Archive for January, 2008
Even the name ‘Periodic Table’ brings back some awful memories for me of chemistry lessons spent trying to memorise all those boggling abbreviations. For some people though, such as scientists or students, learning this table of chemical elements is very important.
This eBook provides a handy guide to the periodic table and the nature of chemistry, that you can carry in your pocket wherever you go. Besides a colour-coded, zoomable representation of the table itself, the eBook also gives you more in-depth information about the origins of the table, naming conventions, and different compounds.
Things are explained in a clear manner, though you still need some degree of scientific knowledge as there’s no glossary of terms in there. To help you learn there are some nice inclusions such as a bookmarking tool, plus the ability to insert annotations, links and even drawings.
While there’s a certain amount of information on each element (melting and boiling point, atomic density, weight and electrical charge) I felt this could’ve been expanded to cover more in-depth stuff about each one, such as its properties and uses.
Nevertheless, if you’re interested in science, then Free Periodic Table of Elements makes for a great pocket study aid.
Review by James Thornton
Richard M. Stallman has been a pivotal, and sometimes controversial figure in the free software movement. Mr. Stallman’s accomplishments have included, but are not limited to, the creation of the GNU Public License, the Free Software Foundation, and the GNU C compiler. Here Mr. Stallman shares his thoughts on a number of topics.
DropDMG is the easiest way to create Mac OS X disk images. Just drag and drop a folder or file, and DropDMG will create an image in .dmg, .img, or .smi format??or a Tar, Zip, or StuffIt archive. Or, you can drag an existing image or archive file onto DropDMG to easily convert it to any of the other supported formats.
DropDMG supports encryption, segmented images, and custom icons, and it can create images with rich-text license agreements in multiple languages. There are many time-saving features such as temporary preferences when you hold down Option, remembering recent folders, configurations to keep track of popular combinations of settings, and the ability to create more than one image or archive at a time. All the options are available from Automator, AppleScript, and from the dropdmg command-line tool.
NewsFactor - Microsoft posted a record $16.4 billion in revenue during the company’s second business quarter, shattering its previous record by $2 billion. The software giant also blew away Wall Street expectations by recording a 92 percent rise in quarterly earnings in comparison with the year-earlier period.
Port Authority is a no-cost, open-source application that provides a graphical user interface for the DarwinPorts package management system for Mac OS X. DarwinPorts is a powerful command-line tool for installing and updating a variety of Unix-based applications for the Mac.
Its power, though, comes at the cost of some complexity; in the past the only way to utilize DarwinPorts was to type in various commands into the Mac’s Terminal application, which can be intimidating for those users without a Unix background.
Port Authority aims to bring the power of DarwinPorts to the traditional Mac user by providing an Aqua-native, user-friendly graphical interface to DarwinPorts. Using a familiar combination of windows, icons, and menus, Port Authority users can search, install, update, and remove DarwinPorts programs and the DarwinPorts infrastructure itself.
It’s quite incredible how quickly Sudoku has become one of the most popular puzzle games on the planet. It seems that whenever you get on a bus, train or plane, you’re guaranteed to see at least one person gazing at a block of numbers looking quizzical with a pen in their mouth.
The problem I have with Sudoku is that I find it gets very repetitive very quickly and I often end up putting down my puzzle book after just a couple of games. Skinz Sudoku breathes new life into the format of the game, with innovative gameplay that will keep you glued to your Pocket PC screen.
Like a normal game of Sudoku, you must fill the board with numbers from one to nine without repeating them in the same row, column or square. However, Skinz Sudoku offers four different ways of playing to add a little diversity to the proceedings.
The first is ‘Wheel’, where you pick a number from a number wheel that appears around the tile you selected. Then there’s ‘Square’ which is essentially the same thing only with a simpler layout. ‘Bar’ is particularly interesting, as you first select the number you want to plot before touching the grid to put it anywhere. The final one is ‘Writing’ where you simply type in the number you want to include.
