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=Wiki Entry #1: Planetariums=
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==Wiki Entry #1: Planetariums==
  
 
'''History'''
 
'''History'''

Revision as of 23:51, 3 June 2012

Wiki Entry #1: Planetariums

History

Many scientists and astronomers like Archimedes constructed devices that could represent the locations of the sun and the moon. This idea was then changed by Adam Walker, an educator in astronomy, to showcase his lectures in a public arena, hence a theater, to demonstrate positions of the stars. The theater was not the dome-like building used for modern planetariums but the evolution of the domes evolved from this theory. Similar thoughts were later developed by engineer Oskar von Miller and astronomer Max wolf, the initial designs of domes, however were created by Walter Bauerfeld and thought of rotating devices to act like the sky. Around 1923 he developed the first planetarium and the centerpiece projector would display the images of the stars and planets in a dark room. After the first planetarium was built in Munich, other cities began to demand planetariums built in their cities. In 1926, six new planetariums had opened around Germany and in 1930, the first planetarium opened outside of Europe. The evolution of planetariums being spread around the world began. Companies like Spitz were formed to manufacture the components of the projector to display large images in the domes. Spitz grew and became the world supplier for installations and computer projections. Soon school, museums, and theaters would have the same planetarium experience with portable projectors. Over 500 systems were shipped worldwide and many are still being used today.

Technology

Two important components of the planetarium are the dome screens and the projector. The domes range in a variety of sizes depending on how many people are being accommodated. A dome of 35m diameter can sit up to 500 people. Domes have been built slightly tilted to create a better view for the individual. The domes that are created horizontally are for the intent to sit people in circular rows so each can have the epicentric view of a front and center row of a theater. The traditional projector usually included a star ball component that would rotate to model Earth’s rotation. As new developments continued, two balls were added so the equilibrium from both poles and all the stars can be seen. Later new technology would produce what are called, Optical-Mechanical projectors, to show a much more realistic view than any other digital star projectors. Full digital planetariums therefore would project stars from a computer and display them onto the dome using laser projectors, cathode ray tubes, LCD, and DLP features. The projection for future technology would depict brighter images, a large view range, and a variety of colors to exhibit the best performances of the night sky. As 3-D digital planetariums make their way to production, people get the freedom to escape into the solar system and get the feeling of an almost real experience being in outer space. This provides an educational experience for kids and adults of all ages and a need to explore more therefore creating an initiative to study mathematics, science, and technology fields later in the future.

Works Cited

Ballantyne and Robert J. Ballantyne. "History of IPS." Interantional Planetarium History Society. June 2004. Web. <http://www.ips-planetarium.org/?page=history>.

Khalisi, Emil. PlanetariumsClub. Web. 27 May 2012. <http://www.planetariumsclub.org/content/blogcategory/31/53/>.

Ratcliffe, Martin. "Planetariums and Science Centers." Space Sciences. 2002. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3408800168.html

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetarium

Wiki Entry #2: Adventure Land

History

The original Adventure game, also known as Colossal Cavess Adventure, was created by two college students Will Crowther and Don Woods In 1972. Scott Adams wrote his first adventure game and called it Adventureland in 1977. He was also the first person to create a game for the personal computer. His first game was created for the Radio Shack TRS-80 computer systems that same year. Adventureland was then released in 1978 and became popular making it the first game to be commercialized for the home-computer. Scott creates different versions of the game to be played on several other computers like the Atari, Apple 2, Commodore, Sorcerer, TI, and CPM etc. and the games were usually available at very low prices. In 1982 Adventureland was released with graphics allowing the player to view video representations of the objects to be found throughout the game.

The Game

Scott Adams creates a gaming style that puts the player in an environment that allows them to manipulate objects to accomplish a task. The game involves solving puzzles by using objects being collected throughout the game. Commands were of simple one or two words including verbs or nouns for example, north, south, east west, up, down, etc. using the 120 word vocabulary the system had. In order to complete the game the player had to collect 13 lost artifacts. Each player is then challenged to accumulate points, crack a mystery or accomplish a goal using the objects. Adventure was fantasy based and the first of 12 series that were published by Scott Adams and his company, Adventure International.

Adventure International

According to Scott Adams, the first game was the start of the company. His first order was from a Radio Shack in Chicago and the store manager wanted 50 tapes to sell. Scott then created each of the tapes one by one on his TRS-80. Adams went on to set up his company called Adventure International, which released fourteen games in the Scott Adams Adventure series, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, three games in the Questprobe series, and the first Marvel Comics licensed videogames. The company employed around 50 people until it went bankrupt in the mid 1980’s. The company went out of business and Scott moved on.

Technology

When Adam first created Adventureland, he created a simple language for the original game version; later on he converted the game to be played on several kinds of home computers. He had a TRS-80 model at the time that would help him write a game that would utilize Basic language. His expertise in FORTRAN led to the development of language incorporated in his first text-based game, Adventureland. Scott Adams had opened up the doors to future videogames being produced to be played on personal computers. The only problem was that he would have to create a game that had less memory than the Colossal Caves mainframe of 300K of space. That’s what led him to design the new adventure language that would fit into a smaller home computer.

Works Cited

"Adventureland (video Game)." Wikipedia. Web. 3 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventureland(video_game)>.

Crocker, Mickey. Scott Adams Grand Adventures. 2003. Web. <http://www.msadams.com/adventures.htm>.

"GameSetInterview: Adventure International's Scott Adams." Game Set Wtach. 19 July 2006. Web. <http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/07/gamesetinterview_adventure_int.php>.

Persson, Hans. "Timeline." Adventureland. 1999. Web. <http://adventure.if-legends.org/timeline.html>.


Wiki Entry #3: Blog

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Works Cited