fall2015 |

Electricity Labs

This week we used our Arduino kit to build our very first circuit using a breadboard, resistor, and USB power.

I initially put the basic circuit together and couldn’t get it to work. Luckily my friend Dana was sitting down the table and quickly pointed out that I didn’t have the right resistor. I knew that different color resistors had different ratings, but I didn’t realize that you had to look really closely at the little stripes. So, I thought all of my resistors were the same rating at first.

Syria: Just Numbers

Since our work in class was so upbeat and playful last week, I thought it might be interesting to see if I could make something a little more serious for homework. With all the news about Syria lately, it was a natural choice of subject.

Whale! in P5

For ICM week one we had to create our own screen drawing in P5.js using only 2D primitive shapes.

My drawing is inspired by a recent whale watching trip out on Cape Cod. I’ve wanted to go whale watching since I watched “The Voyage of the Mimi” in third grade.

Everything’s A Remix

Oof! What a controversial topic for week 1!

I’ve spent the past three years working in the photojournalism and documentary film world. With the rapid changes in photo/film and digital communications, they’ve been three very interesting years to work in this field.
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What is Interaction?

A (rant in) response to the readings: Chris Crawford, The Art of Interactive Design, chapters 1 and 2, and Bret Victor’s “A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design.”

Chris Crawford defines interaction as “a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak.” This definition doesn’t immediately fit my thoughts on interactivity because it centers on verbal and mental interactivity, and leaves physical interactivity as secondary.

Soundwalk Chinatown

A response to Chinatown Soundwalk.

Despite a few glitches—like some stops being closed because I went on an off hour, and my steps being much smaller than the narrator’s—I really enjoyed this walk.

I’ve lived in New York for more than a decade. I even lived and worked within ten minutes of Chinatown for several years, yet this walk brought me to new places and taught me things I never knew about Chinatown.

Q’s: Electricity Basics

In general, I’m pretty baffled by all of this week’s material. I think seeing some working examples will help the theory make more sense. Here are some specific questions in the meantime:

Audio Scavenger Hunt

On our first day of class we learned to use a zoom audio recorder, then set out on an audio scavenger hunt around campus. For homework we have to post our favorite three samples from the hunt.

Here are my favorites: