As we were first being told about this assignment, I had a lot of initial ideas for exploring the idea of “dead” tech, and finding in what ways a tech becomes dead (obsolescence of the technology vs. obsolescence of the media) or in how we can compare and contrast our modern devices with the old in a novel way. I envisioned a wikipedia-powered volume of an encyclopedia, or a old film camera that can stream  video to the web, but when it comes to a class like this, I suppose you really need to be led by the material you find. I could only work with dead technology I found, and if I never ran across an old film camera, then I just couldn’t go in that direction.

Continue reading

http://vimeo.com/31434361
This video outlines the whole project. From creating the housing to the actual implementation. After getting the wood piece back from the laser cutter, I stained the wood and made some holes for the glass vials. I wanted to put the LEDs inside something to keep it from looking simply like a huge wooden breadboard. I also used some of the leftover stain and sandpaper to age the vials a bit.

The entire circuit features a photosensor that is attached to a light-tight tube over the LED that blinks when the router is in use. To convert that binary signal (the LED is only on or off) to the 3-step display on my barometer, I had the Arduino average the results of the light reading over a certain amount of time. For instance, if the light had blinked 15 times in the past 10 seconds, only the first step would be activated. If the light had blinked 30 times, the first and the second step would be activated.

This is by no means scientific. I calibrated it so that the results were as accurate as I could tell, but ultimately even the general readings from this photosensor aren’t always consistent. The project has a function but is primarily about the form and aesthetic.

I’ve included the source code below for any interested. Feel free to comment if you are interested in seeing some more detailed documentation on the circuit itself.

Arduino:

/*
  nate rudolph
  WiFi Barometer Sketch for Arduino
  
  
  This sketch is based on the following source code:
  Created 22 April 2007
  By David A. Mellis  <dam@mellis.org>
  http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Smoothing
  This example code is in the public domain.


*/


// Define the number of samples to keep track of.  The higher the number,
// the more the readings will be smoothed, but the slower the output will
// respond to the input.  Using a constant rather than a normal variable lets
// use this value to determine the size of the readings array.
const int numReadings = 800;


// the digital pins that the LEDs are connected to
const byte grePin = 2;          
const byte yelPin = 4;
const byte redPin = 6;

int readings[numReadings];      // the readings from the analog input
int index = 0;                  // the index of the current reading
int total = 0;                  // the running total
int average = 0;                // the average

int inputPin = A0;

void setup()
{
  // initialize serial communication with computer:
  Serial.begin(9600);                   
  // initialize all the readings to 0: 
  for (int thisReading = 0; thisReading < numReadings; thisReading++)
    readings[thisReading] = 0;   

  // set the (color)Pin as output
  pinMode(grePin, OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(yelPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(redPin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  
  
  // Decide what LEDs should be on
  // Will definitely need to be calibrated to match average data from photo sensor
  if (average > -20){
  digitalWrite(grePin, HIGH);
  }
  else{
    digitalWrite(grePin, LOW);
  }
  
  if (average > 0){
   digitalWrite(yelPin, HIGH); 
  }
    else{
    digitalWrite(yelPin, LOW);
  }
  
  if (average > 20){
   digitalWrite(redPin, HIGH); 
  }
    else{
    digitalWrite(redPin, LOW);
  }


  // subtract the last reading:
  total= total - readings[index];         
  // read from the sensor:  
  readings[index] = analogRead(inputPin); 
  // add the reading to the total:
  total= total + readings[index];       
  // advance to the next position in the array:  
  index = index + 1;                    

  // if we're at the end of the array...
  if (index >= numReadings)              
    // ...wrap around to the beginning: 
    index = 0;                           

  // calculate the average:
  average = total / numReadings;         
  // send it to the computer (as ASCII digits) 
  Serial.println(average, DEC);               
}

Since I have been in the States for a few months, I strongly find an interesting phenomenon which is media in China focuses viewpoints so differently on one event from that in the States.

Take the Occupy Wallstreet as an example, my friends in China usually ask how my life goes in the States, recently they tend to be curious about how much occupy wall street impact on New Yorker’s normal life. It is a little bit surprise when I access the Chinese webpage talking about  Occupy Wallstreet, most of them are really serious about it, they even only satirize the dark side. As we all known, media sometimes controlled by government in China, they speak what the government want – we are living a good life, while other countries are suffering. On the other hand, the American medias take the dark side of China as well. Because I am right now in New York and observe the Occupy Wallstreet just happens in neighborhood, I compared the views of medias in both two countries, the American media is talking about it on one side, while the Chinese is magnifying on the other side.

This piece named ” bullshit” . What you can do is to switch from one movie clip to another in order to get awareness of what the whole story is.

check it out!

setting design