Xavi3r's Weblog

Hypertext Stories

xavi3r37 — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 18:13:44 +0000

In class this past thursday, we started writing hypertext stories. Hypertext stories are almost like “Chose your own adventure” stories you read in books, in which you can chose the path you want to take when reading the stories. I like this kind of story telling, because in a way you can explian things in the story which you may not be able to explain in a regular linear story. You can take certain words and identify the purpose of that word in the story, or base another story off of that one word. I think this kind of story telling is more appealing to the reader, because the reader feels like they have control over the story in a way. Also, when your telling the story, you cana dd affects to the page the viewer is reading the story on, so it doesn’t feel like a plain story.

Mapping Space

xavi3r37 — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:48:53 +0000

As a class assignment, I was asked to map out a space of an architectual object, so I chose to do the first floor of my house, seeing as how my family built the house. The first floor of our house only has one hallway, and that is right when you walk in the front day. Most of the first floor is open space, and doesnt consist of any doors, just wide open frames to walk through to other rooms. Most of the rooms are accessible from the middle of the first floor, because everything is mainly built around the kitchen and living room. My parents wanted people to feel very comfortable in the house, and not feel like they were constricted into one spot of the house. From the living room, you can go out into the area where the deck will soon be built, and you can go down to the basement from the door in the kitchen, and you can aslo go to the garage from the kitchen. People in the house can go anywhere they please in the first floor because there is nothing preventing them from going into other rooms. It’s almost like the internet, because you can go wherever you want whenever you wanted. Our house is the same way, you could go anywhere in the house whenever you wanted without any hassle.

Music That Has Meaning

xavi3r37 — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:32:55 +0000

Last class, Mr. Timmons was talking about music that has meaning to us. Music that everytime we hear it we take something away from it. As I was driving home I was trying to think of an artist that I feel like I can relate to, and I came up with one. There is one artist that I can constantly listen to his songs because to me his songs have meanings in them, and there have meanings to me. My favorite artist of all time is Dmx. Im sure in some way or another people have heard about him, but not everyone listens to his music. To me, all Dmx songs have a certain meaning or story behind them. One song for example is titled “I Miss You” and is dedicated to his grandmother who passed away. In his song he talks about the connection he had with his grandmother, and how he was so thankful on how she raised him. I can relate to this song because being of hispanic decent, family is a big part of my life. My grandmother is a big part of my life, and her opinion always matters. He also has songs where he talks about his belief in god, and his struggles within himself to do good instead of wrong. I think everyone can relate to this song, because at one point or another, every one asks for guidance from God or whoever that higher power is to them. I could listen to certain songs when I am feeling a certain mood, or just need some time to relax and get things off my chest. Dmx is a a very spiritual man who talks about life and his struggles, and I feel like I can relate to the stories he tells.

I-Robot?

xavi3r37 — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:27:32 +0000

Yes…That was a great movie, but that’s not what I’m writing about. I’m taking a class called Technology and Society, and mostly we discuss how the technologies of today are having such a huge impact on the world, and in all honesty, it’s kind of frightening. Don’t get me wrong, I think innovating new machines and new ways to make our lives easier is a great idea, but since taking this class, I’ve been thinking a new kind of way about technology.

In today’s world, there is a machine for almost everything we do in life. Because of this huge increase in technology, the use of regular people with certain skills has become unnecessary. Many people who were skilled blacksmith or weavers for example, cannot find a job doing what they are good at because machines do that job a lot faster. Even if the human made product is better quality than the machine made one, we still sacrifice quality for quantity.

I mean just think about it for a second. Machines control almost every aspect we can think about. Money transactions, travel, security, growing and harvesting are food, all kinds of things. Even are missiles are controlled my machines. Is it just me, or does anyone think that machines have a little too much control over us.

Think back about 100 years ago. During the Fall season 100 years ago, it was considered the busiest time of the year. People had to harvest the food for the winter. Back then their were no refrigerators or freezes or anything like that. So people had to make sure they had enough food to last them thru the winter. However, with the invention of the refrigerator, people no longer had to worry bout food for the winter, and could harvest food without worries cause the food could be preserved for longer. Instead of the Fall being the busiest time of the year, Fall has now become a time to go out into the mountains and see the leaves fall of trees. Technology actually had an affect on the seasons.

It would be no surprise to me if in the future, people start to be combine with technology. Wait a second that’s right, IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING! People everyday are implanted with artificial hearts and limbs. Scientists are actually working on a chip that could be implanted into your skull and it would be your cell phone. I-Robot was a very cool movie, but how man of us would think it’s still cool if it actually came true?

The Shift From Single Player To Multiplayer…

xavi3r37 — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:37:45 +0000

Growing up in my generation has been somewhat of a privlage for me. Not because of the many unique shows that were spawned during the 90′s. Not because of the new wave of music sweeping the nation and causing somewhat of a panic amongst parents and politicians alike. The main reason why I was privileged to grow up in the 90′s, is because of all the advances in technology that were taking place. I can’t begin to name all of the advances in technology that sprouted up during the 90′s, but one that I can tell you about, one of my personal favorites, is video games.

I remember watching my aunts and uncles play the Atari as a kid. Q-Bert and Pong were familiar games to me, games I knew and games I had grown to love. Even going to the arcade and watching the crowds of people huddled around a person who was trying to beat the high score in Donkey Kong was somewhat of a thrill. But as time past on, and I grew older, I began to find myself playing new games…Games of my own generation. Games like Super Mario, Battle-toads, and Duck Hunt were household names in my younger years. But during those younger years, games were all about the single player aspect. One person trying to beat a game, or as I said earlier, trying to beat a high score that they or someone else had set. People felt a sense of accomplishment during these things, but as time dragged on, the single player aspects of games was, for the most part, boring. Just beating games was no longer fun. We wanted games that we could sit down with friends and play for hours even if we have beaten the game already. I remember the one game I could say I loved playing with friends was Golden-eye for the Nintendo 64. That was the first game for me that really brought me into the multiplayer world.

I remember the first system that really tried to expand the multiplayer gaming was Sega Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was one of the first consoles to implement online gaming. No other system out on the market at that time could do that. Regardless of the Dreamcasts unique ability, it quickly faded away. The one console in my mind that really took over the online gaming area is the Xbox.

The Xbox’s installment of the Xbox Live has been a huge success since day one. Games like Halo, Call of Duty, And EA Sports titles have brought multiplayer to the fore-front of gaming. Gamers no longer just buy games because of the single player story, but because of the multiplayer portion and the replay value multiplayer offers. Gamers sometimes even buy games just for the multiplayer itself. I have friends who own copies of Halo 3, and are still yet to even really play the solo portion of the game, because they feel the online aspect is so much more entertaining.

With multiplayer, friends and family could sit down and have a few laughs with each-other while playing a game, or if they are more competitive, they could have tournaments for bragging rights to see who is the best of the best. With the capability of going online and playing people from around the world, gaming has soared to new heights, and profited from thousands of gamers logging on everday and playing. Video games today are no longer about the solo missions of a game…It’s about becoming the best at that game, and beating the hell out of whoever challenges you for the top spot