Weekly Blog 14

This week, all of my classes started wrapping up.  I received one of my last assignments for my DSA class.  This was to implement a spherecollider into my 3d game engine.  This was a really cool assignment and it was not that difficult because I have a pretty good grip on how sphere collisions work.  Basically, all you have to do is check if the distance between 2 spheres is greater or less than the sum of their radii combined.  If the distance is greater, they are not colliding.  If it is less, then there is collision.  We implemented this so that spheres would not spawn on top of each other and there would be no overlapping.

In my Rich Media class, we talked about our final topics of SQLite databases.  I thought this was actually pretty cool because it was not only extremely handy for storing data, but it was also not too difficult to make SQLite databases with the Mozilla Firefox extension we downloaded.  These assignments did get a bit more difficult when we had to implement PHP to work with SQLite databases.

In my GDD game, we finalized our game by adding art to really make our prisoner look like a prisoner.  We also made the blocks that fall down look like things that you would see in a jail.  We also decided based on the play tests that we wanted to make the game a cooperative game instead of a versus one.  The player can now play alone or with someone else, where the second person would use the mouse to place blocks for the other person to navigate the prisoner over or around to the exit of the jail.

Lastly, for my HFOSS class, we prepped our game for the next play test.  My friend implemented a transparent water layer to reinforce the fact that our game is supposed to teach the different states of matter.  I implemented a scoring function because we found that the 4th graders liked it when the game gave them feedback of how well they were doing.

Final Stretch Hackathon

Last Week I got the chance to attend a hackathon on my December 10.  In honor of the last day of classes and in order to give students a chance to work on whatever projects they have, study for whatever exams they have, or just hang out at the awesome RIT Magic Center, MAGIC hosted a hackathon.  Coincidentally, this also happened to be the day of my 21st Birthday!

Needless to say, after I went out and purchased my first legally bought beers and stored them in my fridge, I invited my friends Alan(github.com/AlanLeeson) and Jordan(djz4086@rit.edu) to attend the Home Stretch Hackathon with me.  Although they were reluctant at first, I won them over with promises of free food, and we were not let down when we were able to grab free pizza and soda, as well as Twizzlers for Alan.  Unfortunately, because I had a couple of things to do earlier in the day, I was only able to make it for about an hour or so of the hackathon.  I was still extremely glad that I attended though, because I wasn't sure if it would still be going on by the time we got there at about 7:30.

Although I didn't get to talk to my professor Decause(github.com/decause) because he was helping another student, ClumsyCat(github.com/matthewolson), from my FOSS class with what I believe was an XO Project, I was happy to spend some time with my friends, while still collectively working on our own assignments.  Personally, I began working on my Rich Media Final Project, and although I was technically not allowed to assist my friend Alan with his Rich Media project, we were able to look over some class notes to study for our final exams.  Whilst we worked on Rich Media, my friend Jordan worked on his Clean Snowmobile Team tasks, which to my knowledge involved working with a complex engine on AutoCad(http://www.autodesk.com/products/autocad/overview).

As I said earlier, I was only able to attend the hackathon for a bit more than an hour, but I still cannot express how much I enjoy attending the hackathons at RIT when I am able.  The Magic Center is aptly named and with the fireplaces being projected on some of the 9 projectors, the music playing, the free food, and the socialization, I really enjoyed myself while still being productive.  I highly recommend other students get involved in activities like these because as I said to my friend, studying is what I was going to be doing anyway, so I minus well go do it somewhere where I could actually enjoy myself, and be around people who could potentially help me or at least talk with me.

I wish I could link to the game starring my HFOSS professor that believe was projecting on one of the screens at the hackathon, but I can't remember the URL off the top of my head.  Regardless, here's an awesome website that he stars in: http://decau.se/

Final PlayTest!

About a week ago, I participated in a play test for my HFOSS group's game "Matter"(https://github.com/MrNex/Matter.py).  Similar to the play test we conducted several weeks ago before Thanksgiving, we traveled again to Allendale Columbia school(http://allendalecolumbia.org/) and handed over our games to a class of 4th graders to try out.

This time, our game was more complete than our first play test.  Unfortunately, when we tested all of the new changes on the XO, we found that the game lagged to the point that it was unplayable.  This was most likely due to the addition of a transparent background being drawn over already existent dark backgrounds.  To make sure that we had something at least playable, I reverted to one of our earlier copies of the game and quickly added the implementation of my score counter code.

Our game again involved a block of matter that the player could change the state of based on how quickly they moved the mouse.  The matter would rise if the player moved the mouse quickly, and it would fall if they stopped moving the mouse.  For this play test, we fixed some bugs that the 4th graders and ourselves caught last time, and as I said, I added code to keep score.

The students once again really seemed to enjoy our game which was really great.  Another thing that was super awesome this time, was that 2 other groups also had playable prototypes for their projects.  One of these 2 groups' games involved producing rectangles of certain perimeters and areas to "create pen's for puppies".  The other game reminded me a bit of Pac-Man, and involved getting the player's character to only eat right angles.  As you can probably tell, all of our games were meant to be educational.

