Random

So I was sick of my internet being so slow. I remembered something, that someone had posted about changing the channel your router uses to stop overlap in your area. I figured I would give it a go.

I went to How to Geek, and downloaded the Android app Wifi Analyser. I discovered that everyone around me was using channel 11, per the Wifi Analyser I should switch to 1,5 or 14.

I logged into my router and changed the channel to 5 as I did not have the option for 1 or 14.  Since doing that, it is quite interesting to see the speed at which my pages load.  I only did this today, so as time goes by we shall see if this has worked.

I have done another wifi analysis since changing and I am the only one on channel 5.

It is interesting that just a small change like that can resolve an annoying issue.

Nice.

Update it has been 3 days since I made this change and well things are not looking so good right now. Very slow internet yet again. So I changed the channel again this time to 6. Not a big change. I had also moved my router to a different position so I have moved it back to where it was… still not a happy load time. More research needs to be done on this. I will update

Figuring out the Final Goal, Research Question and how to go about answering them

Today I am looking at potential research questions, the final goals and how I would go about getting a paper together on what I am looking at.

My first option (the one I seem to gravitate back to) is Narrative Design. Whilst it is still part of the IT line – most narrative designers also write TV and movie scripts. In fact if you look at jobs for narrative designers one of the requirement  most employers want is industry proven skills i.e. a script that has been used in the entertainment industry.   I do not have that. Not for lack of trying.

So I propose this for a narrative design research paper

Narrative Design

Question:

To investigate the impact of narrative design on current game development and does narrative design increase gamer engagement?

Final Goal:

To garner a better understanding of narrative design and how it has evolved and why the story has become more important in game creation for the gamer and the game. To understand why gamers interact with certain games and stories and why.

To then take that information and create a narrative design that could be used as a basis for a computer game, heightening gamer engagement with the game and the story.

IF USED DSR

1. Identify
2. What is narrative design
3. How do I get a better understanding of narrative design
4. Understand the meaning of Story
5. What is a gamer (definition)
6. What is a game (definition)
7. How do I create a good narrative design
8. What do I mean by heightening gamer engagement
9. What am I meaning with evolved
   1. Am I going back to board games and then onto computer games
   2. How far back am I going to look
   3. Set a scope/range
10. What is needed to understand story lines in game play
11. How do stories embed into a game
12. How do gamers interact with games and why
13. What is a computer game
14. Define type of game i.e. mmorpg/orpg/single player, or look at all of them.
15. What will my story be?

 

 

2. Design
   1. Using the information gathered to design the narrative
   2. Knowledge of narrative design
   3. Requirements to create a good narrative design
   4. Imagination

3. Implement
   1. Create the story board/framework
   2. Detail out the characters and how they interact
   3. Detail out the world and its genre, culture etc.
   4. Consider what is good in the gaming world and what works and why

4. Evaluate
   1. Conducted interviews and surveys – write about this
   2. Summarize information found.
   3. Find someone in the industry to read the narrative design and provide feedback

Identify Stage –

1. Explain the goal in more detail, defining scope and range.
2. Create a literature review based on these themes:
   1. Story in games
   2. Gamers and gaming experiences
   3. Narrative design
   4. Games in general (this will need to be defined more)
3. Watch videos/ gather information on how to create a good narrative design
4. Find a list of dos and don’ts for creating games/stories in games
5. Gather an understanding of animation in game design and the coding behind it. (do not need to know how to do it, just understand it)

Design Stage –

1. Design the story (all that encompasses world, characters, plot lines, quests etc)

Implementation –

1. Iteratively build
   1. Story board
   2. Details
   3. Story itself (possibly with cut scenes etc)

Evaluation Stage –

1. Find someone in the industry to read the narrative and gather feedback

This is done based on the Design Science Research methodology.  This is used when you want to create something more for computer games themselves than the narrative/story behind it.  But it does fit, with what I would intend to be the final outcome.

Big Data Analytics

Question:

How does Big Data Analytics play a part in the growing world of bog data and why is it necessary to analyse this data?

