Several majors at Wash. U. require the use of some specialized software: MATLAB for mathematics and engineering students; SPSS, Minitab, or similar software for business and statistics; and a slew of Adobe products spanning classes across the entire university. Additionally, everyone needs Microsoft Office, especially Olin students entering a job market where Excel is frequently a stated requirement for employment.

For budget-conscious students, software packages are expensive even with academic discounts. On JourneyEd.com, a student software store, Adobe Creative Suite 5 packages start around $300 and can cost up to $900 for a premium version. Microsoft Office 2010’s academic price still stands at over $100. Software also has a limited lifespan. For example, Minitab just released a version of its software that overhauls parts of the user interface and data analysis tools.

Universities generally do not purchase books for their students. However, peer institutions like Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Emory do provide all of the technological tools necessary for their students to stay up to date with their classes. CMU makes MATLAB and Mathematica available for free download for various operating systems, along with MS-Office available for a “media fee” to cover the cost of the DVD discs. The fee is on the order of $10. Emory has nearly identical listings. Case Western Reserve University provides the aforementioned programs for free, plus various versions of the latest Adobe Creative Suite for both Mac and PC and a staggering array of other software all at no charge to its students

Wash. U. could also better advertise the resources it does offer for students on a budget. The school provides very limited discounted software via a platform called “OnTheHub.” Microsoft Office products are generally available in the sub-twenty dollar range, and a few products at deep discounts are available. For engineers, MATLAB is free. Students would certainly benefit from the University advertising these offerings.

Wash. U. does, in its defense, provide students access to computer labs with the programs needed to get through a class, but this is inconvenient when compared with owning a copy of the software. Labs are notoriously full, and hours are limited.

The University could shift to site licenses for all students instead of devoting resources to keeping labs open and their computers stocked with programs. Though cheaper than providing site licenses for students, labs are nevertheless expensive to maintain. Computers, printers, electricity and staffing cost the University a decent sum. By cutting back on lab expenses, the school could provide us with a more robust package of deeply discounted or free software and simultaneously provide us with more flexibility to do our work when and where we want.

Wash. U. does a lot for its students in terms of quality of life—much more than most other universities in the world—but it needs to recognize that there are areas in electronic academia where its methods are dated.

“I can’t believe I’m not petting a real tiger!”

The big summer news from Bill Gates’ little workshop is Kinect, the new camera peripheral for the Xbox 360. At E3, it was ushered in by Cirque de Soleil in what can only be called the most acrobatic introduction for a video game peripheral. Through techno-voodoo magic, Kinect scans players’ bodies, letting them play games by merely moving their appendages. Or, as their marketing will constantly remind you, “You are the controller.”

It’s certainly a more unique approach to motion control next to the wand-loving ways of Nintendo and Sony, and the sheer novelty of Kinect may be a boon for Microsoft – just ask Nintendo. Even as someone who dislikes motion controls, I have to admit that the prospect of controlling games through interpretive dance – I dance, Kinect interprets! – is intriguing, and could very well turn out entertaining.

At this point, it’s difficult to say if Kinect will actually catch on. The set of launch titles is almost entirely casual fare that has already been done before in one form or another. Let’s just say that the virtual tiger-petting experience of “Kinectimals” has a dearth of curb-stomping compared to the console’s usual bestsellers. Kinect’s pricing will be another factor – at $150 for the camera and a bundled sports game, flailing with your Xbox 360 won’t be cheap. Plus, all we know is that the camera will recognize at least two people, but right now, nobody is quite sure of the upper limit.

Cheer up. There’s still Halo: Reach.

Sony

“I can’t believe they had the balls!”

Not to be left out of the waggle wars, this summer Sony officially trotted out the Playstation Move. Black paint job aside, the wand-like peripheral is looking very much like an enhanced version of the Nintendo Wii’s motion-control technology, right down to the optional nunchuk – a wireless add-on that Sony calls the “navigation controller.” Take that news as you will; whether or not you’ll enjoy Move depends on how much you wish you could waggle in high definition.

