Mental Case is many things - a drop box for your thoughts; RSS for your head; an index of your knowledge - but ultimately, it's just a fun way to remember stuff. And 'stuff' can be anything, from your new mobile phone number to the Presidents of the United States - Mental Case can even help you remember to stick to a diet.
All you do is gather tidbits of information in 'mental notes'. Enter some text, drop in an image, take a screen shot, or even snap a picture with your iSight. Mental Case schedules the note to reappear at future dates. When you have a few minutes to spare,
What's New
Version 2.1:
New list mode for browsing and editing notes
New spread card browsing mode, showing all facets of each note
Added a status item in the Mac OS X menu bar for creating QuickNotes and starting slideshows
Added checkbox to template creation popover, to make it easier to apply a template to other notes in a stack
Added a new menu item to apply the settings of a selected note to all other notes in the stack
Simplified the filter field, moving filtering options in to a menu, and adding the option to filter on flagged status
Removed smart cases from the sync list, because they are not synced at this point
Version 2.1:
New list mode for browsing and editing notes
New spread card browsing mode, showing all facets of each note
Added a status item in the Mac OS X menu bar for creating QuickNotes and starting slideshows
Added checkbox to template creation popover, to make it easier to apply a template to other notes in a stack
Added a new menu item to apply the settings of a selected note to more...
This is the right thing to do? Really? This is becoming iTunes and Amazon. This can arguably add to the "creditability" problem. Should I offset Karl_saygh's insightful review?
I've been using Mental Case as a study aid for several years. The feature set has almost everything I could use for flashcards. The exceptions are multiple choice answers and 2+ card sides. According to the developer, those features will both be included in the 2.0 update.
The sync option works well with the iPad & iTouch, and the ability to create cards on the go in the mobile apps adds even more value to them.
Highly recommended.
Would you mind elaborating? It doesn't seem fair to the developer or other users for you to post a one-star review without providing any information as to why you were unhappy with the application.
"It doesn't seem fair to the developer or other users for you to post a one-star review without providing any information..."
That's one of the things I dislike about Macupdate, Warren. Plenty of questionable "reviews" that offer no information to substantiate a rating. Just a recent example:
http://www.macupdate.com/members/profile/Chadcn
His 6 more recent ratings are all half-star ratings, without any comments, and for applications that most reasonable people would rate highly.
Indeed it's not fair to a developer (or to potential users), but as long as Macupdate allows it nothing will change.
@Espiridion You (or Warren) don't seem to have a problem with "Beautiful and very useful app! Highly recommended!" as a review just on spot down. What is the fundamental difference? So, your idea is to censor reviews? That's a slippery slope. If a person can't articulate himself to a standard, his review is removed? "Two Thumbs Up" just isn't good enough anymore.
I'd have to say that the comment "Beautiful and very useful" at least implies that a.) the app's interface is aesthetically pleasing and b.) the app adds some kind of helpful functionality to the user's Mac experience. Ideally, the commenter would have elaborated on his point but, in this case, the information is still much more helpful than a comment that reads simply "Terrible. Just Terrible." The meaning of that comment is so vague that I don't know if the commenter is trying to imply that the app itself is buggy or, rather, that he holds some kind of moral objection to the idea of an app designed to be a "fun way to remember stuff." ;-) I agree that this is a very subjective issue, but I'm inclined to believe that there's a difference between comments that provide a very small amount of information and comments that provide no information whatsoever.
Version 1.7 is an intermediate update to Mental Case, and includes support for audio:
Redesigned note editing pane to support audio.
Extra column available for notes table which indicates whether audio is present.
Import of audio files for the prompt and/or content sides of notes.
Record audio directly from the system default microphone.
Added a button to repeat sounds in a slideshow.
Import and export audio to/from Mental Case Archive and Study Archive files.
Sync audio with Mental Case for iPhone version 2.4 and later.
Just love this app. I really want to get the companion iPhone application (not the lite version), but I just cannot get myself to spend $8 on it. Waiting for it to come back down one more time to $4.99 (developer, I hope you are reading :-) Mind you, I'm not saying that it is not worth what you are asking, just that I have this $5 barrier for iPhone apps.
Version 1.5.1 is a bug fix release that improves stability, particularly for users of Mac OS X 10.4. Here is a full list of changes:
Note count badge for case collections now updates properly when cases are dragged into a collection.
Fixed stability issues on Mac OS X 10.4 when creating new cases and case collections.
The slide controls now appear when you press the tab key in a slide show, the way they did before version 1.5.
Progress panel now appears when you drag-and-drop to export an archive.