Final Goal:

Based on the knowledge gained to create a course that could be taught at a polytechnic level to give students the skillset to be able to get a job in this growing industry

IF USED DSR

1. Identify
   1. What is meant by big data
   2. What is meant by analyse
   3. How does one analyse data
   4. What skills are required to analyse data
   5. What is required to design a course for a polytechnic

2. Design
   1. Using the information gathered to design an appropriate level course
   2. Knowledge curriculum creation
   3. Understand NZQA requirements
   4. Understand the skills need to gain a job in the industry
   5. Understand the minimum requirements needed by students embarking on this course

3. Implement
   1. Create a base curriculum
   2. Detail the skills that would be taught
   3. Figure out how assignments etc. would be structured

4. Evaluate
   1. Conducted interviews– write about this
   2. Summarize information found.

Identify Stage –

1. Explain the goal in more detail, defining scope and range.
2. Create a literature review based on these themes:
   1. Big Data Analytics
   2. Education (especially on the creation of a curriculum)
   3. Skills required for being a big data analyst
3. Speak with Tutors both IT based and those teaching Big Data Analytics
4. Find a list of dos and don’ts for creating a course
5. Gather an understanding of Big Data Analytics and what skills are required to do it well

Design Stage –

1. Design the course

Implementation –

1. Test the course/ parts of the course on people

Evaluation Stage –

1. Have a tutor give feedback on the course creation

I have a third IDEA for a research project I figured it was in the ICT line but it was explained to me that my idea was more development as in software development line.

This idea:

Question: How does the visualized infrastructure actually work?

Final Goal: To create a 3D view of a visualized network and show how the cabling and traffic work.

I would need to create a 3D model of a visualized network and somehow link it into VMware. Not sure how that would work.  But as this is more of a coding and software development type idea it is not something that I currently have the skill set for, nor will I be able to gain them in time for my project.

Great idea though.

“You are the Master of your own Destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make Your life what you want it to be” – Napoleon Hill

 

 

 

Technology and Medical Diagnosis

I know that the use of technology in the medical world has advanced cures and early detection of many diseases, but is making some of these tools available to the general public going to hurt or help.

Today I read an article in which a new app, that has been developed in conjunction with apple can help detect autism. It is an interesting concept and could potentially help in diagnosis if used correctly.  The article advises that the plan to make this app available to the general public to aid parents and doctors to assess whether or not a child may have autistic tendencies.

As a mum I look at this an think, hmm I would rather have a professional diagnose something like this rather than self diagnose. As a technology user, I can say I am quite prone to putting symptoms into Dr Google and see what the results are. Sometimes the results are quite helpful,  but on the other hand if I look at a diagnosis presented online am I likely to instantly think I am suffering from some rare form of cancer or just a sprained ankle.

I can see how integrating certain diagnosis tools into apps would be helpful, like perhaps a stroke indicator type test, or a sugar glucose test.  These could help when out and about.

I guess it all comes down to how the apps and information is used. Ideally the result would be good and being able to help parents and doctors in diagnosing any issue with a child can help bring help sooner. In the back of my head though there is that voice that pops up that says are we relying more and more on technology rather than actual knowledge. Doctors go to school for years, have huge debts and we trust them on first meeting.  Yes they can get the wrong answer, but with technology there is also the security issue. Should we put all of our trust into Dr Google, over a real Dr.

Random thought.

Autism App Article. Via MSN.co.nz

Research Question?

This weeks required blog post is on research questions. I am still working on trying to figure out how to put an appropriate research question together.  Especially based around my areas of interest, narrative design and big data analytics.

I spent a few moments writing questions down for each of these topics.  The one that interests me most in the big data section is “Why do we need/want to analyse data”. How would I research this question? Well I would need to look back at the beginning. The beginning of the realization that the data we are storing could be used for something and go from there. Who was the first people/company to analyse big data and for what? Most of the answers to this question is going to come from historical documentation about the first companies to use data analytics.

