Thursday, July 19, 2012

Inactivity to Boost Productivity

An article published by Lifehacker and written by Thorin Klosowski refutes our preconceived notion that boredom, distractions and procrastination are bad. While this "Holy Trinity" in excess can have a negative impact on productivity, it helps our brain filter information better, foster creativity, and think outside the box. It is important to note that your brain and productivity are positively affected from boredom, distractions and procrastination in moderation.

When we work or study, we often have just too much information to process and a lot isn't remembered for more than a short period of time, if at all. So our brains try to adapt, you become bored as a device to sort out important, relevant information. A New York Times columnist wrote,
"Some experts say that people tune things out for good reasons, and that over time boredom becomes a tool for sorting information — an increasingly sensitive spam filter. In various fields including neuroscience and education, research suggests that falling into a numbed trance allows the brain to recast the outside world in ways that can be productive and creative at least as often as they are disruptive."
 Problems requiring insight are the most positively impacted by distraction. If you get stuck on a problem at off-peak times, clicking on random Wikipedia articles from the page relevant to your topic may help. As explained by Scientific American, 
"At off-peak times we are less focused, and may consider a broader range of information.  This wider scope gives us access to more alternatives and diverse interpretations, thus fostering innovation and insight." 

Procrastination is probably the most shunned of the "Holy Trinity", and is placed side-by-side with failure and poor performance. Very few people ever think of procrastination as a good thing for the brain or tasks. Procrastination can be great for decision making especially. Author Frank Partnoy explains his process, 
"1)Think about what the greatest amount of time you could delay before taking an action or making a decision. 2) Wait until the last possible moment in that time frame."
The time that you spent procrastinating gave your brain time to think about the problem and make decisions more effectively. If you are aware of how much time you actually need, then procrastination can give you time to develop a well-thought decision (whether it is a single problem or a paper). Partnoy adds a disclaimer,
"Some scientists have argued that there are two kinds of procrastination: active procrastination and passive procrastination. Active procrastination means you realize that you are unduly delaying mowing the lawn or cleaning your closet, but you are doing something that is more valuable instead. Passive procrastination is just sitting around on your sofa not doing anything."
Now that you think boredom, distractions and procrastination are good for you, you have to plan accordingly when you have a task at hand. Remember that the work won't get done unless you do it, and to take such breaks in moderation. Be aware of what you need to do, how long you have to do it, and how long you need to finish it. The best way utilize benefits of inactivity is to understand how long you can break without having trouble getting back to work and when you can afford to wast time. A good way to waste time is to take a walk, go to a coffee shop (while leaving your phone, computer, and headphones at home), or just take time, sit somewhere quietly and reflect on anything.




Source: "The Holy Trinity of Inactivity: How Boredom, Distraction, and Procrastination Are Vital to Healthy Living." Klosowski, Thorin.  Lifehacker.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Dust 514: A New Game or A New Precedent for Shooters.

"One Universe // One War" & "Your next shot will topple empires" are not just tag lines for CCP's Dust 514, they are features in this massively multiplayer shooter that will be connected with the ever-expanding EVE Online universe and will be free-to-play on the PS3. Interested yet?

First off, EVE Online is a MMORPG set in space, and like other titles you have numerous roles available and skill choices, but in EVE the community doesn't just partake in the universe, they Control it. And that is probably why it has one of the most active and dedicated fanbases of any MMO game. Also I said "the universe" not "the game", that's because it is entirely one universe, not copies of the game on hundreds of servers that players choose from.

Dust 514 will be in that universe; while EVE capsuleers (i.e. EVE players) trade, control, explore, and fight out in space; Dust Mercenaries will fight on some of the thousands of terrestrial planets already in the EVE universe. As a mercenary in Dust you will be able to establish corporations (i.e. guilds or clans) with other mercenaries and/or capsuleers and fight to own territories or whole planets. Maybe your corporation can't or doesn't want the hassle of overseeing control of planetary outposts, be for-hire and fight for an alliance or the highest bidder. Are you a Lone Ranger type, fight for your faction in matchmaking games, avoiding the fierce politics of player-run corporations.

Dust battles will be up to 24v24 (which could be significantly increased in the future: I'm looking for source) battles in a particular district, but multiple battles can happen simultaneously on each planet with the ability to impact each other in real time. Cross battle impact is not limited to Dust, EVE players can be called upon or contracted to perform strikes on a planetary battle, and Dust players can attack nearby EVE ships from the ground.

Dust mercenaries will experience some of the same or similar user interface as EVE. Players will use dropsuit and vehicle fitting screens to build their loadouts. The skill systems also stands out from FPS with MMO-like skill tree and, like EVE, features passive skilling, which prevents 'grinding'.Unlike EVE's passive skilling, you do earn skill points actively from performing well in-game. You also earn ISK, in-game currency, from in-game actions in which you can upgrade your dropsuit or buy vehicles, but to support development CCP offers Aurum (AUR) through the PSN store. Then it's just pay-to-win, No, no unfair advantage is gained from purchasing AUR items, but it does allow for more customization and various play styles.

Dust 514 is currently in beta and scheduled to be released later this year, free-to-play on the PS Store.

*Also to note that Dust 514 will be a product in development (e.g. patches,feature updates and add-ons) after release, and it has been said by CCP (the developer) add-ons will be free like in EVE Online.

Learn more about Dust 514 here and also register for a chance to participate in the beta.
Want to know more about the background of Dust 514 or about EVE Online itself, click here.

Sources:
Dust 514 website http://www.dust514.com/
EVE Online http://www.eveonline.com/

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The Walking Dead season 3 trailer


I can't wait!! One of my favorite tv series.

Nuclear explosion caused by Baseball?!

XKCD comic creator Randall Munroe recently started "What If?" on his site xkcd. On http://what-if.xkcd.com you can ask an hypothetical question and he will answer it with physics. The first question states "What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?"- Ellen McManis
The simple answer is a nuclear explosion, for why? click here


XKCD updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
"Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)." (xkcd.com)


Click here for more about xkcd and its author.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Hello Internet (Day 0)

Hello Internet,
I am Kevin and I'm currently a first-year student at Penn State University. I am starting a personal experiment with a goal of understanding online social interaction, how it compares with in-person social interaction and what effects both have on each other. By actively participating in a personal blog and other social media, outside of Facebook and Twitter, is how I plan to understand on a personal level. 
Also, my reason for my blogging experiment is to increase my communication skills. I am an introvert, so I became very shy and limited social interaction. Because of that, I don't have as much social confidence or skills as I would like.This is one way I am overcoming my shyness and become an overall happier person.
My future posts won't always be this boring or personal, most likely they will be about something that interests (see my profile) or intrigues me. Feel free to message me about anything, and also follow me for future posts.