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Showing posts with label material design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label material design. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 22

Catching up with neat-o fancy apps of web | app UI design, with universal or hybrid platform code bas

For first-time web | app (website-derived apps, or even in-page call stack coding “miniatures,” if you will) - somebody (like, myself), who is a “basically” amateur open-book sort of web app developer | aspirational type of approach to coding (except for Linux stuff, which has only limited-scope usefulness and portability, in this consideration of a use case scenario):

  • Many people, I imagine, simply draw a blank, as to what to do, in a case like this, since it was all just some imaginable “great” internet-borne experience.
  • Consequently, the urge to come up with something ingenious and worthwhile (worth talking about, perhaps) comes to mind.
  • The mind comes to consider that somebody else had already come up with this great idea.
  • A search on the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store commences / newbies might, alternately, opt to try to break in to / subvert their devices security measures, and pursue some sort of disassembly of their device and or it’s operating system, for the sake of coming upon something “better.”


  • Ugh.
  • Personally, I stopped doing the self-hacking of the device and the disassembly thing, several years ago, since I was always at odds with coming up with something innovative, or productive. 

     To be certain, 

    most decent development ideas have already been derived and established, of an organic nature, independently - just as an offhand fleeting assertion; the notion could extend to as much as that we are always, it may seem, and from here on out - aside from the expectation of that novelty, as a general premise in development, and in discovery; perhaps, innovation, per se, we now have some recent seminal works on the limitations of novelty, given some development task. For example, in the recent years, leading up to this point in time, we have some of the formative rhetoric and ideological and logistical backdrop established, as to what can be attained and wrought, from out of an intersection between novelty and the influence of creative works, from the study:

    Park, D., Nam, J. & Park, J. Novelty and influence of creative works, and quantifying patterns of advances based on probabilistic references networks. EPJ Data Sci. 9, 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-019-0214-8

    “Also, there are implications for the psychological study of novelty as well. It has been known in optimal theory of novelty that the positive acceptance (also called the “hedonic value”) of novelty follows the so-called Wundt curve that increases initially but decreases after a peak, indicating that too much novelty can be off-putting to humans…”

    which includes references to information derived from yet other works:

    Berlyne, D. E. (1969). Arousal, reward and learning. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences159(3), 1059-1070.
    and 

    Berlyne, D. E. (1970). Novelty, complexity, and hedonic value. Perception & psychophysics8(5), 279-286.

    Both, simply for a quick flash of the context’s potential subject areas, which could, or ought to be considered, in this case. 

    Essentially, the topic, in and of itself, supposes that novel ideas are limited, in their usefulness and in their longevity, yet, as we may observe, from the initially-cited article, 

Tuesday, March 21

The neat-o iPigeon.institute homemade instrument of the day (updating).

As an aspiring mobile device-driven music box designer, from various standpoints of development: nature’s form of the instrument (whistles, clicks, pops, bird sounds, and resonant bodies of materials, such as metal, wood, etc.), digital design of the emulated instrument (physical modeling, synthesized sounds, audio recordings, key mappings, and transpositions), as well as the delivery of the app, in a usable form, of some standard such as MIDI, 


I have, on one hand, a lot of free space to work with, given that any individual component would reasonably simulate some sort of more complex mechanical form and instrument structure, for example, my first novelty device:

The Can Drum Bellows Clicks-Flourisher - runs on tar!

Long-time readers of mine know that I’m big in to tar. What a fortunate discovery, to have happened upon this hand-crafted (post-manufacture and consumer use of this recyclable product - an aluminum can) bellows device - a sequential flourish-clicker, if you will, with features of a miniature steel drum; on one hand, percussive, as the form of the instrument was crafted by my own musician’s take on suitable design, for a makeshift tobacco pipe, whereas - as a pipe, for that matter, the instrument is played with the breath. It goes well, with a popping sound, perhaps, as a flourish moment, in a musical idea, whereas the tar, from smoking the aluminum can pipe, with tobacco; then smeared (the tar) across the numerous holes in the can’s smoking bowl section, whereby the can, suitably designed, mind you, would blow out, with a bellows thrust and force design concept, in mind, with both flutish and percussive effects being achieved, in one simple blow. 


