Netgened

A smart object “knows” about itself — where and how it was made, what it is for, who owns it and how they use it, what other objects in the world are like it — and about its environment(Horizon Report, 2009). A smart object is simply any physical object that includes a unique identifier that can track information about the object. (Horizon Report) My group is associated with smart objects and how they can be customized. During the past day, I have worked and researched on the above topic and found out quite a lot about them and how they can be used in a learning environment. This information is located on our team wiki http://netgened.wikispaces.com/2F+Customization+and+Smart+Objects. I have also made a few comments on a video in the netgened ning called “No future Left Behind”. The video was about using modern technology to teach the modern age. It highlighted the fact that we were being taught by outdated ways. If we wanted to learn better we should use modern technology. I also collaborated with the people on my team and talked to them about our topic

Virtual Reality gaming: Friend or Foe.

Virtual Reality gaming: Friend or Foe.






























Criterion A- Presentation of the issue.
My Portfolio will be based on a research paper written by Sandra L. Calvert to highlight the dangers of virtual gaming. In 2008, virtual reality games like world of warcraft, perfect world and cabal online had become so popular that over 60% of the world’s youth sit for hours on end playing them on the computer (Calvert 2008). Over 90% of these virtual games require a subscriber to create an online character and therefore have a second life different from reality. Living one life has its own problems but living two lives is just beyond normal.

World of Warcraft, One of the world’s current leading multinational virtual games
Currently totals more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America and approximately 5.5 million in Asia. This means that there are about 10 million people playing this game worldwide. Towards the end of December 2008, blizzard, the producer of world of warcraft announced that the total number of were about 11.5 million people, more than Ohio, USA’s population.

World of warcraft is only 1 in over 200 online virtual games; this therefore raises a lot of questions in the minds of people especially parents. ‘What threat does this sudden increase or boom in gaming pose for or children’. This great increase in virtual gaming brings up a lot of questions not only regarding the social impact on the subscribers as highlighted in (Calvert, 2008) but also the mental issue. What will be the outcome or result of this many subscribers to virtual games? What social and mental impacts will it have on the subscribers and their daily lives? What is the force behind this sudden virtual gaming boom?






















Criterion B.

The affordability of modern computers has made virtual gaming easier to access by everyone. Games in general have long been a recreational thing but now people spend more time playing them especially through their computers.

The increased graphics card, accelerators and resolution of modern day computers have made Virtual Gaming increasingly popular and addicting. Most virtual games work in a similar way. The graphics card and graphics accelerator do most of the work. They generate the graphics or characters shown on the screen. Examples of graphics card and graphics accelerators are Gee-force and NVDIA.

The resolution of the computers makes the images clearer and bolder. Virtual games work this basic way. The playing of Virtual games are expected to grow by more than 60% in the next 2 years. (Castronova, 2004). This alarming increase in gaming means that more and more people will get drawn into the area of games and less people will be seen actually doing something beneficial to them. These developments have made virtual gaming to be more attractive and therefore draw more people into its never-ending hypnotism.




























Criterion C.
Virtual Reality Gaming’s revolution and growth has caused it to become an increasingly popular area for investments. Companies like Sony and Microsoft who are well known makers of virtual reality games have assets of over 8 trillion yen (about 100 billion dollars) on games and electronics (Adobbati, 2008). This apparent interest and investment in virtual gaming poses threats for the future. It shows that there will be a noticeable and probably lethal increase in the area of virtual gaming.

This could have serious impacts on people’s social life because people would be spending more and more time on their computers playing games rather than mixing up with other people or their friends and family. It could also have an impact in their overall health because it would keep degrading as a result of too much exposure to the computer screen. Eye sights will degrade gradually and might lead to blindness eventually. Fitness might eventually become a problem because individuals won’t have much time for exercise of just leisure walking because they would be too busy with games.



Criterion D.
A feasible solution to the problem of virtual gaming could be that all mmorpgs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) should limit the amount of time users spend on their accounts. Their accounts could have a lock where it is programmed to know when the user logs on. The lock starts counting down till the user’s time for the day is over. The Board or leaders of the mmorpgs could set a desired time limit to which the users can stay online. This way amount of time spent on computers would be limited and also would the consequences of excessive virtual gaming.




















Criterion E: Bibliography.


Adobbati, Rogelio, Andrew N. Marshall, Andrew Scholer, Sheila Tejada, Gal Kaminka, Steven Schaffer, and Chris Sollitto. Gamebots: A 3D Virtual World Test-Bed For Multi-Agent Research. Gamebots: A 3D Virtual World Test-Bed For Multi-Agent Research. Sept. 2008. Information Sciences Institute University of Southern California S& Computer Science Department Carnegie Mellon University. 28 Jan. 2009 .


Castronova, Edward. On Virtual Economies. Game Studies. Dec. 2003. California State University. 28 Jan. 2009 .


