The Artist's Picks: RealCalc

RealCalc:


Hello all, and welcome to the Apocalypse! Which is evidently not happening. (If it was happening, then you wouldn't be reading this, so I'm safe :P)

Continuing last week's talk about calculators, here we have RealCalc, an app that pretty much turns your smartphone or tablet into an old-school scientific calculator.

It's pretty cool when you first look at the screen-- it looks exactly like a calculator, no  status bar or anything!

As you can see, it has a pretty fleshed-out group of features, and works very well in my experience. My favourite thing about the interface is that you can press and hold on a button and it will activate the yellow secondary function without having to reach up and press the SHIFT key first.

Since it is just a scientific calculator, there is no fancy graphing mode or anything, but for basic calculations it excells.

Also, it works at night, unlike those old scientific calculators which had solar panels on them. It has no ads, but doesn't come with fraction support; you have to buy the Pro version for that.

Anyways, see you next week for more of my Android favourites.

The Artist's Picks: handyCalc

handyCalc:

http://dft.ba/-handycalc

Welcome back to another Artist's Picks.

Lets talk about calculators for a bit. handyCalc is simply the handiest calculator you'll ever need. Ever. It has graphing capability, it's able to solve algebraic functions, and even has a currency converter. 

No matter what your need is, handyCalc delivers, from simple calculations to advanced transcendental functions.

In addition (ha ha, a pun!) to the regular keyboard of numbers and arithmetic signs, you can access the range of advanced mathematical functions like the trigonometric operators and higher power exponents. If you can't find a certain function, you can type yours in using a QUERTY keyboard. This keyboard is also used to input variables so you can solve complex equations like:

If only I had something like this while going through high school!

When calculating, you also can get little popups before you hit the equals button, like the value of your last answer if you're including it in the current calculation, or, in this case, it states the sum and average:

You can also graph functions about x, but I find that the graphing option is a little lacking compared to other calculator apps on the Play Store. It's still massively better than my old TI-84 though.

This calculator has no ads at all, so download it for free and take advantage of the handiest calculator ever!

The Artist's Picks: Ultimate Star Wars Lightsaber

Ultimate Star Wars Lightsaber:

http://dft.ba/-ultimate-lightsaber

Welcome back to another Artist's Picks, and as you can see, I managed to get Star Wars into my recommendations!

But seriously, this app is super fun. Pretty much what this does is turn your phone into a mini lightsaber. You can set any colour imaginable, and even change the hilt design.

When you activate the lightsaber by tapping on the screen, it starts up by making the characteristic hummmmm noise we're all familiar with. When you swing your phone, the app makes a very cool vwummm noise, like in the movies. The best part is when you swing downwards hard enough, the sound the phone will emit is what happens when two lightsabers clash in the movies, and if your phone has a flash, it will light it up.

If you're feeling in the mood, you can also set the app to play background music; which includes many of John Williams' classic pieces. (My favourite is Duel of the Fates, the battle theme in Episode I)

The cumulative effect of all this is to provide you with the sensation of holding a lightsaber (or as close as you can get without an actual laser sword), and it's pretty fun to just swing it and pretend you're a Jedi (or Sith).

If only I'd had this when I was a kid!

It is ad-supported, but still free, so go to the Play Store and start swinging your very own lightsaber!

May the Force be with you, and see you next week!

The Artist Picks: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Welcome back to The Artist's Picks. An offline dictionary is what's being reviewed today, and I must say it comes in handy an awful lot.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

http://dft.ba/-merriam-webster

One of the awesome things about the Internet is that you can look up any word, any time. No more lugging your dictionary around when the time comes to crack open a big technical book. However, sometimes the Internet is unavailable; you're out in the woods camping, or simply out of range of WiFi when someone asks you to look up what 'excoriate' means.

So I present to you the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the mobile counterpart to that big book that you likely have on your bookshelf in one place or another. This app has definitions to almost every word imaginable, and so far I have not run up against any words it doesn't know.

It supports voice search, and also has a 'word of the day' which gives you a random word every day. In case a simple definition is not enough, the app can also tell you the word's pronunciation, its origin, and it even has a built in thesaurus.

But the absolute best thing about this app is that it stores all of its considerable amount of definitions offline, so you don't have to look for Internet access next time you need to look a definition up. However, storing all this data does make it one of the larger-sized apps out there. However it only comes to about 120 megabytes in total, so unless you're really tight in terms of internal storage, you should be fine.

Like every other app I review, it is free and waiting for you to check out!

The Artist's Picks: Bump

Happy Friday, and welcome back to the Artist's Picks. I'm reviewing Bump today, a pretty cool file-sharing app.

http://dft.ba/-bump-app

In the eventuality you want to share pictures with someone, your only option is usually to email the shots to them. You could also post the pictures to Facebook, but what if your friend wants the pictures you took to be downloaded to their phone? Well, just start up Bump, and tap your phones together and you're done! The photos are magically transferred over.

