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The best organization apps for students
Here's a list of the best organization apps to help you organize your school life and manage your time.
The best note-taking apps for students
Every student needs a good note-taking system. The human brain, after all, can only store and retain so much information. There's nothing wrong with relying solely on pen and paper (and if that's your preference, go for it!). But if you're reading Engadget, we suspect you're interested in some kind of digital equivalent: an app that can store those handwritten notes or, if you're ready to take the plunge, let you record everything with a keyboard or stylus. It should be fast, intuitive and, most important, accessible from all of your favorite devices.
The best creative and productivity apps for students
So you've picked out a shiny new laptop, tablet or phone to take with you to school this year. Well, it's nothing without some apps. Your hardware may come with the basics, but there's a whole world of tools for creating things, getting organized, tracking your life and -- in some cases -- just staying sane. (That's easier said than done come finals time.) Our top choices here will help you get your life in order and also exercise those all-important creativity muscles. You may not be going after a degree in music production, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't stay up all night jamming in Ableton Live. All told, we've got picks for visual art, photo editing, meditating, getting better sleep, making an album in your dorm room, writing the next great novel (or term paper) and much more. We've also tried to cover a variety of price points -- in fact, many of these apps are free, at least to start. But in a lot of cases, stepping up to a premium subscription or full purchase will make them that much more useful, so we've outlined exactly what you get for your money and what you can get before you have to pay.
Try macOS Mojave's Dark Mode on these apps
It's been a few weeks since Apple announced that macOS Mojave would launch today -- in that time, many app developers have been at work getting their creations ready for the new OS. Probably one of the changes Mac users want to see first and foremost is support for Dark Mode. While it doesn't make any functional difference, it's a nice visual redesign that a lot of users might prefer to the older Mac UI. But apps that aren't updated stick out like a sore thumb -- so the faster key apps get updated, the better.
DJI unveils Spark drone with cutesy Line Friends bear on it
DJI apparently felt that its tiny Spark drone wasn't quite cute enough. The company has unveiled a version of the Spark that slaps Line Friends' extra-adorable Brown the bear on its back. The rationale? DJI believes the drone is becoming a "lifestyle accessory" -- it's something you might always carry with you, so you might as well have a quadcopter that echoes your style. We'd question that philosophy when you can't see Brown the moment you start using the drone, but it does beat the simple colored shells that usually pass for fashion in the drone world.
Popular iOS notes app Bear adds sketching (and stickers)
Bear, a fast, lightweight and lovely note-taking app for iOS and the Mac, has been building a following over the past year or so. The app's excellent design, small but essential feature set and steady stream of updates have made it worth its subscription cost ($14.99 per year or $1.49 per month, though you can get most of its features for free). Today, a pretty major update is rolling out to the iOS app: Bear now supports sketching. In keeping with Bear's focus on essentials, the sketching feature includes two different brushes, each with three different widths and a variety of colors.
Bears don't like being filmed by drones either
It's tempting to use drones to observe wildlife instead of aircraft or hidden cameras, especially since some animals aren't visibly annoyed by the presence of these robotic viewers. However, that calm exterior might be hiding serious stress underneath. University of Minnesota researchers have learned that the heart rate of a black bear can jump dramatically when a drone is overhead, even if there's no outward signs of trouble. One bear's heart rate quadrupled from a placid 41 beats per minute to 162. While the bears' heart rates fell soon after the UAVs flew away, it's possible that they're simply familiar enough with human-operated machines to relax -- isolated bears might not be quite so placid.
ICYMI: A thread display, rainbow flamethrower and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-723972{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-723972, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-723972{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-723972").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Forever 21 just unveiled (or unwound) a new kind of billboard that uses mechanical spools of thread to rapidly display Instagram photos. A bionic eye was implanted in a patient for new use with an old disease: Age-related macular degeneration. And your next kiddy birthday party will be the perfect place to unveil your mastery of common household ingredients to make a rainbow flamethrower display. Don't say I didn't warn you if you blow up your house, though.