Fixed a bug in slide export where if a note had an image on its prompt slide, but no text, the prompt slide would not be exported.
I have this app, and sometimes put info into it, but I rarely use it. I think it requires some discipline to sit down an watch a lesson. It needs some factor that will make me have to think. Like choosing random cards as possible answers, then I'd have to selectth right on, that matches the question. As it is now, I'm too bored to use it daily. Better to spend the money on some ginseng, and the time on some meditation.
The new on-the-fly feature is JUST WHAT I NEEDED. Gracias. Merci. Thanks!
And on the app itself... I use it on and off... But this app is unique, and I think many people, including myself, fail to realize the power of scheduling your learning, and working actively and effectively to learn new stuff. It can be anything. For me it is mostly new habits/strategies/reactions, and technical stuff.
The app is stable, simple and a pleasure to use.
[Version 1.2.1]
There are currently no troubleshooting comments. If you are experiencing a problem with this app, please post a comment.
Please login or create a new MacUpdate Member account to use this feature
Watch Lists are available to MacUpdate Desktop Members Upgrade Now
Download and auto-install
using MacUpdate Desktop. Save
time moving folders and cleaning-up.
Mental Case is many things - a drop box for your thoughts; RSS for your head; an index of your knowledge - but ultimately, it's just a fun way to remember stuff. And 'stuff' can be anything, from your new mobile phone number to the Presidents of the United States - Mental Case can even help you remember to stick to a diet.
All you do is gather tidbits of information in 'mental notes'. Enter some text, drop in an image, take a screen shot, or even snap a picture with your iSight. Mental Case schedules the note to reappear at future dates. When you have a few minutes to spare, you watch the scheduled notes in a slide show. Mental Case makes learning a pleasure.
+2
Zeba reviewed on 03 Sep 2011
Overall: 4.5
Features: 4
Ease of Use: 4
Value: 5
Stability: 4.5
+2
+73
+3
+3
Garys reviewed on 18 Feb 2011
The sync option works well with the iPad & iTouch, and the ability to create cards on the go in the mobile apps adds even more value to them.
Highly recommended.
-29
-29
Genghisdon reviewed on 10 Nov 2010
+13
+88
+2
+650
That's one of the things I dislike about Macupdate, Warren. Plenty of questionable "reviews" that offer no information to substantiate a rating. Just a recent example:
http://www.macupdate.com/members/profile/Chadcn
His 6 more recent ratings are all half-star ratings, without any comments, and for applications that most reasonable people would rate highly.
Indeed it's not fair to a developer (or to potential users), but as long as Macupdate allows it nothing will change.
+73
+1
+88
I'd have to say that the comment "Beautiful and very useful" at least implies that a.) the app's interface is aesthetically pleasing and b.) the app adds some kind of helpful functionality to the user's Mac experience. Ideally, the commenter would have elaborated on his point but, in this case, the information is still much more helpful than a comment that reads simply "Terrible. Just Terrible." The meaning of that comment is so vague that I don't know if the commenter is trying to imply that the app itself is buggy or, rather, that he holds some kind of moral objection to the idea of an app designed to be a "fun way to remember stuff." ;-) I agree that this is a very subjective issue, but I'm inclined to believe that there's a difference between comments that provide a very small amount of information and comments that provide no information whatsoever.
+1
+1
+2
Redesigned note editing pane to support audio.
Extra column available for notes table which indicates whether audio is present.
Import of audio files for the prompt and/or content sides of notes.
Record audio directly from the system default microphone.
Added a button to repeat sounds in a slideshow.
Import and export audio to/from Mental Case Archive and Study Archive files.
Sync audio with Mental Case for iPhone version 2.4 and later.
+4
+55
+2
+2
Note count badge for case collections now updates properly when cases are dragged into a collection.
Fixed stability issues on Mac OS X 10.4 when creating new cases and case collections.
The slide controls now appear when you press the tab key in a slide show, the way they did before version 1.5.
Progress panel now appears when you drag-and-drop to export an archive.
Fixed a bug in slide export where if a note had an image on its prompt slide, but no text, the prompt slide would not be exported.
+2
+162
BumbleB reviewed on 08 Oct 2008
-8
+162
BumbleB reviewed on 12 Apr 2008
And on the app itself... I use it on and off... But this app is unique, and I think many people, including myself, fail to realize the power of scheduling your learning, and working actively and effectively to learn new stuff. It can be anything. For me it is mostly new habits/strategies/reactions, and technical stuff.
The app is stable, simple and a pleasure to use.
Carol Ahmed rated on 21 Jan 2011