Category Archives: Geekery

How Humans Talk to Computers: Programming 101

September 2, 2013 Richard Thayer 1 Comment

Programming languages come in many different forms, but they all accomplish the same thing: they allow a programmer to communicate with their computer and make it do what they want it to do. At this point in our history, we rely on computers for just about everything we do, and yet many people have no idea how they actually operate! Learning a programming language not only lets you write your own programs, but it gives you a stronger understanding of the hardware that affects your everyday life. Programming builds your analytical abilities and, like learning a foreign language, it keeps your mind sharp. This article is a basic introduction to some of the concepts you will need to know in order to successfully learn a programming language.

Photo by Sara Slattery

Programming languages are divided into high- and low-level languages. High-level languages are written to be easily read and understood by programmers, while low-level languages consist of assembly languages and binary, which the CPU reads and understands. The most basic type of code a computer understands is binary. Binary is made up of strings of ones and zeroes which can be used in different combinations to make different characters. Binary is very easy for a computer to understand, because it only has to recognize two states (a one or a zero). Each 1 or 0 is called a bit, and a set of 8 bits makes a byte. One byte is enough data to represent a letter of the alphabet, or a number up to 255.

The position of a bit in a byte determines its value. From left to right, bits represent exponentially larger numbers. Programmers can string together multiple bytes to store larger amounts of data.

Below is an example of how the uppercase letter “A” would be represented in one byte of binary:

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

This expands out to represent the equation below:

0⁰ + 1¹ + 0² + 0³ + 0⁴ + 0⁵ + 0⁶ + 1⁷ = 65

When you type an uppercase letter “A” on your keyboard, your computer is actually saving a value of 65, which is interpreted graphically as the uppercase letter “A.”

However, it requires a lot of effort for a programmer to program directly in binary: it takes a lot of instruction to do even basic tasks! This is where assembly language and the high-level languages come in. In order to go from an assembly language to binary, the code is run through a program called an assembler, which translates the assembly language into the machine’s language (binary). The same process is true for high-level languages and assembly languages. In order to make your high-level language (one that programmers can read, like C++ or Java) program into assembly language, it goes through something called a compiler. Most programmers set up a development environment in a program such as Visual Studio which allows them to write and compile the code all in the same place. The benefit of this structure is that programmers don’t have to work in low-level languages like binary. C++ and other high-level languages are easy-to-read and use common words that a human could understand, even without an extensive background in programming.

One of the most basic programs is the “Hello World!” program, often used for absolute beginners. Below is an example of “Hello World!” in C++ and an assembly language. Notice how complex the assembly language is compared to C++. Even if you don’t know any C++, you could probably make a pretty good guess what the different lines of code do, while the assembly language is much more cryptic.

C++

Assembly – x86 Windows 32 bit

#include <iostream.h>
main(){
cout << “Hello World!”;
return 0;
}

.486p.model flat,STDCALLinclude win32.inc
extrn MessageBoxA:PROC
extrn ExitProcess:PROC.data
HelloWorld
db “Hello, world!”,0
msgTitle
db “Hello world program”,0

.code
Start:
push    MB_ICONQUESTION + MB_APPLMODAL + MB_OK
push    offset msgTitle
push    offset HelloWorld
push    0

call MessageBoxApush 0
call ExitProcess

ends
end Start

The main challenge in learning a new programming language is the syntax. Even though they are designed to be easy to read and understand, programming languages require the user to know the correct syntax, just like learning the grammatical rules of a foreign language. A computer will read all of the information it is given exactly as it is presented, so minor things (like forgetting to close a bracket) will show up as errors.

This will work:

#include <iostream.h>
main()
{
cout << “Hello World!”;
return 0;
}

This will get an error:

#include <iostream.h>
main()
{
cout << “Hello World!”;
return 0
}

The only difference is the lack of a semi-colon after the “return 0” line, but it is enough to stop your program from functioning.

My own experience with programming has been through game design and development. There is a much greater need for game designers to read and understand code than to necessarily be masters of programming, so I’ve taken a more everyday approach to my practice. Many of the complications I have run into are usually related to setting up a proper development environment. If you work with different libraries, it can sometimes be difficult to make sure your program files are all organized properly. In game design, it is typical to work from massive amounts of pre-written code, which you then have to make sure are all connected and communicating properly. This is known as a “game engine,” and allows game programmers to spend less time reinventing the wheel, and more time adding new features to their program.

If you keep these concepts in mind, learning to program becomes a lot easier. It takes time and effort to truly master any language, but you can start with a solid foundation by learning the basic concepts before worrying too much about complex grammar rules and syntax. Anyone who wants to learn a programming language should look at the books available in their respective field, in order to learn not just the basics but how different languages are used specifically in each field. For example, expect a software industry job to be more involved in low-level coding, while game design will typically focus on high-level coding. Probably the most popular code for beginners is C++, because it is particularly easy to read and has many attributes found in most popular programming languages. For game designers, I would recommend the second edition of Starting Out with Games and Graphics in C++ by Tony Gaddis. It begins with a well-rounded introduction to C++, followed by an introduction to a simple game engine, the App Game Development Kit.

Geekery

How to be Veronica Mars: Getting Information via the Internet

August 26, 2013 Rachel Acosta Leave a comment

You don’t have to be a tiny sassy blonde in order to sleuth your life away! All you need is a bunch of search know-how, a little creativity, and some perseverance.

Photo by Sara Slattery

There are many different reasons you might have for needing information about people. You may need to gain knowledge on potential employees, employers, dating prospects, roommates, buyers, sellers, caretakers, that shady friend… Sometimes a little free DIY background check is necessary to prevent yourself from making a huge mistake. It’s so easy to create a false identity by using the Internet, and on the flip side, it’s so easy to be fooled. Here are some of my tricks that I use to find out what I need to know, as well as what you can do to prevent people from finding out the same information about you.

Search Engines

This is obvious, but so many people don’t know how to utilize the full potential of a search engine. The information that you need is out there, it’s just hidden among everyone else’s details. These days, many people share everything on the Internet. They’re just giving it away without a second thought. And to start your search, sometimes all you need is a first name, a significant detail, and a search engine. You can use any major search engine—it’s up to you.

