Revenge

In September of 2011, ABC aired a new series called Revenge. I rarely become obsessed with TV shows, however, this show has me hooked. The plot centers around a mysterious and beautiful woman named Emily who moves back to the Hamptons, where she grew up, to seek revenge on the people who framed her father for a terrorist attack years prior. 

Emily arrives to the Hamptons with a new name, an unrecognizable appearance and a very malicious agenda. While she works her way into the circle of the Hamptons elite quite easily, her real intent is to get revenge on these people. She manages to ruin the lives of those involved in the framing by destroying their careers, ripping apart their families, exposing their secrets and even causing death on occasion. 

While it might not be totally obvious what this television show has to do with games, it is actually very relevant. Before Emily arrives to town, she does extensive research on every person that she intends to take down. From hacking their computers, to digging into their background and learning about their scandals, she is able to collect dirt on each person she wishes to harm. By learning about her opponents, she is able to strategically use the information she finds in ways that will cause the most damage. For example, when she finds useful information on one victim, she sneakily exposes it at a large ceremony honoring the person, thus embarrassing them and creating a total scandal.

In addition to her in-depth research and cunning strategies, her ability to use trickery, manipulation and deceit to work her way into the lives of these people while simultaneously destroying them is an example of the power of mind games. Even when suspicion rises, she is able to deflect it and have them completely fooled by manipulating their thoughts. 

Not only does Emily display skill when seeking revenge, but she is also extremely determined, another quality that is important in winning most games. In order to properly execute her plan of revenge she changed her name, moved to the Hamptons, and cut ties with anyone who knew her former identity. She also dedicates all of her time and energy to her plan, showing intense dedication. While revenge is no game to Emily, she uses tactics used in numerous forms of games to effectively execute her plan.

The Kentucky Derby

This past week I drove to Louisville Kentucky to visit my relatives for a three day weekends. Along with my moms 6 siblings and parents who live in Kentucky my brother attends the University of Kentucky as well. While making the long 5 hour drive I drove by horse farms after horse farms. I've grown up around horses and the famous race tracks such as Keenland and of course Church Hill Downs. My grandpa owns horses at Church Hill Downs and I've even been able to attend some horse races in person. While driving past all these horse farms I began to get very excited for the even that takes place every 1st Saturday in May...The Kentucky Derby.

I remember as a little kid my mom jumping up and down in front of the TV screaming for the horse she chose to win. I would attend countless derby parties as a child it was almost as though Derby Day is a bigger day for Christmas in my family and the whole state of Kentucky. ESPN after all does call it, "The most exciting 2 minutes in sport history."

"It is now or never for every horse in the race -- a single dash at immortality, a mile-and-a-quarter cavalry charge toward history. Unlike John Elway in the Super Bowl or Roy Williams in the Final Four or Phil Mickelson in a major, there are no second chances at the Derby. Thoroughbreds are only 3-year-olds once. Win and your name is memorialized on the paddock walls of Churchill Downs for as long as the place stands. Lose and you're assigned to the small type of the race charts, on your way to eternal anonymity" (ESPN.com).

Everything about Derby Day is exciting; getting to dress up and wear a giant hat, learning about the trainers and the horses stories, getting to make bets where you could become extremely rich or extremely poor in a matter of 2 minutes. It's exhilarating every one's heart starts to race; two minutes and it's over. all the training all hours put into these horses and jockeys two minutes and you get nothing back. It's what these people live for.

I know on May 5Th I'll be making the trip back to Kentucky to watch this exciting event that comes once a year. I'm hoping to suck up to my grandpa to see if maybe I can snag a ticket to the derby myself. Who knows maybe I'll be able to even make a buck or two...hundred.

Sorority Recruitment: It's A Game

Though I went through sorority recruitment well over a year ago, it is an experience that I'll never forget.

During first sets, each girl participating in sorority recruitment must visit every single house. These first few days are hectic, as the biggest challenges consist of finding each house, making it there during your scheduled time slot and finding your designated spot inline. Here, directional skills and time management skills come into play. Also, during these "mixers" it is important to make sure you are able to make a good first impression in the few minutes you have in each house.

As each round continues, girls must decide which houses they would like to cut from their list. They also must strategize the order in which they rank each house on their list. This involves evaluation of experiences in each house. Additionally, this involves thoughtful strategizing as girls must also take into consideration which houses may be cutting them during the given round.

As the rounds continue and the list of house options are narrowed down, the time spent in each house gets progressively longer and it becomes more important to make a good impression in the houses that you would like to keep visiting. At this point in time, the game consists of making sure you win over the minds and hearts of the members of the sorority, playing up your strengths and the qualities that make you a good fit for the house in question. Obviously, there is a limited number of spots in each house for new members. As the rounds continue, competition gets stiff.

