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+ Anki
Anki is a program for memorizing things. Using an algorithm known as spaced repetition, it brings up cards for review right before you are about to forget them. If you review every day, it is perfectly possible to remember 90% or more of all information in the program, using a minimum of time (it usually takes me under twenty minutes). Better yet, if you add no new information, the review time will slowly decrease. Because of this, it is perfectly possible to maintain fifty thousand facts in a few minutes a day, as long as you add information gradually to avoid causing massive review times.
Anki is free and open source software released under the GNU General Public License, and you can download it here in a couple of minutes. Try it--you'll probably be glad you did!
Anki Links
These are some random sites and pieces of information about Anki that I haven't organized yet.
Valparaiso University Anki Documentation. This was written by me and my mother Jennifer Bjornstad. It has a lot of useful information even if you're unassociated with VU. If you're not sure how to do something important in Anki, the answer is probably in here somewhere, along with a lot of recommendations. If you're a teacher looking to use Anki for your class, you should definitely check this out.
The official Anki documentation, on the Anki website. The manual is a little bit difficult to read but provides a ton of useful information.
A Wired article about spaced repetition.
A Student's Guide to Preventing Cheating on Anki Graphs (LaTeX source)-- a short article written by me, which identifies all the ways students might be able to cheat when they're asked to use Anki for a class, and explains how teachers can solve the problem.
AnkiBackup (latest version: 0.3.1)
Backing up your Anki decks is really important, since you build up a lot of useful scheduling information. But it can be rather difficult for the average user (and somewhat tedious even if you know what you're doing), so I wrote a simple Python script called AnkiBackup. Installation instructions are below:
Linux
Grab the source code, set the executable bit (chmod +x [/path/to/file]), and run.
Mac OS X
Download the Mac version here, which is just the source code renamed from 'ankibackup.py' to 'ankibackup.command'. Double-click to run the program.
Windows
Unfortunately, Windows doesn't come with Python installed, so you'll have to jump through an extra hoop or two. But relax, it's not difficult. You have two options:
- The simplest is to grab the executable version and just double-click to run it. The problem with this approach is that it doesn't always work. If you get error messages and the program doesn't run, try the next method instead.
- If that doesn't work, download and install Python (see its website for more information). Then grab the source code and run by double-clicking on it.
All you need to do to back up once you get the program running is to press Enter. The backup will be created on your desktop; it's wise to copy this folder to a flash drive or other external device in case your hard drive crashes. You should back up your decks regularly, preferably at least once a week, but any backup at all is better than none.
If AnkiBackup doesn't work properly on your system (for instance, if it can't find where your Anki decks are stored), please contact me using the information below so that I can update the program. Other questions, comments, or angry complaints are welcome as well.
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