Monday, March 27, 2017

Frankenstein: Creation of a Monster

This link is to my original piece of electronic literature. The piece is titled "Frankenstein: Creation of a Monster" and is fictional story about a man who attempts to resurrect his father and drives himself crazy in the process of doing so.

Frankenstein: Creation of a Monster

Tyler Nigro

Chris Carder-My First Trip To Disney World

It has always been a dream to travel on a family vacation. This is a google map representation of my first day spent at Dinsey World. You can view my story here. 

Justin Zerbee- E-Lit Project

This is the story of road trip gone bad. In this story you are going to make choices that will effect what your character outcomes will be, along with what will happen to other characters. How long can you survive on Murder Lane?

Play Murder Lane!

Kendall Mahony: Original E-Lit

This is the link to my original work of electronic literature. It is about the main places I traveled while playing volleyball.

My Volleyball Journey

Kendall Mahony

The Power Of Digitizing

Did you ever think what life could be like when computers are smarter than all of mankind? Technological Singularity is the belief the computer artificial intelligence will become more and more advanced and that computers themselves will begin to create better and better forms of artificial intelligence. The results in this type of intelligence explosion could have major effects on someone's everyday life. If computers are able to grow and build on to the information they all already have the forms of AI they can create can have major consequences on human civilization, but will it be for the good or bad?

One man believes in what the future has at stake for mankind and that it will all be for the better. Ray Kurzweil is an author, computer scientist, inventor and a futurist. Futurists are scientists that have a specialty in futurology and try to predicts outcomes for the future. Ray Kurzweil is one of the leaders in this field of study in which he was able to many things in store for the future with very good accuracy.
Is it possible to digitize the human consciousness? This is a question in which is arguable among many. Some scientists believe that by the year 2045, we will be able to store our consciousness to a cloud. Storing your consciousness to a cloud means that you'll be able to create a digital version of your human consciousness, stored in a synthetic brain and an artificial host. One can see why there could be so much debate between if it is possible or not. Technology has advanced so much just in the past 30 years, that there is a possibility that something such as storing your consciousness to a cloud could eventually become possible.

Being able to digitize human consciousness is a technological breakthrough, it will allow people to “live” forever inside the cloud. The problem is what about all the physical aspects and interactions that make humans. Think about what makes you, you. Now I am sure you are made up of more than your thoughts; life experiences, physical interactions, and earthly tragedies are also part of what makes you. Digitizing consciousness ruins other ways humans experience life and can ultimately take who you really are away from you.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Video Games Today


     In today's society, video games tend to get a bad rep. Video games are always blamed for younger child being violent, obese, lazy, and even illiterate, but this is not always the case. Games can actually help younger children and even the elderly. First, let's define what a video game is. A video game is “a game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a television screen or other display screen.” Adding on to this definition, video games can be on a rewards based system, which gets the player hooked making them want to play more.


     The ways that video games can help everyone is in how the game is presented. Strategic games have been proven to increase cognitive flexibility in the brain, like the game “Starcraft”. Fast paced games can help younger children that have an issue with dyslexia. In other cases games have proven to be a help to the elderly, in cases with stroke victims, as a pain reliever, and even slowing the aging process. These aren't the only benefits video games provide us.

     The Narratological perspective is that games should be looked at for their stories, like movies or novels, while the ludological perspective says that games are not like these other mediums due to the fact that a player is actively taking part in the experience and should therefore be understood on their own terms; there is a third party however that says separating scholars into different camps is not a good idea and can hurt the field as a whole.The idea that a video game is "radically different to narratives as a cognitive and communicative structure" has led the development of new approaches to criticism that are focused on video games as well as adapting, repurposing and proposing new ways of studying and theorizing about video games


     “That Dragon, Cancer” is designed to have the player experience the low and high moments of this period in the style of a point-and-click adventure game, using the medium's interactivity and immersion to relate the tale in ways that a film cannot. It was initially developed to relate Ryan and Amy's personal experience with Joel when they were uncertain of his health, but following his death, they reworked much of the game to memorialize and personalize their time and interactions with Joel for the player. What makes this game good is the emotional responses it draws from the people who play the game and the connections the players form with it.

     In conclusion, video games are far more positive than how they are commonly perceived. The use of video games can be very beneficial in many different aspects. Video games can also offer new methods and topics of study. Their interactivity, different perspectives, and design can positively impact health issues, mental disorders, and cognitive flexibility.