As unfortunate as it may be, sorority recruitment possess many qualities of games. There is an element of competition as there is less space in houses than there are girls going through recruitment. There is the element of strategizing as girls must be sure to think about the cuts and rankings. Lastly, there is the element of being good at the game of interpersonal interaction. While some girls are able to effectively display their strengths and positive qualities during visits in houses, other girls struggle to give off an amazing impression, despite how personable they may be. All of these factors determine the success that one will have during sorority recruitment.

Ouija

It's not your typical game. There are no teams. There is no winner. There are no official rules. There is no competition. 

Ouija is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, the words "yes", "no", "hello" and "goodbye" and numerous symbols and graphics. Interestingly, it is a registered trademark of Hasbro Inc., a company which markets and distributes the Ouija Board as part of its line of board games. With this board, users can ask questions while lightly placing their hands on a pointer that moves across the board to stop on letters, spelling words and thus providing answers and advice. While Ouija believers feel that paranormal or supernatural forces are responsible for Ouija's movement, others believe that it may be explained by unconscious movements of those controlling the pointer, a psychophysiological phenomenon known as the ideomotor effect, according to Wikipedia.

In addition to lacking many of the common characteristics of typical boardgames, another thing that makes the Ouija board unique is that it is related to controversial topics given its connection to the belief of paranormal and supernatural forces. Compared to other boardgames, such as Life or Candy Land, there are heavy implications that come with the game as it touches on spiritual connection and communication. Additionally, these concepts are interwoven with religious beliefs, making this game the subject of criticism from some, depending on their religious background. 

It's very interesting that something that shares very few characteristics of common boardgames is produced by a company such as Hasbro and marketed as a casual board game. Additionally, the game's controversial nature makes it a product unlikely to be purchased by many demographics of people. Personally, I think the idea that a board game could be so powerful is a very interesting concept but I'm not so sure I believe it. Do you believe in the aptitude of the Ouija board? 

Magic the Gathering

This game is a trading card game, similar to that of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, I guess; however, it's 19 years old!  It was one of the first trading card games that came into existence.

My brother first got me into the game when I was in 3rd grade.  The game has so many layers of strategy involved, even outside of actually playing the game.  The strategy already starts with building your deck of cards.  There are 5 main colors in Magic, Red, Green, Blue, Black, and White; each of these colors correspond to certain kind of play-styles and you can mix and match as much as you want.  After you've built a deck, you start playing.  This is where even more strategy takes place.  Now, your deck is put to the test against someone else's deck, and you fight to win.  In the end, the winner is determined by who reacted better to each other's plays, who built a more balanced deck, and an ounce of luck.

The interesting thing about Magic is that the card is always right, even if it contradicts the foundation-rules of the game.  This attribute of the game makes it ever-evolving and full of surprises.  I mean, it's lasted 19 years so far.  

Recently, I've been rekindled into playing the game ever since I met some friends here at the University of Michigan who also shared interest in the card game.

The last time I've played the game was probably in middle school, and now that I've come back, I see how much the game has evolved since then (immensely).  So many new abilities have been introduced and the cards there's so much variety now that it's almost jarring!

Maybe it's my nostalgia, but the game is still as great as ever, and it's a great study break game with my friends.  Games can range from 10-20 minutes each and it's the perfect combination of luck and strategy!  So if you're looking to find a strategy-intense game to pick up, this is the game for you!  Hopefully you'll find some people around who have heard of the game to rekindle their childhood and play with you!

BirdHit! - A game of my design

For my major quest, I've been working on a video game for the Google Chrome and Safari only.  It uses HTML5 and Javascript.  I was hoping you guys could test it and possibly post your high score?  If there are any bugs you can identify, please inform me!

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dustbui/birdhit.html

Quick Instructions:
WSAD or Arrow Keys to move around.
Hit the flying Gir as many times as you can.
Grab incoming power ups as they fall.
Press 1 to use Speed Up
Press 2 to use Stop Time
Press 3 to use Zero Gravity
**You get only ONE power up to use freely at first, but as you get a higher score, you can get more to use

Games and Gimmicks

Tonight was the debut of the Miami Marlins new ballpark, a $515 million modern addition to Miami. Ballparks are often admired for being majestic, traditional, and at times nostalgic. Old yankee stadium and Fenway Park are seen as great ballparks for these reasons.

Marlins Park could not be further away from those grand shrines to baseball.

