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Learn How To Write Programs In Java With Greenfoot

Posted on 13 June 2011. Tags: Greenfoot, Java, Learn, Programs, Write

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/greenfoot_intro.jpg"/>If you use your computer at a higher level, you may have wondered exactly how programs are written and what happens while you write certain code. However, to get a good base with quick visual results after only a little fiddling around is very hard if you start from scratch. Even if you do start from scratch, some href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/programming/">programming languages make it harder to start getting visual results than others (aside from the very downright basics).

However, href="http://www.greenfoot.org">Greenfoot takes care of this problem by providing a developing platform, meant for educational purposes, where users can quickly get started and get visual results back in the form of graphics.

Greenfoot runs and uses href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/java/">Java for its programming language, which runs on virtually every operating system without having to re-compile for each operating system.

As I said, Greenfoot is meant to be used in educational environments, though anyone can use it to learn about the language at their own pace. I myself got introduced to the program in my Computer Science course, and so far I’ve learned a lot by using Greenfoot. Note that this program does not actually teach you Java, but instead allows you to easily change the code yourself and see what happens when you do so. Documentation is, of course, provided.

Download and Install

To get started, head to their website and download a copy for your operating system. For the first three options, you should be able to install it as you would install any other program. If you had to choose the “other systems” option, you’ll have to install it by launching the .jar file as an executable. If you run href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/linux">Linux, make sure it has executable rights, then put java -jar /path/to/file into your terminal and hit enter. If you use a form of BSD-UNIX, such as FreeBSD, the previous command may not work, so please check what command works for you. Once the installer launches, install to wherever you like, and then launch the executable file in the new folder to run Greenfoot.

Getting Started

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/greenfoot_welcome.jpg" alt="" width="566" height="425" />

When you start Greenfoot, you’ll be greeted by a welcome dialog. If you’ve never used Greenfoot before, I suggest you choose the tutorial scenario. Your browser will then open the tutorial and Greenfoot will launch the tutorial scenario, named “Wombats”.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/greenfoot_scenario.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="411" />

Features

From there, you can left click on the classes in the right pane and choose whether to add them to the world (by selecting the option and then selecting the cell to put the object into), or whether to open and edit the source code. The code editor carries a couple nice features, including “go to line number”, a location finder on the right side, and background colors to determine which chunks of code go together.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/greenfoot_editor.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="377" />

When you feel ready to try it out, add some objects to the world and hit “Run”. You’ll see how your objects behave and learn from the code that makes those objects behave in that way. Note that the tutorial scenario will work out-of-the-box, and adjustments to the provided code are not necessary to get it working.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/greenfoot_running.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="412" />

Getting Help

You can also get help from the community or look at other scenarios at the href="http://greenfootgallery.org/">Greenfoot Gallery. If you try out Greenfoot, I highly advise that you visit the website as well to get a better understanding of what Greenfoot is capable of.

Conclusion

That’s all there is! The rest is up to your imagination, and what you wish to do with it. Remember that you can get help at the Greenfoot Gallery, and definitely check out the documentation for what methods (a series of commands in code that can be called with a simple statement) in the tutorial scenario do and what the provided Greenfoot methods can add. If you need inspiration, check out the Gallery. Some of the projects on there have the source code ready for you to download and study, which is another great technique for learning Java.

How interested are you in learning to write programs? Do you think Greenfoot is a great way to get started? Will you use it to get introduced to Java? Let us know in the comments! />
/>Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learn-write-programs-java-greenfoot/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/coding/" title="coding" rel="tag">coding, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cross-platform/" title="cross platform" rel="tag">cross platform, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/education/" title="education" rel="tag">education, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/programmer-tools/" title="programmer tools" rel="tag">programmer tools, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/programming/" title="programming" rel="tag">programming, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/wysiwyg-editors/" title="WYSIWYG editors" rel="tag">WYSIWYG editors />

4 Online Self-Publishers To Help With That Book You Said You’d Write

Posted on 24 December 2010. Tags: book, Help, Online, Said, SelfPublishers, Write, You’d

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Blurb-300.png" alt="print on demand publishers" width="242" height="202" />Did you just promise yourself you’d write a book? Many of us class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-online-tools-to-help-you-keep-your-new-year-resolutions">make resolutions at this time of the year to finally start writing a novel or a picture book for children. If you’re one of the many, you’re probably not expecting a book deal. Rather, you’re just looking to get it written and put it out there for those who are interested in reading it.

