Author Archives: Jason Choy

Horror Game Project by Jason, Vincent, and Ray

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For our collaborative final project, we’ve decided to create a video game along with a user’s manual.  The manual would be like other game manuals, which would describe how to set up the game, and how to play it.

The video game itself will be a first person horror game, set in the mid 19th century.  It will feature both survival horror and psychological horror elements.  We came up with this idea because it’s Halloween time, even though by the time we’re finished it will be nearly Christmas.  We’ve come up with a simple premise: the protagonist wakes up in a jail cell, with no recollection of how he got there, and the player will have to escape the dungeon using wits and cleverness, and not get killed in the process.  The game will involve stealth, light puzzle solving, encounters with dangerous creatures with no combat system, as well as exploration.  As of now we don’t have a name for the game yet.

This project is relevant to the course because it involves plenty of technical writing.  We’re going to be creating something, and then we will create instructions that show how to use it.  Our project will also replicate what you get in the real world when purchasing a horror game – you get a game, and you get an instruction manual.

The purpose is simple: the world thrives on media.  From video games to television and film, there is always a place for media entertainment.  Horror is an established (and niche) video game genre, so the audience would be gamers… especially those who like horror games.  In addition, creating instructions for something as large as a game will build up our technical writing skills further.

Assuming we’re able to move forward with this project, we’d follow the steps we’re currently considering.  The first step would be making the game.  We could do research on horror game design, to gather other ideas.  This would include looking up things related to the setting we chose, to make a more authentic game.  Once we’ve created and tested the game, we would move on to making a user’s manual for it.  We’d get others to test the game with our manual as well, to see if they can get it running by following our instructions.

We’d be doing different types of research for this project, in addition to what was said above.  We are considering doing research on the horror game industry, looking at its origins, looking at the most successful horror games as well as the least successful horror games.  Our research might also include looking at other game manuals, so we can get a better idea on what to include in ours.

Jason will be doing the game development, since that’s a field he has years of experience in.  The group will collaborate on the game design too.  Ray and Vincent will be doing the bulk of the research, and we’ll all collaborate on the writing together.  Jason will be proofreading and making sure all of the writing fits together, so that it doesn’t look like the writings of three people stitched together.

Aside from class meetings, we will meet after class in the library or somewhere else on school grounds, since it fits into our schedules.  We will also be using an online chatroom through a program called Steam, so that’s two synchronous communication methods outside of class and it should be sufficient for completing the project.  We’ll be sharing files through Dropbox or Google Drive.

By working on this project, we’ll greatly improve our collaboration skills since this project is large scale, it spans a long time, and it is worth half our grade.  It will also bolster our technical writing skills, since we’d be writing instructions for such a large project that we made.

Class Notes 10/22

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Class Assignment:

Reminder:

  • Assignment #4: Summary due 10/29, only a final draft is submitted.

Website Review by Jason, Ray, and Vincent

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For this assignment, we evaluated six different websites according to the today’s readings.  The websites we looked at were OpenLab, City Tech website, The Writing Studies Tree, GND-Tech, Guild Wars 2 official website, and MMOsite.  For the most part, these websites have met the general requirements mentioned in the readings, but as expected there were some shortcomings.

The first website we looked at was GND-Tech, a hardware and gaming review site.  The first thing that stands out when navigating the website is the accessibility and streamlined layout.  The navigation bar is clear and links you to all parts of the website.  The content is quite original and differs vastly from similar websites, especially the gaming related articles which are very persuasive.  The site targets a more mature audience.  It’s also very fast and responsive, since it’s not overloaded with flash effects or the like.  The font size and contrast is excellent, and the site is very intuitive.  It has articles, a forum with a good selection of forum sections, and an interactive chat system.  Credibility isn’t a strong point however, since they don’t list credible journalists and it’s quite anonymous.

We then looked at the official City Tech website, which is one we’re all familiar with.  Although we have mixed opinions about its visual design, we all agree that it’s very easy to find the most important information like the course catalog.  But the info zone is quite vague.  Font size may be considered too small for some people, and it’s rather inconsistent.

