Blog entries from Ryc0v

Irrational Motivation

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:30:46 +0100

Now I know the title to this is kind of obvious. Wait - you don't think it's obvious?

It's obviously obvious - motivation is the state of (mental) arousal as a result of some percieved future pleasure - it's closely linked with the emotional processes of the brain.

Sure - you can force yourself to work on something, or study, but if you can convince yourself that you really want the results, you'll likely perform far better.

That's why things like enjoyment, lRead More...

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a bit of a let down... (Review)

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:30:48 +0100

Deus Ex - Human Revolution

For those not familiar with the Deus Ex style, it typically features heavily choice based game play, multiple approaches to every single task you can do, and most importantly: hidden secret societies engaged in secret wars over technological and economic balance.

Deus Ex and Deus Ex: The Invisible War, both featureRead More...

In Short: Gamification platform goes cloud

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:09:32 +0100

Bunchball, the self-declared "inventors of gamification" has pushed the boundaries of gamification propagation with it's release of Nitro for Salesforce.com.

(Check out the branding launch for it here, complete with excited sounding American narrator).

Bunchball's original Nitro was released in 2007, and was their flagship gamification platform. Now serving over 70 million users, they've really (through this team-up with Salesforce) indicated that they want to start focusiRead More...

Are you there?

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:25:47 +0100

How well can we communicate through digital means? What about body language? Facial Expression? Location?

“¼ people pay attention in conference calls”, says Philip Vanhoutte, Managing Director EMEA of Plantronics. Several studies over the past decade consolidate this view, with some listing as little as 10% paying full attention.

“The reason why,” says Vanhoutte lighRead More...

ITWeb Work Experience - Last Day

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:42:35 +0100

Well, it's been an experience.

I've fallen just short of my story a day objective, but I might be able to push myself with a few feature/portal submissions!

Regardless, ITWeb is a good place to work. The things they cover are interesting, and it's so refreshing to not have to write in idiot-speak like most hard-news publications.

I had a lot of first time experiences, like being in Jhb outside the airport, driving to Pretoria, attending Goth Bars (Red Room?) and beinRead More...

Zuma promotes daughters TV show on Twitter

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:59:29 +0100

Earlier today the SA President's Office official Twitter account decided that it should promote the upcoming show "It's for Life" on DSTV 107 (at 7PM).

The twist of the matter is (beyond the fact that people follow the SAPresident account for presidential announcements, not show recommendations) is that two of Zuma's daughters feature in the show.

But, can we complain? What is expected of public figures on Twitter, certaintly the account can no-longer claim to represent the PRead More...

ITWeb Work Experience - Day 2

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:33:53 +0100

The novelty of having a phone has worn off a bit. Same goes for the official email address.

The work however. The work is still good!

I managed to get my first article for ITWeb published today, interviewing ITWeb employee Joe Diedericks about his recent win in the Blackberry App Master Challenge. You might see MyDigitalLife's version here, and I have to say, I prefer my headline. :D

Finally found the Canteen (it was pretty easy, I guess I just wanted an exRead More...

Working at ITWeb - Introduction

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 07:18:53 +0100

You know you're coming up in the world when you get your own office phone and extension. Well - maybe that's not that impressive - but it is to me. I haven't had a land-line in years (thanks to University life) so actually having a phone sitting here makes me feel secure.
As my cleverly chosen title indicates, I'm working at ITWeb, the glorious Lord and Master of MyDL. I'm here for two weeks for a little bit of experience and to hopefully learn.
I'll be documenting it on here. For no reason oRead More...

Short: Feed the hungry! Gamified charity.

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:51:11 +0100

Do you know what divagate means?

You could be feeding the hungry!

This is an initiative of the United Nations World food programme. You can decide to match what you earn, or just let them pay out for you. I assume they make money in advertising to cover some of their costs, but still, it's a nice idea!
Quite inspiring. :)

Check out FREERICE.COM

Follow @Ryc0v

RICA is RI-tarded.

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:54:33 +0100

So, after many months of callously ignoring begging sms's from Vodacom to register my SIM card. I decided to finally walk the distance to a suitable shop and get it done.

After a lengthy queue and a slow typing helper, I managed to get my proof of residence, ID number and sim number down.
Just to be told that my SIM was not available on the network.

As I had just used it a few hours before attempting to register it, I was rather surprised at this strange report.
I walkeRead More...

Gamification gaining Klout

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:10:45 +0100

Hey all, Been a while since I last wrote, exams and the like took up some time.

Some of you may have noticed in the absence between this and my last post, that Gamification has really picked up and been caught on the global radar, with BBCNews even offering an explanation of it, and a brief rationale as to why it might be successfully implemented. So, now that I've given myself a cyber pat-on-the-back for predicting the trend, I'd like to move along to an interesting little "semi-gRead More...

Gamification and Education: Escapist Magazine (Part 2)

Mon, 30 May 2011 19:58:08 +0100

As I wrote back on the 11th, Escapist Magazine has put together a short video trying to inspire and explain some gamification concepts within the education field.

My previous article explained some incentives and bonuses that this approach could garner, with teamwork bringing about class bonuses, and even modifiers to your "experience points" (essentially a less punitive gauge of course perf0rmance).

Before I continue with this however, I thought it might be interestinRead More...

Gamification and Education: Escapist Magazine

Wed, 11 May 2011 12:38:08 +0100

There are many fields that Gamification could theoretically be applied to, but it is one thing to theorise and hypothesise, and quite another to actually test and draw results.

Extracredits (a content creator for Escapist Magazine) recently posted a short video answering some questions by educators world-wide, centred around how to implement gamification techniques in the field of Education (Primarily at Secondary/High School levels).

They touch on many different tecRead More...

You brushed your teeth! (EXP 500) You just Leveled Up! (What is Gamification?)

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:20:00 +0100

Alright. I'm new to this so bear with me (and forgive me if I seem a bit rigid, I'm far too used to academic writing!)

For those of you not in the know, Gamification is, as you might have guessed, the process of encoding information and change-processes within traditional "gaming" structures. For example, putting bottles in a bin for points instead of just for that "feel-good-because-I'm-recycling-feeling", is an example of Gamification.

The biggest difference between GamiRead More...

What to expect...

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:00:36 +0100

My name is Ryc0v. I'm a bit of a nerd. I like angry (occasionally underground) music, cyber-violence, computer games, role-playing games and innovation.

I'll be joining the hordes of digital-detailers this upcoming week, writing about and focusing on the gamification phenomenon.

I'll also occasionally branch out to analysing revolutionary ideologies and techniques employed by computer game developers in their products. If I find a game amazing enough, or I love the franchise enoRead More...