If this is you, then a print-on-demand publisher is exactly what you’re looking for. You don’t need to spend much (or any) money upfront – all you really do is publicise your book and the buyers can get one made when they want it. Meanwhile, you could be making a small amount or a large amount in passive income and it hasn’t cost you much except your time spent writing. Sounds good?

id="more-61318"> /> Choosing your print-on-demand (POD) book publisher is another thing entirely. In the end, it comes down to your needs and your particular book. For instance, some publishers are better at printing novels or photography books than others. Some will give you better royalties, while others will do a better job of helping you with promotion. To help you choose, here’s a list of four of the best online print-on-demand book publishers and a few of their key features.

1. class="vt-p" href="http://www.lulu.com/">Lulu

Lulu is one of the larger publishers and will happily cater for many types of books. You can easily publish a novel, a cookbook, or simply create a photo book for your family. They have the ability to publish and sell eBooks on your behalf and claim to have the largest distribution channels of all online publishers. Useful free services include consultations, while paid services offered include cover design, ISBN purchasing and distribution. If you choose to sell in the Lulu Marketplace without an ISBN, your upfront costs are negligible.

You can also set your profits by choosing your own royalties and Lulu makes its money by taking a small cut from your sales. Lulu pays royalties via Paypal or cheque. Read more about class="vt-p" href="../tag/how-to-publish-your-own-book-in-print-cheaply/">publishing with Lulu here.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Lulu.png" alt="print on demand publishers" />

2. class="vt-p" href="http://www.blurb.com/">Blurb

Blurb is well known for its full colour photography-based books, however it also offers a couple of black and white text novel options. You can either use their online software to prepare a book or you can upload a pre-prepared PDF. Whichever option you choose, there’s no upfront costs.

When you sell the book, Blurb takes a small fee. Plus, you can set your own prices and thereby choose your own profit margin. Blurb offers payments through PayPal.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Blurb.png" alt="print on demand" />

3. class="vt-p" href="http://www.wordclay.com/">Wordclay

Wordclay offers a basic DIY publishing service which is free for publishers. If you wish to pay a modest fee, services such as editing, ISBNs and distribution are available to you as well.

Again, you can choose your own royalty and Wordclay takes a cut from your sales. Wordclay sends US cheques.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Wordclay.jpg" alt="print on demand" />

4. class="vt-p" href="https://www.createspace.com/">CreateSpace (aka Booksurge)

CreateSpace offers a DIY “no fees upfront” royalty-based publishing option to complement their regular publishing offers. They are actually part of the Amazon group of companies, so there’s no extra fees involved to distribute your book through Amazon. ISBNs can be obtained for free via CreateSpace.

CreateSpace also claim to offer the best royalties in the business — plus they allow you to choose your own royalty. Royalties can be paid by US cheque or to a US bank account.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CreateSpace2.png" alt="print on demand publishers" />

Words of Advice

When choosing your publisher, make sure you research well and ensure it’s a good fit for you before you commit your time and money or sign any agreements. Companies such as these do have the occasional unhappy customer but it’s not the norm. Here’s a few important things to look out for:

For non-US citizens, remember that different companies have different tax witholding requirements and that the cheque fees and your ability to deposit US cheques may de-value your earnings somewhat.
Having your book formally listed with an ISBN will often require you to ensure the quality of your book. This may require you to purchase a copy of your book each and every time you make a change (this can include price or directory changes). If you sign up for an ISBN, read the fine print, be prepared to purchase if required and don’t make changes to your book after this unless it’s very important.
No-frills DIY publishers will endeavour to make money from added extras such as cover art, editing and ISBNs. If you want to use these services, ensure you compare the prices between publishers and the cost of doing it yourself.

