Dec 6, 2007

Today is our last day so we'll wrap up the semester. I'll collect the Cell Phone papers, then I'll have just a few final words and take a few closing comments.

Then you're done!

Topics

Homework

Dec 4, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Nov 29, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Nov 27, 2007

Yet another brief day as all we have to do is see Luke's presentation from last week.

Topics:

Homework:

Nov 20, 2007

Today is a very brief day to let you start your Thanksgiving a bit early.

Topics:

Homework:

Nov 15, 2007

Topics

Homework

Nov 13, 2007

I don't think it's possible for the day to get any simpler.

Topics:

Scavenger Hunt:

Nov 08, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Nov 06, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Nov 01, 2007

Topics:

• Real Life Sim Presentation by Heather
• Discuss: Virtual Itza
• Discuss: Virtual World, Real Life Lawyers
• Discuss: Second Life Faces Mobile Death
• Discuss: Beijing Police Will Patrol Web Virtually
• Discuss: Real Hope in a Virtual World
• Discuss: Dennis Kucinich Opens Up Shop in Second Life
• Discuss: How a Computer Game Glitch Could Help to Fight Off a Global Pandemic

Homework:

Oct 30, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Oct 25, 2007

Today we tackle the issues surrounding the second half of your "final" project. ...among other things...

Homework

Oct 23, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Oct 18, 2007

No Class in the classroom today.

Please take this time to work on your Software Simulation Instructional Design packet. They're due next Thursday!

Oct 16, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Oct 11, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Oct 9, 2007

Topics:

Homework:

Oct 4, 2007

Three Real Life Sims: Bobby, Alex, & Brian

Topics:

• Oddware Presentations.

Homework:

Oct 2, 2007

No SL Presentations today.

Topics:

Homework:

Sep 27, 2007

Two Real Life Sim presentations. Bobby & Jesse

Topic:

Homework:

Sep 25, 2007

• The Crooked House
• Virtual Hallucinations
• Myst Online

Scavenger Hunt : A pet of some sort. We'll meet at the Beach House and show them off.

Sep 20, 2007

Real Life Simulation Presentation by: Bobby

Topics:

• Hardware Prototypes

Homework:

• Oddware

Sep 18, 2007

Second Life Sim: Mike

Other places by Damian

Homework

• Optional: Jewelry with "bling."

Sep 13, 2007

Real Life Sim: Jerilyn

Topics:

• My 4th Newspaper Interview about UB and Second Life.
• Four interesting Second Life books.
• Second Life Terrorism
• Second Life Punishment
• Reuters in Second Life
• Disaffected!

Homework

• Play Disaffected

 

Sep 11, 2007

Today we meet in Second Life at 11am.
Jesse will be presenting his first Second Life simulation.

Sep 6, 2007

Here are the topics we will be covering today:

• Ricky's Real Life Sim Presentation
• Non-Computer Platforms
• Computer Based Platforms

Homework

• No Homework
• Optional: New Avatar Hair in Second Life

Sep 4, 2007

Today we meet in Second Life.
Regular class time: 11am.
Run Ventrilo and log in to the server.
(Get the server / port info from the blue panel.)
Log into Second Life and I'll send you a teleport
to our location.

Homework:
(Read the Class Requirements for fuller details.)

• Student Setup
• Scavenger Hunt #1
• Class Photo

APPLIED SIMULATION     
COSC330.SG1     
Fall 2007     

-Ventrilo Information-     
Server: 69.12.74.141     
Port: 4143     

Other Class Notes

Although there are a number of projects and (hopefully) a good deal of audience participation, this is, sadly, largely a lecture class. I'll stand up here, have the lesson/web page displayed on the projector, and go through what's on the page. Exciting, I know. I do this so that (1) I don't forget anything and (2) it'll be there when you go back to review.

Try to make sure you understand a topic. Take notes. Ask questions. Don't sit back and nod your head knowingly if you really don't get something. I will ask. I will ask repeatedly. However, after I ask a few times and everyone tells me they've got it…we move on!

Don't forget the stuff that came before. The flow of the course is that new concepts build on old concepts. So I may say something like: “And this new thing works because of what old thing…..?” If the Randomalizer picks your name, you've got to provide the answer!

Grading

Grading Sheet: I have created a grading sheet which I update as we go along. Basically, your grade is divided into two parts. Each part is worth a total of 100 points.

Part One is attendance. I take the total number of classes and divide that into 100 points. Therefore, each class is worth something along the lines of 6 points. To make up the balance, certain classes (such as midterm day and final day) will be worth extra points. To get the points...show up to class!

Part Two is project work. Again, all the assigned projects will equal 100 points. Some will be worth more than others. To get the points...do the work!

My Grading Philosophy: I was, until very recently, also a student and I loved my grades of A. But I have been in classes where every one gets A's, including the folks who show up late for class, then sleep for the time they're in class, and always turn in homework late--if ever. In realistic college parlance, "passing" is a C, but (having been a student myself), I've always considered that pretty low--but that's just me.

In other classes--such as my Flash class--my grade-sheet is set up so that if you hit every item the way it is listed you will be assured of a B. Each assignment has a number of extra point "challenges" that, if successfully tackled, earn more points and allow you to work toward that A.

However, I haven't quite figured out how to do that here other than saying that particularly stunning work may get a few more points here and there. So this class will have a standard grading scale. The closer you get to 100% the better your grade.

