Author Archives: caislas

search engine just of images with no words

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Today, I have face myself with a known personal problem: “Words”

Well it is not my strong side at all, even though some people would say I can talk a lot. But the words, and/or writing properly is not my gift, even though I love to read. Anyway, today I was looking for a game that I played a lot as a teenager. And I search for this game, in this virtual world full of information (our internet) for some time. First with the name I remember of it, but nothing. Then, I try different combinations, descriptions, and so on, and nothing.

Suddenly I though, it will be so nice that I can make a diagram of it and search for it, there is no way I could miss it, it is SO simple. As a “natural” consequence I would be able to have a search of it just putting the picture and said look for similar, and I bet, the probabilities to find it would increase.

I know there is people working with this image databases, but I realized in this “fantasy” moment, that ALWAYS you have to put a word to get an image, or select a word of a menu list, but mainly always is a word involved in the topic. I haven’t seen an image database, still, in which the query is an image as well. At least no starting from zero. I think I had seen for the second round search, the possibility to click in a line which says: looking for similar, but no so sure. Or do you know of any Database of that type?

Now, I have no idea if that sounds silly, but today I felt I require it. I have no idea if that makes sense, but it would be interesting to express ourselves with drawings as well. At the end besides text the internet is full of icons, images, pictures and others graphical elements. In fact thinking further it might even help to those who do not know how to read and write (even though read and write is quite useful) or don’t have the common language, but they can communicate by dragging and dropping images, then each one can look later on what is the meaning of that image in their own language…. anyway, it might not have sense what I am saying, but today I got craving to have access to one of those “fantasy” applications.

more games

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Last night Andres and Roman were playing with a computer game, of the type of clouds. Flow quite nice.

Another game, which I found cute is snowflakes, a bit different in relation with the flow, but as well interesting.

Now, what it makes me “think” in moments as this one, when I am full of energy and I can’t really think, for my own internal noise as a result of excess of a need of activity. Which by the way I have enough things to do, but all of them need my concentration, which I can’t get right now ‘cos my inner is spinning, without asking me. I wonder how to put out some of this power, in a more productive way without much concentration or thinking, and being in the place I “should” be, as behaving accordingly in a classroom or meeting, but at the same time, using this “chaos” energy, no just controlling it…… that is something to think about….

week 10

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This week was quite nice and productive, but I finish as a dead body.

I don’t even remember all what it happen, but it will be good to try to remember the mile stones, to relate this to what I have to do next.

Monday the Festival of the lecture of EdTech, which I found it really interesting. I was in the LEGO ROBOT

Tuesday, finish the paper work for a Mexican grant which has to be in Mexico on the 15th of March. Well in fact since days before I was fighting with that, as you have no idea. It should be used a software that run only on windows and need disk 3 1/4 to be saved…. well using a mac, and being in computer science in Finland implies that diskettes of 3 1/4 are part of collections in museum. When in other countries still are in use. Some things to think about when we talk of globalization and contextualized. Yes, it was a battle, in several issues to fulfill the requirements of this grant, but finally it was managed. Now, I hope the post manage to be there on time.

Then I was in Helsinki for the IGDA meeting. This time the topic was education and game design. Helsinki University gave a talked, and also aRTO which I discovered there. On the other hand, I had a change to talk with two entrepreneurs into the mobil game industry one finnish and other swedish. Interesting for sure. The person for Sweden has contacts with Malmö University, from where I had read papers on “moral games ” , which is similar of what I persuading to do. Interesting fact.

It was the first evening I am there, but it was good. I finish quite late that evening, but worth it. Now I am really looking forward for next month, besides to have the second part of the workshop (games and story telling) the “idea” of my PhD game, which starts to born will be commented with some of these hard core gamers, and I am looking forward for their inputs. But I need to work on this and finish first with some concepts of my research questions, ASAP!

With all these, well, I support what Matti mentioned once (04.02.06) in his blog:
“1. Good things do not usually come to those who wait. Act.
2. Grades do not matter, connections do. Socialize.
3. Diligence doesn´t pay, opportunism does. Push in. ”

In any case, I would add that we have to integrate, in other words, learn to act but also learn to wait. Socialized, but be able to think by yourself too, push in but with worth things otherwise you only burn yourself. I don´t know any precise rule, but I know it is a combination of all of it. Be sensitive to use what it has to be use in the correct moment. Now it is my time to think and digest all what has been done, and prepare for the next round.

Then from Wednesday to “Friday” Christian was in Finland. We met in Helsinki, we came later to Joensuu. It was just great, not only because we are colleges with similar interests, and we are friends, also in the sense that we worked a lot (no much sleep). We are preparing several things for further work between Mexico and Finland, with the focus of win-win perspectives, respecting the context of each place and the needs of each place, but helping each other. One really important thing of his trip was that both parties (he and EdTech) got to know each other. Well, all are really worth persons and we are going forward, the sky is the limit as someone mention once. This is just the first step, there are tons of things to do.

Another important event of the week was that on Friday I got surprise to see Andrés again 🙂 that is so nice 🙂 Bienvenido!!!!

And mainly that was it, in between I had lectures, homework and daily life things to do, you know those issues. But yesterday after get something to eat for the weekend, I just crash in bed, I was a body, even though I didnt sleep as a real baby. No good!. Anyway, now it is time to use my encephalic mass, but I am not sure where to start to dig in.

Introduction – el inicio

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ok, finally here I am 🙂 . This one, will be my blog with research purposes. Yeap, I am persuading to be a researcher. Which as a child, I wouldn’t have accepted the possibility that I could get interested into research. As an small girl, when my father used to tell me “Ciro Peraloca” I always had replayed him: No way!!!!. But my perspective has changed, and it seems it really fits me, because I am enjoying doing this. Then, Dad seemed to be right.

Now, The first logical question will be to ask, what I am researching?! And this question is the first subquestion under what am I doing?. Well, just as a small introduction, I am researching on video games. My interest is on electronic, educational, immersive, etc. games, but for this specific “cooking recipe ” some of the important ingredients that I want to put an extra emphasis, or to work together in the development of my project are: involved actual no players (as older generations), involved people that hasn´t succeed in our actual western world educational system (drop outs), looking for the support between them. That the result after this leisure digital entertainment experience can help them, or it can be useful for them, beyond the enjoy moment, into their real life, in concordance with their context, nature, values, etc. All these in conjunction with the possibilities that digital technology offers to us (as mobil, multi-platform applications, etc )….

Oh yeah! now you can observed, that it is quite often that I ask to myself: “what am I doing?” BUT it is part of the fun, to put all this puzzle together, and things are getting there 🙂

Right now I am working with the concrete picture of the whole….. And I apply and thank you in advance for any comment you can offer.

caislas