More about Self-Publishing and Writing

You might also like these articles on publishing and creating books:

class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-actually-make-money-selling-ebooks/"> How to Actually Make Money Selling eBooks
class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/365-days-online-groups-photographer/"> Become A Better Photographer with Online 365 Days Groups
class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/nanowrimo-org-write-a-novel-in-30-days/"> NaNoWriMo.org – Write a Novel In 30 Days!

If you’ve written your own book and have self-published, let us know about your experiences with the publishers. Who did you choose and why? Were there any unforseen problems? Were you happy with the book quality? Let us know in the comments! />
/> Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on href="http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/">MakeUseOf Answers!

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6 Tools That Allow You To Write Longer Twitter Tweets

Posted on 17 December 2010. Tags: Allow, Longer, Tools, Tweets, Twitter, Write

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/twittercorner1.jpg" border="0" alt="longer tweets on twitter" width="200" height="196" />I’ve always liked Twitter’s 140 character limitation because it challenges my message to be more direct and succinct, but there are occasions when you simply need a paragraph or two to express what you really need to say. Try for example debating a controversial issue in 140 characters and you might well lose an argument.

So for those times when you want to stay within the Twitterverse without posting a dozen tweets, there are several options available to do just that. Here are 6 possibilities you should check out, which allow you to write longer Tweets on Twitter.

id="more-60847">

class="vt-p" href="http://www.twitlonger.com/index.php/main_new">TwitLonger

Topsy’s TwitLonger.com is the site I use via the Twitter desktop client, Tweetie, when I need to get beyond 140 characters.

When you go over the character limit, a pop-up message asks if you want to post your “too long” tweet to TwitLonger.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tweetie.png" border="0" alt="longer tweets on twitter" width="420" height="132" />

You can also of course write a longer tweet directly on the TwitLonger site, signing in with your existing Twitter account.

The site points out that your Twitter privacy settings are not reflected in Twitlonger, but it does recommend that you not use its services for sending direct messages.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/twitlonger.png" border="0" alt="long tweet" width="504" height="138" />

There are several Twitter-related web and mobile applications that support TwitLonger, including TweetList, Twizzle (iPhone/iPod Touch), Twitepad (iPad), and Touiteur (Android).

class="vt-p" href="http://www.jumbotweet.com/users">JumboTweet

JumboTweet is an easy to use web client for longer Twitter messages. As with TwitLonger, you simply log into the site using your current Twitter credentials. You can write as much text as you like, and a link to your extended text will be included in your tweet.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Screen-shot-2010-12-08-at-11.53.31-AM.png" border="0" alt="long tweet" width="557" height="309" />

class="vt-p" href="http://www.eztweets.com/">ezTweets

When 140 characters is not enough, eztweets is also a web client for longer tweets, but it has an added feature of allowing you to post your tweets to your Facebook account as well as to Twitter.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/eztweets.png" border="0" alt="eztweets.png" width="479" height="220" />

ezTweets will take your longer tweets and split them into two parts.

class="vt-p" href="http://tinypaste.com/">TinyPaste

Okay, say you want to post a longer tweet that includes a list of technical instructions, or you want to highlight a long quote from a webpage. You might consider using TinyPaste for this purpose.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tinypaste-1.png" border="0" alt="longer tweets" width="580" height="340" />

With TinyPaste, you write your text, and format it the way you want. After you click the Submit button, you will get a URL link to your post that you can paste in your tweet. So essentially, TinyPaste is like writing longer text in your email or blog.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tinypaste.png" border="0" alt="longer tweets" width="580" height="86" />

You can also password protect your linked post for say sending a direct private message to your Twitter contact. And on top of that, you can even have your extended post deleted after a specified amount of time.

