Google Maps

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=35.467626,-97.515421&spn=0.015798,0.026393&z=15&msid=109337713413355376973.0004865e2bc1767114b2c

View Downtown Oklahoma City in a larger map
View Downtown Oklahoma City in a larger map

First off, I chose to do a map of downtown Oklahoma City (Bricktown) because I lived in OKC for 3 years, and feel like I know that area better than I know SF.

Google Maps has an interesting concept, and is well programmed, but the “my maps” feature is just not developed enough by the group of users that would benefit from it most: mobile users. The most practical way to use customized map locations would be to have the locations on a smartphone, and be able to guide your way around to them using the GPS on that smartphone. The iPhone has an application for maps, but lacks the ability to view user-generated maps, as well as being able to access the part of google maps that is linked to an email/account. If users could plan a visit out in google maps, and then transfer it to their iPhone, it would make for a remarkable experience… but for now, if I were to send someone this link, they’d have to print out a map, but they wouldn’t have any of the details/links/photos about each place on the map… defeating the purpose of My Maps for the mobile user. Ideally, would like to give the locations that I made to anyone I know that might visit Oklahoma City, but when they get there, they aren’t likely to have a printer to print out a map, or be able to carry around a laptop to guide them about.

One interesting use for the user-generated maps is that it could be used to plan out a road trip, especially with multiple cars. That way every driver could know exactly where to drive to, and in what order, and where there’s gas stations along the way.

Interactive Information Visualization

2008/2009 Photoshoots on Dipity.

Dipity is in my opinion very time consuming and not worth it for the average person. I used it to create a timeline of my photoshoots for last season, which creates a "cool" visual... but I doubt that anyone would care to take a look at my timeline more than once unless i was some sort of public figure. The software had some glitches which made things more frustrating, such as the same event showing up multiple times, one of them on the wrong date. The timeline concept could be used for news sites and historical visualization of things that matter to humanity such as historical points in national histories, civil rights movements, art technique progression, etc. The site is fairly "web 2.0" in the sense that it can import photos into the events by using only html links, and can link the locations to google maps. The timeline arranges the event bubbles well, but could still be better, using the capabilities of flash and 'mouse over' functions to expand each even without clicking, and making the default view less cluttered for a large quantity of events over a small period of time. Dipity could be used by the school systems to lay out key dates (drop class deadline, fees deadline, class registration times), and i think that that would be very useful... but i think that the most useful thing that Dipity could create is a way to export timelines from the internet into programs like iCal which can be synced up with a personal computer or mobile device.

Social Networking Exercise: Part 3 & 4

Part 3:

Social Networking Site: Gaia

Gaia is a social networking service for anime (japanese cartoon animation) enthusiasts. Gaia is similar to yoville in that you have an avatar, and it is a game-like environment, but more social.

The goals in Gaia are to get gold, and to buy clothing and accessories for your avatar. The more gold you have, the more things you can buy for your avatar... and the more rare the items are that you have, the more that people will talk to you in the avatar world. Your membership is either through email or through facebook.

The way to earn gold is by doing lots of various things. Gold revenue activities include posting on a forum, starting a popular thread, just surfing around the forums, playing games like pinball, or an assortment of other mini-games.

The system keeps people engaged and encourages social interaction. The forum topics are about anything and everything... from fashion to art, technology chatter to in-game tips. They get people to visit on a regular basis by giving maximum gold rewards for activity on a new day.. basically.. if you do a lot of interacting on one day, you'll probably get less gold than doing a little interaction over a few days.

Communicating with other people can be either through the forum, or in the avatar world with word bubbles above their cartoon heads.

Gaia is obviously more of a game-oriented site than other social-networking sites, but much like the popularity of farmville, it attracts users for more than just the social interaction.

Part 4:

I think that social networks will eventually include GPS positioning, letting your network of friends/contact know where you are at all times. A lot of new phones already include GPS capabilities, and the ability to tie your current position to approved software.

I also think that it is likely that social networking will be more automatic. For example: say I am shopping in target. My phone will be able to tell that I am in target based on my GPS location, and will be able to update my profile with a message on the profile page like "Kevin is shopping at target in San Francisco." As much as I would be weary to give out such information for privacy reasons, I think that it would become very popular especially with the upcoming generation of teenagers.

New marketing strategies may also be formed by mobile social networking. Listing off favorite restaurants on your profile may link you to promotions that are tailored to bringing people nearby the business into the business.

Another possibility is to have new recommended friends by who you are geographically near on a regular basis. This would mean that coworkers and classmates would show up on your recommended contacts list based in your proximity to them.

Social Networking Exercise: Part 1

The first social networking site that i joined was Myspace in 2004. I was a very active user for about 4 years, usually checking my profile multiple times per day. I now rarely use Myspace, I check it periodically, but most people i know have "graduated" onto Facebook where there isn't an overwhelming amount of flashy html coding. I use Facebook a lot more now, probably checking it a couple times per day. Facebook is simplified and more to the point. The communication is all that i need it to be without it trying to do everything. The only aspect of Myspace that i think has better features is music and photos. Though the music on Myspace could be annoying by playing as soon as you go to someone's profile, it was still a nice feature to be able to check out new bands and listen to music. Myspace also allows .png and .tiff images to be uploaded, so the resolution restrictions (that both myspace and Facebook has) is not as detrimental to photo quality because a .png or .tiff looks better than .jpegs... tenfold.

