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mynameisEarl

Page history last edited by earl babista 14 years, 11 months ago

 

 
 
 
 


Who am I?


 

Who am I? I'm still trying to figure that out. It's kind of a loaded question. As far as the minor details are concerned, I am a 28 year old returning student who's been out of school for a few years. Dr. Connor called me a "non-traditional" student which I actually like better. I received an AA Degree from St. Petersburg College back in 2001 and started on my bachelors over at USF Tampa shortly thereafter. My original major was Management Information Systems, but I quickly realized that me and computers don't really get along.

 

Because of some circumstances that occurred in my life during that time, I decided to leave school. During my time away, I've helped create/raise a little boy, gotten married, and watched my wife get her Masters Degree at USF. I also discovered the most wonderful place on this Earth, Hawai'i. I've been going at least once a year to Oahu for the past five years. My wife was raised on the North Shore and she wanted me to go there to find some inner peace. I definitely found some. If everything goes well, hopefully I can finish school, move to Hawai'i and live the rest of my life as a kama aina.

 

As far a gaming culture is concerned, I've been a gamer all of my life. I've been playing video games since I was 6 years old. I've played on gaming systems ranging from the old school Atari 2600 to the PlayStation 3. I'm more of a console gamer than a computer gamer. I think the reason I don't play computer games is that I don't know how to use a keyboard. It took me 2 hours to type all this down because I type like a primate. My favorite games are Madden, GTA series, Rock Band, and almost all first person shooters. I've been trying hard to ween myself away from my consoles because they are taking up way too much of my time. Time right now is a necessity.

 

Well, that's pretty much all I've got right now. I'm still trying to figure out how this Wiki thingy works, so my page is probably going to look pretty boring. Hopefully it progresses throughout the semester. I'm looking forward to interacting with all of you and hopefully we'll all be successful this semester. Take care.

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Bogost Blog


01.12.2009

 

 

 

1. Read Bogost Chapter 1/Wild Card Blog: write what you like, but connect it to an insight, idea, or example from chapter one of Persuasive Gaming.

 

First of all, I want to begin by saying this was probably one of the hardest reads I’ve had in my life. When I say hard, I don’t mean it was boring or tedious. I mean hard as in, I had to take my dictionary out to figure out what the hell he was saying. It was kind of like when I watched “The Matrix Reloaded” for the first time. There was a scene where Neo first meets the program known as “The Architect.” The ensuing conversation that “The Architect” has with Neo was so confusing and difficult that my brain melted in the movie theatre. The following is a transcript of that conversation. The Architect - "Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden to sedulously avoid it, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here." I know i wasn't the only one in the theatre that said, "wah?"
 
With that being said, what really captivated me in chapter 1 was the different definitions and genre of gaming. I was aware of gaming types such as, first person shooter, role playing, and platform. But never the idea of serious games or persuasive games.
 
I’ve always played games for the purpose of my own personal entertainment. I never looked at games as vehicles for social awareness, education, and persuasion or activism. I haven’t played any of these game genres yet but I’m interested to see how the experience differs from the traditonal games I’m used to.
 
 
 

 

 

 

Licence Argument


01.14.2009

 

 

 

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

 

 

 

 

The main reason I selected an Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license was based on the definitions and brief description set forth by Creative Commons. Prior to taking this course, I have never had to worry myself with the reasoning and understanding of copyright terms. I am not an author, scientist, educator, or artist so I have no creative personal works that I feel need to be protected in any way. It was difficult to choose from the variety of deeds because of this lack of awareness. Just going by what I think I’ll be doing throughout this class in terms of creative writing, blogging, reporting, ect, I feel I have chosen the correct copyright.
 
This license allows other people to remix, adjust, and build upon my work non-commercially, as long as they credit me and license their remixed creations under the same license. I honestly don’t think my writings will be so profound that someone else would like to build on them. But for some reason if they do, it’s a relief that I will get some credit for it and they won’t make any money off of it. Basically, if I’m not getting paid you’re not getting paid.
 
Going back to the idea that people have the ability to remix or adjust my creative works intrigues me. People have that ability to improve upon my work and then I can turn around and critique the new works derived from my own. Seeing, listening to, or reading my adjusted works will help me, as the creator, understand how people view my work.
 
In conclusion, the Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license fits the description of how my works should be protected and shared.

