AUGUSTIN CULA KLINE: March 2008 Archives
Yesterday was gorgeous, and as I was walking back in the Scotia game lands I realized that I could really increase my experience by purchasing a new bike. So I did. Now it's not like me to throw money at a situation to make it better, but I've been pondering this kind of purchase for maybe ten years. Looking back at my childhood, I realized there were two primary motivators: video games and biking. I am so freaking ecstatic about this and I plan to bike every day.
I bought a Specialized Hardrock Sport, a super solid frame that I plan to slowly build on as I get more into the sport. The bike only cost me about $400.00, and was on sale. I couldn't pass it up and I think this thing will pay for itself as I will be doing a lot less driving. I'm not just saying words here either. I plan to use the shit out of this thing and really get some bang for my buck.
Just a side note: the image above has disc brakes, and I don't have those yet.
For the fourth directed blog post we were assigned the task to read from a collection of writings called “The Daedalus Project” (TDP), a web blog dedicated to the research and findings pertaining to MMORPGs. The site is operated by Nick Yee of the Palo Alto Research Center’s PlayOn research group.
“The PlayOn project at PARC is an investigation into the social dimensions of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) and virtual worlds…”
In addition to TDP, the PlayOn site will also be a source of critical thinking in this entry. The PlayOn site, another blog, is the site maintained by the PARC research group.
The content of both sites is comparable. TDP and PlayOn both provide incredible insight into the social and psychological mechanics of the MMO machine. Considering there are over ten million World of Warcraft players alone, the research in this area is valuable. These two sites are excellent sources of this kind of information. From first glance at the site you are exposed to scientific studies on this type of subject matter. I had previously never guessed that this kind of work was being done, and the information that is presented in these sites is interesting. Articles cover lofty issues such as how we virtually project ourselves in a virtual world, to more serious topics like therapy and dependency of MMOGs. How we keep ourselves motivated to play these games, and questioning the stereotypes of gamers (anti-social, gender, age).
A primary objective of understanding apparent in TDP is learning what motivates us. Why is it that we spend seemingly wasted time in virtual worlds accomplishing little recognized by the outside world? Dr. Yee creates an empirical framework to answer this question. In his study titled “MMORPG Demographics, Motivations, and Experiences”, Yee surveys 6,000+ players of the game Ever Quest to discover what draws them to the game. The survey construed the following terms for motivating factors: relationships, manipulation, immersion, escapism, achievement, and learning. Female players were driven by the relationship factor, while male players found their motivation in achievement and manipulation. Furthermore, the study indicates that these experiences created genuine relationships, and practical leadership skills. This study seems incredibly reliable considering the size of the dataset.
As an adult gamer myself it is not uncommon to be compared to a child for playing video games. =( Sad yes, but true? No. And the data collected from the above study supports me and my feelings. The gender distribution was nearly 50/50. Shocking, I guess. But in this case we can question the validity of these figures. Consider that the dataset was provided by one game, in one slice of the gaming genre. Average gaming age was 27, another reality check. Once again, the old stereotypes are not exactly met here. Unfortunately, nobody said that these stereotypes were designed for MMO players, just players in general.When it comes to ingame stereotypes, and I mean stereotypes that are built into the game, they exist. Apparently it isn't easy to find every ethnic hairstyle you want.Thursday morning, 8:45 AM, in the IST building. Where else would I ever be on such a fine day (everyday)? And as I'm sitting here dying for inspiration, I'm inspired by the troublesomeness of the web brower I'm using: IE 7.0. About 5 years ago light shined into my life. Firefox walked through the door and introduced many innovative features that today I cannot live without. Some of these features microsoft has implemented, like tabbed browsing, but hundreds of thousands of others MS has not.
Mozilla just announced that in June they will be shipping the final version of Firefox, version 3.0. I declare June to be Firefox appreciation month.
The most difficult game of all time.
