Month: June 2009

History of the world through a game

We had a few discussions about Civilization IV game today in the office.  I wasn’t paying much attention as I am not a big fan of strategy games, especially turn-based strategy games.  But at some point I was looking at this technology research tree diagram (click for full-sized version, source).

Civilization IV technology tree
Civilization IV technology tree

And I couldn’t help to get impressed on how far the world has come in terms of research.  And also how much was actually discovered in the last few decades.

Yes, I know, not everything on that diagram is a technology, and not everything was actually researched.  But, on the other hand, there are many technologies which were researched and worked on, and they aren’t on that tree diagram.

A diagram like this provides a perspective on how much people knew back in the early days and how much more complex (not necessarily complicated) the modern world is.  Of course, when playing such a game against a few opponents, the perspective becomes even more realistic – the more stuff you have researched, the more you can do and more powerful is your nation.

If only now we could incorporate these games with history classes somehow …

Technology helping criminals

The Next Web reports that a Dutch insurance company is warning its clients to not blog or Twitter their vacations.

According to the company criminals are using social networking tools to find possible victims. In the past, these criminals used to check mailboxes (full mailbox = probably away for the week) which houses they could break into. Now they use digital means to find their victims.

While I understand the concern, I don’t agree with it.  Technology is a just a tool, making people more efficient at certain things.  If you don’t blog or Twitter your vacation plans, there’s still a billion ways to find out about them.

Criminals have been doing their stuff for years.  And if they don’t mind digging through the social networks and geo-locating your house, they definitely don’t mind talking to your neighbours, colleagues, and family, calling your home and mobile phones, monitoring your entrance door, and whatever else it takes to break-in and steal stuff from you.

Does the technology make it easier for them? Maybe for some and not for the other.  But regardless, if you want to let your friends and family know that you won’t be available in the next few days, because you are going on vacations, I think you should.  If you think that your blog, Twitter, or any other social network is the appropriate tool for that, then use it.

I’m all for keeping it safe and all, but I’d hate to live with constant fear of becoming a victim.  Stuff happens, and often we don’t have control over it.  But it’s not a good enough reason to lock ourselves in the basement.

Are you a WordPress geek?

Weblog Tools Collection lists a few things to check for whether you are a WordPress geek.  Here is the list with bold items indicating the ones that are true for me.

  1. When the first thing you do at a new blog is scroll down to see who did the theme.
  2. When you mention Dexter Gordon, you have to qualify that he is a saxophonist and not the WordPress release.
  3. More than one of your Twitter saved searches includes the word “wordpress”. (I don’t use saved searches, but if I was, I would have a few about wordpress for sure).
  4. You read Weblog Tools Collection daily and have withdrawal when we do not have a release post.
  5. You visit a well known publisher and can instantly recognize the permalinks as created by WordPress. Heck, if you know what a permalink is.
  6. If all your vacations are to WordCamps. (Not all, no, but I once was at Greek Blogger Camp, which was practically the same thing).
  7. If the word “dashboard” reminds you of the WordPress admin panel.
  8. If you have multiple Google Alerts setup with the word “WordPress” in it. (I used to have it for some time, but now it’s just way too much to handle for me).
  9. If your toddler has a “W” t shirt. (My toddler grew up faster than I ordered one).
  10. If your browser homepage is set to the WordPress Planet.  (No, I don’t have it as a homepage, however I am subscribed to RSS and read through all posts. And I mark this one bold for actually having of my blogs on WordPress Planet)
  11. If you bitch when Matt writes about the Kindle and not about WordPress. (No, I don’t bitch, but I definitely prefer WordPress posts).
  12. If you have tried to convert your day job’s website to WordPress. (Yes, I did. Heck, I even had a couple of day jobs around WordPress)
  13. If you know of Kubrick but do not know who he was. (I know the Kubrick theme and who Kubrick was, but only because I am into movies)
  14. If you spend more time on WordPress Extend looking for plugins and themes than writing posts.
  15. If you have ever met Matt and had a picture taken with him. (Here it is)
  16. If you know what Akismet is. (Who doesn’t?)
  17. If you met most of your friends because of WordPress. (All? No, I’m much older than WordPress. But I met a few, yes.)
  18. If you make your living from WordPress. (Not any more, but I had a period like this in my life)
  19. If your significant other complains that WordPress gets more attention. (Not any more, but I had a period like this in my life)
  20. If you have ever suggested WordPress to others. (Suggested?  I basically push it down their throats.  Every time.)

This can go on forever, indeed.  Have you ever developed a WordPress plugin?  How about a theme?  A widget?  Have you used WordPress for a non-blog web site?  Have you ever used WordPress Mu? Blah blah blah.

And how about you?  Are you a WordPress geek?

Is it OK to take pictures in public places?

Google Blogoscoped asks the question:

If your country’s police were to drive around town with cam-equipped cars, automatically taking photos of all public spaces, would you mind? If so, why? If not, why not?

I guess that has something to do with their earlier posts on issues related to Google Street View (one, two, three, four, etc).

I think that public places should be open for non-commercial photography, whether that is by police, mass media, amateur photographers, aliens, terrorists, or anyone else.

When I was in London earlier this year, I was at first shocked by the number of CCTV cameras.  It seems like every square meter is covered from several cameras at once.  And it wasn’t very welcoming.  However, less than a day later I simply got used to them.  I couldn’t even see them no more.  That hopefully illustrates the extent to which I don’t care.

What about you?

Gravatar – your face on the web

Gravatar

If you still haven’t heard of, or haven’t made yourself one Gravatar – you are missing out.  Gravatar is a globally recognized avatar.  And avatar is the little picture that shows up on all those blogs and forums that you comment on.

The thing is that you can get bored of uploading your picture to each forum and blog that you want to participate in.   What  you can do instead – is create yourself a Gravatar account and upload your picture there.

How does it work?  Very simple.  When you create your Gravatar account, you specify your email address (don’t worry, they won’t sign you up for tonnes of SPAM).  After that, when you comment at someone’s blog and you specify your email address in that comment form, you’ll have your Gravatar picture displayed by your comment once submitted.  Provided three things are true:

  1. You use the same email address in the comment form as the one you specified in your Gravatar account.  Because that’s how the blog will find your picture – by your email address.
  2. The blog or forum that you are commenting at utilizes the Gravatar service.  Of course, every blog and forum is free to choose their own avatar source, but more and more blogs are supporting Gravatar.  That has something to do with WordPress being one of the most popular blogging applications out there, and Automattic, the company behind WordPress, buying Gravatar service and integrating its support into WordPress out of the box some time ago.
  3. The picture that you have uploaded satisfies the age rating that the blog or forum requires.  People are free to upload all sorts of inappropriate images to their Gravatar accounts.  And that’s not what blog owners want to have displayed at their sites often.  So, there is a rating system which is used to specify how appropriate is your picture.

As for the picture itself, I suggest to use your own photo.  This makes your Gravatar unique – nobody will ever pick your picture for their Gravatar unless you are a celebrity or someone is madly in love with you.  And you’ll also recognize your own picture much faster when scrolling through a long discussion which you participated in.

The cool things about Gravatar are:

  • it’s free
  • it supports multiple email addresses (so if you have several identities on the web, you can manage them all from the same Gravatar account)
  • it verifies your email address to make sure it’s you and not somebody else
  • it’s integrated with WordPress out of the box and available as plugin for many other content management systems

What else are you waiting for?  Go get it!