reading response 5

1. Choose a new technology supplanting an old one within the category of devices/appliances. First, define each of the terms below. Next, use the new technology you selected to provide an example for your definition. Please don’t use examples from the reading!

For my example, I am using flash media replacing other removable media such as CD-R.

3 types of Conceptual Models-
The three types of conceptual models are:
1. Design Model- This is the conceptualization the designer has in mind.
The intent of the flash drive is to store data in a portable, easy to use form.
2. User’s Model- What the user develops to explain the operation of the system.
The user uses the flash drive as a portable device for storing and moving data in an easy     way.
Ideally, the Design Model and the User’s Model are equivalent to one another.
3. System Image- The complete “package” of the product. All related perspectives and     imagery. This must be consistent with the Design Model and User’s Model.
A flash drive is a small device easy carried and used for the purpose of storing data.. It is     multiplatform and universal. It is easy to understand.

Affordances- The perceived and actual properties of an object. They determine what an object can be used for. A flash drive obviously has a plug end that goes in a USB port. There are no other apparent uses for the device.

Constraints- Limits that are in place to enforce a specific type of use for an object. They also help to make the use of an object apparent by drawing a line for what it obviously can and cannot do. The USB plug end of the device can only be properly inserted one way into the USB port. There aren’t any other ways to plug it in, and no other obvious constraints in place.

Mappings- The relationship between controls, their movements, and the resulting action in the world. Controls should be natural to use and provide immediate feedback. The user should be able to intuitively understand the function of the control as well as its outcome. When you pull the cap off a flash drive, the plug end is exposed. As there aren’t any other aspects to the device besides the case (usually plain, solidly colored, sometimes with an LED indicator to show when it is in use) one can assume that it must be plugged in to be used. The device is easily plugged into the port and removed.

Feedback- Information returned to the user which lets them know the results of a particular action. Flash drive models with LEDS can indicate to the user that the device is plugged in, powered, and/or in use. Other models give less feedback. The device appearing in the list of available disks on the computer is another form of feedback showing that it has been properly plugged in.

Standardizing- Creating a universal truth that is consistent among all similarly functioning products. All flash drives are primarily the same and work in the same way. Although there are variations in size, style, etc., they all serve essentially the same purpose and work in the same way. They are all relatively the same in appearance and have the same obvious affordances.

2. Why would a designer intentionally design something poorly?

A designer could intentionally design something poorly to prove a point about design or the use of the product they are designing. I believe “poor design” is relative to the end user, so while something might seem terrible to one person it might be fine for another, an example being operating systems. Command-line operating systems are typically considered difficult to impossible to use for most average computer users, but more technically advanced users do not have problems with the lack of graphics in the interface, so the design is not necessarily poor or intentionally poorly designed, it is a matter of end user preference.

3. Describe a paradox of technology

A paradox of technology is the shift from a complex product to a simple product back to a complex product with the addition of new technology. An example of this could be the television. Initially, televisions were more complex in the way they functioned. Because they required tubes to operate, they sometimes needed adjustment or repair that couldn’t always be done by the user at home. Later on, televisions became simpler with a change in technology. They had fewer controls and were fairly intuitive right out of the box. Now, we are experiencing a shift in complexity once again with plasma and LCD TV sets, which function in essentially the same way (for the user) but seem to cause a lot of confusion to many people interested in purchasing them because they do not understand how the new features work or what the purpose of these features is.

second life + paralysis

I found this article about researchers using Second Life in combination with equipment that lets paralyzed people control a character and move around in the SL world.  (click for article)

It’s an interesting application of the platform, I’d be interested to see where they go with this.

Reading Response 4

1. Who are the Situationists?
The Situationists were a group of people interested in the politics of the situation. They created different situations and experiences which were meant to comment on society.

2. What does Debord mean when he says “One measures the distances that actually separate two regions of a city, distances that may have little relation with the physical distance between them.”
Debord is referring to the massive variety of people, things, ideas, or places that may exist in a city. The “regions” he speaks of can represent equally as many things: groups of people, differing ideologies, ethnic backgrounds, religious associations, or other divisions that exist in society. The life of a company CEO is vastly different from that of the homeless guy that lives in the alley next to his company’s building. Their proximity might be close, but their existences are very different. The beliefs of people of two different political parties are just as different. People exist in many different ways, although the space of the city brings them physically close to one another. Therefore, the “distances” he describes in his statement are not of physical space, but rather of variation in ideas.