TinyPaste also provides a bookmarklet and Firefox extension for quickly copying and pasting highlighted text on a webpage.

class="vt-p" href="http://xltweet.com/">XLTweet

XLTweet is similar to TinyPaste but with less options. You can write longer posts in HTML format.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/xltweet.png" border="0" alt="longer tweets" width="580" height="407" />

The service will tweet the first 120 characters in your Twitter timeline and add a bit.ly short URL to link to the rest of the post. Your XLTweets will be automatically marked as “favorites” so you can readily find them.

class="vt-p" href="http://tinychat.com/">Tinychat

Now if you find that you want to turn your longer tweets into an extended conversation, you might consider using Tinychat. This site provides users with the choice of creating disposable or permanent video conference rooms.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tinychat.png" border="0" alt="longer tweets on twitter" width="450" height="264" />

If you want to have just a private two-way video call, use class="vt-p" href="http://p2p.tinychat.com/">p2p.tinychat.com. This service requires no signup or application installation. Just direct message the specified URL to your contact and you can easily talk well beyond 140 characters.

The extended tweet services like the ones listed above are very useful if you’re not maintaining a blog site for your extended messages, or if you don’t want to use email to send longer messages to contacts.

If you’re looking for additional tricks and tips for using Twitter, check out the class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-guide-twitter">MUO Guide to Twitter. As always, let us know if there is a favorite service you use for extended tweets.

Image Credit: class="vt-p" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/results.mhtml#photo_id=64914469&src=8d18c3fb2f3937046213eaed838b0ef7-1-6">Shuttertock />
/>NEW: href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/makeuseof/id366921965?mt=8" target="_blank">Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!

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5 Quick & Simple Ways To Write Your Life Logs With These Minimalist Online Journals

Posted on 14 December 2010. Tags: Journals, Life, Logs, Minimalist, Online, Quick, Simple, these, WAYS, Write

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Shutterstock-Diary.jpg" alt="free online journals" width="250" height="167" />In the digital world, the difference between a journal, a diary, and a blog is fuzzy. A blog is meant to be shared with those around you. An online or offline journal is more personal. You can of course, remove the padlock and share it with the world but I guess most would like to keep it closer to the chest. My two penny opinion says that the difference mainly boils down to the degree of laziness. A blog needs more upkeep; an online personal journal can be used to record random and disjointed thoughts. But let’s look at it this way, the web gives us so many ways to connect with others and also with ourselves.

Writing a journal is like having a conversation with one’s own self. Treat a journal like a ‘digital wall’ to vent your feelings on or just use it as a ‘digital cupboard’ to store memories. In both cases, a journal is a priceless companion. Here are seven free online journals for your thoughts.

id="more-60604">

class="vt-p" href="http://ohlife.com/b">OhLife

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Journal01.jpg" alt="free online journals" width="580" height="393" />

OhLife makes journal keeping dead easy by not asking you to come to their site every day. It simply sends you an email every night at 8pm asking you about your day. From the comfort of your inbox, you can type in your thoughts and send it forth like a regular email. That’s it! The easy-to-use and easy-to-keep philosophy tries to promote the habit of journal writing by dressing it up as an email activity.

You can choose to go to the site and read all your past entries when you feel like it. The posts get listed in chronological order and when it’s time for nostalgia, you can read them out to yourself.

I really like the minimalism of this free online journal and the ease with which I can keep up the journaling habit by not forcing myself to visit one more site at the end of a tiring day.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.memiary.com/">Memiary

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Journal02.jpg" alt="online journal" width="580" height="511" />

Memiary will make you believe that if you have had five interesting experiences the whole day, it has been a day worth recording for keeps. Memiary calls itself the weightless pocket diary. It is really that as all you have to is sign up and put down five thoughts for each day. You can even do it on the go if you have an iPhone. The five points a day really add up and you can keep them organized with tags (just add a #before any word and it turns into a tag).

It takes just about ten seconds to jot down five thoughts and the tag organization should really help when you add up all the memories. (See class="vt-p" href="http://makeuseof.com/dir/memiary-online-diiary-keeping/">Directory mention)

class="vt-p" href="https://secure.motodiaryapp.com/">MotoDiary

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Journal03.jpg" alt="online journal" width="580" height="326" />

MotoDiary is another simple journaling tool without any frills. It uses some HTML5 features for storage so it’s still not compatible with Firefox. It runs on Chrome, Safari, and IE. As you can see from the screenshot above, the interface is only about your words. MotoDiary is a highly secure application. The FAQ says that the encrypted key is stored locally and not sent to the server. The app auto-saves entries to the hard disk and uploads it to the server when online.