Photos aren't the only things you can Bump. You can also transfer contact information and app suggestions. You can even transfer your pictures to your computer, if you go to http://bu.mp and tap your phone on your spacebar.

I don't use this app too often, but in case I take a bunch of photos with a friend and want to share them quickly, it's good to know that I have it installed.

If you're like me and enjoy sharing photos quickly and instantaneously, go ahead and download this app.

The Artist's Picks: Google Sky Map

Welcome back to the Artist's Picks! Today I'm talking about Google Sky Map, the app that lets you find any visible star in the night sky.

http://dft.ba/-skymap

Everyone knows that Google has maps of the Earth, but what about the night sky? How will you identify that little star or constellation in order to impress your friends? The answer is Google Sky Map, a map of the sky.

When you start it up, it asks for your location and can find it through GPS, Wifi, or even your cellular network. When it's found you, it then displays the entire celestial sphere on the screen

The cool thing is, that it only shows part of the sky at a time. To search for the rest, you simply move your phone around, and it will show you the stars that you are currently looking at.

 This is a really useful tool for figuring out what the name of that particularly bright star on the horizon is ("What? It's Venus? Oh,"), and you can even use it to find stars thanks to the search feature that points you in the direction of whichever celestial body you choose.

It's absolutely free, with no ads, so go check it out!

The Artist's Picks: Flipboard/Pocket

Welcome back to The Artist's Picks, and happy Friday, by the way! Today, we're taking a look at two apps, for a change, but they work very well together: Flipboard and Pocket.

http://dft.ba/-flipboard

http://dft.ba/-pocket-app

This entry actually consists of two apps, but they work so well together. Flipboard is a news reader app, which gathers news from all over the internet and presents it in a beautiful, easy-to-read format.

Flipboard only recently came to Android, but it is already one of the most popular apps on the Play Store, so you can get an idea of how great it is.

Pretty much you can set it to search for anything, (such as science, or food) and it will display the top stories on that topic from websites everywhere. It also has 'Cover Stories', which are all the top stories from your various feeds.

Not only can you search by topic, but you can search by source as well. If you are only interested in, say the New York Time's news stories, then just search it up and that website's stories will appear on the app. It's not limited to newspapers--I was able to get some of my favourite webcomics to update on the front page too.

It consolidates all these pages into one lovely interface, reminiscent of a magazine. At the top of the screen, the 'Cover Stories' are displayed, then one or two other feeds you have subscribed to. To change pages, you don't swipe sideways or press 'next' like conventional apps, instead you swipe upwards and the bottom half of the screen 'flips' over like a book.

This interface is carried over when reading stories too. I find that the whole experience is rather like reading a book, as you're forced to read to the end of the page, rather than constantly scrolling up all the time.

The second of this dynamic duo is Pocket. It's simply a read-it-later app, but it works well with Flipboard as it is one of the default 'read-it-later' options. If you enable it in Flipboard's settings, then you can long press a certain story you'd like to read then select 'read-it-later', and Pocket will download that story to your device to read later.

This is really useful if you foresee a long trip where there won't be much Internet access and you'd like to keep busy. Just browse through recent news stories on Flipboard, save all the ones you'd like to read later to Pocket, and boom! Instant newspaper.

Pocket isn't exclusively for Flipboard though. You can use it to download almost any media. For example, if I see a neat YouTube video I'd like to watch but am in a public place without earbuds, I'll save it to Pocket so I can watch it later at home. In that case however, Pocket won't actually download the video to your phone, but provide a link to YouTube where the video is located.

You can also save webpages for offline viewing, so if Flipboard doesn't work out for you, then don't uninstall Pocket until you have a chance to see its true potential.

Both apps are free and devoid of ads, so check 'em out and start reading!

The Artist's Picks: Songza

Songza:

http://dft.ba/-songza

Finding good music can be a pain. Some days you're in the mood for certain types of songs, and the next, you'll find yourself craving another genre. Songza solves that problem by boasting a massive amount of playlists, from the works of Mozart to the modern pop hits that are playing on the radio right now.

The way it works is simple. All you have to do is choose a playlist and the app will take care of playing music for as long as you'd like. You can even set a sleep timer if you choose.

To help you choose playlists, Songza boasts of a 'Concierge' feature, which chooses playlists based on the time of day and what you're currently doing. So if it's Saturday evening, it will ask you to choose your activity of these six:

If none of those choices appeal to you, then you can change both the time and day, then the app displays more choices for you. If you're looking for a specific type of music, don't worry--you can browse playlists by genre, artist, time period, and you can even get recommendations from Songza itself based on your history of playlists.