Tell me if these things sound like they belong in a baseball stadium:
-2 aquariums that total over 1000 gallons of water
-A swimming Pool with a poolside bar
-A sculpto-pictorama with flamingos, marlins, and neon waves and colors
-A photography exhibit
-A bobblehead museum


Yes, these can all be found at this new ballpark.

A wild pitch will bounce up against bullet-proof glass that protects the aquariums at the backstop. A Homerun will lead to a 30-second show from the sculpto-pictorama.

Games, especially sports, seem to benefit from these gimmicks, albeit financially. Quirks like the ones found in this ballpark are important for the fans who follow these storied sports. These games have so much tradition and history, yet require new points of interest to increase attraction and fanfare.

The focus on fans is essential in sports and the eye-catching features of Marlins Park show the extent to which a team is willing to impress and invigorate its fan-base in order to make the atmosphere around the sport and team even better.

Into the Wild

Everybody has their favorite book they read when they were younger. I was lucky enough to come across mine this afternoon while cleaning out my closet in my house. I brought the book "Into the Wild" with me to college last year and have not read it since the long 14 hour car ride from New Hampshire to Michigan. I loved everything about this book the freedom, the self motivation, the passion. It makes me want to go out there and do something with my life, but not something I could do every day..something extraordinary.

When scimming through this book as I sat on the floor of my bedroom I could not help but think about our major quest that were assigned to us in class the first week. I reflected on what I did, and just laughed out loud because nothing is greater then the quest Christopher McCandless did by donating his entire life savings to charity and hitchhiking, and finding ways to get to Alaska and into the wilderness. I think this quest challenges game theory in all aspects. Coming out of your comfort zone alone, and finding the competitor within, he took risk taking to the logical extreme. He was sick of society and the way it was run so he just quit it all together; like quitting a bad game.

I hope someday I will find a quest like this something that I myself am very passionate about and let nothing in my way stop me to accomplish it. I will leave you with my favorite quote from the book....

"Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, 'cause "the West is the best." And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the Great White North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild."

Free Will and the Theory of Parallel Universes

With the most recent readings and lecture, I thought about the intersections between the theory of free will and what it would mean if there existed parallel universes.

If you are unfamiliar with parallel universes, the concept I am referring to is the theory that there are multiple universes (near infinite) that encompass all possible outcomes of the universe.  For example, there would be a universe in which I chose to eat a ham sandwich for lunch, and there would be one in which I chose to eat a turkey sandwich.  Likewise, there would also exist a universe in which I was never born and in which I’m a girl.

Now what I’m confused at is whether ALL the possible universes were created at the beginning and consequently follow a linear path per universe (which would contradict free will).  This would assume that our brains are prewired to react to scenarios a certain way as well as assume that those scenarios would happen anyway based on the particular settling of particles when the universes were created.

Or, new universes are created for each possible outcome, initially starting at a single possibility.  For instance, new universes would be created when I have the choice of either a ham or turkey sandwich.  There would be a universe created for both of those choices and my being would be split, and I would only be aware of traversing down one of the paths.  The same would happen to my other parallel self, he would share my entire history except for the fact that he chose the opposite type of sandwich, so his mind believes he is traversing down a linear path.  (This supports free will)

                                           

                                       

What do you guys think of these concepts?  Please point out anything I overlooked, for these are pretty simplified versions of these theories.

Masters Weekend

There's nothing better than sitting on the couch on a beautiful sunday afternoon, watching one of the most prestigious events in golf, The Masters. The Masters is the most prestigous golf tournaments in history and and it is played at one of the most world-reknown golf courses, called Augusta National. This is a tournament that every golfer has dreamt of winning ever since they were a kid. To win the Green Jacket would be an enormous accomplishment for anyone, even if its Tiger's 5th. Golfer's strive to experience that moment, when, after winning, they accept the green jacket from the previous years' winner on the 18th Green. After 4 rounds at Augusta, who do you think will be the survivor this Sunday?

This tournament has hosted the best golfers in history and has seen some of the most incredible victories take place. However, the Master's is more than just 4 rounds of golf. Every hole presents a challenge weather its physical or mental. Golfing requires incredible amounts of precision, accuracy, and of course some luck. A player has to take into account the wind, his lie, the temperature, flag placement, distance, and even what kind of swing he's going to take, every single shot. After collaborating with their caddies and planning a shot, players still have to execute that shot having great aim, a perfect swing, and a pure ball strike a(and of course a little luck).  To win though, requires something more, something beyond the physical, and that is the mentality. This includes dealing with the galleries talking while your shooting, blocking out all of the cameras and TV's and anything else that the press bothers players with. Players also hear the roars when other golfers have incredible shots. Competitors need to have the ability to have a short memory, they can't get too mad at a horrible shot, but they can't get too excited over a great shot either. It takes the perfect amount of mental stability in order to win a golf tournament. This game is unpredictable, anything can happen on any hole, players can lose balls in the water, or even hole out from the fairway. It requires consistency, shot after shot, hole after hole, round and round; this is essential for victory. It is truly a difficult challenge for an individual to win a golf tournament, let alone the Masters and it will be fun to watch this weekend.

