Last month, Edudemic published a list of some of the best iOS applications for mobile learning. We took the opportunity to Brain Exercises, Quizzes and Flashcards, Math Science, Geography and History, English and Literature just to name a few, these are some of the best apps you can find online and we just thought you might be interested in having a look at them.
From: OnlineUniversities.com
No tags for this post.Learning to read brainwaves will open the door to everything from choosing the radio station with your thoughts to unmasking spousal infidelity.
A few years ago, I wrote a very short story called Aha! (You Are a Cheating Spouse). In it, a cheating husband gets caught when his wife employs a “toy” headset to detect the P300 response in his brain to a photo of the woman with whom he was having an affair. His involuntary brain response proved that he knew the woman.
The story is fictional, but the P300 response is real. It’s your brain’s response to certain stimuli, and it’s automatic. Researchers use P300 to allow “locked in” patients — who have lost control of their bodies — to use a brain-computer interface (BCI) to type.
For example, patients watch a scrolling list of letters and numbers, and when they see the one they want, their brain has an “aha!” response that the BCI detects, and thus the BCI selects the right letter for the person.
Today, BCIs are pretty dorky; they have more wires than you can count, and require grease on your head to ensure a good signal. Emotiv and NeuroSky are cooler consumer-oriented devices, but they don’t seem to work as well as the dorky options. Still, BCIs are just sensors for you brain, and as I’ve previously written, sensors are going to proliferate everywhere.
In the early days of personal computers, many people wondered what anyone could possibly do with a computer at home. You might be wondering the same thing right now about putting a BCI on your head.
To really simplify matters, to be effective a BCI needs to be able to notice a change in your brain’s activity. It doesn’t have to read your mind. It can ignore 99.9999 percent of what happens in your brain, as long as it accurately reacts to a few key changes.
There are numerous situations in which your brain generates a recognizable change in activity. To name a few, when you:
• realize you have made a mistake
• recognize a face or object
• become bored
Let’s start with a few possible applications, which represent a tiny portion of the entrepreneurial opportunities.
I type pretty fast with three fingers, and there are many occasions on which I hit the wrong key. When this happens, my brain sort of goes “oops.” Imagine if your keyboard could know exactly when you thought “oops.” It could highlight the letter you just typed, and then can show you some likely replacements. When you see the right letter, you could think, “That’s it.”
Congratulations. You just corrected a typo with your thoughts.
A person wearing a BCI could use his or her brain to select the right answer from several possible choices. This would be especially useful in situations when it is difficult to use your hands, such as driving your car.
Here are some questions – posed by a software program – you could answer like this:
“Would you prefer the heat to be higher, lower, or off?
“Do you want to call your wife at work or on her cell?
“Would you like to listen to Pandora or NPR?”
A BCI is the only device I can name with the potential to offer total privacy to its user.
You could sit across from a person at a table, answer questions from your BCI like I just described, and the other person might have no idea. You could remain motionless and silent, but your instructions could put actions in motion far outside the room in which you are sitting.
With (a little) practice, you could learn to activate your BCI at will. If you are having coffee with a good friend who is going on and on, you could cancel your next appointment without interrupting your friend, or even revealing that any such conflict exists.
As BCIs become more integrated with existing databases and technologies, you will enjoy a growing ability to access information without others being aware that you are doing so.
But a BCI could indicate how engaged you are. Combine this type of feedback with any sort of individualized teaching approach, and you end up with better learning.
When your attention wavers, an online course could try another approach. If the new approach doesn’t work, it would try another until you get back in the ideal zone. If this never happens, it could ask your parent, colleague or educator to intervene.
Since 2008, I’ve managed a Brain-Computer Interface group on LinkedIn, and many of the top researchers in the world participate. But most are mainly focused on the science; few are interested in exploiting the commercial possibilities. This area is filled with entrepreneurial opportunities, and probably worthy of your attention.
Bruce Kasanoff is a speaker, author and innovation strategist who tracks sensor-driven innovation at Sense of the Future. Kasanoff and co-author Michael Hinshaw teamed up to explore more of the opportunities unearthed by disruptive forces in Smart Customers, Stupid Companies.
Learning how to improve your iPod battery life gives you more opportunity to maximize the use of your iPod. It is a hassle for someone listening to music or podcast when all of a sudden, the battery dies. Here are some tips that you can do to extend the battery life of your iPod, and prevent it from dying quickly:
1. Minimize the Backlight Timer
The backlight consumes almost 30% of the battery. It is one of the biggest causes of battery drain, so better minimize the time in consumes. You can go to Settings then choose Backlight Timer to adjust the time.
2. Use minimum brightness
The brighter the iPod screen is, the more energy it consumes. You can use the minimum possible brightness that you can see, to extend the battery life. Adjust this setting by going to Settings then Brightness.
3. Turn off the clicker confirmation audible feedback
When using the click wheel or touch screen interface, turn off the audible feedback to minimize power consumption. Just go to Settings then Clicker then choose Off.
4. Use hold switch
By using the hold switch, you can let the iPod ignore the accidental input.
5. Pause if you are not listening
Do not let the iPod play when not used. Pause whenever you are not listening for a bit.
6. Avoid changing tracks
Avoid skipping tracks forward or backward. Utilize the playlist efficiently.
7. Turn off the Equalizer
When the Equalizer is calculating and modifying the music, it significantly drains the battery life. Turn off the Sound Check and EQ by going to Settings then EQ then choose Off.
8. Use mp3 compression
It is better to play sounds in mp3 format since they can save battery life. Moreover, they are smaller in file size so they occupy lesser space in the hard drive.
9. Do not expose the iPod in the hot temperature
Heat can degrade the performance of the battery so keep your iPod away from a hot car or sun.
10. Update the software often
Software developers often fix bugs and improve the iPod software. New updates minimize the use of the battery so always update your iPod whenever there is a new version.
What To Do When iPod Battery Dies
There are few options that you can do when the battery of your iPod dies. You can go ahead and buy a new one if you want, but there might be more affordable options. Apple has a battery replacement program but it is somewhat expensive. For cheaper options, look for other retailers that sell battery replacements. Alternately, you can check out cheaper external backup batteries.
By following simple tips, you can extend the battery life of your iPod. However, if your iPod battery dies, look for cheaper ways to find a replacement.
Author Bio: Vince Cinelli has owned every generation of the iPod, as well as each iPhone and iPad model. He specializes in writing tips about Apple products, such as iPhone repair and switching from a PC.
Tags: iPod, iPod Battery
