“Yeah, try all you can, but not of you mobs will make even a tiny breach in my impregnable fortress!” After the successful construction effort, I glanced at the clock.Oh, I should probably start my project now, I thought. Fortunately, I knew just what program to use. Recreational or educational, here’s a list of my five favorite apps.

1. Steam- An online gaming platform, Steam contains hundreds of games for purchase or for free, especially those made by the awesome game developers at Valve. You can make an infinite falling portal loop (as most people probably know about), build a crazy mechanical contraption and then color it purple, construct a teleporter logistics system along with an impenetrable sentry gun emplacement, or send Mars-sized planets to destroy Earth in a cataclysmic explosion. You can also chat with your friends, trade items and send gifts with them, and make some game recommendations too.

2. Minecraft- This definitely deserves a spot on here, as it’s one of the most creative and enjoyable games to play. You can construct a giant mansion, go on a massive mining operation to drain the area of minerals, build a sniping tower, enchant a diamond sword, or go on a crusade to eliminate the Ender Dragon, the “final” boss. After all that, along with other stuff I haven’t mentioned is done, you can install certain mods and modpacks, like Feed the Beast and Flan’s Mods, to open up an entirely new world. If you can code with Java, you can make your own!

3. Calculator Apps- For those in Pre-AP Algebra who have their calculator license, there may have been several instances in which the calculator saved you from having to write long chains of numbers to solve a problem, or when it involves radicals. While a TI is superior (a crafty person can even code Pong or download Mario on it), a calculator app is easier to access and it’s free.

4. Adobe Reader- While you can’t really edit a PDF, it does eliminate the remote possibility of accidentally deleting everything on it, and it’s a little more secure. Mainly, I use it to print out these files of paper airplane parts, which when assembled together, make amazing paper airplanes in terms of aesthetics and flight quality(I might do a post on this later).

5. WolframAlpha- This app contains the answer to *almost* everything! You can solve complex math equations, look at the periodic table and social studies facts, see the chemical composition of a super complex molecule like titin, or see how atoms in everyday molecules bond together. It also is willing to admit that human stupidity is limitless (but that’s what allows us to learn, right?).

All in all, these are my top five apps. Give them a try, as they are extremely fun and useful, and I think you’ll find them the same way too.

However, there is one special type of computer with apps that no one really acknowledges as a computer, even though it keeps them alive and allows them to think. If you haven’t guessed, it is…

6. The brain and all its parts and lobes- You’re probably thinking, “This isn’t really a type of computer! Why is it here?” Well, the cerebrum is like a computer’s hard drive, CPU, and graphics card, and the cerebellum and brain stem are like the subtle programs on your computer that manages the hardware usage and processes (like involuntary body actions) and keep it from overheating and shutting off (or dying, in terms of organisms). Clicking on Netflix to watch some Star Trek is like the brain sending an impulse to some muscles so that they can move. So, be sure to thank the brain for making sure you are a living, sentient organism, and giving you the ability to write this post!