We all know that the game of golf is more exciting when Tiger is in the hunt. And guess what, this week Tiger is the headline of the masters, predicted by almost everyone, to win the tournament. Coming off an impressive win at Bay Hill two weeks ago its seems that Tiger might be back. Its been 2 and a half years since we've seen the excitement that Tiger brings to the table, especially when he's wearing red on Sunday. However, the PGA tour has been very unpredictable over that same time span and we have seen a different winner at every major over those two and half years. With Tiger back on his game, and a field of players eager to win the tournament, including the no. 1 ranked golfer in the world Rory McIlroy,  it should be one interesting weekend of golf. Who knows what kind of excitement we'll see at Amen corner this Sunday; are we going to see any spectacular shots like the one Tiger had on hole 16 a few years back.   Regardless of what goes down this weekend I am excited to watch how this tournament will unfold this weekend with Tiger on the prowl. My money is on Tiger, Who are you betting on this weekend?

http://www.pgatour.com/2012/r/04/02/expert-picks-masters/index.html#

Rocked My World

Musical instruments and video games did not seem to be a match made in heaven a decade ago, but now, with the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises being wildly successful, the two have become nearly inseparable.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which emerged later, have both transformed the interactive video game industry, and the learning process for instruments.

I still cannot sing, play the guitar, bass, or drums, but now I have much more respect for those abilities, and it still helped me a bit with my still-mediocre musical ability. The influence it did have on me was that it made me want to try to play these instruments, or collaborate with friends on getting a new high score on a song or making a fictional band on Rock Band.

Of course there were many multiplayer games I played before this, but none seemed as fun and cooperative and competitive as Rock Band. It was a new level of gaming because it brought in some real-world skill.

After having played these games, video games that have more levels of interactivity have become more appealing, and this is evident in the new wave of video game peripherals made by Nintendo (Wii), Microsoft (XBOX Kinect), and Sony (Playstation Move).

Aside from being part of a shift in video gaming, these games have also started to shift learning techniques for certain instruments. Some of my friends who loved these games actually starting trying to play the actual instruments, and soon, there will be games that have actual guitars that can be synced with games that track how well you are playing, and tries to help you improve.

These games have been huge hits, and important catalysts in the changing atmosphere of gaming and music.

Game day

Whether you're an athlete or a performer there is no better feeling then waking up on the day of your performance. Every day you strive and work harder to be perfect at what you do, and when you wake up on the day of the performance you know that everything you've worked for comes down to this moment.

I love the feeling of waking up on the day of my soccer games. Even though its spring season, and these games don't matter the competitor inside of me make them matter. The first thought that pops into my head when I wake up is, "it's today." It is impossible not to get the jitters and butterflies in your stomach. I'm sure someone who performs on stage or sings gets these same feelings as well. I love being able to mentally and physically prepare myself all day, by hydrating and eating pre game meals. Everything is different about game day; the way you think, act, the people around you, and you can even feel it in the air.

When it finally comes time to put the uniform on, and you get that adrenaline rush; everything you've suffered for to get to this moment makes it all worth it. The lights above you, the crowd, your teammates, the moment you step onto the field, I love this feeling.

Not Another March Madness Blog.

Today in class we talked about how we are all over-achievers and we are doing everything we possibly can in UC 256 to bank as many points as possible. Well I would have to say I fall into the over-achieving category. I've been occupying myself this month with reading the other group's blogs and writing thoughtful comments, and I've found that I've really enjoyed seeing everyone's perspectives and their unique links to the course materials.

However, I have some frustrations as well. Pretty much every other post that I see is about March Madness, or basketball, or sports. I am not a close follower of March Madness; sure, I rooted for Michigan while they were still in the tournament, and my mom is a Syracuse Alum so I've been cheering for them too, but without actually watching the games.

Here's my request: PLEASE stop blogging about March Madness and let's open up our horizons. I have no authority to speak for anyone, but I do know that not everyone is interested in sports! So many posts about March Madness is extremely limiting for those of us who are trying to get a good grade and write blog comments. I feel like I have nothing to say on the topic.

This whole process has become a bit of a game for myself. The objective of my blogging game is to find the posts that have nothing to do with sports. It's not as easy as you think.