I am not really sure what the final outcome of this would be other than a research paper around big data analytics.

My other idea around Big Data was to create a course for polytechnics such as NMIT to teach Big Data.  For this my question could be how do you learn to analyse data? Here I would need to figure out the basics of analysing data. What tools are needed and how they work. What programming language is used. Is statistics a needed requirement prior to learning about big data analytics or could it be taught, specifically for big data analytics. What are the NZQA requirements around courses like this. It would be a matter of researching all about big data analytics. Coming to an understanding of the tools used and the programming language used. Being able to talk to people who teach or who are being taught this type of course. Speaking with NZQA and also tutors who put courses together.

The final outcome of this would be a course that could possibly be taken to NZQA and a board and made into a actual line of study at the polytech level.

In regards to Narrative design, I would like to figure out what makes a good narrative design. Along with this would be a look at how narrative design has changed over the years, why it has become important and why gamers are moving more and more towards games with a rich narrative design. For this I would look at board games and the evolution of online games. Survey gamers of all ages. Speak with people who work in game narrative design. Play games.

The final outcome of this would be a research paper on narrative design. What it is, how it is done well and a look at how it has progressed over history and possibly some forward thinking on it.

All of these ideas are great. I also came up with another one. I am great at coming up with ideas. It is based in part on something that Clare (tutor) came up with in regards to viewing big data analytics. I took that thought and have been working it in my head, but basing it around a networking line. I am currently working in a virtual environment and thought it would be amazing to see a 3D representation of this virtual network. Being able to select one of the ESXi hosts and drilling down into it and seeing the individual VMs places within and instead of imagining how the cables would look placing them in and seeing how the traffic flows from a vm into a physical world. Being able to watch the packets of data move back and forth. I also thought it would be good to drill down further and look at the machine itself and see how the TCP/IP stack (OSI model) takes the data and moves through its various stages from application (layer 7) down through the layers to physical (layer 1) and out.

To do this I would need to know how to create a 3D world and all the facets around it. Understand completely how traffic flows over a network. Understand the TCP/IP stack. Be able to show the traffic moving. It would even be cool if it could be done in real time. I.E taking TALOS for instance and creating a 3D version of it, showing traffic as it is flowing in real time. Creating a bottleneck and showing that in a 3D world. I just think programs like this would help students better understand how a network works, plus visual representation helps understanding. Which would be my final goal if this was to be my project. It would be a development project.

 

Periscope

Today I read an interesting article on Stuff.co.nz about periscope. I was quite taken aback as I did not realize that this was even a thing. Reality TV, without the TV. You can see the world through someone else’s eyes.

I do not really get it, but then with Facebook and Twitter, we are doing that in a way. People post about their lives and things that are happening and other people respond. Although it can happen in real-time, it is not as it is happening type thing. Now with Periscope it is as it is happening.

Perhaps it is an age thing. At my age (over 35) I would rather experience the world first hand rather than vicariously through others.  Brings me to the picture that was going viral that showed a crowd of people at an event all with their cell phones out recording the event but not experiencing it and then there is an older woman just enjoying it as it is. http://mashable.com/2015/10/05/viral-red-carpet-photo/#YCJ3ZhloOOqs (can be seen here).

So do people what to experience the world for themselves? Or via others?

“You are the Master of your own Destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make Your life what you want it to be” – Napoleon Hill

Personal Thoughts – Changing Environment Data Gathering Methods

Very interesting thoughts here.

Digital Insaniti

There has been a big change in the way data is collected about our environment. Companies are seeing the benefits in mobile devices as now most people have a smartphone of some sort.  Analysts are moving away from using specialist equipment that cost millions of dollars to install and upkeep and using apps or social media as a way of gathering data.

