This c-level essay examines how deaf and hearing impaired individuals use smartphones to live and communicate in a ?hearing world?. The main target is to find some understanding of the struggles of this population and smartphones have made it easier to adapt to the hearing worlds? demands with the applications that follow. To acquire the information for this essay, representatives from both the deaf and hearing impaired communities were interviewed.

The purpose of the study was to examine possible aspects concerning the choice to play as good or evil with a focus on the players´ subjective experience. A form was constructed and the material was interpreted according to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The games Mass Effect I and II were used as an example of the choice to play as good or evil since the choice between Renegade (evil) and Paragon (good) is present. The sample consisted of individuals who had played Mass Effect I and/or Mass Effect II and were over 18 years old. The end result concerning who played a Renegade or a Paragon came to be very uneven (15 out of 16 participants played a Paragon) which means that the result mostly relates to possible aspects concerning the choice to play a Paragon.

Through interviews with children of ages 4-5 years old and by observing children children at play at three preschools with different types of outdoor surroundings, I have investigated if the preschools outdoor surroundings have any influences on the children´ choice of play. The hypothesis was that natural surroundings can entice children´s interest in nature being in it and play. I have also investigated if the children know why it is important to be outdoors and if they know it has a positive influence on their health.The result of my investigation is that the children play about the same games at the three different preschool gardens, but at the preschool with more natural surroundings, the children have more contact with plants and animals, and could learn of the different phenomena of nature by the preschool teacher answering their questions. Most of the children in the interviews know it´s useful to be outdoors and be on the move and get fresh air, but many of them thought it was most important to play. By being outdoors the children get exercise, fresh air, play and at the same time they establish an understanding of the nature and a healthier life..

This essay is a comparative empirical study of ethnic integration mainly of the Russian-speaking minorities in the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) in a post-communism setting. As Lithuania has a Polish minority that is as large as the Russian-speaking, they too shall be included in the study but not as thoroughly as the Russian-speaking minority. Thus the problem is: to what degree are the ethnic minorities integrated with the titular nations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania? In order to study ethnic integration I have set up a theoretical framework largely based on Weiner?s theory of integration. The theoretical framework focuses on three dimensions: Citizenship, Identity and Segregation.

This thesis analyses how friendship between children is described in four Swedish childrens books, published in 1995-2001 and recommended in Barnbokstipset, which is used in libraries for recommending books. Today there are many childrens books that describe various aspects of childrens everyday lives and these books can have an influence on the children who read them. But I found that there has not been much research about how friendship is described in childrens books, although much has been written about the importance of social relationships with peers for childrens lives and development. I analyze the books one by one with the help of a number of questions and categories that I have constructed beforehand. In the analysis I apply Zick Rubins theory of two different stages in childrens understanding of friendship and William Corsaros theory of interactive space which deals with who is allowed to join in games and friendships and who is not allowed to do so and how this is played out.

This bachelor thesis has as its aim to investigate theSwedish librarians? views and opinions about censorshipof their libraries' collections as well as buildinginformation about the context of challenges against thesame collections. In Sweden the public can't, unlike in theUSA, formally challenge material and are forcedto?complain? the subject with a librarian. What is deemedas controversial, both by the public and by the librariansthemselves are explored through qualitative interviewswith six librarians.The librarian's find that they rarely experience anythingthat can be called aggression or organized protests likethose found in the USA.

Efter fyra månader som ljudpraktikant på det svenska spelföretaget Starbreeze i Uppsala, var det dags att ta steget vidare i ytterligare fyra månader. Från ljuddesign till scriptning, idéer och tankar, samt en inblick i hur scriptning fungerar. Detta arbete handlar om framtagandet av en ljuddesign-prototyp åt ett externt företags framtida spelprojekt. En utveckling som från början var tänkt att öka kunskaperna om scriptning, och att skapa ett sammanhängande spelscenario, men som sedan utvecklades till att leda mycket längre. Förklaring: Ljuddesign = Ljudläggning av någon form, i detta fall spel. Scriptning = Enklare programmering, kan vara saker som händer eller saker man kan göra i spelet Nyckelord: Soundvolume 2.0, Starbreeze, ljuddesign, spel, sounddesign, 3D.