 

Links


my linkpile

 

 

 

 

 

01.21.2009

 

Games and & (fill in the blank)


 

Games and fill in the blank. There are so many topics that one can fill in that would make for entertaining reading. Games and sex, games and violence, games and addiction, so on and so forth. What I want to write about is games and my five year old son. I wanted to write about this topic because I don’t have to do too much research on the issue because I’ve been studying the subject all his life.

 

It was interesting to read the conclusions laid out in the “Digital Youth Project”. The main demographic in their research seemed to be teens. What I’m wondering is what is the impact of new media on really young kids. Looking back on my own personal experiences with games and new media, I started tinkering with video games the age of six. Looking back at the technology that was available, it was very limited in terms of graphics, sound, participation and interaction. When I played games like Super Mario Bros, the graphics (in today’s world) were primitive. Sound composed of beeps, and all I did was hit a couple buttons to make the character jump or move around.

 

Nowadays, these experiences are much different in regards to my son. He started interacting and playing video games at age one. My mother bought him an educational and learning based gaming system made by a company called Leap Frog. Participation was limited on his end. He would simply touch a pad or hit something and these actions caused a response. These responses ranged from visual outputs like a character popping up on the television and dancing around to audio outputs like life-like instrument sounds or a human voice telling a short story. I didn’t really concern myself with the amount of time he spent with these systems at this point because I looked at them as purely educational and innocent entertainment.

 

A few years have past and his participation has changed dramatically. He has shifted from what some would call “educational products” to serious gaming consoles like the PS3, Wii, and XBOX360. My son started getting interested in these consoles primarily because of me. He would watch me play and therefore he would want to play. Playing with these consoles isn’t what I’m concerned with. It’s the output that they create that does.

 

As a parent, I feel the need to monitor the games that he plays. Right now he’s really into interactive games like Wii Sports, Rock Band to traditional platform type games like Lego Star Wars. These games are acceptable in my opinion because they involve learning functions, problem solving, movement, and coordination. These games are suitable for all ages as the rating on the box implies.

 

What concerns me is my sons’ interaction with the videogames that I play. I play games like GTA, Gears of War, and Call of Duty. These games have adult themes like violence, sex, and war. He’ll watch me play these games and ask if he can play too. At this point I have to question his motivation. Does he want to play because he wants to play along side his dad or does he want to play because he finds what he sees appealing? I obviously hope it’s not the latter. I tell him that these games are for people who are “grown-up” and he understands and backs off his request. The “grown-up” portion of that statement is debatable. I almost always end up turning off my “mature rated” game and putting in something we both enjoy and is more appropriate for his age.

 

In the news media, you always here these stories about kids acting violently from playing mature rated video games. I don’t necessarily agree that playing violent video games creates violent people. But I do feel the need to limit my son from these games until he’s a lot older. I say limit because I can’t monitor him 24/7. There have been instances where I’ve caught him playing Halo and Call of Duty at my brother’s house and I have to remind him that these games are not to be played unless I say so. My son is always going to have access to these violent games, it’s up to me to reinforce that there are much more enjoyable and participatory games that he would enjoy. It’s also my responsibility to play along with my son and enjoy the games that he plays. I love playing Wii Sports because we both enjoy the competitive nature of it. If he sees that all I’m playing is GTA all the time and ignoring his games, he’s going to assume he’s missing out on something. By me playing with him, his assumption is Wii Sports and Rock Band is just as enjoyable as Halo and GTA. Plus with his games, the whole family gets involved and it seems even more fun.

 

My son and his involvement in the gaming culture are very important to me. I want him to take advantage of today’s technology because of not only the entertainment factor, but there are technologies and games that he uses that serve as an educational tool and serve as a more practical purpose. Because of his age I feel the need to protect him from the negatives that the same technology creates. I hate the idea of giving my son limits and restriction because I hated these controls as a kid myself. In the end, that’s what parents do. They place limitations because full control and complete censorship is unattainable. As he grows, his participation along with the technology will grow along with him. Unfortunately, his age and my limits that I place on him will be inversely related. Hopefully, he’ll be responsible tomorrow because of what I taught him today.

 

 

 

Read and Respond


 

Ito

 

Reading about the Digital Youth Project was interesting because their findings coincide with my own personal observations. I have four younger brothers and they seem to fit the demographic of their study. I've watched my youngest brother who is 12 go through different participatory stages from hanging out to geeking out. I don't participate in what they call "friendship-driven" genres of new media like My Space and Face book, but my brothers sure do. My youngest brother uses these websites not just for keeping up with his current friends but he has also made friendships out of them by finding individuals who have similar interests. He used to be a little introverted before utilizing these new tools but since then he has gained confidence and is more on the extroverted side. That alone shows the influence that these new media forms have on today’s youth.

