April 2, 2008

Assignment: BLOG POST: Civilization Lab #1

This assignment involves the class game: Civilization IV. See the game page for all of the information about where and how to play.

Part I. Look at the sign-up sheet for this assignment (Password Protected [Get Password Help]). Pick a component of the game that you want to investigate that still has spaces left. State which component you chose.

Part II. In detail, describe how the component works in the game. Specifically, how does it help you to achieve cultural domination? To answer this, you'll have to play the game and experiment with the component that you signed up for. (Remember, you can also change your mind and sign up for a new component at any time.)

Add one or more screen shots (a screen shot is a picture of the screen so that your blog readers can see what is happening in your game). To make a screen shot from Civilization IV, press the [Print Screen] (or [PrtSc]) key on the keyboard. The game will ask you to name your screen shot. Your screen shot will be saved in "My Documents / My Games / Civilization IV / ScreenShots" and it can be uploaded as you would add any image to your blog. The [Print Screen] doesn't work on some computers. If you find it doesn't work, press [Shift] + [Ctrl] + [Print Screen] (all at the same time) instead.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You need to play the game enough with your feature in mind that you understand the operation of the feature, otherwise you will not have enough to write about. You need to be able to describe the role of the feature in the overall simulation of society. (For example, "I built the library and I won the game." is not sufficient -- you might write about how your component interacts with the other components and how it might play a role in a strategy to win the game.) You may have to make some guesses.

Part III. Does the operation of the game component contradict or support facts, research, theories, or examples from course lectures and readings? For example: "I will explain how the way the invention of writing functions in Civilization IV totally contradicts Postman's arguments about memory..." or "The way the game depicts immigration supports the points made in lecture about cultural imperialism in three ways..."

In your assessment,

• refer to at least one specific example from YOUR gameplay to support your arguments and include at least one screenshot to show what you mean.
• include at least one quotation from a relevant class reading, lecture, or film screening to support your assessment. (If a direct quotation isn't possible, just include enough information that it is clear you understand the concept or idea you are discussing.)

This assignment must be at least 300 words (about 1 page).

DEADLINE: Post your blog entry by 11 a.m. -- one hour before class begins. (You may want to select your topic as soon as you can.)

Announcement: 4/2 Lecture Cancelled Due to Illness

Lecture: You can find information (search)

Key concepts: search engines as infrastructure, crawl/spider, index, query processor / engine, the politics of search engines, what determines search skill
Examples: make your own search engine, Google "bombing"

Class Reader: The Search

Bartelle, J. (2006). The Search. New York: Portfolio. pp. 153-157, 163-164, and 19-30. Password Protected Online Full-Text (PDF) [Get Password Help] Key concepts: algorithm, crawl/spider, index, query processor/engine, the long tail of search queries, what do people search for on the Internet? Eamples: 2bigfeet.com, digital camera sites on Google