Familiarity may still have its benefits. I would hope that four years into the Wii’s lifespan, developers will have figured out what mechanics do and don’t work for motion-controlled games. PlayStation owners could be in for a treat – “could” being the key word. What they probably should do is run to their bomb shelters before casual game publishers begin bombarding them with shovelware. But to be fair, Sony has promised to provide Move support for their games, with patches on the way for “Heavy Rain” and “Resident Evil 5,” and built-in support for future titles like “Killzone 3.”

Like Kinect, however, Move’s pricing may slow its adoption. Sony will be selling a $100 package that comes with the main controller, a bundled sports game (sound familiar?), and the PlayStation Eye, the required camera peripheral. The navigation controller will be an extra $30, though you can choose to use a DualShock 3 as an awkward substitute. If for some reason you already own a PlayStation Eye, a lone Move controller will be $50. Not exactly priced to move, is it?

Nintendo

“I can’t believe I’m seeing 3D without glasses!”

Leave it to Nintendo to make a cutting-edge, graphically powerful 3D handheld system that doesn’t need uncomfortable glasses.

Wait. What? The same Nintendo who duct taped two GameCubes together and sold it as the Wii?

Yes, after a string of shameful E3 conferences culminating in last year’s mind-boggling Wii Vitality Sensor, Nintendo has finally announced a new piece of hardware worth getting excited about: the 3DS.

For one thing, it plays games in 3D without the need for glasses. The effect is supposed to be a bit on the subtle side, but I’ll take what I can get. It sounds almost too good to be true, which I suppose is why the device has a slider that adjusts the strength of the 3D effect if your fragile eyes can’t handle that extra dimension. And did I tell you it’s fast? Apparently it’s so fast you’ll swear they duct taped a GameCube to the back of it when you weren’t looking. To top it off, it still plays your DS games.

The 3DS is still a ways off, so that’s enough on the hardware front. Besides, what summer wrap of Nintendo news would be complete without mention of the new “Zelda”? Or the new “Kirby”? The new “Donkey Kong”? Even a new “Goldeneye” came out of left field. For the first time in a long time, Nintendo has given faithful Wii owners reasons to be excited. Heck, even I’m pumped, and I don’t own a Wii.

PC

“I can’t believe it’s not dead yet!”

I agree that PC gaming is a dinosaur, but hear me out – it’s a very special kind of dinosaur. You know the scene in “Jurassic Park” where the dude cocks his shotgun and he’s about to shoot a raptor when another raptor appears in the bushes right next to him and then he says “Clever girl” and then the raptor jumps on him and it shreds his face to pieces?

Yeah, PC gaming is that kind of dinosaur: a genetically resurrected species that will rip you a new facehole when you least expect it. How, you ask? Read on as you repeatedly scream “Not the face!”

First of all, the list of notable upcoming releases for the PC is certifiably insane. “Civilization V,” “Portal 2,” “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” “The Witcher II,” “Dragon Age II,” “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm,” “Guild Wars 2,” and that’s only the short list of blockbuster titles. Dig deeper and you’ll discover games that fill niches nobody ever knew existed, like indie darling “Minecraft”

Let’s not forget about digital distribution, which now accounts for nearly half of PC game sales, if numbers are to be trusted. Valve’s Steam platform is growing at a remarkable rate while constantly adding new features. And it might sound crazy now, but Steam for Mac may eventually come to shape the face of Mac gaming. Thanks to streamlined clients and one-click installers, the barrier to entry for PC gaming has never been lower.

Indeed, despite never having died, PC gaming is back from the dead. And it’s going to (maul your face) rock your world.

“Games-I-played” recap

Fire Emblem (VII)

One of the finest games to ever grace the venerable Game Boy Advance, the seventh game in the long-running “Fire Emblem” series was actually the first one to reach American shores. It brought with it an engrossing combat system, a solid storyline, and perhaps best of all, permadeath.

See, when a friendly character dies in “Fire Emblem,” they’re gone. Not just for the rest of the mission, but for the remainder of the twenty-hour-plus game. Your only choices are to finish the game without that character, or restart the entire mission, thus rendering the last half hour of your life a Complete Waste of Time.

Being equal parts completionist and masochist, I decided to play through without losing any characters.

I was an idiot.

