I Played Kinect, and I Liked It

       During my recent travels I came across a demonstration for the Xbox 360 Kinect in the Zurich Hauptbahnhof railway station. For those that don’t know, the Kinect is Microsoft’s latest peripheral for the Xbox 360 that allows gamers to interact with the console without the need of a controller. The Kinect is a sensor bar with a built in RGB camera that players can place in front of their television. The camera has 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition capabilities that will input your full body movements and voice commands to control the game.

The Games

The games that were available at the demonstration were Kinect Joy Ride, Dance Central, and Kinect Sports. Kinect Joy Ride is a cartoon style racing game that can be played by 2 players locally, or 8 players via Xbox Live. Dance Central is a rhythm and music game where players compete in dance-offs against each other, or the computer. Kinect Sports allows players to participate in soccer, boxing, volleyball, bowling, table tennis, and a variety of track and field events including track running, and hurdles.

The Controls
I was able to play Kinect Joy Ride, and observe others playing Dance Central and Kinect Sports. To control the automobile in Kinect Joy Ride, I held my hands out like I was holding a steering wheel, and the on-screen vehicle would respond to the steering movements I made. To use an item (explosive, etc…), you need to hold your arm out to the side you would like to drop the item, and to get a speed boost you lean your whole body back and then push forward. This Kinect Joy Ride differed from the other two games, as it had specific gestures that were required while in Kinect Sports and Dance Central players’ full-body movements were mimicked by their on-screen avatars.

Impressions
While I was only able to play one-full race, my initial reaction is impressed. I assumed the car would be sluggish in relation to my hand movements, but it was very precise and accurate. If I turned my hand slightly, the car responded accordingly. If I made large sweeping hand movements the car would spin-out (as it should). When I observed individuals playing Kinect Sports I became more impressed, as every motion made by a player was accurately mimicked by their avatar. An example is one of the participants was a child, and he was waving his hands and shaking his legs, and the racer mimicked his exact motions. Another example is one participant was starting a race facing straight towards the camera and another was standing with his feet on an angle to the right, so the racers in the game took the same starting positions. Dance Central reminded me of Dance, Dance Revolution, except you were using your body to input commands, instead of a pad at your feet. The accuracy of tracking momentum was the most impressive part of Dance Central, as those who danced fast in real life were dancing fast in the game, and the same for slowing down.

Conclusion
So incase you haven’t figured it out yet, I am thoroughly impressed by this product which could have easily been a Wii knock-off, but instead takes motion gaming one step further by removing the controller. With the success of the Nintendo Wii and motion gaming, Sony and Microsoft have both responded accordingly. Sony’s Playstation Move motion controller was met with luck-luster reviews only scoring a 7.5 from IGN, and only time will tell if the Kinect is better received. The North American Launch date is November 4th 2010, and the European launch date is November 10th, 2010. Has the Wii finally met its match? I was impressed and I have the button to prove it.


Digital Comics: Not as Invincible as They Could Be

       As a Toronto born comic book fan, I’ve probably visited my local comic book shop, Cyber City Comix, once a week for the last fifteen years. Every Wednesday I would go by and pick up the latest issues of Batman, Green Lantern, and the Avengers. The owner of the store, Darryl and I would shoot the shit, discussing our recent travels, and the newest superhero movie that Hollywood butchered. Upon deciding to move to Amsterdam, Darryl and I had an interesting conversation about digital comics. He asked me if while I was in Amsterdam, if I would find a local comic store for the year, or if I would go digital, and download my comics online. This was a very good question, and this blog post is my attempt to answer that question.

History of Digital Comics

Digital comics first emerged as an avenue for independent comic book makers to release their content without having to go to one of the majors (Jones). For those that don’t know, DC Comics owned by Warner Bros., and Marvel Comics owned by Disney are the heavy hitters of the comic book industry. Historically writers who submitted their characters, storylines, and ideas to either DC or Marvel had to be willing to part with ownership, as both reserve all intellectual property and copyrights to anything they publish. Currently Marvel no longer accepts submissions (Marvel.com), and DC only accepts submissions through their Talent Search program (DC.com). Seeing as most independent writers and artists are not interested in giving up these rights, and submitting work to the majors has become even more difficult, the Internet has quickly developed into the perfect distribution method for independent comics.

