Jenna Langer's Blog
Contents
Week of July 28th, 2008
August 2nd, 2008
Siting, Waiting, Wishing
I just got into Chicago O'Hare International Airport and was greeted with several signs advertising Wi-Fi in the concourse. Of course when I booted my computer I quickly found out it was too good to be true. Everything cost money these days. So I'm writing my blog now, at 5:41 p.m. central time, to post when I get back to California. Yesterday was a great day. I had some stress in the morning putting together the last bits of the paper and correcting the format, but after that it was smooth sailing. Our demonstration went well, but of course many people wanted to see the game in action. Too bad, but I think they were entertained by the simple 3-D mock up of the cell behind my interface. John actually showed that to people, without even displaying the interface (no! all my hard work! just kidding). Cleaning up after the presentation and re-esembling computers in VRAC was a surreal moment in time. It was weird leaving the workstation where some of us practically lived the past few months. It was a sad time, but followed up by a fun party. Kudos need to go out to Pam for organizing our picture in the corn. Searching for the best field really paid off! The party at Elliot Wiener's house was a great ending to the summer. Good food, good people, moped rides, and going swimming for only the second time this summer! I really enjoyed Pam's speech about how she would remember us. And I can't believe Catherine didn't tell us she got married! Congratulations! We ended the summer practically the same way we started, but as better friends and with better weather! Cleaning the apartment wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, probably because we didn't spend very much time in our room. But yet again, another surreal moment leaving the place we called home for the past few months, never to return again. Now I'm sitting here in this airport thinking about what I'll do for the next few weeks, but actually thinking about how great the past two months have been. I never thought I would go to Iowa, and it was better than I could have ever imagined, and everyone is responsible for that. I'm sad to have left, but I'm looking forward to the future and all the new opportunities I will have because of this internship. Who knows what the future will hold, maybe I'll be back in Iowa!
August 1st, 2008
Presentation Day!
That about sums it up...
July 31st, 2008
The Last Review
Many good things happened today: it's Cole's birthday so we got cake, we received our paychecks, got our custom designed shirts, and finished our paper (in the next half our that is). Our only blunder at this point is that they can't find something to hook up multiple computers to one projector. We will most likely run a screen capture that David is recording of his particle systems. My part of the project isn't very active, so it doesn't make sense to feature it on the screen for long periods of time. We can always just switch out the cord as well. I'm confident we will do well tomorrow, and have a good time doing it. Overall, I had a great summer hear at ISU. Ames was a fun town, my co-workers were great, and everyone in the HCI program was very nice and helpful. My first taste of the Midwest was a great one. The extracurricular activities were a blast and it was nice having everything taken care of for us. I especially liked the luncheon lectures because we were exposed to several possible paths that HCI can lead us to. I enjoyed working on the project, but I would have liked to have more research involved. This program got me really excited to research in graduate school and I wish I could have gotten a bigger taste of that here. I had a great time with all of the interns, and I'm sure we'll stay connected in the future. It will be interesting to see where all of us our a few years from now. This program has given me the opportunity to established connections with a variety of people in multiple fields. I am honored to have participated in this program, and I plan on recommending it to anyone interested in HCI. I hope it gets funding for next year!
July 30th, 2008
The final countdown
Well folks, looks like I'm heading towards the home stretch. My user interface is done unless David figures out the problems with formatting tables. Our paper is currently in Eve Wurtele's hands, and we will most likely correct any additional edits she has and call it quits on the paper. That leaves me currently searching for graduate programs, yet again. I am starting to think I want to purse technical communication or human-computer interaction, in addition to business. I would like to be a project manager, and it seems like business classes will help me get there. Illinois Institute of Technology has a joint MS/MBA degree in design, but they suggest 2-5 years of work experience, and a degree in design. I'm searching for other programs that combine the two, but I haven't had much luck so far. I know Iowa State has HCI in their business school, but I'm still not sure if that's in my cards. I also would really like to study abroad, and there are only a few programs that have that opportunity in graduate school. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!
BREAKING NEWS I, Jenna Langer, will be attending UX Week in San Francisco, August 12-15. This user experience conference normally costs $2495, but I am volunteering and attending for free! A large thank you needs to go out to Stephen Gilbert for informing me of Adaptive Path, the company responsible for the event. Now I really know that it's crucial to take advantage of any opportunity presented to me. All I did was call the company and left a message with the event manager. They called me back and offered me a volunteer position. I only have to volunteer for two six hour shifts, and I get to attend the rest of the conference for free! It should be a great place to learn about user experience, meet HCI professionals, and hopefully make some good connections. Oh, and did I mention that Don Norman is the keynote speaker?
Article of the Day
NizarKhalife - 31 Jul 2008 - 00:56
NICE! That sounds infinitely awesome for anybody at Tech Camp. I'm sooooo jealous. I wonder if SG has any connections in Puerto Rico. One can dream, Jenna. One can dream.ThomasNiedzielski - 30 Jul 2008 - 16:34
I need to do some thinking about my future, too. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to do too much until Friday night. Our project is coming right down to the wire.DavidOluwatimi - 30 Jul 2008 - 15:43
Just read the article, and now i know what i am saving my money for.July 29th, 2008
Photo shoots, last lecture, and revision #3
We received revisions from Eve today. She is helping us focus on what we added to the program. We concentrated too much on describing what the element was, and not enough about what we did to enhance the game. I think our next draft will be much better. I sent it to Stephen Gilbert as well, so hopefully the corrections don't contradict each other too much. It's nice to have multiple people read the paper though because it really lets us know what is hard to understand and what we need to change. It is basically usability testing - if multiple people say something is confusing, we definitely need to change that section. We also had our PWSE photo shoot today! That took up the majority of the morning and consisted of measuring grass, playing with the robot, and posing in the hot sun. But we did get a free ISU t-shirt for helping out! The remainder of the time before lunch was spent at our final luncheon lecture with Pam Shill. She informed us about the HCI graduate program here at ISU. While I don't think I'll be attending here, it was useful to hear about their admission process. I'm sure other schools take a similar approach. And lastly, my bike is gone. I had a great summer with it, and it was well worth the $10 net cost. I'm going to miss that prairie, but I'm excited to get back on my bike when I get home. I can't wait to climb those coastal mountains!
Article of the Day
NizarKhalife - 29 Jul 2008 - 22:00
Chuck II will miss his partner.July 28th, 2008
Beginning of the last week
Only five days left on this computer they call Bill Lumberg. Actually, not even five. Probably about 3.5 days. I'm excited to go home, but I'll definitely miss this place. But I'll save the sappy stuff for later. Today has been a good day. The paper is out of my hands at this moment as I await revisions from David Kabala, Eve Wurtele, and Stephen Gilbert. Tomorrow I will turn in a close-to-finished paper to PWSE, giving us the rest of the week to perfect it for the REU. I met with Stephen Gilbert this morning to discuss graduate schools and what I should be doing before I apply. I'm going to take some extra classes this year to fill some prerequisites and to help me figure out what I want to concentrate on. I've decided the key is to get involved in as many things possible next year so I get exposed to anything that might interest me. To my fellow, younger REU students - take it from me, start doing this early! Hopefully I can work with some professors at my school that will help guide my to my future. I'll have to take advantage of every opportunity I find. The rest of my day has been spent finishing the title bar and tab panels of the user interface. It looks like I only have to more things to design! That will leave me plenty of time to collaborate with the artists, debug, and polish my designs. I'm happy with the way everything is coming together, and it's really nice not being stressed during the last week!
Article of the Day
DavidOluwatimi - 29 Jul 2008 - 17:10
Uh yeah, and it seems we are still not done with our revisions...when will the revisions end!!! sniff sniffBrianRussell - 28 Jul 2008 - 23:20
It's hard to believe that the summer is almost over.ThomasNiedzielski - 28 Jul 2008 - 16:36
That's interesting. I do use Google for most of my searches, but if I have a problem or search that's too complex to expect Google to give me useful results for, I'll often use ask.com instead. I might check out Cuil.TravisChristian - 28 Jul 2008 - 13:51
I don't really even think of Google as a search engine anymore. Search is just one of the many things I do with Google products every day, but that just makes it that much easier for me to always use Google search instead of something else. That's going to be a huge obstacle for anyone who wants to overtake them.Week of July 21th, 2008
July 25th, 2008
A very uncomplicated poster presentation
Only one week left! I know we are almost done now because we had our PWSE presentation today. I think we did very well, and our posters definitely looked the best. It was funny hearing what all the other girls did for research. Some of them could barely pronounce thee title of their projects. I'm sure some people looked at me and were probably thinking, "Hmm, she designed buttons all summer, ok..." But others seemed interested in the project and the game. It was good practice for next week; I had a lot to say about my section of the project. I think the HCI projects will be the highlight of the symposium next week because we will have demonstrations. One girl brought turtles which attracted many viewers. Imagine us with our iPhones, magic tables, robots, and explosion simulations!
July 24th, 2008
MMORPG...QWKERAKSDFJHAKSFH (and other acronyms I'm just now learning)
Enough of talking about the paper. Glad we had something to take our mind off of it for a while. We had quite the debate in journal club today. We talked about MMORPGs, or Massively Multi-User Online Role-Playing Games. We had a heated discussion because there was a range of people with experience in these games. It went from people who had never played one before (myself included) to people who play or have played just as much as described in the article (and everything in between). Even though I never really play video games of any sort, I had a lot to say about this topic. The statistics from the article claimed that 60% of MMORPG players had spent 10 or more consecutive hours play a game. I don't think I've ever done anything for that long of a time! I know that these games are not the root of all evil, but they can take over peoples' lives when someone gets addicted. I'm also not saying that other things don't take over lives, but this was the topic of choice (and not my choosing). Personally, I would much rather go outside and interact with physical beings on a daily basis. I also have to many responsibilities and things I want to do (like sleep, work, exercise, etc.) that I wouldn't have enough time to get that involved in a game. But hey, that's how I like to spend my time. If you want to play a MMORPG all day, by all means, go for it. But if it starts to take over your life for the worse, hopefully you can check back into the real world and before it's too late.
