careless whispers….

Here she is:

16 photocells (the good ones from the bookstore) mounted on perf-board, connected to wire leads, heat shrunk, and ready for action JACKSON!!!

It ain’t pretty, but they all work. Somethings to change in Wonky CCD 2.0: RIBBON CABLE!!! this thing is a rats nest. Ribbon cable would make everything neat and tidy. Eddie suggested this, but I thought soldering headers on would have been too much of a pain….but if we USE A COMMON POWER LINE (we didn’t think of it, no one suggested it, now that the thing is done, it’s all I can think of everytime I see it) that would only be 16 header pins…very doable.

Sorry for the massive back-log in y documentation here, but I finally got all the pictures Eddie has been taken and want to show this stuff off.

This was one of our first steps, rigging up five photocells and checking their response:

Our Book-Store bought photocells in the breadboard. These are the ones we’re currently using, just because their values are amazingly consistent from cell to cell.

waving your hand over the cells changes their resistence.

The value generated by their electrical resistence is sent directly to processing, via serial communication with the Arduino.

The values are then used to set the greyscale of each individual square on screen. The more light, the whiter the square, the less, the darker.

Eddie took these shots of some our sketches for the moving interior mechanism.

Amanda and Eddie ripped this thing apart, as we were hoping we could steal the mechanisms inside for our camera rig. Turned our the interior was far to flimsy, but pretty damn brilliant in it’s construction. We’re still going with the plotter thing, but this was pretty neat. Also sort of funny how silvery the two o them got…..

Our working MUX test set up.

Thhhhhis was a pain in the nutz.

Thanks Tom, Tymm, and Todd for all the help!!!

int val[16];

int a= 3; // SELECT PIN A0 GOING INTO PIN 2
int b= 4; // SELECT PIN A1 GOING INTO PIN 3
int c= 5; // SELECT PIN A2 GOING INTO PIN 4 //variables in this code have been changed from their original value of Int to byte.
int d= 6; // SELECT PIN A3 GOING INTO PIN 5

int analog0 = 0;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(analog0, INPUT);
pinMode(a,OUTPUT);
pinMode(b,OUTPUT);
pinMode(c,OUTPUT);
pinMode(d,OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
for (int channelNum = 0; channelNum > 1) ;
// shift value 2 bits to the right, and mask all but bit 0:
int pinThree = 1 & (channelNum >> 2);
// shift value 3 bits to the right, and mask all but bit 0:
int pinFour = 1 & (channelNum >> 3);

// set the address pins:
digitalWrite(a,pinOne);
digitalWrite(b,pinTwo);
digitalWrite(c,pinThree);
digitalWrite(d,pinFour);

// read the analog input and store it in the value array:
val[channelNum] = analogRead(analog0);

// print the values as a single tab-separated line:
Serial.print(val[channelNum], DEC);
Serial.print(”\t”);
}
// print a carriage return at the end of each read of the mux:
Serial.println();

}

This is a close up of our wiring. Note the resistors: Without them, you get wicked, confusing, channel bleed that will lead to you speaking in ones and zeros for days.

I just noticed that there is actually one loose wire in this shot. The orange wire, from the arduino to the breadboard, to the right of the chip in the bottom left of the photo, should be plugged into row 29, directly above the green wire. We also got ride of the diodes on the power line into the MUX, as they turned out to be unnecessary.

I’ll try and get a proper wiring diagram up when i have time.

If your code and set up works, you’ll get a print in Arduino that looks something like the shot below, except with analog values where the 0’s are.

Ok, so here are a few basic screenshots showing how (we hope) the software for the newly christened PINHOLE PAINTER!!! camera will work

OK. This is a 4X4 pixel example of how our code will work. The pixels (represented by the grey square, there values will directly represent that of the photocells inside the camera) will roll over the grid of pixels, transfering their values and, hopefull, building an image.

This shot shows some the background squares values, altered after the camera rollover. This is four pixels. We will have over 1600. I’m officially freaked out.

This is a simple example of 40X40 pixel grid, and the 16X16 pixel cursor which will hold the incoming data from the photocells inside the camera.