Digital Comics: The Medium
At first most online comics were presented as webisodes (Jones), and were not reflective of what a traditional comic book looked liked. This changed when DC and Marvel entered the digital comic industry. Both companies wanted to simulate what it was like to read a hand-held comic, so they developed a variety of .pdf and flash online comic readers that could allow the user to turn a page, zoom-in, or have a specific panel appear to jump off the page.

View a sample DC digital comic by clicking here.
View a sample Marvel digital comic by clicking here.

This quickly lead to open-source enthusiasts, and independent comic distributors to develop a similar format known as a Comic Book Archive file, or .cbr. This has become the unofficial standard for digital comics, and has spawned a variety of open source digital comic readers like CDisplay, ComicRack, and HoneyView. Recently there has been a trend to increase the mobility of digital comics by making them available on hand-held devices, but this has been received with a luke-warm reception at best. A contemporary comic is 17 x26 cm, an iPhone 4 has a screen that has a 8.89cm diagonal, while a Blackberry Bold has a screen that has a 7.11cm diagonal. Even with the feature to zoom in, neither even comes close to simulating a real comic, as images are too small, and the text is difficult to read. One notable success for reading digital comics is the iPad. If you are able to conquer the steep price tag, the iPad provide a screen that has 25 cm diagonal, text is perfectly legible without zooming in, the touch feature makes it easy to turn pages, and the colours really pop (cnet news).

Availability of Titles
Each comic publisher has characters and titles that are exclusive to their brand. Marvel totes Spiderman and Wolverine, while DC swings around Batman and Superman. Many non-superhero comics exist, and share the trait of being tied to a specific publisher. Currently the majority of digital comics that are available are either new independent releases, or major super hero releases (Jones). This ignores a whole side of the market that reads fantasy, political, and other non-traditional comic book topics. Despite what you read, most comic book enthusiasts select characters, and stories from a variety of publishers. Aside from the aforementioned .cbr open source format, most publishers have their own format, that only works with their own software/readers. That means that if you want to read Superman, Spiderman, and Night Owls you will need three different pieces of software, definitely not the most user-friendly approach.

Price
The average price of a mainstream digital title is about $2.99 USD (Marvel.com, DC.com). The price for the same comic in stores is about $3.99 USD (Marvel.com, DC.com). Although you are saving a dollar an issue it is still alarming to see an only 25% reduction in prize, because a digital comic cannot appreciate in value, and you are not retaining a physical copy. A physical comic may appreciate in value, depending on the significance of the issue, and you also have the benefit of adding the physical issue to your collection. Most comic readers are also, comic collectors, so the current pricing does not encourage traditionalists to adopt this new medium. There are some positives to be acknowledged, as digital comics cannot be physically damaged, and therefore maintain their literary value when stored for future reading. Also independent titles can be found for free or around $0.99 USD (Comixology). This is much more reasonable, and encourages new readership both of the digital comic medium, and of the stories being offered at these rates.

My Assessment
After a lot of thought, experimenting with digital comic readers, and budgeting, I have decided that I will not be switching to digital comics, yet. This decision has to be made for each reader individually. As the majority of comics I read are mainstream superhero stories, I cannot justify paying practically the same price for a digital copy and not walking away with the physical book to add to my collection. My decision is also a product of my environment, I am currently completing my Masters, and a student budget has left me with little disposable income to put towards comics, or the setup costs of an iPad. If I were to read digital comics (based on the current market’s products)  I would only do so on an iPad, as in my opinion it is the only digital experience that comes close to the real thing. Despite sticking to traditional paper comics, I must acknowledge it was not an easy decision, and there were definitely some factors pushing me towards the digital. All of the comics I am currently reading are available in digital form. The convenience of downloading the comics without physically visiting a store has to be acknowledged, as well as the ability to stores thousands of comics on a single hard drive. If the price of an individual digital comic decreases, or if I develop a large increase in my disposable income, it wouldn’t take me long to make the switch. It is unfortunate that these are the circumstances that have led to my decision, as comics were traditionally an inexpensive form of entrainment that were accessible to all, despite budget. In any event, everyone should experience shooting the shit with their local comic book guy and that is one thing that cannot be digitally reproduced.

