Practice Makes Perfect

House for Rent, South Minneapolis, Longfellow Neighborhood

2-bedroom, 1-bath bungalow with office/small den, front porch, back deck, 1-car garage. Unfurnished. Centrally-located; convenient to Lake St., the Mississippi River, many colleges and universities, buses (21, 53, 24, 27) and the Light Rail Transit line. Quiet and relaxed setting; great yard. Available as of June 2008. 1-year lease. $1050 plus utilities (water/garbage paid). Looking for responsible, respectful and clean renter(s). Call 315/439-2738.

Sustainable Energy, final Midterm

This PowerPoint presentation concludes the midterm presentation begun last week.

Sustainable Energy, Midterm, Part 2

This presentation concludes midterm presentation begun last week.

Collective Storytelling, Week 3 (February 12, 2008)

Well….actually, 22-minute audio piece. Wow…editing down material is HARD!

Click here to listen to the audio piece. This remains a work in progress.
(File Upload Pending)

I do not find audio editing software particularly intuitive. I spent this week compiling and editing audio files from three separate interviews that I had conducted back in February along with transitional inserts of my own. My biggest challenge was making the volume consistent across files. Despite a good try, I never succeeded in adjusting the files to match. As a result, the lowest volume on music track was still too loud for some sections of voice. Nor did I achieve another fundamental goal of the assignment yet: editing down to 5 - 7 minutes. As I said…..the piece remains a work in progress.

Lessons Learned

- 5 minutes is not much time. Editing down material and splitting fluid conversations into snippets is HARD!!!!!!! There must be tricks I don’t know and cannot intuit.

- Collecting compelling info on same subject from multiple people: Be really clear and consistent about what material to collect. Stick strictly to original question(s); don’t alter them slightly from interviewee to interviewee. Create subquestions based on material already collected to be sure content is consistent from interviewee to interviewee. Impromptu questions are helpful to generate additional rich material.

- I am unpleasantly surprised by my continued confusion over how to use Audacity Effects/Amplify, Normalize and the Envelop Tool in order to get consistent volume control across multiple clips of materialfrom different sources. I thought I had figured this out. Every time I try to apply Effect/Amplify to a section whose volume is too low, the volume goes to nothing. Alternatively, the Envelop Tool only seems to let me reduce amplitude of the loudest sections to match the low volume sections rather than increase volume of low sections to match the loudest. This is discouraging.

Wearables Studio, Final Presentation
Sustainable Energy, Final Presentation, Part 2

This PowerPoint presentation about both the winter and summer version of the ListenUp Scarf targets the general public.

PPT Attachment pending until find correct format for uploading to site.

Sustainable Energy Final, Part 1

This PowerPoint presentation about the solar energy components within this wearable piece targets a technical audience.

PPT Attachment pending until find correct format for uploading to site.

Week 8: Energy Talks

From Rhett Butler, mongabay.com
November 1, 2006
http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1101-biopower.html

Tidal energy conversion system produces no pollutant and minimal environmental impact: An Australian firm has developed a renewable tidal energy conversion system based on the highly efficient fin structure of shark, tuna, and mackerel.

Wearables Studio, final weeks of class

The last few weeks have been devoted to constructing the final two scarves (winter and summer) and prototyping the circuitry for the audio scarf (winter). The summer scarf LED system is working fine.

Two main problems with the audio equipped scarf.

First, conductive thread did not hold continuity over the 90-inch length of the scarf. Need to develop a prototype using conductive fabric.

Second, the audio module is very persnickety. Original circuit worked at first on breadboard as long as playback was not hooked into Arduino. After lots of inconsistent and strange behavior from hacked Radio Shack audio module, I finally figured out that testing the module circuit board with multimeter was probably messing up the chip. Additional tweaks to the code and I had both the playback and record functions working on a fresh hacked module…..once. The module’s needs were clearly not being met. Appeared as though power was crossing the Arduino and module circuits despite common ground. Also, suspect that the voltage reaching the Arduino was ambiguous….was too low for it to be read 1 (HIGH) and too high to be read 0 (LOW).

