Battery Care, Your Phones and Cameras, I mentioned that I'm recommending some apps for you guys, including some games and the ones which will help to lengthen your battery lifespan, and here they are!!!!!

Android Only

Angry Birds (Original, Rio, Seasons)

Image from digitaltrends

Image from software2tech

Image from http://www.symbiantweet

First of all, yes, Angry Birds games by Rovio, but wouldn't it be a bit out to recommend them now? Nope, because there are a lot of iPhone users out there not knowing that these games are free on Android phones. Those free versions on iPhone are the trial versions, but these on Android are FREE FULL versions! Download here: Original, Rio, Seasons.

TouchTalk

TouchTalk is a real-time translator. You can choose which language as input and which language as output, and then it will translate that for you right away. I haven't checked with all the languages, but English <--> Mandarin and English <--> Japanese are quite accurate! Fun to play with!

JuiceDefender

JuiceDefender is a software which helps you save battery power, which is an important app addressing to the battery drain issue. It has pay and free versions. The free version offers limited functionality but are good enough for most standard users of smartphones. It also simplifies the process quite a bit by offering less. If you want to get full control of the power-saving policy, then you will need to buy the Ultimate version.

Image from Android Market

Battery Monitor 3 (free)

Battery Monitor 3 provides great control for those who actually knows the lithium batteries. You can set an alarm to remind you when the upper limit and the lower limit have been reached when recharging and discharging respectively. The upper limit and lower limit are adjustable at your own will. I set the upper limit at 93%, so I will not forget to remove the charger.

iPhone Only

Find My iPhone

Find My iPhone is a must have for those of you who have iPhone. There has been cases which the owners of the stolen iPhones have been successfully recovered because of this app. It is a free app which requires GPS for accurate positioning.

Audiobooks

Audiobooks offers almost 3000 free audiobooks for listening. English Playground readers, this is a must-have for your listening practice.

Available on Android & iPhone

LINE (Android, iPhone)

Whatsapps' strongest competitor, LINE took the world by surprise by bringing down Whatsapp from the top position of the most popular app chart on App Store. No wonder there are rumours that LINE is charging its users secretly, except that it DOESN'T!!! App Store didn't want to take any chance and so LINE was removed from it while Android Market remains unmoved by the rumour. Now LINE is back on App Store, proving that the rumours are untrue and it was only a false alarm, or that some other companies were freaking out and had to come up with something to bring LINE down. Anyway, LINE is kind of like Viber-and-Whatsapp-in-1, combining free messaging and free calls, and it is more fun than Whatsapp to use! Emoji and Stickers adds fun to messaging and Shake it! searching users nearby (making connection will still need approval by the other end-users, so it is pretty safe). Then just like Whatsapp, Group chats, individual chats are available, but unlike Whatsapp, you can add your own profile photo to show your friends. And the most competitive point about LINE? It is FREE!!!!! Battery drains faster because of using LINE? I don't think so! I use it to make free calls to my mum in Ireland and it was roughly the same as making normal calls in terms of battery usage.

Vlingo (Android, iPhone)

If you don't want to wait for an iPhone 4S upgrade or Siri to start including Hong Kong's data in its server, then Vlingo is your answer. Other than the fact that Vlingo doesn't really talk back to you and it has to follow certain pattern in your sentence structure when giving commands, Vlingo can almost do whatever Siri can. Vlingo on iPhone has 3 functions missing on iOS compared to Android, 1) to "Open" apps through voice command, 2) integration to the Voice Input for the Android phone into all typing apps, including Whatsapp, LINE, Facebook, etc. 3) Driving Mode (with simulated voice similar to that of Siri), allowing Vlingo to talk to you, read you incoming notification messages and take your voice commands.

Dropbox (Android, iPhone)