Youtube Hacks

Hi!

This guy is pretty cool. He makes videos about all kinds of engineering hacks you can do to batteries, barbies etc. Here's the Link to his Youtube Channel . ^-^ Enjoy!

The Digital & Art

Assignment 6: Second Life (Theoretical Idea)

Ever since my first year at CU as a studio art major, I have always wanted to build a large installation piece. My vision was to create hundreds of birds out of clothespins (a technique I had perfected in high school) and to hang them in a wave formation along a hallway. Alas, in the physical, non-digital world, I neither have the time nor the materials to take on such an endeavor. Perhaps if I received a grant and a solid semester to work on this project, it could be done, but the likelihood of that actually happening is very small. Through the tools that Second Life provides, I may be able to create something on a much larger scale in less time.

In my original idea, I had the birds remain stationary, merely suspended from fishing wire along the ceiling of a hallway. If I were to seriously use Second Life’s construction tools, I would construct bird forms out of a series of polygonal objects (using the “link” tool to group them into singular forms comprised of different polygons). I would then make hundreds of copies of my bird models and I would then use the “move” tool to position them in the world in a wave formation in the air. To add an extra degree of beauty and appeal, before I would copy the bird models, I would use programming to animate them to hover up and down slowly. The final effect would be a flock of birds hovering in formation in mid air. Taking into consideration the means by which this piece would be created, my intended theme would be that of “flying beyond conceived boundaries;” When one is faced with an impossibility in their current situation, one must look beyond what they already know and explore the possibilities of another foreign medium.

Assignment 5 (Re-uploaded) - Donnie Darko Film.com

The site www.donniedarkofilm.com hosts a collaboration of intricate javascript animation, text, and still-imagery. Since the movie it was based on was so cryptic, it only makes sense that the site itself would be equally if not more as such. Immediately from the first page you are faced with an almost entirely white screen with a small looping video with a red circle. One you click on it, the words “The tangent universe collapsed 3419 days -hours, -minutes and -seconds ago.” The days, hours, minutes and seconds are all relative to the visitor of the site. That is perhaps the only indication of the creators wanting to display anything about the actual production of the site. Aside from this, there is absolutely no information on its creation; no copyright information at the bottom, no list of the animators and programmers that worked to make this incredible interactive website.

The choice for the “behind the scenes” work to be a mystery was a very understandable and effective choice for the creators of this site. It adds so much more to the mystery and intrigue of wanting to reach the end of the series of questions and riddles being presented. In contrast to how actor resumes and commercial profit websites work, this website displays not even the slightest intent of proving authorship or to be recognized for anything honorable. This site merely serves to educate and entertain anonymously. Perhaps merely the site's existence, the work on the internet being viewed and interacted with by users around the world is enough satisfaction for these website designers.

Internet Activism Via Keith Obadike

Facebook has become such a revolution in global networking and communication. It would be a VERY effective way to broadcast a political idea and have millions of people see the same thing. In order to strike shock and perhaps motivate people for change is to start with creating a Facebook quiz. These quizzes can vary from being about your hororscope, who you’re going to marry, what “Lost” character you’re most like etc. However, I’d create a quiz that seems pretty mundane with 10-20 questions with some optical illusions. At the end of the quiz it would say:

Congratulations! While you have been doing this interesting quiz (5-10 min), at least 2-3 people died from smoking; selfishly deserting their family and friends due to something that could have been EASILY prevented. Oh, and at least one other person has died from the effects of SECOND hand smoke. Yeah, it wasn’t even their fault!!!

DON’T LET THIS BE YOU OR A LOVED ONE!!!

Visit http://www.thesafecig.com/ for a new life, literally!!!