We appreciate the effort put into OpenLab, it’s very advanced with a lot of functionality, although the search bar results could be improved.  When searching for “ENG 3773” for example, nothing turns up.  But overall it meets the requirements mentioned in the readings.  The style of OpenLab is very sleek and subtle, font size is satisfactory, it’s very interactive, and has plenty of links to helpful guides.  It’s very credible since it’s part of City Tech and many professors use it.  It also has a unique goal, sharing our classwork with the public.  Some might not like this however, due to the lack of privacy.

The first thing that stands out when looking at The Writing Studies Tree is the loading times, which are very slow unlike the other websites.  It also has a FAQ on the front page which has a nicely laid out table of contents and useful links.  It’s very straightforward and has a lot of information about the website itself and other things.  It has a typical white background and dark text, some might not find it particularly appealing however it isn’t be appalling to look at.  The WST team appears very credible.

We also looked at the Guild Wars 2 website, which loads surprisingly fast despite the interactive content.  The layout is very streamlined and appealing.  The media tab showcases the product very well with screenshots and videos.  It’s well known and easily accessible, and they provide a well-written FAQ and other helpful links on the site.  They also have a technical support team and user support team.  The forum is very expansive and filled with information.

The last site we looked at is MMOsite, which is another video game website.  This is another highly interactive site yet it loads quickly.  They really focused on visual appeal and they did a good job.  The layout is also very accessible and easy to use.  Content is very clear due to the easy navigation and categories.  It isn’t the most credible site however since it’s mostly user-made content and they don’t provide that much information about the staff nor do they provide sources.

So we looked at some interesting websites, many of which were related.  We looked extensively at the accessibility and usability aspects of these websites, and also the content provided and credibility of the staff.  We really got a look at the differences between certain types of websites; some are more formal and really focus on providing sources and details on the staff, while others may be more anonymous.

“User Experience Basics.” N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.

“25-point Website Usability Checklist.” 25-point Website Usability Checklist. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.

The Elements of User Experience. S.l.: Pearson Education (US), 2010. Web.

“Principles of Website Usability | 5 Key Principles Of Good Website Usability.” The Daily Egg. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.

A Summary of “The Flight from Conversation” by Jason

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“The Flight from Conversation” is an article written by Sherry Turkle for The New York Times, focusing primarily on the willing sacrifice of conversation (personal, face to face interaction and relationships) for online, technological connections.  The author argues in favor of conversation, stating that it’s more personal and intimate.  Isolating yourself to online connection leads to many consequences, according to the author.  Such consequences include reduced interpersonal skills, reduced patience, and lack of self-reflection skills (being unable to express yourself appropriately).  Furthermore, the author states that living in these online worlds leads to delusional relationships, loss of faith in others, weakened personalities, and greater loneliness.  She cites a powerful example to support her claim about delusional relationships: “One of the most haunting experiences during my research came when I brought one of these robots, designed in the shape of a baby seal, to an elder-care facility, and an older woman began to talk to it about the loss of her child” (Paragraph 12).  Turkle believes these devices and new trends are changing people for the worse.  To avoid this, she suggests that people limit the use of their electronic devices and online connection, while continuing to seek out face to face conversation.

Turkle, Sherry. “The Flight From Conversation.” The New York Times 21 Apr. 2012

Instruction Manual and Evaluation by Jason

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For this assignment I will be evaluating the online user’s manual for the Audio-GD NFB-15.  This product is a headphone amplifier, preamplifier, and DAC, made in China.  The manual is very easy to locate, being linked on the product page itself.  Surprisingly, it’s not even in PDF format, and the manual’s web page isn’t exactly print friendly so this can be an immediate problem for some people.

One thing that stands out is that the manual is broken off into sections, opposed to being a wall of text.  This is a strong benefit, since it makes it easier to read.  It also uses pictures and graphs which again really improve its accessibility.