I do apologize if my request is a little harsh, and yes, I realize it's ironic that I just wrote a whole blog post about sports when I'm advocating for the opposite. I'll leave you with this: there's a whole new world of games out there off the basketball court; let's explore them a little more before the course comes to a close!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

I am not much of a follower when it comes to trends or the latest obsessions, but when it came to The Hunger Games I must admit I did jump right on the bandwagon with everyone else after reading the first book of the series. They were a perfect mix of competition, emotion, and even romance that kept me wanting to read more. Needless to say I was one of those people at the midnight premiere of the movie which came out last Thursday. No I was not the crazy fan
wearing Katniss's face on my t-shirt or holding an awkward sign, but I was eager to watch the movie.

I can honestly say I loved the movie. It followed the entire book so well. Theintensity of the movie kept everyone on the edge of their seats. You could feel the competition in the air, along with the emotions running through each character. I would highly recommend it to anyone. My roommates who did not even read the book loved the movie. Go see it!

Socializing While Gaming

I never considered myself to be much of a gamer, however, this changed when I got the iPhone. Now, whether it's Fruit Ninja, Temple Run or Tetris, I can't seem to put my phone down for more than five minutes.

My newest addiction is Scramble With Friends. This popular game involves creating words out of scrambled letters in a short period of time to accumulate points. This game is played against an opponent. The opponent can either be a stranger assigned randomly or can be a friend found through Facebook friends or contact lists. 

A lot of times gamers are stereotyped as anti-social, however, applications such as Scramble With Friends are changing that. For example, this game allows players to challenge their friends and even communicate with them through the chat feature. Not only can you chose to play with people you know, but you can even meet new people through the game. I even read an article about how two people got married after randomly playing each other and then talking through the chat feature in Words With Friends.

I think it's interesting to examine how gaming is changing due to new technology and the applications that come with it. Only a decade ago I got my first cellphone, a Nokia phone with the game Snake. With this game, the only person I could play against was myself. There was no social interaction that came with this game. Now, games present a new social element by allowing instant interaction and communication between numerous players. Whether it is maintaining relationships with family members and friends or creating new bonds with people from all over the globe, there are new opportunities to socialize through gaming. How do you think games will continue to evolve to further facilitate sociality?

Paige Rowin

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Sports and Improv in the Same Family?

Ok, so you've probably guessed by now that I love improvisation; in fact, I'm practicing it for my major quest. While doing this week's readings, something really stood out to me. I'm not a huge sports fan, though I do know a lot about them thanks to my dad. Needless to say, I've been thoroughly educated in hockey because I spend most of my childhood waking up at 6am on a Sunday morning to go with my family to my cousin's travel hockey games back in New Jersey. In this week's New York Times article, Adam Gopnik was cited in saying that hockey is “in part an improvisational game played on a frozen street, in part a brutal game of rugby played at high speed, in part a form of soccer on ice.”

The word "improvisation" caught my eye, and so my friend and I got into a debate of how much sports come down to improv. Sure, teams devise their plays ahead of time to score as many goals as possible. But how can you really devise plays against a team before you've even played them, or before you even know what situation you're going to be in? My opinion is this: hockey can be very heavily improved. Once players find their opponent's weaknesses, they can devise a new plan or play. If a team member gets put into the penalty box, the player must come up with a new way to pass the puck. When the opposing team comes out of the blue with a spectacular new play, players must find a new way to get to the goal and score. 


This can be applied to most sports of this sort, like soccer, lacrosse, and basketball, where action is constantly taking place and you're never sure what you're going to get next in the competition. And, of course, like I've been learning, improv takes a lot of skill and talent--as does thinking on your feet (rather, skates) in the middle of a hockey game. That's not to say planning plays is insignificant; don't get me wrong, strategy is a HUGE component in competitive sports. But we shouldn't ignore the improv on the rink! The pure talent and skill that comes out in those deciding moments will be what the crowd of fans, and the team, will remember at the end of the game.

Rivalries in Sports

Yesterday, the Lakers played the Celtics, a matchup of the two best basketball organizations in NBA history, with each having won the most championships. These two teams account for more than half of the total number of NBA championships.

But what makes this rivalry bigger than the Knicks-Celtics rivalry, who would fall into the intense New York-Boston rivalries?

There are many rivalries in sports, some driven by geographical factors, and others by historical or non-competitive factors, but the most intense rivalries are driven by one thing, results.

The Lakers and Celtics have been a part of the biggest rivalry in basketball, but this year it has calmed down, not because the history behind each team has changed, but because the Celtics are at the bottom of the East's playoff picture, they are deviating from being a perennial contender. The Celtics aren't scary this year, so other rivalries are gaining steam.