Early Internet Advertising

Looking back at the early 1990’s, it’s surprising how little faith the general populous had in the internet and its potential as a world-wide phenomenon. Taking accordance with these views, it is not surprising that the quality and artistry of early advertisements on the internet were less than spectacular. In 1994, the first internet advertisement banner was created as part of HotWired’s attempt to make a profit for their website. AT&T provided a fuzzy, VERY low-rez black banner with psychedelic rainbow lettering stating, “Have you ever clicked your mouse right HERE? You will.” According to nothingtohide.us, “It [the ad] achieved a staggering 42% click through rate,” meaning 42% of the people visiting the site actually clicked the banner. Despite having to compensate for slow page loading and lack of bandwidth by providing a low-rez image, this was still a huge nod towards the effectiveness of bold artistic aesth

etic in order to capture the internet-surfer’s

attention.

Immediately after, other companies and websites apparently took this as a sign that this was the new way to make money in the new era of computer technology. One example of an undertaker of this new form of advertising was Pepsi. In the 1996 version of their webpage, the influence of AT&T’s banner design is very evident. The use of a bright green swirling background definitely draws viewers in, however tear-inducing the hue of green may be. They even began to add small flash animations to the page, adding an even greater level of attraction.

In traditional advertising, color is one of the most important devices for getting people to notice your product. Colors add to associations and if used correctly, could mean fame and fortune for your company. McDonalds is the classic example of the successful utilization of this technique. The red and yellow combination in now synonymous with the fast-food restaurant chain. Even in early internet advertising, despite the lack of experience and maturity we have today in our advertising campaigns, website managers were already on the right track.

(Hopefully) an Original Idea for a Hack

Personally, I would love to find a hack that could allow for the to creation of a unique telephone number. In doing so would allow multitudinous possibilities; specifically being allowing people to create musical phone tones. I don't mean the ringtones you hear when someone calls you. The series of tones that make up the ten digits on a phone keypad (0-9) each have a distinctive note and thus, various musical tunes can be created.

Now that we have technologies such as caller ID and cellphones, no one need remember the actual physical telephone number anymore. With one press of a button you can call a friend or family member while not even remembering the phone number you’ve just dialed. I feel that allowing people to design their own numbers would add a sense of excitement in the dialing process, especially if your contact’s number sounds like “Carry On Wayward Son” and so forth.

Of course in conjunction, there would need to be a hack that extends the length of the possible number of tones so there is no overlap of an existing number. Also, the number of tunes are slightly limited due to the nature of the pre-existing tones on the phone keypad. Therefore as part of the original hack, there could be a program that allows you to select the note each number represents. That way, the variety of tunes one can create is increased exponentially.

Obviously this hack would not change the world of telephoning. But it would definitely give a few igneous hackers a fun way to feel like they’ve surpassed the system.

Observations About the University Classroom

In all my years of education, I have come to realize that the effectiveness of a class comes down to the interest and enthusiasm of the class environment.

• If the students around me show signs of boredom or sleepiness, I'm inclined to emanate those feelings as well. However, the same goes for if I observe a student who is trying his or her best to hang onto every word. I will in turn feel horribly guilty and immediately try to imitate.

• If a connection between student and teacher does NOT exist, it is nearly impossible to effectively teach. Interest in the material at hand is important, but so is how it is conveyed. Lively yet assertive mannerisms tend to help not only keep interest, but enforce the obligation to pay attention.

• The teacher can only do so much to nudge you towards being interested in the class material. This is no longer high school where everything is spoon-fed to you. In order to get the best experience (and best worth for your or your parent's money) it is in your best interest to find the best way to retain information.

E.g: Being a visually-oriented person, I love to doodle and sometimes make cartoons to personify the information and process it in a visual manner.

• On speaking out in class: Students I think shouldn't feel pressured or obligated to say something for the sake of participation. Otherwise it's just empty air with no real purpose at all. As the semester goes on, students will gain comfortability speaking in front of their peers. Working in smaller groups, then progressing to sharing with the rest of the class helps students to feel more confident in what is being said; that it can be understood and agreed upon by other students as well.

Digital Art 1 Blog Link

Hi!

If you'd like to see some work from my Digital Art 1 class, here is the Blog.

My work is in the January-April 2010 archives.

^_^