Client Meeting

Dear Client,

I am very proud to present to you the final product of this project. We realize that you asked for an interactive game but we were unable to find a suitable piece of software. So instead we have created a keynote with homemade music made on garage band. We look forward to presenting it to you next week. Here are some samples of the project for you.

Best Regards

Felix S.

Project Designer

Music Maker

Final Evaluation

This project was a project about bullying and how to advertise anti-bullying. I chose to do anti-bullying games which had to be none violent with animated figures. The project didn't work properly in the beginning because there was no software to make this kind o games. The software we had was always violent so that didn't work. We tried downloading something that worked but that was violent as well. In the end we had to make a keynote explaining what bullying is and explaining what we did. I made a garageband song to go with it. It didn't work out the way I wanted to but I can't change that now.

THe time we used was often not used properly but that was not our fault. We had to download big files for game-making and that took quiet long. In that time I was working on the garageband which made it better. THe next time I will take something easier. 

In the end we didn't have much time to make the keynote because we had research before that. The keynote is still ok but we could have done a better job if we had time. The plan and create stage didn't work properly at all. We couldn't do anything with the game machines so that was bad. The only good create thing was the keynote and garageband.

More screenshots are going to come...

A quick Timeline

We started the project. I chose to do the game creating.

We have a first look at some websites for game creating. We think about how to make an anti bullying game. Non violent and animated figures.

We look for a website that does these kinds of games. We don't find anything.

We look for a game machine. We find something and download it. Takes until the next lesson until it s done downloading.

We think the program is going to be good and start creating.

We try the game and in the end it is a shooting game. We delete the program.

We decide to simply make a keynote and Garageband because everything else is a waste of time.

We create both things.

We need to finish everything. We didn't have much time because we did the game research before.

What we did

Today I made a garage band song that will go with the powerpoint. Dylan wanted to do the keynote so I let him. We will put everything together and I think it will be good.

Our Keynote

Here is a picture of our keynote. It will take a little longer to finish it because I am not used to using it. We still might change it.

Not Good

The program I have been talking about in the post before is not good at all. It is not a racing game but a shooting game. We will have to do something else.

Finally...

I have finally found a program to make games. IT has more violent games but there is an editor to make racing games. I think we will have to stick to that since it is as close as its going to get. The editor is complicated but I think with practice it will work. 

Design Specification

For the Game I want it to be non violent for different age groups. It should be fun but still simple enough so we can make it. I will have to see what the two programs can do and how they will be able to develop the game.

Continuing

I am now continuing looking for programs to make games. I have found two different ones but it will still take a while until they are done. Until then I will have to think of something else.

Continued Investigation

This was a less productive lesson. If we want to make a game we will need some kind of program to make it. We have a program on the internet but that one only makes violent games which we don't want. We will have to find a different solution.

Creating Anti-Bullying games

I am now creating an anti-bullying game. This is harder than expected because it shouldn't be violent to set an example, we need to make the game with animated figures and we don't have a program to make the games. We have found a website where we can make games but those games are too violent. The only good thing is that the website allows you to make the game. THe rest is not useful.

I haven't found any other site that allows you to make the game so we might have to stick to that one. We were actually going to make a Super Mario kind of game but we can't because there is no software to create it. It's kind of complicated.

Investigation on Bullying Campaign

We have a two websites to compare and analyze them:

1 http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp?area=whatbullyingis

2 http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/bullies/

Both of them are about bullying but they have a different audience. While the first is more for smaller kids (KG), the second is for older kids (Grade 4/5). You can see that from the games. 1 has very childish games (connect dots) while 2 has games for older people.

I think that both of them are good just that they are both not designed for my age group. But if I were it would probably be good for me.

Bullying

We have now started a new topic called Bullying. We will have to research on bullying, make a website, wiki or blog and maybe even make a game.