Once you know where to look, use these tips:

1. Quotes for fine-tuned results: “Donald Draper”

2. Use the right keywords: location, education, career, first and last names. You can also try searching for their name and location grouped with the activity you suspect: “Donald Draper” + “Rio de Janeiro” + “Starbucks” + “fraud”

3. Search again on another search engine. Cross-reference and double-check everything for maximum accuracy.

Basic name and contact information can also be found at these people-specific search engines:Pipl,Spokeo,WhitePages (reverse phone look-up comes in handy every single time). Don’t bother signing up for a subscription to these sites, though: you’ll get the basic information you need and you can use that information to search elsewhere (like on a major search engine). With these, you want to look up screen names, email, nicknames and phone numbers. Screen names usually turn up the best results because these are what people use to assume their Internet identity. People also tend to keep the same username across various accounts, so search for the same one across multiple websites. What I also like about these people-specific search engines is that they tell you when there are more online accounts for the person you’re investigating.

Keep this in mind when you are signing up for your own accounts. Use separate email addresses/variations of your own name when signing up for accounts that you wouldn’t want just anybody to find.

Yelp

Know where the person works? Use Yelp. Maybe they’ve been mentioned in a review. Or if their place of work has a website, check it out. Leave no stone unturned. You might find out that your hopeful employer is a real shady character who has a history of treating employees unfairly.

You can’t really prevent someone from using your name when they’re writing a review, so this is a bit tricky to prevent. You can try to limit the exposure of your last name, but this is very dependent on what kind of job/career you have.

Social Media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, Google+,Tumblr, Instagram)

If you have access to a person’s Facebook, don’t just check out their history—click on their friends as well. Genuine interactions with other people are important. Anyone can create a hundred different profiles by using a hundred different email addresses, but it’s harder to fake an actual life. You’re looking for quality profiles! Conversations, details from shared events, responses to tweets, and photos with the people they say they are friends with—these are all good signs. An abundance of photos showing the person actually doing stuff, participating in events, hanging out with friends and such may bring relief, but this can still be faked. These photos could actually have been stolen from another Facebook! Interaction is very important: I cannot emphasize this enough.

If you have incriminating information on your Facebook, try keeping your own profile private and don’t post valuable information about yourself on other people’s walls. I thought I was being super careful by not friending my employers on Facebook, but unfortunately a few of my other coworkers had, so a manager was able to see a comment I made on a coworker’s wall that was not work-appropriate. Very frustrating, since I thought I had all my bases covered.

People

Do you know people? Then use them! Just be subtle. However, you should always keep in mind that all sources are biased, so try to scope out concrete definitive facts. Know the right things to ask (this will vary based on your situation, obviously). Pay attention to all the details. This is where it pays to be a good listener.

Before you go searching, be prepared. Do you actually want to find what you are looking for? It’s important to remember that whatever you find may be inaccurate or attributed to a person with a similar name. The Internet is a big place, and wrong turns happen. I’ve searched for people from my childhood and instead found people that could be them, but in a bizzaro, meth-y world. Take a break and try again later—maybe you overlooked a link.

Even if it is accurate, it may seem worse than it actually is without the benefit of the bigger picture. Keep an open mind: the Internet can’t give you all sides of the story. Also, please don’t do anything creepy. This is defensive investigating, not offensive. Use what you find to protect yourself and not to ruin any lives.

It’s too easy to find out information about people’s lives via the Internet. The same can be said about you. The Internet is NOT a place of privacy. It’s a community made out of glass and everyone can see what you’re doing.

Geekery

An Introduction to Cosplaying

August 9, 2013 Jordan Powell 1 Comment

Costume play, more widely known as cosplay, is the hobby of dressing up as characters from various fandoms such as anime, video games, TV, movies or comics. Cosplaying has been gaining popularity since the 90s, but it has been around much longer (Trekkies of the 1960s, anyone?).

Photo by Meaghan Morrison

Because cosplaying has been gaining pop culture’s attention so rapidly, there are many misconceptions about what the cosplay community is. We’re not all antisocial, Japanese-obsessed, overly sexualized, master seamstresses! The community is made up of all different types of people—people with different body types, different fandoms, and different levels of craftsmanship.

All bodies welcome

Many people in the community (or outside the community) think that, in order to cosplay, the cosplayer must have a body type that exactly matches the character. While I don’t support this idea, I know there are many bigger women out there who work hard to cosplay to fit their body type, simply because they prefer to cosplay that way.

Several of my friends will take an existing character’s costume and make small adjustments in order to make themselves feel more comfortable in the costume. I’ve seen girls take a nearly thong bottom of a character such as Kitana from Mortal Kombat and change it into shorts: this method maintains the idea of the character while allowing the cosplayer to stay in their own personal comfort zone.

Clever craftsmanship

Craftsmanship is also a big area of discussion in the cosplay community. Not everyone has the skills or resources to make everything from scratch, but thankfully China exists. There are many websites that sell a variety of premade costumes from popular series for a relatively low cost, such as EZCosplay or Hello Cosplay. But, be aware: it is a cheaper costume, so it isn’t always the best quality—less money spent usually means cheaper fabric and shoddy stitching! If you are willing to spend more than $150, there are many people who do costume commissions. Commissions can be perfect for your body and style, but can easily skyrocket in price because you are paying for a person’s time and energy on top of the materials that go into making the costume. If you’re interested in commissioning a costume, try finding a costume artist on Etsy, Storenvy, or Cosplay.com.

Those who are able to make their own costumes are able to make costumes for a lot less than even pre-bought costumes in most cases. Making your own costume doesn’t necessarily mean buying the fabric and making all the pieces from that. Depending on the costume and the complexity, it is really easy to go to a local Goodwill, Salvation Army, or any other second hand store to find pieces that will work for your specific costume. I know I’ve even pulled some random clothes out of my closet, put on a wig, and called it a Mary Jane Watson cosplay.