If you look at a major highway in Google Maps you will notice live traffic information. It shows with a color coding system how fast the traffic is moving along that section of road. It also allows them to accurately predict travel times between two points or adjust routes to cut times when navigating.
How do they do this? Well all android based phones (that have been set to allow Google to collect location data) are sending GPS coordinates of the devices location back to Google. This allow…

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IT and Children

I know that this blog is about research and that I should be researching items related to my project ideas etc, but I find that I do not have the time currently. My focus is solely on my assignments that I currently have. Although my one for Res is completed and my Database one almost completed, I have this networking one that is frustrating and time consuming. During the last two weeks I have been focusing on that and my children.

Funny thing is I was thinking about my kids and IT and what it means for them. They are constantly on electronic devices. My daughter came to me yesterday with a picture she drew and asked me to put it on Facebook. She wanted to show the world. This made me think about the conversation we had after a news report we had watched related to social media. I cannot remember the specific pacific island that was in the report but they were planning to limit the amount social media is allowed into/onto that island.  The reason was that social media (Facebook in particular) was not meshing well with the countries culture. My daughter turned to me and told me I was not allowed to go on Facebook anymore (she is 8). I laughed and then tried to explain to her the reasons why this was occurring.  She finally understood that the culture of the island and social media did not match. They were like opposite poles on a magnet pushing at each other.

It is interesting to think that western culture has embraced social media in all its formats without questioning it. Yet we have come to see it’s positive and negative side and still accept it as status quo.

Then if we look at countries like China where the internet in all it’s forms is highly regulated. My brother (who lives in china) calls it the great firewall of china.  He doesn’t have access to Facebook, unless he pays for it, or gets a VPN and says he is not in china.

Going back to my children I have a son also, his writing is terrible. I am not concerned but I was thinking last night that perhaps I should be. Is handwriting a dying art. I know that by the time he is in secondary school laptops and sending reports and assignments via email will probably be the norm. Hand writing assignments will still be done but not on the scale it was.

Then my brain went on  a tangent as to when he was grown and had children of his own, would they hand draw pictures, use paints, write silly notes about how good they will be if they could just have a puppy. What would they say when Nana gave them a hand written note.  Does there need to be a better balance between technology and skills like drawing and writing?

Random thoughts.

“You are the Master of your own Destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environmentYou can make Your life what you want it to be” – Napoleon Hill

Broad Research/Project Interest Area

If you had asked me earlier in the year what my third year project was going to be, I would have answered definitively that I would be looking at Big Data Analytics. Big Data Analytics interested me due to the fact that it could be a possible job outlet for me. Analytics – analysing information I can do that.  What I have found out about big data analytics is not a lot. I am sure that I could have done more, but I also have assignments and school work to do so it is sitting on the back burner. I believe however that it will be hard work, it involves the use of maths and in particular statistics (which was not my best subject at school). Many of the information out there is quite dry, and hard for me to wade through.

On the other hand there is Narrative Design. This is a new introduction to me and my creative side has quite nicely been kicked into gear. The information available about this is quite interesting to read and therefor I find myself drawn to this more so than big data currently. The thought of being able to create a world, its culture, how it developed, how the people developed etc. I have a very creative mind and have tried my hand at writing scripts for TV shows that are all constructed in my head. I know that my dislike of coding will need to be put on the wayside as I will need to understand it. A narrative designer needs to be able to talk and understand what these people are talking about. Again there is so much more I need to learn about this should I take myself down this path.

Right now I know I need to think about this as it will be upon me a lot quicker than I think. Aside from the research project idea there is also the option of work placement. It could be an easy way out, but would it be in an area that interests me. My friend Rebekah is working making an app for someone (code monkey that she is) she loves it. She is so excited to talk about what she is doing and gets really involved. Her face lights up and I can tell that she is passionate about it.

My head hurts just thinking about this.  I have Networking, and Database assignments that I need to focus on also. My time management skills are lacking and I am feeling the crunch. I need to make a decision soon. It would be awesome to sit down and really focus on this for a bit, and really nut out what I want and what I would enjoy. I know I am an ideas person, I love to design things, come up with a concept and flush it out, to a point.  I can’t believe I have almost finished my degree.

