• 2 oz. Tequila
• 1 oz. Cointreau or Tripple Sec
• 1 oz. Margarita Mix
• 2 oz. Cheap Beer (Demo Version: South Paw)
• Ice to fill typical pint glass
• Optional: Salt on rim

Typically Margarita mix is used for the entire corresponding 3 oz. of mix. It makes it “meh” as far as I’m concerned. Simply too sweet. Trading that out for a cheap beer makes it both fizzy and not so sweet. Mmm… Here is to Father’s day after the baby is asleep.

GLS (Games, Learning, and Society) was a surprise to me this year, as “The Curious Case of Osy Osmosis: The Uncomfortable Balance Between Game Design and Education,” was not accepted. These things happen, but I was quite curious what went wrong in the process. I have been extremely excited about talking about Osy, which has since begun the commercialization process and extensive visual overhauls (revised visuals can be seen in this blog’s background). It was a chance to talk about the kind of collaboration and structure that has lead to the kind of success we’ve had in creating games (that happen to be educational) and the success of these in the classroom.

What was frustrating for me, and I believe a serious issue for conferences like GLS,  was that despite none of the comments from reviewers coming back negative, reviewers rated the submission low enough (via the radio buttons) that it was knocked out of the running. In once case a reviewer wondered about the innovativeness of the project. To which I wonder, how does one anonymously demonstrate innovation? It has built into it the idea of uniqueness. If I post a link to a video, I compromise anonymity. If I provide information on what we are doing and how we are doing it, I compromise anonymity. If I talk about the company and what it is doing, I compromise anonymity.

So what results is a non-opportunity to talk about pricesely what Mark talks about in his blog:

What’s new is this huge cultural shift and ppl in academia and k12 who not only take games seriously (and not just serious games) but also are starting to welcome participation from games and fan culture. Participatory culture (Jenkins) allows new kinds of stakeholders. Reform isn’t just griefing (cf Dibbell) anymore.

We have a group with successful funding, teacher support, commercialization support (for sustainability) to bring these areas together. But, I didn’t get to talk about it. Because it, “isn’t innovative enough”. Or I didn’t know how to talk about that innovation anonymously. What it teaches me, is that anonymity in this case hurt both the review process and the broader academic community. Or I hurt the community by abiding by rules that likely I didn’t need to. Perhaps I should have provided Vimeo links regardless of their linkage to me. Perhaps the UGA branded video with students and researchers working together would have demonstrated more clearly what we’ve done. But, it wouldn’t have been anonymous, but it would have demonstrated the importance and innovation of the project.

The abstract of the non-talk is below:

This presentation draws on two years of ethnographic fieldwork gathered during the design and development of Osy Osmosis, a game developed developed cooperatively between game developers, scientists, educators, and funded by a $1.3 Million dollar National Institute of Health (NIH) grant. “Osy” was the first game developed as part of a project, which had already developed several immersive 3D simulations. The presentation discusses the role that game mechanics came to play as interdisciplinary boundary objects (Leigh Star and Griesemer 1989) facilitating discussions between content experts and game designers. The presentation also posits a new possible space for game development that brings together designers and scientists to create games that are simultaneously fun/engaging and educational. Often times these provide new opportunities to experiment with designs and technologies that might otherwise be set aside for more tried and true methods. Osy Osmosis began with the questions: “Is there a game in osmosis?” “Can we make a core mechanic out of that?” Osy occupies this strange new space and the presentation discusses its design and development as well as the “faultlines” (Traweek 2000) encountered during the development process. The case of Osy is particularly compelling, given the success the project has had in engaging students and bridging disciplinary divides. Game developers have the opportunity to make a difference in the classroom by designing games that are fun to play, but have educational content hidden away at their core. At the same time, difficulties are encountered at the interface between teachers and standards based learning, which creates particular difficulties for designers and developers hoping to address these new educational possibilities.

I could likely pretend that I learned something today that would advance the book manuscript (since the book needs a website, right?!?), but that would be a lie. So, back to work with me! Oh… And we recently pitched another game to the NIH based on a game using neural physiology to inspire its underlying game mechanics… And I wrote another little Apple Script. Apparently I’m working on too many machines and I’ve found myself using rsync to synchronize sets of working files. GEEK!

