Tag: Computer Science

Video Games and Storytelling

Daniel Floyd’s ten minute YouTube video, “Video Games and Storytelling,” is a video lecture you won’t soon forget. Reminiscent of “RSA Animate – Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us,” about Dan Pink’s book “Drive,” this video by Daniel Floyd is the most intense, “rapid-fire” visual presentation of related images I’ve seen in a video lecture to date. Several clever visual quips in here, but you certainly have to pay close attention! The content is outstanding also… as a digital storyteller and a storychaser, I’m quite interested in the confluence between storytelling and gaming.

Daniel has a total of eight “video lectures” about video games in his YouTube playlist, “Video games and…”Check them out!

Daniel’s official blogger profile page identifies him as an animator living in Athens, Georgia, but his only blog on Blogger hasn’t been updated since September 2010. If you know what he’s up to now and/or have a link to his current work, please share via a comment. Several of the video descriptions on Daniel’s YouTube channel indicate he’s moved to Escapist Magazine, so perhaps that’s the answer. If Daniel is on Twitter or maintaining another blog, however, I’d like to follow.

Thomas Suarez – iPhone Application Developer… and 6th Grader


Thomas Suarez is a 6th grade student at a middle school in the South Bay of Los Angeles. When Apple released the Software Development Kit (SDK), he began to create and sell his own applications. “My parents, my friends and even the people at the Apple store all supported me,” he says, “and Steve Jobs inspired me”. Thomas points out that it’s hard to learn how to make an app. “For soccer you could go to a soccer team … but what if you want to make an app?” He’s started a club for fellow students at school, where he shares his knowledge of programming. Thomas articulates his vision that students are a valuable new technology resource to teachers, and should be empowered to offer assistance in developing the technology curriculum and also assist in delivering the lessons.

Thomas has been fascinated by computers and technology since before kindergarten. Recently, he’s been focused on the development of applications for the iPhone, and has established his own company, CarrotCorp http://www.carrotcorp.com/. His most successful application is one he terms “an anti-Justin-Bieber game” called “Bustin Jieber”. “It’s is a variation on the Whac-a-Mole theme,” he explains. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bustin-jieber/id404956571?mt=8