Photo by Meaghan Morrison

There are many things that can be done to make an affordable costume depending on the series. Granted, if you are trying to make full body armor, it probably won’t be inexpensive. Several of my friends make full body armor or chainmail costumes that easily take up to several months to complete. I haven’t had the opportunity to make such a complicated costume yet, but with all the sewing I do for my costumes, I put in twenty to fifty hours of work start-to-finish per costume.

When I look to make a new cosplay, I start by choosing a series I really enjoy and then pick which character I want to make. I tend to pick characters based on my opinion of the character, as well as the character’s design—I don’t want to make anything that isn’t visually appealing! From there, it’s all about gaining as much reference material as possible: the more angles I can get of the character, the better off I am for my fabric decisions and overall construction.

The pros of cons

Cosplaying is an easy way to make friends through various events and conventions. Events and cons can range from several hundred people, such as hyper-con, to tens of thousands of people (such as San Diego Comic-Con or WonderCon). There are many events going on—it’s just a matter of finding them near you!

Events and cons are easy to find via Google or even just by talking to other people in the community. The cosplay community is a very tight-knit and strives to help one another to be successful in the hobby. To start a discussion online, try visiting Cosplay.com for tips on building your cosplay, or share pictures of your art with other cosplayers on DeviantArt.

Geekery

Console Wars: Here We Go Again

July 3, 2013 Richard Thayer Leave a comment

It’s that time again. A wave of next-generation video game consoles are lined up for gamers, with the three console giants (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo) offering up their latest and greatest products. With consoles becoming a dying breed, and their sales dwindling compared to social and PC gaming, what should you know about the next generation, and which console is right for you to buy when they are released this holiday season?

Nintendo Wii-U – $299

In an attempt to get a headstart on the competition, Nintendo released their next-gen console a year in advance. As such, it is already glaringly obvious from the Wii-U sales that Nintendo’s new high-definition console has fallen quite far from the innovation of its predecessor.

The Wii-U’s two main selling points are the inclusion of HD graphics (finally) and the new gamepad. While an interesting piece of hardware, the gamepad has yet to be utilized by game developers in a way that enhances gameplay beyond that of the Wii. The inclusion of HD is something that should have been a part of the Wii from the start, and now feels like Nintendo is just playing catch-up at this point.

The problem with the Wii-U is that it ultimately doesn’t amount to much more than a glorified Wii system with new hardware that is hardly used by developers. The Wii’s innovative design was quite groundbreaking at the time, and it created a gaming market for an age group that was otherwise uninterested in gaming. Now, the Wii-U is a poor attempt at marketing towards the hardcore gamer market. Nintendo used to be the top in hardcore gaming and game consoles; however, since the release of the Wii, Nintendo fans have criticized the company for neglecting the hardcore market. The Wii-U was ambitious by trying to please both casual and hardcore markets, but the result is a console that fails to please either side of the spectrum.

Who Should Buy It: Anyone interested in a lower-priced gaming console and casual gaming who doesn’t already own a Wii, or a gamer who is really committed to Mario and Zelda games.

Microsoft Xbox One – $499

The Xbox One is Microsoft’s answer to an all-in-one media hub. The Xbox 360 was best known for its Xbox Live service, as well as its Kinect motion sensor. In the Xbox One, Kinect will be integrated right out of the box and, in addition to the regular Live service, Xbox One users will have access to movies, television, music, and internet browsing, as well as the library of games.

One of the biggest criticisms of the Xbox One was their integration of the user’s console with their network, as well as their harsh DRM (Digital Rights Management) rules. Originally, the console was required to connect to the Internet at least once every 24 hours, potentially alienating gamers who prefer to play offline. Games bought in a store were also meant to be linked to a particular player’s account in order to work, making reselling or lending a game to a friend a difficult process.

Thankfully, Microsoft recently backtracked on these due to negative feedback. To me, this says two things. First, they are actually listening to their potential buyers. Second, if they back-pedaled this easily on something they were so adamant about when the console was announced, it doesn’t send a strong sense of confidence about the Xbox One in general. While it is important for companies to listen to consumers, it is the company’s job to ultimately decide what is delivered in the final product. Innovation is the responsibility of the company itself.

Maybe they should just call it the Xbox 180.

Who Should Buy It: Anyone looking for a device that integrates various media, is particularly fond of previous Xbox products, and can afford the heftier price tag.

Sony PlayStation 4 – $399

The PlayStation 4 has been the thing of rumors for years. When the PlayStation 3 was initially revealed, its presentation and subsequent lack of promised features led to parody and ridicule. The PlayStation 4 reveal, however, was simple and to the point: the PlayStation 4 is designed for hardcore gamers, who have lacked a proper dedicated console for a long time.

The PlayStation 4 is pretty much a powerful gaming PC wrapped in a console. In addition to the powerful hardware, the PlayStation 4 does not stray far from the controller PlayStation fans have become accustomed to for nearly two decades. (Speaking of PlayStation history, there are plans to include previous PlayStation titles in a streaming cloud service to solve future problems of backwards compatibility.)

In comparison with the Xbox One, the PlayStation 4’s selling points are its price, the way they have handled used-game resale, and its Digital Rights Management. The PlayStation 4 will sell for one hundred dollars cheaper than the Xbox One. In addition, Sony’s policy towards used games (from the start) is that, if you buy a copy of the game, you have the right to trade it in, let a friend borrow it, or keep it forever.

Who Should Buy It: Serious gamers, and that’s pretty much it. As exciting as the PS4 sounds, it seems to be doing the opposite of what the Wii did years ago, and seems likely to alienate casual gamers.

Fifteen years ago, there wasn’t a lot of variation in the game market to guide the creation of new systems. However, today we have huge divides between many factions of gamers. Some systems will be best for casual gamers, while others will be better for the more serious gamers. Personally, I believe if you are a casual gamer, the perfect system already exists for you: the Wii. If you haven’t bought a Wii yet, that might be a good reason to buy the Wii-U. For the serious gamer, the PlayStation 4 seems more likely to challenge and entertain. The Xbox One seems to be somewhere in the middle, for your semi-casual, semi-serious gamers who sometimes just want to binge-watch Arrested Development instead of pwning noobs.