TravisChristian - 24 Jul 2008 - 21:16
I think we all know what we need: ISU NSF VRAC SPIRE-EIT HCI REU MMORPGNizarKhalife - 24 Jul 2008 - 19:49
The real world has been trying to recruit me for years now. I keep telling them that I'll call but I never do! Suckers!July 23rd, 2008
Back to the basics
I met with the Meta!Blast artists today to go over what I have completed so far. They gave me some good feedback on things I should change and how I should design the new components I'm working with. I'm going to go back and change the original buttons I created to make them pop out a little more. The look and feel is coming along nicely, and I think after I make these changes and additions it will work really well with the game. I'm enjoying communicating with the artists. It feels like a professional situation where many people collaborate on a large project. It's definitely good experience for the workforce. We're still waiting to get our paper draft back. I gave it to Stephen Gilbert and Catherine, and after we make the revisions I will let more people read it. We want to get it to as many people as possible to get multiple perspectives. For now we have plenty of work to do on our project, but when that paper comes in, it's crunch time!
SamanthaLevine - 23 Jul 2008 - 13:45
Good luck with everything. Y'all are working mega hard.July 22nd, 2008
Draft after draft after draft
Well, all the parts are together. But that doesn't really mean we have a cohesive paper. There is still a lot of work that needs to get done to unify our voice. We also need to format the paper and decide how we are going to cite our paper. I'm not worried about formatting the paper, but the editing is going to take a lot more time. Hopefully we will finish soon so I can get back to work in the GUI. The next step with the look and feel is working on the windows, title bar, and lists. I'm falling behind my schedule, but once we are done with the paper I will be able to focus solely on designing and coding. I don't think I'll be under too much stress next week because all of my stress will be used up this week working on the paper! The funny thing is that I'm complaining about the paper, but I am actually yearning to do research next year in school and write a paper I can submit. Unfortunately my school doesn't have a senior thesis or any research opportunities, so I'm going to have to venture out and make something of my own. That is if I have enough time, which is very questionable. Especially if I'm thinking about applying to grad school next semester, but that's another story. Jim Oliver spoke with us about graduate school some more. He gave us some good tips that I'm sure I would have never learned during the application process. I really have to look into the financial packages schools I want to apply to tend to offer. I liked what he said about displaying all your work and information on a website. I already have a website, but right now it is aimed at photography. I think I might change it to reflect my overall personality, but I can use the photography to help create a brand for myself. Keeping my website up to date is something I've been slacking on. I should really change it because you never know who is going to come across it.
NizarKhalife - 22 Jul 2008 - 20:07
It could be the C.E.O. of the company!July 21st, 2008
Paper, grad school, poster, paper
As expected, I have spent the majority of the day working on our paper. There is a lot of editing to do, along with more writing. Our goal is to have a ROUGH draft of the writing completed by tomorrow so we can spend the day editing and creating a unified voice. I will be happy when the paper is completed so I can spend all of my time finishing the design of the look and feel. Our poster was FINALLY finalized today, so that's it! No more proofs, it's off to the printer. Time is winding down, so things need to get finished for good. We had a luncheon lecture about graduate school today. The handout she prepared will be a good reference when I start applying and writing my personal statements. It's hard to know what they are looking for, so I wrote down all of the advice she gave us. One thing that continue to discourage me is that yet another person said go straight to grad school, don't take a year off (this seems to be a theme in my blogs). Looking at all of the time lines people have given me, I need that extra year! I haven't studied for the GRE, e-mailed professors, or visited any schools. I also feel like I don't have enough relevant work experience to get into the grad schools I have found. I KNOW I want to go to grad school, and I don't think I'll get a good enough job to keep me our of school for too long. Maybe I'll take some more classes after I graduate to take advantage of the free money they give me. I guess I have some decisions to make. But for now, I'll concentrate on finishing this project before I decide the next few years of my life.
Week of July 14th, 2008
July 18th, 2008
The feeling of success
I woke up early this morning to finish my section of the paper, and man did it feel good! I felt a load off my shoulders, even though we still have to write the introduction and conclusion and edit it. After reading books and writing about the look and feel, it helped me finish some of my designs. I completed the disabled states for all the components using text fields, which made me completely finished with the main components. I am continuing to work on the complex components, and it seems like it will all come together very soon. I also proofed our poster today. It looks good but there are a few minor changes. Their printer accurately portrayed the colors, so I think the final is going to look very good. I think I'm going to have a relaxing weekend now. Hooray!
Survey Time! A friend of mine from Ireland is doing his undergraduate thesis on social media and photos. He is asking people to fill out this survey, and he really wants a lot of Americans to complete it. So check it out and send it to your friends! Survey on Social Media and Online Printing Use
July 17th, 2008
Finally done with ONE final product, hopefully
Well, the poster is FINALLY complete. After creating graphics in photoshop, editing renderings, and resizing and rearranging about a million times, I think we're finished. It has been sent off to Pam to be relayed to the printer. The last step is viewing the proof to make sure all the colors are correct. It feels good to finally be done with something. Now I can focus more on the paper and the abstract, which I have to complete by Friday (my section of the paper, that is). I'd like to finish the paper soon so I can concentrate on finishing my look and feel prototypes. I have a feeling it is going to be a stressful last two week, and I'd rather not be worrying about the paper. I wish our paper was one that could be submitted to conferences, but because we are all working on very small parts of a large game, there isn't very much research involved. But it is good practice in working on a team and writing in a scientific voice.
July 16th, 2008
Avoid the Mucky-Muck
Our lunch today was spent in the Memorial Union at a fancy etiquette luncheon, hosted by PWSE. Like the financial future luncheon, what we learned were things that everyone should know but are not taught in school. I have to start cutting my salads differently! I didn't know companies had so many tests to tell if someone is right for their company. Now I will always be on my toes in any professional situation. We all probably have a leg up on other interviewees with our newly learned knowledge! It's unfortunate that we are judged by our appearance, but companies need to make sure they are represented by professional and polite individuals. I hope I can remember everything she taught us today. I do not (notice lack of contraction there) want to make a small mistake that could lessen my chances of receiving a job. Note to self... always wash your hands before meeting management, don't want them thinking I went to the bathroom and left mucky muck on my hands. I went to another Facebook focus group today. They want to learn about Facebook safety for girls. I never thought about Facebook specifically from a feminine perspective, or with regard to younger teens. Myspace has been in the news for creepers, but not Facebook (yet that is). Again, it makes me wonder how our kids will use Facebook. Will it still be around, and will they have profiles with similar information? It's hard enough to think where it will be in five years, let alone twenty!
NizarKhalife - 16 Jul 2008 - 18:53
I'd hate to think that all employers were as nitpicky as she made them out to be though. I wouldn't want one of her daughters interviewing me though. Talk about rough.ThomasNiedzielski - 16 Jul 2008 - 15:41
Someone needs to come up with a different way of distributing butter. Mine was all sticky and impossible to separate from the foil, which would make for a brief and embarrassing interview with the Johnsons.July 15th, 2008
So that's what I'm working on!
Eve Wurtele was our luncheon lecturer today. I got to hear more about my project because she is my faculty mentor! It was nice to see why the game is being created and I got a better understanding of where the game is at this point in time. They are hoping to distribute the game to some students by the end of the summer, and that means our work won't be included. That is probably for the better, because there will be some touch up that needs to be done to our work, and it will make the next version of the game that much better. I thought it was funny that one of the characters has a myspace page, but that is how to connect to their target audience. She showed my website prototype, which shows graphics from the game. I created the presentation in PowerPoint , which was an interesting task. I created it like a website, creating links that brought new text to the screen. I guess it could be used for usability testing, because it is more simple than web design coding. It would make things easier to switch around when creating the prototype. Also, it looks like one of the books I got yesterday has a lot of useful information for my paper! Now all I have to do is read it and start writing, which for me is easier said than done. But we're setting deadlines for ourselves so we should have the paper done with time to edit. We're getting so much closer to the end! AAAHHH!!!
BrianRussell - 15 Jul 2008 - 21:37
Your prototype with PowerPoint was reminiscent of paper prototypes.July 14th, 2008
Productivity is the goal
We're getting close to the end. Only three weeks left, and we are already presenting for PWSE next Friday! We have to be really productive this week, and that means finishing several components of the user interface and writing the rough draft of our paper. I'm starting to find some good resources for my section of the paper, but I think it might be hard to link all of our sections together. It's going to be challenging editing our paper as well because I'm sure we all have different styles of writing. This will definitely be good practice for graduate school. I'm going to the library later to get some real PHYSICAL books that I found!
Links of the Day Here are some cool sites that my dad sent me that have some really cool flash applications. Check them out.
NizarKhalife - 14 Jul 2008 - 14:47
What are books?Week of July 7th, 2008
July 11th, 2008
Yay for usability!