MotoDiary displays the potential of HTML5 in a utilitarian interface. (See class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/motodiary-secure-online-journal/">Directory mention)

class="vt-p" href="https://tweetprivate.com/">TweetPrivate

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Journal04.jpg" alt="online journal" width="580" height="462" />

Some people consider Twitter to be the closest thing to an instant free online journal. Why not? Twitter has become the medium for channeling all your rants and raves. TweetPrivate takes your Twitter habit and turns it inside out. Log in with your Twitter account, log your thoughts in 140 characters or less, but instead of tweeting it out, store it here and keep it private. These tweets can include pictures too. Later, you might choose to release these tweets and post them to Twitter’s public stream. By using TweetPrivate as your personal diary, you can archive your tweets and search them by date.

TweetPrivate is a cool application if you have fallen prey to Twitter (or SMS) and evolved into using only 140 characters or less.

class="vt-p" href="https://penzu.com/">Penzu

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Journal05.jpg" alt="free online journals" width="580" height="425" />

Penzu comes with a few decorative features like an interface which resembles a lined notebook. The free account is limited but it serves its purpose adequately if you are not too into customization and tools. The free account gives you basic encryption with a password, photo uploads, plus sharing options with email and link. You can set up a notification to remind you to write every day.

The Penzu Pro account with all its features is appealing, but the free account is a quick fire journal tool that keeps things simple. You might grow to like the notebook style pages (see class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/penzu-journal-online/">Directory mention).

If you are looking for customization and editing options, then you will be disappointed with these apps. For that I will always recommend class="vt-p" href="http://www.livejournal.com/">Live Journal. But I believe when it comes to journaling or keeping an online class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/tag/diary/">diary, it’s best to start simple, keep it about the words and move on. For the making of a habit, these five online journal apps serve as a minimalist starting point. Your thoughts?

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Use Diigo To Help Write Your Next College Essay or Term Paper

Posted on 28 August 2010. Tags: College, Diigo, Essay, Help, Next, Paper, Term, Write

style="border: 0px none;margin-left:20px;float:right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/iStock_000000743931XSmall-copy.jpg" alt="how to write a college essay"/>We have already class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-reasons-diigo-tastes-better-than-delicious/">covered why Diigo, a web bookmarking and annotation service, is a powerful tool for managing bookmarks, but why stop there? class="vt-p" href="http://www.diigo.com">Diigo can be a very useful tool for helping you to write a college essay or research paper.

Since the Internet is a tool that most students use to do research, and since most research papers are based on quotes used from various sources, Diigo provides a way to not only bookmark your sources, but also to manage and access your quotes, notes, and analysis.

The following are some suggested guidelines for using Diigo.

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Step 1: Determine Your Thesis

The best way to do research is know what your thesis is for a given topic. So if you’re writing a controversial issue paper on gun laws or gun control in the U.S., you will want to develop your opinion about a particular aspect of the issue.

Having a thesis in mind can help you narrow research, even if you change your thesis during the process.

Step 2: Using Diigo Tools

Before the Internet and Google, research papers were done using reading material in the library and note cards for recording and managing quotes and analysis. The content of the note cards were in turn used to write the paper. Diigo’s highlighting tools and your Diigo library can serve as your note cards.

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Before you start doing research using Internet resources, open your Diigo account/library and create a list for your topic. This list will be used to manage all your bookmarks and highlights. This management tool will save you lots of time and provide you with a way to access your research from any computer.

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If you have never used Diigo before, you will want to open a free account and install the Diigo bookmarklet, or class="vt-p" href="http://www.diigo.com/tools/diigolet">diigolet, in your favorite web browser (click on the Tools icon on the class="vt-p" href="http://www.diigo.com/index">Diigo homepage to get instructions for setting up a bookmarklet for the browser you use).

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Using the Diigo toolbar, you can easily bookmark and annotate sources just as you do with paper documents.

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You might consider color coding your highlights, e.g., yellow for quotes that support your thesis, and green for quotes that are against your thesis.

