How To Be A Mac Genius By Using Genius On A Mac.

Does the world have a sufficient number of Geniuses? Can you use your Mac to become a genius? Probably not.

But you can use Genius to improve your memory, which might make you appear smarter. Genius? Isn’t that the guy who sits behind the bar at the Apple Store? Yes and no.

Most of us tend to admire the geniuses of the world. They know so much. They don’t mind reminding us of how much they know, either. Hmmm. Remind?

That’s exactly what takes place when you use Genius, the software, on your Mac.

There isn’t much to Genius, even for people like me who are special. Genius is a simple utility which stores questions and answers, then asks the questions. You give the answer, then check your answer against the Genius answer.

Remember, you gave Genius the answer in the first place, so who’s smarter, you or Genius? See?

Where Genius is handy is helping you remember things. It’s perfect for learning phrases in a new language, improving your vocabulary, learning history, recalling definitions, anything that requires you to remember something.

Genius is like flash cards without the cards. And without flash.

Click the Plus sign at the bottom of the Genius window, add a question, then add the answer. The toolbar is ultra simple, too. You know, for people like me who are special.

The Notes button lets you create notes for each entry. The Info button pops out a side pane with the question and the answer and a category to create groups.

The Start buttons pops open a window in the middle of your Mac’s screen with the question and a place for you to type in the answer. Get it right, and you move to the next question on the list. Get it wrong and Genius sends an electrical current through your Mac to the keyboard to shock you into submission.

No, that’s not right. But it would be cool, huh?

You’re given a second chance to enter the right answer before moving on. When encountering new items, Genius actually gives you the question and the answer so you can remember both. Later, you’ll get that same question but without the answer, so you have to remember.

Sneaky, huh? Sneaky but effective. Repetition helps to improve your memory. A stronger memory improves your chances to become a genius at the Apple Store. Or, not.

Another handy feature in Genius is the ability to save and open different files with different questions and answers. Teachers will love this.

It’s perfect for vocabulary or any large list that requires a little elbow greaze greece grease to remember how to spell a word.

Genius isn’t limited to just words. Questions can be sentences. So can answers. As you enter answers in Genius a little green progress status bar tops the window so you can see how much longer before the pain and humiliation ends.

This is a very handy Mac utility that works as advertised. It’s missing one thing. Positive feedback. Whenever I get an answer right I want some bells and whistles. Instead, Genius just gave me another question to answer.

Genius comes with a few libraries of questions and answers already. U.S. state capitals. Swedish verbs. Canadian provincial capitals. You know, all those things we need to know more of but can’t find the time, the inclination, or the wherewithal to bother to learn.

Did I mention that Genius is free? Do you have a Mac utility that helps you learn? Share your experience in the Comments section below.