I just saw this article today from CIO magazine titled, "Why some companies emulate facebook". I'm not sure if anyone's doing their project on facebook (hard to tell from the blogs), but if so, might be interesting...
http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,2195300,00.asp
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Are you right brained or left brained?
This is pretty weird... Check out http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22556281-661,00.html
What side is your brain power on? I was easily able to switch the image back and forth, with a little concentration, so I wonder what that means (although the picture definitely rotated more clockwise than not). You mileage might vary.
What side is your brain power on? I was easily able to switch the image back and forth, with a little concentration, so I wonder what that means (although the picture definitely rotated more clockwise than not). You mileage might vary.
Basically, the direction that you see the dancer moving in below is supposed to identify which side of the brain you use most (clockwise movement = you use the right side more, counter-clockwise = left side). Check out the article above for more detailed information...
For those of you who are, have, or might take Dr. Jablokow's Problem Solving classes (SYSEN 550. 552, 554), I wonder how the side of your brain function, based on this picture, if it's at all accurate, relates to your cognitive style (adaptive vs. innovative). I only ask this because I'm kind of in the middle according to KAI, and I felt like I was very easily able to change the direction of the dancer... Anyone more toward the extremes that might try this out, unscientifically, of course?
Friday, October 5, 2007
My problem with Second Life...
We've spent a lot of time in class talking about Second Life (as you can also tell by perusing everyone's blogs), but something has been bothering me about my Second Life experiences and I'm still having some issues coming to grips with it.
I am by no means new to the whole 3-D environment from a game perspective - I've been playing 3-D video games for a long time, and the controls are very similar to the controls for Second Life. The closest games to Second Life that I've played, in terms of the environment and movement and fact that they're on-line and massively multiplayer (just like Second Life) are America's Army (which I think no longer exists, but was developed by the US Army), World of Warcraft (which I think everyone should have heard of by now), and City of Heroes (or City of Villains, depending on your preference for good vs. evil). I think that what overcame some of the limitations of the 3-D environment, which I'll get into below, in those three games is the mechanism in place for progressing. Your characters, in-game, would have levels and goals that you have to reach to achieve them. Those goals are progressively more difficult as you gain higher levels, but they give you a sense of purpose and that's probably what keeps players of those games coming back. For example, every expansion for World of Warcraft has lifted the maximum attainable level for characters in the game, and many of the higher levels are only obtainable by interacting with other characters in game.
However, in Second Life, I don't get that feeling of purpose. I only get a 3-D environment projected onto a 2-D screen, and I interact with that environment using a keyboard and mouse, just like in the video games. However, I think that since SL lacks any real goals to attain (outside of Orientation Island), the controls feel kind of bland. What I think would really set it apart and make it a more of an immersive experience would be if Linden Labs started to develop some real 3-D interaction. There are devices out there now that are in the early stages that Linden could look at and maybe adapt. 3-D controllers like the Novint Falcon are bringing and almost physical sense of interaction and they'll only get better (I'm think maybe a glove-style controller that we've seen in movies and such to interact with 3-D environments on screen). That would be a start. The other track to take would be to give me a real 3-D environment. If I turn my head, I don't want to see the wall of my office, I want to see the wall next to me in SL. There are glasses on the market that will project the screen in front of you such as those from i-o Display Systems, but I'm thinking more along the lines of the helmet from Blue Thunder (yes, I said Blue Thunder) - the image in the pilot's helmet (not to mention the gun mounted on the front of the helicopter) moved as the pilot's head moved, so why not something like that for full immersion into a game space like Second Life? 3-D controllers like the Wiimote for the Nintendo Wii are already measuring how the controller moves through space in three dimensions, but again, it's plotting that movement on a 2-D medium.
If Linden Labs is not going to turn Second Life into a video game experience (and why would they??), then they probably should be investigating how to make Second Life more like a real virtual reality and not one that we are two-finger typing our way through. Live audio chat is a good start (giving the feeling of having a normal conversation), but the next steps in virtual reality are where Linden could really shine (and charging for the peripherals wouldn't be bad for their bottom line, either...).
Just my $.02...
Jim
I am by no means new to the whole 3-D environment from a game perspective - I've been playing 3-D video games for a long time, and the controls are very similar to the controls for Second Life. The closest games to Second Life that I've played, in terms of the environment and movement and fact that they're on-line and massively multiplayer (just like Second Life) are America's Army (which I think no longer exists, but was developed by the US Army), World of Warcraft (which I think everyone should have heard of by now), and City of Heroes (or City of Villains, depending on your preference for good vs. evil). I think that what overcame some of the limitations of the 3-D environment, which I'll get into below, in those three games is the mechanism in place for progressing. Your characters, in-game, would have levels and goals that you have to reach to achieve them. Those goals are progressively more difficult as you gain higher levels, but they give you a sense of purpose and that's probably what keeps players of those games coming back. For example, every expansion for World of Warcraft has lifted the maximum attainable level for characters in the game, and many of the higher levels are only obtainable by interacting with other characters in game.