The game allows for the creation of new boards, the ability to change the appearance of the environment, save and load games, all without using the pointer. Though the game offers some fun ways of inputting numbers, the puzzle itself is essentially still the same, so if you’re not into Sudoku then don’t bother.
However, if you’re an affectionado then Skinz Sudoku will add a more more variety to the way you play the game.
Review by James Thornton
I play cards with some seriously lucky people. As a result, I prefer to play on my own and have always liked the game of solitaire. Again though, because I have about as much luck as a turkey at Christmas I still end up losing most of the time.
This is why I’m so drawn to Freecell, because this version of solitaire relies much more on skill than just the cards you happen to get dealt. The object of Freecell is to move all the cards to the home cells, using the free cells as placeholders. Because all the cards are visible from the start everything is based around strategy and your ability to manipulate the cards in your favour.
The game is perfect for playing on your handheld because each round doesn’t take too much time and it’s a good workout for your brain while you’re sat on the bus. This version for Palm is executed fairly well, and includes a couple of useful tools in the shape of a Hints option and the ability to undo a move.
However, there’s nothing too special in the way of extra features. It would’ve been nice to be able to customise the game board or choose some music and sound effects to accompany your movements.
Ultimately though, Freecell is a highly addictive pastime and its strategy element ensures that you’re not always relying on the luck of the draw to get you through.
Review by James Thornton
PacketStream provides point-and-click activation of the Mac’s built-in network monitoring program, which is usually available only from the command line. By clicking a few buttons, you can monitor data as it streams over your network–especially useful for checking web traffic, network bottlenecks, or even suspicious network activity. All network data is displayed in the application itself, and you can save the data to a file for further analysis later.
PacketStream provides a user-friendly way to configure and use the Mac’s network monitoring tools. It is easier than typing in cryptic commands in Terminal. As a native Aqua application, it is more intuitive to use than complex, hard-to-install, Unix-based GUI programs. And it is simpler than more expensive "swiss army knife" network programs, which are overkill for most users.
Shrook is a next-generation news reader that is not only easy to use, but offers advanced features not available to Mac users anywhere else. It supports all versions of RSS and Atom.
Features:
• Synchronization without the Sync button
• Get news without your Mac
• Smart groups without setting up rules
• New items without the wait
• Podcasts without missing the text
• Instant Notifications
• Spotlight support
• No Browser Required
• Smart Groups
• Scrapbooks
• Blogging Integration
• Real-time search
• Channel Guide
• Quick subscription
As one of my new year resolutions I challenged myself to learn a new language. Thankfully, doing so is becoming much easier thanks to the Internet and computer software. Now you can get a basic grasp of 20 different languages from the palm of your hand thanks to this helpful pocket eBook, which is compatible with any mobile device.
Before you start you need to install a mobile eBook reader on your device. Once you’ve done this though it should recognise Phrasebook straight away and you can instantly get stuck into the 1,349 pages.
There are a whopping 20 languages covered. OK, here we go, deep breath: German, French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Polish, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, and Malay. Phew!
Each chapter represents a different language and all are structured neatly in the same way. You get an interesting history of the language and its usage at the start, followed by a prononciation guide then a phrasebook divided into ‘Basics’, ‘Problems’ and ‘Numbers’. All the phrases are the same for each language. The basic phrases are useful, though you want be having many intellectual conversations after learning them.
I would have liked to see more of these simple conversational phrases instead of the Problems section, which concentrates on negative stuff like: ‘Leave me alone’, ‘Stop! Thief!’ and ‘I’m going to call the police’. Using these won’t exactly endear you to the locals, will they?
There are plenty of interactive features in here to give the Phrasebook a more proactive learning approach. For instance, you can highlight words, add notes, insert bookmarks and even add drawings to the text.
If you’d like to get a very basic handle on some of the World’s most widely-spoken languages, install this one and you can do so on the bus.
Review by James Thornton