The students noted a few things that they wanted to see changed.  One student noticed that there was a bug where the block would get hooked on an obstacle randomly, which we have since fixed.  Another student thought that the score did not count the first obstacle if you pass it, but we figured out that he must have got confused because we could not replicate the problem.  Students thought our game reminded them of "Flappy Bird".  Our game seemed to be quite addicting as students were all flocking around our laptops to try and get the high score.  Amazingly, one kid actually got his score all the way up to 90!

I was very pleased with the feedback we got from this play test and it was a great feeling hearing a handful of students say that our game was their favorite.  It was also nice to see again that so many students were interested in what we do and how we make games.  A lot of the students also continued to say that they wanted to be programmers, which was pleasing to see at such a young age.

Weekly Blog 15

This was my last week of classes.  In my GDD class, we had a final play test and were told to go back and put the finishing touches on our games.  On Friday, we handed in our finalized products for everyone to play.  My personal favorite game was one called "Jump the Gun" where players can shoot a projectile and teleport around using it.  This was cool because it was made in Unity and it fully utilized network play.  Our game did pretty well in terms of reception as well.  We made a fully playable level showcasing all of the concepts of our game and people actually wanted us to make more levels.  I personally constructed the design document for the game and hosted the powerpoint presentation for our Post Mortem.

My HFOSS class had a final Play Test where I had to revert to an older version of our game because it lagged a bit too heavily on the XO.  The students did however react quite well to the score implementation that I made.  Also, I went to a hackathon that was brought up in my HFOSS class.  To read more about either the XO Project or the Reading Day Hackathon, check out my blog posts on those.

My DSA class finished our Game Engine assignments by adding an Octree implementation.  This was probably one of the hardest assignments I received all year because it is in my opinion a bit difficult of a concept to grasp.  Basically, the program check for collisions only based on what part of the space each object is in.  This is supposed to improve how well the program runs.

My Rich Media class finished up our SQLite lessons, and we received our final projects.  I also had my final exam for this class on Friday.  I think the exam went pretty well, and the final project does not look too bad.  Overall, not a bad last week for me :)

HFOSS - Quiz 2 Pedagogy

This is a quiz post for my HFOSS class.  The quiz is on what we've learned for our OLPC projects about learning styles and how the OLPC program implements these aspects.

0) Expand the Following Acronyms:

1. FOSS - Free and Open Source Software
2. OLPC - One Laptop Per Child
3. tl;dr - Too Long; Didn't Read
4. LGTM - Looks Good To Me
5. RTFM - Read The Fun Manual
6. PEBKAC - Problems Exist Between Keyboard And Chair
7. LOL - Laugh Out Loud

1) Define the following instructional theories:

1. Didactic - Didactic theory states that the teacher has all of the knowledge and students pay attention and passively receive this concrete knowledge given by the teacher.  This requires students to be alert and receptive of all that is imparted to them, and students that do not continuously comprehend the information are often left behind.  This is more based around the teacher.
2. Dialectic - Dialectic theory (I kind of remember by associating "Dialectic" with "Dialogue") states that the teacher guides the students through discovering and understanding the knowledge by themselves.  Information is actively discussed and reasoned with through a dialogue between the teacher and students.  This is more based around the students.
3. Constructivist - The Constructivist theory states that students learn best through experiencing concepts in a way that they can grasp an understanding.  They then further this understanding through repetition and meditating on results.  This is kind of what we mean when we talk about a "hands-on" learning experience.
4. Multiple Intelligences - The theory of Multiple Intelligences suggests there are more than one intelligence and these intelligences can be categorized.  Some examples of these categories are "Musical Intelligence", "Interpersonal Intelligence", "Intrapersonal Intelligence", "Mathematical Intelligence", "Linguistic Intelligence", and so on.  Some students will excel in certain areas but struggle with others.  By focusing on certain categories, students can become more intelligent in the corresponding area.

2) Describe the role of the instructor in each theory.

1. Didactic - Teacher has all the knowledge and students passively absorb.
2. Dialectic - Teacher has most of the knowledge and guides students actively.
3. Constructivist - Teacher creates an environment for students to learn on their own.
4. Multiple Intelligences - Teachers focus on actively honing certain skills.

3)What are the three key aspects of a lesson plan?

• Method - how do we get to where we want to be?
• Objective - where do we want to be ultimately?
• Evaluation - how did it go?  how can we do better?

4)How does Sugar integrate and implement constructivist learning theory?