Bullying comes in 3 different kinds. There is physical bullying which is shoving and hitting other people, verbal bullying, which is insulting others and there is cyber bullying, which is insulting people online. Bullying can lead to many bad things. Sometimes, a victim of bullying commits suicide because he or she so sad. The best way to not be bullied is to just walk away from the bully or tell a teacher or parent.

Bullies often have problems at home and are trying to either find friends or get rid of the anger.

Final Evaluation

In this unit we created a website about natural disasters. I liked this project because it was very easy to create the website and we had a lot of freedom to create the website. I think my site has been successful. Everything works and it looks good. The working on each stage of the design cycle was easy and successful.

The investigation was very simple. We got a natural disaster was assigned and we did research on it. It was very easy and straight forward.

The design stage was very short. We got a piece of paper and drew our design. The design of my website has changed from its original design but I think it has improved.

The plan stage was not really present. We basically got on our computers and started working. I did some planning in my head but that was it.

Create was the funnest stage. It was a lot of fun to design and do everything. We got so much freedom and that was very good.

The technology we used was new to me but it was very easy to use.

Client Meeting

1. Your design and layout of your web pages - does it fit your drawing/plan?

I modified the design a little bit. I added a few more pictures to make it a little bit more colorful and so it does not look Empty.

2. Your topic and research. What have you done in class?

My topic is about Tornadoes. I have done research on different kinds of fields about tornadoes. This included

different types of tornadoes and how tornadoes work. Also, I have been looking for videos associated with tornadoes.

3. Color, font and the use of multimedia.

I have used a black background to symbolize something that is not happy or nice. The font varies from the page I have been editing. I have bot yet been able to add videos but this is the next priority.

4. Does it have five pages?

It does not yet have five pages but they are all planned. I will have to add a gallery and video page. Also, A reference page will be added.

5. The features of apple iWeb. What is Working? What is not working in the web application?

So far, all features are working on apple iWeb. It is very easy to use and still makes it look professional.

6. Do you have an emergency plan? Do you have a reference page?

I do not yet have an emergency plan. It will have to be made sometime else as I have been working a lot on the iWeb and research. The reference page is going to be made as soon as possible.

7. You must take screenshots of your ... iWeb, Delicious bookmarks and google docs.

'Good' and 'Bad' Website Designs

There are a lot of different website designs. Some are good and easy to ready and some are bad and are hard to look at. Here are some good and bad designs:

Bad:

The website www.hrodc.com has a lot of color and moving text. It is hard to concentrate on anything because there are so manny distractions. also there is too much text at once, no paragraphing at all.

Good:

The website www.henkel.com has only few colors. They are not too dominant and match very well. There is easy navigation and the information is easy to read.

Investigation

1. Why is communication so important during an Emergency?

During an emergency it is important that hep is coming. You will have to communicate to tell whoever is helping what the situation is and where the emergency situation is located. In natural disasters the communication is sometimes cut for example if the telephone wires ripped because of a thunder storm. If the communication is cut the people n the emergency zone are in great danger and no one can help or contact help.

2. What forms of communication have been used during recent disasters?

In recent disasters computers have mainly been use to inform others on the natural disasters happening. Of course TV and News have made a great impact on the information as well but computers and internet transfer information faster. Of course

phones also did a great impact. You often receive messages about the disaster.

3. What essential information is needs to be communicated during a disaster or emergency?

During an emergency it is essential that the information about what happened and where it happened is received. If this information does not reach the help the rescue teams can't do anything because they don't know if there aren't any dangers they don't expect. The information about how many people are injured is also very important. Then the rescue helpers can estimate how many people they will need to rescue the people.

4. What information can be created before the emergency?

If it is an earthquake it can often be calculated when it is going to happen. Then the danger zone can be evacuated. Also for hurricanes, it can be calculated and the danger zone evacuated. This information is vital!!!

5. What hardware and software is required to communicate online?

For online communication you need a computer or hardware that can connect to the internet. Then you need to have a software like skype or MSN. These programs deliver synchronous information.