The manual starts out by telling you how to properly turn the unit on and off.  Since the user should turn it on and off in a certain order, they used arrows to indicate what order should be used when powering it on and off.  The problem is, the NFB-15 is a multi-purpose device that can take on several roles.  For powering the NFB-15, the manual lists “Source power ON —-> NFB-15 power ON —-> Amp power ON “.  So it’s telling the user to first turn on the source, then the NFB-15, then the amplifier (amp).  The source could be the computer that the NFB-15 is connected to, or it could refer to another DAC which would mean that the NFB-15 is being used as a preamplifier in this statement.  Further clarification is necessary here.  The NFB-15 can act as a source and/or an amplifier, or as a preamplifier.  Since the NFB-15 includes its own amplifier, the “Amp power ON” statement doesn’t apply to everyone.  This step of the manual simply doesn’t cover every use of the product.  In addition, these exact problems also apply to the instructions for turning it off.

So for this section of the manual, more information is needed.  They should have made three additional sections, instead of just the one section which they call “The rule of the power ON / OFF”.  Not only does that sentence indicate poor English translation, it doesn’t cover everything.  It should be renamed to “How To: Powering The NFB-15 as a Preamplifier”, and then there should be three more sections called:

  • “How To: Powering the NFB-15 as a Source Only”
  • “How To: Powering the NFB-15 as an Amplifier Only”
  • “How To: Powering the NFB-15 as a Source and Amplifier”

Or something along those lines.  Now a user would know where to look.  This part of the manual needs to be streamlined more.

The next section is quite clear-cut and to the point, but again the poor English is going to throw some people off.  It’s not something one can skim through, you have to try and figure out what it’s saying especially if you’re unfamiliar with products like this.  If the English translation was more clear, the second section would be just fine.

Poor English translation is really the story for the rest of the manual.  The third section (“Please note”) is just some simple lines of text, and the last section is very detailed and filled with a table and pictures.  It also lists an older version of the same product, so this manual isn’t just for the latest version.  It’s clearly labeled however, so there shouldn’t be any serious problems when reading the last section.  They just need a better translator.  They also didn’t mention anything about USB drivers, for those who wish to use the product in USB mode.  They do mention this elsewhere on the website, but it should really be in the manual.  So the manual is not perfect, and it could use a lot of work especially for those who would be heavily reliant on a user’s manual.

Audio-GD NFB-15 Online Manual

Jason’s Post on Online Identity in a Networked World

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The job market has changed drastically over the years, and these articles serve as good examples to show us how.  Applying for jobs is not as easy as it once was.  Today is all about social media; being interconnected to your family, friends, your friends’ friends, and so on, through the internet.  This is now something we have to take into account when searching for jobs, and it can work against us.

No longer do you just need an appealing, professional resume and cover letter.  It can be extremely beneficial to represent or “brand” yourself online in a professional manner (Korn, Melissa. “College Advises Students: Ditch the Selfies.” At Work RSS. N.p., 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.). There are even websites and services to help one achieve this, though they haven’t had overwhelming success yet. (Weber, Lauren. “Colleges Pay to Protect Students from Toxic Google Results.” At Work RSS. N.p., 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.).

The big problem for most people will be employers discovering embarassing photos or information online.  People like to use social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to humiliate themselves in front of the world, by posting photos and/or videos of themselves partying drunk, passed out, etc.  If an employer discovers this, there’s a good chance you won’t even be a candidate for that job anymore.  One article I read talks about ways to hide yourself online, such as using a common Facebook name (Ryan, Rachel. “Yes, Employers Will Check Your Facebook Before Offering You a Job.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.).  That article also suggests that you just use common sense when posting on social media websites, and then it shouldn’t interfere with your job application.

I’m not really represented online at all.  I don’t have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or anything like that. Sure I’m on OpenLab, but there’s nothing to see… just my classwork.  Plus, chances are employers won’t even find it (no offense).  When googling my name, I don’t find anything related to me.  I only find other people named Jason Choy.  This is what I expected since I choose to not participate in social media.  Still, this isn’t exactly a good thing.  A professional LinkedIn profile would actually give me an online identity, which may be beneficial as some of those articles discuss.  Perhaps one of these days I’ll consider making one.