Academic Article

I have choosen http://www.aaai.org/Papers/Workshops/2004/WS-04-04/WS04-04-001.pdf as the article to review.

The title – MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research.  The title itslef has an acronym as it’s first part which did not put me off reading the article as the rest of the title explained more to me about the article.

The Abstract: Per the three questions the abstract should answer posed by Clare

1. what the research/paper/article topic is
2. what the authors/researchers did and
3. what they discovered/or created/or concluded.

It does explain what the paper is about, and it does explain what MDA means, it also explains what the researchers did, and also states what they created.  So the authors/researchers have created.

They are not really answering a research question they are putting forward a framework for game design and research.

I feel that this paper is credible. The reasons why are a) the authors are from respectable universities. One is from MIT, the other two are from Northwestern. They also taught the course that this paper seems based on at the Game Design and Tuning Workshop in 2004. It does seem to follow the lines of what an academic paper should have.

After reading the first part of the paper (abstract and introduction) and discovered that the abstract is part of the introduction. This put me off wanting to read the remaining aspects of the article. The reason for that is it showed lack of knowledge in how to put an abstract together, or what an abstract actually is meant to be.

I do like that the langauge used is not highly technical and that the article is easy to understand. No real computer or technical background is really needed.

So I have read this article twice and have discovered that I need to read it again. Whether I am not taking it in or that my brain has shut off I am not sure.  As for whether I agree with the conclusion or not, I do not know.

The paper is supposed to be about a new methodology for game design and game research as per the title. They speak about the MDA approach. MDA standing for Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics.  This formula is about breaking the game into distinct components which the authors have recognised as rules, system, “fun” and linking them to their design counterparts of mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics.

They explain thier menaings behind these words as: “Mechanics describes the paticular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms. Dynamics describes the run-time behaviour of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others’  outputs over time. Aesthetics describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when she interacts with the game system” (Hunicke,LeBlanc,Zubek 2004)

The article then goes on to break up these approaches and explain them even further and how they relate to games. Finally we get to the conclusion where they talk about how the MDA approach will help coneptualise game systems and how they work. So that future games can be designed to give users the best experience.

I am still confused about the MDA framework. Hence I need to read the article again. I have learnt throughout this, that taking an academic article and trying to understand it, can be a difficult experience even if the language used is not that technical.  Understanding the angle that the authors are coming from and putting in line with your own view.  Yes the big word of epistemology has reared it’s ugly head and my knowledge on this subject is far less than I assumed it was.  I will reread the article and see if I come to a greater understanding of it.

 

Update: 22/09/15 –

Ok so I have now read this article 4 times and also the notes from the lecture that this paper is from and I can now see that this is basically the lecture in written form.  Does this make it an academic article? Although it does have many of the features contained in an academic article I do not think that this paper constitutes as one.

“You are the Master of your own Destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environent. You can make Your life what you want it to be” – Napoleon Hill

Technology and Movies

OK so virtual reality is amoung us. The imersion that comes from putting on a headset and delving into a world, without leaving the comforts of our own surroundings, has made this new (yet not so new) technology the wave of the future. Now  both the London Marriott and New York Marriott hotels are trialing a new aspect of room service – VRoom. VRoom is a room service virtual reality headset, where the users can experience other countries.

If this sounds farmiliar it could be, think of a movie that originally stared Arnold Schwarzenegger from the 90’s that was then remade with Colin Farrell in 2014. Yes Total Recall. In this movie holidays/vacations are taken by going to a place where they put you into the virtual reality holiday of your dreams.

Is it possible this is where we are heading.  This could be the way to go and visit all the artifacts and historical buildings that have now been destroyed thanks to the wars in Syria. It could also be a way to visit Pompeii before the volcano and experience life as it was.

http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/virtually-travel-the-world-without-leaving-your-hotel-room/ar-AAerb3t

The above article talks about the trial/demo that is happening, who knows where it may lead. For me although I have never tried virtual reality or seen what it is like within these worlds, the prospect is very exciting.