It’s a simple thing to construct, yet it takes a musician’s skill and finesse, along with some entrained tonal fine-motor muscle tuning, which goes in to the crushing of the can - perhaps even a newcomer could construct the panels of the body of the instrument well enough; it’s just that this is particularly a musical instrument consideration. The holes are poked through, slightly, with a safety pin, or needle, perhaps, and the blowing happens through the drinking mouthpiece, otherwise, visually, the “top” of the can. 

Try it for yourself! It’s really a cute instrument to pull off, to wow your friends, compatriots, and passersby, alike. Try it with a squeeze pop!


Hear the individual sounds of the instrument, freshly capped with tar, from tobacco!





Thursday, January 14

Miniaturizing the Mobile Pro Audio Setup: Offload the Hardware Signal Processing Chain to Accessory Devices. (iOS, iPadOS, Android).

 Pro audio buffs, of generations past, had gone through various golden ages of outboard gear in |post| production studios and on-site recording and performance settings.

With the advent of multi-core computer processing, which saw a boom in multimedia production studios in the popular consumer electronics setting in the early 2000's with Apple's PowerPC dual and quad-core processors in their G5 PowerMac line, made by IBM. I had one of their quad core G5 systems near the time that they were first released, and at that time, it was a significant workhorse. I was in school, at UC Riverside, for Music, as my bachelor's of arts degree, for course work, and I did some hip hop production and mixing on the side, with my tower as my significant main device; I had an AKG large diaphragm condenser microphone hooked up through a MOTU audio interface, and I ran many sessions, and composed many tracks, through that set up.

With the advent of multi-core processing, software companies began virtualizing the former generation's hardware platform offerings, by creating virtual instruments and software plugins that ported the analog or digital rack mount units, synthesizers, and outboard processing gear of former ages of audio production and post-production. Back then, the challenge was wiring everything efficiently and the significant costs involved in procuring pro audio gear. Studio owners and music producers were an iconic role model for many of us, who aspired to work in audio. Studio time commanded significant professional rates, and many of the older music professionals etched out a living for themselves out in the Hills, and the Valley, as old lore of their lifestyles was discovered, while I worked as a craigslist software installation specialist, from around 2006-2012.

Consequentially, with the advent of the consumer-level multimedia | pro audio workstations, many of us, as youths, bought in to the lifestyle, as startup CEOs of small means post-production, live recording, artist management, and marketing | publicity business operations during that time, and a significant push to establish software tools that emulated the hardware options of the big studios on prosumer devices, such as the MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, and iMac devices became the heralding legacy that was established during the late 2000's decade. 

Towards the end of that decade, and in to the 2010's, the economy went bust, and people began to rely upon available software options that had already been produced and manufactured, while eschewing purchasing new hardware, or they began to buy in to the new mobile smartphone device ecology, as the iPhone had picked up speed and reputation as the hot new thing to own. Back in the early 2000's, electronic music and hip hop were gaining ground as the significant cultural movement in young adult popular culture. Come 2012, people had become burnt out on life, and the surveillance state had taken it's authoritative role over many people's minds, as this was the fates time, in the psychiatric profession's DSM-IV | V, for the onset of schizophrenia in certain subtypes of people, having hit age 30. 