Geekery

All My Shit’s Online

May 20, 2013 Chuong Nguyen 6 Comments

My boyfriend and I have schedules that don’t match up. We have social calendars that sometimes deviate from one another’s. Sometimes I forget that we really need to get eggs from the grocery store. Again. And so did he on his way home from work. Life together is complicated, but we use a variety of Google web apps to make managing the chaos easier. When we started planning a trip to Japan, there were questions like “What the hell do I need to pack? How cold is it? Are we going anywhere warm?” (Everything, very, and no). Now, when we need to organize anything, we just share a document in the cloud: no fuss, no forgotten eggs, and just a clean spreadsheet synced across our devices.

Photos by Chuong Nguyen

As a fairly avid iOS user, I have no issues using main competitor’s web products. Google’s products are built better from a user’s point of view, and they’re easier to access from any device with an Internet connection. If you’ve got an Android product, these services sync up nicely with your devices to make sure you stay on track with whatever you’re doing.

For weary travelers with organizational issues, read on:

Google Calendar (or How My Boyfriend and I Book Each Other Up)

When I was at university, I made appointments on my Google Calendar for myself when I had work and classes. I’d set the appointment to recur until the end of the semester, and gave it a separate colored label so it could fade into the background. This provided the basic template for when I had free time, how late I could sleep in, and approximately what time I’d come crashing home. From here, a differently colored calendar was my appointment book for assignments and papers. Small reminders of “12pg paper on Environmental Waste” or “Problems 1-35, odd, page 76” helped declutter my mess of syllabi from my school bag. It became easier to just check my calendar for when things were due for what class, than to rifle through a binder full of papers.

When my boyfriend and I started seeing each other more seriously, we realized that we had fairly opposite schedules. I had work in the mornings and classes in the evening with some nights off, and he had classes midday and work in the evening with some mornings off. We had to compromise and find times for when we could see each other, and sharing our Google Calendars gave us the visual organization we needed to know that we could indeed see Iron Man on Thursday night, probably around 8 PM. His Calendar shows up as a different color than mine, so it helps me see when I’m free compared to when he is available. From here, it’s not that hard to text and ask if he’d like to have brunch on Saturday, because I can see that he’s working a closing shift. A few minutes of organization from you and your partner can make seeing each other so much easier.

Google Drive (or How to Always Have Everything You Need for School and Work)

Google Drive

Google Drive started as Google Docs, but it’s become Google’s version of Dropbox. Sure it’s not exactly the same thing, but for major documentation and cloud editing, it’s the best that I’ve used. You can upload and store files from other applications, or choose to create and edit within your browser using Google’s alternatives: Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Google Docs can be used to take notes for class or work, stored on the cloud for you to access from your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. It’s easier to study (and you can’t make excuses), because your notes are everywhere! For writers too, it’s a good idea to just start docs with your poetry or quick writing. You can come back to it later when you come home from the cafe or school, and revisit it if you want to.

Google Doc

I use Google Sheets (similar to Microsoft Excel) to calculate budgets, including how much I’m paying for rent, if we can eat at Chili’s on Thursday (yes, but no margaritas), and how much I can afford to put into savings. Planning for trips and events (such as my friend’s lovely wedding, including all of her ideas) is a breeze. I set up a tab for locations, another for timetables and itineraries, and another for my packing list. The reward for planning on Google Sheets is that I can check it or update it from the parking lot at the grocery store or from my work computer without forgetting it by the time I get home.

But here’s my favorite part: Google Slides is a cloud-accessible version of Microsoft PowerPoint, with all of the perks of shared collaboration. You can upload your template to the Drive, and everyone can add in their parts. From there, you can peer edit easily, with commenting and built-in tracking of all the revisions from each person. I also particularly like using Slides to present as well, to avoid issues with exporting and importing into PowerPoint. It makes working in groups in university or high school (and arguably in the professional world as well) very easy. There’s no angst about how Jenny doesn’t have PowerPoint 2012 or how Marcus wants to use this font that his dad designed but no one else has installed. (That said, standard disclaimer about putting private industry information in the cloud. Google has pretty solid security, but you don’t want to be the person that leaked big news to the public. Be careful, but be proactive about using it.)

Google Presentation

For the folks who like having documents on the go, Drive is a godsend. I’ve studied from my smartphone in the hallway before an exam. I’ve used Sheets to see when I’m probably going to be debt free (or more realistically, if that new toaster is within my reasonable budget). I’ve watched my group sigh with relief when I pull up the presentation that someone forgot to bring on a USB drive.

Why You Should Declutter Your Life and Let Google Do It For You

It’s easy. You can have your social calendar on the go. You can study for classes, jot down notes, and plan your wedding from your smartphone or tablet. You can throw up that presentation about Grandma and Grandpa’s 50th Wedding Anniversary just because they wanted to see it again in without any hassle. Getting your stuff into the cloud takes a little time investment, but the payoff is huge. You can sync up with friends and coworkers, maintain and protect your access to your documents, and avoid duplication or loss of effort. If you have a Gmail or Google Apps address, you already have access to Google Drive; if you don’t, it’s free to sign up!

Geekery

Gaming Survival Tips for Noobs

April 29, 2013 Richard Thayer Leave a comment

So, you’ve just bought your first online game and are eager to jump in and start grinding levels and slaying monsters! You quickly build a character and enter the game world. You look around and see hundreds of other players running around on quests and fighting monsters. But, as you grip that cheap wooden battle-axe, you suddenly realize—you have no idea what you’re doing.

As soon as you figure out some basic controls, you start spamming out HELP messages over the game interface. This is met with a wave of hate and obscenities the likes of which you have never seen before.

Before you can even respond, you are struck down by a level 88 Death Knight.

Game Over.

Photo by Meggyn Watkins

“Well, that wasn’t very fun at all!” you might be thinking. What you didn’t realize was you joined a PVP (player versus player) server with Roleplaying chat on (where players only speak in-character). You were lost before you even began.

