my experience with pajama sam on the wii

I’ve been pretty out of touch with my brothers’ recent purchases for the household Nintendo Wii, given that many of their games are games I have no interest in playing and I’ve already given Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario a try. Yesterday, however, when rummaging through a stack of Wii games, I came across two extremely familiar cartoon faces staring back at me. Those faces belonged to the late Humongous Entertainment characters Pajama Sam and Spy Fox.

Humongous Entertainment was formed in 1992 by CEO Shelley Day and Creative Director Ron Gilbert. It became known for simplistic adventure games intended for kids between the ages of six and eight years old. In 1996, Humongous Entertainment was purchased by GT Interactive of the French publisher Atari. Let’s just say it was all downhill from there, as after a few years, Atari discontinued the Humongous franchises that were once so popular amongst children. The company’s most popular titles included the Putt-Put series, Freddi Fish series, Pajama Sam series, and the Spy Fox series. A full list of all known Humongous games can be found here. Humongous is most well known for the origination of the Backyard Sports series (Backyard Baseball, Backyard Basketball, Backyard Soccer, Backyard Hockey and more) which is still played on Playstation, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS today. In 2008, Majesco Entertainment Company shipped three of Humongous’ award-winning titles, Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery, Pajama Sam: Don’t Fear the Dark and Spy Fox: Dry Cereal, for the Nintendo Wii.

Upon finding Pajama Sam: Don’t Fear the Dark and Spy Fox: Dry Cereal in our gaming collection, I soon became possessed to play both titles until four o’clock in the morning. Memories of running to CompUSA with my father as a child to purchase these games for our old PC came rushing back. I knew that only children of the 90’s and previous fans of Humongous could fully understand my excitement.

PAJAMA SAM: DON’T FEAR THE DARK
The Pajama Sam series, which included titles such as “Thunder and Lightning Aren’t So Frightening” and “You Are What You Eat From Your Head to Your Feet”, always brought about a lesson for children to learn. In this particular game, affectionately called “There’s No Need to Hide When It’s Dark Outside”, featured a young boy by the name of Sam who has trouble sleeping without any lights on. In honor of his comic book idol, Pajama Man, Sam takes on his alter-ego Pajama Sam and enters his closet to capture “Darkness” so that he can sleep soundly at night.

Pajama Sam plans to use his flashlight to find Darkness and capture him in his Pajama Man lunchbox. But his plans change upon his arrival in the Land of Darkness inside his closet as a few talking trees call him an intruder and hide his belongings inside the Land of Darkness. The objective of the game is through a series of mini-games, exploration, logical thinking and problem solving to help Pajama Sam find his items in the Land of Darkness and confront Darkness inside his house. Little does Sam know that the game will conclude with him finding Darkness, who happens to be a lonely boy wishing for a friend to play with him. Pajama Sam and Darkness end up playing “Cheese and Crackers”, a mockery of “Tick, Tack, Toe”. Sam realizes that Darkness is harmless and heads back to bed realizing the moral of the statement “There’s no need to hide when it’s dark outside.”

Playing Pajama Sam on the Wii was a great experience for me. Gameplay on the Wii was identical to gameplay on my father’s old 90’s PC. The WiiMote was used simply as you would use a mouse, with the “A” button serving as single click. It was quite exciting to play a game I once had memorized, given that as the game progressed I began to remember potential ways to continue on in the plot of the game. One thing I love about the Humongous games was that no two game plays are ever the same. Each time you create a game file, the story line is altered slightly to give the player a new challenge. Because of this, one can never really become bored with game. Pajama Sam encompasses clever challenges for children and brings about a meaningful lesson. I found it somewhat humorous that a game that once took me weeks to complete, I was able to beat in a one hour sitting on the Nintendo Wii. I’m thrilled that Majesco was able to bring back some of the most classic childhood memories I have and present them to today’s kids. This game is a must have at only $19.99 for any kid looking to play a non-violent, challenging, and amusing game. While playing Pajama Sam: Don’t Fear the Dark for the first time in at least eleven years, I was able to pick up on many psychology techniques that the writers of the games incorporated into gameplay. From collecting Sam’s missing socks throughout this closet based world to exploring the mine fields of the Land of Darkness to freeing carrots from a talking refrigerator to win back Sam’s Pajama Man mask, it truly keeps you interested. It kept the attention of an eighteen year old for over an hour. I think that speaks for itself. Any kid of today or any child of the 90’s looking for some fond memories really must give this series a shot.

