Well written/explained, kazelee. Because we have no other choice out there, we are knudged towards tolerating this outage - ATM, I'm teetering between using the new site and just using Anki...

When the new site is up, I did notice some improvements, though - the reaction to typing speed seems to be much better now and they seem to have expanded on the SRS aspect of the training (more choices), etc...

It is free and if there are ads they are very subtle. If they were charging $20/month, I would pay it. The new version seems to be of less quality than the old but for the higher purpose of expanding later I suppose. So those of us who use it now get a little less than we had before. But when it is up an running again I am still going to be on it every spare minute I get and loving it .

Wally Wrote:There is no bar.

My time is valuable to me. If I could spend a reasonable amount of money and the same time as I do at iKnow and learn more/better/faster, I'd go do that.

There is -always- a bar.

In fact, in this case, iKnow even has free competitors: Anki and LiveMocha.

As for complaints, well... If you think complaints are bad, you're obviously not a software developer. Complaints are -good-. They show you where you need improvement. They allow you to better satisfy your customers. If you are not receiving complaints, your software is either perfect (impossible) or so bad that people don't care about it at all.

Thanks, mccrawford, for that LiveMocha hint. I tried it out, but unfortunately, their Japanese sections are only for beginners at the moment (their hardest level apparently tests time in Japanese in Romaji).

I am always open to alternatives, though - as I can't get onto smart.fm (I did, for some time this morning) for the moment. I think it's time to do the Anki.

wccrawford Wrote:

Wally Wrote:There is no bar.

My time is valuable to me. If I could spend a reasonable amount of money and the same time as I do at iKnow and learn more/better/faster, I'd go do that.

There is -always- a bar.

In fact, in this case, iKnow even has free competitors: Anki and LiveMocha.

As for complaints, well... If you think complaints are bad, you're obviously not a software developer. Complaints are -good-. They show you where you need improvement. They allow you to better satisfy your customers. If you are not receiving complaints, your software is either perfect (impossible) or so bad that people don't care about it at all.

Competitors? Neither of those two sites are very similar to Smart.fm at all. I'd say apples, oranges, and bananas, without hesitation.

Your complaint, and all this commentary, is not going to "spur them on" one bit faster than they are already trying to solve their problems. They know what they are trying to achieve, and they know what the ramifications are if their site comes to be seen as a hassle, flaky, or ineffective. I realize of course that some people are perfect, and that no plan or enterprise they have ever been involved in ever wobbled, shuddered or shimmied, and I envy such people deeply.

Wally Wrote:Competitors? Neither of those two sites are very similar to Smart.fm at all. I'd say apples, oranges, and bananas, without hesitation.

Your complaint, and all this commentary, is not going to "spur them on" one bit faster than they are already trying to solve their problems. They know what they are trying to achieve, and they know what the ramifications are if their site comes to be seen as a hassle, flaky, or ineffective. I realize of course that some people are perfect, and that no plan or enterprise they have ever been involved in ever wobbled, shuddered or shimmied, and I envy such people deeply.

Again proving that you aren't a developer. So far, they have implemented every single suggestion I've made via their comments interface and most that I've posted in their forums. Most of them they've thanked me for the input and said they'd consider it, and then implemented it. Do they read this forum? Maybe not, but just educating other users has a benefits as well for them as well.

On the other hand, your blatant fanboyism isn't helping them at all. To sit and say "everything's fine" when it's not does much more harm than good. For one, it lets them think they are on the right track when they aren't. They will be heading off on a tangent because they think the users like that when in fact the users are annoyed and just not saying anything.

As for competitors... All 3 sites/programs have 1 goal: Knowledge acquisition. (In this case, language.) They may have different methods, but that's the essence of competition. Using different methods to achieve the same goal.

cb4960 Wrote:Here are the original MediaFire links that were posted to pseudosphere:

iknow_core2000_(01-10).rar

iknow_core6000_(01-08).rar

iknow_core6000_(09-12).rar

Thanks for those links cb4960.
Since I can't seem to get on the site, I will use these instead...

Thanks to you guys who created the 2001.Kanji.Odyssey and RTK lists! The RTK brainspeed is a fun way to review and doesn't feel like studying at all.