The newest rivalry in the NBA is the best example of this results over geography rivalry argument. For the first time, the Lakers and the Clippers are a part of a newly labeled rivalry, and battle for LA.

The Clippers have emerged as a good team this year, something unexpected from one of the most unsuccessful franchises in all of sports. Clipper-Laker games now receive an enormous amount of coverage, when before it would be a blowout affair.

yuck

Results drive rivalries, and I'm sorry Clipper fans, but LA is still the Lakers' town.

Alternative Grading: Linear Rewards and the Rivalry System

I decided to ponder some new methods of grading in school based on only rewarding students based on performance and the N-Effect. 

Linear Rewards:

This system entails rewarding those who do better with more extra credit (A minor amount).

For example, a simple design could be implemented would be to give one extra credit point for every 10 points you earn on an assignment (Every assignment gets a free 10% point boost based on the amount of points earned).

Someone with a 70/100 on an assignment would instead earn a 77.

This percentage can range from any percentage really, as long as it provides the incentive to keep doing better.

This system entices people to do better on all assignments because there are better rewards if they do better.  It’s better than a flat reward system (Or otherwise an inflation of the grade) because some students with low grades benefit more from flat bonuses and therefore may not try as hard and bank on the inflation rather than their own skills.

Rivalry System:

N-effect of Rivals put into place on Students

This system pits two anonymous students of a similar caliber to compete for a few extra credit points.

This system should require a preliminary system that somewhat ranks the students based on their performance on the first major assessment (This is not entirely necessary, however it will make it more fair).

These rankings will allow for setting up the Rivalry System:

Consecutively ranked students will be paired up anonymously (only the professor or teacher will know who is paired with whom)

On every assessment, each student will be shown their own grade (of course) as well as JUST the grade of their anonymous rival.  If the student scores higher than their rival does, that student earns an extra X percentage points on their Linear Reward. 

For example, Student A earns a 70/100 and student B earns 75/100, and the Linear Reward is set at 5%.  Since Student B earned more than Student A, Student B earns an extra 2 percentage points, setting his or her  Linear Reward to 7% instead.  Student A would not earn this extra bonus.

Student A: 70*1.05 = 73.5
Student B: 75*1.07 = 80.25

This system encourages students to score better with both the Linear Reward design as well as puts them in a small competitive setting that is most effective (N-effect with rivals by Steven Garcia).

What do you guys think of these designs?

Recess!

I remember those days in elementary school when we would anxiously wait for the bell to ring to signal lunch and recess, and then beg for five more minutes when it was time to go back to class. Not only did we want to play, we needed to play games with our friends, either a structured game or making up our own rules. Looking back, I realize how important it was that we had those wonderful hours of nonsense fun. According to psychologists, playing as a child is extremely necessary for our social and creative development.

As a psych major with a focus on developmental psychology, I've been lucky enough to conduct some research on my own for my research methods lab this semester. Recently, my research team and I observed child's play in preschool children, and coded for the presence of three different types of play, all of which we talked about in class last week.

First, parallel play is defined as children playing near other children, but there is no interaction between them. Associative play is somewhat similar; the children play near one another and exchange toys and comments. Lastly, cooperative and sociodramatic play is when children play a game with a common goal, like box ball, a board game, or even make-believe games like house or tea-party. Ultimately, we observed that boys engaged in more cooperative play than girls, and girls engaged in more parallel play.

So what does this say about how boys and girls will develop socially? Not too much. We don't want to over-generalize these results; we all know there are tons of boys that like to play by themselves and a lot of girls that play make-believe games. Our study had some confounding variables and definite room for improvement, but one thing is important to think about. Perhaps we should consider how gender expectations affect children at this young age. Are we subconsciously giving girls messages to do quiet "girl" activities like drawing, and giving boys messages that they can be more rowdy and energetic than their female counterparts? How early are gender stereotypes reaching children, either through media or peer reinforcement? What needs to be changed? These are questions that as a psych student, I would definitely be interested in studying further.

The Jeremy Lin Problem

Jeremy Lin is the prime definition of a strong minded person. In this article the author talks a lot about how Jeremy Lin dedicates his success to his faith and relationship with God.

As an athlete you tend to forget sometimes why you play the sport, what made you love it in the first place? As you get more serious with your sport and grow older in age pressure and confusion consumes your thoughts. Why am I playing this sport? Are my parents happy with my performance? What about my coach? I wonder what the fans watching thought.....next it's all about your confidence. Am I going to lose my starting position? Am I better then that player? Your own thoughts can become your own enemy.

Jeremy Lin dedicates most of his success to God, not anyone in particular. He is at a state of mind that works for him, and does not let negative thoughts consume him and affect his play. This is why many athletes are successful. When your mental toughness is at ease so is your performance. Many athletes find their mental strength in God. My teammates once a week have bible study, and some of them dedicate their play to him as well.