Researchers suggest 'yeti' found last year is just a brown bear
Last year, researchers claimed they found RNA from a 40,000-year-old breed of polar bear, or as it's often referred to, the Himalayan yeti (Abominable Snowman, etc.). However, another team of scientists says those hairs could've just as easily come from a species of brown bear that's native to the area. While the authors behind last summer's findings maintain it could indeed be the mythical monster, a duo from the Smithsonian and the University of Kansas assert there's too much overlap in the genetic makeup to Himalayan brown bear. "The only way forward, as I have repeatedly said, is to find a living bear that matches the 12S RNA and study fresh material from it," says Oxoford University's Bryan Sykes, head of last year's team. The hairs used to document the genetic markers were collected by so-called monster hunters and cryptozoologists, so a new sample would help scientists rule out a common species or possible contamination issues. [Image credit: Shutterstock]
The Road to Mordor: Test driving LotRO's Beorning class
November 18th, 2008. That is the last time that Turbine added a new class (in that case, two) to Lord of the Rings Online. The last time, that is, until now in late 2014. The Beorning is coming in with a similar level of anticipation and controversy that swirled around the Rune-keeper. There are folks excited about the possibilities of playing a skin-changer, and there are those hotly debating its lore qualifications. And if I have to hear "Beornings are a race, not a class" one more time, then I'll... get a free toaster. It turns out that Turbine has a clever response to that, by the way. I'm on the "anticipation" side of things if only because I've been championing the addition of new classes to LotRO for years now. With the Beorning hitting the Bullroarer test server this past weekend, I knew that I had to get in and give the new class a quick test drive. So what did I discover?
Video claims to show budget iPhone, will sell you Android imitation today
Some things just look too good to be true, and this extremely polished hands-on -- purporting to be the rumored, as yet unconfirmed budget iPhone -- is possibly one of them. However, this comes via sources associated with M.I.C. Gadget, which has previous form in this area, and it does tally with previously seen incarnations. So, is this just a collection of design cues put together in order to sell the "Bear" brand Android imitation shown later in the same video (past the break,) or could it be the real iPhone housing? At the moment we're buying neither, but with such a detailed set of images (at the source,) it provides a tantalising taste of what could be, if nothing else.
Stuffed Toys Alive! replaces mechanical limbs with strings for a much softer feel (hands-on)
It worked just fine for Pinocchio, so why not animatronic stuffed bears? A group of researchers from the Tokyo University of Technology are on hand at SIGGRAPH's Emerging Technologies section this week to demonstrate "Stuffed Toys Alive!," a new type of interactive toy that replaces the rigid plastic infrastructure used today with a seemingly simple string pulley-based solution. Several strings are installed at different points within each of the cuddly gadget's limbs, then attached to a motor that pulls the strings to move the fuzzy guy's arms while also registering feedback, letting it respond to touch as well. There's not much more to it than that -- the project is ingenious but also quite simple, and it's certain to be a hit amongst youngsters. The obligatory creepy hands-on video is waiting just past the break.%Gallery-162161%
Watch Connor face down a damn bear in Assassin's Creed 3
You'll be doing a lot of things with Assassin's Creed 3 protagonist Ratohnhaké:ton – like chasing down Redcoats and murdering them, running away from murderous Redcoats, sneaking up to silently murder Redcoats, and engaging in open battle with Redcoats. Beyond all that, however, you'll also be fighting terrifying, wild bears, as the trailer above implies. Thankfully for you, we can confirm it: yes, you'll be fighting the bear seen in the above trailer.The gameplay trailer for Assassin's Creed 3 – unlocked by the community this morning – shows the first Connor-on-Bear action we've seen. It also gives a first glimpse at the game's new "chain blade," but the most important part is still dude fights a bear.
Robotic bear pillow stops your snoring by gently mauling your face (video)
Looking to stop snoring? What you need is Jusui-Kun, a robot bear that paws your face while you're sleeping. Okay, it's more of a "gentle tickling," according to the bear's creators. The key is to get the snorer sleeping on the pillow to move his or her head from side to side. Jusui-Kun has a built-in mic to detect the sleeper's snoring, while an equally cuddly hand monitor detects blood oxygen levels, letting the bear know when to issue one of its loving face swipes. Video after the break.
UrRobot's Robii hides a multitouch projector in his circus tent (video)
This cute, bearmonkey-like creature with animatronic head and arms perched atop a rotating, but otherwise fixed torso is called Robii. He's built by Compal Communications, the ODM more often associated with handsets, and will be sold under the new UrRobot brand in Taiwan. The 16,900 NTD (about $582) toy robot features an interactive projector tucked away inside of Robii's circus tent. When extended, it projects interactive video for gaming and infotainment -- very similar to the projected multitouch display we saw demonstrated by Light Blue Optics at CES 2010. Robii can track moving objects using its built-in cameras and comes equipped with an ambient light sensor, and voice and image recognition. It's also capable of barking commands at children with the appropriate visage (from a catalog of 100 facial expressions) to ensure dutiful compliance. Quick demo after the break. Update: We've been informed that the VGA pico projector is of Himax Technologies origin. Full details after the break.