Unfortunately, for many gamers, this is how most begin their online journeys. I remember my first online games (Warcraft III and Final Fantasy XI). They’re fun up until you hit the steep learning curve, at which point you typically become a nuisance for experienced players if you can’t keep up.

The Internet, and games played over the Internet, offer everyone immediate access to just about anything and everyone they can think of. This type of accessibility can have its drawbacks, however. More connections along with almost complete anonymity mean you have the potential to run into some interesting situations.

It all started in the arcades—the original haven for gamers. Arcades were social venues which housed various video game machines that you could spend your quarters to play for short periods of time. Games required a lot of skill, and if you were good enough you were rewarded with your name on the high score list. This level of competition (combined with the fact that arcades required you to physically leave your home) made video gaming a social activity.

The first wave of consoles started a new trend: rather than go out to play in an arcade, home consoles allowed a player to play within the privacy of his or her own home, occasionally with friends. But it wasn’t until the 1990s when video games truly began to take an anti-social form.

Many of the games developed in the 90s were single-player adventure games. There were some pushes to bring back social elements to console gaming, such as party games and other multiplayer games, but this period cemented the stereotype of the anti-social gamer lurking alone in a dark room.

During this time, however, PC gaming was also becoming more popular, adding the advantage of playing games over the Internet. While consoles eventually caught up and added Internet connectivity, PC gamers have been re-connecting through cyberspace and re-inventing what social interaction means.

Many people still see this as anti-social behavior, but I like to think of it as a new frontier of interaction. Whether the Internet is the new standard means for communication or just an intermediate to whatever form of communication waits for us down the road, the impact it has had on gamers is substantial. That being said, it is important to remember a few things if you are unfamiliar with online gamers:

1. The Internet is anonymous, and the majority of people act accordingly.

If someone wants to be a jerk, there is no sense of restraint that you might find when talking face-to-face with someone. Let’s face it, there are mean people out there, but don’t get discouraged if you run into one of them. You can always walk away (or Ctrl-Alt-Del away). Most just have too much free time on their hands and are best ignored.

2. Be polite.

This pretty much speaks for itself. Avoid being the person listed above when possible. The huge benefit of the Internet—being able to connect to anyone anywhere—comes at a huge price: there is little to no moderation. This is why most online games come with their own little warning from the company waiving their responsibility for online interactions.

3. Don’t take things too personally, especially in a game.

For the above reasons, don’t take it personally if you encounter someone who is just out to ruin your day. Getting into arguments online or having negative encounters with fellow gamers has a chain reaction effect, similar to when someone is having a lousy day in real life. One negative event can make someone more likely to be negative to someone else later on. It’s much better (and relieving) to simply block them, switch servers, or exit the game.

4. Don’t be stupid.

Sorry if this sounds a little harsh, but many gamers take what they do very seriously. Like the Death Knight example from earlier, if you wander into an advanced area without bothering to learn the proper etiquette, you are likely going to get flamed for it. It would be akin to walking into a fancy dress party in your underwear. Most games offer servers for beginners—an area designed for you to test things out few times without pissing anyone off. Failing this, the almighty Google should have answers for you if you are worried about impatient pro-gamers.

5. Take Your Time

Online gaming can be a great pastime, but don’t feel rushed to absorb twenty years of game development overnight. Find a game similar to what you are familiar with, and try to find a group or forum online that caters to beginners. You will normally be met with a lot more positivity than if you take the headstrong approach. Even better, if you already have a group of gamer friends, they might be able to help you get on your feet.

With these tips, you should be able to get into online gaming easily! But before you commit to paying a monthly fee for some games, perhaps try out similar games that you can play for free. For example, World of Warcraft allows you to play for free until level 20. So you can get in right away, find a beginner’s server, and get the hang of things before you commit. Star Wars: The Old Republic is now free-to-play as well, if you prefer sci-fi to fantasy.

If shooters are more your thing, Team Fortress 2 is also free-to-play, but once you get hooked in, you can buy upgrades and fancy hats.

If you are more the creative type, I would check out Minecraft. Though not free, it is fairly cheap to purchase. The game has many player-run servers; however, dedicated Minecraft servers through Mojang are currently in the works for a future update!

Have a game recommendation or some stories or tips from your own experience? Share them in the comments.

Geekery

Getting Started with Android

April 10, 2013 Michael Cox 1 Comment

So, you’ve just picked up a bright, shiny new Android smartphone. Now what? Many people are wary of the highly customizable Android smartphones (in favor of the ubiquitous iPhone) because of the rumored learning curve; however, you can learn the system and you can make it work for you, instead of you needing to work around it.

Photo by Meggyn Watkins

The Basics

Some simple things to understand are the gestures: everything on the phone is accessed through tapping, swiping (sliding a finger across), or long-pressing (holding your finger on for a second) the screen.

Here’s some terminology to explain the Android environment:

Application: A program on the phone, usually represented by a small shortcut in your App Drawer or on one of your Home Screens.

App Drawer: This is an icon on your Home Screen (located in the Dock) that opens an area where you can search through your installed Apps. Notice that there are two tabs at the top of the App Drawer: one for Apps and one for Widgets.

Back: This physical button can not only be used to navigate backwards through visited web and App pages, but will also take you entirely out of an App and back to your previous App or your Home Screen.

Dock: A static bar at the bottom of your Home Screens for the App Drawer and four customizable shortcuts.

Home: A hardware button on your phone which will take you to your Home Screens from any App. Use this if you want to quickly exit an App!

Home Screens: You can think of these like your computer desktop. You can customize the background image by long-pressing the screen, and add App shortcuts to the Home Screens by long-pressing an App’s Icon in the App Drawer. The App Drawer will close, allowing you to drag the icon across the Home Screens to the location where you want to drop it.

Notification Pull-down: What was that pinging sound that your phone just made? If you drag your finger from the very top of the screen down towards the bottom, the Notification Pull-down will open. From here, you can select a notification to open its parent App, or you can swipe across a particular notification from left to right to ignore it.