Calvert, Sandra L. The Social Impact of Virtual Reality. The Social Impact of Virtual Reality. Georgetown University. 16 Jan. 2009 .

Chan Jennifer, Unhealthy Gaming Habits and Addiction. Unhealthy Gaming Habits and Addiction..2006. 12th February. 2009

Stanney, Kay M., Ronald R. Mourant, and Robert S. Kennedy. Human Factors Issues in Virtual Environments: A Review of the Literature. Human Factors Issues in Virtual Environments: A Review of the Literature. Department of Industrial Engineering, M.I.T. 16 Jan. 2009 .

Virtual Reality gaming: Friend or Foe

Criterion A- Presentation of the issue.

My Portfolio will be based on a research paper written by Sandra L. Calvert to highlight the dangers of virtual gaming. In 2008, virtual reality games like world of warcraft, perfect world and cabal online had become so popular that over 60% of the world’s youth sit for hours on end playing them on the computer (Calvert 2008). Over 90% of these virtual games require a subscriber to create an online character and therefore have a second life different from reality. Living one life has its own problems but living two lives is just beyond normal.

World of Warcraft, One of the world’s current leading multinational virtual games

Currently totals more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America and approximately 5.5 million in Asia. This means that there are about 10 million people playing this game worldwide. Towards the end of December 2008, blizzard, the producer of world of warcraft announced that the total number of were about 11.5 million people, more than Ohio, USA’s population.

World of warcraft is only 1 in over 200 online virtual games, this therefore raises a lot of questions and doubts in the minds of people. This great increase in virtual gaming brings up a lot of questions not only regarding the social impact on the subscribers as highlighted in (Calvert, 2008) but also the mental issue. What will be the outcome or result of this many subscribers to virtual games? What social and mental impacts will it have on the subscribers and their daily lives? What is the force behind this sudden virtual gaming boom?

Technology behind-Batman: The dark knight

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4274081.html

ITGS Portfolio Draft 2

Criterion A: Presentation of the issue

My portfolio will be based on a newspaper article published on the 16th of September 2008.Titled: Mobile phone ban sought for train drivers in wake of crash. It can be found on http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=98102. For many, many years Mobile phones have been a fast way of communication in our world rather than using letters and/or emails. Mobile phones have also been a huge problem because they cause a lot of different hazards.
Hazards like cancer, diminished hearing and worse crashes are sometimes caused by mobile phones. These crashes especially happen in trains and airplanes and have become a common issue of discussion between aviation industries like Boeing and Airbus. If a mobile phone is switched on or used during flight or train journeys, since they operate at a different frequency than the airplanes or trains, they could intercept, scramble or block the frequency thereby prohibiting communication between the pilots and the airport towers or the train engineer and the station.
This might cause crashes which endanger the life and property of other people on the train or airplane. Sometimes the passenger isn’t the only problem, the pilot or train engineer are too. The recent 2008 train crash was caused by the train engineer who was making calls and texting to his friend when the crash happened. Every year there are approximately 3,000 train accidents. Every year approximately 1,000 people will die as a result of train accidents. Almost every 2 weeks a train derailment causes a chemical spill, leading up to evacuations of local residents and most of them are as a result of some electrical malfunction and also of mobile phones.

Criterion B: The IT Background of the Issue.
Mobile phones have become more and more popular since its creation. They have been improved lot in the way they work, their compatibility, design, durability and versatility. Nowadays everyone has a mobile phone. Everywhere you go you see people with mobile phones chatting away. On trains especially, there is an unusual amount of talking. This disease called the mobile phone has even caught onto people like the drivers of trains and cars, whose little mistake due to absent mindedness can cause the lose of lives and properties.

The use and production of mobile phones are improving every year. These new mobile phones operate at about 2100 MHz (2.1GHz). They also have the ability to receive more than 800 different frequencies. This ability in the mobile phones therefore becomes a problem when an individual is on a train because the mobile phone could intercept the train frequency used for communication by the drivers of the train and the control station. This interception between the two frequencies could cause perplexity between tower and driver and therefore lead to a fatal accident.

Falling mobile phone prices and slowing growth in new handset production is leading to lower revenue in the handset market worldwide in the years ahead, according to iSuppli Corp. Overall market saturation and related moderation in sign-up of new subscribers also is finally taking a toll on device market economics. The average selling price of a mobile phone is now $129, about $36 lower than it was just two years ago.http://material.htlwien10.at/unterrichtsmaterial/n/howstuffworks-pdf/cell-phone.pdf


Criterion C- The Impact of the Issue

As they have improved, so have the frequencies which they use to transfer information. Mobile phones are everywhere nowadays but few people really care or even know what kind of diseases they can cause. Continuous use of mobile phones over a long period of time can cause damage to the ear and it could also affect the brain. It could also cause cancer. Use of mobile phones in public transports has also been a problem. Reports on trains especially have also caused significant problems.