I don’t think it’s unethical for job employers to do background checks on candidates using the internet and social media.  It’s good that they do this, because it can reveal important information.  If someone has a habit of partying and being wasted on Monday mornings, and this is evidenced on their Facebook page, an employer should bring this up in the job interview.  However, it would be wrong if they based their decision almost entirely on what they find or don’t find, but as long as it’s not the most outstanding decision in their job hiring or promoting process, I don’t have a problem with it.  I don’t know if I agree with Facebook friends affecting one’s chances to get a credit card though… just because you might be friends with someone irresponsible, that doesn’t make you irresponsible as well.

Ryan, Rachel. “Yes, Employers Will Check Your Facebook Before Offering You a Job.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-ryan/hiring-facebook_b_2795047.html>.

Jason’s Major/Education Reflection

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To expand on what I wrote in my Job Ads post, I feel that the CST curriculum could use improvements to better prepare students for the real world.  Courses could be made more practical with the addition of more hands-on activity.  There isn’t a single course that teaches people how to build, disassemble, and physically work with computer systems.  This should be added to the CST 1100 course (Introduction to Computer Systems).  As it stands, CST 1100 is almost entirely historical.

Other courses I’ve taken, like Operating Systems Fundamentals and Networking Fundamentals, are a bit too theoretical in my opinion.  Both of these are almost entirely theoretical and has very little practicality or usefulness.  Database Programming is another one: it is at least somewhat practical, but has little in the way of projects to make it a very useful course.

Java and Web Programming courses are involving and have lots of hands-on work.  Students will write various kinds of programs in Java courses, and they’ll make simple websites in Web Programming I and II.  My only complaint regarding Java courses is that they’re usually too slow paced.  From my experience, if a few students are lagging severely behind the rest of the class, but they ask questions during class, the professor will slow the entire class down and not allow other students to keep moving forward.  I realize that these few students need the help, but they should really visit the professor during office hours, and at the very least everyone else should be able to move forward.  Perhaps all assignments should be listed on the syllabus, for those of us who prefer to work at our own pace.

The Web Programming courses actually address that concern, letting us know the assignments beforehand.  However, these courses are just a bit too basic.  The web design techniques shown in class are very amateur and wouldn’t cut it in the real world.  There’s nothing these courses teach me that I can’t learn on my own at places like w3schools.com.

A major complaint I have about the CST curriculum is the rather small selection of programming languages available.  We have Java, XML, SQL, and the Web Programming courses which teach HTML, JavaScript, and PHP.  Looking back at the job ads I looked at, many of them demanded experience in C++, Ruby, Python, and/or some others.  Although NYCCT offers two C++ courses, these aren’t part of the CST program for some odd reason.  CST needs C++ more than any other department, so why are they no longer in the CST department?  Oddly enough, C++ was part of the CST department as elective courses back in 2010 or so.

This brings us to another suggestion: more uniform course catalogs.  The curriculum has changed dramatically since I entered the school in Fall 2011, and not necessarily better.  Some classes have outright disappeared, like Introduction to Systems Analysis and Design.  So if I am to follow the curriculum from when I entered the college, I can’t, since some classes are gone.  Others have been renamed, like SPE 1330 (Speech/Public Speaking) which is now COM 1330.  This is a minor change, but it leads to errors on the Cuny Degree Audit, which takes time to sort out.  All of this leads to confusion and forced meetings with advisers, and I don’t even have an adviser listed on Cuny/Cunyfirst.

I think that colleges should focus on preparing people for jobs, but general, adaptable knowledge is also a good thing.  There are some courses that just seem completely unnecessary, however.  CST majors have to take two cumulative science courses for some reason.  I understand taking an introductory course, but the second one will go into details that we’ll never draw on.  It’s just a waste of time and money.  The same applies to calculus/precalculus, there’s no real reason for us to take it, aside from the fact that it’s required.

At the end of the day, I feel that if I relied only on my college experience, I wouldn’t be adequately prepared for jobs in these fields.  I learned relatively little programming in City Tech, most of my knowledge in this subject is self-obtained from working on my own projects.  The same goes for IT support jobs; City Tech really doesn’t prepare you for it at all due to the lack of hands-on experience offered, and because they don’t teach students how to troubleshoot properly.  These are skills I learned on my own or from others, outside of school.

