The Leaderboard // Heavy metal browsing

Hello! Welcome back to the Leaderboard. In today's edition: Break through the language-learning wall with Topics, discover your new favorite productivity killer, and your dogs will thank you for installing Lenish.

Topics: Personalized Spanish practice for intermediate learners.

Anyone who’s seriously tried to learn a language knows Duolingo can’t take you very far beyond A1, so I’m glad to see Topics is focusing on gamifying the (much trickier) intermediate stage. The app currently only supports Spanish and the free practice texts are limited, but I think the overall concept of presenting readers with narrated, level-appropriate blurbs is pretty good. But what's really missing for a lot of plateaued intermediate learners is intense speaking and writing practice — neither of which the app currently targets.

MiniTAP: A music sequencer for the web that lets you control visuals.

MiniTAP is easily one of the wildest ways I’ve ever interacted with a website. It’s a browser extension, but with a twist—it’s also a music sequencer. You can connect it to any element on a site and remix it however you want, all with your keyboard. The coolest part? There’s a live clock that syncs up with actual music. Right now, I’m adding a little Meshuggah flair to every site I visit to make my browsing a tad more metal.

Lenish: An app to track your dog's daily routine and train them.

Lenish seems like a decent tool for new dog owners. The detailed, step-by-step approach to pet care here could help ease the learning curve for new owners. That said, as someone with nearly 30 years of experience with dogs, I’ve found they aren’t typically that high maintenance. If you need a reminder to take your dog out, maybe a cat would be better suited to your lifestyle.