This is a good-to-know for everyone: performing CPR.
I like the cleanliness and clarity of the video, and the subtitles for the hearing-impaired (or simply have no sound/too much environment noise). The pace of the video is quick enough (demo starts right away without a title scene) that if one were in an emergency situation, this video will be a good aid.
Here is my Chinese-related contribution for the week: a beginner’s tutorial on Chinese calligraphy.
This 6-minute tutorial teaches a range of subjects:
1. How to write the character 永, meaning “eternity”
2. The origin of the character’s meaning
3. The pictorial relationship between Chinese characters’ form and meaning
4. The different styles of Chinese calligraphy
5. An extra example of the script style that showcases the fluidity of Chinese calligraphy
Tutorial aside, I like the slow pace of his brush writing; it’s reflective of the calmer side of Chinese culture that often gets overlooked. In fact, Chinese calligraphy has long been considered an artful exercise, where “all reputable calligraphers in China were well educated and well read…[and] skilled in other areas, most likely painting, poetry, music, opera, martial arts, and chess.” (wikipedia)
So yeah, ancient Chinese calligraphers could write well and kick butt!
Everyone knows how to make a paper airplane; it’s a skill we all picked up when we were very young. At that time, even the simplest folds were not intuitive. The concepts of symmetry, mountain/valley folds, and aligning the edges probably seemed as inscrutable as learning to dribble a basketball or jump rope for the very first time.
I chose this very simple tutorial for making a basic paper airplane. It uses short, animated GIFs to demonstrate each of the folds ALONG with a short text description. For a child, these motions would be essential for grasping what we adults can easily register mentally and mimic. The best part of this tutorial is that the animations make it possible for a child to complete a paper airplane without even knowing how to read.
喜 – xi, happiness or joy
喜喜 – “double” happiness or overjoy
喜喜 is a Chinese character that literally combines two of the characters for joy to denote especially joyous occasions, such as weddings and the Lunar New Year. Chinese lanterns (and other decorative items) often have this character written on them and so I have embroidered it in red (which signifies fortune) yarn, utilizing the eyelets in the lantern as a grid.
I then programmed the Arduino to output an uneven signal to the 8 LEDs inside the lantern to mimic the flickering of candles. In order to not burn out the board, I programmed the LEDs to go on only when the button is depressed.
The two lanterns are hung using the red yarn and then the entire chandelier is framed by two sections of dyed bamboo and some twine.
I hadn’t quite figured out what I could do with a chandelier, but as I’ve decided early on this semester, I wanted to integrate my own culture into as many projects as possible. And as long as it made sense.
As I headed down to Canal Plastics to pick up some acrylic for the project (I had thought of lasercutting them, although in what shapes I didn’t know), I stopped by the quintessential Chinese market in Soho: the Pearl River. In there (they don’t allow photos, unfortunately), I saw a variety of colorful Chinese lanterns and I knew right then I wanted to use them. I just needed to make them look like a chandelier, which, coincidentally, isn’t too far of a stretch since Chinese lanterns are hung in multitudes during the Chinese Lantern Festival, which marks the end of the Lunar New Year:
Chinese lanterns symbolize togetherness, well-being, and good fortune, having been part of the Chinese tradition for at least two thousand years.
I also need to incorporate some embroidery, so I picked out a few paper lanterns with eyelets, so I can put yarn through them. Here’s a photo of my embroidery in progress:
Since lantern were originally used as portable lights (they helped blocked candles from the wind, making them basically an ancient form of flashlights), I wanted the LEDs to mimic the flickering motions of the candle flame. To do that, I plan on modifying the “Blink” code along with the “Button” code to control it:
I was revisiting Gaia’s soluble clock topic and I thought of this installation.
I was revisiting Gaia’s soluble clock topic and I thought of this installation:
Key words: camouflage + fax machine replacement
Materials used: acrylic, rubber
Tools used: Lasercutter, wet-sand sanding paper, utility knife, epoxy glue, ruler
Skills learned: Lasercutter software operation, setting up thin pieces for cutting, basic interaction design (app schematic), basic history of name stamps
Plan to do more: Lasercutting and rastering, learning more about software/interaction design