Many people were scrambling for answers about the Illuminati, while suspicious of the wealthy, whereas, I suppose, many other young professionals had made out in life with suitable live-work circumstances, while the former decades' "living it up" demographic faded in to a downward spiral set of circumstances. Hardware marketplaces for consumer laptop and desktop systems, such as craigslist, became a cut-throat grounds in competitiveness, whereas craigslist had been a solid and dependable niche market to fulfill, for some, such as myself. People expected to procure their device needs, whether it was software or hardware, at significantly competitive rates, and news stories of shocking violence and shady encounters marred the craigslist brand for many people. Keep in mind that I worked in Los Angeles, which had the legacies of the entertainment industry and Hollywood as the bread and butter economy, for many various sorts of young and established professionals, alike. 

Around that time (2012) I somewhat fell out of the whole online and local marketplace scene, as schizophrenia took hold of me, and I went through several years of couch-surfing, shacking up with some of my former good craigslist relations, and subsequently, as all options for commerce became slimmer and slimmer, I ended up losing my Audi A4, and I was incarcerated for Grand Theft Auto for keeping a rental car for too long. It was a gradual, but sure descent, in to detriments and misfortunes, as I knew of no other options which would sustain me through financial hardships. 

Here and there, after being released from jail and hospitals, several times over, I procured some new devices on store credit, as lease options, with phone and data plans. I wasn't much in to the hacking scene, as I had gotten much of that spirit and impetus out of me during my years at University, so I didn't get in to jailbreaking my devices, much, at all. It turned out to be a fortunate timing, for me, as I came to discover the App Store, with its many offerings of third party software apps, for my |temporary| enjoyment of my time with my iPhone 7 Plus and my iPad Pro (2017). Unfortunately, I became a victim of homelessness and a target of stalking, while homeless, and I lost my devices, due to casual mishaps and foolish slight decisions made while nearing exhaustion, for the sake of producing intelligence on the topic of coming to understand my mental health circumstances, and in resurging my interests in pro audio and multimedia app mastery, while I had battery charges on my devices. 

Come 2020, and I had still yet had become a victim of homelessness and stalker-targeting, as a newly device-imbued homeless person. Yet, the COVID-19 Pandemic had struck, and over time, during the summer, I had finally procured another stable home environment to live in, thanks to my social services and mental health care providers. The Employment Development Department's offerings of unemployment insurance, for those affected by the pandemic, became a topic of notice and of pursuit, for me, as I eventually entered my claimant status as unemployed, and I came to receive unemployment insurance, in the midsummer of 2020. It was a significant boon, for me, as I was capable of receiving back pay, from the beginning of the onset of the pandemic, in March, whereas Pandemic Unemployment Award benefits, of an additional $600 per week, were being offered to constituent beneficiaries of unemployment insurance. Many people shun the president, for perceived slights and blunders, but all in all, I see President Trump as a capable leader, quite obviously, who lead the nation, as best as could be capably done, through what has ended up being a significant debacle, of a global scale, while maintaining a significant presence in our daily lives and collective mind, in America, as a regularly "social" leader, on the Twitter platform (which I prefer, as well, as my standard public relations outlet). He was the one who lead us in to receiving these benefits, which, at this point in time (January 2021), have amounted to over $17,000 for me, which I'd detailed, richly, as far as spendings and procurements, over the months, here, on iPigeon.institute Blog, Facebook, and Twitter. 

All things being said and continuing forth, as far as unemployment benefits are concerned, it was a significant boon for me, given that I had limited expenses, as my food and rent were largely taken care of for me, while I was receiving unemployment benefits. It was a significant time of plenty and good fortune, which seems to be coming to a head, as I'm somewhat faced with a fork in the road, as far as that I'm currently seeking to become employed, as an exit strategy and best-practices risk aversion from being the last one being handled benefits, with no foreseeable alternatives, as unemployment insurance claim money and time span allotments of claim status may run out on us. 

That being said, I've come to richly re-discover the establishments and gains in tech, both in terms of software and hardware, given my new devices: a MacBook Air 2020, an iPad Pro 11 inch (2020), and a Google Pixel 4a 5G, as my smartphone device. Having discovered Amazon, as a consumer electronics purchaser for a Google Blogger Content Publisher on Google Marketing Platform, as my enterprise establishment basis for iPigeon.institute, and my various other alternate concept blogs that I'd come up with, since I started out on Blogger, $17,000+ had come a long way for me, as well as that I'd significantly paid in to California state payroll taxes, and polished out my business establishment formalities, in becoming "official." 