Not trying to blow smoke up anyone's backside (though I do appreciate the homeopathic benefits of reflexology) but the 2001.Kanji.Odyssey lists you guys put together are far superior to the default Core series. They progress in a logical manner starting with the most basic related kanji first. I am enrolled in the first list now even though the vocabulary is ultra basic. It doesn't really matter though. The true benefits with iknow/smart.fm come from dramatically improved listening skills from the sentences. The example for 一　is 運動会で一位になったよ so time is not wasted starting at the beginning.

I listened to Japanese media yesterday for the first time in two weeks. After spending two hours a day for two weeks on iknow, my comprehension skyrocketed to a level that would normally require 6 months to reach.

For those of you who have completed Japanese Core Steps (completed each item to 100%), I am wondering if you would give your self-evaluation of performance post completion. Also, mention if you were using iKnow in conjunction with other methods, such as Anki+iKnow data.

Overall I feel like I am learning the vocab items well, but it feels like brute force, though I am retaining some.

wccrawford Wrote:

Wally Wrote:Competitors? Neither of those two sites are very similar to Smart.fm at all. I'd say apples, oranges, and bananas, without hesitation.

Your complaint, and all this commentary, is not going to "spur them on" one bit faster than they are already trying to solve their problems. They know what they are trying to achieve, and they know what the ramifications are if their site comes to be seen as a hassle, flaky, or ineffective. I realize of course that some people are perfect, and that no plan or enterprise they have ever been involved in ever wobbled, shuddered or shimmied, and I envy such people deeply.

Again proving that you aren't a developer. So far, they have implemented every single suggestion I've made via their comments interface and most that I've posted in their forums. Most of them they've thanked me for the input and said they'd consider it, and then implemented it. Do they read this forum? Maybe not, but just educating other users has a benefits as well for them as well.

On the other hand, your blatant fanboyism isn't helping them at all. To sit and say "everything's fine" when it's not does much more harm than good. For one, it lets them think they are on the right track when they aren't. They will be heading off on a tangent because they think the users like that when in fact the users are annoyed and just not saying anything.

As for competitors... All 3 sites/programs have 1 goal: Knowledge acquisition. (In this case, language.) They may have different methods, but that's the essence of competition. Using different methods to achieve the same goal.

Proving I'm not a developer? You are really impressed with your analytical skills, I can see. Even when they aren't working very well.

And I'm glad you're working hand in glove with Smart.fm. I'm sure, in fact, that you are the only one making the recommendations you're making, and that the site would simply be a waste of Net bandwidth without you. Carry on.

Some people have really been stressed out missing their lessons on iknow!

Play nice boys

bodhisamaya Wrote:Thanks to you guys who created the 2001.Kanji.Odyssey and RTK lists! The RTK brainspeed is a fun way to review and doesn't feel like studying at all.

Not trying to blow smoke up anyone's backside (though I do appreciate the homeopathic benefits of reflexology) but the 2001.Kanji.Odyssey lists you guys put together are far superior to the default Core series. They progress in a logical manner starting with the most basic related kanji first. I am enrolled in the first list now even though the vocabulary is ultra basic. It doesn't really matter though. The true benefits with iknow/smart.fm come from dramatically improved listening skills from the sentences. The example for 一　is 運動会で一位になったよ so time is not wasted starting at the beginning.

The one flaw in KO2001 is it lists only words that are connected with those 1100 kanji, leaving out common words that are kana only or have advanced kanji. However, the order of those kanji and the spacing of the words are a winner. I'm still of the opinion there's a better list of words that can be made. It's simply a matter of grouping the common words like iKnow does but order them in manner similar to KO2001. With Kana words and those outside the KO2001 list, just space those words evenly throughout the kanji word list.

I posted before suggesting using a word scanner program on sites like ch2 to get a better list of common words (discounting outright slang and internet jargon). But I think the ordering them like KO2001 is key to learning them efficiently.

I do not know how successful it would be, but I think it might be a good idea to scan, say, Yahoo's dictionary. By organizing a list of reasonably frequent words that appear in a monolingual dictionary, it would make it easier for people to switch to or at least comprehend monolingual dictionaries.

Progress charts are back, but only if you are LOGGED OUT! Strange quirk. But at least you can check on your progress after you finish your session.

bodhisamaya Wrote:Not trying to blow smoke up anyone's backside (though I do appreciate the homeopathic benefits of reflexology) but the 2001.Kanji.Odyssey lists you guys put together are far superior to the default Core series. They progress in a logical manner starting with the most basic related kanji first.