I consider myself what they call a "head case" when it comes to my performance. I am my hardest critique, but at the same time I am also my worst enemy. That is why I found this article so inspiring because I too am still struggling with certain things in not only my everyday life but soccer as well. It's hard to find that ease in yourself and let your mind relax. Jeremy Lin has dedicated his performance selflessly to God. It has taken years for him to finally figure this out and is still working on it, but his performance has improved immensely. I know one day I will figure my mind out as well, but it is still a major work in performance.

Real-Life A Capella Competitions- Not Just on Glee!

The Dicks and Janes performing Bicycle Race at ICCA Quarterfinals, 2012
That's me singing Freddy Mercury's solo!

This weekend, the Dicks and Janes, along with three other groups from the University of Michigan, competed in the International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella, better known to all of us as ICCAs. The Quarterfinal round was hosted this year at U of M by the G-Men, an all-male a cappella group that also competed. There are five quarterfinals in the Midwest region with 10 competitors each, as well as many other quarterfinals around the country. The winner and runner up of each quarterfinal goes on to compete in that region's semi-final, the Midwest Semifinal being in St. Louis in March.

I am a proud member of the Dicks and Janes, and since September, we have been working on making every song in our repertoire sound performance-ready, always wondering in the back of our minds what our Musical Director (a Junior neuroscience major who is fabulous with music) would pick for us to perform. After last year's quarterfinals, in which we did not place, we were hoping to up our game and put everything out on the table during competition this time around. In January, we decided that our set for ICCAs this year would consist of three songs- Bicycle Race by Queen, a mash-up of Fly Me to the Moon and Fever by Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee, respectively, and My Heart With You, by the Rescues. Our goal was to make this the best performance that we possibly could, and during the two months that we solidly rehearsed day in and day out, we had a blast making beautiful music with each other.

During Fly Me to the Moon, we danced the salsa on stage!

We knew we would be judged on a variety of things by three different judges, all members of Varsity Vocals, the organization that produces ICCAs each year. Some of the criteria included dynamics, visual cohesiveness, choreography (that was one of my favorite parts, as you can see from the pictures) and complexity of arrangements. Note that all of our arrangements as of right now have been arranged by the brilliant and musically gifted members of the Dicks and Janes. We knew we would be taking a huge risk with the songs that we chose, the choreography that we designed, and the seamless transitions that flowed between songs. However, with practice, we were soon incredibly comfortable with the set we designed and we were ready to be on stage and share our music with an audience.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon to Rackham auditorium, where we pulled the concert order out of a hat and were selected to go 7th, giving us a little time to mentally prepare and enjoy the performances of the other groups. There were all male groups, all female groups, and co-ed groups from universities in the area such as GVSU, Michigan State, and Central Michigan University. It's nice to see some of the same members, year after year, and to continuously meet new people in this very large a cappella community. There's always that feeling of competition between each group, but the best feeling of the night by far was coming off stage and seeing another group waiting to high-five our team for a job well done. It reminded us that this isn't just a competition; it's the one time a year where we can all really enjoy the stellar performances that groups from around the state created to share with one another- and make friends along the way!

Fly Me to the Moon/Fever-definitely a crowd favorite.

Finally, it was our turn to go up on stage and sing. For months we rehearsed, danced, sang, laughed, stressed, and prepared for this moment when we would take the stage. I, along with the rest of the group, felt so comfortable with what we practiced; we were eager and ready to go! Shortly before we took the stage, one of my fellow Janes reminded me that during my Bicycle Race solo, I had to "put it all out on the table," something her dad would tell her before every performance. "You never want to regret not pushing yourself as far as you could go," she said, "but if you give it your all, you'll know." So that's what we did. We gave it our all. The audience cheered and laughed and cried (that last one according to my mother who was in the audience) throughout the 11.5 minute set, and the sound of the applause at the end told us that we gave it everything we could. At that point, I didn't care if we won or lost. It was an honor to perform on stage with my best friends, my brothers and sisters, and the most talented people I've ever met.

We started and ended our set with a half of Bicycle Race. 

At the end of the night, awards were announced. I am proud to say that the Dicks and Janes were the winners of the Midwest Quarterfinals, with the G-Men in second place, and we will be traveling with them to St. Louis in a month to compete in the Midwest Semifinals! It was an incredible experience to have participated in this competition, but the practice leading up to it was the best part. Deliberate practice not only made us perform better during the competition, but it allowed us to foster our creative abilities and confidence. We worked together solidly as a team and had an unforgettable night that I'm sure each of us will remember for a long time.