I'd come to consider that the miniaturization of our devices, within the realm of multimedia and third party app offerings, is somewhat akin to being a development echelon, of sorts, in that we had put up our big tech corporate iconic establishments on a pedestal, whereas miniaturization of devices comes at a cost - on one hand, a device antenna is somewhat implicated, in a smartphone, or a tablet, (even in a computer, many times), as a chipset, with a coupling cable that connects it to the main board, whereas it's powered by the electronics current supply of voltage necessary to power it. On one hand, it works, largely. On the other hand, it's a tiny device, with scarcely a common notion of an actual "antenna" about it. 

In researching and purchasing through my current pro audio (miniature, yet third party devices) set up, I'd |re-|discovered some things, leaning towards an appreciation of "bigger is better," which I'd happened upon, in the facet aspect of having purchased some bluetooth and wired lavalier microphones, of varying quality, whereas the larger and more costly device features ostensibly larger onboard components, given the comparison product of our earphones' small, rectangular volume and command inline microphone attachment, which most of us can relate to, as a much-miniaturized set of a few hardware devices and features, of our signal chains, in audio and communications. Not that we're upset with the quality of things; it's just that pro audio aspirations seek higher and better status, in quality of the audio representative form. 

Take Apple's eGPU product offerings, on the Apple official online store, for example (since we're still largely locked out of freely browsing Apple retail stores, at leisure). In these products, Apple offers a comparatively large plug-in hardware device, which offloads the main device's graphics computational processes to a larger scale and form external device. On one hand, the GPU components of our laptop computers skirt upon comparable specifications, yet not so, just quite, in the lower-end devices. In pro multimedia gear, such as in high end microphones, the echelons of greater performance become a bell curve, of product capabilities in finery, at the higher end of cost, come a certain point in the cost of devices. That is, once a device peaks past the couple or several-hundred dollar range, the performance gains are slighter, yet these things are unattainable at the lower and mid-grade of consumer electronics. Nowadays, with competitive third party manufacturing in producing outboard gear for our mobile devices, it's a global competition, and price points are pushed ever lower, for establishing consumer empathy and affections for the product offerings being more towards the mid-upper $50-$100 range, some things could peak over $100, for specialty purposes, while keeping most people happy, whereas people place value in their devices in a distributed manner, for having many hardware outboard options, in that people like the visual complexity of having achieved some notion of mastery over their toolset, for that there are many tools implemented, at hand. Just as the pro audio studios of former years would have an impressive deck, and outboard gear, on racks, networked servers, storage, monitors, speakers, etc.  

With the onset and coming of the age of IoT devices, in popularity, development Systems on Chips (and Modules) [SoCs, SoMs] becoming more diversely available, given industry specifications and specializations, and hardware telephony, broadcast, and receipt becoming more within reach, and within tolerance of the consumer, given latency and bandwidth | throughput considerations in WiFi and Bluetooth | broadband signals, such as 5G, as well as that 3D printers are signaling a Golden Age for design, in manufacturing, there is a significant push for consumer devices to depend upon outboard gear, with consumer affections for expanding upon personal and professional interests becoming commonplace, and novel, for that many compelling and attractive developments and devices come from third party manufacturers. Economic circumstances call for bootstrap startup ecology in becoming the defining purpose of many people's professional aspirations, amidst a time of job offering uncertainty and lackluster performance, and professional options being scarce, for the common person. Even gig jobs are difficult to procure, whereas craigslist had once been (yet, on one hand, still is, a standard stalwart of local gig job and one-off economy); Reverb, though, as I'd discovered, is a new craigslist (music gear and tech section), of sorts, for musicians and music retailers, for example. It'll be interesting to discover what outlets and offerings become popular in the multimedia outboard and web | app offerings in the various areas of specialization in e-commerce and in the manufacture of devices in the IoT establishment, in coming months and years.
A Google Coral Dev Board, puttied on to the wall, and somewhat as an aesthetic and passive piece, since I'm not able to figure out the programming on it, just yet 

My miniature vacuum tube headphone amplifier, as my centerpiece to a miniaturized pro audio mobile live audio setup. It works wonders for the sounds, and for the music. 