References

Comixology (October, 2010)
http://www.comixology.com/

 DC Comics. (October, 2010)
http://www.dccomics.com/

Jones, Dani. (September 27, 2010) Digital Comics.
http://danidraws.com/2010/09/27/digital-comics/

Lee, Nicole. (January 27, 2010) iPad Might Breathe Life Into Digital Comics.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10443109-1.html

Marvel. (October, 2010)
http://marvel.com/

Images

Spiderman courtesy of:
http://www.cinecon.com/news/2379/marc-webb-to-helm-next-spider-man/

Wolverine courtesy of:
http://www.eatsleepgeek.com/mastermind-wolverine-leak/

Educate Me in 140 Characters or Less

       When packing your bag for school, make sure you have your lunch, books, and favorite Twitter client. The social network is making great strides as an academic tool, as more and more educators realize the benefit of fast, transparent messages that are updated in real time. Twitter allows teachers to announce changes in class schedules, homework, or study tips in a safe and friendly environment (EDUCAUSE). In addition to improving student-teacher communication, teachers have found potential for increased student engagement by assigning twitter based homework. Common twitter based assignments include tracking a conference or seminar, researching a professional, learning to write concisely (140 characters or less), and grammar by correcting other people’s twitter posts (AcademHack). To see how the university of Dallas is using Twitter in their Emerging Media Course click here.

       Student-teacher communications has become increasingly difficult in the light of a variety of scandals, and their corresponding online media coverage. In 2004 the American media was enveloped by the Debra LaFave case, where a 23 year told female teacher had a sexual relationship with her 14 year-old student (MSNBC). The commonality of inappropriate student-teacher relationships have resulted in teachers becoming more guarded and reluctant to meet with students on a one-on-one basis. Twitter presents a viable means to re-establish a transparent form of communication between students and teachers, as both parties identities are disclosed, and the conversation that takes place is public and captured.

        Many contemporary student issues like poverty, teen pregnancy, and learning disabilities have lead to an increased importance in student engagement. If a student doesn’t arrive to class, or has a genuine difficulty retaining information, what options are teachers left with? Adopt a push communication strategy. Traditional course structures have a pull communication system where the onus is to pull the student into the  classroom, where they then benefit from the information being disseminated. With Twitter a student could subscribe to the class feed and receive information directly to their mobile device or online Twitter account. The information is automatically pushed to them, and while it by no means replaces the invaluable class experience, it may assist students who actually have difficult real-world problems.

       At the end of 2009, 73% of American teens between the ages of 12 and 17 were using social networking sites (Cyberbullying Research Center). Why not go to where your students are? If you are ready to make the jump the next logical question is why use Twitter? Twitter is designed for one individual to speak to many, it does not focus on the personal one-on-one conversations that Facebook is commonly used for. Twitter’s primary purpose is to share information, while Facebook is to connect with friends, and FourSquare is to meet in real life. Both Facebook and FourSqaure present a conflict of interests when applied to student-teacher relationships. Twitter posts are designed to occur in real-time, students receive the information as it is posted and teachers can address student issues as they occur. The aforementioned factors when coupled with the public transparency of a Twitter feed, appear to make Twitter the obvious choice for a teacher looking to educate their students via social networking.

References

AcademHack. (January 23, 2008) Twitter for Academia.
http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/

Dunlap, J. and Lowenthal P. (2009) Horton Hears a Tweet.
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/HortonHearsaTweet/192955

Hinduja, S. and Patchin, J. (2009) The Changing Nature in Online Social Networking.
http://www.cyberbullying.us/changes_in_teens_online_social_networking_2006_2009.pdf

Lauer Matt. (September 13, 2006) Debra Lafave: Crossing The Line.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14499056/

University of Dallas. (2007) Twitter Away Your Weekend.
http://outsidethetext.com/trace/38/
Images

Picture courtesy of: http://prandsocialmedia.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/10-things-to-twitter-about-in-college-school-spirit-style/

Abstract Canadian Flag

I created the following .png with Inkscape an open source vector graphics editor that is available for download at http://www.inkscape.org/

A Canadian Wikipedia Adventure

       When contributing to Wikipedia it is always best to stick to what you know. The concept behind the world’s largest online encyclopedia is that everyone has valuable accumulated knowledge that should be shared, on what is essentially a global knowledge base with a fancy title. Writing about what you are unfamiliar with, or something that requires you to conduct research defies this key concept, especially since somebody who is more familiar with the topic could write a better article.