The OLPC Sugar environment perfectly integrates every aspect of the constructivist learning theory.  It provides the student with not just an all knowing teacher that constantly sends concrete information, but with a platform, a toolbox, and an environment for the student to explore on his/her own.  Sugar is designed with icons that the student can understand and click to explore more about the icon's corresponding topic.  As the constructivist theory suggests, students learn through hands on applications literally named "activities".  Through these activities, students can practice subjects and freely gain knowledge and experience at their own pace.  For example, the music applications present the student with keyboards and instruments that can be played however the student wants.  After experiencing the music applications, students will eventually familiarize themselves with how the keys correspond to different sounds.  After some time messing around, students will understand how music is made with different instruments, which will be taught to them completely at their own pace.  Ultimately, the student is able to construct their own way of learning.

Bonus: Where can new Sugar users and contributors go to find out more information, ask questions, and get involved?

• While I assume there are a multitude of ways for new Sugar users to do this, I would suggest checking out the Sugar website here: https://www.sugarlabs.org/
• Of course, I would also suggest asking any questions on the RIT HFOSS IRC on freenode: #rit-foss
• Or they could check out the XO Laptop site here: http://one.laptop.org/

LitReview: Hacking Politics

Who?

According to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Politics-Progressives-Anarchists-Internet-ebook/dp/B00DYFGYJO

Author: David Moon

But also very important are:

Editors: Patrick Ruffini, David Segal

and 

Aaron Swartz, Lauren Lessig, Cory Doctorow, Zoe Lofgren, Jamie Laurie, Ron Paul, Mike Masnick, Kim Dotcom, Tiffiniy Cheng, Alexis Ohanian, Nicole Powers, Josh Levy, Andrew Mcdiarmid and David Sohn, Ernesto Falcon, Derek Slater, Casey Rae-Hunter, Elizabeth Stark, and if you really want the full list you can read it here: https://hfoss-fossrit.rhcloud.com/static/books/hackingpolitics_txtwithcvfb.pdf

What?

Hacking Politics: How Geeks, Progressives, the Tea Party, Gamers, Anarchists, and Suits Teamed Up to Defeat SOPA and Save the Internet

Where?

https://hfoss-fossrit.rhcloud.com/static/books/hackingpolitics_txtwithcvfb.pdf

When?

July 15, 2013

The Gist

Basically it's a ton of quotes/stories/arguments made by relevant people speaking about their involvement or knowledge of the big fight for the internet, specifically the fight against the SOPA and PIPA bills.

The Good

-They were able to gather the best people to talk about the topic.  It was great to hear about the political battling for the internet from the people who were really involved and knew the most about what was going on.

-The style that this was written in was great - I liked how the entire thing was just a giant collection of pieces written by the long list of people involved in the "Hacking Politics".

-This is an important topic and is well documented in this book.  The world is incredibly dependent today on the internet, and so it is very important to remember and learn about milestones in the internet's history like this.

The Bad

-Lots of words especially referencing things that I don't know much about.  One of the first pages is a list of important political things that are referenced throughout, and I neither knew about, nor cared about much of those things.

-It was a lot to take in - even as a TLDR version.  I can't see anyone reading the actual full book unless they are studying this for a class, or if they're being punished.

-All over the place.  Obviously the giant strands of quotes is not always connected, but I don't just mean that.  Even the more connected pieces go all over the place, which I think is purely because there is so much information.

Questions?

-I found it very interesting how this battle was fought.  It makes sense that an internet battle would be fought in this way, but are there other types of battles where people could come together in a similar fashion like this?

-How can we completely prevent things like SOPA or PIPA from resurfacing again in any shape or form, and how likely is it that these things will keep surfacing?

-This book is about 2 years old now - is there any significant news that is highly related to this book to be mentioned?

My Review

I remember the internet blackout, I remember the SOPA stuff, but I didn't really care much for it, and I felt like it would obviously work itself out.  Due to these feelings, I found this read quite interesting because I never knew all of these details about what specifically happened in this battle.  I liked reading about this topic from the first hand quotes and the background information.  I just wish it was shorter.

7/10

Weekly Blog 13

Not much I can say about this week because it was over Thanksgiving Break.  Right before I left for the break, I participated in an awesome play test with some 4th graders for my group's HFOSS XO game.  The 4th graders responded extremely well to our game and the whole event was a great time.  To read more about that, check out my blog post specifically on this play test.

My DSA class required me to improve on the obstacle spawning that was implemented in the last assignment.  This was a bit of a pain because I completed almost the whole walkthrough but struggled on the very last part.  As a result, I ended up disabling some of the features and simply uploading what I was able to fix.  Next week, we are supposed to add some collisions to the game engine, which I am excited for.

My Rich Media class continued working on some cool Ajax stuff, specifically working on some more difficult PHP.  We had to figure out how to load some jokes stored in JSON using PHP, and then figure out how to set the jokes again using PHP.  This was a pretty cool assignment and although I find the constant ICE's to be a lot to continuously keep up with, I can definitely see a ton of use for what we are learning.

Luckily, my GDD class got a bit of a break during this short week.  On Monday, we had a work day where we all worked on our projects at our own pace.  My holiday was a lot of fun and I loved going home to see my family :)