I know that my childhood memories of a computer are positive because of the Humongous games. Humongous games are what initially got me on a computer in the first place. Look at the female geek that evolved from that. Due to that fact, I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Humongous Entertainment and I’ll never pass up a chance to relive my early years by playing one of their games. I’m sure that many adults of today can relate to this feeling when they play the classic Mario Bros. on a NES. Stay tuned for my experience with Spy Fox: Dry Cereal in an upcoming post.

Are you familiar with the Humongous games? Have you tried Pajama Sam, Spy Fox or Freddi Fish for the Wii? Share your thoughts below. I’d love to connect with some fellow Humongous fans.

the macbook air is the apple “netbook”

The netbook industry has exploded. Previously referred to as pieces of junk, popular netbooks like the Dell Mini and HP Mini are popping up everywhere, such as Starbucks buildings and company expos across the country. With an average 10-12″ screen, no CD/DVD-ROM drive, and a cramped keyboard, netbooks have begun to capture the hearts of tech fans due to the ultra-portability and extreme availability created by the significantly less than $1000 price tag. The term “tech fans” does not only refer to PC users. Mac users are beginning to wonder when Apple will release their own netbook to inspire and challenge the rest of the market. Some Mac users have even begun to purchase netbooks manufactured for Windows and install Mac OS X, creating a Hackintosh netbook. Though the price tag speaks otherwise, I find it safe to say that Apple has already released the closest thing to a netbook that we are ever going to see. That device is called the “MacBook Air”.

In October, Steve Jobs stated regarding netbooks, “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that.” Apple is clearly standing their ground, given that in April, Apple’s chief operating officer, Tim Cook, stated, “They have cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens, and just not a consumer experience, and not something that we would put the Mac brand on, quite frankly. And so, it’s not a space as it exists today that we are interested in, nor do we believe that customers in the long term would be interested in. It’s a segment we would choose not to play in.”

Between these two consistently negative opinions of the netbook industry, Apple progressively seems less and less likely to venture into the market. In fact, it’s more likely that Apple will build up their iPhone operating system and continue to build a new type of miniature Macintosh on the iPod Touch/iPhone platforms.

At WWDC 2009, Apple lowered the price of the previously obnoxiously priced MacBook Air, the world’s thinnest notebook. Though the new price point seems to still be $1000 too high, given that the lowest stock model starts $1499, the MacBook Air fits the rest of the criteria for a netbook owner. The MacBook Air is ultra-portable; in fact, the most portable Macintosh ever made. It lacks a CD/DVD-ROM drive, contains a relatively small 13″ screen and is able to handle the average daily tasks that a netbook owner would wish to do. The only downside to this type of Apple netbook is that the $1499 price point does not allow for PC switchers to purchase a cheap Mac-based netbook to try out the OS X operating system. I do feel that with Apple’s recent price drop for the MacBook Air, however, Apple is trying to make the laptop more consumer friendly and accessible monetarily for more established Mac users who desire an ultra-portable machine.

It appears that at this point in time, the MacBook Air is as close as the public is going to get to an Apple netbook. It seems that Apple’s take on a sub-$1000 device that runs like a full-sized computer can be found in the form of an iPhone or iPod Touch. There would be little place for an Apple netbook in the line-up the way I see it. I do feel that the MacBook Air should be more geared towards those looking for a less powerful, more portable Mac. The Air should be less geared towards business professionals. In doing that, the price may have to go a bit lower than $1499, which I don’t feel is inappropriate given the slower insides (CPU, etc.). But we pay for design these days. As time goes on, however, I feel the MacBook Air may adopt the place of a would-be Apple netbook.

Do you agree? Will the MacBook Air be the Apple netbook? Should Apple still release a dedicated netbook? What is your take on netbooks in general? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

what’s next for that female geek?

My dear faithful readers,
And so a new chapter in my life begins: post high school. This past Monday, June 22nd, I graduated in the Class of 2009 from high school. A week later, I will turn eighteen years old. Many things in my life are about to change and shape my future. I’ve chosen to attend Montclair State University as a Fine Arts major with concentrations in Photography and Graphic Design. I have a feeling that as time progresses, at some point, whether it be at the undergraduate or graduate level, I will attend an arts school in New York City. New York City is where I’m meant to live, no matter how much I deny it. It’s the heart of culture and art in this country, so doing so will only help further the career path I’m looking towards taking. I’m sure that many of you are wondering the more obvious question: What’s next for me as a geek?