       Keeping the aforementioned concept in mind the question becomes, what knowledge area could a New Media Masters student from the Great White North (Canada) contribute to? The answer is ice hockey. Like many Canadians I spend much of my free time watching, playing, and reading about ice hockey. It was with great surprise that I learned that recently signed San Jose Sharks’ goaltender J.P. Anderson did not have an entry in the online encyclopedia, and so started the wonderful journey that is contributing to Wikipedia.

       As a novice in terms of contributing to Wikipedia, I started with the tutorial. The majority of the lessons focused on defining what level of notoriety is expected from a published contribution, as well as defining Wikipedia key concepts like “no original research” and ensuring articles remain unbiased. From there I decided to use the article wizard to help develop my article. The beginning of the wizard was much like the tutorial, in that it didn’t provide any interactive practice work, but just more information on acceptable formatting and markup. The payoff is at the end of the article wizard where they give you three options for creating your article, either directly on a live space, a shared sandbox area where you could experiment but everything you write is visible to the public, or a private user sandbox where posts are only visible when you submit them. I chose the private user sandbox area, created a user name, and was off to the races.

       Compiling information about J.P. Anderson into a legible article was simple enough, followed by formatting ‘wiki style’, and then the not so quiet process of moving my article to the live Wikipedia space. When you create an article through the private user space, you need to have your article reviewed by an editor and approved, before it will show up in the public space. I submitted my article for review on a Wednesday afternoon, and by Wednesday night (approximately 6 hours later) the submission was put on hold. The article was moved by an editor from my private user workspace, to a “talk workspace” where authors and editors can review, edit, and discuss the validity of an article.

       The hold declared that the editor suspected the athlete was not notable enough to currently be included on Wikipedia. It also provided a link to Wikipedia’s “athlete notability article”, and said that if I disagreed I should respond below. I reviewed the notoriety conditions which J.P. Anderson does meet, and found other existing ice hockey players of similar fame and skill level that did have articles. I responded to the editor citing Anderson’s accomplishments and other Wikipedia articles. I also edited my article to ensure a user unfamiliar with ice hockey would be able to comprehend Anderson’s accomplishments thus far.

       From there I waited, and approximately 3 days later the article was approved, the hold was removed, and now everybody can learn about a professional junior hockey player from Toronto, Canada who one day might be the starting goaltender for the San Jose Sharks.

Read or contribute to the J.P. Anderson Wikipedia article at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.P._Anderson

The Customer is Always Right (or at least able to convince the Internet masses they are)

       With the dominance of social networking, user generated content, and the ability to comment on just about anything, web 2.0 has changed the way consumers interact with corporations, especially when they are pissed off. Many corporations are performing the role of laggards, as they do not realize the impact of web 2.0 on their business models until it is brought to their attention. This is done by the consumers directly through a variety of online statements, videos, and discussions that can quickly turn into public relations nightmares.

        On March 31, 2008, David Carroll and his band Sons of Maxwell flew on United Airlines from Halifax to Omaha, with a stopover in Chicago. Upon landing in Chicago a woman commented, “My god they’re throwing guitars out there.” David and his band’s instruments were being thrown by baggage handlers, without any regard for their delicacy (David Carroll Music, 2008). Upon finally arriving in Omaha, David Carroll found that the base of his $3500 Taylor guitar was smashed. When it became clear that nobody from Untied Airlines would compensate him for the damage, Carroll took his plight online with the following video:



       9 200 321 views later, David Carroll has a record deal, been interviewed by every major news network including CNN and Fox News, was given two new guitars by a guitar manufacturer, and United Airlines made a charitable donation in his name (CNN, 2010).