More on Attendance: As mentioned, each day is worth a set number of points. Special days will be worth more points. It's impossible to score extra points for attendance. If you're late to class you're likely to get less than the points for the day; the later you drag in, the fewer points you get. If you know you're going to be late or absent, send me an email! I will give a couple of points if you give me advance warning of your lateness or absence.

Try not to miss, however. If you miss a day, you will miss something important and we simply don't have time to backtrack. If you miss a day, or are very late, hit the website lessons to get yourself caught up.

More on Tardiness: As stated, if you show up late, I will notice. And you're sure to miss something important. If class starts at 6:00pm, that means class starts at 2:00pm....not 2:05, not 2:20, not 3:15... I live in Baltimore. I know what traffic is like. I have family and know how they can make you run late. I've got no problems there with occassional lateness. Persistant tardiness, however, tends to irk me and can result in the subtraction of "attendance" points. I hate to sound all hardnosed on attendance...I'm really not a troll about it....but this is going to be really good stuff and you will miss out on a lot of it if you're continually late.

Effort: If you do show up but don't care to try to learn the material…you're going to miss something important. And I will notice. Sleeping in class is definitely noticable.

Homework: There will be homework assignments. They won't be killers. You will likely find them to be fun. This is the good stuff! Creativity runs amok.

Tests: There will likely be no tests as such. Perhaps little spot quizzes to check progress. These will not be graded…although turning in a blank page may result in modification to the “lack of effort” category. Your "tests" are going to be your projects.

Midterm: There very likely will not be a midterm event.

Final Project: There is a final project. It should not be a killer, but will hopefully be fun. Because I know you all have other classes and those classes tend to make their final projects huge, I have decided that our "final" project (ie: the big one) will actually be due and finished by about Week #12...this way you don't have it hanging on your head with all the projects from the other classes. Please note:

In-Class Behavior

Noisemakers: Please put them on silent or buzz. If your phone, pager, iPod, blackberry…whatever… goes off in class, I won't lecture you about it or lower your grade. It's quite possible that I will point at you and laugh. Don't let it become a class-disrupting regularity.

I have a cell-phone myself, and it's quite possible I'll get a call about my elderly mother-in-law or epileptic son. We all have our emergencies.

Drinks: The college says “no drinks allowed in labs.” And they're right to say this. However, everyone brings drinks into the room. I bring drinks into the room! Do be responsible. Recognize that these are expensive electronic devices and that expensive electronics and liquids do not co-exist peacefully. Screw the lids on tight between drinks, put the drink bottles on the floor (then try to not kick them over!), or somewhere to avoid disastrous spills.

Snacks: Ok..so nibbling a few M-n-M's isn't a hangable offense. One fellow ate his ham-and-cheese sandwich and chips in a class once which was borderline. Another guy used his cell phone during class to schedule a pizza delivery! Um....no.

‘tude: Look around at your classmates. If you stay in this program and they stay in this program, these are the people you're going to be interacting with for the next four years and quite possibly beyond into the “real world.” We're all really cool in some way or another (or multiple ways). We're all really annoying in some way or another (or multiple ways). Embrace the cool, overlook the annoying, have fun, be creative, be unique, but please don't be abusive to other folks.

Ethics
As you progress through your college careers, you will see a form of this announcement at the beginning of every class in every semester. As you go along, the instructors will sometimes abbreviate the message because “You know it by now.” However, since I'd be remiss to not do it, I'll go over it a bit more in-depth for you, particularly how it all impacts your work here with computers at CCBC.

Don't cheat: Don't sneak peaks at other folks' test papers. Don't swipe code from other sources and try to pass it off as your own. All the cliché's come into play here. “Cheaters Never Win,” “You're Only Cheating Yourself,” and so on.

Do Your Own Work:Seems the same as above and is somewhat related…but is different as well. Don't have your roommate write your program for you then you submit it as yourself. If I see, in class, that you can't manage a basic “tween," yet your project has an amazingly detailed cell animation …I'm going to know that something's up! And you'll know I'll know because I'm likely to say something like: “Wow! That's cool. Walk me through the code and explain to me how you did it. ”

Give Credit to Outside Sources: This seems to be related to the other, but it's a real biggie by itself: do not indulge in plagiarism. You undoubtedly know all about footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies when writing papers. Learn it. Live it.

Here's how it impacts your computer classes.

If—in the real world—you lift code, sound, graphics, or ideas that you did not create, you will find yourself fined, sued, fired, or any combination of the three. Here at UB, we know that you're all poor students and that you're learning. So if you do lift code, sound, graphics, or ideas from an outside source we expect that you admit it. In your credits page, where the entire world can see that you're being honest, tell us where you acquired each and every item that you used that you did not create yourself.

LAB COMPUTER USE DURING CLASS!!

I took many classes in this lab. Because I brought my laptop, I frequently sat at the table in the back of the room. Because I sat at the back of the room, I was able to see every single monitor. You wouldn't believe how many of my classmates had difficulty understanding C++ and such....because they were busy websurfing, Instant Messaging, fiddling with their 3D-Studio Max project for the other class, playing Unreal Tournament, or playing Flash games at AddictingGames.com!

Please do not make me hold class at the back of the room and force you all to turn around in order to see me! I will do it. I'm not afraid.