3. What is the underlying purpose of the American settlement and playground movement?
The underlying purpose of the American settlement and playground movement is to create an environment which promotes the mental, social, and physical health of a child. It is meant to equalize people of different classes and backgrounds through play and physical recreation.

4. What is their argument towards the need for play?
Their argument towards the need for play is that play creates better character. Having structured play creates citizens that are responsible, loyal, good leaders, and better parents. They felt that play improved society overall by improving the children who would someday inherit it.

5. What is the difference between “play spirit” and “low” forms of recreation?
“Play spirit” is play which leads to spontanaeity, joy, and exuberance. It is the intrinsic, positive essence of play. “Low” forms of recreation are commercialized, with “movie theaters and dance halls” used as examples. The difference between them is the level of interaction involved and the way in which a positive, pleasant internal feeling is produced. Recreational activities like movies are a sort of “one-way” experience; you are given an experience and told how to feel about it. While it might be pleasurable, the pleasure is built into the experience and designed for a specific purpose. Other forms of recreation, like playing games, are more interactive and more representative of the “play spirit” because positive feelings are achieved through personal accomplishment.

6. How has the social function of playgrounds changed today?
The social function of playgrounds has changed in that playgrounds are becoming something different. There are differing opinions about what a playground should be, and the safety of the equipment on it, which some say leads to less imaginative play. A movement to change playgrounds into “playscapes” which are less structured, is currently becoming more popular. As a result, children are encouraged to make their own games and forms of play rather than being told how to play. Parents and other individuals are invited into the space, where previously they were placed on the sidelines. The environment is changing, which is changing the way the space is used and who is using it.

7. Suggest an idea for a UB campus derive that would interrupt or intervene in the daily routine of campus life.
I almost think we should take our derive somewhere outside of North Campus. Maybe we should all jump on a bus to South and do something there. It seems like the point of a derive is to experience something out of the ordinary, and we are all probably very familiar with North, moreso than South. Or maybe to Ellicott, I don’t really know.

second life widgets

Here are a couple of useful Dashboard Widgets if you’re a Mac User: 

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/secondlifestatus.html 

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/secondlifemapwidget.html

reading response 3

Reading response question for “Free Labor”:
“In the overdeveloped countries, the end of the factory has spelled out the obsolescence of the old working class, but it has also produced generations of workers who have been repeatedly addressed as active consumers of meaningful commodities. Free labor is the moment where this knowledgeable consumption of culture is translated into productive activities that are pleasurably embraced and at the same time often shamelessly exploited.”

Terranova’s essay was written in 2000. Yet much of what she states about free labor still pertains to the present moment.

Define the following terms used in the essay and give examples of how each term still exists in 2007:
knowledge worker: As used in the essay, a knowledge worker is someone who engages in work that is not typically considered “work,” or whose work is primarily immaterial and intangible rather than physical. A knowledge worker’s work is conceptual, based on ideas or social processes. The end results of their work may not come in forms that are ordinarily associated with work, or are not directly quantifiable in the same way other products are. An example of a knowledge worker could be a blogger. While they may not necessarily be compensated for their work, they are contributing to the collective intelligence of the internet.

gift economy: A gift economy is an economy based on the free exchange of information and other assets. Items are exchanged without want for reimbursement or other gain. It is based more on the idea of benefiting the group as a whole rather than the individual. An example of the gift economy could be Wikipedia. Individually, users can contribute and edit entries within the encyclopedia. The efforts of the individuals benefit the encyclopedia as a whole. Other users can then use the articles created and edited by the efforts of the community, and further benefit from the project.

free labor: Free labor is the “muscle” behind the creation and distribution of assets. Free labor is, by definition, unpaid work, which fits into the “gift economy” in the way that it is freely created and shared. Free labor workers do what they do out of a sense of personal duty or fulfillment, and for the good of the community, rather than for monetary gain. An example of a free labor worker could be someone with a personal website. They can use this platform to convey and share any information they choose, which benefits the internet as a whole through the contribution of new information. They are considered “free labor” if they are not compensated for their efforts, which is often the case. They do what they do out of personal interest rather than for personal gain.

small bug in a big (fake) world

I sat down this evening to try and get some Second Life time in. I’ve played with it a bit in the past, but not substantially since I could never really get it to run well for very long. It seemed to behave for now, which worked out for me.

I spent a bit of time customizing my avatar, “Bug Roux,” for a while, since she was mostly made of default clothes and pieces and I wanted her to be a little more unique.

This is Bug!

