Useful Programs in Windows

A list of awesome programs:

Diskdigger: Recover any file!

Euroglot: Multiple language dictionary.

Mathcast: Makes good formatted formulas and insert them into Word (as a pic)

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scribble: Windows Live Writer

Changed from w.Bloggar to Windows Live Writer because I couldn’t set wordpress categories in w.Bloggar. So far Windows Live Writer looks very snazzy and should do the job just fine also. I still miss an option to edit previous posts though!

scribble: MMORPG and User Generated Content

Having played WoW for a short time heres what I want to see MMORPG’s should develop more:

Social Generated Content

• An MMORPG is basically just a game with a big social element. This means players will likely want to communicate on a broader scale with each other and not just ingame. A lot of this is currently accomplished using community based fora’s, IRC, vent etc. and existing users of MMORPG’s are savvy enough to set these up. But when an MMORPG starts to appeal for the broader audience, integrating these social functions into the game helps improve the game experience for the ‘lazy’ user
• Also with rising popularity of social games like Mafia Wars or Farm Town on Facebook, it might be worth to integrate a mini game linked to the MMORPG in which users can gain XP or items for their character.  (A simple form of grinding)
• Another feature which would increase social buzz is having your avatar 3d image and stats also available off-game on a website. This way players can show and compare their highly customized characters.

Game Generated Content

• The story told in an MMORPG is of course finite until there comes a new expansion out. Other online games like RTS’s and FPS’s increase their longevity, beside bringing out expansions, by letting users create their own maps. Some of these user generated content games are so good they make it into the next version of the game. The same should be possible for an MMORPG, in the form of alternate servers where players can toy around with their own created instances. This way it doesn’t interfere with the regular game servers.

w.Bloggar

First test using w.Bloggar. I was searching for a windows wordpress application which I can use to post quick notes on interesting subjects. Usually I am too lazy to go to the wordpress site, login and write. I’ve been used too twitter apps like tweetdeck so maybe that is why I have become so lazy . Another reason is, I don’t really like typing in the wordpress editor, somehow I’m (maybe irrationally) afraid I’ll lose my text.

scribble: Human Motivation

Blogpost: When can paying people become counterproductive:

http://lsvp.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/when-can-paying-people-become-counterproductive/

TED: Science of Motivation – Daniel Pink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y&feature=channel_page

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In short:  Motivation can be internal (sense of purpose,  meaningful) or external (monetary etc.) however  internal motivation works better for tasks where goals, rules, paths and more parameters are fuzzy or not known while external motivation works best when the tasks are simple and clear beforehand.

scribble: LHC presentation

Awesome and easy to understand presentation on the LHC (background and working) by Dr. Shulamit Moed. I mean bringing together beer, science and killer legs beats, hands down, every presentation I’ve ever attended.

http://vimeo.com/5452133/

For the ladies theres rock star scientist Brian Cox:

http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_cox_on_cern_s_supercollider.html

Internet: Information free and payed

Also what I noticed while watching the movie Resolved 2007 was that lots of debaters accessed databases of journals etc. which require subscription fee like EBSCO, Project Muse, Lexis-Nexis etc. to acquire solid material for debate.  Which reminded me of my own search of material at home. Usually I do search information at a PC on my university this grants me (unknowingly) access to most databases of journals the university is subscribed too.  But when I do some late night searching on my home PC, I stumble upon not accessible papers even via Google but more via specialist databases of journals.

I am still not sure if this divide in free and paid knowledge is appropriate for the internet.  I am leaning  towards initatives like arXiv which is based on the open acces movement .

Debating Forms, my 2 cents

I remember participating in a debate where I had to take a position I knew (and everybody else with common sense would know) was wrong.  However setting aside that notion, I started a decent research and armed myself with an abundance of facts and counter-facts. That combined with some slew side stepping of points I couldn’t win and some humor/ridicule I was able to win.  I did feel a little dirty afterwards but also knew that if the opponent had done a little more research and had been a little bit sharper I would have lost. Heres some more debating techniques: http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-propaganda.html

The reason I remembered it was after watching the docu/movie Resolved 2007

In that movie they describe 2 different types of debating

• The classical almost clinical chessform type with clear affirmatives and negatives.  The goal is to win which is determined by amount and strength of arguments/counter arguments.
• The ‘identity-purpose-method’ type or I’d like to call it the pursuit of a solution.  The goal is to learn by understanding the problem and try to solve it using back and forth arguments for both.

In my opinion the first one is suitable for when you are bound to a time frame and you know the question is small enough to resolve within that timeframe. The second one is applicable to larger questions which aren’t that obvious to resolve at glance and require deeper investigation. This will require more time and is less suitable for a timed competition. Basically I see the types as different algorithms to solve a certain question/resolution both provide a good output provided they are used on the right question/resolution.

On a side note, I still find the fast debating style in competitions utterly ridiculous. If we acknowledge that it is a sport and the winner is not always right then it wouldn’t hurt to bring some eloquence and charm back to bring in more spectators.

Procrastination

I had to smile when I saw this, very recognizable.

From www.exocomics.com

Self-Concept and Perception of Others

How do others perceive yourself?
Most likely the image they got is quite different from how you think of yourself to be perceived.