Reflective Blog Post #4 - Make 3

For our third make, we had to make toyhacks. The definition of a toyhack is evidently broad: take a toy or toys and alter them to be used in an interesting new way. This extends to turning a ball in a sock into dog toys, making your train set play the xylophone, and to stop-motion animation. Of course, I had to do stop-motion animation since videos be what I do.

We were instructed to use our toyhacks to address a "problem of science." From the start, I was confused as to what a "problem of science" was. Its definition fortunately seemed to be just as broad.

A couple of weeks ago, we were assigned to find science articles that related to us or interested us personally. I found one about "The Echo Nest," a program/tech startup that analyzes the listening patterns, ratings, and comments internet users make for songs. It uses this data to suggest songs to listeners. It is a service utilized by several music-streaming websites. It is more accurate and user-specific than, say, Grooveshark's suggestion service.

The problem I found is this: won't such a user-specific service keep listeners in their own "little spheres of preference"? I wrote a page on this problem in my daybook:
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The writer of The Echo Nest article and the creator(s) of The Echo Nest seem to assume that we need technological assistance in finding music we like. Ain't that bad and wrong? I use GrooveShark often, and the songs/artists it suggests are based on the genres I frequently listen to. With this system, I've come across numerous new songs that I've quite enjoyed. But that suggestion system is based entirely on genre. The Echo Nest picks up every detail it can about what the listener likes or dislikes and make very tailored suggestions. Doesn't this constrain listeners, encouraging them to stay safe in their little spheres of preference? I think people should actively leave their comfort zones now and then anyway, suggestions aside. My question then is this: What do the brains behind The Echo Nest hope to achieve? What is the perceived good they are doing? I'm not trying to be accusatory; I really want to know why they think this is a necessary service. I will even accept that it was made for the maker's profit, as long as it's an answer.
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So I decided to use two "toys" I had laying around my dorm - a bouncy Spider-Man stress ball and my 3DS - to construct a stop-motion animation in which this problem is addressed. I came up with that specific idea while I was writing my memo to my writing group. As a matter of fact, if you read that memo, you can see the elements of the animation being detailed as the ideas come to me. The exact same thing happened during my second Make - while writing a memo about how I had no idea what I was going to do, I got a very good idea of exactly what to do.

And just like Make Cycle 2, the final product strayed very little from the initial idea. If one looks in my daybook and at my memo at the same time, they will find the entirety of the Spider-Man/Echo Nest dialogue.

Perhaps simply constructing a two-character dialogue about the problem I brought up isn't very clever. Creating an abstract physical representation of an issue undoubtedly takes a different, more involved approach. Still, I did my best, and I think the way I used my props is at least a little clever.

More notes from the daybook:
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How could I have done anything but a stop-motion animation?  I make videos it's what I like to do. Also, I don't know how I would address a problem by working on a physical make. When I can just verbally engage the subject, the other methods seem excessively difficult. To me, anyway.
And you know, the process underwent very few changes Initial idea was directly realized on video.
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META BLOG! (coincidentally the name of my new math rock band)

Well, here we are in the ripe old month of October! Not sure what I mean by that, but the point is we've come a long way from learning each other's names via miming. We've all done a fair bit of creative science-related writing in that time, and then we all blogged about it! Whether you're really into science, the concept of science, or neither, you've had to write your personal experiences and opinions about this topic. Lemme look through such writing I've done and reflect on my reflections.

REFLECTIVE BLOG POST 1

Didn't have much to go on at the time. No makes so far, so I probably should have commented on Gawandi some more. It seems I was a bit worried about having to write in journals "persistently," but due to the great liberty of what one can write in the morning "free writes" and the infrequency of blog posts, it hasn't been a problem.

REFLECTIVE BLOG POST 2

The most fun project of the class so far, I think. At least the most rewarding - I'm a little proud of the creativity I put in my Minecraft map. But that's beside the point- the point is to scrutinize my blog.

It's certainly better than the first - it addresses how I feel about the class's focus on science and my unfortunate inability to personally connect. Fortunately, science wasn't the focus of that particular make and I had a lot of fun with it. I'm not sure if I should have gone into more detail about how I went about making the video - I probably should have had more insight into the mental process culminating in its creation. For example, why I chose those specific highlights in my life. How did Stephen King "blow my mind"? In what way has early reading affected my writing? The answer to the former would take too much time. The answer to the latter is this: I used to read young fantasy novels often, Robin McKinley, Tamora Pierce, J.K. Rowling, so most of my exposition becomes a trite imitation. I really don't know how to write engaging exposition for a novel. I feel I should learn that some day.

I sort of meandered into nonsense territory at the end. It was late, and I apologize.

REFLECTIVE BLOG POST 3

I'm honestly disappointed with this one, especially when you compare the length of this post with other Make 2 reflections. As I've said before, here and in my other posts, I lack scientific initiative, so I had a hard time describing the process of the video - I just go over some scant logistical details. As mentioned in this post, though, the video was nearly entirely off the cuff, so there honestly wasn't much I could think to add.

OVERALL

It is recommended on the ENGL 1103 Wix website to address your daybook writings in your Reflective Blog posts. I should remember to do that from now on. Moreover, I will surely try to include more of my thought process for the make in each reflection - the problem is that can be difficult when I don't have much personal connection to science. That's the biggest hurdle, to be sure.

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, my darlings. Be sure to check every blog post I make, because I'll be sure to use unusual words like "darlings" in each of them! See you all next Make!