Each and every mission was like my own personal version of “The Seventh Seal,” in which I played “Fire Emblem” against an AI-controlled Death to save my own sanity. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve reached a mission’s boss, only for his two-percent critical rate to activate and wipe my precious cavalier off of the face of the Earth. Restart. By the closing missions, I was performing goat sacrifices to pagan gods to keep my little sprites alive.

But I did it. In the end, I prevailed, and my sanity survived. Then again, no sane man would have tried to play through “Fire Emblem” without a character dying.

Shatter

I shot bricks.

Now that that terrible joke is out of the way, I honestly can’t think of a single negative thing to say about “Shatter.” Inspired by “Breakout” and “Arkanoid,” it doesn’t try to overhaul the decades-old brick-breaking formula set forth by its ancestors, which was never necessary. There are some tweaks, such as the ability to suck and blow to affect the path of the ball, and the bricks are governed by physics, but otherwise, “Shatter” doesn’t stray too far from the beaten path.

Yet it’s different. In fact, it’s one of the most sublime and stylish games I’ve played in ages, because it has something so many others lack. “Shatter” has soul: a glossy, neon soul that pulses to the beat of an entrancing electronic soundtrack.

From a visual perspective, “Shatter” is nothing short of eye-melting, with an aesthetic full of sharp lines, vivid colors, and sparks. Lots of sparks. It’s cool and clean, yet unabashedly extravagant.

As wonderful as it looks, it’s the soundtrack that elevates “Shatter” to a higher level. Contributed by an artist named Module, the soundtrack is something I want to describe as electronica, but chances are I’ll be corrected and it’s actually techno, or synth, or nü metal. Whatever it is, it’s catchy and hypnotic, and it perfectly fits the game’s upbeat brand of colorful chaos.

Thief: Deadly Shadows

There’s something about Warren Spector’s games that makes them special. It’s difficult to pinpoint, and it’s probably different for every player, but for me, it’s the possibilities. Things simply work as you would expect them to, and frankly, I can’t think of a better way to immerse a player in a game world. In “Thief: Deadly Shadows,” when I found out I could ignite an oil puddle with a fire arrow, the sliding block puzzle in my mind solved itself, and I said, “Whoa.” Somewhere, Keanu Reeves started sobbing uncontrollably.

It was discoveries like this that make “Thief” so enjoyable. It doesn’t feel like an action game, or even a stealth game. It feels like – laugh if you will – a thief simulator. Everything about the game, from its lore to its tools, does its best to sell me on the fantasy of being Garrett, master thief in a medieval city.

Personally, I find this simulation spirit to be strongest in the interactions between the tools and the environment. Water arrows can be used to douse torches? It’s only logical, but that they actually do so within the game strikes me as just plain cool. Moss arrows can be used to instantly grow a soft patch for silent sneaking? Also cool. Other, more subtle uses exist, such as using water arrows to grow moss patches, or using flashbombs to kill undead when you’re out of holy water. It’s properly brilliant, and it’s organic in a way that other games can only dream of.

I only hope that Eidos Montreal does right by Warren Spector and Ion Storm when they release Thief 4. Godspeed, you brave men.

(Illustration by Brittany Meyer | Student Life)

A GO WUSTL pilot program has been underway since mid-January. Student Technology Services (STS) representatives said it has been a success.

“The feedback has been generally good,” Director of Student Technology Services Barbara Braun said. “There have been a few hiccups along the way that were Microsoft-related.”

According to Marcia Mannen, associate director of client support for Arts & Sciences Computing, most of the questions that students participating in the pilot have raised were not technical. There have not been many questions regarding the actual program, but rather addressing issues such as mail forwarding.

The Student Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) has been happy with the pilot.

“It’s going to be a good transition,” said sophomore Brandon Lucius, a member of STAC. “There are a lot of tools and applications that are going to make students’ lives more organized and efficient.”

Tools available with the new GO WUSTL program include video and text chat, an application similar to Google Documents, and a global address book.

According to Braun, the global address book is among one of the favorite applications of the pilot program participants.

Issues that have plagued the new e-mail service since the pilot started include backlogged e-mail and issues with the spam filters.

Sophomore Betel Ezaz, who is participating in the pilot program, has found some of its drawbacks.