Hmm.. I'd prefer to be doing them in KO order too, but I'm already half way through step 3 and have been using anki to do reviews... Is it possible to switch now? Like, still using anki but from here on in KO order...

Does anybody have a Kanji Odysey - Smart.fm Anki deck with audio (and perhaps pictures)? Im finding the transition to Core 2000 Step 3 very non-logical and much more difficult.

Ive tried using the plug-in to make my own decks but it is giving me hundreds of dialog boxes asking me to enter any text to import or blank to skip. No matter how many times I enter text it just pops right back up.

bodhisamaya Wrote:Progress charts are back, but only if you are LOGGED OUT! Strange quirk. But at least you can check on your progress after you finish your session.

1. Go to your Home page and click on your icon
2. On the right hand side, you will see 3 "Progress Badges" with a link to your progress charts - click on that link

Maybe you mean logged out of the iKnow app?

kfmfe04 Wrote:

bodhisamaya Wrote:Progress charts are back, but only if you are LOGGED OUT! Strange quirk. But at least you can check on your progress after you finish your session.

1. Go to your Home page and click on your icon
2. On the right hand side, you will see 3 "Progress Badges" with a link to your progress charts - click on that link

Maybe you mean logged out of the iKnow app?

Yea. I have to be Logged out of iknow completely. I search for my user name on the sign in page and then click my icon. If I am logged in, the graph shows all 0's. If logged out, it displays properly.

SammyB Wrote:Hmm.. I'd prefer to be doing them in KO order too, but I'm already half way through step 3 and have been using anki to do reviews... Is it possible to switch now? Like, still using anki but from here on in KO order...

I am half way through Core step 3 as well. I am completing that and making the transition to KO at the same time. I just split my time between the two lessons.

Herbo Wrote:Does anybody have a Kanji Odysey - Smart.fm Anki deck with audio (and perhaps pictures)? Im finding the transition to Core 2000 Step 3 very non-logical and much more difficult.

Ive tried using the plug-in to make my own decks but it is giving me hundreds of dialog boxes asking me to enter any text to import or blank to skip. No matter how many times I enter text it just pops right back up.

Tried the newest version?

http://groups.google.com/group/ankisrs/b...5bee2240d5#

Herbo Wrote:Does anybody have a Kanji Odysey - Smart.fm Anki deck with audio (and perhaps pictures)? Im finding the transition to Core 2000 Step 3 very non-logical and much more difficult.

Ive tried using the plug-in to make my own decks but it is giving me hundreds of dialog boxes asking me to enter any text to import or blank to skip. No matter how many times I enter text it just pops right back up.

Go into Anki and select Tools -> iKnow - Reset Username and Language. Enter your username and language, but leave the 3rd dialog box (the "confirm" box) empty and try again.

bodhisamaya Wrote:I am half way through Core step 3 as well. I am completing that and making the transition to KO at the same time. I just split my time between the two lessons.

But, you're using iknow not anki right? I can't really just "switch" without starting a new deck I think... ideas anyone?

It seems the Japanese users are frustrated with the new smart.fm as well

http://smart.fm/users/lumin/journal/2009/3/10/141129

bodhisamaya Wrote:Thanks to you guys who created the 2001.Kanji.Odyssey and RTK lists! The RTK brainspeed is a fun way to review and doesn't feel like studying at all.

No problem! I've found them to be very useful as well. In fact, using them has made the Core lists a lot easier! The 2001ko order is much, much better.

I plan to work on more of them soon. I've been inundated with work and other issues and haven't even had time to study iKnow since the change to smart.fm. The few times I tried it was down or so slow as to be unusable. I've been using an Anki deck I created from the Core lists (thanks to that awesome plugin!) to keep up with my old stuff in the mean time, though. It's a lot nicer because I can do it anywhere on my phone, instead of only at home on my laptop. (The new smart.fm doesn't seem to work on my linux computer at all. -sigh-)

wccrawford: I'm having no issues with smart.fm in linux. Maybe try reinstalling your flash plugin. I had to do that a few months ago to get stuff for an online college class to work.

shadysaint Wrote:wccrawford: I'm having no issues with smart.fm in linux. Maybe try reinstalling your flash plugin. I had to do that a few months ago to get stuff for an online college class to work.

I should have mentioned that I'm on 64-bit Kubuntu. That makes a huge difference in compatibility for things, especially Flash.