What a perfect way to end the week. We toured Principal Financial's usability lab, went to the State Historical Museum of Iowa, dined on the top floor of the museum overlooking Des Moines, and came back to VRAC to participate in a focus group discussing Facebook. Followed by the weekend! How delightful. I really enjoyed visiting the usability lab and speaking with the employees. Even though they didn't have a high-tech or complex lab, it was interesting hearing how they conduct their tests and seeing it in action. I learned a lot about the testing procedure and about how usability is applied in different settings. They also informed me of companies that do consulting in usability, so now I have more research to do! The focus group discussing Facebook was also very fun. We had a good time discussing how we use the technology and it made me think about how my kids are going to use social networking. Will they have avatars that look just like them that they chat with? Will we have different Facebook profiles to chat with our kids and our companies separately? With more corporations going on Facebook it seems like there will be less separation between our social life and our work life. What implications will that have? It will be interesting to see what Zayira Jordan determines with her research. I'm looking forward to the next focus group.
July 10th, 2008
Poster Approved, T-Shirt Complete
After spending all day yesterday and a good portion of today on the poster, we we're happy when only a few corrections were made (and they were things I knew we needed to change). Luckily we have more time to collect graphics than we originally thought, so we can make the poster the best it can be! Work on the poster is helping me shape my research paper ideas, but I still need to look for more articles (I feel like I'm repeating yesterday's blog). Also, I finished the t-shirt design today. And yes, I am currently losing the game. I had some trouble figuring things out in illustrator, but of course it was any easy fix when I started over. And, I'm VERY proud of the cyclone that I drew! Simple, yet very effective. I think our shirts should turn out well. I guess now I need to get back to working on my real project! I started working on the scrollbar today and it's very complicated. There are many buttons to be designed and I'm still figuring out the interaction I want it to have. I'll do some research this weekend that might help me decide. Thanks for the e-mail Jasmine! I'm going to read up on that article.
NizarKhalife - 10 Jul 2008 - 20:42
The shirt really looks good. The cyclone definitely puts it over the top.July 9th, 2008
Poster Madness!!!
Everyone has been working hard on their posters today. Ours is coming along pretty well, but of course there are some set backs. We have the layout complete, but we are having trouble finding a good background image. We have tested a few, but they quality is too low or you can't tell what it is illustrating. Also, I need to finish writing the content. Because we haven't done enough work on our paper it is hard to determine what to print on the poster. I guess that's why we should be working on the paper. Don't worry, we're getting right to it! It's been fun using InDesign again, it's been a few years since I touched the program. I'm happy to be designing and laying out the poster. I like to use guides and line everything up neatly. It's the perfectionist inside of me. Unfortunately spending all day on the poster means I'm going to have a lot of catch up work to do, and several deadlines are approaching. I'm still having trouble finding information for our research paper. I haven't found any specific articles that discuss "look and feel" and how it pertains to video games. I guess I'll have to continue searching! Article of the Day Just Released today - Google's version of SecondLife ! This was created as one of their 20% projects, meaning a project that people work on one day a week outside of their original work. It is definitely still in its beta stage (just released today), but I think it's going to cause quite a stir.
PaulClay - 10 Jul 2008 - 14:33
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer dulce et decorum est e pluribus unum fiat lux semper fidelis ad infinitum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.EvaTao - 10 Jul 2008 - 00:59
Have you tried to search the key word "look" "feel" "video" "game" on the Google scholar? I believe there are tones of them with the combination of either one or all, e. g. "look" "game." Also try our library online for psychology, computer science, engineering, etc.. If you found one article was very related what you are working on, look through the references it used. That way you can find more key words to search or use. Let know how it works.NizarKhalife - 09 Jul 2008 - 20:18
Everything seems to embed or integrate into other web applications these days. It's really striking.ThomasNiedzielski - 09 Jul 2008 - 17:23
I think the biggest thing about Google's new thing is that it can easily be added to any website. I could see it replacing chatboxes in a few places.SamanthaLevine - 09 Jul 2008 - 14:38
Matt was telling us something about that. It sounds pretty awesome!July 8th, 2008
Morning of Lectures
This morning was spent listening to people talk. Sounds boring, but was actually quite interesting! The first half was spent listening to Eric Foo's PhD defense. He spoke about the history of medical imagery and how his research is going to affect the medical field. It was nice to see his presentation and how he went about describing his research. I'm sure I will be making many presentations in similar fashion in my near future. Our luncheon lecture was Deb Satterfield from the design department. It was refreshing to have a lecture that wasn't based around engineering or programming. She studied designing for behavioral change and for social inclusion. These are very interesting topics to me, so I gained a lot from her presentation. I want to focus on how products affect the user and how we can make it a better experience for them. She spoke about Kansei engineering and ethnographic studies, both of which I want to learn more about. Kansei engineering made me think of Don Normon's book, Emotional Design. I liked that her research seems to be more about caring for the user than turning a larger profit. Designing for the greater good has rewards of its own beyond a paycheck.
NizarKhalife - 08 Jul 2008 - 22:57
I agree with you about her research caring about the user. However I found a bit hard to believe that doctors weren't willing to experiment with something that might improve their patients' experience with them. She gave me the impression that they were only concerned with lessening their load, though that would give them the time to see more patients, ultimately benefiting them.July 7th, 2008
Knee High by the Fourth of July!
The rumors are true. I believe if I walked on out to the cornfields on the way to John Deere in Ankeny the corn would have been at or above my knees! Hooray! I also ate some delicious corn at Hickory Park last night, so I think my work here is done. Well, corn-wise that is. We toured the John Deere factory today and saw how they assemble their many large tractors. I didn't know how harvesting cotton worked, so it was interesting to see the large tractors that scoop it up in the fields. I was disappointed that people were not working on the assembly line and that the lasers weren't running when we went through the warehouses, but I did get to see a robot welding in action. While the factory doesn't look incredibly "high-tech," it is obvious that a lot of technology is used in the process, and more will be used in the future. I don't think I will ever be working for John Deere because they go against my ethics. I don't want to work for a corporation who develops efficient methods of spraying chemicals on plants.
NizarKhalife - 07 Jul 2008 - 21:41
Soon they will spray nanobots on plants. About 2 weeks later the robots will take over.Week of June 30th, 2008
July 3rd, 2008
Buttons, Websites, and RAGBRAI?
It has been an almost non-stop workday. First, I had a meeting with Eve Wurtele and Eva to discuss the Meta!Blast website. I will be helping design the page by incorporating graphics from the actual game into the website. I get to use Flash which is exciting, but I have some reviewing to do. Luckily the Internet has helped answer some of my questions. I'll also refer to previous projects I've made to create the actions I'm hoping for. I also got my spinner designed today, which means I'm pretty much done designing the combo box as well (they use the same buttons and designs). I feel like I'm on a roll! Now that I have the website on my plate, time is very critical. It will be nice having a three day weekend to rest up for next week (lots of work and 2 industry trips). Lastly, my dad just informed me of critical RAGBRAI news: STYX is going to be performing! For those of you who don't know, one of their hit songs is "Mr. Roboto." I'm really not that into the band, but I think it's going to be a really fun event to attend. There are over 20,000 cyclists and I'm sure many people from the town of Ames will attend. The event is going to help raise money for damage caused by the flood. It's Tuesday, July 22nd, and admission $10. I'm going to by an event t-shirt for $20 because it gives you free admission. Not to mention I'll get a cool Cy t-shirt to take back to California! Here's a link with more information about the event: Ames RAGRBAI - News
ThomasNiedzielski - 03 Jul 2008 - 17:57
Oh Internet, what questions can't you answer? I was wondering when RAGBRAI was. People have been talking about it pretty much constantly since we got here, so I assumed it was sooner than that, though.PaulClay - 03 Jul 2008 - 16:36
Hey, if you need help with flash and ActionScript , I've done a bunch of stuff with it before...DesireeVelazquez - 03 Jul 2008 - 15:42
Wow, that's cool. Not sure if I'll go, though. Still got some time to think about it.July 2nd, 2008
Ready for kids and a family? Not quite...
Enough of this computer talk. I'm excited to go play with my kids! But that's a long ways away. Hearing the women talk today during the PWSE panel made me want to go coach a softball team or take pictures of my kids doing what they love. Every talks about how you don't have a life once you have kids, but they opened my eyes and showed me that you actually get to do what you love all over again! Let's just hope my kids want to go camping, play sports, and go snowboarding with me. The panel also reminded me that I need to explore what I love before I move on to graduate school or starting a family. We are getting exposed to so many different career paths here, and I don't know which way to go! Some people say do every internship you can, apply to grad school right away, and get ahead of everyone. The voice I like to here and need to keep playing in my head is saying, "Figure out what you love to do! Travel, see the world, and experience life before you settle down!" I'll only be young once, and I want to make sure whatever I study in grad school is what I want to do for the rest of my life. But then again, who knows how long I'll work for. Maybe I'll end up being one of the moms that wants to stay with her kids. What's nice about computer careers is the ability to work remotely. Hopefully by the time I'm working full-time I will have a job that is flexible and will let me work from home. I just have to remember to take what life gives me, and be happy with my decisions.
July 1st, 2008
Aw, the baby robots are so cute!
Today we learned about baby robots. Well, not really. Professor Alex Stoytchev gave us a lecture today about his work with robotics. It was interesting to learn that robots can learn just like babies! They can be programmed to be curious; they test things out and see what works and what doesn't. At this moment in time we don't have robots like Rosie from the Jetsons or C3PO from Star Wars, we could in the figure. My questions is this: if robots learn like children, are there going to be labs that raise baby robots until they have learned enough to function in someone's home? Will there be robot farms where they go about daily life and learn from their surroundings? How old will the robots be when we adopt them? Or can we raise a robot from infancy just like our own child? I know this may seem like foolish questions, but it's just something to think about. Our ethics discussion was very interesting today. At the end, we given the assignment of writing our own code of ethics. While ethics is something I think about and discuss on a regular basis, I have never thought about writing down my OWN ethics, let alone my ethics about computing and engineering. I am looking forward to this challenge and exploring my morals and putting them down on paper. We'll see what I come up with!