This report intends to analyze the difference between the original rules and a modification of the rules for the Scandinavian version of the world famous dice game yatzy (yahtzee). Several works are made previously existing strategies for yatzy and Yahtzee.The study was conducted using the optimal strategy calculated and implemented in the programming language Java. The execution of the application to create the file containing the optimal strategy was running on leased powerful servers from Amazon and took just over six hours each.A simulated player played 100,000 games based on the strategy, to obtain data which then was used to plot graphs and analyze the expected score and its standard deviation. The expected value (mean) and standard deviation of the score for the possibility of three or four throws were 233.00 ± 44.82 and 280.07 ± 41.25.In view of the results drawn the expected conclusion that the four possible throws provides increased probability of getting a high score, unlike the case where the player may only be able to throw the dice three times. The fact that the variance is lower in the case of four throw session is equivalent to that the likelihood to get close to the expected value increases..

Denna rapport är av en reflekterande karaktär. Den förmedlar arbetsprocessen och resultatet av ett projekt som gjorts i kursen examensarbete i medier: Dataspelsutveckling vt 2008. Verket som rapporten grundar sig på är en bana gjord för Unreal Tournament 3 (Epic Games, 2007). Banan skall uppnå mina egenstipulerade krav för att en bana skall vara välbalanserad. Texten inleds med en beskrivning av arbetsprocessen och de olika stegen som genomgicks.

Dark Tourism is a relatively new concept, but as a phenomenon it has existed for centuries in the form of pilgrimages and gladiator games. The term includes visits to places associated with death and disaster, and has in more recent years become a highlighted tourist niche. This paper addresses the phenomenon of Dark Tourism and the reasons behind a visit to such an attraction. To find out the motive behind people's visits, interviews were conducted with respondents who have previously visited one or more Dark Tourism sites. A total of 32 people were interviewed about what influenced them to go to such a macabre place.

The research of today shows that natural environments are importantfor children's physical and mental development. It alsoshows that children often opt out of the traditional equipmentplaygrounds have to offer. By breaking the boundary betweenthe playground and park, is it possible to create a new spacethat will encourage rather than demand play? Through gatheringinformation and talking to landscape architects, designers,and children, I realized that today's parks already have environmentsand objects that could be used for playing. But whatthey need is something that makes the environment even moreinviting for children to play.

Todays board game manuals have many shortcomings. One of them is that they are not always adapted to the game's target audience.Adapting the language and shape of a game manual for the the target group children, can save time for both parents and teachers, and give the children a chance to conquer the game by themselves. In addition, playing board games can lead to children developing other important properties such as problem solving and independence.This study found that the game manuals inconsistency, tone and the way they adress the reader makes it difficult for children to grasp the content. Many game manuals do not speak directly to the reader, and often describes gameplay in a passive way, which has been shown by this study.This study has resulted in 12 guidelines for writing game manuals for children. In addition, they have been tested with a sample study.

The purpose of my study was to find out how staff in after-school activities thinks they work with norms and values, we may call this values education, and how this in turn may influence children's norms and values. By extension, how children are socialized with each other and develop socially. In my research, I have interviewed five of the after-school activities staff who work with children aged 6-9 years at a school in the neighbourhood Rinkeby-Kista in northwestern Stockholm.The results show that after-school activity according to the staff can play a very important and sometimes crucial role in children's social development. Staff believes that if they do not learn the social rules by participating in playing and games in early childhood, when growing up they are outside and cannot participate. By their pedagogical approaches, in terms of values and norms, the adults in after-school activities can help children to become socialized into a community of solidarity and eventually as adults become responsible citizens able to function and participate in society..

In this paper I have examined how the structure of society affects the characters in the movies of Gus Van Sant, and what there is that characterizes Van Sant as an auteur. I have also looked at the thematics and how the characters develop throughout from his first movie Mala Noche (US 1985) until one of his latest Milk (US 2008). Van Sant is open with his Homosexuality and those perspectives are of major importance for this study. He presents how his characters try to live a normal life in a society that is not made for them. I have chosen to analyze five different movies.

Technology evolves quickly, with innovative ideas growing everywhere. Still, no technology is anywhere near challenging the mouse and keyboard for navigation of your standard computer. This study focuses on comparing the traditional technologies of mouse and keyboard with the new technology of gestures - in this case Leap Motion - in purpose of finding how the usage differs and what the potential users want from the competing technology. The experiment was executed in a controlled environment, with as few external factors as possible. We found that although the test subjects found Leap Motion fun, the test subjects do not want to surf the web with gestures.