A great feature that the app has is a feature up in the notification bar where you can either pause/play the current song, or skip to another if the song you're listening to right now doesn't appeal to you. However, due to copyright issues or something, you can only skip a certain number of songs per hour.

Songza also has a website: www.songza.com, which offers all the same features of the app, only it's based on your computer, so you can check that out if you want to play songs on your desktop.

So that's Songza. If you're feeling tired of the same old songs in your playlists, go check this app out and try something new. Like always, it's free, however ads are displayed while songs are playing. Fortunately, if you do something else on your phone while listening to the music, the ads don't persist.

The Artist's Picks: Major Mayhem

Happy Friday everyone, and welcome back to The Artist's Picks!

Today I'm talking about Major Mayhem, an awesome game that's great to pass the time and keep yourself entertained.

Major Mayhem

http://dft.ba/-major-mayhem

I'm not generally a big fan of shooter games, but this one is an exception. For one, it offers delightfully cartoony graphics, an innovative playing style, and explosions to boot!

What happens in this game is that you control Major Mayhem, a soldier (a Major I guess) who is called upon by the President to fight ninjas in the tropics.

Starting off, you get dropped off by a helicopter into an area. To control the Major, you simply tap on the screen where you'd like him to shoot. If you aren't pressing on the screen, then the Major will duck behind cover to avoid enemy fire.

When all enemies in a certain area have been defeated, the Major will run to the next area. The number of areas there are per level is about four to five, though later levels can have many more.

As you progress through the game, you unlock new levels and new enemies, just in case shooting at ninjas was getting boring. There's even an epic final boss fight!

The game is very relaxed, contrary to most shooters. If you're behind cover, then nothing can hurt you, so you can easily take a break from playing to do whatever.

Another awesome thing about this game is that even after you beat the main storyline (which is surprisingly long and rich), you can go back to earlier levels and try and get three stars in them (yes, like Angry Birds). However, you have undoubtedly unlocked new, more powerful weaponry that you can use. Ever wanted to use a rapid-fire plasma gun? Or would you rather use a bazooka to blow up those pesky ninjas? Needless to say, the game is even more fun when you come back to play it again.

Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!

So all in all, Major Mayhem is a great game to just kill time (and ninjas). Its relaxed nature lets you just pick it up and play whenever, and it also has great replayability, so you can be entertained for hours. Above all, it is absolutely free, so go check it out!

The Artist's Picks: Any.DO

So I recently discovered the joys of owning an Android. Having a smartphone is absolutely incredible; it's like an extension of your brain. However, one of its best features is also the worst thing: the apps.

Have you, like me, ever searched for good apps? Cast vainly around the Play Store for good applications which will hold your attention? Do you as often as not immediately uninstall any applications that do make the cut, because they just don't live up to your expectations?

Well fear not, because I, the Cake Loving Artist, have gone through that exact same process many times. Throughout it, I have found several applications that I really like and which I have bestowed the honour of 'The Artist's Picks'. Every Friday I will be updating the blog with a new app that I've added to my list, so be sure to check it out!

One more thing: I'm a big cheapskate, so all of these apps are absolutely free!



We're starting off strong this week, with an app that will help you get organized and stay on top of the many things that you have to do in life.

Any.DO:

http://dft.ba/-anydo

This app is pretty. That's one of its best features, and it suceeds in that regard. It also contains some really great features under the hood, as it provides a great interface for adding tasks, supports sharing to-dos with others, and you can set repeating alarms for tasks if the need strikes you.

It also contains a smart algorithm for predicting what you're going to write for a task. For example, if you start typing in: "Call mom," it will pop up a whole bunch of predictions, such as 'Call back mom', or 'Call mom and dad'. I write very specific tasks and in my experience it doesn't come in useful that often, but it's nice to know it's there if I ever need it.

You can set reminders and due dates as well, but it also has a neat feature that you don't see on too many of these to-do list apps. You have the option to place a notification in your status bar up top, and it serves as a constant reminder of things you have to do.

Any.DO syncs with both Google Tasks and www.any.do (its website). You must create an account to use the latter, but in case you don't feel like creating yet another user account, there's always the option to sign in with Facebook. Signing in can come in really handy, as Any.DO also boasts of a Google Chrome extension, and an iOS app. This multi-platform functionality works very nicely, I find. For example, if you're browsing on your computer and remember something you have to do, you can just click the icon (or highlight some text and right-click), and your task is set. If you now leave your computer and go on your phone, the task you made will be right there in the app.

For a basic to-do list manager however, it excels. If you're looking for an app that will manage your everyday tasks and doesn't look too bad while doing it, feel free to check it out.