july 3, 2010 STEAM sale

Here are a few games on special SALESALE today on steam

crysis + warhead  = $29.99

star wars empire at war + corruption = $4.99

saints row 2 = $7.49

Borderlands = $10.19
all 3 DLC's = $3.39 each or $10.17 for all 3

half life 2 $3.39


episode 1 and 2 are $2.71 each

prototype $14.99

psychonauts on sale for $9.99

psychonauts on sale for $9.99

link

Awards

    * E3 2006 Game Critics Awards: Best Original Game
    * GameSpot Best and Worst of 2005: Best Voice Acting, Best Graphics (Artistic), Funniest Game, Best Game No One Played, Best Platformer. Nominated for Best Story and Best Original Music. Razputin was nominated for Best New Character.
    * IGN 2005 Awards: Best Platformer, Best Game No One Played
    * Razputin was placed #2 on the Game Informer "Top 10 Heroes of 2005" list.
    * EuroGamer: Overall Game of the Year 2005
    * PSM: Buy or Die award in issue #100, #5 on Top 10 Games of 2005 list, Best Characters
    * Electronic Gaming Monthly 2005 Awards: Best Game No One Played
    * PC PowerPlay: First full 10/10 score after the magazine's switch from the 100-point scoring system to its current 10-point scoring system
    * PC Gamer magazine 2005 Awards: Best Game You Didn't Play, Editor's Choice Award
    * GameShadow Innovation in Games Awards nominee (Best Game, Innovative Visual Effects, Best Narrative)
    * G4's X-Play deemed Psychonauts the funniest game ever in their "Funniest @#%& Ever" episode and was voted #6 in the top ten games on the Xbox in the "Best of the Xbox" episode.
    * British Academy Video Games Awards 2006: Best Screenplay[26]
    * Games magazine: 2006 Electronic Game of the Year
    * 6th annual Game Developers Choice Awards: Best Writing, with Tim Schafer and Erik Wolpaw accepting

wiki link

Leaked: apple's response to the iphone 4 antenna bug

 

If you  call Apple to complain about the iphone 4 antenna bug, this is how Apple tells its call center agents to respond.

1. Keep all of the positioning statements in the BN handy – your tone when delivering this information is important.

a. The iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. Our testing shows that iPhone 4’s overall antenna performance is better than iPhone 3GS.

b. Gripping almost any mobile phone in certain places will reduce its reception. This is true of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, and many other phones we have tested. It is a fact of life in the wireless world.

c. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 3GS, avoid covering the bottom-right side with your hand.

d. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 4, avoid covering the black strip in the lower-left corner of the metal band.

e. The use of a case or Bumper that is made out of rubber or plastic may improve wireless performance by keeping your hand from directly covering these areas.

2. Do not perform warranty service. Use the positioning above for any customer questions or concerns.
3. Don’t forget YOU STILL NEED to probe and troubleshoot. If a customer calls about their reception while the phone is sitting on a table (not being held) it is not the metal band.
4. ONLY escalate if the issue exists when the phone is not held AND you cannot resolve it.
5. We ARE NOT appeasing customers with free bumpers – DON’T promise a free bumper to customers.

LINK

july 1, 2010 games on sale

gasmHere are some selected games on sale today on STEAM.

$5

$2.50

$5

$6.80

$20.09

$29.99

Although I highly suggest you NOT buy ME2 right now. Buy only the GOTY edition when it comes out which would include all DLC's

$5

Xcom Pack sale

only $3.74

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/964/

Khan academy: get an education online

Working from the comfort of his home, Salman Kahn has made available over fifteen hundred mini-lectures to educate the world. Subjects range from math and physics to finance, biology, and current economics. Kahn Academy amounts to little more than a YouTube channel and one very, very devoted man. He is trying to provide education in the way he wished he had been taught. With over 100,000 video views a day, the man is definitely making a measurable difference for many students young and old. In his FAQ he explains how he knows he is being effective. What will probably ensure his popularity (and provide a legacy surpassing that of the most highly-paid educators) is that everything is licensed under Creative Commons 3.0. He only needs his time, a $200 Camtasia Recorder, an $80 Wacom Bamboo Tablet, and a free copy of SmoothDraw3. While the lecturing may not be quite up to the Feynman level, it's a great augmenter for advanced learners, and a lifeline for those without much access to learning resources."

LINK


This looks like a nice find. A way for students to get extra free lessons to supplement what they learned in school.

Automation of health care in Tarlac

I'm a surgeon and I'm a techie. Plus I took up a medical informatics course in UP PGH so I am
 familiar with electronic health records and databases and their advantages and disadvantages. I've heard of this system before.

Just want to share a warning from my teachers and from the principle of the free market. A lot of these information systems fail, specially in 3rd world countries.  And if the patients or the end users don't like to use it, then something is seriously wrong. If something is wrong with it, it will fail, just like any business in a free market. Paper is a very very good technology so computerization must be perfect very good for it to replace paper.

Some sources of failure for information systems

• High initial cost
• High recurring costs. Like something as banal as ink or paper.
• Training problems
• Users dont realize the importance of what they are doing
• The system is designed for the convenience/needs of some other party like the health insurance companies or the top management. All involved parties must have a say. In this case, the doctors, the nurses, the interns and students, the patents and the clerks.
• The system actually uses up more time and effort than paper. This is common if the system is only partially computerized so at the interface between new and old, people still have to print or write the output of the computer to paper. Another reason is duplication or retaining of old stuff along with new stuff. For example, you are supposed to enter the data only once but for legal reasons or for compatibility with other departments, you also need a paper logbook so you enter the data a second time manually in the logbook. So sometimes it pays to wait until you can fully computerize something.

I encountered a good example almost a decade ago about the last point, duplication and increased time/effort. Hospital with old fashioned paper system. Outside agency comes in and says, ok we'll start a computerized database of  among several hospitals. Problem is, they did not send a person to type all the data, they sent the CD only with some training. Since the old paper system is in place, someone has to RECOPY the data from paper records to the system, and this takes a heck of a lot of effort.


Phil Star

“Using 3G wireless technology, timely health information can be transmitted to health care workers, decision-makers and other stakeholders, resulting in happier, healthier communities,” added Orlando Vea, chief wireless advisor of Smart.
The initial beneficiaries of the project have been the patients and health workers at the rural clinics of the municipalities of Gerona, Moncada, Paniqui and Victoria where the Wireless Access for Health Project conducted its pilot phase. I
In these clinics, patient-handling is paperless — information regarding their health complaints or condition are directly keyed into the clinic database using netbooks and PCs.
For example, when Ana Llana, 44, a full-time housewife and mother of four, arrived at the Moncada Rural Health Unit 1 complaining about dizziness last week, clinic personnel quickly retrieved her electronic health records with a few key strokes. Her file showed that she has a history of high blood pressure that started three years ago after giving birth to her youngest child.
“Sasabihin ko ang pangalan ko tapos hahanapin lang nila sa computer. Madali lang (I just give them my name and they search for my file in the computer. It’s that simple),” Llana said.

Electronic medical record

The electronic medical record is accessible through any of the clinic’s eight netbooks - two at the admission, another two at the nurse station, and one each for the doctor, dentist, laboratory and the sanitary inspector.

My Sunday steam purchase

Made a few purchases on STEAM today. Total of $28.44.