       A more recent example occurred in August of 2010. Tanner Bawn is a terminally ill boy who flew with his family from Toronto to New York on Air Canada. Upon arriving in La Guardia airport the family learned that Tyler’s $15 000 custom wheelchair had been reduced to pieces (CBC, 2010). Air Canada’s initial response was to provide Tanner with a regular wheelchair, and after hearing from the family that this was inadequate proceeded to provide an electronic scooter-type wheelchair that was also inadequate (CBC, 2010). Tanner’s aunt tweeted @herbadmother the events as they unfolded. This struck a cord with readers, and created what the media dubbed a “twitter storm” (MarketingMag, 2010). Within twenty-four hours hundreds of angry tweets led to Air Canada fully repairing the wheelchair to its original form, and offering the family a free trip to Disney World (CP24, 2010).

       Despite the popularity of taking one’s customer service plight online, corporations do little research into the impact of web 2.0 technologies on their core business models. It is only through researching these socioeconomic impacts that a corporations or an individual could respond fluidly to future threats, or be able to predict such occurrences before they happen. Such research would provide tangible results in the forms of increased brand recognition, a stable digital reputation, and new form of transparent online communication directly with the customer. Remember, the customer is always right (or at least able to convince the Internet masses they are).

References

Carroll, David. (March 31, 2008) Story.
http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/ubg/story/

CBC News. (August 5, 2010) Air Canada fixes ill boy’s wheelchair.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/08/05/air-canada-twitter-chair541.html

Marketer News. (August 5, 2010) Air Canada in Twitter storm over boy’s broken wheelchair.
http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/marketer/article.jsp?content=20100805_152554_6260

Stern, Linda. (September 14, 2010) How to get what you want from customer service.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/13/pf/dealing_with_customer_service.moneymag/

The Canadian Press via CP24. (August 5, 2010) Air Canada repairs broken wheelchair of boy with muscular dystrophy.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100805/100805_wheelchair/20100805/?hub=CP24Home

Book Review: Network Power - David Singh Grewal

       Globalization is reintroduced to society in David Singh Grewal’s "Network Power". A volume that contains so much information, it can easily be viewed as a contemporary globalization handbook. Grewal’s perspective is fresh and bold, albeit not empirically substantiated. The lack of empirical evidence is easily overlooked, by the sheer intelligence of Grewal’s arguments, and the historical validity of his observations and considerations.

       Grewal himself acknowledges that globalization is a beast of a topic that can often be misdefined, or misused. "The global coordination of international standards" is the one-line definition of globalization Grewal wants readers to keep in mind, as he introduces the main theme of the book, network power. This is essentially a type of global common sense that is adopted by a network of people, governments, and nations either directly or indirectly. It relies on the concept that standards are of greater value when more people use them, and some standards are established through sovereign collective decision making, while others are defined through decentralized local decisions that in the end, affect the entire group. These standards create network power, which directly and indirectly guides globalization.

       “The idea of network power argues that we are pulled by our choices along avenues smoothed by the prior choices of others.” In conjunction with this theme, the dominance of the English language is explored and justified by its economic necessity. Grewal has an interesting argument with himself on evaluating the quality of network power, and what can be done to defuse it when necessary. This is a bold stance to take, as Grewal is challenging his own beliefs, to prove just how valid they are. The book is very balanced between traditional topics of globalization like technology and world trade, while still covering new and edgy topics like neoliberalism, and our goal of not descending into a McWorld through cultural globalization.

       “Globalization can be reworked, but not rejected…it depends on what we decide to make of it together.” This message is consistent throughout the book, reminding readers that globalization is not going anywhere, while reinforcing the concept of network power. It reminds readers that the standards we establish together will end up carrying greater validity then the ones we define by ourselves. A bold message to anti-globalization theorists, and a rational message to the average reader trying to understanding this newly shaping world.

 Grewal, David Singh. Network Power: The Social Dynamics of Globalization.

         Ann Arbor, MI: Sheridan Books, 2008.