Recent Apps: Not every phone has this button! This is another hardware button that will launch a thumbnail view of your recently launched Apps. Use it to switch quickly between Chrome, Webster’s Dictionary, and Words with Friends (wait, are you cheating?), or to jump back and forth between your texts and a web search for movie times.

Menu: This is another hardware button. The Menu button is context-sensitive, so it will do different things (or possibly nothing!) in different apps. Google now encourages Apps to have an in-app Settings screen, so this button will be removed from future Android phones in order to provide users with a more fluid experience.

Widget: This is an advanced Android feature. From the Widgets tab of the App drawer, drag and drop the Widget you want onto a Home Screen. Widgets are often interactive and will sometimes update depending on location, weather, or current applications, and can even launch Applications or web pages!

Now I know how to interact with it. But how do I use it?

Right out of the box, many popular Android phones (like the Galaxy S III and the HTC One series) include a simple tutorial to help you sign into Google—they may even explain some of the above vocabulary. This will give you instant access to your all-important Gmail, the generally ignored Google+, the misunderstood Google Talk instant messenger (and soon Google Babel?), and the powerful Play Store. Of course, there’s also a generic Email app so you can access Yahoo!, Hotmail, or whatever flavor of email you prefer (for those of you who have resisted the Google hive mind). Thanks to the Google integration, some things will be provided automatically.

Here are some ideas to consider when customizing your shiny new smartphone:

You now have access to all your contacts stored in the Gmail web client. Any time you add a contact, be sure to select Google Contact, as this will back up the newly created contact so you can’t accidentally lose it! You can see them from the Contacts or People app, depending on your phone.

If you like to send surprise pics to your lover, be sure to open Google Settings and turn off Instant Upload in your Google+ settings. Or don’t, if you’re into that sort of thing…

The Play Store allows you to download apps, music, e-books, magazines, and videos. You can search within each section or across the entire Play Store in order to find whatever you like!

One of the best features of Android is Google Maps, which you can download from the Play Store. Enabling location access from the Settings menu will allow Google to customize search results for you and will provide you with turn-by-turn voice navigation as an added feature for free.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Google without integrated Search capabilities. You can use the Search Widget to launch a Voice Search and simply speak your command or type in a search. If you have one of the newest devices, then the Search App becomes something more—Google Now. Google Now allows you to opt-in to all sorts of extra notifications (called Cards), from updates on your favorite sports teams to traffic warnings for events in your calendar.

Your Android can take pictures and videos, but it’s what you can do with those pictures and videos that’s really interesting! You can go straight from taking a picture to viewing the Gallery by tapping the image preview in the Camera app. From the Gallery, you can Share that picture through email to a friend, upload it to imgur for a quick post to reddit (if you have the imgur app), or launch Facebook to share it with your social circles for immediate judgment.

You are always logged in. Unless, of course, you explicitly sign out. The upside is that you always receive information as it happens! That’s also the downside. Having every app logged in all the time will take your battery from 100% to 0% in no time flat (I’m looking at you, Facebook for Android). Stay logged into the important things, but if possible, set a less-frequent notification refresh interval for everything else in their settings.

Android’s myriad Apps and Settings can let you customize the exact experience you want from a smartphone! Stay tuned for more tips and tricks on tech and Android from the UE. And post a comment if you have any questions!

Geekery

A Fanfiction Primer: What is This Nonsense, Anyway?

April 8, 2013 Sara Danver 1 Comment

Fanfiction. So maybe you’ve heard of it? You might have read this article. You certainly know that 50 Shades of Gray came from a Twilight fanfic. But for all it’s been talked about in the media lately, you may not be exactly sure what it is. A dark hole in the Internet? A lightly disturbing and invasive hobby? An odd, obsessive escapism for people who watch too much TV?

All of these things are true. And not. Much like the rest of the Internet, fanfiction is an outlet for expression, a tool that can be used in many, many different ways. And much like the rest of the Internet, some of those things can be very creepy. But some of them, if you know what you’re looking for, can be absolutely inspiring.

Fanfiction, or stories written by fans featuring characters and universes that have already been published or produced, has actually been around longer than the Internet. In the ancient days of woolly mammoths and communication via the postal service, fanfiction was limited to newsletters sent to fans of certain content. However, with the invention and popularization of the Internet, fanfiction has become a well-known phenomenon.

There’s an art to communicating the essence of a character, relationship or a story, manipulating an existing canon to create a new outcome, and telling the future of a story in such a way that it is of the source-content but also separate from it. Like all things on the Internet, some of it is terrible, and some of it is mediocre and forgettable. But some of it, like all literature, will make you want to live your life differently and see something in a new light. And, in much the way all good writing does, it can make your heart hurt.

Fanfiction is also a great way to be exposed to ideas and concepts that don’t often make an appearance in mainstream media. Because fanfiction is so popular, free, and accessible, it includes many facets of society that suffer from underrepresentation and erasure in mainstream media. Sexuality, gender, race, disability, prejudice, and so many other things that are part and parcel of the human experience but are poorly represented in mainstream media can be found in abundance in the world of fanfiction.

Many authors, however, particularly older ones, are not okay with fanfiction. They think it’s invasive and an assault against their brand, their creation, and their intellectual property. And there are some hairy ethical lines when you consider the sheer number of novels coming out at the moment that used to be fanfiction of a sort. Some authors are fine with it as long as you don’t make any money off of their work. At the end of the day, it depends on why you’re reading fanfiction. A number of authors, such as John Green, have admitted to writing fanfiction of their own. It’s up to you how you deal with the opinion of the creator of your source content, but whatever you decide it is something to be aware of.

Whatever the authors may think, one thing is certainly true: fanfiction readers and writers love the content from which their stories derive. Some of them are looking for closure on a plot arch they disagree with. Some are looking to see their favorite characters embark on a beautiful, romantic relationship. Some are looking to get some fulfillment and closure on abruptly canceled shows, or cliff hanger novels. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you remember the years and years and years and years (okay, maybe just three, but if felt like forever, alright?) between Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. What else was there to do during that period but think about what might happen?