-- Sync Folder for Mac OS X
-- Casey O'Donnell
-- http://www.caseyodonnell.org/
-- This script takes a dropped file (or several) and syncs it with another location
-- using the rsync command
--
-- The source and the application are released under the wxWidgets Licence, which
-- can be found here: http://www.wxwidgets.org/about/newlicen.htm
on open fileList
	set szPathName to ""
	set szPathDest to ""
	set szRsyncCommand to "rsync -E -r "
 
	repeat with i in fileList
		set szPathSource to quoted form of POSIX path of (i as text)
 
		set iLength to length of szPathSource
		set szLastChars to get characters (iLength - 1) thru (iLength - 1) of szPathSource
 
		if (szLastChars contains "/") then
			set szPathSource to get characters 1 thru (iLength - 2) of szPathSource
			set szPathSource to szPathSource & "'"
		end if
 
		set szPathDest to quoted form of POSIX path of (choose folder with prompt "Select a folder or volume to sync to:")
 
		tell application "Terminal"
			do script szRsyncCommand & szPathSource & " " & szPathDest & "; exit"
		end tell
	end repeat
end open

Now, theoretically, I could open the “Archive Utility” application housed in (/System/Library/CoreServices/) and change its preferences, instructing it to use the more Windows friendly “ZIP” format rather than… Well, whatever it does and calls “.zip”. But, that would be simple, right? What would be interesting about that solution?

Thus I taught myself a little Apple Script and whipped up what I’ve called “WinZip,” which is clearly not this WinZip. My little deal is a Mac App / Apple Script that does the work of making a Windows compatible ZIP file for you without having to know the commands or do it yourself in the Terminal. The source code and application are all released under the wxWidgets License.

-- WinZip for Mac OS X
-- Casey O'Donnell
-- http://www.caseyodonnell.org/
-- This script takes a dropped file (or several) and compresses them in a Windows
-- compatible format using the "ditto" command.
--
-- The source and the application are released under the wxWidgets Licence, which
-- can be found here: http://www.wxwidgets.org/about/newlicen.htm
on open fileList
	set szPathName to ""
	set szPathDest to ""
	repeat with i in fileList
		set szPathName to quoted form of POSIX path of (i as text)
 
		set iLength to length of szPathName
		set szLastChars to get characters (iLength - 1) thru (iLength - 1) of szPathName
 
		if (szLastChars contains "/") then
			set szPathDest to get characters 1 thru (iLength - 2) of szPathName
			set szPathDest to szPathDest & ".zip'"
		else
			set szPathDest to get characters 1 thru (iLength - 1) of szPathName
			set szPathDest to szPathDest & ".zip'"
		end if
 
		tell application "Terminal"
			do script "ditto -c -k -X " & szPathName & " " & szPathDest & "; exit"
		end tell
	end repeat
end open

point39
Point39 has the answer to the magazine industry’s current crisis. Point39 transforms the print version of many publications into interactive, dynamic issues that can be viewed for a cost from the internet or on the iPad. Publishing companies will send their PDFs and magazine requirements to Point39 with which we will then transform their print documents into a new interactive magazine based on their demands and our suggestions.

Mimio Muse
Mimio Muse is a multi-platform collaborative networking system for the use with Mimio interactive boards. It is perfect for intensive and creative professional environments. Mimio Muse offers the synergy of digital collaborative systems such as wikis with the advantages of face to face interaction.

Sharpie Uncapped Everywhere
Unncapped Everywhere by Sharpie is a branded smartphone application for the iPhone. Through the application, users create and discover virtual art by interacting with Sharpie products. By allowing users to harness their artistic side, they will learn more about Sharpie products and the world around them. In addition to the iPhone application, the Uncapped Everywhere project includes social media, online and retail marketing elements.

DawgStop
DawgStop addresses the common fears and discomforts of new incoming students in order to help them transition with ease. With 47 operating buses and over 31,292 students that board the buses daily, the bus system proves to be an integral part of campus, yet an aspect that students find intimidating. Our goal is to mobilize the students by improving the accessibility of the buses as well as offering up to date information about significant happenings on campus. Take a ride with DawgStop, and be in the know wherever you go!

Pao
Pao combines the idea of a personal secretary with the convenience of a digital ID, capable of simplifying product purchases, event and facilities access. Pao is currently being marketed at UGA and has the potential to expand to many other universities all over the world. It can also expand to the business sector; Pao’s features can adapt to fit the needs of businesses and organizations. Companies could benefit from Pao, using its unique technology to pass through checkpoints and make purchases.

Gradyfest
The GradyFest website incorporates all aspects of the event. The website encompasses news updates, event and student information, video clips with ratings and comments, an interactive game, and connectivity to other multiple social media platforms.

I recently noticed that direct contradictions often emerge when you watch these arenas long enough. First Sony says they will not remove a feature from users Playstation 3 consoles. Within less than a year, they’ve changed their mind, demanding that users install an update that removes features from their device, or it will largely cease to function. Now for the kicker, if PS3 tech savvy individuals figure out a way to install the updated firmware and restore those capabilities that were taken from them, they stand the possibility of being pursued for criminal activity.

