battleship
Because the video is large and it doesn't fit to embed, I have given you a link instead to the screencast.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Online Community Gaming Fun
I LOVE Battleship, and how nice of Yahoo to provide me with a battleship game that I can play online with a friend. Here is a clip of my little game!
battleship
Because the video is large and it doesn't fit to embed, I have given you a link instead to the screencast.
battleship
Because the video is large and it doesn't fit to embed, I have given you a link instead to the screencast.
Screencasts Best Practices
- BREATHE! - try not to talk too fast
- Pronounciate - make sure not to mumble words
- Practice makes perfect
- Run a few audio tests first
- Go through a few dry-runs before you actually record
Which Console for You?
A gaming system for my library/institution:
- How would you research? First, depending on my goals, I would ask my user group what systems they use. I would also ask them questions about what they look for in a system. Online research is essential in the process as well.
- What would your criteria be? Questions I would ask. How popular is the system? What and how many games are available? How new is the system? and again Is it appropriate for my user group?
- Which do you think you would get? I would probably get a Wii as it would encourage group play or communal play which I don't feel people get enough of these days. Also it improves motor skills such as referenced in this Engadget post.
Johnson Reading revisited
"Is popular culture just a method to sophisticatedly deliver stupidity"
In short, I don't think so in the slightest. Having an education in popular culture is a form of intelligence in and of itself. Without a knowledge of pop culture you can find yourself dis-attached from modern society making it harder for you to relate people as well as to current trends and societal shifts. Also in large part knowledge of pop culture is central to some forms of humor. If its really just a method to "deliver stupidity" as Will states I will happily stay stupid.
I recently read an interesting article on Japanese society that equated popular culture with a sense of "optimism and success". SOLD OUT Toward a Knowledge Society: U.S.-Japan Perspectives. There is a reason that pop culture courses are popping up all over in anthropology departments. It's because pop culture is relevant and pop culture knowledge connects you with society. Just watch an episode of Antiques Roadshow, popular culture can also add value to things that are not in an of themselves significant, but they have become culturally significant through their role in popular culture. And, popular culture eventually leads to history, a history of people and their obsessions.
In short, I don't think so in the slightest. Having an education in popular culture is a form of intelligence in and of itself. Without a knowledge of pop culture you can find yourself dis-attached from modern society making it harder for you to relate people as well as to current trends and societal shifts. Also in large part knowledge of pop culture is central to some forms of humor. If its really just a method to "deliver stupidity" as Will states I will happily stay stupid.
I recently read an interesting article on Japanese society that equated popular culture with a sense of "optimism and success". SOLD OUT Toward a Knowledge Society: U.S.-Japan Perspectives. There is a reason that pop culture courses are popping up all over in anthropology departments. It's because pop culture is relevant and pop culture knowledge connects you with society. Just watch an episode of Antiques Roadshow, popular culture can also add value to things that are not in an of themselves significant, but they have become culturally significant through their role in popular culture. And, popular culture eventually leads to history, a history of people and their obsessions.
Johnson Reading
Well, because he says "everything bad is good for you" rather than "everything good is bad for you". The statement means nothing to libraries and educational organizations as I assume they are some of the "good" things, not included in the statement. However, if I was to take the concept in the statement and apply it to practices in the library I would assume it would be an encouraging beacon to libraries and educational organizations to tread into new territory and to not be so leery of new technology. I actually saw an interview with this author about 2 or 3 years ago on G4 television, back when it was Tech TV or at least it was an incarnation of G4 that was more geek than cool, like it is now. He was a very interesting guy. The interview made me understand that some people are actually afraid of technology and don't always see the introduction of it in educational environments as a good thing. That kinda blew my mind, not sure why I didn't even occur to me that some people are just not keen on the use of web 2.0 and all its other incarnations. That's all it took to rally me to the cause to introduce and encourage the use and application of technology wherever I went.
It's really no surprise that, some scientific studies have shown that older adults can delay or discourage the onset Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or other neurological afflictions by just keep their minds active and alert. One of these ways is through video gaming. Other studies have shown that surgeons can keep their reflexes quick and steady by also playing video games. What Johnson tries to say in this book is "the beneficial elements of videogames and TV arise not from their subject matter, but from their format, which require that players and viewers winkle out complex storylines and puzzles, getting a "cognitive workout".
What does that mean to libraries and educational organizations? I think it means don't be so quick to judge something that on the surface seems frivolous, but instead be innovative and think of ways that you can use its allure to the masses as a means to open-up minds. How can the skills used in playing a video game be used to teach other skills and cognitive abilities? Also, I think Johnson be a champion of technology in your organization and encourage its use. Do your research and select tools that are appropriate for your goals. The application of technology can give a quick and dirty ratio of payout to reward. Instead of trying to stand in the way of technology why no try to determine how your educational institutions capitalize on this brain-reward ratio?
