I took my first prototype to a meeting with Chris the other day and he was impressed with the progress. However there are still a lot of things I have to consider. Firstly, if I used bluetooth or a USB serial connection betwwen my device and a computer it kinda defeats the object of having a device…I might as well write an app. to log the data using the keyboard! Secondly, if I use a GPRS module to combat the first problem, there are issues with cost (£100 for the module + sim card and monthly service charges) and also I have to justify why I am using this device rather than just writing an app. for a java based phone that does essentially the same thing. The point of this device is that is a cheap, open source (to build and software) and most of all simple module to log analogue data. Another point hat was raised is whether to adapt the software I write for the button to work on a mobile phone or PDA and make it available for download alongside the device.

I like Duchamp. He seems like me type of guy! Taking something that already exists and calling it art…genius! Obviously there is a deeper theoretical context to it. A good quote from Duchamp:

“It is necessary to arrive at selecting an object with the idea of not being impressed by this object on the basis of enjoyment of any order. However, it is difficult to select an object that absolutely does not interest you, not only on the day on which you select it, and which does not have any chance of becoming attractive or beautiful and which is neither pleasant to look at nor particularly ugly.”

I like this idea of the ‘Readymade’. It makes the world seem like a better place.

I have been having a mess around with Arduino. I built a simple circuit using and LED and a push button to simulate what I want to achieve in the end; a circuit that outputs something when I press a button essentially! I then wrote a simple push button program in Arduino and loaded it onto the board et voilà! Worked first time. Although this is seriously basic stuff in Arduino I wanted to get something working to boost my confidence in using it. The world is now my oyster!

…and bull story!

On a long and boring train journey then other day I sat and watched ‘A Cock and Bull Story‘ (partly because it is on the reading list for the narrative module and partly because Im a Coogan fan!). Having never read the Lawrence Sterne classic on which the film is based, the undertones of the film weren’t clear. To my surprose, the following week’s Narrative lecture was entirely on ‘The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman’. I think the film has sparked an interest in the book…I might go read it. Who knows…I may be able to use it in the project.

I have knocked up a quick schematic of how the system should work.

Alternatively there is a contingency plan for the serial connection to the client machine. If the Bluetooth option is not suitable there is a readily available USB serial connection that I can use:

After my last project meeting (the first since the Xmas break) Chris and I both decided that I should start to make something! I am now pretty certain that my project will consist of a ‘datalogger’ that will wirelessly send a signal to a server to log the data in a database of some sort. This data can then be published in the public domain. As iI am going to make the Datalogger myself I thought it would be a good call to get started with some basic electronics. I purchased an Arduino Diecimila USB board (which arrived on friday!) to start having a mess around with. So my first steps were to plug it into my computer and sort the USB drivers out on my computer…which I have just done. It lit up like a christmas tree and installed first time with no problems…great! Next stap…get some electronic bits and bobs and make em do stuff! More on that later…

I’ve been looking at the Internet Archives ‘Wayback machine‘. The Internet Archive has been archiving the web since 1996 and has snapshots of every webpage that has existed in that time. The wayback machine can show you all the different variations of a particular URL. Its really interesting to see what sites looked like back in the days when the web wasn’t really the web we know. This shows a really interesting map of a particular URL and how it has been used over a period of time. Take a look at the entries that were found when I searched against google (there were thousands!) and also the prototype google page back in 1998.

I just had another meeting with Chris about the space project. I was trying to form my ideas into a physical project as so far all I have is theory. I want to translate the cycles and ‘use’ (brownfield) theories on to mapping the use of something. Chris suggested that text was a good one to look at, specifically keyboards. There are certain letters of the English alphabet that aren’t used half as much as others, this could provide some interesting maps of the use of language. It could either be a real time mapping system that shows the use of the letters on the keyboard as you type or it could be a system that maps the language use of a certain text or webpage to produce maps similar to the google mars example.

Ok, I have to start thinking about another project. I started a new module at the start of Janurary called Narrative and Digital form and its essentially about Narrative and the theory behind it in Digital practices. We have to “produce and present an original digital work that experiments with narrative and form in terms of conventions, languages, techniques or practices.” We havn’t had much lecture material so far, so as far as the project content is concerned I will have to wait and see. However if there is some way I can incorporate my newly found love of arduino and physicaly objects into the project then I will!

I have been thinking about a chat I had with Chris about a month ago where we talked about ways you could digitise analogue data using a bespoke device. A comedy ‘Big Red Button’ came up as a concept of something you hit every time something happens in order to log that event. I have been looking into Arduino over the Xmas break and looking into ways to accomplish this. Gianni Corino, a lecturer and digital artist with iDAT complete a project called Quixote in which he made a puppet with a GPS unit and a GPRS transmitter that sent data to a server. Now this is kinda what I am looking to do and I am currently trying to get a meeting with him to have a chat. I’ve also found various pre built Arduino boards with GPRS and bluetooth (and also here) connectivity built in. I like the idea of the bluetooth device, but the problem will be getting it to transmit data to a server where it can be logged.