However, in Second Life, I don't get that feeling of purpose. I only get a 3-D environment projected onto a 2-D screen, and I interact with that environment using a keyboard and mouse, just like in the video games. However, I think that since SL lacks any real goals to attain (outside of Orientation Island), the controls feel kind of bland. What I think would really set it apart and make it a more of an immersive experience would be if Linden Labs started to develop some real 3-D interaction. There are devices out there now that are in the early stages that Linden could look at and maybe adapt. 3-D controllers like the Novint Falcon are bringing and almost physical sense of interaction and they'll only get better (I'm think maybe a glove-style controller that we've seen in movies and such to interact with 3-D environments on screen). That would be a start. The other track to take would be to give me a real 3-D environment. If I turn my head, I don't want to see the wall of my office, I want to see the wall next to me in SL. There are glasses on the market that will project the screen in front of you such as those from i-o Display Systems, but I'm thinking more along the lines of the helmet from Blue Thunder (yes, I said Blue Thunder) - the image in the pilot's helmet (not to mention the gun mounted on the front of the helicopter) moved as the pilot's head moved, so why not something like that for full immersion into a game space like Second Life? 3-D controllers like the Wiimote for the Nintendo Wii are already measuring how the controller moves through space in three dimensions, but again, it's plotting that movement on a 2-D medium.
If Linden Labs is not going to turn Second Life into a video game experience (and why would they??), then they probably should be investigating how to make Second Life more like a real virtual reality and not one that we are two-finger typing our way through. Live audio chat is a good start (giving the feeling of having a normal conversation), but the next steps in virtual reality are where Linden could really shine (and charging for the peripherals wouldn't be bad for their bottom line, either...).
Just my $.02...
Jim
Thursday, October 4, 2007
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum...
Okay, I've now completely forgotten what I was going to log into this site to post. While in the process of coming here, I accidentally typed in the wrong URL (bookmarks are, apparently, a very good thing), and ended up at "A mega-site of Bible, Christian and religious information and studies. By God's mercy, one of the largest Bible-centered sites on the web (app. 6000 pgs). If it's in the Bible, it should be on this site." I accidentally typed in jimkimmel.blogpsot.com so I'm kind of curious to figure out why I was directed to that page and now I'm wondering if there's some sort of meaning behind it (have I been particularly evil this week?)... Anyway, I guess this should serve as a warning: Be careful of the addresses you type into your browser because it could lead to unintended results (not to mention the fact that it could cause you, like it did me, to forget what you were about to do on the web...)
Jim
PS. (disclaimer follows) No offense is intended in the post above towards Christians who read this blog and who enjoy reading those websites (or Christian sites in general), it's just not a type of site that I usually visit (probably because it doesn't contain information on any gadgets, technology , video or board games) and it caught me by surprise when it loaded...
Jim
PS. (disclaimer follows) No offense is intended in the post above towards Christians who read this blog and who enjoy reading those websites (or Christian sites in general), it's just not a type of site that I usually visit (probably because it doesn't contain information on any gadgets, technology , video or board games) and it caught me by surprise when it loaded...
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Wow, it's been almost a week since I've posted. I've been really busy between work and the wedding planning (getting closer everyday and I feel like we're forgetting some things we need to do).
I'm glad to see that Bobbi is getting the hang of blogging (see her post here).
I've pretty much said all I need to say about the Eagles earlier, and I don't think I have it in me to complain any more about them. Go Phillies!! :)
I've come to realize that I need a few more hours to get things done everyday. Maybe I can hire Hiro as a personal assistant... Speaking of Heroes, has anyone else noticed that the NBC website for Heroes has way too much video and not enough regular information? Sometimes, we like to read, too, NBC...And, while I'm still on the Heroes subject, has anyone realized that Season 2 is also available via Netflix' Watch Instantly feature?? It's probably a good thing that I can't get to that from work...
Okay, I know I'm stretching a bit to find things to post about, but I felt like I had to post something. Sorry for being boring this week...
Jim
P.S. If you're too lazy to comment (that's cool, I'm not offended), then check out my shared links (Jim's Shared Items, further down in the column to the right)- they're updated when I see cool stuff come through on Google Reader (an RSS feed of blog posts and news items you can customize for yourself on Google's website), but today there's a cool article from the BBC on there about the Anti-Spam Turing test that you have to fill out on some sites and how's it being used to digitize documents and books that computers have a hard time reading. Check out the article here.
I'm glad to see that Bobbi is getting the hang of blogging (see her post here).
I've pretty much said all I need to say about the Eagles earlier, and I don't think I have it in me to complain any more about them. Go Phillies!! :)
I've come to realize that I need a few more hours to get things done everyday. Maybe I can hire Hiro as a personal assistant... Speaking of Heroes, has anyone else noticed that the NBC website for Heroes has way too much video and not enough regular information? Sometimes, we like to read, too, NBC...And, while I'm still on the Heroes subject, has anyone realized that Season 2 is also available via Netflix' Watch Instantly feature?? It's probably a good thing that I can't get to that from work...
Okay, I know I'm stretching a bit to find things to post about, but I felt like I had to post something. Sorry for being boring this week...
Jim
P.S. If you're too lazy to comment (that's cool, I'm not offended), then check out my shared links (Jim's Shared Items, further down in the column to the right)- they're updated when I see cool stuff come through on Google Reader (an RSS feed of blog posts and news items you can customize for yourself on Google's website), but today there's a cool article from the BBC on there about the Anti-Spam Turing test that you have to fill out on some sites and how's it being used to digitize documents and books that computers have a hard time reading. Check out the article here.
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