The most useful experience you’ll get during your school years will probably be internship experience.  Thankfully, an internship course is required for both associate and bachelor degree in CST.  City Tech will help you make a proper resume, and they’ll send out your resume to various companies.  This is how I got my internship at Borough Hall.  It was a good experience, despite the fact that I had to pay for the internship course despite working for no salary.

My suggestion to those getting ready to enter the job market is to take multiple internships in your field.  The experience is vital for several reasons: it will make you more prepared for jobs, since schooling alone is not adequate preparation.  You also need this on your resume.  In addition, you actually can learn things from the internet.  This is how I gained much of my hardware knowledge; by following and becoming a part of tech websites and communities.  This is how I learned most of my HTML/JavaScript/PHP knowledge.  If you have a problem that you’re struggling to solve, chances are you can find the solution by googling it.

I have a friend who transferred from NYCCT (CST department) to Queens College.  His major in Queens College is Computer Science, which seems to be a mix between our CST department and our Computer Science department.  I don’t like the idea of mixing the two, but it does have many interesting courses that aren’t offered here, such as multiple algorithmic problem solving courses (NYCCT has an introductory one for EMT majors, not CST), a course about Compilers, an Artificial Intelligence course with languages not offered at NYCCT, Cryptography, more in-depth networking classes, among others.  This friend of mine told me that the courses offered at Queens College tend to be more applied/practical.

Brooklyn College also has more algorithmic courses, AI courses, and more hardware focus.  They call the department “Computer and Information Science”.  City College seems to have less programming focus, and more generic requirements like Calculus III.  When branching out more and looking at places like M.I.T., things become much different.  MIT has an “EECS” department, short for “Electrical Engineering and Computer Science” department.  They teach a much wider variety of topics and seem to have much more hands on experience.  Someone who gets a degree in EECS would be a very well rounded, knowledgeable individual.

My main suggestions to City Tech and their CST department are: more hands-on activity, stronger focus on practical/applied courses, less focus on unneeded courses like a second science course and Calculus, and a wider variety of courses like C++ (simply integrate it into CST department), Ruby, Python, Artificial Intelligence, etc.  Take inspiration from other colleges.

http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/catalog_listing.shtml – NYCCT Catalog Listing

http://www.cs.qc.cuny.edu/index-3.html – Queens College Course Listing

http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/academics/schools/naturalsciences/graduate/computers/courses_g.php?sch=n&div=G&disc=CISC.&department=22&dept_id=109 – Brooklyn College Course Listening

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/compsci/upload/Requirements-for-B-S-Computer-Science-Spring-2012.pdf – City College Course Catalog

http://www.eecs.mit.edu/academics-admissions/undergraduate-programs/curriculum – M.I.T. Curriculum

http://catalog.hunter.cuny.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=16&poid=2196&returnto=1728 – Hunter College Course Catalog

http://www.rit.edu/programs/computing-security-0 – Rochester Institute of Technology Course Listing

https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/confluence/display/undergraduatebulletinspring14/Department+of+Statistics+and+Computer+Information+Systems – Baruch College Course Listing

http://bulletins.psu.edu/undergrad/campuses/details/29/IST – Penn State IST Requirements

http://www.american.edu/provost/registrar/pdf/upload/2013-14-AU-Catalog-FINAL-7-26-2013.pdf – American University Course Catalog

Jason’s Job Search

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For this assignment I looked for jobs related to both Software Development and IT support, since these are two fields I’m interested in.  I’ve also worked in the IT support field twice before, so I can rely on this experience.  I looked specifically at entry level positions, both part time and full time.  After reviewing all of these different job descriptions, requirements, and preferences, I’ve gotten a better feel for what employers are looking for.

Some of the more common openings I’ve come across are for IT support and web development.  Web developer positions have very content-specific requirements.  Typically they want you to be knowledgeable in several specific programming languages, like HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript.  They also want future employees to have experience with tools like WordPress.  Having a portfolio or website of your own to demonstrate is a big plus, since they can see your previous work and get a feel for your strengths and weaknesses.

