Application reviews: Allrecipes dinner spinner, taxi magic

Allrecipes Dinner Spinner

Take a chance on what recipe to cook

What's for dinner? Randomize the process a bit with the Allrecipes Dinner Spinner, which pulls together a suggested recipe at random. The application has three slot machine-like reels (one for categories of dishes, one with ingredients and one with estimated prep time) to come up with a recipe that could work for you. Plus, if you've got time constraints or find you have, say, oregano, that you don't know what to do with, you can lock one of the reels to suit your needs. The app doesn't always come up with searches that make sense - one random spin led to an ill-fated search for beef cookies - but it's a good place to go if you need some inspiration. Free, for Apple, Windows and Android mobile devices - including the Kindle Fire.

Taxi Magic

A different way to flag down a taxicab

We've all been there. Maybe you planned to take a bus or your ride fell through, but for whatever reason you're stranded far from home with no public transit and no cabs to be found. Armed with Taxi Magic, however, you can book cabs from your cellphone, either through the mobile app or by calling any of several companies in the area. The app will let you choose whether to pay through the app (for a fee) or in the cab, and it will give you a fare estimate. If you're feeling organized, you can even schedule a pickup from the app - which should keep you from getting stranded. Free, for Apple mobile, Android, BlackBerry and Palm devices.