Gorgonzola Cheese!

I’ve constantly been searching for technology that can facilitate learning and recently stumbled upon one of the best free tools for learning Japanese. iKnow.co.jp is a web site where English speakers can learn Japanese vocabulary and Kanji (there’s also a ton of Japanese users on there that are learning English). You start by creating a log in or use an existing Google or Yahoo account and then enroll in some classes. Beginners are quizzed on Hiragana and Katakana characters while intermediate learners can start out with the first 2000 words, which is split up into 10 lessons. For those that already speak Japanese at home but want to learn Kanji, there is an option to do the lessons with a Kanji focus. For the upper intermediate to advanced folks, there’s the 6000 class, which adds 4000 on top of the basic 2000, where you’ll eventually end up reading Japanese newspapers without batting an eye. In addition to the default 6000 words, there are hundreds of user generated lists like Japanese RPG vocabulary, vocab words from Hiragana Times articles, and even vocab lists from the Minna no Nihongo text book I used in Japan.

A calendar tracks your progress, ala Brain Age or Wii Fit, and suggests that you study at least 30 items a day. It isn’t hard at all to find some time during a commercial break or lunch break since each 10 word quiz can take as little as 5 minutes.

Following the trend of Google apps of storing everything in the data cloud, iKnow! keeps your progress stored with your profile so you can continue where you left off from any computer instead of having to install a program like Rosetta Stone on one computer.

iKnow! offers many Web 2.0 features such as blogging your progress in journal entries, a friends list, and broadcasting your progress like the Facebook newsfeed, which can keep you motivated or even competitive like Trophies on the PSN or Achievements on Xbox Live.

I’ve been using the site for about a week so far and can’t get enough of it. It makes learning Japanese so fun that it feels like it should be illegal for being so addictive. It also feels good to be using the time otherwise wasted on Facebook or online games and putting it into something similar but useful.

Here is a video of what iKnow! looks like:

There are a bunch of instant messaging programs that allow you to log into different instant messaging networks out there such as Pidgin (formerly known as Trillian) and Adium for Macs.

I’ve had no problem with any of them but I’ve found one program that trumps them all. It manages to incorporate your social networking and obsessive email checking compulsions and roll them into one.

Digsby is a PC-only program that allows you to send instant messages across all the instant messaging networks (Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Facebook Chat) but it does not stop there.

Digsby also logs you into Facebook and Myspace and keeps you updated with status messages and new comments or wall posts as they happen faster than Facebook’s own newsfeed.  Messages pop up with a Growl-like interface on the bottom left of the screen.  You can also add any POP or IMAP email account so that you can be notified of any new emails as you receive them.  Digsby developers have recently included Facebook chat so you can don’t need to keep a Facebook window in order to chat with someone.

Unfortunately Digsby is currently only available for PCs but a Mac and Linux version is in development.

You can download Digsby here: link.

Facebook used to be the simple and clean alternative to MySpace, but after Facebook opened up it’s platform to third-party developers, it’s gotten so bad that I’m spending most of my time on there clicking “ignore” for multiple application requests. Well now there’s a solution that makes Facebook bearable again. You can now block applications and never have to see them again. This video from 5min.com user, brandon90, shows you how below.

All you need to do is search for the application, click on its main page and click on the new Block Application button. Simple and clean once again.