Dr. Claus Volko

Recently it has occurred to me that there is a special skill which few people have, but which is absolutely necessary to innovate. I remember when my father taught me math, he always reminded me that I have to "speculate", to think about various possibilities how a problem could be solved. This skill is the thing that is necessary to come up with new solutions. I believe that this skill can be trained very well in the demo scene if you watch demos and try to figure out how these effects might work. It's a different approach than just studying existing effects from books and then implementing them. Of course size optimizing (as in the hugi compos) is also a way to train this skill, as you have to work out many different algorithms and, further, tactical optimizations before finding the optimal one.

10 years ago, on May 25th, 1996, the 1st issue of Hugi was released. So we can celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Hugi Magazine today. In other words: I'm still pursuing the same hobby as I did when I was 12 :) Hugi #32 will probably be released in July 2006. Your articles are welcome.

This was in the signature of an email I've recently received from a Russian girl whom I had met when she spent her holidays in Vienna: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" Another good motto I've recently found: "Wer glaubt, etwas zu sein, hört auf, etwas zu werden." (Someone who believes that he is something, stops developing.)

If I'm not mistaken, today has been the 8256th day of my life. I was born on October 8th, 1983, which makes me 22 years old. Each year had 365 days but 6, which had 1 day more (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004). Well, and calculating the number of days that have passed since October 8th, 2005, the result is 8256. I wonder what I should do with this piece of information. Have you got any ideas?

Während meiner Schulzeit habe ich mir immer wieder Gedanken gemacht, wie man den Unterricht verbessern könnte. Im Laufe der Zeit habe ich verschiedene Lehr- und Stundenpläne angefertigt. Mit Abstand betrachtet, orientieren sich diese alle viel zu sehr am bestehenden System. Ich verfügte damals noch nicht über so viel Lebenserfahrung wie heute, kannte praktisch keinen Betrieb außer der Schule selbst, war mir nicht im Klaren, worauf es in der echten Welt ankommt, nämlich auf verschiedene Charaktereigenschaften wie Eigeninitiative, Interesse, Zielstrebigkeit und Ausdauer. Wollen wir kritisch analysieren, was am Schulsystem gut ist und was besser sein könnte. - Sprachen und Mathematik: In diesen so genannten Hauptfächern liegen meiner Meinung nach die Stärken des aktuellen Schulsystems. Ich halte es für sehr wichtig, dass die Kinder und Jugendlichen in diesen Bereichen eine gute Ausbildung bekommen, und ich glaube, das ist auch der Fall.  - Lerngegenstände: Hier stellt sich die Frage, was

From New Scientist: Can computer models replace animal testing?  13 May 2006 Celeste Biever  Magazine issue 2551 AS THE public debate rages over the use of animals in drug development, a change is taking place in labs across the world. The first realistic software models of human and animal organs are starting to emerge - potentially replacing some of the 50 to 100 million animals used each year for scientific research.  The first models of how the heart works were built decades ago (New Scientist, 20 March 1999, p 24), but they are much more sophisticated now. The models couple mechanical contractions to electrical waves in three dimensions, for instance, to show thousands of molecular interactions and connect the heart to a virtual circulatory system. Models of other organs, including the lung, musculoskeletal system, digestive system, skin, kidney, lymphatic system and brain are also under construction.  Their purpose is to observe and manipulate physiological processes to an extent

For two days I've now been wearing a kind of neck-lace, and it feels good. In addition, I'm dressing all black nowadays. I'm not a goth, but I like their way of dressing. I've thought about buying some additional jewelry. I've never experimented too much with my looks - now it's time to start.