a little awkward @ ITP Winter Show 2008

alittleawkward.com

our site is up and running. Some minor bugs here and there and some bugs on ie7 and pc’s in general. We’re working on all the changes and feedback is always welcome! We had a great show and wonderful comments and feedback!

smoogling! nime update!

the first proto demo…unfortunately there was a glitch and it stopped working =( wah!

A Little Awkward

alittleawkward.com

For Designing Around Place, Alex Abreu and I created a site called alittleawkward.com. A Little Awkward is a mobile/web app that connects people in familiar ways in your neighborhood. If you’re bored, the spontaneous type, new to the city, an explorer, lonely, have time to kill, or if you’re friends are all busy, you can go on alittleawkward.com and make a post  or accept a post. Each post is only put up for 15minutes to an hour. We offer 15 minute interval options. The point is that, it is relatively immediate and in the moment. Once a post is made and accepted, both users are notified and have 15 minutes to get to their destination after the post end time.

We offer 5 categories to choose from: lunch, coffee/tea, live music, games, happy hour. This is not a dating service, but a casual way to meet your neighbors and experience the city a little differently, say…awkwardly. We are using loki and textmarks to locate and to notify. Users can either specify a specific place they want goto, such as Think Coffee on Mercer Street, or we can choose for them based on both their locations. We’ve also created an immediate icebreaker when users meet. Part of the experience is that both of you have to go on an awkward photo hunt at the venue you are at. Once a month, or once a week, we choose the best awkward photo and those two users win a small prize.

We’re looking forward to extensive user testing once the site is up and working properly.

NIME Update

So, I realise my postings have been poor and non-existent. Here’s whats going on with NIME. For my project I will be doing musical soccer juggling. There will be 3-4 people with copper mesh strips attached to various parts of the shoe, thigh, shoulders and head. The ball will the connector, with strips of foil, and/or conductive paint. The jugglers will be making music as they warm up. I’m using pd-extended for my sound coding software. I was orignally going to use max/msp but pd is free and pretty dope. Plus, my teacher, Hans, is one of the developers. As for the music content, I’m still debating. Originally I was thinking maybe percussive sounds, then I thought of maybe using sounds from soccer games, such as the crowd, or if you’ve ever been to games in Britain and Europe, the crowd is sensational with their chants and songs. So these are my thoughts, hopefully I’ll decide on something in the next few days. Also there’ll be footage of the performance aorund december so you can witness the awesomness of soccer juggling. =)

Manchester United win 5-0 against Stoke!

YAY!! We’ve had a slow start this year, and I must admit I was quite worried but United seemed to have picked up their feet and are coming after Chelsea and Liverpool. We’re down 8 points at the moment, third place, but we still got many months left. Plus there’s also Champions League! Thankfully my fantasy team did well this week…unlike a few weeks ago where I managed to get 9 points some how. Probably because I didn’t look at my table for two week prior. Keep up the good word United! Glory Glory Man United!! ohhh speaking of which…i found this awesome site that has all the chants and songs with lyrics for Manchester United! I also found a Liverpool one but…screw them!

gui presentation

click here

Your Mom is…

So for our first assignment we just had to set up a basic php/mySql website that collects data via user input that talks to a database. Click Here

The Role of Music in Everyday Life

So this week, I really paid attention to how I used music in every aspect of my life. There were hardly any moments when music wasn’t involved. If I have to listen to someone, then I don’t listen to music. I in fact, I take out both my earbuds when someone is speaking to me and I need to understand what they are saying. I put on music as soon as I wake up because it sort of sets my mood for the day.  I always sing in the shower, unless I fall asleep which I actually do more than I care to say…don’t ask me how. I listen to music when i exercise, and pretty much every journey I go on. That includes, walks, runs, subway/train rides, cars… I put on music or background noise like television when I cook and clean. Or, I sing to myself. Before bed, I plan an instrument almost every night. I have a variety in my room such as, the cajon, guitar, keyboard, flute, piccolo, recorders, spanish flutes, harmonica…Then as I fall asleep, I put on music very softly…that’s usually my favorite part. Listening to music as I fall asleep. Music always changes my mood or my mood is so strong that it dictates what I put on. I’m also in a band called Giant Rockin Titties and I write music. Usually I write quite mellow songs even though I’m usually quite lively and a a bit of a spaz. I think what it all comes down to is that music makes me happy. Even if I’m sad and I put on a sad song, I feel happy. Music makes me feel human. It makes me feel apart of this world while detaching myself from it. It’s my fuel to get through the activities throughout the day with 110%.

First assignment

Premiership! the beginning…

i’m so glad the new season has started. Is it just me or did the Olympics get boring real fast? I kind of just stopped caring after awhile. I missed a lot of games unfortunately because I was moving. Poor excuse i know. I can’t believe Keegan AND McDermott both left Newcastle. Talk about total devastation for the magpies!!!! Such instability. It seemed like they were starting to get back on their feet too.  So everyones talking about ManCity lately. Rightly so, they just raked in loads of money and got some pretty good transfers and are looking rather well. Still…although they may be prospective top contenders for the cup this year, I have confidence that ManU will destroy them in the end.

 

dont miss the lineup on Sat 13!!