Tag: Knowledge »

There are people out there in the world that are absolutely mental for cars. I actually roomed with a couple of them in college. The amount of stuff those guys knew about automobiles bordered on ridiculous. The reason I bring this up is because I know there are people out there who are just as into bicycles as they were into cars. And Cyclepedia is just the app for them.

Hueristic Media has chronicled 100 different bikes throughout history. Some of which have had a profound impact on the way we get around on two wheels and others that... well, that are just plain weird. Each model's image can be rotated a full 360-degrees and zoomed in up to 20 times via finger movements (naturally). The added touch of being able to fold-up the folding bikes via swiping is also pretty cool.

In addition to all the images and descriptions, the app includes well over 300 additional photographs (courtesy of Bernhard Angerer), more than 200 pages of brochures and manuals, and even archival video clips. There's a ton of historical information within these virtual pages. More than enough to make bike fans happy, anyway. And said bike fans can check out Cyclepedia for their iPads right now for $9.99.

We all know and have used the Encyclopaedia Britannica at some point. It's a fantastic resource of information with an absolutely huge amount of knowledge contained within. What some people may not realise is that it's over 200 years with the first edition having been released between 1768 and 1771 in Scotland.

Technology moves on however and while the Encyclopaedia Britannica is still available in book form (in its 15th edition), iPad fans will be thrilled to see that the app version of Encyclopaedia Britannica is just as useful for anyone with a great thirst for knowledge.

Providing over 80,000 carefully fact checked articles, all manners of different subjects are catered for. There's everything from information on famous landmarks to statistics about skateboarding. Encyclopaedia Britannica ensures that its knowledge is always accurate thanks to an extensive list of contributors that include over 100 Nobel Laureates plus numerous subject gurus such as Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.

Information is provided through interesting mediums and not just via text with photographs, diagrams and charts plentiful. A LinkMap means that users can explore articles that are connected to each other through a dynamic view interface. There's also a neat way of checking out what happened on the revelant day of the year at a glance which is the ideal way to set the brain racing off in a quest to gain more knowledge.

While Encyclopaedia Britannica is a free to download app, users who wish to gain the full benefits of the app will need to pay a pretty reasonable $1.99 a month subscription fee. For those not keen on paying, they do at least gain 100 free articles plus the first 100 words of each article as part of a taster of what's available. Considering the web version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is a lot more than this, that's pretty good value for money for a huge wealth of knowledge.

Encyclopaedia Britannica is available now for the iPad.

One of my favorite things about the iPad offers is how visually stunning so many apps can look by utilizing the extra screen space that the device offers. This is particularly prominant when it comes to Pearltrees.

Originally solely a website, Pearltrees, is an app that allows users to organize, discover and share everything they like on the web. Its developers hope that it'll help users cultivate their interests by allowing them to store websites for future reference and to share with others. It's different for a number of reasons. Holding all the information within Pearltrees means that users can retrieve their information from any PC or iPad device, this also enables users to share amongst a community of more than 200,000 people. There's also the visually stunning side of things that quickly captivates its audience.

The term pearl, in this context, comes from the fact that an individual pearl holds anything the user finds interesting while a pearltree is a collection of web pages as a form of folder system. It's so much more beautiful than a folder structure though. Take a look at the screenshots below. It's very minimalist in looks but while offering a huge wealth of information if the user so wishes. It also lends itself perfectly to the touch based interface of the iPad making it the ideal app to browse and relax with.

Social functions come in the form of being able to team up with others on their pearltrees and thus invite people to join in. The 'Visual Discovery' feature enables people to find new interests related to their favorite topics through a similar method.

Pearltrees is just the glorious kind of app that lends itself to simply relaxing on the sofa one evening and taking in the many, many delights that the internet can offer. Amazing what a change of perspective can do to something we all take for granted!

Knowledge is power so they say. Excluding huge wealth, I suspect the elusive 'they' are right. Quora won't provide great financial fortunes (probably) but it will provide plenty of knowledge.

Providing a neat combination of social networking and knowledge, Quora allows users to ask people questions as well as answer other people's queries. Over 60,000 topics are covered enabling users to search through thousands of different location based topics as well as anything else that may grip them.

Kind of like Wikipedia, it opens up a huge breadth of knowledge on everything from current affair issues to simply asking people what it's like to be in their chosen career field. Users could even use it for relationship advice or tourism information for a specific area. It's a fascinating insight into just how much knowledge each and every person may have. An instant reminder that everyone is knowledgeable about something, even if they don't yet realise it.

Quora is a free app so why not give it a shot today? It makes an entertaining change from the likes of Wikipedia.

I like to think I'm a fairly well read person. In every day speech and writing, there's hardly ever a word I struggle to understand. It only takes a quick flick through a dictionary to realise however that there's a whole wealth of different words out there that are both fascinating and quite cool to know. In every day speech, it's easy to stick to the same variety of words so along comes Vocabology hoping to buck that trend.

Vocabology is a free app that allows you to view the word of the day from various different sources on the internet. All located in the one place, it's easy to quickly look up and learn new things. The app covers everything from Merriam Webster, Yahoo Education and even Urban Dictionary. Urban Dictionary makes for a particularly intriguing one offering up some terms that I can safely admit I've never heard of before.

For those hoping to learn even more than English, there's also the addition of words of the day in Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portugese.

In the case of each entry, Vocabology also provides a definition, often an explanation of how to pronounce it and an audio clip saying it. Users can save their favorite words to a favorite list to consult at a later date.

Finally, there's also a quiz game that enables users to test their knowledge of words that have been covered previously on the app.

Within no time at all, users of Vocabology are destined to learn more and more new words which they'll hopefully use in every day life. Along the way, users should also learn a few new words in different languages too which is bound to be convenient.

Vocabology looks set to be a great app to check in on a daily basis.

It's available now for all iOS devices and is a free download.

The British Library has entered the smartphone age, with the venerable institution launching its first ever app. the program, called Treasures, allows users from all over the world to take a peek at the museum's extensive collection, showcasing such wonders as a 1215 original copy of the Magna Carta, Elizabeth I’s famous Tilbury speech before the Spanish Armada and famous manuscripts from composers like Mozart and Handel. There's plenty more where that came from, as the app currently features over 100 different items alongside sound recordings and 50 short videos. The British Library has also promised to regularly update the app, adding new exhibits and paying special attention to new arrivals in the museum.

In addition to a standard iPhone edition of the app there is also an HD iPad version which offers slightly higher resolution pictures. iPods and iPhones running iOS 3.2 or above can view the app, while the iPad requires utilization of iOS 4. The app retails for $1.99 on the iPhone or $3.99 on the iPad.

It's wonderful to have such an extensive collection from a revered source such as the British Library being opened to the public to view on the go. The information included with the exhibits alone is well worth the price of admission, but the video and audio clips that accompany them really push the app across the finish line. This is a terrific app for lovers of history and those with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. We can't wait to see what new features and updates are added in later versions.

[via Electronista]