It’s a new year and that means a lot of people will once again resolve to address the issue of their health. But whether you’re dieting to lose weight, working out to get fit (and fit into your jeans), or simply trying to figure out why you feel so awful lately, you might wind up needing some help to reach your goals and get back to a better state of health. So here are a few iPad apps that you’ll definitely want to look into.

1. iTriage. Have you ever wished you had the expertise of ER docs at your disposal without the hefty medical bills that accompany an actual trip to the emergency room? Well, this app is probably as close as you’re going to get. You can use it to identify health issues (based on symptoms), learn about diseases, and find suitable doctors and facilities in your area, as well as information pertinent to procedures related to your condition (including descriptions, costs, and complications). They even offer a list of health-related hotlines. In short, it provides the average Joe with the comprehensive information that would normally require a bevy of health-care professionals to impart.
2. Lose It!. This freebie is a must for anyone looking to lose a few pounds. The program is pretty basic; you simply enter meals and exercise in order to track calories in, calories out, and extras like carbs, fat, protein, and more. But you also get access to a database of foods, healthy recipes (you can save your faves), and an online community for sharing and support. There’s no better way to weight-loss success (except perhaps spending beaucoup bucks to join a program).
3. Zombies, Run!. Although this clever game won’t be available until February, it’s bound to be on the watch list for gamers looking to get in shape in 2012 because it basically brings exercise into the gaming experience. All you have to do is select a mission and put in your ear buds to get the feel of being chased by zombies (what better motivation to run than the prospect of losing your brains to a shuffling mob?). Best of all, the GPS in your favorite iDevice will tell you how far you’ve gone and how many calories you’ve burned while escaping from zombies. For those that want a more serious jogging app, try RunKeeper, which has been cited by users as one of the best health apps for runners.
4. Walgreen’s for iPad. Many people have to rely on prescription pharmaceuticals in order to remain healthy, and this handy app can help. You can scan prescription barcodes (or access your account) to order refills and peruse weekly ads to find OTC medications on sale. Both will ensure that you have the treatments you need on hand and that you never overpay.
5. Dental Expert. One part of a comprehensive healthcare plan that many people neglect is their oral health. Even those with benefits through their work or discount insurance (such as a Careington dental plan) may neglect their teeth, gums, and preventive care. But this app will help you to see the error of your ways and give you great information on how to improve your smile, sustain oral health, and understand your treatment options.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this quest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

For years magicians have baffled audiences with illusions ranging from sleight of hand to ESP to disappearing assistants. And while some have kept their acts old-school with live performances, others have found ways to use modern technology to their benefit (like David Copperfield, who popularized TV specials with audience participation tricks that viewers at home could take part in, or Criss Angel, who frequently posts video recordings of his amazing “impromptu” feats to YouTube). And now you, too, can use the tech you love to learn magic tricks. With your iPhone in hand and a few great downloads you can easily impress family, friends, colleagues, and party-goers with illusionary exploits that will surely wow onlookers. Here are a few you should definitely check out.

1. Magic Wallet. Rather than being that person who notoriously flaunts ridiculous and useless apps (like the bro stache, beer, and guitar featured in a recent Geico video), make your friends look twice with this magic trick that requires the use of your phone to complete. Viewers will see a collection of jumbled coins on your screen, at which point you will put your finger behind your phone (viewers will see it going into your virtual piggy bank) and when you pull it out, you’ll produce real money. You can even tip the phone over and real money will fall out! Okay, so this isn’t a particularly difficult sleight of hand to figure out, but it is a good place to start (and at $2.99, it won’t break your real piggy bank).
2. iForce. Another one at the $2.99 price point, this fun app will let you read the minds of your family and friends. Of course, this is one where you don’t necessarily want the “trick” revealed, so no spoiler alerts here. You’ll have to purchase it in order to find out how it works. But suffice it to say, it will no doubt make for some fun party entertainment as well as a great way to break the ice.
3. Magic Lesson. While you could spend a lot for books and videos on how to perform basic card, coin, and rope tricks, this app brings you several classics for only $3.99. This is a great springboard for novice performers with step-by-step guides that include photos and video. It also includes pointers for improving your performance technique, including how to present the tricks and speak in a way that helps you to misdirect the audience.
4. Magic 101. This app is not only great because it is free; it also opens your eyes to the antics behind some of the world’s greatest tricks and magicians (like Copperfield, Angel, and David Blaine). With tricks for both beginner and intermediate levels, you can start small and advance to more complex prestidigitations, with the option to purchase more tricks at any time (for real money, unfortunately). And close-up videos reveal every detail of the tricks that have puzzled you in the past. Any magician London to Las Vegas will love this fun and easy app.
5. Marty’s Psypic. This one has been around for a while, but it’s still good fun since you use it to convince viewers that they are communicating with the dead. It features an old black and white photo to start. The viewer will either pick a card or an animal, at which point you zoom in and then zoom back out to reveal the viewer’s pick in the photo. It will cost you $2.99, but users that have reviewed this app all found it to be one of the best iPhone magic tricks out there.

Earlier today we covered a how to guide on force quitting frozen apps, that is if the hardware on your iOS device is working. But if the hardware on your iOS device is not working, in recent updates to iOS, Apple has added AssistiveTouch which allows you to access some core functions of your device all with a few taps and gestures. So to start off, follow the guide below to get started.