Synopsis: You are this little man with the potential to be the guy. Will you be? No. If you can get to the second screen, you're lucky and dedicated. The game is an ode to a long list of classic old school games: earthbound, mario, tetris, kirby, street fighter, and so on. However in the most saddistic, cruel, and frustrating compilation ever known to mankind. Because I know if you download the game you will quit after 10-15 deaths (that will take about 2 minutse tops), below is one persons' "best run". Watch it and appreciate the fact that getting that far probably took many months of trial and error.
My roommate has been using the same p.o.s. compaq since 2003, with minor additions since then. Last week he made the decision that it was time to upgrade, from the ground up. So I put it upon myself to find some beefy parts, and personally build it for him, because I'm a nice guy.
Here's the parts list I came up with.
ABIT IP35 Pro ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768-P2-N831-AR Video Card
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor
ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Acer P223Wwd Glossy White 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
All in all the computer is a tank. A very quiet one. It cuts through Team Fortress 2 and COD4 like a warm knife through butter.
I began assembling the computer promptly when I got home from class, 5:30P. It took 9 hours to assemble the damn thing and troubleshoot a handful of problems we were having with the MB and the optical drive.
Problem 1: the MB wasn't getting enough juice. Reason, I forgot to plug one power cable in (supplementary PCIex). Total time to deduce: 3 hours.
Problem 2: You can't clean install from SATA drives. At least this motherboard didn't let us. We had to scrounge up an old IDE cd drive to install the OS, windows, which leads to our third problem. Total time to deduce: 1.5 hours.
Problem 3: Windows doesnt have built in USB drivers during the installation process. This is a problem when your keyboard and mouse are manufactured after the year 1932. Solution, use old keyboard (luckily we had one).
I finally crashed around 3 AM. Mission accomplished. One last note, I have to thank Alex T for helping. Two heads are definitely better than one semi drunk head (me).
Lately out of spiritual self loathing I've been reading a lot about Ghandi and Zen Buddhism. No, the two topics aren't exactly related, but still it's given me the opportunity to think about things from different perspectives. It's a common philosophical debate about computers and consciousness. Does a computer have a consciousness, at least in the most fundamental sense? A biological organism is a macrocosm of organization. It's what makes an amoeba different than a text book. It's what makes living beings so fascinating. But if an amoeba is conscious, is a computer? I'm not asking if the computer has sentience.
And from the Buddhist perspective. Everything has Buddha nature. And if computers evolve intelligence, can it achieve enlightenment? And what about the internet? Has it Buddha nature?
Looking back at spring break I've come to a sad conclusion. No, I'm not ashamed to admit it, but yes it is somewhat saddening.I spent the whole week playing COD4. Why, do you say? The game is digital heroin. Injecting pure adrenaline into your eyesockets, the game never ceases to excite. Also, 99% of my friends, and my woman left town. I'm a towny.
What sort of insight can I provide from my experience? None. This is the result of not actively using my brain all break. Playing the game has reached the point where little thought is required at all. I just sit there going through the motions. And I suppose you could also attest the lack of insight to the frequent 40 oz.. I would often self medicate to dull the boredom.
Break was a blast, but no I didn't spend it anywhere warm. Unless you consider the digital Persian Gulf a warm place.
Future plans include trying to get a life.
Above is an image of 2000 IBM microchips at work. This isn't your standard 2000core computer though. Each microchip is programmed to act like a neuron, a brain cell. And on top of it the whole shebang is structured like the neocortal column. Don't ask me what kind of implications its architecture has, but apparently it's a very complex and biologically accurate structure. Plans to upscale this thing include self-consciousness and ghosts in machines. Anyone smell robot's taking over the human race?
Net neutrality is a non restricted internet: free communication of content, sites, and platforms where one method is not degraded by another. Why this is important is reflected quite nicely in the video above. But if you didn't have time to watch the entire thing, to follow are some key points that are made.
The history of telecommunications has always lead to domination by particular private entities. Radio and television both represent this model: one way information. The internet is being threatened by this same model as some companies have made plans to create their own networks (Comcast), putting them in complete control. A sad reality considering that the major telecommunication companies had absolutely nothing to do with the conception and creation of the internet. I don't want to live in a non neutral internet. I'd rather die.
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