March 2010
21 posts
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Let's put an end to procrastination.
Was aiming for an early start today but body said otherwise. Nevertheless, I’m on my way in now and am aiming to get a lot done.
Recently I’ve been spending a lot of time on freelance stuff and ignored my coursework. I’m kinda in a catch 22 as I have never been poorer and need to do work but at the same time can’t neglect my studies. sigh
Still, I suppose I’ve had time to passively reflect on...
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Alexander Grünsteidl visits IMD4
Alexander Grünsteidl joined us in the studio today all the way from London. He’s one of the founders of Digital Well Being Labs, a company specialising in innovative consumer experiences through design.
Alexander talked to us in the morning about who he is and what he’s done (and how he got there); it was a very enjoyable presentation and gave me a lot of food for thought regarding...
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WatchSlopeScope in all it’s crapiness.
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Feeling: underwhelmed
Today I got the entire unit togther (minus a camera casing due to some issues physically accessing the wiimote to turn it on, doh! - new case is tomorrow’s task) and actually had my first go at using the unit and seeing video from it’s point of view.
Ignoring the rubbish quality of the camera (still to decide if it’s worth investing in a more expensive one) I was somewhat dissappointed by the...
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Pictures I like
Now that I have a temporary break from immediate deadlines. I thought I’d spend the evening fannying about on the web. I found these. I like them.
Man, I wish I had more time to do fun stuff like these.
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Make Mark II
I hereby (embarrassingly) submit my Make Markl II blog post a few days late.
I don’t feel the need to write a short story summarising my Make Mk II phase as I have been continuously blogging my thoughts, experiences and issues from the beginning. However, nothing wrong with a few, short, points explaining the gist of things…
Mk I was very much experimental, I was toying with...
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Pre-Make Mark II deadline
Today I finished crafting the first iteration of the cardboard model of the pan-tilt camera unit. Yay! Unfortunately it was promptly broken (accidentally, of course) which means I’m begging to be allowed back into the laser cutter first thing tomorrow morning to recut the bits which snapped. Shouldn’t be a huge issue to fix and hopefully won’t take too long as I have all the...
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Tuesday Presentation
My thoughts of the progress of the project were well received; thankfully everything worked and I think I managed to give the work I’ve done justice! Phew.
We’ve still got a large proportion of the class to get through but most people’s presentations are very informative. It’s nice to hear about someone else’s project for a change and not having to focus so intently...
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Pre-hand in presentation
We’re having a low-key presentation / crit session amongst ourselves tomorrow. Personally I think it’s a way for Graham to ensure that he is up to speed with each of our projects and a way to encourage us to think critically about our projects; more specifically, how we will explain (or ‘tell’) them in preparation for the start of the Tell Phase.
Either way it’s a...
Redesigning the dashboard
On the drive down to Manchester Calum and I were discussing whether the dashboard in cars is really used to its full potential. I’m thinking that this would be a nice starting point for a brief or a 4th year final project. One day when I’ve got a bit more time on my hands (will that day ever come!?) I’d like to look into this topic a bit more.
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Far from finished
Well, sadly, this week has been a bit of a write-off with fundraising taking up more time than anticipated. I’m going to be in Manchester this weekend also which means I can’t be in the studio working away. *sigh*
I had a catch-up chat with Graham the other day which highlighted some issues; in a nut-shell I’m terrified at the amount of work that needs done and I’m getting...
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Holy moley, this takes me back.
I spent the first part of this afternoon in the workshop blindly trying to build a mount to hold the pan servo on my tripod; obviously I failed spectacularly. I was measuring the thing there and then and attempting to cut pieces of MDF to fit. To try and save myself more grief I thought I best think about it a little more and draw a scale drawing with measurements.
I started in Illustrator and...