Now more than ever, average people need to take steps to gain control over their financial situation. With the world’s economy teetering on the brink, it has become imperative that people understand their finances and, more importantly, the numbers they face. Our entire reality has been built upon numbers and those numbers have become increasingly complex, putting most people in a passive position, unable to calculate their way out of a problem.

A wonderful and incredibly powerful calculator called powerOne Financial Calculator for iPad hopes to change that. Think of this app as a secret weapon, a code book of sorts, able to penetrate the often obscure language of mortgage lenders and real estate agents. Now when they spit out numbers encased in acronyms, explaining your potential financial obligations, you can meet them on the battleground with an equal footing. “Excuse me chump, while I validate your numbers.”

powerOne for the iPad (also available for iPhone) has a slick, crisp design, offering fast access to an impressive array of calculator templates. You won’t find any fancy graphics or sounds here, which is great because such things would only get in the way of powerOne’s excellent interface, detracting from its brilliant simplicity.

powerOne features over 60 templates covering an impressive spectrum, which includes the following:

401(k)

Area Conversion

Auto Lease

Auto Loan

Black-Scholes

Bonds

Breakeven

Capitalization Rate

Cash Flows

Certificate of Deposit

Commercial Lease

Currency Conversion

Date Conversion

Debt Coverage Ratio

Depreciation

Discount

Equity Dividend Rate

Equity Yield

Financial Statement Analysis

Fuel Efficiency

General Lease

General Loan

Inflation

Interest Conversion

Investment Return

Investment Value

IRA

Lease Analysis

Length Conversion

Loan Constant

Loan Qualification

Loan Refinance

Loan w/Deferral

Markup

Mass Conversion

Mileage Reimbursement

Mortage

Mortgage, ARM

Mortgage, Interest Only

Percent Change

Percent Total

Price Comparison

Probability

Profit Margin

Property Analysis

Regular Withdrawals

Sales Tax

Savings

Seller’s Net

Series Loan

Statistics, One-Variable

Statistics, Two-Variable

Summary Data

Time Value of Money

Tip

Volume Conversion

That represents a hell of a lot of power at your fingertips. Even more impressive, powerOne allows you to create your own templates, so if you have a special need that isn’t satisfied by the default offerings, simply plug in your own equations. This alone makes powerOne the ultimate calculator, allowing it to step outside its financial orbit.

A very nice touch in powerOne is its customization, allowing users to easily delete and organize templates from the main list, ensuring you only see what you want to see without scrolling through stuff you’ll never use. One thing powerOne doesn’t currently do is work in landscape mode, but I am assured by the developer that an update is right around the corner that will support landscape mode, as well as additional features.

Now the real question: is powerOne worth $5.99? Considering the sheer amount of options on offer, its great interface and ability to add custom templates, it doesn’t take a calculator to appreciate the value on offer. This is the kind of app that could literally change your life for the better, as it may expose you to various financial concepts that, once tinkered with, could dramatically alter your economic situation for the better. At a time when every money expert is on TV blabbing about how people need to get control of their finances and better understand their respective situations, there simply is no better app than powerOne to get you started on that journey.

Rating: 5/5

powerOne Financial Calculator

Infinity Softworks

$5.99 for iPad

$5.99 for iPhone

The Mercedez-Benz museum in Stuttgart, Germany is the home of a new world record: biggest indoor tornado, confirmed by the Guinness people. How did they manage to create an indoor tornado at a museum? By cracking up the ventilation system.

“The twister takes around seven minutes to materialize,” Autoblog explains, “and is generated by 144 jets and 28 tons of air. The low pressure area at the center of the tornado works to create a jet stream that draws smoke out of the building’s corridors and funnels it upwards and out an exhaust vent on the roof.”

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed a breakthrough in green energy that uses freely available noise pollution to extract hydrogen from water molecules.

A team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison made crystals of zinc oxide that, when immersed in water, absorb vibrations and develop areas of strong negative and positive charge. These charges rip apart nearby water molecules, releasing hydrogen and oxygen gas.

“This is like a free lunch,” says lead researcher Huifang Xu. “You are getting energy from the environment just like solar cells capture energy from the sun.”

Source

In an amazing display of honor and integrity possibly extinct amongst American businesses, Toyota Motor Corp. CEO and President Akio Toyoda declined to accept an award from the Japanese Government for the Prius model’s energy efficiency. The Prius was one of 3 products selected this year to receive the Grand Prize for Energy Efficiency and Ecological Quality from Japan’s Trade Minister.

Referring to the recent voluntary recall of 437,000 Prius for possible brake problems, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said, “We declined to accept the award because we thought it was not appropriate.” Toyota made the decision to recall the Prius amongst the recent recall of a total of 8.5 million other Toyota autos after receiving only 200 complaints total in both the U.S. and Japan of the hybrid experiencing a braking delay in very specific cold weather conditions over very bumpy roads.

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