Love Machine: the Power is On!

June 15, 2009 – 11:52 pm

Love Machine, my SMS-based interactive thing for singles nights, released under the name Publk (taking a stab at starting a company that does something specific), is now in use bi-weekly at Hugs in Brooklyn. It’s super easy to use and it’s lots of fun.

When you walk into the bar, you receive a badge with a number on it. You should wear the badge and sign into the system with the number printed on it as your ID. Signing in is optional but has advantages. By signing in you may send and receive private messages from other singles at the event. They’ll be able to identify and pm you by the number you are wearing, so users must be a little crafty in getting that number. This feature is more direct than the winking type feature (when a user receives a messaging stating that someone may have a crush on you, etc), but when a user is only at an event for a couple hours, winking can be a waste of time. Signing in with the badge number also qualifies users for random drink giveaways! Here’s a poster and a chart of how we use the system. Below are the different ways people engage with Love Machine.

Posted in Etcetera, Physical Computing | 1 Comment »

Location-based Playlist for iPhone

April 5, 2009 – 9:30 pm

The location-based playlist iPhone app is in development for Little Computers. You hear music based on your area or the area of your choice. Songs you may here were written by artists in the area, played at venues in the area, reference the area. Additional features and mock-up below.

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High Resolution Baster Scans

April 5, 2009 – 3:09 pm

Did you know you can use your flatbed scanner as a camera? It produces stunningly high resolution images. Here is a great tutorial that discusses the technique thoroughly. I used a flatbed scanner to produce some high resolution images of the baster.

Full view

Injector plunger

Check valves and T joint

Masterflex silicone tubing

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Twitter + Textmarks = TweetMarks

April 1, 2009 – 7:11 pm

Tweet every text. Text every tweet. Twitter and SMS users connect.

Textmarks keyword = Twitter hashtag

The challenge was to get the most possible users contributing to a communication system from my most possible devices while allowing all users to feel like they are contributing to the same thing and providing an added bonus for smartphone users. The solution is TweetMarks.

TweetMarks is a marriage of regular ol’ SMS and Twitter. It includes the most possible users while adding some cool functionality for smartphone users. Users who opt for the SMS version will receive tweets, and users who prefer the custom Twitter client will receive the text messages sent from the short code. Users are also free to use their preferred Twitter client. However the advantage of using the Twitter client, of course, is the ability to follow people who are at the event but you didn’t already know. It’s a web-based app, so users don’t have to worry about installing anything to their devices when they arrive at a museum, conference, bar, or club and find out there’s a cool communication tool available that they don’t have.

To achieve this I just added functionality to my Twitter client to send tweets as SMS through Textmarks. Likewise, SMS messages are tweeted. Hopefully this includes mostly everyone at an event who wishes to participate in a group communication, and users can use their preferred method of messaging. I’m really excited about this. There are limitless possibilities for this application not only at bars and clubs as originally envisioned, but any large space where people who don’t know each other gather.

On Wednesday, April 8 we will implement this system for singles night at Hugs in Brooklyn. We’re going to project all these messages onto a big screen. The system we customized for them looks great! Have a look. New messages slide in on the projection screen thanks to Scriptaculous. I didn’t do device detection on this one so you can check it out on the web or your mobile device. TweetMarks will also be the engine that drives BarTalk, our 1′ 2′ 10′ project.

Messaging client:
publk.com/hugs

Projection:
publk.com/hugs/projection

Posted in 1' 2' 10', BarTalk, Designing Around Place, Live Web | Comments »

Staggering Fact About Thanksgiving Day Energy Consumption

March 30, 2009 – 4:59 pm

On Thanksgiving day, Americans cook roughly 45,000,000 turkeys. The average turkey is 20 lbs and cooks for 5 hours.

The average home oven is rated at 40,000 BTU/hour energy consumption.

The BTU content in natural gas is 100,000 BTU/therm.

Let’s conservatively estimate that the average cost of gas in late November is $1.00/therm.

Let’s estimate that the average American bastes their Thanksgiving turkey twice per hour, for a total of 10 times in 5 hours.