June 30th, 2008
Beginning of another work week
Sorry to say this, but I don't have much to blog about anymore! We are almost in full project mode, and that means we don't have interesting classes and discussions anymore.
Of course tomorrow we have a luncheon lecture and our ethics class, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to say then. I am starting to work in radio buttons and check boxes for the look and feel. These are more complex than regular buttons so I will have some fun creating different shapes and colors. I will also be redesigning the buttons when we figure out the coding to make the buttons polygons and apply more advanced gradients. The hardest part will be recreating the look of the buttons using code to replicate the look I created in Photoshop.
Today was also spent completing the reading for our ethics class tomorrow. The reading was about engineering and social justice. It was really interesting to me because I come from a communications background. I didn't know engineers were taught to think and the stereotypes that went along with them. It was interesting learning that many engineers are conservative because of they way the are taught to obey authority and believe there is one right answer to every problem. While many of the thoughts about engineers portrayed in the book were generalizations, it made me think critically (unlike engineers as the reading stated) about my education. I have taken classes in many different disciplines which has helped me think about problems from several perspectives. It really made me appreciate my diverse education and critical thinking skills.
CodyGlover - 01 Jul 2008 - 18:48
As you really get into your project your probably start wishing you could have started it early. Esspecially when the deadlines come.DavidOluwatimi - 01 Jul 2008 - 16:47
I actually don't mind not having classes anymore so I can get my hands "dirty" with our main project; however, we still could learn something new if we had more classes.Week of June 23rd, 2008
June 27th, 2008
Starting to get some direction
I met with David Kabala and one of the artists this morning to discuss the user interface look and feel. We went over the designs I had already created and decided on some modifications. I am starting to get a better idea of what and how I am designing, and I feel like I am actually getting stuff done! As of now I have been creating the look of the buttons in Photoshop, but those images will not scale well. Kabala is working on creating more properties so I can recreate the same image using code. This will make it less bulky and will make the buttons easily scalable. It is nice to have some creative freedom and guided direction and the same time. We are having our last HCI class today.
I enjoyed this class and it's leaving me eager to learn about usability! It should be fun watching videos that everyone found about technology. It's always nice to add them to the bookmarks, and I'm sure there will be a lot of variety. I'll keep you posted on the awards later!
Technology Videos
Video of the Day Hacking the Wii Balance Board - Go Surfing through Google Earth!
EvaTao - 06 Jul 2008 - 23:43
I like the Google earth and Second life Web sites they choose to play their board.PaulClay - 27 Jun 2008 - 15:45
Sweet, I'm glad you have found your purpose in life !DesireeVelazquez - 27 Jun 2008 - 15:17
nice! but somehow it seemed at the beginning that they couldn't move to the sides and instead just kept going straight. but, nice!ThomasNiedzielski - 27 Jun 2008 - 14:28
I'm glad you and your team are getting a lot done. It seems like having help there so frequently is also really pushing your team forward.June 26th, 2008
Videogames: Another never-ending topic
In light of our faculty lecture on Tuesday, the moderators of Journal Club this week chose an article about video games. The concentration of this article was how video games can be used for for teaching. Games can help keep a child's attention and hopefully get them excited about school. It can also help them learn because it is more interactive than a book and they can visualize abstract concepts. I don't have a problem with using video games as a teaching method (that is exactly what Meta!Blast is), but games cannot replace traditional teachers. Students need interaction with others and a mentor to guide them. Also, we spend so much time in front of screens in our daily life, we shouldn't base everything around computers. Kids need to go outside and play, and learn how to find information in books. In life you aren't going to find a tool you need on a street and be able to press a button to pick it up. Students need to learn how to operate in the real world, and if we turn them to video games for everything they learn, they will have a skewed sense of reality.
Articles of the Day I'm all for net neutrality, but this may be taking it a bit too far. As with everything, with good brings bad. We'll see what turn this potential ruling may take. Another interesting AI article, again with controversial ethical implications:
Link of the Day If you have a Hotmail account (which 1 in 5 college students have) you should sign up for the I'M initiative and send e-mails from it! Microsoft is donating a small amount of money to a charity for each e-mail people send if they are signed up with the program, which is really easy to do. Support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society by signing up today! Learn more about the I'm Talkathon
TravisChristian - 27 Jun 2008 - 10:01
I'm glad you mentioned Civ3. It has taught me more than high school did.ColeAnagnost - 26 Jun 2008 - 15:33
Those relaxed naming rules could be a bit annoying, but I don't see any major issue with it... people are going to be making the sites whether you let them have the different extensions or not. Making the website www.cole.anagnost would be pretty sweet... and I think the .anagnost set of names would be pretty open... unlike the .sex and .xxx names like they were talking about in the article.June 25th, 2008
Listen to me, and you will be rich!
START INVESTING NOW!!! That was the main point of today's PWSE luncheon lecture, "Your Financial Future." This is something that my mom has been trying to drill in my head for a few years now, and I know why. If you invest $2,000 each year when you are 22 - 26 years old (only totally $10,000) you will have over $600,000 by the time you are 66!!! If you didn't start investing until you were 32, and invested $2,000 each year until you were 66 (totaling $70,000) you would make less money. Did I convince you yet? As you can see, I came away with a lot of useful information about investing. We also learned about saving money for cash reserve and different type of retirement plans companies will offer. Now when I go to get a job, I know to look for 100% vesting, or else I'm walking! I am glad I got to learn this information and get a packet describing it all, because this is the kind of information they don't teach you in school. While it may not pertain to human-computer interaction, it is something that everyone should learn. Maybe I'll make a computer program to teach high school and college students about how to save money and invest!
MatthewScheinerman - 25 Jun 2008 - 16:51
We wouldn't have to worry about this stuff if we went back to the barter system.ThomasNiedzielski - 25 Jun 2008 - 16:13
I do need to understand that a little more. I'm not a crazy spender, but the market is really difficult to understand. Oh well, that's what you have to do to stay ahead of inflation.June 24th, 2008
Video Games for violence and education - Good, Bad, Both?
Today's luncheon lecture was about how video games affect visual spatial attention, executive control, and affect processing. While studies have been done on the affect of violent video games on avid users, there is no real conclusive evidence about how it affects a person's brain. One thing that was determined was that avid video game users have better visual spatial attention, but they have less executive control than non-video game users. This means they see more in their field of view, but they don't have as good of reactive control. As I am working on an educational video game, I wonder if the users would produce the same results. Obviously only playing educational video games are not going to desensitize the player to violence, they may lose some executive control. I see people tune out when they play video games all of the time. Will the same thing happen if someone is solely using educational games? I believe that educational games are a very effective teaching method, but will it cost people their attention spans?
Articles of the Day (Thanks Dad!)
NizarKhalife - 25 Jun 2008 - 09:30
It would be interesting to see what are the effects of each particular genre of video game. I wonder if all of the effects would be genre specific or if we would actually find something that all video games alter equally, independently of their respective genres.JohnMorales - 25 Jun 2008 - 07:56
I think that video games are good for teaching, but only to teach abstract stuff.PaulClay - 24 Jun 2008 - 13:56
Interesting articles!June 23rd, 2008
And the research begins...I think
Now that we only have a few classes left, our time is beginning to be focused on our research project. I will be working on creating the user interface "look and feel" for Meta!Blast. This consists of styling buttons, text boxes, menus, etc. to create a consistent design for the interface of the game. I will later be organizing the buttons and menus to create the layout of the interface. While I am happy to be working directly with the design of the user interface, I'm disappointed by the lack of research required for our project. My teammates and I are working on different small portions of the game which means we don't have an overall goal or topic to conduct research on. I would have loved to run a usability test, but our project is not at that stage. I have found interesting articles about creating effective educational computer games, but again, all the research has already been done. We are not making any new discoveries or studying groundbreaking research. So...if anyone wants help with their usability studies, I'm here and willing! We went over paper prototyping in our HCI class today. It seems like a very good method of testing a site without having to create and change a lot of code. It's a good way to visualize the site without programming it and it allows for quick changes. One thing that surprised me is that it's a lot more time consuming than I thought. Every time a user inputs something (text, click, etc) an action has to occur. This means making a piece of paper for every little button, combo box, drop down menu, etc. Paper prototyping is an art on its own!
Week of June 16th, 2008
June 20th 2008
Ah!! Computers are taking over my brain!!!
