Atlas Speaker Series - Lee Sheldon

Lee Sheldon is a writer, game designer, television producer and scriptwriter. He's utilized many various mediums including Television, novels, and video games. In his talk “Designing Coursework as a Game,” Sheldon was sure to mention his time working on Star Trek: the Next Generation. He also trash talked Zynga games for a bit. Since he is also the author of the non-fiction books The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game and Character Development and Storytelling for Games, one could almost consider him a contemporary Renaissance-man.

The majority of the talk is about his experimental academia. Each of his students start with zero experience points (XP), and they build up XP by finishing tasks or “quests” similar to RPG (or role-playing game). As the student gains more XP, he or she gains more levels when they reach a particular amount. For example, level 5 = 555 and level 6 = 666. He explained different instances of using this approach. Sheldon showed various images students doing cartwheels, high-fiving each other, and generally running around having a good time. He seems to believe that positivity and fun in the classroom lead to more engaged, or at least enthusiastic, students. I'm a fan of RPGs myself and think this model has a lot of potential.

The most interesting part of the talk for me was the bit about the “emergent reality lab” being built at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. Its essentially a large virtual reality space that ditches the goggles and gloves for screens and projectors. Sheldon says that space can fit a smaller sized class, and mentions the surround sound. He has dreams of projecting on and manipulating the contours of the ground. It appears to be the world's most elaborate and expensive classroom, but it has way more potential than that.  I would love to use that space for an Art installation.

The link to Sheldon's talk can be found here: http://www.colorado.edu/atlas/newatlas/mainphoto/photo103.html.

Remix Culture

I don't really see a distinction between remix culture and culture.  Remixing plays a crucial role in the visual, literary, and performance arts.  Remixing and collaboration both have a large impact on my own artwork.

The biggest consequence of remix culture is that some artists and companies may not make as much money as could due to copyright violations.  Remix culture affects innovation by not only allowing regular consumers to contribute more to culture but encouraging it.  Remixing allows our culture to redefine itself.

Assignment for 03 December 2012

The Digital Divide is the difference in people's ability to access advanced technology.  This divide prevents some people from accessing the internet and information.

It's interesting to see how people react when they first interact with a computer.  I liked that the professor left the villagers to explore the computer on their own without instruction.  It bothered me that the school was charging the students to use the computers.  It's interesting that Javine is taking her lessons from school and teaching them to her parents.

As time goes on, will the Digital Divide shrink or grow?

Group 9: I.T. & War for 11/26

I know that computers were developed for the military during World War 2 and continued research has helped develop the computers we use today.  Gathering information is crucial for the military and has been for much longer than computers have been around.

Roland says that "chariots were perhaps the most dominant instrument of warfare before nuclear weapons." The development of gunpowder, artillery, ships, or even the use of metal to create weapons and armor among others have all had their own significant impacts on warfare at least on par with the chariot.

The way warfare is carried out has changed as humanity grows older, but war on a fundamental level hasn't changed.  "Before these conceptual categories took hold of the modern consciousness, premodern commanders thought of their armies and navies in terms of men (human capital) and material (arms and armor, forts and roads, food and ammunition)" according to Roland.  The materials may be different, but Commanders still think of their armies in these terms.

Roland states that "the military establishment began to institutionalize research and development, adopting from industry a kind of planned obsolescence that would keep American armed forces a generation ahead of their potential foes.  They created what President Dwight Eisenhower called in his farewell address a “military-industrial complex,” a perpetual arms race, not necessarily with any particular enemy, but with the status quo." This made the U.S. military a constantly evolving entity compared to armies of the past.  This started to happen around the same time that the computer was invented.  New means of communication including the radio and now the internet have all allowed information to be gathered and analyzed more efficiently.  These forms of communication have not only reshaped the battlefield, but also the decreased the amount of time that it takes for the battlefield to reshape itself.  

Group 10 Reading Assignment

I see nothing wrong with sharing music or any other form of media.  Sometimes its easier to just download a title than acquiring it legally.  Since Torrenting only creates a copy, it's the same as sharing.  I think pirating is a misnomer, and file-sharing is a much more accurate name.

My preferred method of listening to music is Grooveshark.  People upload songs to this database, and the music is available to stream.  I prefer it because it allows me to create and save playlists as well as making radio stations.

Group 8 - Virtual Reality

I know virtual reality is used for training purposes in the military, but I'm familiar with virtual realities through sci-fi books such as Ender's Game and Snow Crash as well as films like The Matrix and Tron.  As a gamer, I'm not really sure what separates virtual reality from video games.  I know the feeling of being immersed in a video game, and it seems to me that it would be difficult to get immersed in virtual reality while wearing the clunky goggles and gloves.

Questions on "A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIRTUAL REALITY AND ITS SOCIAL APPLICATIONS" (Samuel Ebersole)

1.  Are books, films, and video games all different mediums of virtual reality?  Which mediums, if any, should be excluded?

2.  What is "virtual rape"?  How did it impact the virtual community of LambdaMOO?

3.  Should a person feel guilty for any actions taken while in virtual reality?

Questions for Group 7

1. What are similarities and differences between the Digital Economy Act and SOPA/PIPA?

2. What's wrong with having passwords for wireless networks?

3. What does Stallman think of Google and Chrome in terms of tracking people's IP addresses?  I would to love to see this browser he's working on.