First and foremost, at this point, you have already noticed the new blog design. This theme had more of a professional feel, in my eyes. I felt that continuing on with my future and the way I want people to perceive me at first glance warranted a more simplistic design. Furthermore, between some independent scholarships and graduation funds I’ve been given, I am able to finance a new Macintosh purchase. I do love my Core Duo MacBook. We’ve had some good times together; namely the past four years of high school. But it’s time to move onward and upward, given my choice of major and the types of applications I will be using (ie. Adobe CS4, Aperture, etc.). With WWDC’s introduction of the 13″ MacBook Pro, I felt as though the college computer of my dreams was produced. My fear, however, was the Nvidia 9400M graphics chip. Though this chip has redefined the term “integrated graphics”, I knew it was going to take more than just word of mouth for me to have confidence in this machine’s power under intensive conditions. Last night, I took a trip to my local (please note that “local” means forty five minutes away) Apple store. I was pleasantly surprised as I compared all configurations of the 15″ MacBook Pro and the 13″ 2.53GHz MacBook Pro speeds while doing the same intensive Aperture and Photoshop CS4 tasks. The difference in speed was not noticeable to me at all. Even with the 15″ MacBook Pro set to use its dedicated graphics card, I was not able to notice a speed increase over the 13″ MacBook Pro. Thus, I have officially chosen the 13″ MacBook Pro to be the successor to my Core Duo MacBook. I plan to place my order next week, after my paycheck clears, and purchase the stock 2.53GHz model using the educational discount.

Due to my eighteenth birthday approaching, I was given some monetary gifts as well. With that, I intend to put aside much of it for dorm shopping. However, I have set aside a bit to go along with some of the money I’ve been saving for a purchase that not many are aware I’ve been saving for. I’m in the market to purchase my first DSLR camera. I’ve chosen to purchase the Canon EOS Rebel XSi (450D) with the 18-55mm IS Lens. There are many lens purchases that I plan for in the future, including some prime lenses. However, I must take things one step at a time, given that photography is a rather expensive hobby. Regardless, I’m extremely excited about my choice to invest in a DSLR. I know it will be a necessity in college, given that I am concentrating partially in Photography under my Fine Arts major. Thus, it will be money well spent. This purchase, however, won’t be made for about two weeks, as I’m waiting to have access to the majority of my monetary birthday gifts.

There you have it. Those are the two most immediate purchases I’m planning in the technology field. I’m extremely excited about both due to the fact that they are investments into my future at college and my major. Expect many reviews, first impressions and random information regarding both the SLR and 13″ MacBook Pro. I’ve even pondered the thought of making some video responses and posting them here on the blog. Regardless of my medium, I will be posting much content relating to these purchases at this site, so stay tuned. Now that the stresses and time consumers of high school have ended, my time can be dedicated to my passions, one of which happens to be blog writing.

What’s next for you as a tech geek? Do you have any purchases planned? What are your thoughts on my posting video responses when I purchase my new gear here on the blog? Do you like the new blog design? Do you think my tech choices are going to be a hit or miss? Share in the comments section below.

name that app!

About a month ago, after only nine months of having opened the App Store to all iPod Touch and iPhone users with the release of iPhone 2.0 software, Apple had its one billionth application downloaded.

According to Apple.com, “the one billionth app, Bump created by Bump Technologies, was downloaded by Connor Mulcahey, age 13, of Weston, CT. As the grand prize winner of Apple’s one billion app countdown contest, Connor will receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule and a MacBook Pro.”

Upon the billionth download, Apple released the above graphic (click image above for full version) to compliment the tag line “Thanks a Billion!”. I thought it would be fun to challenge my readers to name all the applications in this graphic. Using Notes technology on Flickr, I am hoping that you all will get involved and tag the application icons in this graphic on my Flickr photo stream. If you do not have a Flickr account, you are more than welcome to explicate some icons in the comments section below. As I said, I just felt this would be a fun challenge with my readers that will hopefully create some discussion while spreading some knowledge. I’ve gotten the ball rolling by naming a few obvious applications myself.