The Platonic Relationship between Game and Gamer

Above was a video created by EgoRaptor that illustrates explicit versus implicit tutorials, rather humorously. 

Explicit tutorials are those that explicitly show the player what to do via tooltips or dialogs that open up and tell you exactly what buttons to press. Implicit tutorials are those that create scenarios in which the player learns via experiment what each button does and when to use such actions.

Recently, video games have taken to a lot of “hand-holding” in their introductions. In other words, detailed tutorials have been implemented, which is not entirely a bad thing, but the tutorials do dissolve a lot of the mystery of discovery in these games. 

Why does the mystery matter? There is a sense of accomplishment when a person first solves a problem, even if it is small; however, lately, it seems that society is heading towards a path of instant gratification, especially in games.

In the busy buzz of today’s society, no one has time to learn the basics, they want to skip to the end and reap their “rewards” (quotation’d because of the question to whether or not there is accomplishment in no challenge).  Below is an example of the World of Warcraft implementing “quest-markers”, or markings on a map that tell you where exactly you must go.  Originally, the game did not have these, but as society grew to prefer instant gratification, the developers of the game adapted to such taste and implemented these markers that essentially made the game much faster to get through.

The effect of these markers removes the incentive for players to explore and/or read about their quests.

If applied to real life; however, perhaps instant gratification is a good thing. Tutorials should be explicit and clear in the real world because there is no “fun” in figuring out what you should be doing at your new job or class. And perhaps people just want to learn the basics so they can get to the “meat” of the game.

So, is instant gratification in games a good thing?

The Top Dog

Competition. Excellence. Perfection. Victory. Best.

These 5 words make people think about the olympics, world championships, and other competitions of the sort, but no, this past week, these 5 words described one event, one champion, one tiny, 4 year old.

Let me elaborate. This past week, a 4 year old Pekingese named Malachy overcame his larger competition at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. This tiny dog became best in show, the best dog in the nation. 

The competition was fierce, but Malachy had nothing to say post-victory. Was this still a real competition between dogs? Or are the trainers the true competitors? These dogs do not know they are competing against their counterparts really, but these trainers are so incredibly invested, that they appear to have the same dedication as elite athletes. This was of course satirized in an incredibly funny movie, "Best in Show"(I really recommend it). These trainers compete, and the dogs merely represent the trainers' work. 

Although seemingly unapparent, these trainers mimic several people in games, whether they are video game characters focused on improving and grooming their characters to consistently make them better, or coaches, who try to train players to achieve certain goals or steps towards perfection. These trainers do not differ from the others because they are essentially performing the same actions, training another entity to reflect the goals of the trainer. 

So congrats Malachy, you did a great job as the trainer's star player, or rather his avatar. 

Mock Rock 2012

This past week Varsity student athletes at the University of Michigan put on a talent show where their hidden, and even odd talents were displayed and put into skits or dances for the entire audience at Hill Auditorium to view. Although this entire production was for charity, it is easy to say that when you put competitive athletes in front of one another there will be nothing but a competitive atmosphere.

Some athletic teams had put together a performance where they had been working on it for months, and held practices every week. Other teams had put together and last minute skit in hopes that there would be a team worse then them who had done the same thing. My team was one of the teams who had decided what they were doing that week of Mock Rock, and held an hour practice the day of Mock Rock. Thankfully our sense of humor in the skit made the judges love us and we were not the worst team at mock rock.

All of these performances reminded me of the article, "The Role of Deliberate Practice in Acquisition of Expert Performance." It got me to think about how practicing something out of your element or something you're not very good at will help you get better. Making the effort to be the best in competition will help you succeed. Men and Women's track won the Mock Rock competition, but they had 3 practices a week since December. They were very serious about their performance and it was amazing. It was very evident the teams that had just put together their skits or dances, because of the lack of practice.

Gaming To Get Ahead

According to the New York Times in an article from late January, many colleges are making up their numbers of applicants, how many were accepted, and the average GPA of accepted students. Ultimately, their goal is to rank higher in the US News & World Report.

"Gaming the College Rankings"

The NY Times took a unique approach of classifying the college ranking systems as a game--a game in which cheating will put institutions ahead of others. It's true, the competition to get into colleges is insane; here at the University of Michigan, we can all attest to that. What's even more interesting is the competition between colleges and universities to look better to prospective students.

You can read the article for yourself. The big question--how much do these rankings actually matter to prospective students? Clearly enough to fuel lying to US News & World Report, and cheating, if you will. This simply continues the cycle of insanity that goes into the college selection process among students, their parents, and their counselors. Perhaps the "college game" is beginning to get a little out of hand.