Keeping a journal is a great way to write introspectively and is just as important for some people as formal writing. The App Store holds a select number of journal or diary apps, but I stuck with Maxjournal.
Maxjournal is free and allows for creating multiple journals. Its interface is a good balance of style and function. It’s also pretty easy to use, which makes starting a journal less about the fluff and more about the content.
This week’s games have us championing our castle; shooting up enemy spaceships; leading nimble little heroes to glory; competing in jousting tournaments; and reuniting a boy with his best friend, a precious dog named Bear.
Click “more” to take a look. And, as the knights might say: Let the games begin! (more…)
ElectricSlide is a really simple concept executed brilliantly. Anyone who has ever had to give a presentation will know how frustrating it is to move files around or to try out connections just to get your hard-crafted work displayed on a screen somewhere. How awesome would it be to simply turn up at a conference or a meeting and just press play on your iPad, and have it all presented perfectly and seamlessly over the resident Internet connection?
This is the promise of ElectricSlide, and it was with great enjoyment that I took this slick app out for a test-run to see what it could do, and if it lived up to the promise. Read on to see what I found.
Smaller is always better, correct? Smaller is more portable, easier to hold, and is more likely to be used in most situations, correct? That’s typically correct, especially in the technology world.
But that isn’t taking into account the loss of potential productivity, or the advantages of the larger size. At some point, a smaller size begins to impact the capabilities of the device, even if the two devices run identical software. While the iPad mini really is an excellent device that is designed to please most users, there is at least one group of users that likely will not find the iPad mini’s smaller form factor an improvement over the more traditional, 9.7″ iPad.
That segment of users are the true iPad power users, the people who consistently use the iPad not just to consume, but also to create.
Freemium games are very popular in the App Store at present, allowing people to experience a major title without necessarily making a purchase. One such title to came to my attention is Wonder Zoo — an app that draws you in with its well-designed graphics and intriguing storyline.
In Wonder Zoo, a poacher has snuck into the reserve and stolen all of the animals. Whilst making his escape, his vehicle broke down and the animals have fled into the wilderness and are unable to be found. Now the Ranger needs your help in bringing them back home where they belong. Are you up for the challenge? Let’s find out!
Outlines dominate the teaching and note-taking landscape. Many PowerPoint slides consist of an idea header with organized bullets that go into additional detail. High school teachers often required students to submit paper outlines prior to the first draft. Tony Buzan, the self-proclaimed creator of mind maps, argues that the brain doesn’t develop ideas in this traditional outline format; instead, ideas develop radially, starting with the central point and branching out into detailed topics and subtopics. According to Buzan, mind maps are more efficient and useful for capturing and developing ideas. The increased use of colors and images also helps the creator to retain and express ideas in an enhanced capacity.
Mind maps have several advantages over outlines. They provide a beautiful way to visualize data, especially for presentations and papers. Mind map topics can have complex dependencies and relationships that move far beyond the limits of a hierarchical outline.
Users looking for a mind mapping application will find a slurry of choices, from simple subscription-based solutions, to complex cross-platform behemoths. iThoughtsHD by CMS is a feature-rich mind mapping solution that supports many export and import options.
How well does iThoughtsHD stand up against the competition? Read on to find out.
It’s great to find innovative games for the iPad, but I also love to find games that put a new spin on some of my old favorites. The App Store has been kind to board games, but if you’re a devotee of niche tabletop games — games that are less popular than a With Friends app — you’re out of luck.
That’s why I was so happy to see my favorite Spaghetti Western card game in the App Store. Bang! HD preserves all the fun of being in an Old West shootout — don’t tell me it wasn’t fun to have pulmonary tuberculosis and cholera at the same time — but now I’ve got it on my iPad. But can a card game against a computer live up to the fun of playing Bang! with my friends? (more…)
Reports of kids racking up huge bills through in-app purchases (IAP) is certainly en vogue in the mainstream media at the moment. The tech media, too. When the story ingredients include young children, the (on occasion) largest company on the planet and mammoth credit card bills for normal, hardworking parents then you’re guaranteed eyes on the page. The conclusion being that Apple is, after all, evil.
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If there was one game I never understood growing up, it was the 2D overhead Zelda games on the original NES and SNES. I never thought they were bad, but they weren’t for me. As much as I liked the idea of attacking bizarre creatures with a sword, I preferred the side-scrolling world of Mario to Zelda any day of the week.
That’s why I was thrilled to discover Swordigo. Swordigo is a universal iOS game that is basically a combination of the RPG world of Zelda and the side-scrolling world of Mario. You’ll jump, run and attack your way through multiple worlds of side-scrolling, shore-wielding action. And I think it’s a blast.
This week we’re asking: what do you use your iPad’s side switch for? Of course, you’ve got the standard offering between locking the screen rotation or muting your iPad, but if you’ve jailbroken your iPad then you’ve got almost infinite possibilites with it! It seems like a pretty mundane question but one that will be sure to divide our readership community! So go ahead and let us know what you use your side switch for in this week’s poll on the right!