However, it would be wrong for me to let you go wandering around out there without giving you this warning. Beware the porn. Yes, the purple prose, the wide variety of kinks, the characters that you never, ever, ever thought should ever engage in sexual activity. It’s all out there. If you aren’t into it, beware anything tagged Explicit, Mature, NSFW (Not Suitable for Work), or PWP (Porn Without Plot, or Plot, What Plot?). If you are into it, well…enjoy!

So you’re looking to read (or write!) some fanfiction now? Maybe we’ve got you thinking about a conversation you wish two characters would have on your favorite show. Maybe you’re thinking about that last book you read. An event was mentioned and never shown, but you’ve got an idea how it happened. So what are your next steps?

Head to the Internet, of course! Fanfiction.net is a good place to start. It’s been around forever, so what you’re looking for is likely on it in some capacity. It’s a pretty solid place to get your introduction to fanfiction. Another great place is Archive of Our Own, which is, as they say on their home page, “a fan-created, fan-run, nonprofit, noncommercial archive for transformative fanworks, like fanfiction, fanart, fanvids, and podfic.” The site is still in beta testing, but there are hundreds of thousands of works from all kinds of source content. If you’re familiar with Livejournal, there are plenty of fanfiction communities that use that site for hosting as well, and can be found with a simple Google search.

Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll probably find it. From AUs (Alternative Universes, which feature your favorite characters in a new plot, universe, or setting), to novel-length prequels and sequels, to resurrections of your favorite characters, it’s all out there on the Internet, waiting for you to read it. And if it isn’t, well, you can always write your own!

Photo by Anastasia Heuer

Geekery

How to Make a GIF

March 25, 2013 Richard Thayer 1 Comment

In 1987, a new type of image format, known as 87A, was released by CompuServe. This type of format allowed for a broad range of colors and the ability to loop. It would eventually become what we know today as an animated GIF, or Graphic Interchange Format. Today the GIF is still used in a variety of online settings, such as moving graphics for a site or part of a meme or a piece of art in itself. But what do you have to do to make a GIF?

To make a GIF, you’re going to need a few things:

1. A collection of images you wish to animate or a video

2. A copy of Adobe Photoshop

Once you have these, it’s time to get to work!

The first thing to do is prepare your source material. Depending on the kind of GIF, your images will come from different places.

Slideshow/Looping GIFs

Some GIFs are just loops of still images without a lot of real animation. This is probably the most basic type of GIF to make. The first thing you want to do is gather all of your images in one folder, preferably in the order you want them to appear in your GIF. It is important that they are all sized as big as you want your GIF to be, otherwise you will have to do this manually in Photoshop.

Next, open Photoshop and create a new file (set the image size to whatever the size of your GIF will be).

Place your images into new Layers by using File > Place. You will see your images appear as individual layers on the right. Make sure they are in the correct order if they aren’t already. The bottom layer will be first in the animation, but you can adjust it however you wish.

If you are using CS6, click on a tab at the bottom called Timeline. If you are on an older version of Photoshop, you must go to Window > Animation to see this.

Select Make Frame Animation in order to get to the right mode. It should create a frame of your topmost image.

Next, pull the Animation drop-down menu and select Make Frames from Layers. This will make a new frame from each layer. This includes the background layer, so delete this if you don’t want in your animation.

“But my animation looks all choppy!” You might be saying.

Refining Your GIF

At this point, you have several options. You can save it at this point, but you may need to refine the timing. The main tools you will use at this point are the delay and tweening. For this example, you should only need to set the delay. It is normally defaulted to a 0 second delay, and set to repeat only once. Change this to repeat forever if you want it to loop. Beneath each frame, you will see a triangle. By clicking this, you can set how long each frame should last. If you select all of your frames, you can adjust them all at once as well.

Tweening is used in GIFs to smooth the transition between two or more frames. It creates a more fluid transition between your images if they are not already optimized for animation.

To tween an image, select two frames that are side by side and click the Tween button by holding Shift. The menu that pops up will ask how many frames to create between your frames.

Using too many can make your images appear ghostly, but not enough might not do anything at all.

No Tweening

Some Tweening

Too Little Tweening

Too Much Tweening

You will notice subtle differences between the above images, and depending on what effect you are trying to achieve, there are different solutions possible. Remember, if you tween your frames, you will probably have to adjust your delays as well.

Video Clip GIFs

But the real reason you’re here is to learn how to make all those funny meme GIFs from various films and TV shows!

Another method of making a GIF is to convert a video file to frames. This is probably one of the most common types of GIFs, and is very popular in meme culture. It is also very easy to make once you have access to the video you want.

The only difference in the process is how you obtain the images. Instead of placing images, you must import a video clip into Photoshop. (It is important not to use a very long video, or it will take a long time to load: under 10 seconds is usually a safe bet).

[File > Import > Video Frames to Layers... GIF]

A pop-up menu will allow you to trim the specific portion of your clip you want to use. This will automatically convert your clip to frames, and then you can edit the delay and tweening if you wish.

Saving Your GIF

Lastly, you will have to save your file to the proper format. Instead of using the normal Save feature, use Save for Web or Save for Web and Devices.

[File > Save for Web... GIF]

This menu gives you options to select the proper format, plus different sizing and optimization functions. This tool is designed to allow you to keep your full Photoshop project saved at the highest quality so you can then save multiple versions of your work in various formats. To make sure your GIF remains animated, select GIF from the formats and click Save below. The file size will be much larger than a normal JPEG.

That is all you have to do to create your GIF! Note that the speed of your GIF may be different than what you viewed in Photoshop, so you may have to play around with different settings to get precisely what you want.

Another interesting feature (new to CS6) is the ability to make transparent GIFs. These function in the same manner and are created the same way, however, they utilize the transparent background that can be used in other Photoshop projects. By using these in your GIF, you can make an animation that can be layered onto a website and you can still see the background through it.

Animated GIFs are seen by some as an emerging art form in itself. With this knowledge, you can easily play around with them and see for yourself, or just give a cat some laser beams!