Help with Web 2.0

To help people in natural disasters you can often use web 2.0.

Here is some software you could use:

• Flickr --> Flickr is a webpage where pictures are posted. It can be used to show pictures of the people in need which will make people more aware of the needs.
  

• Skype --> Skype is a phone on the internet. When you have an account you can use it to call other accounts for free. You could use this to call people in the area of the natural disaster and tell them what to do.

Here is some hardware you can use to help people that suffered a natural disaster:

• Computer --> you use the computer to use the hardware that has been described above. You can also use e-mail to send information to the victims and give help.

• you can also use mobile phones to help them. You could tell them over the phone what they would have to do. This would be the best because it is fast and portable.

  

Information Technology

We are now doing a new subject IT. We are now using iMacs instead of Windows XP. This is completely new for me since I have never before used this kind of computer.

In this Subject our first unit will be how we can use web 2.0 to communicate about natural disasters. As in other projects we will be using the design cycle to create this project.

In the design cycle there are four steps. Investigate, Plan, Create and Evaluate. These are used to produce all kinds of different things. The diagram is shown below.

I think that this unit will be interesting and can help understand the use of web 2.0.

Evaluation

We are now almost done with the first term of school and with the robotics unit. In this unit we looked at everything related to robots.

First of all we researched on robotics and what they are made out of. We looked at sensors, processors and actuators. I showed this on my wikispace like this:


Sensors --> senses information about the enviornment


Processor --> Processes the information from the sensors and thinks about what to do next


Actuators --> controls the gears, levers, wheels, pullys and other output devices according to the processor


Power --> to make all of the above work

We also looked at the robots that are used in our lives and what job they can do and advantages and disadvantages they have. Here are some Advantages:

There are a lot of advantages with robots. One is that the robot can do things faster and more accurate. Also they can work in Dangerous situation that humans can't. For example, under water at great depths, in fires, in space and even at war They are vital in the car industry because of these benefits. Humans had to do the work slowly to make it accurate. Robots can be programmed to do it fast and at the same time accurate. Robots also don't need sleep or food. They only need electricity to work. That way they can work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year. This way a lot more work is done.

But there are also Disadvantages. Here they are:

For one, they reduce the number of jobs for the humans. Those humans will need new jobs which are often hard to find. When they have a job they will need to be retrained which will take money and time. Also, all the objects will be exactly the same and things that were special once become normal. Some things that were rare will be found everywhere. They will somewhen take over things like housework or work with children. Then a lot of people will become lazy and children won't have a bond with the parents because it is a robot that rise them up. Robots are usefull but we shouldn't exagrate.

When we were done with this we looked at some robot rules. Here are the ones I made up:

• When we were done with these questions we looked at some robot rules that all robots must have. we made up our own rules and then looked at some real ones.


• no harm can be done to any human or other robot


• no other robots can be build for any purpose


• only do work that has been asked to be done


• no human property can be harmed or used without permission from a human


• to obey every order given by the owner

Isaac Asimov made rules that almost every robot has these days.

• A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.


• A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.


• A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
  

Then we looked at the mindstorm kits. We had some problems with that. When we were building some pieces were missing. We had to build something else. Once it was built, we didn't have any programs on the robot. When we tried to program it, the program we needed to program the robots didn't work. The program worked on the last few days only and we didn't have much time to experiment with that. The driver for the tower that transmitts the program to the robot was missing. So instead of using robolab, the rpogram to program the mindstorms, we used win logo to look at some basic robot instructions.Robots need clear instructions to do the things you want them to do. We made an example where a robot is walking and making a line with a pencil. Sometimes the robot would raise the pen and there wouldn't be a line. We made a set of Instructions that this robot might need:

• Pen up


• Pen Down


• Left x°


• Right x°


• Forward y steps


• Backward y steps


• Start


• Stop

This diagram was made by win logo.

Overall, the project was fun.