It's really no surprise that, some scientific studies have shown that older adults can delay or discourage the onset Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or other neurological afflictions by just keep their minds active and alert. One of these ways is through video gaming. Other studies have shown that surgeons can keep their reflexes quick and steady by also playing video games. What Johnson tries to say in this book is "the beneficial elements of videogames and TV arise not from their subject matter, but from their format, which require that players and viewers winkle out complex storylines and puzzles, getting a "cognitive workout".
What does that mean to libraries and educational organizations? I think it means don't be so quick to judge something that on the surface seems frivolous, but instead be innovative and think of ways that you can use its allure to the masses as a means to open-up minds. How can the skills used in playing a video game be used to teach other skills and cognitive abilities? Also, I think Johnson be a champion of technology in your organization and encourage its use. Do your research and select tools that are appropriate for your goals. The application of technology can give a quick and dirty ratio of payout to reward. Instead of trying to stand in the way of technology why no try to determine how your educational institutions capitalize on this brain-reward ratio?
If I Were Steve For Just One Day....
If you were alive and young in the 80s should now be humming the Thompson Twins song "If I Was King For Just One Day". But, if I was LibrarySteve for just one day. I would do away with new account setups or leave it up to the individual to decide. I strongly feel that learning about web 2.0 is closely intertwined with learning about what people actually do with the tools, and using an account that was set up 10 minutes ago has absolutely no history of use. Its important to see how people customize the tools to fit their lifestyle. How many friends do they have on Facebook? What types of Photography do they take or types of images the collect on Flickr? What types of feeds do they subscribe to? What types of links do they choose to save? All of these things are important, but without the ability to view a users involvement over time with the tools, many of the subtle ways people use them are lost.
Take for example my SL avatar. My avatar took many months to develop, I had to explore SL endlessly and do lots of research. Did you know you could have virtual pets? Probably not, but now because you see my avatar does, you can see more possibilities in the tool. It also tells you more about me, which if I was wearing stock clothing, standing on Info Island you would have really learned nothing about me. Instead, you see me standing in a Bonsai garden, drinking coffee and hanging out with my virtual poodle. Which tells you a lot more about me as an individual. Thats what I feel web 2.0 is really about, leaning about people as individuals and how that impacts the whole community. Web 2.0 allows you to look into once closed off areas of peoples lives, and gives you a view into their personal and professional lives. It brings people together based on commonalities and shared interests. This is something that is the essence of what Web 2.0 is about and you just can't get that from an account that has only been setup for a week. That's my two cents. Now, I can go back to being myself, which unfortunately means I have a final project to produce! Can I go back to being LibrarySteve again? PLEASE.
Take for example my SL avatar. My avatar took many months to develop, I had to explore SL endlessly and do lots of research. Did you know you could have virtual pets? Probably not, but now because you see my avatar does, you can see more possibilities in the tool. It also tells you more about me, which if I was wearing stock clothing, standing on Info Island you would have really learned nothing about me. Instead, you see me standing in a Bonsai garden, drinking coffee and hanging out with my virtual poodle. Which tells you a lot more about me as an individual. Thats what I feel web 2.0 is really about, leaning about people as individuals and how that impacts the whole community. Web 2.0 allows you to look into once closed off areas of peoples lives, and gives you a view into their personal and professional lives. It brings people together based on commonalities and shared interests. This is something that is the essence of what Web 2.0 is about and you just can't get that from an account that has only been setup for a week. That's my two cents. Now, I can go back to being myself, which unfortunately means I have a final project to produce! Can I go back to being LibrarySteve again? PLEASE.
The Second Life of Nora Dowding - The Return
I've always thought Second Life was a bit weird, but I've also always been fascinated by its real world applications. For example, I once attended a Librarians talk in SL with a member of the Faculty of a previous job (it's also always interesting to see what people choose as their SL avatars), it was both fun an interesting. However, I've also always found SL to be a bit boring. Not really anyone to talk to and if there is it's people you probably aren't sure whether you should be talking to them or not. Interestingly enough was some of my first experiences in SL (about 2 years ago) I found that large numbers of the people I met where actually Librarians! They had librarian parties, librarian meetups, and research talks. I haven't been back in a really long time, so long my "Home" destination no longer existed and I took me a bit to figure out how to maneuver again. SL was a lot more crowded than I remember the last time and I could actually hear people talking, as of my last visit to SL the only way to talk was via the text field.
So on my return to SL, I found my cool clothes were still there, including my Doctor Who t-shirt, plaid pants and Converse sneakers. Also to my happy surprise I still had my virtual Poodle. Here is a snapshot of me, a cup of coffee and my poodle in the Bonsai gardens in Koleamoku (one of the locations I had saved that still existed). Now, I'm off to see if the Charles Dickens town still exists.
So on my return to SL, I found my cool clothes were still there, including my Doctor Who t-shirt, plaid pants and Converse sneakers. Also to my happy surprise I still had my virtual Poodle. Here is a snapshot of me, a cup of coffee and my poodle in the Bonsai gardens in Koleamoku (one of the locations I had saved that still existed). Now, I'm off to see if the Charles Dickens town still exists.
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