And that is all there is to it!

Geekery

Trolling For Slang: The Origins of Internet Werdz

October 2, 2012 Remi Coin 5 Comments

From abbreviations to portmanteaus, to purposefully misspelled words, we exist in a world of beautiful and butchered words: the language of internet slang. But where does it come from? The internet certainly didn’t invent slang, so how did the and lulzing come about?

To truly embrace the etymological journey of internet slang, let us delve into a brief history of Usenet. You might have run across it while trying to “questionably download” files, but back in the day (circa 1979) it was the communications network, and continues to be the oldest one still in use. Usenet was essentially a bulletin board that allowed users to post comments in newsgroups, or topically structured discussions, which they eventually started to call threads (sound familiar?) Fascinating stuff, but what’s really awesome is that they archived everything so people like me (and you, if you’re so inclined) can go frolic in the land of internet fossils.

Lol

Easily one of the most used terms in day-to-day exchanges, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) officially recognized the word in March of 2011. In pre-internet speak, lol could mean anything from “lots of luck” to “lots of love” and didn’t get its current status until the mid 1980’s when Wayne Pearson (just some dude) wrote an email to a friend about a situation where he found himself literally “laughing out loud.” Wayne wrote a letter explaining all this, but unfortunately he doesn’t have the backup logs to prove this. So, if you require an exact date, OED traces it back to a FidoNews newsletter sent on May 8th, 1989.

Lulz

Seen as a corruption of lol, it is likely that Jameth, an administrator of Encyclopedia Dramatica, was the first to coin this term back in 2004 with his participation in the Lulz News Network. But then again, Encyclopedia Dramatica traces lulz back to a conversation between Jesus and Putin, so, yeah. (Read with caution: if you are easily offended, you will be offended.)

Though it may have started out as a plural for lol, it then evolved into the 4chan meme, “I Did it for the Lulz,” which is now synonymous with the mischievous actions of internet hacker groups LulzSec and Anonymous.

Harhar

Everyone and their mother has been using “haha” to denote laughter but the more sarcastic “harhar” is a recent invention. While the phrase may have originally been “hardy har har,” it is unclear as to whether comedian Jackie Gleason was the first to use it in a Honeymooners skit, or if it was originally uttered in Kubrick’s 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Emoticons (aka emotion + icon) are much older than we think. Vertical emoticons can be traced back to a 1881 printing of a satirical magazine called Puck. Though, there are some who argue that an Abe Lincoln speech, transcribed and printed in 1862, was actually the first emoticon sighting. But today’s horizontal is attributed to Scott Fahlman, a Carnegie Mellon professor, who proposed using “the following character sequence for joke markers: :-)” back in 1982.

Fun Fact: The smiley turned 30 last month.

Spam

Unfortunately this is not an acronym for “stupid pointless annoying messages,” but rather we find its source in a Monty Python sketch, aptly named, “Spam.” Basically an old lady tries to order a meal that doesn’t include SPAM, which is impossible because everything on the menu includes SPAM (there’s also Vikings and songs), but it’s a whole thing that boils down to excessive repetition of the word SPAM.

Spam originally had a couple meanings: crashing a person’s computer with too much data, using a computer program to aid in the mass duplication of objects, or flooding a chat window with random, repetitive nonsense. The first spamming incident can be traced back to 1978, but the first use of of the word comes from a MUD, or a multi-user-dungeon (think prehistoric WoW). Here’s some MUDers discussing its origin back in 1990.

But how does that explain the penis drugs, the one cent smartphones, and the “cute girls looking for love”? Thank Sanford “Spamford” Wallace for his ingenious malicious “advertising” strategy.

Fun Fact: SPAM (the meat kind) stands for “Spiced HAM”.

Newbie (and n00b)

The term newbie shows up in the mid-1800’s and likely comes British school yards where incoming students were called “new boy’s” to distinguish their newcomer and/or novice status. But it’s internet debut was over a century later in the talk.bizarre Usenet group and has since been immortalized in Usenet’s Jargon File (like the source for original, untainted hacker slang.)

N00b technically means the same thing except it’s kind of derogatory. Also, it’s an iteration of Leetspeak, which is a whole other universe of sub-culture slang. It’s not entirely clear why Leet was developed (superiority complexes? elitism? privacy? protection from censors?) but Leet’s alternative alphabet went mainstream sometime in the 1980’s. We’ve now come full circle, transliterating n00b (Leetspeak) back into noob (English?).

Troll

Trolls used to exist in our collective imaginations, but now they are very real, extremely annoying and never seem to go away. The phrase “trolling for newbies” showed up in the early 90’s and was popularized by the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban (AFU).

This excerpt from a February 1990 post may not constitute the first usage of the word, but pretty much sums it up: “You are a shocking waste of natural resources – kindly re-integrate yourself into the food-chain. Just go die in your sleep you mindless flatulent troll.”

FAQ

While we don’t often think of FAQ’s as slang, “Frequently Asked Questions” weren’t common usage until the early 1980’s when Eugene Miya needed a way to limit newbie questions on NASA’s SPACE mailing list. Technically, subscribers were supposed to download an entire database of old questions and read through them before asking new ones. Instead, Eugene gathered those frequently asked questions into one document for easy, efficient downloading. This concept spread to Usenet, where it eventually took on the abbreviation FAQ, and it became netiquette to read the FAQ page before asking newbie questions.

Fun Fact: Some people think it stands for “Frequently Answered Questions.”

Extra Credit: @replies

The @ reply was used only four days into Twitter’s existence, back in March of 2006, to designate that users were “at” a place (i.e. @ work). It wasn’t until November of that year that two users, Neil Crosby and Ben Darlow, started up a conversation using the @ replies as we know them today. It took another two months for the twitterverse to sort itself out and agree to the @username (instead of @ username). Read the in-depth story over here.

Let’s be honest, I didn’t even scratch the surface with my selection of internet slang, but I had to stop somewhere

Editor’s Note: Apologies for all the links, but I am a troll.

(Actual Editor’s Note: Obs, I did it for the lulz.)