A chaotic array of wires, and some devices of "Things." Wires are messy, yet they're the surest way to make something work, at the moment. I always make sure to keep milk on hand, to keep healthy. 

A peek at some of my creative, development and research process products, ingredients (packaging and inspiration), and my hardware investments. My workspace, of one side of the room.






Monday, November 30

How to: hand-crafting a Material Design icon.

Google's Material Design website is a rich resource, dedicated to functional and compelling web | app design. On the website, there is a tutorial detailing the construction of a hand-crafted paper-based Material Design icon; done so (with paper), for the purpose of creating true-to-life shading. 

The tutorial inspired me to create my own Material Design icon, based from my "pigeons and friends" repertoire of square-shaped iconic pigeons [and friends]. Here are the source images:


According to the material.io guidelines, the icon's design ought be uniform in stroke thickness, somewhat bold and simplistic.




I've got a challenge, at hand, therefore, n rendering and shaping the image that I end up choosing, for the icon, in that my illustrations are more gesturally-based and freehand, rather than designed and pixelated. I'm somewhat hoping to design with a future-forward eye to the project (if that makes any sense), in perhaps trying to keep detail that I might, for the sake of higher-resolution Dot Per Millimeter (DPM) schemes on devices that are newer and allow for on-screen zoom, for further clarity. Otherwise, I stand to compromise the decipherability of the icon for the end-user's sake of identifying and connecting to the icon. My goal, other than the material.io website's 24 x 24 pixel design basis (for system icon's), is a larger visual scope final purpose, such as placement and viewership established on mediums such as the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store.  

Here are the tools and materials that I purchsed for developing the card paper "shaded" model of the finalized icon, which I purchased from Blick Art Materials store in Pasadena.





Updating...



Saturday, June 6

iPigeon Games that I Play. [development, self-expression, inner child]. Update: I can play spinner.

As I'm out, in our region's civic centers, and pedestrian districts, [or at home, nestling in, for a content publish push and post, on the Internet], in between newsfeed intake, social media rapport and upkeep, and checkin' my face - today, I had sooo embarrassing boogers in my nose, which I discovered after talking to people; and I have to live this life out somehow, still - I play little iPigeon games, as an aside. 

These iPigeon games are cute, darling, and endearing standing attestments to what's commonly otherwise referred to, ‹ in our upbringing › [or, in the former generation], as attending to the figurative context of the "inner child." Everybody can relate to the inner child, I'd say. As we grow and adapt in to adulting, we're, in intervals, fraught with abuse of what's otherwise "not know|in'| well enough, to twang it into context, whereas, as iPigeons-officinalus, of appropriate husbandry and heritage of heraldry, we're brought up as our best-selves, that we [rather, as underlings], are lacking of, given that our ‹ inner-child › had been inured:

Saturday, January 12

An iPigeon.instiute DTLA Nightlife Fun Page of Carnival Pigeons Sort - a « sidewalk-outside-of » Karl Strauss Brewery Can-Smashing Activity

A Material Design .webp, courtesy of Google Development efforts. Share and Attribute.
DTLA Karl Strauss Brewery Sidewalk Can Smashing Activity.

To be updated and fulfilled of .webp shortly.

But check out the dynamics of coloring alteration as the phone / tablet moves! You do work on mobile, right? Aztec codes ought to be dynamic user experiences.

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