We had quite an interesting journal club today. The article was about chips being implanted into the brains of disabled people. The subject was able to move the mouse with his brain to type and answer simple questions. The article was written in 2001, so I'm sure a lot of progress has been made since then. I know they have devices you can put on your head to control a computer, but I don't know the extent. Once we learn more about the brain and which parts control which thoughts, we will be able to create very powerful brain-computer interaction programs. Of course as always we went off on a tangent that involved computers taking over humans. Will the computer chip be able to input information into our brains? Maybe I could go to a store and buy information regarding chemistry, upload it to my internal computer chip, and become a chemist! As of now there are chips that can interpret brain activity, but what if the chip could store your thoughts? Then any time you wanted to remember something the computer would pull up the data and it would be on the tip of your tongue. If this happens, once someone dies will we be able to extract their chip and have all of their knowledge? This could also result in everyone knowing all the same information and turning us into robots. We would have the same knowledge and someone could control us from one large supercomputer. We wouldn't need people to enlist in the military because if the US was at war they could give everyone the necessary knowledge and then tell us to attack! The question is, who will control our minds first...The computers or the government??? DUN DUN DUN!!! On that note...here is an article I just found about a chip that can talk to brain cells and restore memories... The Memory Hacker
NizarKhalife - 22 Jun 2008 - 23:32
And the moderators for the discussion were quite handsome.AllisonWhite - 20 Jun 2008 - 17:21
Interesting article. As far as using chips for storing your thoughts... Nobody knows the complete details down to the neurons, but they have a pretty good idea of some of the concepts. The problem with memory seems to be less with recording what you want to memorize than with retrieving that information when you need it. Think of a situation where you know you know the word you want to use, but you can't remember it. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that maps where the memories get stored, and the more active it is when you learn something, the more likely you will remember it. Any computerized way of improving memory would probably involve either doing the job of the hippocampus at constantly high levels of activity, or stimulating the hippocampus when you wanted to make a memory.June 19th 2008
Presentation given, presentation created
After a semi-long night in the lab (nothing compared to the other groups) we finished our Atom project. It turned out well, but if we had finished things earlier we could have asked for help for some simple problems that we didn't have time to work out. After the presentations we were given some free time because this was a very busy week for us. I took the time to pick up my package from the post office and get clothes for paintball. Now I'll be riding my bike safely and destroying cheap clothing! The remainder of the day has been spent working on our research projects and presentations. It is going to be hard to keep the presentation to only 7 minutes! Since the three of us are working on different aspects of the program, we all have different topics to discuss. Our slide show looks nice, and I think it will present well. Hopefully we have enough time to practice our speech! David Kabala came down to help us with our research and go over the presentation. We had to create "milestones" for our project, which helped me visualize what I will actually be doing for the project. I am excited to meet with the artists and see how they want us to create the UI components. I am truly working on an interdisciplinary team and working on my communication skills. I will have to recreate their illustrations and make them dynamic, which will require a lot of conversations between the designers and the programmers. I also get to create the layout of the user interface. I will have to read more about usability so I design in the best possible way for the user. Although I'm sad the classes are almost finished, I can't wait to make some real progress.
JohnMorales - 20 Jun 2008 - 00:33
yeah, now the real work begin.BrianRussell - 19 Jun 2008 - 23:48
The ending of the classes is indeed a bittersweet event.June 18th 2008
Finishing the final small project and listening to myself in five years
This is our last workday on our OpenGL projects, so naturally we are running into problems. Unfortunately we realized it is going to be too hard to create a view following one of the electrons. We asked Vijay and Eric for help, and they said it would be much more complex than we have time for.
Oh well, now we have new plans. We are going to create 9 atoms. To branch off of our Meta!Blast project the atoms will be the nine macroelements in a plant cell. The atoms are also surrounded by chloroplasts to give it more of a plant feel.
We also had our first PWSE luncheon. It was a panel discussion of women early in their careers. It was really interesting to hear their views on graduate education and getting an industry job. After asking several questions, they reiterated what everyone tells you. NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK! The best way to get into a field is to find people doing interesting research and bug them (in a polite manner) about a job or their research. Unfortunately I feel like I'm behind as far as internships go, but I think I'll survive. They reccommended getting an industry job and a research job to get the best of both worlds. Now that I have the research part down, industry here I come! I think it will be good to take a year off after my undergrad to look for a good internship to boost me into graduate school. Who knows, maybe I'll find a company who wants to pay for my education!
NizarKhalife - 21 Jun 2008 - 11:36
It would be awesome if they did pay for your education!June 17th 2008
What do you get when you have 15 HCI interns and a camera?
Utter chaos!!! You would think that 15 highly educated college students could organize themselves for a photograph. But no, not quite. We might not be able to organize ourselves for a photo, but we sure can program! Group Photos Today has been mainly a work day in addition to a lecture by Stephen Gilbert. He spoke about intelligent tutors and the use of artificial intelligence within them. The math program by Carnegie Mellon seemed like a very useful program, and I can see it being used for many other educational subjects. It is a good way to teach problem solving and an even better way to keep track of the users' progress. The program keeps track of the type of questions one answered incorrectly and gives the user more of that type of question. I guess that technology is now being used for the GRE. The test will give you harder and harder questions until you start to get them all wrong. I wonder if this is a more accurate way of scoring the test. I personally don't think aptitude tests should be an integral part of the application process, but this new version of the test interests me. I'm going to do some research to learn more about it. I wonder which one I would score higher on! Wikipedia definition of CAT - Computer-Adaptive Testing
NizarKhalife - 18 Jun 2008 - 13:40
Well excuuuuuse me, Miss Photographer. =PDesireeVelazquez - 17 Jun 2008 - 14:38
You're so mean. But have you actually fixed what I told you about the yahtzee game? And, no, I have not touched the games. I did start yours once when you put it up, but I haven't touched it again (Which is why Eric's probably waiting on my e-mail as well, or am I the only one that's missing?)June 16th 2008
Non-Stop OpenGL Craziness, finally some usability, and Planes!
Today we went even further into the crazy realm of OpenGL . We learned about texture mapping and billboarding. I was really interested by this because I can foresee myself using the techniques to make photo applications. We made a "sky box" for our exercise today, which is a box with photographs on each inside panel, creating a virtual 360 degree view. I like to take panoramas, and I could definitely utilize this technology with my photographs. I feel like an OpenGL champion so far! I'm learning a lot, and it is helping me refine my new C++ skills. I also began working on our Atom project and it's looking really cool! We have the basic structure laid out and some basic rotations programmed. Now we need to work on randomizing the rotations and adding the electrons on the paths. We are also thinking about adding different views, like following an electron! It definitely has potential, and I'm excited to see how it's going to turn out.
Yay! We started usability today! Since this is my intended career path at this moment in time, I'm ready to start learning. I'm going to get a lot of useful links and papers for reference. More on this Wednesday...
One more note...Allison, Tom, Pat, Adam, and I flew in biplanes today! It was really cool to see out of the open-air plane. We could see some of the flooding from the farms. Now I really understand how much trouble the corn industry is going to be in! It was also really fun when the plane went up and down; it felt like a roller coaster. Here's a link to the pictures I took of the planes, and from the air. Enjoy! Biplane Photos
EvaTao - 17 Jun 2008 - 04:59
Nice photos!!SamanthaLevine - 16 Jun 2008 - 22:43
That atom was definitely awesome! It is going to be super sweet.ColeAnagnost - 16 Jun 2008 - 22:37
Following an electron as it rotates around the atom would be great. You should definitely look into doing that one.ThomasNiedzielski - 16 Jun 2008 - 22:18
It would be really neat to use OpenGL in combination with a photo gallery, too. The texturing techniques we learned to day might help with that.NizarKhalife - 16 Jun 2008 - 22:08
Sounds like the atom is really coming together. I can't wait to see it!Week of June 9th, 2008
June 13th 2008
My new best friend, Maya (well, almost)
Yes, that is correct. I actually created something I'm proud of using Maya! I'm happy with the end result of my camera. Although there are no textures, I added some materials and shaped a good portion of the camera. I was definitely getting the hang of it, and learning new things on my own. Of course there is a TON more to learn, and I don't know how often I'll continue to use the program. But it's definitely a cool thing to say I did. See for yourself...
Ok, it's not that great compared to the swords and fish and clocks that others are making, but I'm satisfied.
I also felt like I was getting the hang of OpenGL today. I'm understanding the concepts more and more, and actually applying them to the exercises! We're going to have fun creating our project, but it's going to be a lot of work. We should probably draw it out and decide on the design before we jump into the code. That will make it easier to split up tasks, even though I think we'll make the majority of it together. Looks like it's going to be a busy weekend!
EvaTao - 17 Jun 2008 - 04:59
Good job!PaulClay - 16 Jun 2008 - 14:12
Sweet snapper! So does it take textureless photos?NizarKhalife - 14 Jun 2008 - 20:16
Nice camera. Even though I might not use it often, playing around with Maya once in a while sounds fun!June 12th 2008
OpenGL gets complicated, Google wins over my heart again, and Kurzweil misses expectations
After our simple introduction to OpenGL yesterday, we dove right in, head first. We went over a lot of information, and I think many of us were lost for a little while. Asking questions helped my understanding, but I really needed to mess with the code to see how it worked. The first look at the code discouraged me greatly, but I came back. I took it one step at at time, and with Cole's help I finished all the deliverables within the project. Our group is going to make an atom for our project, with lots of translation and rotation. It it works well I think it's going to look really cool, and I think we'll learn a lot in the process. Our luncheon lecture today was student Michael Oren. His lecture really interested me because he worked a lot with user experience research and worked as in intern for Google!!! He gave us a lot of useful information about research projects, and about the work environment of Google. As expected, I fell in love with the company again. Hopefully five years from now I'll be getting my free massages and fresh food whenever I want. One can only hope. His lecture got me excited about the rest of our HCI class because we are going to learn about conducting usability studies. Hopefully after learning the process I will be able to conduct my own usability study soon. Kurzweil (a screen reading program) was installed on my computer today. I had a lot higher expectations than what I saw. The voice is definitely much better than other generic speech programs, but it didn't understand how to read quotes and things in parentheses. I guess it's ok that it didn't work that well, because that means I could help make that technology better! It's best to think of all downfalls as opportunities. Ok, everyone's pressuring me for dinner. BYE!
NizarKhalife - 14 Jun 2008 - 20:18
Thinking of working at Google makes feel like prancing on a plain with impunity. Weeeee! I can dream.ColeAnagnost - 12 Jun 2008 - 21:42
Google FTW. I interned at Principal Financial last summer in Des Moines and we didn't get nearly those perks. Some discounts on stuff that I didn't really take advantage of because they were geared towards professionals with homes and other worries (not punk college students there for the summer... except for the $5 movie tickets... I bought quite a few of those). We did have a recreational room however, with ping pong and air hockey and a shuffleboard table (great times with that one, that's pretty much all we did in there). They also had some arcade games and a computer in an arcade box that had a bunch of older games on it. Still, I would have loved free food (cafeteria killed me) and a free massage...June 11th 2008
Yet another class begins...