“It seems inefficient right now, even compared to what we already have,” she said. “My main issue is that it loses e-mails and that the spam folder always has legitimate e-mails. I think they can figure it out. They’ve been really good about feedback.”

To remedy the issue with regular mail ending up in spam folders, all e-mails from Wash. U. addresses have been whitelisted.

“Overall I think it will be better because of the options that are available through GO WUSTL,” Ezaz said. “It’s just a matter of working out the small issues before we go live with it. I think it’s good.”

Arts & Sciences and engineering students are making the transition from Squirrelmail.

“From our perspective we know it’s something to be excited about,” said Kristen Hornberger, communications specialist for the Engineering Public Relations & Communications department.

The business school is transitioning from a less advanced version of Microsoft Outlook.

“It’s a very smooth transition,” said Sharon Yoon, associate director of MBA student affairs. “It’s very nice I think. Students are very savvy, and this is very intuitive.”

The old e-mail accounts will not be phased out immediately; their end dates have not yet been decided.

STS will be offering a series of hour-long workshops in early March to help acquaint students with GO WUSTL. In the meetings STS will discuss how to use specific applications and how to forward mail. STS is also encouraging students to look to the GO WUSTL Web site to find answers to simple questions.

Expectations for the program’s success are running high.

“If the pilot program was any indication, it was pretty smooth,” Braun said. “I don’t think it will be too difficult.”

GO WUSTL e-mail will be available for use by all undergraduate students and students in six of the University’s graduate schools.

The GO WUSTL system, created using Microsoft’s Live@edu, will offer students tools that are not available on SquirrelMail. These tools include live chat and video chat.

The system also includes a calendar and online storage space. The students will also have access to a full University e-mail directory. In the past, each school has had its own address book.

The new program will be implemented in two stages. A pilot program, which started on Tuesday, gives almost 500 Wash. U. students a chance to test out the new e-mail program. The pilot program will provide administrators the opportunity to iron out any problems with the system. In early March the program is slated to be expanded to all students.

“We do anticipate it will be smooth,” Barbara Braun, director of Student Technology Services, wrote of the transition in an e-mail to Student Life.

All e-mail from the obsolete SquirrelMail accounts will be forwarded to the new GO WUSTL accounts.

Some students are looking forward to this change. Freshman Kevin Liang, who finds SquirrelMail difficult to use, has had his Wash. U. e-mail forwarded to his independent e-mail account during his first year at Wash. U.

“I may switch back if the e-mail system is good,” Liang said.

The practice of e-mail forwarding is common among students. Junior Erica Cole also has her Wash. U. e-mail forwarded to her Gmail account. Cole said the new GO WUSTL program will have no effect on her.

“I don’t really care,” Cole said. “Either way I will get my e-mail forwarded to Gmail.”

Many students remain unaware of the imminent transition.

“This is the first that I’m hearing of it,” freshman Johanna Rudnik said. “It would be nice to be told that the program was going to happen.”

Liang suggests that the new program should be advertised better to the student body so that students have an opportunity to learn about it before March.

Many students are optimistic about the changes.

“I have no problem with it as long as my e-mails are forwarded,”  Rudnik said.

Liang said, “I think it is good. SquirrelMail was hard to use.”

To activate their GO WUSTL accounts, students need to have a WUSTL KEY and a password, as well as an alternate, non-University e-mail address.

The password for the GO WUSTL e-mail will be the same as the WUSTL KEY password.

Further information on the program, as well as instructions on how to set up and use the new e-mail accounts, is available online at http://go.wustl.edu.

We know that a pilot program will soon be launched that will allow a select group of students to test out the Microsoft Live@Edu system before the University decides to make the switch permanently. We also know exactly what the Live@Edu system includes, and it seems appropriate that Student Union (SU) is enthusiastic to promote it: Microsoft Office products, lots of storage space and connection with social networking sites will certainly be appealing to students.

What we do not know, however, is when the pilot program will begin and how many students will be able to participate. We are also unsure how the University plans to collect and use feedback from the pilot group. Will students be required to fill out surveys or attend focus groups? What sort of reaction from students would cause the University either to adopt or to reject the program? These details need to be made available to students who are considering participating in the pilot program.

It is troubling that this mass communication has failed to address these critical and pertinent questions.

