Unit 3

What are Moos and MUDs?

Wikipedia explains that MOOS are decendants of MUDs..so I thought I'd go there first.
Here's what they had to say:

"In computer gaming, a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of role-playing games, hack and slash style computer games and social chat rooms. Typically running on an Internet server or bulletin board system, the game is usually text-driven, where players read descriptions of rooms, objects, events, other characters, and computer-controlled creatures or non-player characters (NPCs) in a virtual world. Players usually interact with each other and the surroundings by typing commands that resemble a natural language, usually English. Modern commercial variants include graphics-based massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), such as World of Warcraft, as well as social avatar virtual worlds such as Second Life." retrieved Nov. 5th, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD

So what's a MOO, then?

A MOO, an acronym for (MUD object oriented), is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users (players) are connected at the same time.One of the most distinguishing features of a MOO is that its users can perform object oriented programming within the server, ultimately expanding and changing how the server behaves to everyone. Examples of such changes include authoring new rooms and objects, creating new generic objects for others to use, and changing the way the MOO interface operates. The programming language used for extension is the MOO programming language, and many MOOs feature convenient libraries of verbs that can be used by programmers in their coding known as Utilities. The MOO programming language is a domain-specific programming language. retrieved Nov. 5th from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOO

ok...got that?
Moo-ving right along then.....

After reading the Elizabeth Murphy article about creating quality multimedia design, the following jumped out at me “Where the nature of information and its processing change, depending on the situation, the learning context and the individual needs (attributed to P.V. Wilson).”

Other good points of note were that quality multimedia design must reflect the following qualities:

Ø Multisensory, self-directed

Ø Control must be distributed

Ø Must provide corrective informational feedback

Ø The response to the user is important

Ø The interactive components evolve as technology evolves.

That's all for today!