The Flickr image is located at the following address:
www.flickr.com/photos/alwaysg5/3567850666/

Let’s see how many applications we can name! Also, I would like to extend some thanks for all of your dedication to this blog after my recent absence and I’m looking forward to easing back into the posting schedule, with this challenge as my first step.

that let’s get re-acquainted post

It’s been quite a while, readers. What can I say? As Larry Anderson (amacgenius) and I have said, it seems the once younger generation of teenaged tech writers are all starting to group up and thus, have less time for the internet. Inevitably, however, we all always make our way back to our blogging and Web 2.0 roots. It’s common nature to apologize for my absence, but I know that the loyal readers will understand and for that I thank you.

It’s been almost exactly five months since my last post. To be entirely honest, my life has spiraled into the craziest directions over the past five months. I’ve had some extremely personal setbacks that left me in a place where I was not motivated to produce content that would be interesting or worthy of even being posted. I’ve finally begun to feel inspired again and I must say, it’s a great feeling.

On the other hand, also known as the bright side, I have had some awesome things happen to me over the past five months. I received a supporting role in my final musical production before graduation, “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying”. Thus far, I have been accepted to every school I’ve heard back from. The list includes Montclair State University, Marywood University, Drew University, and University of Hartford. I’m still waiting to hear back from a few schools. I have a portfolio interview next weekend, actually, and I have officially decided to pursue my dream of a career in graphic and web design.

I am aware of the fact that in my absence I’ve missed quite a few Apple related events, but I do hope to give my belated opinions on all of those within the next few weeks here on the blog. I also plan to give my thoughts on a Christmas gift I received from my best friend: a 16GB iPod Touch! My experiences with it have been nothing but great and owning the device will open up a whole new genre of information that I can cover here.

So, long story short? I’m back and glad to be back. Expect lots of new posts, but in small doses given my busy rehearsal schedule, my job in town, an academic course I’m taking from home, graduation on the horizon, and my upcoming portfolio interviews. I’m excited to be back on the internet, though, and I look forward to reconnecting with all of you. Please feel free to continue to email or contact me through any of the means I have listed to the right in the sidebar. I hope everyone has had a great past few months and if you all have updates in your own lives, I’d love for you to share them with me in the comments section below.

introducing the 13″ macbook pro…er…macbook.

Apple’s October 14th MacBook event has come and gone. We’ve been introduced to a new 24″ Cinema Display, a completely re-designed MacBook Pro, and of course…the 13″ MacBook Pro. Oh, wait. Excuse me. I mean the new 13″ aluminum MacBook. Silly me.

All kidding aside, the new 13″ aluminum MacBook is absolutely gorgeous; don’t get me wrong. I really appreciate Apple adopting one design for both machines. It leaves no room for resentment or jealousy amongst users. The two-toned design (the rumors were right about that) matches that of the aluminum iMacs. The machine still packs tons of power in a small package, just as the MacBook has been known to do from its very birth in 2006. So, what makes this aluminum MacBook different from the original? I truly believe this MacBook will end up being the 13″ MacBook Pro the public has been waiting for.

The MacBook Air has created a market of its own. The ultra-thin machine is for those desiring a portable laptop, possibly as a second machine, or just something to be able to carry absolutely everywhere with them, without necessary power for intensive applications. Apple has also chosen to keep the original white MacBook, while kicking the black (or “pro”) model to the curb, at a lower end $999 price point for those still wishing to purchase the machine in its old form. The 13″ aluminum MacBook lies above the white MacBook, packing more power, graphics, technology and design at a slightly higher price point. The price, however, is not one completely out of reach to the average consumer, starting at $1299.

This newer, aluminum MacBook is an identical twin of the new MacBook Pro, only in a smaller form factor. I must recall the case of the 12″ iBook and 12″ PowerBook. Back in the day of G4 processors, the 12″ white iBook and the 12″ aluminum PowerBook were the same size, yet in different enclosures, while one packed much more power than the other at a slightly elevated price point. I feel as though Apple has done this again with the 13″ white MacBook and the new 13″ aluminum MacBook. Trust me, I do not feel this was a bad move on Apple’s part by any means. I just find it ironic that Apple has taken this path once again, and yet is still referring the aluminum MacBook as just that, rather than the 13″ MacBook Pro.

This Friday night, I have already arranged to take a trip to my local Apple store and get my hands on the new MacBook, MacBook Pro and 24″ LED Cinema Display. Therefore, do expect a follow up post regarding my official thoughts, as these are only my first impressions. I must say that the new MacBook is insanely attractive at its price point for the amount it packs into its package. The only deal breaker for me may be the graphics chip. I will have to mess around with Adobe products on the 13″ aluminum MacBook at the store this weekend.