1. Open up the Settings app.
2. Tap ‘General’, then ‘Accessibility’.
3. Go all the way down then tap ‘AssistiveTouch’.
4. Turn it on.

Now for example, let’s say the home button works but the power button doesn’t. You can have it set so that if you triple click your home button, AssistiveTouch will pop up and not always be on screen. In the mean time though, enjoy!

There’s no denying that the state of the economy has made life even harder for the majority of teachers. While many schools have been facing budgetary concerns for years, the recession and cuts in state and federal funding have led to a lot of layoffs, meaning larger class sizes and fewer resources for the teaching staff that remains. This, of course, means that most teachers are either making do with less, or they’re using their personal resources to enhance the lessons they teach, whether that entails footing the bill for art supplies and books or spending a lot of unpaid time seeking creative solutions. So if you’re one of many teachers at your wits end when it comes to improving the lessons you offer while making your life easier, here are just a few clever apps for your iPad that could help you in the classroom setting.

1. TeacherTool One. This free app is like a godsend for overworked teachers. It lets you easily input and track grades and attendance by date, as well as file personal notes about particular students so that you can set reminders for yourself for upcoming lessons (i.e. “Joey needs to practice his multiplication tables” or “Susan needs help with sentence structure and spelling”). It’s a great way to instantly track students and each time you sync with your home or work computer it makes a backup copy.
2. GradePad. The nice thing about this app to help you make the grades is that it offers you a lot of handy options. While it will cost you $2.99 to download, there are some useful features, such as the ability to create groups (so you can make grades for joint projects), instantly track performance with rubrics that offer criteria and scaling options, and make assessments over time. And with an included web account it’s easy to upload class lists and other important information.
3. Dropbox. As freebies go, this one is a keeper. And considering how basic it is, you may wonder how you ever got by without it. It’s basically like a virtual backpack or briefcase. You simply drop in your files (docs, pics, even videos) from any device and you can view them on any other device. So you can take assignments from home to work (and back again) without having to keep track of physical copies, and if you find something that you want to share with your class (like snapshots from your weekend visit to the natural history museum) you can easily deposit them into Dropbox at home and then display them on your iPad in class.
4. Keynote. If your course is lecture-heavy, this app can provide you with a lot of time-saving tools that will help to spice up your speeches. At $9.99 it’s not the cheapest tool in iVerse, but once you get started you’ll use it all the time. You can utilize the templates provided to quickly insert text or graphics and you can even use it to create slide shows or animations to punch up your presentation.
5. Evernote. When you learn what this app can do, you may be surprised to see that it’s free. The functionality is pretty amazing; you can actually capture information anywhere to access and search later. On a basic level you can use the app to take snapshots for later reference or leave yourself voice memos, so if you see ads for home tuition services that would benefit your students, for example, you can just snap a pic of the info on the go. But you can also capture screen shots of web pages and then search the text later for further information. And you can download the app on several devices and use the sync function to access shared data from any of them.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this quest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

It’s not often that adults have the time and inclination to learn new languages. But if you travel frequently for work, oversee international offices, or finally have the vacation time saved up for that sabbatical you’ve always dreamed of, you may be looking for a quick and easy way to learn useful phrases in another dialect. Or perhaps you want to get your kids started with learning new languages in order to expand their education. While you can certainly look into classes or purchase a copy of Rosetta Stone (or other language software), these options can be both expensive and time consuming. Luckily, the wide world of apps offers solutions for everyone. And here are just a few options for the iPad that will have you speaking in tongues in no time.

1. Play2Learn. This gaming app covers multiple languages (at $1.99 each) and is intended for children ages 3 to 12. But that doesn’t mean adults just beginning to learn another language can’t benefit from starting at the beginning, and it doesn’t get much easier than this call and repeat game. You simply tap objects in the game to hear the name read aloud (it even provides for variations within a language, like Latin American Spanish or Castellano). Then you begin to play by tapping whatever objects the voice commands ask for. This platform offers a simple introduction to new languages that kids and adults alike can follow.
2. Hello-Hello Spanish. For $14.99 you’ll get 30 conversational lessons and a whole lot more. This app was made in collaboration with The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), so it complies with professional guidelines for language-learning tools. And the result is mobile software that will help you to learn vocabulary, sentence structure, and the basics of communicating in Spanish. Plus, you’ll benefit from handy features like flashcards and the ability to take and save notes for later reference. And you can even download the free supplemental app, Hello-Hello World, to learn phrases in other languages and connect to native speakers.
3. Word Lens. Does it ever strike you as odd that some of the most fantastic apps are free? This one is no exception. This app seamlessly translates between English and two other languages (French and Spanish) and all you have to do is use your iPad camera to snap pics of printed words for instant translation (although you can also type them in). Sounds easy? It is! And anything you need translated on the go (street signs, menus, etc.) is fair game.
4. Google Translate. Yet another freebie, this handy app puts no less than 63 languages at your disposal (although only some have options for spoken word, while the others require written text for translations). And while you can definitely use the app for your own education, you can also use it to communicate via text with friends that speak other languages.
5. Skype. Nothing helps you to learn a language faster than jumping into the deep end with full immersion. And this free app is definitely the way to go, with options for chatting, calling, or video conferencing around the globe for free (via Wi-Fi network). This is a must-have for any serious language learner.

Evan Fischer is a contributing writer for uebersetzungdeutschenglisch.com, a website that specializes in translations from German to English.