She looks like she’s pretty much totally skeptical of absolutely everything, all the time. I find this somehow very appropriate.

Not really knowing what else to do, I decided that I was going to try and provoke some kind of interaction with some random strangers somewhere in the SL world. My rules changed as I went along based on the situations I found myself in. First, I needed a place. Second Life is massive, so I did a search for “gallery,” not really sure where else to start looking. I hopped into a gallery called MMCA, which seemed to be a multi-purpose space for displaying art, music performance, and other cultural types of activities. There were a few people around, but quite honestly, it was pretty boring. I stood up on a stage in front of a bunch of people hanging around and yelled random phrases (“THIS! IS! CAAAAAKE TOOOOOOWN!”) only to be met with absolutely no reaction. I tried to physically put myself in the middle of their gathering, but no one took notice. I needed excitement. I needed drama. I needed furries. I did a quick search for furry related areas, and hopped into the first one I saw. (I don’t mean to offend anyone if you actually are a furry, but really it seemed like a good place to start my mini-social-experiment since they seem easy to provoke and that was what I was aiming for. No offense, really.)

This place started off looking pretty normal.

…and then I met the residents. I couldn’t really figure out what was going on here, so I just tried to draw attention to myself somehow. I tried dancing, putting myself uncomfortably close to people, everything I could think of. Nothing worked.

Bored again, I pulled up a list of “popular” places in the world and picked one at random. Some type of jazz/dance club place, with what looked like a large gathering of people. Perfect. Let the chaos and evildoings begin!

There were people dancing everywhere, and the music was really pretty pleasant, so I couldn’t really bring myself to try and cause trouble. It just seemed too nice an atmosphere to ruin for everyone else. Instead, I sat down at one of the gaudy tables and struck up a conversation with a rather quiet avatar named “Karmayogi Zheng.” We chatted for a bit about hardware and getting SL to run smoothly, and realized that we were both pretty new to the world. We ended up discussing the different types of avatars people have. We wondered how many people were actually the same gender as their avatar. I’ve played other online games before where it’s often the case that people will play a character with a gender opposite their own, but it’s not something I’d ever put much thought into. We talked about places we’d been in the world so far, which between us didn’t amount to much. He did, however, tell me about a place a new friend had shown him: a botanical garden within SL. I was intrigued.

He teleported me there, and I spent a good half hour just exploring. The amount of detail and care put into the space was unbelieveable. It was a very relaxing and peaceful environment, much like a real garden.

Bird’s-eye view. There are all kinds of places to explore here.

There are lots of water areas, which I found especially pretty. There are boats you can take out on the water, and a small canal system through the island itself.

There’s a large arboretum on one side of the island with huge palms inside. If you visit, you have to go in, switch to mouselook, and look straight up. The view is incredible. I wanted to take a screenshot, but I wasn’t sure how to from that view. It’s something you really need to see yourself, anyway, which sounds odd for a virtual world, but it’s true. These screenshots really don’t do it much justice.

I’ve visited botanical gardens before, and always wanted to be up among the treetops, but unfortunately I can’t fly in the real world. While the gardens in SL paralleled a real garden in so many ways, this was one small but very meaningful difference.

After checking out the arboretum, my new friend and I walked around a bit more and then parted ways, since it was getting pretty late.  I found it odd that the most interesting place I found (so far) in an entirely virtual world is one that I could easily visit in real life.

reading response 2

1) Explain what Gelber means by “disguised affirmation”.
Gelber’s term “disguised affirmation” explains the behavior of replicating the positive intrinsic feelings generated by accomplishing work through leisure activities. Taken literally, the term means just that - “affirmation,” or a positive statement or truth, “disguised” by the process of work or the action peformed in a hobby or leisurely activity. Disguised affirmation provides us with a way to feel as though we have accomplished something important or positive, a sense of fulfillment and self-value.

2) Give an example of “flow” within the context of leisure or labor.
Flow is described by Gelber as a “transcendent experience” which occurs when people engage in self-directed activities that optimally use all of their skills to the fullest. Flow is a positive state of being which helps a person accomplish the task at hand. In the context of labor, I have experienced a flow-like state in my work as a computer support technician. This type of work is typically performed by one person, with a well-defined goal in mind, i.e., returning a computer to a specific state of proper functioning. I often find that while working on repairs, I am in a state where I can effectively “tune out” other activity in the room and focus entirely on the task at hand. In this state, I feel that I can function “automatically,” without much guidance, in order to achieve my goal. I don’t need to pause and consider what steps to take next, because I already have some predefined mental concept of how to achieve an end result and the steps can only flow in one logical order. One specific example of working in this state would be “imaging” the lecture hall computers, which is a process by which the computers are all formatted and “cleaned” to a newly-installed state. Following this process, certain settings need to be applied in a specific order and certain software needs to be added to certain rooms. The process becomes automatic through my knowledge of computers and my knowledge of the desired end result.