Today we started our graphics programming class where we will be learning OpenGL . I was intimidated by this class before it started because I didn't think I knew enough C++ to understand everything. Thankfully I'm understanding everything so far! We are starting off simple learning how to draw simple 2D shapes. We are basically drawing a picture, but typing in coordinates instead of sketching it by hand. I am interested in all the possibilities of OpenGL , and I know we are going to learn a lot and be able to make a really cool application. So far I have made a 2D house and written my initials! We are going one step at a time, and it seems like a good pace. I'm sure we can get overwhelmed by everything that we can make, and starting with the basics will give me a good foundation to start with. I'm excited to program 3D graphics! Here is my house!!
Luckily my computer has been working fine so far today. I'm going to work on my Maya project some more so it doesn't just look like simple shapes.
EvaTao - 17 Jun 2008 - 05:00
EvaTao - 12 Jun 2008 - 02:54
Show us the house!! put a picture here, will you?NizarKhalife - 11 Jun 2008 - 23:43
I agree that OpenGL has a lot of potential. It is what a lot of games use, after all. I'm excited to practice and get better at using it.ThomasNiedzielski - 11 Jun 2008 - 14:54
That house was really neat. It was sort of like a cute elementary school house drawing, but came with some cool shading effects.TravisChristian - 11 Jun 2008 - 13:54
I want to see this house! I made a cool little field of colored dots...BrianRussell - 11 Jun 2008 - 13:42
I can't believe you already built a house.June 10th 2008
I'm making a 3D Camera!
We already starting to put our 3D modeling skills to the test. I'm going to be recreating the new Leica M8 digital camera. It should be a good object to remake because it has a lot of shapes but isn't too complex. I'm still having a lot of difficulty with the program, but I think with some help it will come out ok. It made it a lot harder that my computer kept crashing whenever I used any program!!! Hopefully it will be better tomorrow, or I'm going to have to enlist the VRAC tech guys to help me. We also met with our faculty adviser today about our Meta!Blast project. It looks like they need help designing the wiki, and that is definitely something I can help with. Hopefully I can put my skills to the test and create a usable aesthetically pleasing site for them!
EvaTao - 12 Jun 2008 - 02:53
Thanks Catherine.CatherinePeloquin - 11 Jun 2008 - 10:56
The other tech guy's name is actually Tas.EvaTao - 11 Jun 2008 - 06:12
Nizar, the other tech guy is Ted.EvaTao - 11 Jun 2008 - 06:08
Show us what you have done on Maya so far. And do not hesitate to bug the instructors a lot whenever you have questions or problems working on Maya.NizarKhalife - 11 Jun 2008 - 00:32
Ok, David. Do the Eiffel Tower, to scale. You should definitely ask Paul or the other tech guy whose name escapes me at the moment to check out your computer. Your stuff shouldn't be crashing like that! You'll never get your camera done like that!DavidOluwatimi - 10 Jun 2008 - 22:43
For some reason I refuse to do easy stuff. I like to jump right in try to make something little more complicated stuff. I can not wait to show you my latest creation which I have almost finished in my second day.June 9th 2008
One class down, three to go
Today was our last day of C++ and we presented our projects. I was very happy with our Yahtzee game, but of course there were a few things we could have changed. Of course there were a few ways users could input information to mess up the game. We accounted for many user errors, but of course Eric found something wrong. Also, we should have had someone outside of our group test it before delivering it to the class. Desiree pointed out that we should have organized the section where the user picked the category better. That was something that I did notice while playing, but it didn't cross my mind to change it for some reason. I played the game so many times checking it that it became second nature to me. I have to remember that most people will be using the game for the first time so the interface needs to be organized and easy to use. I need to remember this if I want to be a usability specialist!!! We started our modeling class today using the program Maya. At first I had no idea where to start, but once I understood how to move and adjust objects it became easier. I only know the very basics right now, and I don't even have them down well. I think it will take some time playing with the shapes to be able to draw cool objects. There are also many menus with names of actions that I have never heard of, so I'm sure I'll have to look a lot of things up. Let's hope Google has some good resources!!!
ColeAnagnost - 09 Jun 2008 - 23:24
Yeah, the interface for Maya is a bit crowded... The movement is a bit unintuitive as well but it's not that hard to get used to.MatthewScheinerman - 09 Jun 2008 - 22:26
I was very impressed by your project. I'm sorry that Eric was able to find errors in your program, but I'm not going to give you too much sympathy, since you were trying so hard to find errors in our program.Week of June 2nd, 2008
June 8th 2008
Can I stop the rain with my mind? Not quite, but we can do other things!
We went to the REU picnic today. Unfortunately it was raining pretty hard so we didn't get to play any fun games together. It was nice to meet some of the other students, but we didn't venture too far out of our group. It was nice to see though that we have so many organized events and work together on a regular basis. It seems like many of the others work on a more individual basis and don't get to form as close of relationships with their fellow students. We did meet some people that live in Frederiksen though, so we have more friends to hang out with! Pictures from the Picnic On another note, my dad sent me an article from the New York Times, "Moving Mountains With the Brain, Not a Joystick". It is about a new video game system that consists of a headset that picks up brain activity and facial movements to control the game. You have the ability to levitate a boulder using your mind! Read the article for more information.
JasmineJones - 09 Jun 2008 - 20:48
I concur, I wish we could've done more with the other students. We should definitely play Capture the Flag or something this weekend! Maybe after the movie on Friday?? What thinkest thou, o event planner? And this article is great! It would be cool if the Magic Table could use something like this instead of the little card that they have to move, just manipulate objects with the mind! Thanks for the articleJune 6th 2008
It's Research Time! Let the Meta!Blasting begin...
I'm starting to get an idea of what we are doing for the Meta!Blast project this summer. David came and spoke with me for a little bit and told me some things I could start researching. I am going to be working on building an interface for Macs and creating icons. He showed me an open source program called Inkscape that creates scalable vector graphics. This means the files use math to create colors, lines, shapes, etc. The file can actually be edited using XML! That makes the file sizes really small and makes the graphics scalable without losing quality. The program is similar to illustrator so I will be able to learn it easily. I like it because it it loads quickly and has tutorials. SVG is a file format supported by W3C so it will be good to learn for my web designs. I'm excited to play with it more to see what I come up with. We are starting the research aspect of our "research project." I didn't understand what type of research we had to for our project because we are working on a program that has already been through a lot of work. After meeting with our Craft of Research class I had a more clear idea of what we need to do. I am leaning towards researching what it takes to create an effective educational computer game. School-age kids are playing video games more than ever and many people are worried about it. However, playing games enhances "students' visual selective attention." Making educational video games helps keep kids engaged and teaches them about a subject. Biology of cells can be hard to learn, and Meta!Blast is trying to teach kids the information in a fun way. I think this is a good topic because I can focus on usability and how to design to best support the learning and interactive environment. Designing education computer/video games is very relevant in schools and technology right now so I think it will be a good thing to learn and write about. It will be cool seeing the program being used knowing that I helped with the process. I'm off to the HCI class now. I'm really proud of our movie. I hope everyone likes it!
For HCI today we saw demonstrations of accessibility for people with disabilities. I was really interested in the technologies. We saw JAWS, a screen reading program, that I have used before to check if my website would be easily readable by a blind person. We also saw them using Dragon Speaking Naturally, which I've also used. It is a program that types what you say into a microphone. When I used it, probably over eight years ago, the technology wasn't up to par. It looks like they have improved the program immensely with the improvements in microphones and sound cards. What impressed me the most was a program called Kurzweil. It can scan a document with printed text, decipher the text, and read it to the user. I want to try using this technology because Jim, one of the IT guys that has very low vision, was talking about how it might improve understanding to read the paper while hearing it read aloud. It also highlights each word as it is read to help the user follow along. I think this would really help me while reading because I am a very slow reader and I often have to read lines multiple times. Seeing all of the demonstrations made me more interested in the field of accessibility and HCI for people with disabilities. It is very important in today's society, and many new technologies used by everyone started out as a modification for disabled people. Each day I'm learning more about myself and what I want to concentrate in. This experience is exposing me to so many fields and I'm grateful for the opportunities it is presenting me with.
EvaTao - 07 Jun 2008 - 00:56
Well done! I like your video. wish to see other teams' posting soon.June 5th 2008
AAAAH!!! Deadlines!
It seems like everyone is getting stressed out about our projects today. Our HCI movie is due tomorrow and our programming project is due on Monday. I think our team is in pretty good shape, but we definitely still have work to do. I am compressing out HCI movie right now. We are explaining the revolutionary technology of text messaging google to get information. I use this all the time, and I usually amaze people when I do. Our movie is great because it is informative and quite hilarious. My "mad iMovie skills" have helped me with editing the sound and video clips. Our Yahtzee project is coming along well too, but we will definitely have work to do on the weekend. We need to add the graphics which I'm sure will take a lot of trial and error. We also have to fix some problems with the scoring, and then we have general debugging to do. I'm going to be testing the game, which could be very challenging. Since it is a game of chance, it might take a while to get the answer I need to check. On a side note, the storms here are crazy!!! I know everyone is saying this isn't normal for Iowa, but I definitely don't see lightning like this in California. We definitely have flooding, but the lightning provides us with a whole show! There are also tornado warnings, but I think we're going to be fine. It's weird not having a TV to get the regular weather updates. Thank God for the Internet!
