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APPROVAL
BY BIANCA
BOSKER
HUFFINGTON
06.17.12
Summertime... And The
Conversation Ain’t Easy
iTUNES TOP PAID
REFERENCE APPS
1
THE NIGHT SKY
$0.99
AH, SUMMER: the season of weddings, BBQs and interminable small talk with strangers. As someone deeply afraid
of silence, I cram for conversations the way most people
cram for tests, and summer is my finals season. Here’s my
crib sheet for apps to help you make intelligent dinner
party conversation in any summer scenario:
2
WOLFRAMALPHA
$1.99
3
DICTIONARY.COM DICTIONARY &
THESAURUS
$2.99
4
PLANET MONEY
HIGHLIGHT
VINTAGECHART
Contribute witty insights
when talk inevitably
turns to the recession,
European debt crisis,
or grim jobs numbers.
NPR’s app puts an
entertaining economics
professor in your pocket.
Have an instant ice
breaker and avoid the
least fun game of all: the
Name Game. This social
discovery app shows
you which friends and
interests you share with
the people around you.
Say smart things about
the bottle of wine you’re
drinking — or at least
appear intelligent to your
drinking companions by
ordering a bottle they’ll
guzzle with this Wine
Spectator app.
CHART SOURCE: APPLE; DATA AS OF 6/12/12
PRICE: FREE!
CONVERSATION SHAKER
PRICE: FREE!
IHANDY TRANSLATOR
PRO
$1.99
PRICE: FREE!
PRICE: FREE!
TED
PRICE: FREE!
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Pretend to check your
email while actually
getting awful ideas for
questions to ask your
seatmates, e.g., “What
do you do if you can’t
sleep at night?”
Reference a TED talk and
your tablemates might
believe you attended the
$7,500-a-head confab.
Every talk features
“ideas worth spreading,”
so spread them.
As a last resort, you
can turn to this app
to reference some
marginally relevant event
that took place in the
19th century on the very
day of your dinner party.
Chat with a se