Impulse – Feb. 2

Welcome to Impulse, your one-stop shop for all the latest and greatest in gadgets, gizmos and gear. Compiled by staff writer Erik Stordahl, Impulse provides you with what’s currently hot on the market. What’s on the docket this week? We jump into the world of apps, doing our best to parse out the must-haves from the must-have-nots. To get more info on the following, hit up the iTunes store. Enjoy.

Temple Run “” It may not get anymore addicting than this. Run, jump and slide your way from a horde of monkeys while escaping a temple not even Indiana Jones would set foot in. As of right now, it’s got an average of five stars based on 420,000 reviews. That’s like being the best athlete in the country AND winning a Nobel Prize for Awesomeness. How could you go wrong?

Angry Birds “” We’ve seriously lost count on how many updates this game has experienced over the years. Beat all the levels, then go back and get three stars on all of ’em because THAT’S WHAT WINNERS DO. Note: Winners also make sure their homework and chores are finished before playing Angry Birds.

Fruit Ninja “” The title says it all. Slice all the fruit that flies into your screen. Duh. The more fruit hacked per slice = more points and bonuses. When you get to the pomegranate at the end, GO CRAZY. Oh, and watch out for those fruit bombs!

Stanza “” Read from more than 50,000 FREE books and pay for the ones you really want. You know like the Twilight series, Harry Potter, Hunger Games. Hurry up and read ’em so you can chat with us about them.

Dictionary.com “” Let’s be honest. You don’t know the definition of every word. And actual books are totally overrated now, so you’ll NEED this app. There’s no need for breaking the bank, as the dictionary + thesaurus app is FREE. This will really come in handy when you need to know 10 other ways to say “sick”, “amped” and “dope.”

Calculator for iPad (Free version) “” “Calculator app, Erik? Why, my iPad is already equipped with one,” you say? Hear me out, guys. You can do more than just basic math with this mathtastic zero dollar app. Flex its muscles with insane algebra and trigonometry equations. This one is ONLY for the iPad. “But Erik, I don’t have an iPad.” Then go out and get one. Duh.

myHomework “” We know how much homework you have, and really, it’s nothing compared to what you get in college. Having said that, you still have a lot of it and you’re gonna need a better organizer than your Trapper Keeper and Five-Star notebooks. This app is free and helpful. Two things we love.

iFlipr Flashcards “” How we wish we had this when we were in school. No longer will you need to tote around hundreds of 3 x 5 cards to cram for that vocab test. Or that Spanish verb conjugation quiz. Or for that Bill of Rights amendments midterm.