CodyGlover - 06 Jun 2008 - 13:24
It's just like being back in school with all the deadlines. But hopefully everyone will make it through. Good Luck.June 4th 2008
Conflict? What conflict?
Our HCI homework last night consisted of personality tests and a reading about conflict and teamwork. Now what does this have to do with human-computer interaction? Actually, quite a bit. HCI is an interdisciplinary field. People from many different fields work together in teams to create, evaluate, and improve technical products. It is hard to come up with the best product if the team doesn't work well together. Taking the personality tests helped us learn about ourselves and taught us how to handle certain people. My results told me that I am by far a people person, an extrovert, intuitive, global, and a thinker. This helps explain why I often emerge as a leader and why I like to be surrounded by people. Learning about the other people in my group was very relevant. David and I realized that I think globally and he thinks sequentially. We saw evidence of this while programming our Yahtzee game. I explained the whole picture and wrote out pseudo-code for him and he went through the steps and wrote the detailed code. All three of us are visual learners which is good because we will be working on graphics for the Biology in VR project. We haven't had any conflict amongst our group, and that's good - for now that is. I'm sure when we start working on the Bio project we will start to have different ideas and disagreements about how we should design or code something. I hope that happens because the best ideas only come when everyone contributes ideas and you constructively criticize them. The hardest part is compromising and not shooting each others' ideas down. I think we'll be okay though; we've been working together well so far. This was a good time to learn about my teammates because we have begun to see how we work together, and now we know what to look out for in the next few months. I think we're going to have a good time and create a great product as a team.
June 3rd 2008
2nd Lives, 2nd Worlds
Today is largely a work day. We are working on our Yahtzee game that is getting more complex by the second. We decided to make it like real Yahtzee with all 13 rounds and eliminating options as you use them. Our original plan would have worked well, but I think it was going to be too easy. It would have been a challenge for me alone, but John and David have programming experience that would have made it a breeze. Now we have to figure out how to eliminate options and code fore more complex scoring. I don't know how much coding I will be able to contribute to this project, but I'm looking forward to learning. I'm going to work on making a more complete pseudo-code so John and David have more direction. It will help me to write it out in plain English and to learn from them when they create the actual code. Earlier we had a lecture and lunch with Professor Brian Mennecke from the college of business. He does research in global infrastructure systems and social networking, specifically Second Life. I knew the concept of Second Life, but I didn't know it had it's own extensive economy. People make their living solely in Second Life by creating virtual buildings, people, etc. I don't quite understand how the money works in the virtual world, but it is having an impact on our global economy. Companies like Adidas and Abercrombie and Fitch tried to enter the Second Life market, but backed out because they weren't turning a profit. Professor Mennecke brought up a good point that if they entered later we might have the ability to have our bodies scanned so our avatar looks just like us, and we can find clothes to fit us perfectly. I definitely see this in the future, and it will be revolutionary. He also told us about Google making a city in Ireland completely virtual, and I could see them using this technology together. Imagine virtually walking down a street that actually exists and seeing all the stores around it. If you wanted to go inside a store, you could click on it, and walk in to their virtual store. There you could see all of their current inventory, try on clothing, and even speak with a virtual sales associate. This could easily be the future, and people would never need to leave there homes! Of course this technology brings the bad with the good. People could do everything the needed to from the computer, and they may cut themselves off from the real world. But again, these technologies are inevitable and will be used for good and bad, like most technologies. Next semester I am taking a class called virtual communities on the internet and we might be using Second Life. After this lecture, I'm excited to see what I will be learning.
EvaTao - 04 Jun 2008 - 03:53
The Linden money to US dollars is LD$250 to US$1 which is similar to an Africa country's currency to US dollars. You can buy the LD$ from the 2nd life Web site and exchange back to US dollar. If you make LD$25,000 on the 2nd life, you can change back to US$ on the 2nd life Web site. However, You need to invest time first to learn how to make the goods that you are going to sell or the set up of your store and your business plan, then invest money 2nd to rent a spot or buy an island. Just like real world but you save time to travel from one location to another. Log into 2nd life, you are everywhere in the world. I will suggest you to open an 2nd life account first and get use to be the environment before you take the online class if you do not have one. Let know if you need help. So Paul, What is your definition of culture? Do you think we can build up or create a culture on our own? Either a new one or an exist one?PaulClay - 03 Jun 2008 - 20:37
Though, you'll never truly be able to experience the culture of another place without actually having to go there. Virtual reality will never replace travel.June 2nd 2008
Getting paid to take classes? I'll take it!
Today was our first real day in the lab. One unfortunate event was that I had to wake up extra early to attend the orientation for the Program for Women in Science and Engineering. It was interesting and I'm glad I am taking part in the program. It is nice that we don't have to do any extra work and I think I will benefit from the luncheons. I thought other REU girls would be there, but it turned out we were the only ones. It was the first time I felt like I knew what I was doing, which was a nice change. They discussed ISU cards and events, many of which our REU had organized. Finally I don't feel lost; I'm ahead of the game! We started our programming class today. I reviewed C++ tutorials this weekend so I wouldn't fall behind. Everything he taught today was mainly review, which made me feel more prepared. I compiled a simple program using cout and cin, and it worked! I think I'm going to do fine in this class and learn a lot. It is nice having peers that are knowledgeable in the language so I can ask them for help. Our team is going to make a Yahtzee game for our project. It will be good practice for defining variables and creating complex if statements. If it goes well we might try to make it even more complex. This crash course in coding will be really helpful when I take a Java class next semester. Pictures Working in the Lab HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: I BOUGHT A BIKE!!! Nizar and I rode the bus to Downtown and bought Kawasaki bikes for only $50! Not a bad price for a 15 speed with front suspension. It will definitely last for the summer, and hopefully I'll be able to sell it before I leave. I'm excited to be able to easily get to the other side of campus and to keep my legs in shape for the Waves to Wine Multiple Sclerosis Ride I participate in during September. I've been craving an activity on wheels, and since I don't have a longboard around, the bike will do just fine. I can't wait for those humid nights when I'll get to feel the warm breeze in my face as I cruise around campus! We also had our first HCI class today. It was interesting learning about the history of HCI and how the scientists predicted the future so well. It's hard to believe that they thought about hypertext and the exchange of information in a physical state when we see it everyday on the internet, in virtual form. She showed us a project called The Biggest Drawing in the World. A graduate student showed how he could send a GPS unit around the world on a path that would draw his self portrait. It would be awesome if someone funded him to actually take the journey and plot the path. People are using the latest technologies to create all sorts of creative technical artwork. I think using technology and mathematics to create art is cutting edge because it combines logic and abstract thought. Our homework for this class it to make a movie presenting a cutting edge technology and showing people how to use it. I'm glad we get creative projects instead of boring papers or lots of reading. I'm looking forward to the rest of this class, especially learning about usability. That is where I want to focus my attention and I'm glad I'm finally learning the methods outside of readings. Pictures of the HCI Course Although this is the first real week, I think they're cutting us some slack. We have a long break tomorrow to work on our projects. We'll see how it goes! p.s. The UDCC is now open. So many more food choices and 2 soft serve machines!
EvaTao - 03 Jun 2008 - 00:13
I have the same feeling when I went Program for Women in Science and Engineering last year...and you will get more useful stuff in the following meetings. Glad you find your bike.NizarKhalife - 02 Jun 2008 - 21:51
Our Kawasaki Prairies are immeasurably awesome. From this moment on let my bicycle be christened as "Charles Phillip Ingalls." Chuck for short. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_House_on_the_Prairie_(TV_series) The UDCC really is great. I hope old Chuck will be able to counter act the effects of over eating.ThomasNiedzielski - 02 Jun 2008 - 19:36
I did really like that biggest drawing in the world thing. I have to say, I don't know how much slack they're cutting us. I feel like this week is pretty busy, especially since all of my class projects are making it hard to think about what I want to do for the big project.Week of May 26th, 2008
May 30th 2008
So what am I doing here this summer?
The highlight of today was meeting with my "Biology in VR" group. We are working on a computer program designed for high school students to learn about biology. Meta!Blast is a game where the only thing alive in the world is one plant, with only one live cell. It is the users job to energize the plant to keep it living. It is in 3D and has detailed graphics. Meta!Blast has been in progress for a few years now, and I wasn't sure how we were going to help. David Kabala, our graduate mentor, told us there are many different things we could possible do to add to the project. They include working the user interface, creating artificial intelligence, and working with real time physics programming. I would love to work with the user interface because I want to be a usability specialists. Also, I don't know any programming (yet!) and the other projects might be over my head. Working with the interface would be ideal so I could expand on the GUI they created last year. It would be great if I could even do a usability test with the program because that is what I ultimately want to do. We don't have a clear direction for our summer project yet and I don't have anything to start researching. Right now I need to concentrate on learning the basics of C++ so I can be caught up for the class and be able to program for Meta!Blast. David went over some of the code for the GUI, and it helped to see the C++ syntax. I think I will catch on and the tutorials that they created will help me progress. I just can't wait to actually contribute! Pictures of the Research Projects By the way, the rain last night was crazy! At least 30 mph winds and tons of thunder and lightning. Fun to watch, but a little to rough to be in. We did have fun running to catch the bus in it though. It cleared up today, but the forecast says rain for the next week. I guess I knew this was coming when I read that Iowa's rainiest months were June and July. Where are the 100 degree humid days?
NizarKhalife - 02 Jun 2008 - 00:09
This next week might be more of the same weather, though maybe not as intense. Hopefully there won't be any flooding. As for humid, 100 degree days, only one thing is certain: we will be riding the bus. Oh, and pickle fights are hereby bannedColeAnagnost - 30 May 2008 - 17:01
Real time physics programming sounds like a good time, I hope I can integrate some of that into the touch table stuff to make a fun game.May 29th 2008
New Beginnings...2nd full day, emotional computers, and C + what?
