19 ways Windows Vista can make you smarter

9. Improve your memory
“One is a gun, two is a shoe, three is a tree…” No, I haven’t lost my marbles – this is a mnemonic system. Every number from one to 10 has a rhyming object of your choice paired with it. To remember a list of objects you simply visualise a scene featuring the thing you need to remember along with its mnemonic substitute.

For instance, let’s say you want to remember a shopping list that has beans, bread and sausages on it. To remember item one, you might visualise shooting a tin of beans with a gun. To recall the second item, imagine a pair of shoes made from crusty loaves. The more outlandish the image is, the better.

You can improve this system further using Windows Vista by creating a new folder in your Pictures directory called ‘Mnemonics’. Fill this folder with images that correspond to your system. You can use an image search, saving photos by rightclicking on them and selecting Save picture as. Open Photogallery and navigate to the folder Mnemonics.

You can now tag each image with its name and number. Use this to help you learn the system and improve your visualisation of each mnemonic substitute.

10. Train your brain
Your brain needs exercise just like your body. Maths and word games keep it in trim. Try Web Sudoku for a quick fix, or download Pure Sudoku for free from Very Free Sudoku. Scrabble’s the classic word game, and you can play online version Scrabble Blast, alongside a large selection of other puzzlers.

11. Get creative
Interface design pioneer Douglas Englebart devoted much of his career to the study of intellectual augmentation. He saw the computer as an extension of the self – a tool for amplifying our natural skills. In that sense, almost everything we do with our computers makes us smarter.

For example, a word processor, or even a simple text editor, gives us an ability to organise and manipulate our thoughts in text that pen and paper just can’t touch. Similarly photo processing tools such as Adobe Photoshop CS3 and drawing applications such as the forthcoming Microsoft Expression Design unleash artistic skills even in people who struggle with real-life pencil and paint. And with music sequencing software such as FL Studio 7, you don’t have to know how to read music or even play an instrument and make your own chart-topping tunes.

12. Learn a language
Learn to speak French or Italian and you’ll actively create new pathways between brain cells. Rosetta Stone produces language-learning software, with courses starting at £139 for 200 hours of interactive material. Not sure which language you want to learn yet? Visit the BBC languages site and take your first steps online.

13. Empty your head
Run too many programs on your PC at once and it slows down. The same thing happens when you try to carry too much in your head – so create a ‘to do’ list and tackle things one at a time. Windows Live Hotmail comes with a task manager in the Calendar section that will do the job nicely.

14. Play poker
Your memory, mathematical ability and people-reading skills all get a great workout at the poker table. If you have Windows Vista Ultimate, you can practise your Texas Hold ’Em chops against your computer – but nothing beats playing with real punters. Absolute Poker has popular tables with Windows Vista certified software.

15. It’s good to talk
When you have a problem to solve, talking it through with a friend can help you to understand things better. With Windows Live Messenger, you’ll be able to chat with friends online in a variety of ways. You can pass instant messages to a fellow computer user. They don’t have to be signed up for Hotmail or have a Windows Live ID, either, as the service supports Yahoo! Messenger users.

If you have a mic and headphones connected, you can make free PC to PC voice calls over Messenger, by clicking the Call button. You can even call a friend’s phone from Windows Live Messenger using Windows Live Call. You’ll need to sign up for the service through Verizon first and deposit some money for calls. It costs a fraction of a penny per minute to call UK landlines.

16. Read a book
Founded back in 1971, Project Gutenberg has been publishing the full text of public domain books since the dawn of the net. Now it offers access to over 100,000 free books available in formats you can read on your computer. Catch up on your Dickens, Vonnegut and Kafka, or just search for silly jokes.

17. Do your research
Researching any topic helps expand your horizons. The internet has a glut of search engines and directories, but a great place to start when looking for scholarly information is the Librarians Internet Index. This littleknown resource brings together handpicked, trusted sites and individual articles.

18. Learn to fly
A true flight simulator is much more than a game, and Microsoft Flight Simulator X is way ahead of the pack. Learn to fly an Airbus A321 passenger jet or start more gently with the single prop Cessna 172 Skyhawk SP. Even better, a fully functional trial version is available.

19. Textual adventures
Whether you prefer the term ‘interactive fiction’ or ‘text adventure’, these are worlds made with worlds, filled with puzzles to work out and virtual places to explore. Expand your spatial awareness and test your problem-solving skills at Text Adventures, an archive of games that run on the free Quest engine.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 at 11:33 am and is filed under Windows Vista. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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