P-COMP 9/27
PUSH OR PULL
The reading was amazing.
Not to mention how many times I have still had to wonder if the door in front of me was to be pulled or pushed. From the foreigner point of view they are just 2 words that start with P. And then I thought I had an epiphany (after 7 years of life in this country) when someone opened my eyes to the logic and convinced me that anytime I was leaving a building I would have to push, while anytime I was entering I would have to pull. This was the way it worked in America. In Italy I think I mostly pull to go out and push to get in. On many occasions I get it wrong. And I am still confused.
ARDUINO
I’m caught up now. I wired the switch with the two LEDs and programmed my first code. Then I used a potentiometer and wrote the code for reading the input values. Then I tried different variable resistors during Todd’s help session on Saturday, such as piezos, photo-resistors (my favorite) and an ultrasonic movement detector. In class I can discuss my ‘sarcastic-little-project’ including the Stuffed Eagle, and -if I need to- MAX/MSP.
OBSERVATIONS
I know it might seem extremely cliché and banal, but my observations and my thinking mostly happen on the train. I love to observe people taking the subway and my fascination with them doesn’t seem to diminish over time.
My observation was made by comparing the people that take the train at 3PM vs. the people that take the train in the mornings.
My biggest assumption before I took the N train this afternoon at 3PM, was that I would encounter two types of people: young kids coming out of High School or Middle School or older, possibly retired, men and women. Mostly men.
My assumption was based on the belief that most of New York City inhabitants were in offices or institutions, following a 9-5 routine. While children and older Greek men were, in my mind, most likely to have the afternoon off.
This is what I gathered so far:
- There were a few high school boys and girls in uniforms;
- I had apparently forgotten about all those millions of New Yorkers that whether work freelance, or the night shift or are students like me, going to an afternoon class.
- There was an overall good balance of people between 30-40 yrs old and younger kids.
- There was only one older man inside my cart, who got off at 59th street and Lexington, and one more that got on the N once in Manhattan.
- 75% of the people in my cart were reading, 50% were reading newspapers and the other half was reading books.
- A good 40% was listening to IPODS and a few other devices. (I have always interpreted this as the need for people’s individual space; in a city where we live constantly surrounded by other beings, I think we find ourselves in need for a little bubble of isolation.)