Christmas and CompSci

It wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't have a Computer Science department get-together.  Save the date Dec 8th, Noon, the Computer Lab A119.

Pizza will be provided, a chance to chat and catch up on the latest happenings in the department.

Mike Dembeck & Rob DeLong will give us the scoop on the wireless communication project they've been working on with USF's IS department.  


So be there for a fun and informative time.  As always alumni and USF staff are always welcome!

Apps, Bernie and WiMax!

There really is an app for that!

Our first Mobile App Programming Seminar was a big hit!   Students from all over the university, alumni, staff, and other schools came together to learn about the wave of the future.  Programming for mobile phones.  Thanks to Sprint and Motorola we already have a jump start with the donation of mobile phones for our testing.   Due to the efforts of Tim Archer, USF Computer Science alumni and Director of Information and Administrative Services here at USF we had a wonderful event.  

Carlo Angelo of Sprint was kind enough to join us and give us a background of the cell phone and insight into the different technologies that we use.  Mr. Angelo let us know why we care about the GSM, WiMax, CDMA.

Tim  introduced the programming concepts behind mobile phones and introduced us to the framework that supports the Droid.   Then it was time for some hands-on work.   A number of participants had agreed to request access to the Google AppInventor project.

This is a programming interface that uses a building blocks approach to creating mobile apps.  The project is currently in a beta status so approval to join the project takes about a week. 

AppInventor Screen

Once a driver is installed on the PC for your phone you can download the AppInventor interface.

Thanks to the efforts of Tim Archer, T.J. Eakle, Computer Science Alumnus and Applications Programmer,  &  Dave Senior Information Technology Alumnus and Microcomputer Support Specialist, and Luis Escorz, Information Technology senior and intern, the computers in the A102 lab were setup to use Google AppInventor and our new donated phones ahead of time.   


With Tim Archer’s expert guidance the participants built their own ‘Pet Bernie’ app.  When the screen with Bernie’s picture on it is touched or shaken, Bernie barks.  As an added bonus, Tim also showed us how to use the bar code scanner logic.

Everyone attending left wanting to come back for more.  So stay tuned for more events this coming Spring.  

And if you want to get set for the future, plan on enrolling in Comp 494 – Programming for the Droid, Fall 2011.  A prerequisite of either Comp 140, Computer Science I (C++) or Comp 253 Java will be needed.  

Tim Archer

Thanks to Tim Archer, Computer Science alumnus and Director of Information and Administrative Services here at USF for coordinating and presenting such a great and successful event.

Here at USF Computer Science we are the sum of our people and we have very good people, indeed!

Game Programming Contest

    
We're delighted to announce our first ever game programming contest.  The University of St. Francis is partnering with Joliet Junior College to offer an opportunity to college and high school students to design and develop their own games.


The computer game must be created using the Game Maker software which may be downloaded from http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/

 GameMaker is an innovative product which is available for a free download and includes tutorials to help you get started.  You can design adventure style games, first person shooter games, maze style games.   Many levels of game play can be developed, high scores tracked, games can be set to increase difficulty as play continues.  Music and sound effects can be added to improve the play.  By the way, GameMaker does NOT require prior programming experience.





You'll create rooms and fill them with objects that can interact with each other.  A graphical interface makes it easy to setup everything from bouncing when an object hits a wall to being destroyed, with the appropriate sound effects, when being shot.


A game developed for which a developer was paid, is not eligible.

All games should adhere to the current legal requirements concerning copyright, first amendment, trade work, and civil rights.

Check out all the contest rules and register at: http://www.jjc.edu/academics/divisions/career-technical/cios/game-contest/Pages/default.aspx

Entries are due by March 14th.   The awards dinner is May 11th.

So have some fun and design a game the way you think it should be played. 

First Mobile Seminar Scheduled

 

Save the date!!!

 Thursday, Nov 18th,  6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Our first 

Mobile 

Programming 

Seminar.  

The details are still being worked out, but the phones are in  and we're looking forward to making sure that 'Droid Does'!

As you can see several of the students are examining the new phones, putting in the batteries and micro SD cards.

Thanks to Motorola and Sprint for the phones.

Android 1.5 is on the phones.  They do not have cell service, but they can be put  on the wireless network so newly made apps can be tested.

Learn more about Mobile Phone programming at our first seminar.
Alumni, USF staff and other interested individuals are always welcome at our events.

 

Making an app for that!

Good news!

Thanks to the efforts of our Unversity of St Francis IS department, Motorola, in conjunction with Sprint, has donated 5 mobile phones to the Computer Science department so that students will be able to work on app creation. These are on the Android platform, so they're open source.

We will start with short seminars for the Spring semester and look at offering a topics course in Fall, 2011 in conjunction with a planned ACCA (Associated Colleges Chicagoland Area) seminar. This way we'll not only have hands on practice, we'll take advantage of several industry experts.

If you're thinking of taking the "Developing for the Android" course in Fall, 2011, be sure and take the Comp 140, Computer Science I - C++ in the Spring, 2011 semester, if you haven't already taken it or the Comp 253, Java course. A solid base of a programming language will be needed. Android's software stack will use the Java SDK (Software Developer's Kit) as the programming language.

Sprint is the mobile carrier used by University of St. Francis. Thank you to Motorola and to Sprint for furthering our educational goals and many thanks to Mark Snodgrass and Tim Archer of the USF IS department for working out the details to help our students.

Putting the ‘social’ into Social Network

The Computer Science department sponsored an outing to Hollywood Palms Cinema on Wednesday night to see The Social Network. Students, alumni, and USF staff got together to enjoy the movie and a chance to unwind, midweek. Some of us took the van provided by Student Life (thanks to Dominique Annis, USF Student Life) and some of us meet up at the theatre.

Naturally, since it was a movie about Mark Zuckerberg, we had a Facebook event created for the movie within our Computer Science at the University of St. Francis group. Thanks to Nick Zelinskli, Computer Science senior, for setting up a sign-up sheet for the van and promoting the movie event to others in the department.

Here are a couple of links if you’re not familiar with the movie, The Social Network, www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com or the Hollywood Palms Cinema www.hollywoodpalmscinema.com.

The consensus was that is was a good movie, kicked off a lot of conversation afterwards, and a great time. Some of our attendees were new to the venue and really liked the chairs & tables, having food and drink served during the movie.

A special thank you to John, our van driver for getting us there on time and safely home again. You made it a very enjoyable trip.

Thanks to the students, alumni, and staff who made this event successful. Everyone agrees another road trip is in our future.

Can you Google me now?

Students in the USF dorms have a lot of problems with wireless access.

Information Technology seniors Mike Dembeck and Rob DeLong wanted a project that would give them some real world experience.

Mark Snodgrass, Director of Network Support Services here at USF, decided that he could help the students in the dorm as well as Mike and Rob achieve their goals.

This semester Mike and Rob are surveying the wireless situation, contacting vendors about products, balancing coverage and cost, then putting together a proposal so that the USF dorms in Marian Hall, Tower Hall, and the Motherhouse have improved wireless access. They'll help develop the business plan and, upon the approval of the IT department, assist the IT department with implementing the plan.

This project will provide Mike and Rob with a real world exposure to designing and implementing technology based projects, dealing with constraints, such as physical structures and business considerations, such as cost. Since the students’ objectives are to work in the Information Technology sector, a course like this will provide them the opportunity to explore project management, request for proposals, an increased understanding of the expanding role of wireless access and a concrete case study of a current networking problem.

Whew! They're going to be busy as they keep their supervisors in the loop with weekly status reports. So if you're in the dorms and you see Mike and Rob, let them know that their efforts are appreciated.