Today is our second day in VRAC and we are starting to get situated. After an overwhelming first day of touring the facilities, the campus, and the town of Ames, we are now settling down and finishing introductions. Everyone is really cool and we are getting along well. We are definitely all dorks, but that goes without saying. We get really excited when we talk about computers and we switch topics before anyone knows whats going on. It seems like we're going to have a fun summer together. We had our first journal club today where we discussed computers that have the ability to read humans' emotions. I think the research should continue, but we have to be careful about relying on it anytime soon. People have so many different emotions caused by many different actions. It seems impossible at this point in time for computers to decipher what a person is feeling. This new technology will help novice computers users when they get frustrated because computers will be able to sense it and offer help. Computers also have the potential of becoming too powerful. They could start to think they know what is best for the user and take control, not letting the user make administrative changes. Computers could start to take over the world! Pictures from Journal Club We also took a pre-test for our C++ course. I was the first to finish the test! Unfortunately it was because I don't know any C++, so I skipped the majority of the questions. I am the only student without this programming experience, so I know I'm going to have to work really hard. I am reading tutorials to get an introduction to the language, so I'm hoping I can catch up. I'm sure I'll learn a lot and I'm looking forward to using my new knowledge on my summer project. Time to go now, we get to see C6! (six-sided virtual reality room with the highest resolution in the world!!!)
Wow, C6 was amazing. I can't believe such a cool technology is as this campus! While the sky painting and universe demonstrations were really cool and a great example of what C6 can do, I was really impressed with the virtual cat scan and tumor extraction. We looked at cross sections of a girl's abdomen and saw a tumor that she had. The section was 3D and was color coded to show the density in different areas. The section can be rotated in all directions and the tumor can be placed in its actual location. It is also possible to view only the bones and I got to control the hip, rotating it in all directions. This program will be revolutionary for the medical industry. If doctors can view the tumor's location and dimensions in a virtual reality environment they will be better prepared when it comes time for surgery. Pictures of C6 We also got to experience the haptics lab. I know haptics is being tested to be used for surgery and assembly lines, but actually trying it gave me a new perspective. I tested a program where I assembled a few pieces of virtual John Deere equipment. I couldn't believe how real it felt! The haptics device made the objects feel like they were different weights by creating resistance. Another application that I tried let me virtually feel different textures. I felt rough services, squishy, bumpy, smooth, magnetic, etc. It was amazing how the pen responded to each box; it was like I was really touching them. We saw many other extensive applications like a touch table, a robot, and a table featuring augmented reality. It is hard to believe that these are all technologies of the future, and they are being created right under my nose! Pictures of the interns in front of C6
JohnMorales - 30 May 2008 - 10:56
Just in case, I have a C++ book (my bibble for reference) and the "RED BOOK" (thats for OpenGL ), if you want to take a look let me know.DavidOluwatimi - 29 May 2008 - 16:32
Isn't it awesome, the highest res in the world. Iowa state can boast a lot because it has bite to its bark.JasmineJones - 29 May 2008 - 16:28
have fun programmming ms. jenna. we'll be learning together
SamanthaLevine - 29 May 2008 - 16:26
Your title is most amusing! And I'm waiting for the end of the C++ course where you will be twice as good as anyone else.May 28th 2008
Oh, what a large campus you have!
Coming from my small campus in a large city to this huge campus in a small town is quite the change. Today we were introduced to the campus, town, and bus system. Its a pretty campus with many old brick buildings and classic architecture. I enjoyed walking around the campus instead of riding the bus, and my fellow REUs agreed. It's convenient to take the bus if it's pulls up right when you get there, but sometimes you can wait for the bus longer than it would take to walk. We took the bus to Main street to see Ames' "downtown." Not much of a downtown if you ask me, but there were some cute shops. We might have to try out their bingo night sometime this summer! One annoying thing so far is the dinning halls aren't open very late. We had to rush back from our trip to the mall to make it to Oak Elms Dinning Hall by 6:30 pm. And that is the only one open for dinner right now! Luckily the Union Drive Community Center (UDCC) will be open next week, which has a larger variety of food. It will be nice to have more choices. I want to eat in the dinning halls as much as possible now, because I know I'm going to want to eat out more later in the summer when I get sick of dorm food. For now I'm enjoying the salad bar and trying to eat healthy. We'll see how long that last! Pictures from Orientation Pictures from our Campus/Town Tour
May 27th 2008
Iowa, here I come!
Yay! I'm on summer vacation! Wait, not really. After being out of school for a few days, moving out, and packing I am in Iowa starting my summer job. Waking up at 4 am for my 6am flight was not the best way to start my summer. After the first leg of my flight I wound up in St. Louis where there was thunder and lightning. What was I getting myself into!?! After boarding this flight I met the first member of the REU, Cody. We spoke briefly before I fell asleep and woke up arriving in Iowa. From there we met the next person, Sam, my roommate. The three of us had an amusing limo ride getting to know each other and getting lost before arriving at Frederiksen Court. After a short hour of moving in, we met the rest of the group to have dinner at Pam's house. Dinner was fun and gave all of us a chance to converse and learn about each other. Everyone was really nice and I can tell we are going to have fun together. We met all of the graduate students as well. After dinner we took a group trip to WalMart . That was nice considering I didn't have a blanket! I left there knowing I would sleep well. I didn't feel as bad about shopping at WalMart (what a bad corporation!) after I took many plastic bags from them for trash. That will show them!!! Pictures from Dinner at Pam's House
SamanthaLevine - 30 May 2008 - 15:55
Take that WalMart !! Now their profits are sure to plummet-I can see the headline now: Evil Corporation's stock plummets after loss of plastic bags.DavidOluwatimi - 30 May 2008 - 14:25
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htmMy Code of Ethics
I agree with the ACM code of ethics, but I don’t necessarily think that many companies follow all of these statements. I try to follow all of them, except honoring property rights. I am a culprit of downloading music and videos and I’m not quite sure on my stance on it yet. I know it is illegal, but I haven’t decided if it is against my ethics. I feel that the ASME code of ethics is less applicable to me because I am not in an engineer field. I agree with some of their ideas, but not all. I don’t agree with the second fundamental cannon “Engineers shall perform services only in the areas of their competence…” Because I am not an engineer, I don’t plan on eliminating jobs that I am not an expert on, because I can learn. Work is a learning process and I don’t want to be limited to what I know at that time. Number six is also one that I don’t necessarily agree with. “Engineers shall associate only with reputable persons or organizations.” Again, limiting ones’ self to reputable people causes limitations. It can be helpful to learn from un-reputable individuals (what not to do), and someone’s status can be subjective. Lastly, cannons 9 and 10 seem contradictory to me. While an engineer is told to disclose information about any violations of the code of ethics, they are told at the same time to not seek ethical sanction unless there is a good reason to do so. Does that mean we shouldn’t report someone’s misconduct of we don’t believe it is harmful to the company? Does it mean we shouldn’t question authority? These cannons send me mixed messages. I am a “people person” and I want to work in a computer-related field working with people to help improve their lives. I want to work for a company that works to improve people’s lives and that doesn’t base every decision on profit (even though that may be hard to find). I don’t want to work with a company that is creating something that is designed to harm others. I want the focus to be on making things easier and more efficient, both for the company and the consumer. I want my company to work like a team, where every player contributes and there is loyalty among colleagues. I don’t want to be scared to voice my opinion. I would like the company to have vested interest in a charity and they should be conscious of their environmental impact on the world. My code of ethics is centered on developing for the greater good and treating people with respect.
Jenna Langer's Code of Ethics
(This is a collection of ethics gathered from multiple sources and my own thoughts)- Contribute to society and human well-being.
- Avoid harm to others.
- Be honest and trustworthy.
- Be fair and take action not to discriminate.
- Give proper credit for intellectual property.
- Respect the privacy of others.
- Honor confidentiality.
- Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity in both the process and products of professional work.
- Acquire and maintain professional competence.
- Know and respect existing laws pertaining to professional work.
- Accept and provide appropriate professional review.
- Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer systems and their impacts, including analysis of possible risks.
- Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned responsibilities.
- Improve public understanding of computing and its consequences.
- Manage personnel and resources to design and build information systems that enhance the quality of working life.
- Acknowledge and support proper and authorized uses of an organization's computing and communication resources.
- Ensure that users and those who will be affected by a system have their needs clearly articulated during the assessment and design of requirements; later the system must be validated to meet requirements.
- Articulate and support policies that protect the dignity of users and others affected by a computing system.
- Create opportunities for members of the organization to learn the principles and limitations of computer systems.
- Thoroughly test products to ensure proficiency and safety before releasing to the public.
- Create to enhance the lives of others.
- Use knowledge and skills to help those less fortunate.
- Give respect and support to colleagues and authority.
- Consider environmental impact and sustainable development in the performance of professional duties.
- Reject bribery in all its forms.
- Avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist.
- Accept responsibility for decisions and actions.
Topic revision: r152 - 2008-08-05 - 19:07:33 - JennaLanger
Main Web
Create New Topic
Index
Search
Changes
Notifications
Statistics
Preferences
Main
TWiki Tip of the Day
WebChanges to see recent activity
Each TWiki web has a WebChanges topic that lists recent activity from all editors of the web. This page ... Read on
Each TWiki web has a WebChanges topic that lists recent activity from all editors of the web. This page ... Read on
 |
|
Copyright &© by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors. Ideas, requests, problems regarding TWiki? Send feedback