Step 3: Using Your Highlights & Notes

As you do your research using Diigo, you will of course find all your bookmarks, highlights, and notes saved to your Diigo library and list page. Your list page even has a permanent URL, which means you can access it directly.

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With your page open, you can simply copy and paste your quotes as you write your paper. Since the URLs for your sources are also saved, they can be easily put into the bibliography in your research paper.

If you’re working on a group research project, Diigo can be used for the same purpose. Simply create a group for which everyone can bookmark sources to.

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If you are a student, let us know if this is a good idea for doing Internet-based research. Also please share other online tools that you use to get papers written. />
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Web Browser Spell Checker – Write Properly !

Posted on 29 July 2010. Tags: Browser, Checker, Properly, Spell, Write

Writing english is not an easy proposition for the majority of people – could a unique spell checker be the answer to the constant struggle? Trust your favorite authors who would agree that writing is and will remain likely the most meaningful of all ways in which we share information. It’s well worth your while to spend a moment or two on this report; i’m confident that you’ll find it of great benefit to you.

Click here for a unique spell checker!

Writing letters or emails which are full of misspellings or misused words can be a real embarrassment. When i was looking for a method to help me to improve my english, there was something that caught my eyes. Struggling writers will be pleased to learn that someone has wrote a code which can break down and reassemble all sorts of writing, by developing an advanced language processing mechanism. The answer to many woes, this program can locate and remove possible problem areas in Legal notes, reports, documents – all of your writing projects. This kind of solution can be quite effective if you’re dealing with a high word count or special documents that call for on-the-spot and effective proofreading.

No doubt that the day is not far off when everyone will have one of these applications part of an essential software bundle. In addition to finding and – yes – fixing any faults in grammar, spelling, and punctuation, it will also allow you to take your writing skills to a new level. As this technology was created to support any text-based application, it’s equipped to function on any Type of pc with windows installed. I’ll go so far as to say that it has the added bonus of making the writing process not just painless – it will actually be something you’ll enjoy.

To give you a bit of background, a unique spell checker gets its “brains” from advanced Knowledge gained in the field of natural language processing. For english writing you can be proud of, you have to be able to fix whatever problems there might be and, just as crucial, find a way to avoid them in the future. As technology keeps advancing rapidly, I wonder where it will take this artificial intelligence in the generations to come. As soon as you’re done reading, I suggest that you give this tool a try; you can be up and running in almost no time, actually just moments! These days investigating and trying out new ways of doing things has become something we can easily take advantage of courtesy of the world wide web.

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Read and write ntfs on Mac OS X

Posted on 14 July 2010. Tags: Ntfs, Read, Write

Make that windows Partition on you mac writable ,not just readable. Windows Partition and Mac Partition code.google.com FUSE-Core-10.5-1.5.1.dmg macntfs-3g.blogspot.com Download NTFS-3G 1.2216 [stable] for more info : reviews.cnet.com www.lifehack.org

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Can’t write to external hard drive on mac? 2 solutions…

Posted on 13 July 2010. Tags: Can't, Drive, External, Hard, Solutions, Write

READ ME!!! Many new mac users find they are unable to write to their external hard drive when they first start using their computer. There are 2 solutions to this problem: Either reformat the drive or purchase software below. I go through both options in this video. NTFS for MAC OS X software: www.paragon-software.com Enjoy! Feedback encouraged.

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CNET TV Insider Secrets: Read and write NTFS in OS X

Posted on 09 July 2010. Tags: Cnet, Insider, Ntfs, Read, Secrets, Write

read and write files on mac OS X

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How to Delete a Write Protected File or Undeletable Files or Virus

Posted on 03 February 2010. Tags: DELETE, File, Files, Protected, Undeletable, Virus, Write

How to Delete a Write Protected File or Undeletable Files or Virus in command prompt by Britec Virus, Spyware, Malware and Trojans all use write protected files, which make them hard to delete, use this way to delete hard to delete files. Free Program Unlocker Download: www.briteccomputers.co.uk ———————– www.britec.org.uk http

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6 Top Reference Sites to Write a Winning Research Paper

Posted on 27 January 2010. Tags: Paper, Reference, Research, Sites, Winning, Write

write a research publication To write a successful research paper, you should provide thorough information and tie it together into a conclusive story. While obtaining conclusive information tends to be rather difficult in itself, writing a convincing manuscript appears to be an even bigger hurdle. So what is the problem?