3) After reading Gelber’s text, can Second Life be considered a “hobby”? why or why not?
I feel that Second Life’s categorization as a hobby depends primarily on the way it is being used. Since Second Life has no defined end result, its use is entirely dependent on the desires of the user. If a user chooses to use Second Life solely as a business endeavor, with only the intent of making money, then it might be considered work. If they choose to use it because the action brings them some type of pleasure, then it might be considered a hobby. As the uses of the system vary and change exponentially, so too must its definition as a “hobby” or “work” activity.

4) What do you think would be a good class project to create in Second Life?
I think it would be interesting to try and create, distribute, and promote (and potentially find some way to track or follow the use of within the Second Life world) a unique “fad” item. In the real world, items like iPods and other gadgets are incredibly popular, but it’s hard to think of an object that would be as useful or necessary in the virtual world. These types of items are often seen as status symbols, and I think it would be interesting to find out what could be considered a “status” symbol in a world that doesn’t always (and doesn’t need to) obey the “rules” of what is true and logical. What would the value of such an item be? Who would buy it? Why?

cool link of the day

My “cool link of the day” for class this week was vectorpark.com.

I feel that it relates to the class in that it is an interesting interactive experience that doesn’t really classify as a “game,” but rather is more like a childrens’ toy, or a puzzle. It doesn’t really serve a productive purpose other than being entertaining, though if pressed I suppose it could be used to demonstrate various computer usage skills, like basic clicking and dragging, or interacting with elements on the screen.

reading response 1

Rules of Play, Ch 11-12
Homo Ludens, Ch 1

Please address the questions below in your 350-word reading response:

1) List and explain 5 criteria that define play according to Huizinga.

5 criteria that define play according to Huizinga are the fact that play exists outside of ordinary life. It is not a necessary function for survival, and it is not part of a typical daily routine. Play is completely not serious. It is something done for fun, but is not necessarily humorous in nature. It is completely absorbing. Play exists as a sort of escape from ordinary life, and while one is playing, they become part of this fantasy; nothing that is not part of their play matters. Monetary or other gains are not part of play. Play is not something that can be used to generate money or product, the rewards of play are personal and intangible. It takes place within its own boundaries. Whether these are physical, spatial, temporal boundaries, play has certain limits that it exists within. Play might be limited to a room, a field, or other place, or possibly require the imagination of such a place; or limited to a certain space of time, or require one to imagine that a certain expanse of time has (or has not) passed.

2) Why is “play” important to society according to Huizinga. Give 2-3 examples. Do you agree/disagree?

According to Huizinga, play is important to society because it “adorns” and “amplifies life,” acting as a lens in many ways to magnify the important or worthwhile aspects of life. Play brings into the world a temporary, absolute order and perfection, whether this perfection exists in the real world or not. Play also acts to represent and identify. It allows people to experience being someone else temporarily, and imitate events which have already occurred. I agree with Huizinga’s points. Play is a unique experience which allows us to to view the world in a different way and take part in aspects of life we may not otherwise recognize.

3) Explain how the constituative rules and operational rules intersect beyond the formal rules to create a unique game identity. You can compare 2 popular games for your explanation.

Constituative rules are the mathematical and formal parts of a game which actually make it work. Operational rules are the rules given to players of a game so they understand how to play. These two sets of rules make a game work, as well as make it unique. Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land are two similar games which have similar sets of rules, but are both very unique. Chutes and Ladders is played by spinning a spinner and moving a piece on a board a number of spaces according to the number given by the spinner. Special spaces on the board complicate the rules slightly by forcing players to move forward or backward a designated number of spaces. Candy Land is played by moving a piece on a board a given number of spaces based on a spinner, and drawing cards which can modify the number of spaces moved. While the operational rules of both games are almost the same, it is the constituative rules which make each game unique. The Chutes and Ladders identity is created by its constituative rules - the characteristic “chutes and ladders” up and down movement of pieces created by the special spaces on the board. Candy Land is made unique through its cards which direct players to move in different ways than just backward and forward.