Mobile phones increasing frequency which is called “Radio Frequency” nowadays have now become very similar to that of the trains and can interfere with information passed to and from the train. The currently used frequency in some mobile phones which are called 3G, or third generation, is the generic term used for the next generation of mobile communications systems. The systems enhance the services available today and offer multimedia and internet access and the ability to view video footage. This similarity in frequency causes interference in information transmission which can be quite critical in the case of trains because the information might be about where the train should not go to avoid a crash.

The effect of mobile phones could also cause the government a lot of money in buying new trains, removing the wreckage of trains which are usually caused by mobile phones and pay the families of the harmed or dead on the crash. A recent train crash which was caused by mobile phones was on September 13, 2008. A Commuter train with 225 aboard slammed into a freight train on a winding route in Chatsworth. More than 135 are injured and 17 dead. Many stakeholders who would be very interested in this information would be companies like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola. They could use this information to make better mobile which wouldn’t interfere with surrounding frequencies. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-traincrash13-2008sep13,0,2874450.story


















Criterion D: A solution to a problem arising from the issue.


The use of mobile phones and their dangers, in this case directed at trains can be limited through a number of ways. The best solution would be to set up a network which would intercept all calls going to the train and also from the train thereby preventing people from making or receiving calls. The missed call would then be converted into text later on, after the individual has left the train and sent to his/her mobile. Another solution could be to setup phones in the trains much like the ones found in aircrafts for making calls. These phones should operate at a lower frequency than the train so whenever an individual wants to make a call he/she can simply use his/her credit card or money to pay and make the call.

















Criterion E.


Barkhuus, Louise, and Anind Dey. Location-Based Services for Mobile Telephony: a study of users’ privacy concerns. Www.itu.dk. 2003. University of Copenhagen and Intel Research. 2 Nov. 2008 .

Brain, Marshall, and Tyson Jeff. "How cell phones work." How stuff works. July 2003. How stuff works. 26 Oct. 2008 .

Carle, Georg, and Christian Hoene. Mobile Communications. Chair for Computer Networks & Internet. Winter 2006. University of Tübingen Wilhelm-Schickard-Institute for Computer Science. 5 Nov. 2008 .

"Mobile phone ban sought for train drivers in wake of crash." 16 Sept. 2008. The West Australian. 2 Nov. 2008 .
Rubin, Joel, Ann M., Simmons, and Mitchell Landsberg. "Total destruction': At least 17 die in head-on Metrolink crash." Los Angeles Times. 13 Sept. 2008.Los Angeles Times.2 Nov. 2008 .

Criterion D: A solution to a problem arising from the issue.

The use of mobile phones and their dangers, in this case directed at trains can be limited. Rules should be made that any passenger in the train even the train engineers should have their mobile phones switched off before boarding the train. Also anyone caught with their mobile phone switched on should be fined since hey are endangering the lives of other people on the train. This can be achievable by placing watches or police men at points before the entry onto the train and also in the train to make sure people don’t switch on their mobiles. This could also increase employment because there are many train stations and many officers would be needed to watch over. Flyers and posters could also be posted in the train station and outside it to tell and also remind people that their action (switching their mobile phone on in the train) could lead to a train crash and therefore death.

Criterion C: The impact of the issue.

Mobile phones have been a source of communication for a little more or about10 years and they have been improved in the way they work, compatibility, design, durability and versatility. As they have improved, so have the frequencies which they use to transfer information. This brings us to the main idea of the topic, Mobile phones and trains. Mobile phones are everywhere nowadays but few people really care or even know what kind of diseases they can cause. Continuous use of mobile phones over a long period of time can cause damage to the ear and it could also affect the brain. It could also cause cancer. Use of mobile phones in public transports has also been a problem. Reports on trains especially have also caused significant problems. Mobile phones increasing frequency which is called “Radio Frequency” nowadays have now become very similar to that of the trains and can interfere with information passed to and from the train. The currently used frequency in some mobile phones which are called 3G, or third generation, is the generic term used for the next generation of mobile communications systems. The systems enhance the services available today and offer multimedia and internet access and the ability to view video footage. These services operate at 2100 MHz. (2.1GHz). This similarity in frequency causes interference in information transmission which can be quite critical in the case of trains because the information might be about where the train should not go to avoid a crash. This effect of mobile phones could also cause the government a lot of money in buying new trains, removing the wreckage of trains which are usually caused by mobile phones and pay the families of the harmed or dead on the crash. A recent train crash which was caused by mobile phones was on September 13, 2008. A Commuter train with 225 aboard slammed into a freight train on a winding route in Chatsworth. More than 135 are injured and 17 dead.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-traincrash13-2008sep13,0,2874450.story