Code for our simple roll-over:

int pulse;
int setfill;
int fill1=0;
int fill2=0;
int fill3=0;
int fill4=0;

void setup() {
size(800,800);
}

void draw(){
fill(fill1);
rect(0,0,400,400); //top left, begining of backgroundpixels
fill(fill2);
rect(0,400,400,400); //bottomleft
fill(fill3);
rect(400,0,400,400);//top right
fill(fill4);
rect(400,400,400,400);//bottomright

pulse = pulse+1;
if (pulse >= 255){pulse=0;
}
fill(pulse);
rect(mouseX,mouseY,400,400); //cursorpixel

if(mouseX = 410){fill2=pulse;
}
if(mouseX >= 410 && mouseY = 410 && mouseY >= 410){fill4=pulse;
}
}

//end

Code for our simple grid/cursor mock-up:

void setup() {
size(800,800); //YOU NEED TO ADD SOME IF STATEMENTS TO KEEP THE PIXELCURSOR ON SCREEN
}

void draw(){
background(255);

int cellWidth = width/40;
int cellHeight = height/40;
stroke(0);

for (int i=cellWidth; i

It’s been quite a while since Understand Media, by Marshal Mcluhan, has crossed my path, and I have to say it’s a book I’m happy to see. Many of Mcluhan’s writings and articles were included in the course packets of sociology classes I took as an undergraduate, and for very good reason; the man was incredibly insightful, and undoubtedly ahead of his time.
In Understanding Media, Mcluhan coins the phrase “the medium is the message”, suggesting that various forms media should themselves be studied, not just the information they express. It is Mcluhan’s belief that emerging and traditional forms of media, such as television, film, radio, and print, have just as much, or even greater, power to shape society as the content that they carry.
Understanding Media was written in 1964, an ideal time for any sociologist or media theorist to postulate based on observation. Though I know such a time existed, I have hard time imagining life without a television set in the living room, a portable music player of some sort, or a way of contacting friends and family instantly and inexpensively. The advent of instant, cheap forms of communication alone have shaped society in countless ways. While I live in New York City, many of my closest relationships are with friends who are strewn across the globe. Despite the fact that I get to see these individuals just a few times a year, I can’t help but feel as if they are an active and essential part of my social circle, as we are able to participate in each others live constantly via various forms of media, and it’s getting easier to do so every day. With social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, it became possible to check up on friends instantaneously, without even speaking to them directly. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is socially healthy, and is certainly not my preferred method of communication, but I have to admit that such sites have shaped my social sphere. With a few keystrokes and mouse clicks, I can see my friends smiling (in some cases) faces, know what they’ve been up to, and send them a quick hello…All in a (mostly) public forum without an iota of personal contact. I can’t deny that even this impersonal form of contact makes me feel somewhat fulfilled; It’s not what I’m saying or being told, it’s simply that someone cares enough to take the time to do so. It is the medium of the social network site that allows this, and this media has changed human social interaction in ways that not even Mcluhan could have imagined.

The man was right, plain and simple

Take a Look.

Sorry for the low quality, I’ll try and get a better version up soon.

Made by myself, Elim, Alex, and Kristin.

I just realized that I never posted my finished content for my M5 ride. As an assignment for Red’s class, we had to ride the M5 bus from the front door of Tisch, up to the GW bridge, and back. I brought several cameras along for the trip, and decided to make a sort of photo essay about my trip. For Red, I assembled the pictures into a fold out timeline/book thing. The photos below are pages from that book, shown from top to bottom in chronological order.

Over the past few weeks, Kacie and I have been working on an audio assignment for comm lab. We set off to record some aounds on the street and in the Bobst Library, edited our bits and pieces in audacity, and then put the whole thing together in Garageband. Some of our samples are heavily manipulated, something I could really get into. I think it might be interesting to take on task again, using one simple sound, and warping it to build an entire audio track.

I set our soundscape to some pictures I took on my M5 ride.

Take a Look Here

For some reason the video came out a little jumpy, but the audio is fine.

Kacie was really great to work with…I had a great time watching her stalk people with her mic. I hope we get to do something again!