Polar bears destroy robot spy cams, show no remorse (video)
Iceberg Cam, Snowball Cam, Blizzard Cam and Drift Cam were the arctic photographer's best friends -- high-tech spy robot cameras designed to resist cold and traverse sub-zero terrain. Then they got crushed to death by giant polar bears while attempting to make friends. Seriously, that's the basic gist of Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice, a new BBC documentary which began airing last week, and which just so happens to be narrated by David Tennant. Hope he's got a screwdriver handy, if you know what we mean. Watch the bears play a spirited match of robot football after the break, then see all the lovely mechanical carnage in a third video at our source link.
Fujitsu's social robot bear is the supertoy of Kubrick's dreams, almost (video)
Ah, the Fujitsu bear cub social robot. What child or elderly person should go without a "people-friendly terminal" with snuggly-soft fur and a camera in lieu of the ever-popular button nose? The little guy made the rounds briefly earlier this year, but this is our first time making acquaintances. The duo waved at us, waved with us, laughed with (at?) us, and then at some point, decided to arbitrarily fall asleep and ignore us -- just like our actual friends! The representative told us this prototype -- with a reported 300 actions from 12 actuators (three face, three neck, and six in the body), 13 skin touch sensors, hand grip sensors, a tilt sensor, and a microphone -- is a ways off from hitting the childcare / nursing home market. For now, enjoy the pictures below and footage after the break... and if all this seems eerily familiar, hey, we're with you. A wink and a nod in that direction can be found via the second video. %Gallery-104247%
Big corporation ruins double rainbow guy for us
We know we're not alone when we say that Paul "Bear" Vasquez made us turn all different colors of happy when we checked out his double rainbow video a few months back. That was awesome. You know what's not awesome? How a team from Microsoft took us "behind the lens" to show how Bear could have used Windows Live to stitch his still photos together to make a panoramic shot of said rainbow. We guess this campaign achieved at least two goals: increased our awareness of Windows Live (now we know that it stitches photos, but not much else) and got Mr. Vasquez a certain (hopefully ridiculous) amount of cash. But to be honest, we didn't really need to see this hawking of a product by someone who had pretty obviously never used it before a team from Redmond knocked on his YouTube account. Awkward, very tightly-edited video after the break. Update: another spot -- where they made him do it again -- also after the break.
Cataclysm: Reaching uncrittable
For those of you who don't know much about tanking, we're going to talk quickly about a stat that won't exist in Cataclysm. This lowly stat is called defense rating, and it's something that tanks need quite a bit of. The nice thing is that it's on just about everything that tanks wear, which means at higher gear levels, we've got it coming out of our ears. The primary point of this stat is to reduce the critical strike ability for incoming melee hits from the standard of 6% to 0%. Druids currently don't need this stat, as they've got a talent called Survival of the Fittest, which means that bosses don't need to drop defense leather. All in all, the stat is kinda boring, as while it does still do nice things after you reach the defense cap of 690 rating (or 540 skill), most people don't bother with it and stack stamina or other avoidance. So Blizzard decided that they're going to get rid of it. Around BlizzCon 2009, we were told that the crit reduction we formerly got from defense rating was going to be tied into things that were available to all members of each tanking class. Examples used were baking it into Bear Form for druids, Righteous Fury for paladins, Defensive Stance for warriors and Frost Presence (or rather, Blood Presence in Cataclysm) for death knights. That means that if a retribution paladin or arms warrior wanted to tank, all he'd need to do was swap to vaguely appropriate gear (or just over to a sword and shield), pop his respective abilities, and away he'd go. That's not how it appears things went down, though.
Fujitsu's robot bear designed to win over the elderly, but we're on to it
Man, what is it with Japan, robots, and the elderly? We've been hearing about projects like RI-MAN and Ninomiya-kun for years now. And sure, it looks good on paper -- design an ultra-realistic (or ultra-cute) robot, stick it in a room with the unloved elderly person in your life, and forget about the lot of 'em. The problem? Apparently the aforementioned "olds" don't like it one bit. In fact, it seems that they'd prefer a stuffed animal. Not to be outdone by this admittedly low-tech solution, Fujitsu has built a prototype Teddy that features a camera for face tracking, a network of touch sensors, and a catalog of 300 responses to various stimulus -- "which range from giggling and laughing, waving its paws around, and pretending to fall asleep complete with recorded snores," according to SlashGear. Another possible use for the as-yet-unnamed bear would be for school children. Who wuvs our cuddly robot overlords? We do, don't we? Yes we do...
