Wednesday, December 22, 2004

There's a new link in my list over yonder, a site my brother pointed me to. It's cartoons based on spam headlines. Self-published original content via RSS is the way of the future, according to my HCI final paper. That means it's true.

Friday, December 17, 2004

I'm done. My last final was yesterday and it probably went well. I felt like I knew what I was talking about. There was one question that asked if video games were character driven or plot driven. I said character driven because the player experiences the game through the avatar and any emotional impact comes from the character, but in retrospect I could say that games are plot driven because the story and the environment define the character's actions and are shaped to reach a specific end and there isn't anything that the player can do to change the conclusion. Yup. This is like undergrad in that I keep thinking "you're letting me major in this?"

Here are some highlights from the semester:

  • Arriving for the first day of grad orientation and finding out that I get a kickass graphics computer with a monitor as big as all outdoors.
  • Finding out that my friend and former high school speech duo partner is enrolled in grad school here as well.
  • Being pounced upon by Michelle while waiting in the buffet line and learning that I would be seeing her in every class, thus beginning the Meyers-Briggs mayhem of my existence here.
  • Living next to Gerry, which means that I always have someone to read comics with, watch movies with, and hold my spare key so that I can get back into my apartment when I'm locked out in a t-shirt and pajama pants a half hour before I have to be ready to go to the Wynton Marsalis concert. Not my proudest moment.
  • HCI class, where I had the distinct pleasure of being among a disparate group of geniuses for a few hours each week, often followed by a post-class trip to Scotty's.
  • The narrative theory class where we did an ideological criticism of GTA: Vice City, and I got to play as the whole class watched. As I meandered around the game, I asked how antisocial I should be, and Michelle called across the room for me to "punch a hooker!" Grad level class. The matriarchal amazon woman in the class who is a good deal older than I was horrified that it was possible to do such things in a game. The look of horror on her face when she asked me if I enjoyed the game was priceless.
  • The Halo 2 party.
For now I need a rest. I can't think of anything more to say, and I have a stack of good books from my friends to read.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Quoth the Cookie Monster:

Now what starts with the letter C?
Cookie starts with C
Let's think of other things
That starts with C
Oh, who cares about the other things?

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C

(spoken)
Hey you know what?
A round cookie with one bite out of it
Looks like a C
A round donut with one bite out of it
Also looks like a C
But it is not as good as a cookie
Oh and the moon sometimes looks like a C
But you can't eat that, so

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me, yeah!
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C, yeah!
Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C, oh boy!
Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C!

(Cookie Monster eats the cookie)
Umm-umm-umm-umm-umm

Yeah, that's right. I passed narrative theory. I get credit for that ordeal. My GPA will take a hit, but I should be alright. It doesn't matter much to me, though. An animator needs a good GPA like a fish needs a bicycle.

It was still better than art history.

Friday, December 10, 2004

Whenever I mention how much work I have to do, someone invariably tells me "only one more week" with the best of intentions. In truth, I'm all too aware that I only have a week or less to accomplish everything.

The creativity class Dust-O project is coming along well, I think. I've been match-moving for the past few nights and I have yet to figure out how to make the lips move how I want. I have a MEL scripting book that may offer some insight.

I'm genuinely worried about passing narrative theory. I talked to the professor and she gave me some good advice for the final, and I have a couple of friends who have offered to help. The bright side is that it's not art history or graphic design. I really hated those classes.

Digital storytelling class is OK, I suppose. I'm not sure how I'll do there. Not great, but not terrible.

Human computer interaction is my favorite class, though the final paper is huge and I have yet to actually type anything. I have plenty of research, though. My topic is Bittorrent as a content delivery system, and I plan to include information about RSS, as the two work together effectively.

Aside from all of that, things are going well. I like the people I get to work and study with, and without them I don't know if I'd still be here. Coming to grad school was, in some ways, a bad idea. If I am as intelligent as some people say, it doesn't show here. This is still my only way out of a lifetime of servile retail work and hopefully my ticket out of Indiana. This state eats youth to fuel a dead economy. Everywhere I've worked, I've seen several people who could be better used in other fields. Great writers, philosophers, and historians reduced to hocking Dan Brown novels and other airport terminal best sellers. Then I hear about people my age and younger in other states doing great rewarding work and living better than I can even fathom. I have to get out. Currently I'm thinking Boston. I don't know what's there for me in my field, but I know it has to be better than where I am now.

Thursday, December 02, 2004

I went to my first BSU basketball game last night. I don't see it becoming my favorite thing in the world, but it was enjoyalbe. We won, which was exciting enough. The reason I mention this event at all is because of something that I found funny. (Is there ever any other reason I mention sports, really?) It is customary for the crowd to stand and clap during the fight song; this much I remember from high school. I didn't feel like standing after the day I had lugging camera equipment around the library, so I remained in my red plastic seat. The hunchbacked octagenarian woman in front of me, however, fought her way to the closest thing to a standing position she could manage to cheer for the team. I felt kind of ashamed to be so slothful, but I still didn't get up. I'm a grad student, for heaven's sake.

The semester will be over soon, and I'm already considering a project for next semester. I want to make something interactive, though I'm not clear on what. Is something interactive just because it has a clickable menu? I define true interactivity with immersion and a sense of agency. A video game is interactive, while a VCR menu is merely an interface. I'll have ample time to develop this by experimenting with interactive interfaces in an extensive joint study I plan to do in conjunction with my brother, a classics major at Kenyon.