Useful Programs for Brilliant Students. Part I
Studying at university or college has always been a challenging process, but if you're lucky enough to be a student in this golden age of tech, don't blow your chance to learn more about awesome tools available for students today. In this article I have made a set of five programs that may bring you better educational opportunities and turn your favorite devices into excellent productivity tools.
Zotero
When it comes to writing an academic article, it's always difficult to manage various tasks at once, but with the amazingly powerful application Zotero it's now easy to work with a research paper: generate in-text footnotes and annotations; save PDF documents, web pages, videos, and other useful files and materials; make up a bibliography list; collect and format citations; create a library with the necessary pieces of information that can be quickly found by helpful hashtags. And it's all without ever leaving the browser! Zotero is an open-source and cross-platform program which plugs into the browser (Firefox, Chrome, Safari) and integrates with the word processors Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, NeoOffice, OpenOffice.org, and Writer.
Zygote Body
Students who dream of a career in the medical profession should be able to examine blood vessels, bones, nerves, muscles, internal organs, and other parts of a human body in detail. In very exact and careful detail. To meet this aim without using traditional wax models, there was developed a specific software program called Zygote Body, which can interest not only specialists. Zygote Body is an enjoyable and handy tool that provides a manipulable 3D simulation of human anatomy. With its help you can remove or make transparent several layers of a human body to study them more closely. The 3D images are displayed inside a web browser so you don't need to install an external browser plug-in.
OneNote
The Microsoft Office OneNote program deserves a special mention in our set of programs, although our readers might already be familiar with it. Being an integrated part of Microsoft Office system, OneNote successfully replaces paper notebooks, as it features note-taking opportunities and an online syncing option. All the handwritten and typed notes, drawings, screen clippings, and even audio commentaries (that you can easily make within the program) are automatically gathered and saved by OneNote. If you wish, you may also share all the information with other OneNote users over the Internet. OneNote is available for the following operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Symbian, Windows Phone. Discover this Microsoft's software solution to have your colorful lectures always to hand.
Cold Turkey
This free program with an unusual but appealing name can help you focus on a studying process by blocking all the distracting websites at scheduled time. Independent of the browser you use, the program makes the websites you chose unavailable. In a Pro version you can block applications and make more flexible time configurations in order to maximize your productivity. Be careful, the Cold Turkey program works very well. To cancel its blocking actions, you may only wait until the set period is over or restart the system.
Audacity
This is a reliable audio recording tool that may come in handy in a lecture hall. Audacity is a free, open-source, and cross-platform program that lets you use your computer or an external microphone to record audio. At home you can edit the recorded files. For example, change the tempo (if your professor's speech speed is too fast), cut the unwanted record periods, convert the files into another format, remove unwanted noises, and so on. Audacity is a great program designed for those auditory learners who want to create an audio archive of their lectures and have the opportunity to easily share it with friends.