Or, as I concluded the paper:

Thus, it is the possibility for shift, change, and swerve that makes technologies capable of being part of hegemonic discourse. Their adjustment to users and appropriations over time is precisely what makes them difficult and different. “Domination” becomes less about stationary stability and instead about stability over time and shifting fields of user activity. “At an accelerating pace in the twentieth century, the ruling relations come to form hyper-realities that can be operated and acted in rather than merely written and read” (Smith 1999, p. 84). Malleability seems the key to durability and domination.

Here is the abstract for the 4S talk:

This paper seeks to think through the consequences of software/code intertwined with silicon/hardware in as a means of understanding what Barnes and Latour refer to as “domination” amongst the technologized social order (Latour 1991). Based on participant observation amongst amateur and hobbyist videogame developers over nearly five years, this essay examines the role that software/code plays in rendering “malleable” wholes. Put another way, this essay grapples with what Dorothy Smith refers to as “ruling relations” or how the local is regulated by the extra-local (1999) through constant shifting fields of software/code. It is postulated that software/code’s ability to shift and adjust over time is precisely what is necessary for the state or systems of control or domination to persist; it is foundational to the hegemonic negotiation. Specific cases surrounding homebrew development amongst Sony’s Playstation Portable (PSP) and the Nintendo DS (“dual screen”) are used as particular examples as to how ruling relations are maintained despite and in spite of a shifting socio-technical landscape. These two handheld computing devices offer a productive lens for understanding how software/code and silicon/hardware are put at play, where differing “hegemonic projects” (Omi and Winant 1994) push and pull one another in sometimes surprising ways.

I’ve been trying to find an objective language for the argument that is beginning to emerge from my observations, but it simply hasn’t come to me. So I’ll not sugar coat it. Many people pimping games at work are pimping games that really suck. Points are the lowest common denominator game mechanic. If your “game” can’t push the mechanics further than that, the game may still suck. Now, in the case of “class,” sucking less may be enough to re-engage students. Can players form a guild to raid the test? Can they replay any number of times? What would a class that enacts an innovative game mechanic look like?

But lets think about the workplace for a moment. Ribbon Hero is an interesting attempt to bring game mechanics to that horrific monster that is Microsoft Word. I only wonder if the game rewards “good” formatting (using styles sets) more than the willy-nilly formatting that I so often encountered as a journal editorial assistant. What might a game about Word that wasn’t set in Word look like? What I think the real power of games is the ability to divorce topic from conceptual idea. This is what actually helps us find the core concept and bridge it to new areas. What does this mean? What if I could perform some other task that corresponds to filing my email? Giving me points for filing my email is only a moderate improvement and ultimately when I get tired and realize that I don’t really care about the points, the task returns to what it had previously been, work. What if, instead I could perform an interesting “sorting/filtering” task in a graphically engaging and interesting environment, that actually corresponded to working on my inbox? Now there is some work/play.

But, most game designers are going to have a difficult time convincing anyone that they can make a game about X without making a game about X. Too many clients, funding agencies, etc can only understand a game about X in a game about X. If it is a game about proper fire-fighting technique, it should be a game with fire-fighters. If it is a game about AIDS, it should be about AIDS. But that isn’t the power of games, right? I can make a game about the way AIDS works without making a game about the immune system or anything else. I can make a game about cellular function without making a game about cells. I can make games that isolate the system we’re ultimately hoping people to recognize/critique/learn in some cases more effectively by pulling it outside its native environment.

Ultimately however, funding agencies will fund games about X before they fund anything else and ultimately these games will fail long term. I look at things like this recent grant to Yale and many of the DMLC HASTAC projects that are being funded and can’t help but think they’re helping to dig the grave for innovative serious/educational games that don’t suck. The numerous attempts to fund serious games and educational games may very well implode in on itself as players/students recognize bad game design, and they will. When players/students reject those things that have received so much money, there will likely be a funding backlash against researchers, who may be attempting to actually make games that don’t suck. Of course this isn’t to say that these projects wont all succeed swimmingly. I’ve simply been making games in this space long enough now to recognize the risk.

While I wish the article that attempted to advance an argument, rather than just presenting Kent and I’s comments, it was an interesting experience in not feeling like only one aspect of my comments were taken into account in the writing of the article. I wonder if Kent feels the same way, it is his picture that made its way onto the page…

On Halloween of 1994 Nintendo filed for a series of patents that were later granted between the years 1997 and 2000. This essay refers to them more homogeneously as “Mario Factory” (Hibino and Yamato, 1994; Yamato et al., 1994a; Yamato et al., 1994b). This sequence of documents describe a videogame development, testing, and manufacturing system designed specifically for hobbyists and users to enjoy the creative possibilities of developing games for console videogame systems. Many of the systems and ideas described in the documents have not yet come to market for licensed Nintendo game developers and certainly not for the general player or hobbyist game developer.