 

 

Bogost Chapter 1

 

 

 

refer to Bogost Blog

 

 

 

McCloud Chapter 1

 

 

 

 

This chapter gave me a nice history lesson on the origin of comics. When I was a teen, I really enjoyed comics and collected very seriously. I honestly can't remember why I stopped collecting and reading them but I kind of regret it. Previous to reading this, my definition of a comic involved some sort of superhero or something out of the Sunday paper. McCloud shows me how comics are much more complex and broad from what my definition is. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book to give me more insight on this literary genre that I thought I understood.

 

McDonalds Video Game

 

I haven’t had the time to play this game yet but it looks pretty fun. I understand that it’s a satirical game that criticizes the business practices of McDonalds, but it’s not going to stop me from getting a McRib from time to time. We've all seen and read the business practices of these big businesses. We even have these types of establishments on our campuses. In the end of the day, we even support them by buying their food or wearing their clothes. The good thing that comes out of games like the McDonalds games is that they are aware that we are aware. Hopefully with that knowledge, comes improvements on how business is conducted so that they are more socially and environmentally responsible and accountable.

 

 

 

Definitional Argument (class workshop copy)


 

 

The Nintendo Wii is a video game console that generates visual feedback based on a person’s interaction and activity with a user interface. Occupational therapists working in an elderly care facility create tasks and activities to improve individuals physically, cognitively and socially. Based on these definitions, the activities connected to using the Nintendo Wii can be used as a valid tool for occupational therapy for the elderly.
 
As a therapist, your goal is to improve or maintain range of motion, strength, and hand eye coordination. Range of motion exercises help maintain normal joint function by increasing and preserving joint mobility and flexibility (William C. Shiel Jr., 2007). Limited range of motion can cause a decrease in functional abilities and can eventually cause pain. Exercises that include light bending, stretching, and turning promote improvement in an elderly patient’s range of motion. A patient can gradually reach normal range of motion by continuously doing these exercises. Range of motion is important because impairment would cause difficulties in everyday activities like walking up the stairs, reaching in the cupboard for food, or bending over to get the morning paper. Studies have shown that strength training can reduce mortality and morbidity in older adults (Robert J Nied, 2002) .Building strength has a plethora of benefits. Some include, decreases in falling incidents, bone density loss, slip and fall accidents, obesity and increases in quality of sleep, function, and glycemic control (Robert J Nied, 2002). An example of strength training would be repetitious movement with very light dumbbells. Hand eye coordination is very important because it can influence a persons balance and orientation. Simple exercises like catching a bouncing ball or catching a falling balloon promote hand eye coordination.
 
The Nintendo Wii can promote all these exercises for physical improvement. For range of motion exercises, a patient can play Wii Tennis and swing the controller like they would an actual racquet. If someone has limited range of motion, the controller will still recognize that the controller is being swung and therefore the patient isn’t forced to exert themselves. With continuous use, one can achieve desired range of motion. Strength can be increase using the Wii as well. Repetitious motions using Wii Boxing increases muscle tone and strength and also serves as a cardiovascular workout. Any game on the Wii will improve hand eye coordination. Using Wii Tennis, an individual must time swinging the controller and the oncoming ball to make contact. If someone isn’t able to time the swing right away, your eyes will be able to adjust over multiple tries.
 
Therapists also look to improve cognition in their elderly patients. Cognition involves the acquisition of information within the person’s environment and the continued process of this information (Chapey, 2001). It includes several mental operations that include attention, memory, planning/evaluative thinking. From a therapy standpoint, attention involves keeping the patient engaged in an activity without allowing distractions to interfere with the individuals focus. This is important in an elderly person’s everyday life because reduced attention abilities could lead to difficulties in person’s activities of daily living such as cooking, driving, managing finances, and taking medications. Memory from a therapy standpoint is the ability to recall and retrieve information, directions, and instructions relative to a specific task. Memory is important in active daily living for the elderly because without it, they wouldn’t remember how to get home, what chores they had to do, following doctors advice for medicine consumption, and turning off the stove after cooking. Evaluative thinking involves the ability of an individual to use information such as instructions, directions, timing, and logic. An example of evaluative thinking is cooking dinner. One has to ensure that the meat is thawed (logic), make sure ingredients are used properly (directions), and making sure food is done in time (timing) (Chapey, 2001). One exercise that encompasses cognitive processes above is a basketball style game that involves different colored, weighted bean bags. The point of the game is to throw the bean bag into the basket. Attention is involved because a therapist has to make sure that the patient is engaged with the game and not surrounding sounds or distractions. Memory is involved because the patient has to recall the instructions that were given about how to play the game. And evaluative thinking is used because the patient needs to calculate how much force to use in order to get the weighted bean bag in the basket. The patient needs to make the assumption that the heavier bag requires more energy and effort than the lighter bag in order to get it in the basket.
 