Let’s estimate that opening the oven adds about 5 minutes each time to the overall cooking time, for a total of about 60 minutes, or one hour.

If a therm costs $1.00, and we consume 40% of a therm every hour we cook our turkey, and we add an additional hour of cooking time by basting twice an hour, we each spend $.40 extra to cook our turkey.

$.40 x 45,000,000 = $18,000,000

That means that as Americans we waste $18,000,000 worth of energy on Thanksgiving day, whereas we could have been eating a finer turkey in less time by simply using the Überbaster!

Posted in Etcetera, thesis | 1 Comment »

Überbaster Testing Plan

March 30, 2009 – 3:49 pm

I. Pre-Production Research, Planning & Needs Assessment, Task Analysis

Audience: Cooks of any skill level.

Materials: Marinade injector, silicone tube, vinyl tube, T joint, two check valves, stainless steel skewer. Assembles in just a couple minutes.

Format: Roasting meats

Technology:

• What hardware and software are optimal? Oven, food, roasting pan, basting liquid
• Any constraints? None yet.

Design: Exposed functionality with familiar pumping action

What is the ideal style? Attitude? Industrial yet playful.

Why? The industrial look and feel of the baster suggests that it works. The playful character behind the website is designed to remind people that yes, cooking is fun, and it’s OK to have fun pumping a big syringe too.

Prior Work: Inspired in part by remote probe thermometers that require the remote wire to be closed into the door.

Setting: Home

Any special needs or requirements? A flavorful basting liquid.

Constraints: Need provisional patent ASAP. No budget. I am the sole expert on remote basting.

II. Usability/User Testing, Prototyping, Audience Feedback

Note: Test users have been issued basters. While the basters are being tested, users are encouraged to use them as built and then, if necessary, modify them to work to their own specification. This technique will allow me to modify my design and study how they would use such a device were it a real product. Basters are still out and research has not yet been gathered.

Small groups of the target audience perform representative tasks with product prototypes (i.e., sketches, paper prototypes, video prototypes, parts of fully functional prototypes) while developers watch and assess problem areas, refine the prototypes based on this feedback, re-test, etc. Methods include observation, interviews, user diaries, self-report, think-aloud protocols, focus groups, pre/post questionnaires. Factors observed include:

Appeal: Is it engaging? Do they like it? Is it relevant to them? Is it useful? What don’t they like?

Comprehension: Do they understand it? What do they take away from the experience? What do they learn? Does it meet their expectations? What is confusing to them about the content, message, goals?

Usability: Can they use it? Is it easy to use? Is it responsive enough?
Is it flexible? Adaptable? Consistent? Is the interface clear
and accessible? Does it take too long to figure it out?

III. Technical Testing, Software Testing, Debugging
Performance Rigor:

Does it work? Yes.

Is it internally consistent? Yes. Rock solid construction.

Reliability:

• Does it hold up over time? So far, so good.
• Is it robust? Yes.

Extensibility:

• Does it work in multiple environments? Yes.
• Is it transportable? Yes.
• Is it scalable? I suppose with a longer tube you could control the baster at a further distance from the oven. It is also possible to automate with electronic pumps.

Posted in Etcetera, thesis | Comments »

Bartalk: the Text Component (Twitter)

March 30, 2009 – 10:41 am

Since the BarTalk application is really just a metaphor for a system that can be used in any situation where there might be mingling, the entire application is being customized for the ITP Spring Show. What makes this application widely applicable is the addition of a third modular piece that is unique to the event or venue. The theme is still the same; there will be text communication and photo contributions.

The third component for the Spring Show application will be a visualization of projects. It will be a map with dots indicating a project’s location. There will be a yet undecided amount of information regarding each project in the visualization, but our text component includes a “Respect” field in which the user will enter a project identifier. The more respect a project receives, the more its corresponding dot pulsates on the map.

People have toyed with the idea of visualizing projects at the show in this sort of way. Some have challenged the idea claiming that it turns the show into a popularity contest. However people come to the show with a completely different perspective. There are so many projects, so much noise, and so very many people finding interesting projects may be a challenge in and of itself. If an excellent project gets stuck in the back corner behind 1000 patrons it may never be seen without a little help. Our visualization will help to democratize the projects in the show. And let’s face it, every project in the show is excellent.