Software development jobs are very similar to web programming in this regard.  They want potential employees to be skilled in multiple programming languages, and they have to be languages which they use as well.  If your expertise is Java but the position needs a C++ expert, you aren’t going to get that position.  Java is one of the most commonly used languages, so having that on your resume is certainly beneficial.  When looking at these job ads, I usually see Java, C/C++, Python, and Ruby listed.  If you’re applying for a job like this, you should know at least two of these languages.

IT support jobs tend to be a bit less content-specific.  Generally, they want you to have previous experience as IT support.  You should be familiar with troubleshooting Windows operating systems, and common applications such as Microsoft Office Word, Excel, etc.  Hands on experience is a big plus, or sometimes even a requirement, since these jobs will require you to install and remove hardware, and maybe even hands on troubleshooting.

Being a strong communicator, both written and verbal, is a huge benefit for essentially any kind of job.  Yes, even these jobs.  Even a back-end programmer who doesn’t deal with people every often.  From my experience, just about every employer wants a good communicator.  Even as a programmer, you may have to collaborate with others.  Being able to communicate properly is vital; if you fail to express your idea clearly, the project you’re working on may come out wrong.  Obviously, communication is also essential for IT support, since in this position you’ll be working with people who aren’t tech savvy.  If you start explaining something to them in complicated, highly technical lingo, you’re not going to get through to them.  In an IT support position, you’re going to be dealing with different kinds of people.  Simplifying the complex is something you’ll have to do quite often, just like in technical writing!

All of these jobs demand a rather tech savvy employee.  You’ll be working with computers, among other machines, so you need to know how they work, how to use them, and how to fix them.  City Tech doesn’t really give you this type of hands on experience.  I got all my hands on experience on my own time, building and fixing computers both for work and hobby.  I’ve had to do this in the IT positions I’ve held, and I’ve built my own personal computers for gaming.  To be honest, I don’t consider most of the programming courses I’ve taken to be helpful either.  More often than not, I’m learning from w3schools.com.  My professors even use that website as a guideline.  Many times, I’m teaching myself as well.  That’s how I got my foot in the door anyway, nobody taught me programming initially.  I started programming on my own in 2008, developing modifications for PC games, and I did this just by trial and error.  It’s not that hard since programming is all logic.  Still, having the college credits and courses on your resume is a must.  Most jobs require at least some college education, if not a bachelor’s degree in that field.

Work experience is crucial.  Not only do you need it on your resume; even if you’re a genius who can write the most complex code on your spare time, having the experience of working with others and meeting deadlines is necessary, and this is the experience you’ll build on at the workplace.  Therefore, my work experience has certainly been beneficial in helping me meet the needs of these types of employers.

Here are all of the job application links I used.

A brief intro for Jason

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Hey everyone, my name is Jason Choy.  I’ve been in City Tech since the Fall 2011 semester, and my major is CST just like many others in this class.  I focus primarily on programming, which is something I’ve been doing for about six years.

The highlight of my summer vacation would be my time spent in Washington D.C.  One of my main hobbies is writing for and moderating a website, GND-Tech.com, which revolves around hardware/technology and video games.  I’m a real tech geek, and I play video games as well; particularly RPGs and psychological horror.  I like a good workout and I’m a huge fan of MMA.

Since I don’t have any photos, you’re going to have to settle for this somewhat accurate portrayal someone made of me.

MRUay

I’d like to think my strengths as a writer include my grammar and punctuation.  I also keep in mind the audience I’m writing for, and try to write in an appropriate way.  I like to be detailed and thorough.  One of my weaknesses is my vocabulary which isn’t as broad as I’d like it to be.  I dislike writing about things I’m not interested in.  But when I’m writing about something that I’m actually invested in, the results will be much better and I will enjoy the writing process.

My background with using technology includes building computers, which is something I started doing about five years ago.  I also have some experience with electrical and mechanical engineering, such as soldering/desoldering parts on PCBs and modifying the inner workings of airsoft guns.  I like to experiment with and modify things, to find out how they work and perhaps make improvements.

My initial thoughts about technical writing was that it involved writing things like manuals and instructions; writing detailed steps to help someone carry out a certain procedure or something along those lines.  I hope to become a better writer by taking this course, improving certain aspects of my writing such as accuracy and conciseness.