The Wii has many games that improve cognition. Playing Wii Tennis promotes attention, memory, and planning/evaluative thinking. The patient has to be fully engaged while playing the game or else they will lose. Memory is used because they have to recall what buttons and which motions do what. Evaluative thinking is involved because the patient needs to realize that when the tennis ball is bouncing toward their forehand side, a forehand stroke of the Wii controller must be utilized.
 
Occupational therapists also look to improve their elderly patients socially. Being in a therapy or nursing home facility lends to social isolation because a person is removed from their family and regular circle of friends. Other tragic incidents like loss of a spouse, personal injury, or serious illness also contributes to limited social interactions. Group therapy is a common form of social therapy that not only targets goals like strengthening range of motion, and cognitive activities like the ones mentioned above, but also enhances social interaction. Within this form of therapy, patients within the group work together to complete a specific task. The social aspect is being able to communicate with other individuals going through the same thing, reminiscing and using appropriate social behaviors. An example of this type of therapy is gathering a group of patients and instructing them to make a gingerbread house during the holiday season. The group must communicate to each other properly to make sure the gingerbread house is made correctly and they use to time to reminisce about their own experiences with the holidays.
 
 
The Wii can accomplish social types of therapy with group play. Many Wii games have multiplayer capacity where many players can participate. Wii Sports has games like tennis where more than one player can play at a time. The participants must communicate with each other to make sure they know which player is supposed to be on the right side and the other on the left. They must communicate who is going after the ball as well so the other can be prepared when the ball is hit back.
 
The Wii has accommodated all the goals of an occupational therapist, however there are limitations. If an individual is unable to hold the controller because of physical limitation then the Wii is ineffective. If the patient is physically able to hold the controller but unable to follow instructions because of deficits in understanding verbal instruction, processing information, or information retrieval then the Wii is ineffective. If the patient is unable to display proper social behaviors when using the Wii with other people, then the Wii will not be a useful tool.
 
People normally associate video games with entertainment and younger people like teens. They need to step away from these assumptions and realize that the technology can be used for more functional purposes for our geriatric population. Wii can be used to improve or maintain a geriatric patient’s physical abilities (strength and range of motion), cognitive awareness, and social behaviors. Because the technology is relatively new and there are no formal studies to determine that the Wii alone can be used for the above improvements, there is no denying that the application possesses the potential of being a valid supplemental tool along with traditional therapy practices to help geriatric patients.
 
 
 
 

- Earl, you are dead on with this. My great aunt and uncle, both in their mid 80's, own a Wii. They round up their various wizened gumbas to have Wii

parties on wiikends. They very much enjoy Wii sports, with particular affection towards golf and bowling. - Danny

 

 

 

 

Definitional Argument-Final Draft

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

McCloud Ch. 2 and 3.


 

 

Initially, I wasn’t clear on why McCloud titled chapter 2 “The Vocabulary of Comics.” My broad definition of a vocabulary is a set of words known by a person. He explains that iconology is the vocabulary of comics. I guess what McCloud is trying to say is that the images within a comic represent a person, place, or a thing. Depending on how “real” the image is, we as readers use abstract thinking to interpret the image. The more realistic the icon is the less cognitive thinking we use. The more abstract the icon is, the more cognitive thinking we use to interpret the person, place, thing, or idea the artist or writer is trying to convey. Applying my definition of vocabulary to McCloud’s idea of iconology, the set of words a person knows would be the set of interpretations a person has after trying to interpret a particular icon.