Next prototype relied on major shift in hardware approach: integrating relays. The idea was that relays used as intermediate switches would robustly isolate the circuits and send clearer message to Arduino. Circuit lit surrogate LEDs but did not power the module itself. The module logic requires 9V. Appeared that relays were taking too much energy from this logic circuit.

The latest prototype shifts focus from hardware to code. Because the module works on negative logic (LOW is ON), a classmate suggested using an Arduino trick in which a weak communication signal is used as INPUT for purposes of sending unambiguous value. Still need to work on this approach. Initial breadboard result: record and playback switch indicator lights alternate on and off automatically without operating soft switches.

Had to turn away from getting the microcontroller version of the circuit figured out in order to have a working scarf for Spring Show. I set up four soft switches;2 for the negative logic module (record, playback) and 2 for the corresponding positive logic LED indicator lights. Stacked the paired indicator light and module switches to respond to same touch. Used wrapping wire for interim solution to continuity problem I experienced with conductive thread.

Plan to continue to work on the soft circuit fabrication and the circuitry logic. Hope to continue conversation with ArtSmart in response to an invitation to develop workshop series using the scarf concept. This organization provides self-esteem and confidence building programs to homeless youth. A visitor to the ITP Spring Show indicated interest in partnering with me if I pursued this opportunity.

Week 2: Collective Storytelling

I visited the StoryCorps station at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan today. I got to take a look inside the booth. For such an intimate place inside, the outside wasn’t very inviting. Cube shaped structure wrapped in text-covered or frosted glass. Can’t really discern what’s inside even though it is glass-walled. Only real explanation can be found in brochure boxes or poster at the entrance door.

I guess I had my heart set on listening stations outside or inside as a cue. I guess I expected the booth itself to be more interactive with the general public. Something to tempt people to share a story themselves. Instead, a poster at the entrance advertises an 800 number to call to listen to archived stories and a brochure located in small Plexiglas boxes attached to the outside walls invites participation.

So I wonder who is offering stories. I didn’t ask the attendant if they get many walk ins. Online reservations are booked weeks in advance. Maybe people do take brochures from the little Plexiglas containers on the outside walls — including those who have business in the nearby courthouses — and call back for reservations. Maybe people who hear the stories retold on National Public Radio. Hum.

I wonder what demographic information is collected from StoryCorps participants. If I were visiting the Library of Congress 50 years from now to listen to the archives, I wonder if it will be as clear who didn’t share stories as who did.

I took a brochure and planned to give a call for stories once I got home. In the end, the brochure didn’t list the 800 number posted by the door to the StoryCorps station. I went online and listened there, instead. I learned a bit about the traveling booths and special initiatives, such as the Memory Loss and New York City partnerships.

This is a great project. Inspiring and heartfelt stories; easy to relate to or empathize with. Well produced. The StoryCorps publicity really emphasizes the story archive as a reflection of our nation. My only wish would be that the disenfranchised were more fully represented. Search the stories for homeless, four will appear. They are brief, tell little of the struggle and context behind the positive aspects reflected in the stories. I expect that eventually partnerships like the ones with many New York City community organizations could potentially generate stories that are not so edited to exclude these kinds of details. Reminders of where we as a nation still need to grow.

Cabinets of Wonder, Final Project

The American Museum of Natural History and partners developed the exhibit “Water H2O = Life” exhibit to raise awareness of water quality and quantity issues around the globe. The attached slide show and supplementary documents present a concept for a Internet-connected road show based on the exhibit’s 10-year international travel schedule. The road show is built around principles of hyperlocalism (global issues presented within the context of local agendas and needs), community arts movement (eco-arts, community building and empowerment, partnerships), and institutional branding (growing AMNH membership, making AMNH’s contributions to content and programming visible and secure).

PowerPoint Presentation
Program Overview
Web Page Mock-up