Last night, I posted an update to Twitter anticipating the potential release of my college laptop today. If the 13″ aluminum MacBook can walk the walk and talk the talk by powering some creative software (ie. Adobe Photoshop, etc.), which I’ll need in college, you can surely bet a 13″ aluminum MacBook equipped with Snow Leopard will be in my future.

What are your thoughts on today’s MacBook laptop releases? How are you enjoying the new overall look and design of the Apple computer lineup? Do you plan to purchase any of the products released at the event today? Please share in the comments below!

my belated new ipod nano opinions

Let’s rewind back to September 9th, which was the date of Apple’s last media event. The event focused solely on the iPod line up, as the event was defined by the simplistic phrase “Let’s Rock”. On September 9th, Apple released three crucial new products: the 2nd generation iPod Touch, the 4th generation iPod Nano, and iTunes 8. The iPod Shuffles’ colors were updated, but the overall design and functionality remained the same. The new iPod Touch incorporated some external volume controls and rounded, much thinner design. Other than that, the overall device and style of the product was the same. In terms of iTunes 8, the most defining new feature would be Genius, which in short, can create a playlist of songs to suggest to you based upon the songs you have been listening to lately in your iTunes library. This playlist could include songs you do not own already, and iTunes will suggest you purchase them through the music store. All the new iPods include this feature as well.

The most prominent release at the “Let’s Rock” event, in my eyes, however, was the introduction of the 4th generation iPod Nano. I think we all know the in’s and out’s of the new iPod Nano. It’s adopted the somewhat Zune-like design being thin and taller with a long screen. The Nano fits the description Kevin Rose revealed to the public in a video about 2-3 weeks prior to the event. The design is curved to make the device thinner than ever. Another amazing feature is the use of an accelerometer in the iPod Nano to allow users to turn the device on its side and have the interface flip into landscape mode, as we’ve seen for a while on the iPod Touch with Cover Flow. This same accelerometer allowed Apple to also build in a “Shake to Shuffle” feature. The feature does exactly what it says…shake the device and your songs will immediately be put into shuffle mode. With each shake, a new, random song will begin to play.

Personally, I love the new Nanos. As you can see from the picture above, the iPod Nano comes in almost every color of the rainbow. Some predicted that so many colors would be pointless and not sell well enough. I think though, that these new colors allow for everyone to find a happy medium. Of the eight colors above, it’s hard for a person to find one that does not match their taste. I have used the device hands on in the Apple store and I must say that Apple is not kidding when they call it thinner than ever. Due to the curved form factor, you can almost not even feel the depth in your hand; it’s amazing! The great thing about it is that regardless of this, the device still feels solid and dense in your hand. The larger display is absolutely beautiful with lots of crisp colors. Overall, I’m not in the market for a new iPod Nano, though if I were, I’d have jumped on the 4G iPod Nano by now. With the lower price point, the device is even more of a steal. Based upon this new release, I’d have to predict that the iPod Nano is destined to be become to iPod of choice to the average, mainstream digital music user.

that “where i’ve been” post

I don’t want to spend a tremendous amount of time explaining to my readers where I’ve been the past month, as many already know. I’ve begun my senior year in high school, which is quite busier than I imagined it’d be. I’ve finally given into my passion and decided to major in Graphic Design. Designing on my Mac is what I’ve always loved. I’ve also found a university program that will give me so many opportunities. The only somewhat intimidating thing is that this university requires a portfolio, so I’ve been spending as much time as possible trying to put that together.

I’ve also started working on a new play production in town, entitled “The Butler Did It”. The show’s characters are spoofs off of classic detectives and such throughout time, such as James Bond, etc. I’m really enjoying working in this production as it’s only a cast of ten, most of which are my age and close friends. The show goes on in early November, though, so until then, much of my time is going to be occupied by that as well.

On top of those two things, I’m still working at a place in town quite a few times a week. As I’m sure you can imagine, my life has been quite hectic lately. I can’t promise a regular posting schedule at this point in time, but I can promise that I will be posting as much as possible. For example, I can’t wait to share my thoughts on this week’s upcoming Apple laptop revision event. Once the show is over and I’ve got my college application process squared away, I’ll be much more available to share content with you guys and get back on a regular “internet schedule”.

