Internet Gumbo

This week we are sending and recieving data to Processing via the serial port. In this lab i moved a circle around the screen with a potentiometer. Here’s the code:

– Processing CODE –

/* Serial call-and-response
by Tom Igoe (with adjustments by Dano)

Sends a byte out the serial port, and reads 3 bytes in.
Sets foreground color, xpos, and ypos of a circle onstage
using the values returned from the serial port

Updated October 12, 2004
*/

import processing.serial.*;

Serial myPort; // The serial port

int redNess = 255; // fill color
int[] serialStuff= new int[3];; //where we keep all the incoming stuff
int serialCount = 0; // a count of how many bytes we receive
int xpos= width/2;; // Starting position of the ball
int shape =65;

void setup() {
size(255, 255); // stage size
noStroke(); // no border on the next thing drawn
myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
serialWrite(65); // send a capital A to start the MC sending
}

void draw() {
background(0);
fill(redNess,0,0);
// Draw the shape
if (shape==65){ //switch value is 65 or 66 (I added 65 to the normal values 0 and 1)
ellipse(xpos, 100, 50, 50);
}else{
rect(xpos,100,50,50);
}
}

void serialEvent() { //this function gets called when something happens involving the serial port

//serial is a special variable provided by processing to give you the oldest byte waiting to be read
// add the latest byte from the serial port into the correct slot in your byte array
serialStuff[serialCount] = myPort.read();
serialCount++;

// if we have 3 bytes, parse the string:
if (serialCount> 2 ) {
redNess = 2* serialStuff[0];
xpos = serialStuff[1];
shape = serialStuff[2];

// after you got them all, go back to putting the bytes in the first slot in the array again
serialCount = 0;
// get a number between 0 to 255 for the mouseX
//if your stage is bigger than 255 //int mouseXIn0to255 = 255*mouseX/width
//send out the mouseX to postion the servo motor
myPort.write(mouseX);
}
}

– PIC BASIC CODE –

DEFINE OSC 4

DEFINE ADC_BITS 8
DEFINE ADC_CLOCK 3
DEFINE ADC_SAMPLEuS 20

lightVar var byte
potVaR VAR BYTE
switchVar var byte
inByte var byte

input portb.7

main:
switchVar = portb.7 + 65 //make it readable
adcin 0, potvar
adcin 2, lightvar
serout2 portc.6, 16468, [lightVar,potVar,switchVar]
serin2 portc.7, 16468, [inbyte]
Pulsout portd.0, inByte
PAUSE 10

goto main

I sat for a few days trying to ponder in my mind what was legally wrong with Danger Mouse mashing up the Jay-Z’s Black Album and the Beatles White album. Was Danger Mouse selling copies of the album on the Internet? Was the album so much like the originals it seemed as if he was allowing others to freely download original versions of the music? The answer to all of the above is NO. When did art become a crime? Is the record industry so out of touch with consumers they can’t see that this was nothing more than a form of creative expression? This is interesting because mash ups have been around for a long time. I remember as a kid listening to the radio and the D.J. would mash up things like Michael Jackson and RUN DMC.

I look forward to the day when artist will no longer be dependent on big music labels. Maybe indie bands can looking to blogging to figure a filtering system of what’s considered good music and what’s considered garbage. With a million blogs on the web, users have no problem discovering and finding what they like and don’t like. And maybe like the bloggers they can also figure out a way to make money from music they distribute on the web.

The story of DJ Danger Mouse’s “The Grey Album”

“As we noted in our arguments before the Ninth Circuit, the case raises a question of critical importance at the border between copyright and innovation: When should the distributor of a multi-purpose tool be held liable for the infringements that may be committed by end-users of the tool?”

Well, as everyone knows most users of peer-to-peer filesharing use such software to find and exchange copyrighted material.

“The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (a.k.a. the “Sony Betamax ruling”) held that a distributor cannot be held liable for users’ infringement so long as the tool is capable of substantial noninfringing uses.”

Most users of the betamax who did copy copyrighted materials did so for personal usage. Unlike the betamax, filesharing services users exchange copyrighted materials through the internet with users all over the world.

While i do think cases like this hamper technological innovations, they do have a valid point concerning the usage of such technologies that limits their revenue stream. They are in the business to make money.

MGM versus Grokster: Electronic Frontier Foundation’s position

It’s amazing how much we’re learning in PComp. We’re in week 4 and programing a computer chip to control a servo. So this week we’re programming a pic chip to control a servo with a potentiometer. Each week I feel like a painter learning how to create more colors. Here’s the code:

DEFINE OSC 4
start:

INCLUDE “modedefs.bas”

‘ Define ADCIN parameters

‘ Set number of bits in result
DEFINE ADC_BITS 10

‘ Set clock source (3=rc)
DEFINE ADC_CLOCK 3

‘ Set sampling time in microseconds
DEFINE ADC_SAMPLEUS 10

‘ Set PORTA to all input
TRISA = %11111111

‘ Set up ADCON1 analog and right justify the result
adcon1 = %10000010

‘define adc vars
adcVar0 VAR WORD ‘Create variable to store result

’set a var for the pulsewidth- this tells the motor where to go
pulseWidth var byte

‘thes values can be vary with different motors
minPulse CON 75
maxPulse CON 250
refreshPeriod CON 20

main:

‘read adc data
ADCIN 0, adcVar0

‘message the numbers so the value from the potentiometer matches the max and min of the servo
adcVar0 = (adcVar0/4) + 75

if adcVar0 >= 250 then
adcVar0 = 250
else
adcVar0= adcVar0
endif

‘assign pulseWidth to the position of the potentiometer
pulseWidth = adcVar0

’set the pin low
low PORTC.3

‘pulse the pin
PulsOut PORTC.3, pulseWidth

‘pause
pause refreshPeriod
GOTO main

Create a single image which contains 3-5 disparate elements which are combined to create a convincing new whole (i.e. opposing/contrary background and foreground elements, matched pieces to create a new single element, etc.) Upload to your class site. Bring psd file with layers to class.

Download Photoshop File