The text component is a custom-made Twitter client designed for mobile devices. It will be available on the web on the night of the show. The client will act just like your current client, with access to your own personal content, but it also includes a special #itpshow feed. Every message sent from the client is appended with the hashtag, and our client will give you all Tweets corresponding to it. You can read what people are saying about the show and projects, do some networking of your own, or find out if any of your friends are around. You can follow anyone who tweets with the hashtag, so you are sure to make a few new contacts.

It is completely unstyled, but please see the prototype. Just log in to see what we mean.
http://itp.nyu.edu/~jkb315/bartalk/login.php

Posted in 1' 2' 10', BarTalk, Designing Around Place, Physical Computing | 1 Comment »

Turkey Tests

March 16, 2009 – 2:56 pm

In conjunction with the baster, I am designing a site to be the baster’s home. It is going to be a fun, front-endy experience. I have always been too focused on the back end to either worry about or have time to address the front. I’ve decided to use the Scriptaculous JavaScript library as the animation engine, since a) I don’t know Flash and probably never will, and b) I want it to work on an iPhone.

I’ve been running some tests on various Scriptaculous animation functions using some placeholder images.The library is much easier and more fun to use than I anticipated. The tests are being conducted at uberbaster.com. Feel free to check in there to see how it’s coming along.

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Chicken Salad

March 15, 2009 – 10:40 pm

Well I couldn’t help myself. I roasted another bird. This time I made chicken salad. Another win for the baster.

Josh’s Chicken Salad

• 1 Josh’s Roasted Chicken, deboned and chopped
• 2 tbsp highly concentrated pan juice
• 3 small roasted potatoes, quartered
• 1 jar Kalamata olives, drained & sliced
• Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• Salt, pepper & olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Mix ingredients and serve with Italian bread.

Tags: Add new tag

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Überbaster Tested and Proved

March 14, 2009 – 2:41 pm

I had a terrible nightmare last night. I was alone on the balcony of a cabin deep in the woods. Two 6-foot tall wild turkeys came to the door. I tried to hide but the next thing I knew the turkeys had jumped onto the balcony. They had blades attached to their wings. I tried to hide in a corner but a third turkey was there hiding, waiting. They drew their wings and began swinging viciously at me. I had only a shampoo bottle to defend myself. When I swung back at them, one bird sliced it in half. Luckily I woke up screaming before I was hacked to death by man-sized game birds.

It was a timely dream. Earlier in the evening turkeys all over the world sensed a strong foreboding; a new device that would threaten their population had come into existence and proven itself in practice. Such a device would send consumers back into supermarkets demanding anything they could baste. The device is the Überbaster, and it works.

The chicken I roasted was basted about 12 times on its journey to 165°. It really could not have been simpler to operate, though I need to work on a better way to attach the tube to the bird in the oven. The skewer worked, but a brace with at least another prong would keep it in place much better. The images indicate that the stock was distributed over the whole bird, though I can’t be entirely sure since the oven I used had no window.

The chicken was perfect. The skin was crispy and delicious. The meat was moist. It is at least as good as any chicken I have ever roasted, and it tasted better than chickens I’ve roasted in recent memory. I believe that keeping the oven door closed contributed greatly to the overall quality of the chicken, and frequent basting clearly helped too. It went very nicely with mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. I will continue to roast this way while I work to improve the baster. Video, Images

Josh’s Roasted Chicken

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 lemon
• Several sprigs of rosemary
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• 1 stick of butter
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375°. Wash the chicken inside and out. Let chicken dry. Mince the leaves of a few sprigs of rosemary and a few cloves of garlic. Mix rosemary and garlic with half a stick of softened butter. Put the butter mixture under the skin of the chicken breasts. Rub olive oil and/or remaining butter on the outside of the chicken. Coat the inside and outside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice of a lemon inside the bird. Stuff the bird with the lemon and remaining garlic and rosemary. Roast the chicken to an internal temperature of about 120°, then crank the heat to 425° to finish. Baste frequently.

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