With SU’s new commitment to being as open and as communicative as possible, there is a real risk of information overload. While we appreciate SU’s efforts to keep us informed, SU needs to ensure that its student body e-mails are brief, concise and contain the topic’s most significant details. Given the prevalence of new forms of communication—we can follow SU on Twitter and connect with them on their Web site—it seems unnecessary to enumerate new policies in an e-mail, especially when the e-mail itself provides the links to these online forms of communication.

In his latest e-mail to the student body, Student Union President Jeff Nelson addressed this concern and said that he did not want to clog the student body’s inboxes with unnecessary e-mails. We encourage Student Union to follow through on this message throughout the year.

Our aim is not solely to protect the student body from an unnecessary flood of messages. More importantly, we worry that the effectiveness of SU’s communication is diluted when the student body receives too many unnecessary and long e-mails and begins to hit ‘delete.’ The lack of awareness regarding the pilot program is one clear example of this effect. Although students received the information, it was not presented in a way that got the point across.

Given the enthusiasm we have observed from this year’s SU officers, this phenomenon is unfortunate. In order to ensure that its important messages are received, SU ought to link to online content instead of including large bodies of e-mail text and aim to make all communication as concise and relevant as possible.

Over the summer, Student Union President Jeff Nelson announced in an e-mail to the student body that Washington University would be moving undergraduate e-mail accounts to Microsoft Live@Edu. Students can now register to participate in the pilot program that is slated to begin early fall.

Who it will affect
Only those who wish to participate in the pilot program will be affected this semester.

Although the University has yet to specify a start date for the pilot program or the number of students that will be allowed to participate in it, Nelson said he hopes that everyone that signs up will eventually be allowed to participate.

After the semester-long test drive the University will evaluate the program and whether or not the program provides adequate service to the University.

“I think right now we’re looking to see that there are no showstoppers.  The deans of the schools have made a commitment to improve their e-mail systems and online communication tools and Microsoft is something that we think will work here and this pilot program is just to make sure that’s the case.”

Nelson is hoping that at least all the undergraduate schools will be on the same system.

What has been done so far
Last semester, the University invited both Microsoft and Google to make presentations for their respective e-mail systems. Representatives of the University selected Microsoft Live@Edu to be the e-mail system piloted this fall.

“Going into the presentation, Microsoft definitely surprised a lot of us with the features that it’s offering. If you look at it, on the surface, 10 gigs of space is more than what Google is offering,” Nelson said. “So I think it was less about Microsoft being better than Google but more so about Microsoft being a better fit for Wash. U.”

Features of Microsoft Live@Edu

The basics of Microsoft Live@Edu will include an @wustl.edu email address with Microsoft Live@Edu services. Microsoft Live@Edu will greatly increase the amount of storage space currently offered by WUSTL e-mail programs—up to 10 gigabytes of e-mail storage space with another 20 gigabytes of online storage space offered by Windows Live SkyDrive for files. Furthermore, the e-mail system will have a fully integrated address book with all University contacts, so finding the e-mail of a group member becomes easy with the auto-complete function.

Microsoft Live@Edu also has better e-mail organization.  Conversation view keeps track of long, complicated e-mail conversations by listing the replies to one e-mail in one thread.  There will also be categories so that e-mails can be color coded for quicker identification and access.

Finally, Microsoft Live@Edu will offer tools specific to Microsoft, such as built-in IM with Windows Live Messenger and online versions of Microsoft Office products.

This new initiative will provide the means of what Student Union (SU) calls a “unified communications platform,” where all students, faculty, staff and administrators can share information with the same tools.

The decision came after a yearlong evaluation of Live@Edu and the similar application Google Apps for Education and numerous surveys, town hall meetings, product demonstrations and focus groups.

Though many students opted for Google Apps in their surveys, Nelson said that Live@Edu will offer all the features that Google Apps offers and “much more.”

Each student’s Live@Edu account will provide a 10-gigabyte e-mail inbox, 25 gigabytes of file storage space, a sharable calendar, online workspaces and direct integration with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

With the new application, students will be able to search the e-mail addresses of classmates, arrange appointments with advisors and complete other functions all within the same system.

Visit studlife.com throughout the week for more updates on Live@Edu.