Thanks for your understanding and continued support here on the blog. This is just a bump in the road people, so not to worry. Stay tuned.

who else wants a sexy safari progress bar?

As Mac users, many (not all) of us are fans of the Safari web browser. It’s simple, comes with our operating system, and has some great features, such as Web Clip. The browser is now even compatible with Windows PCs.

When Apple announced Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, I secretly told myself to no longer modify the theme on my Mac, aside from a few icons changes and what not. Leopard’s unified theme removed any left over Brushed Metal interfaces to make the entire OS shine as a whole. This included the Safari application window.

Well, today, I was browsing about the MacThemes2 Forums, and I came across an amazing progress bar replacement for Safari. For those of you that may be wondering, the progress bar is the blue bar you see across your address bar as the browser loads the page you wish to visit on the internet.

As seen above, the progress bar provides a bold, bright color, yet still captures a gradient effect. The bar comes in a total of seven colors, including blue (pictured above), green, black, purple, pink, red and orange. All are beautifully designed and you can easily swap between them to match the wallpaper and icon set you have on your personal Macintosh setup. Each set is brought to you courtesy of Chicano Designs. Click here to view the list of download links for each particular set of colors.

The best part? Installation is a piece of cake. Simply drag and drop the images into the following path and restart Safari to see the changes:
Applications » Safari » Show Package Contents » Contents » Resources

So, looking for a replacement to the relatively bland, default blue Safari progress bar? Look no further than this terrific set of colorful bars. The author is even accepting color requests in the thread I’ve linked to above! I strongly suggest you give these a try. I’m sure you’ll be impressed and love the new, slick look of your Safari browser window. Take it from someone who hasn’t edited the Safari progress bar since 2006.

iflash: study for school like a valedictorian

This week, many of my friends, who happen to be Mac users, are heading to university for a new semester. Come September, a significantly larger amount of Mac users I know will be heading back to school. And with school, comes examinations. Many students try to acquire a unique studying technique. I certainly have found mine…and best of all, it’s right on my MacBook. My technique is taking advantage of an awesome application called iFlash.

iFlash is basically a flash card application. Open up the application and you are offered the ability to open any iFlash deck currently located on your computer in a nice little list for you, or you can create a new deck. Each deck allows for you to create cards with multiple sides. Enter the information for each side and when you’ve completed your deck, hit the “Study” button and get going!

Throughout your study session, you are given a window, such as the one pictured above (click the image to see a full view of the window), as you are challenged to answer the questions you’ve entered. If you know the answer, check the “Known” box and at the end of the show, you will see what percentage of the questions you answered correctly. iFlash will even ask you if you’d like to be asked only the questions you got wrong again. Repetition is a great way to learn your cards, as well as anything else in life. If you’re not sure of the answer, click “Back Side” and the card will flip, allowing you to see your answer. After you have answered the question for yourself, click the “Next Card” button and continue through your deck. The cool part about iFlash’s decks is that you now have an unlimited amount of card sides. How would this come in handy? Well, what if you had a word on the first side, a definition on the second, and a synonym to it on the third? Wouldn’t that be convenient?

Your study sessions can be viewed in a single window on your desktop or you opt to get an effect similar to that of Think, in which your entire desktop goes black and all you see is the iFlash window. This is a great way to focus and improve your chances of really absorbing the information at hand.

Another handy feature in iFlash is the ability to combine decks, as seen above (click the image to see a full view of the window). Let’s say you have an iFlash deck full of questions for each chapter in your History text book, but for your final exam, you must study all of these chapters. Combine all the decks and you can have one large collection of History related questions ready for your reviewing purposes.

iFlash is a great solution to your studying frustrations. I know I was able to memorize my entire chemistry final exam in a matter of forty-five minutes with iFlash’s persistence. I think the most time consuming part of iFlash is that you have to enter in all the information yourself. But all in all, if you are going to be using hand made flash cards for your exams, why not make it digital with iFlash? This way, you’ll have fun while you do it! I must say, staring at your beautifully white Apple computer with the deliciously styled digital cards, you really don’t mind studying as much as you used to. But if you just can’t get into that, the newest version of iFlash allows you to actually print your flash cards.

iFlash can be purchased for $14.95 USD from Loopware but on their website, you can also download a temporary, free trial version of the application. Therefore, you have nothing to lose. Give iFlash a shot and start acing your way to that valedictorian spot in your class.

Would you recommend any other specific application for studying on the Mac?