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Explore what moving the mouse does: up, down, diagonals, fast, slow, pause.
(Don't yet quite know why it 'refreshes' itself if you cross a certain area of the BOTTOM RIGHT SQUARE; but nevertheless, that's how you blank the slate for now. uhmm... it also doesn't quite look identical to the same file from within Processing itself, it looks lower res as an applet inside the browser... uhmm...)
This could have really expanded my Josef Albers Color Studies class.
Jenova's post
"Game Makers Aren't Chasing Women"
asks a good question: what do girls want from games? i don't know myself really. i've been noticing pre-pubescent children in parks and school yards lately (with a new perspective so that i can try and have new insights into 'gaming') and it is the case that more often than not, the boys and the girls play seperately from one another - a kind of voluntary segragation. boys play rougher generally and take control of the ball or whatever else is the main object of power within the game. they enjoy it more. girls seem happier giving it up, not having to take the heat involved with the procurement of power (which of course lasts a fleeting moment anyway).
so, what do little girls, teenage girls, young women and mature woman enjoy?
surely, there are girls and women who enjoy the same thrills as gamer boys and men, this is true.
but for the millions of other girls, what can we offer them? do girls want to escape reality? do they enjoy power struggles? do they enjoy killing? do they enjoy driving cars fast? speaking personally, these activities bore me - sometimes i wish they didn't, it'd be fun to have fun, but it's not the case.
i think that games that foster collaboration can be intriguing - girls grow up in this world struggling to be equals to boys instead of realizing that they can be different because there is basically only one model of societal success - other possible models just aren't accepted as legitimate. it's hard and not fun trying to play someone else's game - you'll probably always lose.
i left yesterday’s 511 forum curious about
There - i think I’ll check it out - it’s true that TSO (The Sims Online) attracted "large" numbers of women.
I just learned very basic Mel Scripting today at the study group (Maya Embedded Language). Todd taught a few of us. We were all beginners in Mel, though the animators were all well versed in Maya itself as an animation and rendering program. I came out of the meeting with an understanding of how things worked and some new tools. I didn't feel like Mel was unmanageable without much "C" experience, a prior degree in programming, and so on, you get my drift. Thanks Todd.
What I do feel, because of this experience, is that this program is 'lacking' - to be more constructive, it needs to mature. It fosters disparity between its students, disregards individual strengths and talents, and values specific skills and specific mindsets only. I am tired of hearing the rhetoric that as a graduate student it is wholly my responsibility to seek out the education I need on my own time. Then why law school? Why medical school? Why filmmaking school? The information is 'out there' for all these disciplines....
The film school teaches you how to shoot a scene, teaches individuals interested in cinematography the technical details and the theory - it does not assume that everyone can go and find out how to use a specific piece of equipment and do something brilliant on their own. The scriptwriting program teaches someone how to break down a story X different ways, based on X different methodologies - it does not assume that a person knows this already, and it does assume a person is choosing to pay a lot of money to learn it in a group setting with peers and a few experts around.
The psychology of this program is not supportive. The first year was painful and I had hopes that things would improve - but I'm still stuck in this position of studying survey-like materials, which frankly, have started to seem like carrots dangled in front of my nose. The pressure is intense to conceive and implement an interesting and meaningful thesis (put this program on the map) from day one here, something we all desire to do I'm sure, yet the resources, scholarly guidance and support structure hardly exist.
I had to get this out; this is my rant.
The question is, where do I take it from here?
Friday, October 3 in the IML Courtyard and Blue Lab:
Guest Speaker: Dr. Tiffany Grunwald, M.D.
Presentation: "Innovation in Surgical Education"
Attendance: Â IML Staff, Post-Doctoral Fellows,
Teaching Assistants and special guests by invitation only
Dr. Â Grunwald's "Innovation in Surgical Education" presentation will provide an overview of the current state of multimedia and simulation in medical/surgical education and training: Â where it is being used now, what current simulators looks like and where it needs to go.
* Â Â Current uses of simulation in education and training
* Â Â Integrating Simulation in surgical training
* Â Â Description of Simulators
* Â Â Challenges with integrating simulation in surgical training
* Â Â Promoting expertise through simulation
* Â Â Learning Theories to Teach expertise
* Â Â Advantages of Simulators--Why should we use them?
Dr. Tiffany Grunwald, MD is a surgical fellow in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Dr. Grunwald is working in a collaborative effort with the schools of Medicine, Education, Cinema-Television, Engineering and the Institute for Multimedia Literacy (IML) to further the use of multimedia instruction and synthetic environments in surgical education. She is working with the IML to implement a multimedia literacy curriculum within the first two years of medical school.
by way of Alice Gambrell: Ass Prof, English; Director, Center for Feminist Research -
On Thursday October 2 at noon, the Center for Feminist Research is delighted and proud to be sponsoring a public lecture by Raina Lee. Lee is the editor of the independent magazine "1-Up," which for the last eighteen months has gained an unusual amount of attention for its innovative writing on the subject of the politics of computer gaming.
"1-Up" has featured articles like "Jill Played Atari"; "Arcadeploitation Films of the 80s"; "How Tetris Saved My Mind"; and "Arcade Profile: The Reagan Years." The magazine has also featured artwork by noted comics artists Jordan Crane, John Pham, and Martin Cendreda.
Lee will be returning spring semester to conduct a zine-making workshop, so this week's visit will be a great opportunity to get acquainted with her and to hear about her own experiences in independent publishing.
Please join us. We will be serving lunch, and would appreciate an rsvp.(213-740-1739 or cfr@usc.edu)