Mario Factory, at its core, was about creating, not only the possibility of (co)creative content creation for console video games, but an entire set of tools by which users could begin (co)creating games. Figure 1 depicts a splash screen from this hypothetical device. While the patent seems to specifically target less technically inclined would-be videogame developers, it was also stated that these same tools would prove as productive prototyping and testing systems for more experienced videogame developers.

This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for generating unique videographic computer programs. More particularly, the present invention relates to a video game fabricating system designed primarily for users who are unfamiliar with computer program[ing] or video game creating methodology. Such users may conveniently create a unique video game through and icon driven, interactive computing system that permits a video game to be executed, stopped, edited, and resumed from the point where the editing began with the editorial changes persisting through the remainder of game play.
…
In accordance with the present invention, unique video games may be simply created by users ranging from a relatively unsophisticated elementary school students to sophisticated game developers. A unique hardware and software platform enables users to create original games by selecting icons which access more detailed editor screens permitting the user to directly change a wide variety of game display characteristics concerning moving objects and game backgrounds. (Yamato et al., 1994a53)

As early as 1994, Nintendo was critically aware of the complexity associated with videogame development practices and the kinds of interdisciplinary creative collaborative practice that is necessary for success. While their patent hints at perhaps a declining collaboration between engineer, artist, and designer, it seems to be more about creating tools that foster effective collaborative practice between those groups.

Mario Factory was, in effect, a DevKit for the masses. This approach hints at a very different possibility than one that is currently experienced by game developers. DevKits were introduced so that game developers could create games for consoles where the hardware differed significantly from that of PC’s. Nintendo developed technologies to bridge the gap between the PCs, where code was typically written, and the consoles, which ran the compiled code.

Hibino, T. & Yamato, S. (1994). U.S. Patent No. 5599231. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Yamato, S. et al. (1994a) U.S. Patent No. 5680534. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Yamato, S. et al. (1994b) U.S. Patent No. 6115036. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.

But it is strange when code that you wrote a long time ago continues to live on and run a life of its own. wxCURL is precisely one of those projects. The project started back in 2004 (and if the file’s time stamp is to be believed 09/18/2004 to be exact) because as much as I loved wxWidgets, its networking layer left a good deal to be desired, especially with respect to retrieving web content. At the time libCURL was by far the best (and fastest) URL retrieval library that also supported all the platforms I was developing for using wxWidgets.

The application was wxSync, which I wanted to support the WebDAV protocol. [I think I was also monitoring the "up and down" of sites like Penny-Arcade, which back then wasn't as stable or well known...] Thus wxCURL was born. In 2007 I transitioned wxCURL from Sourceforge all alone to part of the wxCode-wxCURL project, in part because I was in graduate school and couldn’t devote the time to its maintenance.

Its funny. I have no idea how many projects have used wxCURL, but I suspect that it is more than I know. At least four to five times a year I am asked for “releases” from folks unable or unfamiliar with retrieving code from SVN or CVS, but today, that all ends. Along with the help of Francesco Montorsi (the current maintainer of the project) wxCURL reached version 1.0 today. So, happy first birthday wxCURL. Not too shabby for a side project of a side project. Much like wxMD5, which also lives on somewhere… In the words of the announcement:

Description:
wxCURL is a simplified and integrated interface between LibCURL and wxWidgets.

As libCURL authors state, “libcurl is free, thread-safe, IPv6 compatible, feature rich, well supported, fast, thoroughly documented and is already used by many known, big and successful companies and numerous applications.”

wxCURL provides several sub-classes for simplified interfaces to HTTP, WebDAV, FTP and Telnet based resources, threads specialized for non-blocking downloads/uploads, stock download and upload dialogs.

ChangeLog
———

1.0
- first release of wxCurl since it was moved to wxCode
- new bakefile-based build system which supports all possible wxWidgets build modes and allows an easy-build of libCURL also on Windows keeping a copy in thirdparty\libcurl
- removed #pragma interface for GCC which are not used anymore
- revised the code to make it compile against wxWidgets 2.9
- now EVT_CURL_* macros also take an ID which allows the same event handler to process events coming from different wxCurlBase sessions
- now wxCurlBase do not use anymore a boolean parameter to register if progress/begin/end events should be sent but rather the wxCURL_SEND_PROGRESS/BEGIN/ END_EVENTS symbols which allow users to write more readable code
- doxyfied the documentation of wxCURL
- splitted wxCurlProgressEvent into wxCurlDownloadEvent and wxCurlUploadEvent classes and added more getters GUI-oriented (e.g. GetHumanReadableSpeed, GetEstimatedTime, etc)
- added a wxCurlDownloadThread and a wxCurlUploadThread to ease non-blocking downloads/uploads
- added a wxCurlSizeQueryThread to query file sizes before downloading them
- added a wxCurlDownloadDialog and wxCurlUploadDialog for easier downloading/uploading
- added a wxCurlConnectionSettings[Panel|Dialog] to present stock connection options to the user