We all make mistakes. If it is in a series of long entries of mathematical calculations, it is simply a big pain in the neck. Wouldn’t it be great if we can simply correct the one wrong entry and all our calculations become correct?
That is why Digits is great; a superb calculator app that records all your entries in what it calls a tape and allow you to edit/correct any number of wrong entries.
Steve Jobs captured the essence of time succinctly when he said” the most precious resource we all have is time “. At the same time it is also the most wasted resource. It simply slips out of our fumbling consciousness leaving us wondering ” How did it get so late so soon?” - great line from Dr. Seuss.
To answer this question, help is close at hand in the form of Pomodoro Time, a powerful personal productivity app for iPhone, iPad touch and iPad from Xwavesoft.
It has been more than a year since I wrote about Noteshelf- a paperless note taking app for the iPad. Sometime back I received an email from Julia, a Noteshelf team member, enlightening me about some of the new features of this app. Well, being a passionate user, my experience with Noteshelf had always been so immersive that I needed this wake up call to come back to the real world and take note of the sea change.
It’s nice to finally have a wave of role-playing games flooding the App Store.
Republique, a stealth-action RPG developed by big names, with backing from the Kickstarter Community is yet another drop in this flood.
Based in the state of Metaphorphisis, which has one of those paranoid governments that simply love keeping a close eye on everything, banning and killing people in the name of disrupting peace - a setting unpleasantly close to reality, with mysterious characters such as the ‘Overseer’ and the ‘Headmaster’ ( who, as you’ll later discover, has a rather pompous way of talking), a mysterious young woman (Sigh.
Writing is bliss, all the more if it is un-distracted. No menu-bar, no tool bar, no buttons- absolutely nothing; just plain white sheet welcoming the flow, catalyzing the creation- from mind to words to paper, un-disturbed, smooth, natural- like the formation of a rainbow or the gentle drops of the spring rain - peaceful and melodious. One of the ipad apps that makes the writing experience so wonderful is iA Writer.
There are new technologies springing up routinely - they come and go; and there are new technologies that can change life as we know it in a deep, profound way- for ever. Nano science / technology is the one that tops the list of such profound emerging sciences / technologies. Nano can encompass almost all aspects of life- medicine, computers, materials- nothing is beyond its reach. The most interesting aspect of it is its slow, hush-hush way of moving forward - almost as quietly as the rising tide with an equally loud and deep impact but only much longer lasting.
The educational landscape is continuously proving its never failing potentials to surprise us. First it was the exploitation of Internet in the domain of teaching, from emailing to chatting to online educational resources. Then there was this big wave of MOOCs that is still going strong. We also saw SPOC and MOOR, MOOCs variants or rather MOOC inspired form of online delivery of education and research. Now Google has come up with an altogether new twist to the learning and teaching experience through its project Oppia.
Words are wonderful. They have a long life. Even centuries cannot fade their charm. From leather, cave walls, leaves, all the way to papyrus and the modern day paper, words are loved, cherished, admired and awed- they play wonders. Time stands still- such is the power and beauty of words. You can see them, touch them and get touched by them- on paper, on your iPhones, your iPads and many other devices.
Big Data holds the key to wisdom and prudence. With good enough data, one can slice through and glean useful bits of information. With intelligent extrapolation of available data, future can be as clear as the night sky under brightly lit stars. Trends, shape of things to come, tomorrow, a week from now; all can be modeled, predicted and visualized. Many useful and highly prudent insights buried under mountains of data and, therefore, unavailable, can be made to surface through smart queries, resulting in co-relations hitherto un-imagined.
MOOC is sweeping the academic landscape in unprecedented ways. In its stride, it has spread over to the four corners of the world in a matter of months. Surveys indicate sizable participation of people, almost entirely as students, from the stressed side of the digital and economic divide. The global impact is still to be ascertained. Some questions, however, can be raised at this stage; from delivery and governance of MOOC to its social, economical industrial and cultural impacts.