 

In Chapter 3, McCloud states that,”If visual iconography is the vocabulary of comics, closure is its grammar.” I would define grammar as the way words or language is structured in order for them to make sense. Instead of words or language being defined, it is the panel to panel transitions that give structure to the comics we read. I regularly read comics as a teen and I didn’t really think of the different transitions that occurred from panel to panel. I read mostly Marvel comics as a teen and looking back it did seem they used primarily the action to action transition. I stopped by Barnes and Noble this weekend and browsed through the comics’ area and that seems to be the case for today’s American comics as well. I browsed through the Japanese Manga section and looked through those comics. I started reading a little bit of the book and I was a little confused by the way the book was beginning. The beginning of the book was actually the end. I flipped through the book and at the very end it actually gave instructions on how to read Japanese comics. Apparently you start at the very back of the book and you have to follow the panels in a specific order for the comic to make sense. McCloud says that Japanese comics’ usages of the panel to panel transitions are much different than US comics. He seems to be right. Just flipping through I did notice more usage of aspect to aspect transition that aren’t regularly used in US comics. Not to say that one style of comic is better than the other. It’s just important to understand the techniques the artists are using in order for the reader to have a pleasurable reading experience.

 

 

 

 

 

First Person: Cyberdrama


The concept of game-story really caught my attention in Murray’s “From Game Story to Cyberdrama” because I really enjoy playing story rich games. Games like Halo, Metal Gear Solid, and Gears of War are great video games because they are basically movies. The biggest difference is that theses cyberdramtic movies are participatory and procedural. When you go watch a movie there is no participation other than watching a film that the director has created for his audience. If you don’t like the pace the movie is going or if you don’t like where the plot is headed there isn’t anything you can do because you can’t control that medium and have no sense of agency. In a cyberdramatic game like Halo, we as gamers are basically the directors and the protagonists in the video games are the actors. We create a sense of agency when we are placed in a first person perspective of the main character, Master Chief. In a movie, the emotions we feel are outcomes of the visuals and the scenes that the director has created w/o participation from the audience. In Halo or any other video game, the emotions and sense of pleasure we feel are based on the outcomes and actions that the audience creates. Obviously we direct with the constraints and the restrictions that the programmers give us based on their vision on how the story should be played and how the story should end. It’s how we get to that ending that’s fun.

 

 

 

 

 

Unit 1 Peer Review


 

 

Aldijana

 

Michele

 

Kristie

 

 

 

 

Unit 2 Rough Draft


 

 

 

Midterm Reflection


 

Section I

 

Section 2

 

 

 

Unit 2 Rough Draft Peer Reviews


 

Michele's Unit 2

 

 

The topic of this paper and the thesis isn’t apparent and clear after reading the first paragraph.  A little adjusting would correct that. The information in the supporting paragraphs is very visual and detailed. The paragraphs are supported with clear topic sentences and the examples within the paragraphs make sense. With a little clean up. You got an A paper.

 

 

 

Paul's Unit 2

 

The purpose of this causal paper is clear and the examples that you provide, whether they be statistical or visual, back up the thesis statement. The paragraphs are clear and segmented to introduce a new statement. With some grammatical touch ups, you definitely got an A capable paper.

 

 

 

 

Some suggestions:

 

 

Rephrase last sentence from first paragraph.

 

They are causing behavior problems by the way desensitizing and by leading to aggression or harmful behavior.”

 

 

 

Aldijana's Unit 2

 

 

This paper is a very good informative paper but I don’t think it’s a causal paper. The introduction needs some refining to provide a clear thesis statement. There are a few grammatical errors that need some attention as well. Other than that, the statistical information that you provide is clear and definitely provides a sense of fear for a parent.

Your paragraphs are structured logically with appropriate topic sentences. Make some corrections and you should have a A paper.

 

Some suggestions:

 

Children who are going through emotional emotionally rough times are more prone to fall for prey.

 

 

One kinds type of these individuals takes a more slower approach to their quest and will give plenty of attention…

 

 

For These predators their tactics lead them to slowly present sexually explicit material into their conversations (FBI).

 

 

Unit 2 Final Draft 


 

Unit 2 Graded Peer Reviews


 

Paul

 

Aldijana

 

Michele

 

 

Final Project Proposal


 

 

 

TO: Dr. Trey Conner

 

 

FROM: Earl Babista, ENC 3310 Section 602

 

 

Date: April 22, 2009

 

 

Subject: Final Project Proposal

 

 

 

 

 

For my final project, I would like to expand on my causal paper, “Kids, get in the house and play your videogames!”  My thirty minute timeslot for April 23rd’s class will be used to ask my fellow peers on how the paper can be expanded.

 

 

Visual representations such as video clips and pictures will supplement the claims throughout the paper. My definitional argument, “Wii Therapy”, will be linked as a transition explaining other benefits of playing videogames.

 

 

Overall structure of the paper will be an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and conclusion. Formatting will accomplished through MLA formatting.

 

 

Freesound Project


 

Final Project


 

 

 

 

 

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