Virtual Worlds

Part 2:

A: YoVille

B: Everett

C: Everett is an outgoing and very social guy. He likes to push people's buttons just to get a rise out of them, but does so in an obviously joking way. He dresses sloppily, but takes pride in his home and spends his extra money on new contemporary furniture and home accessories. Everett comes from a poor background, but has worked his way out of the slum to be a network administrator. He hates the IRS for taking such a large portion of his earned success. Though he works in corporate America now, he aspires to be a successful hairstylist one day. Everett's only obvious fault is that he eats a lot of junk food and rarely exercises. He luckily has the genes to be a skinny guy, but will likely have health issues later in life.

D:

Part 3:

A:

B: The event was supposed to resemble something of a dance club/elaborate house party.

Part 4:

1: Objectives, (some) tasks, and explanations of progression in the game (like gifts, levels, and suggested actions.

2: Most of the environment displays non-text based info. The navigation between areas (picture of a house to go home), the interactive items like keys and easter eggs, and the interaction images like boxing gloves to fight someone.

3: The world is very color saturated, and comic-like. The sounds are very repetitive and simple. The motion is a smooth movement of the head, with the body motion trailing wherever the smooth motion of the head goes.

4: The game starts with a lot of annoying pop-ups telling you what you should do, and which of your friends you should bug to join the game. The game encourages you to get "new neighbors" by getting your friends to join YoVille. It also encourages you to visit your friends apartments in order to become better friends with them and gain experience points.

5: The only immersive features are at the social events. There are a lot of people walking around and talking, but still... the way that people interact is very cheap and represents what someone that is bored would do. The game is very limited as far as the boundaries that you can travel, and what employment you can have, so it's overall not a game that i can feel like "i'm there."

6: Most other avatars exist in the social room for about 2 minutes max. Interacting with them is usually as much as "hi!", a cheesy one-liner, or a game of tic-tac-toe, or at little as no response followed by leaving the current room.

7: The economy is partially based on doing simple tasks like going to work and visiting your friends. That earns you YoVille coins, but to earn cash, it seems as though you have to spend actual US Dollars on the game. Both coins and cash buy you items for your apartment, or accessories and clothing for your avatar to wear.

8: My favorite in-world activity is fighting with my friends. It earns me money, experience points, and i can also earn more money by taking photos while fighting with them.

9: A lot of objects have popups once you click on them, giving an RPG/turn-based-like feel to interaction. Some of the environments have an arrow pointing to what the objective is.

10: The HOH-Agency article relates to the limited space in YoVille. The navigation is not that pleasurable because after 5 minutes of exploring, there is nothing more to explore, and some of the places explored seem like a waste of time and aren't that interesting in the first place. Virtual worlds with an infinitely expandable space to discover is a lot more interesting and pleasurable.

My Digital Media Life

The media devices that I use almost on a daily basis are: 27" iMac, 13" Macbook, XBox 360, iPhone, and my Canon 5D Mark ii (with multiple lenses).

With my iMac and Macbook, all the same media types are involved, one is just portable. They both connect me to photos, music, games, news, printing, research, and communication through email, facebook, and other internet services. In generations past there would be a lot of different "analog" elements to make up the media powerhouse that todays computers are: encyclopedias, newspapers, typewriters, books, photo albums, and communicating be either wired phones or by "snail mail."

My XBox is something that cannot quite be translated to the past generations, because entertainment and gaming is a concept that has changed so drastically. Where in the past I might have been playing a sport or doing something outdoors to entertain myself, I now do it from within my home while connecting to friends and family to play games with them even when they are a continent away.

The iPhone can translate to a lot of different "analog" devices of the past: maps and directions have been taken from a large piece of paper and word of mouth, to a taps on the iPhone, giving me all the directions that I need. Along with maps, the phone itself has changed in unimaginable ways. The phone is not only wireless, but also not confined to the walls of a home wireless system. People would have to find payphones, or just dial from home in the past, but now I can call from anywhere (well, theoretically, if AT&T had better coverage) to anywhere without any wires or phone books. There is still the entertainment features of the iPhone that mostly just replace the free time of past generations. Where in the past someone would be standing in line or waiting on the bus to get to their destination, they can entertain themselves or inform themselves through their phones.

My final media device that I use on a regular basis is my digital camera. I can take and send high quality photos to anyone in the world, from the time i press the shutter to the time I upload can be as little as five minutes with editing included. Past photographers would have to develop film, spend a lot of time in the darkroom making prints to perfect their photo, manually reproducing each one, and then finding a way to send it to whoever they wanted to show/sell their photo to... a process taking days. I can show my aunt on the other side of the country my school and my apartment without her having to leave her home... so even the way we view the world has changed because of digital cameras and the information, art, and expression that they can present to others.

There are a plethora of uses for all of these devices, and since a lot of them are adaptable devices, they can be reprogrammed to do new functions that we may have not even thought of yet... which is unlike anything analog in the past.