It seems that many authors don’t realize that a good research manuscript requires more than consistent and complete data. The central challenge of everything you ever write is to capture the reader’s interest and convincingly tell your story. In other words, you must understand your audience, what they expect, what they already know or where you need to fill them in. When writing a research manuscript, however, you must also follow a standard structure and apply the principles of scientific writing.

The following sites explain how to write a research paper. They reveal the rules of scientific writing, give practical examples, and guide you through the entire process of preparing a successful research manuscript. Best of luck!

Overview

How to Write a Research Paper

This wikiHow page summarizes the single steps of how to write a research paper in a broad overview.

Your greatest obstacle may be that you’re feeling overwhelmed, which may result in never getting started. What you need to do is break up the project in small, managable steps. For a research paper that would be to decide on a topic, do your research, scan the material, formulate your thesis statement, write the paper, and finally format and proofread the manuscript.

how to write a research paper

All of these steps are equally important and difficult. The overview given at wikiHow is very general. Depending on what type of research paper you’re going to write, you may need more details and help. Pick your category below.

Students

A+ Research & Writing

This is a guide for high school and college students. It provides details, outside links, and a lot of background information for each step of writing a thesis.

In case you weren’t assigned a topic, you will find the chapter on Discovering and Choosing a Topic very helpful. The articles on Info Search, e.g. Learning to Research on the Web or Skills for Online Searching will aid you in finding information.

how to write a research paper

For students, this information should be sufficient. However, some of the advanced links, for example the Guidelines on Style, could answer further questions.

With all of its additional article, for example on citing sources, the above site is packed with information. If you can’t be bothered with reading that much, try the following reference site.

Infoplease Homework Center: How to Write a Research Paper

The article at Infoplease divides the process of writing a research paper into nine single steps. Each chapter contains further steps with straightforward instructions and clear examples. A wiki style menu makes it easy to jump back and forth between chapters.

how to write a research paper

In respect to formatting their work, students are relatively free. There may be guidelines, but they are hardly as specific or strict as those of professional journals or publishers.

Advanced

Working in academia, it’s necessary to regularly report about new findings, i.e. publish results. To be published, the manuscript must be submitted to a journal, be approved by the editor, pass through a peer-review process, eventually also through a revision, and finally be accepted by the editor. This process can be accelerated by submitting a well written manuscript. To be admitted into the review process it may even be more important to adhere exactly to the journal’s instructions to authors, which cover details about formatting, length of manuscript, accepted image files etc.

How to Write a Paper in Scientific Journal Style and Format

Bates College has published an incredibly thorough guide to writing scientific papers. The first chapter deals with scientific writing, followed by a chapter on how to go about writing the actual paper. Most useful, however, are the “How Do I Write the…” and “How Do I…” sections, that explain the different elements and conventions of a scientific paper.

reference sites

The information compiled in this guide is comprehensive, but to the point. It’s not just full of advice and examples, but also provides handy lists, for example units and conversions for the metric system.

Many pages of the guide are available in PDF format. Look for the respective link at the top of each chapter page.

Guidelines on Style for Scientific Writing

Will G Hopkins wrote this article that goes into detail on scientific writing, addressing points such as punctuation, abbreviations and acronyms, use of words, and grammar.

reference sites

Finally, Wikipedia has an article on scientific writing. While it contains a long list with examples and advice, it may be difficult to scan.

Scientific Writing Booklet

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona offers a free booklet as PDF download. You can download it here: Scientific Writing Booklet

reference sites

This booklet is a pleasure to read and provides tons of lists and examples that are easy to understand and implement.

Wikipedia also has an article on Scientific writing, however, despite a wealth of information, it’s comparably difficult to scan.

The theoretic advice in these guides is invaluable. But how do you motivate yourself to actually sit down and start writing? What is your secret?

Image credits: Nic’s events

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