early chapter concepts

• so your market is collapsing
• not panicking–money you need in the short term should not be in the market in any case
• saving more money–rising costs due to market instabilities mean that having more liquidity at hand will be worthwhile
• spreading your savings around–in case any particular banks fail, waiting for FDIC reimbursements for one account at a time is best
• buying goods with seemingly-intrinsic value, gold, diamonds, etc
• stockpiling weapons and ammunition
• so your savings are evaporating
• small engine repair
• making moonshine
• a beginner’s guide to cobbling
• a beginner’s guide to tailoring
• marksmanship
• so your family is starving
  • growing crops
  • digging latrines
  • obtaining potable water
  • identifying edible mushrooms
  • setting bones

Cover Design (click for a big version):

obviously the authors and quotes are fakes, but they are placeholders for how layout would work.

rainforest deforestation

in any case, having a third dimension to scroll through, while keeping the kind of effects i want may be a way of keeping the visualization painterly while not getting it too busy with pop-up tooltips and things like that.

here’s the code:

package bayesian.visualization;

import java.lang.reflect.Array;
import java.nio.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.nio.channels.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.lang.Object.*;
import a2z.*;
import java.awt.*;

import java.util.regex.*;
import concordance.treemap.Word;
import processing.core.PApplet;
import processing.core.PFont;

public class Visualization extends PApplet
{
	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
	PFont fontA = loadFont("AmericanTypewriter-100.vlw");
	PFont fontB = loadFont("AmericanTypewriter-Bold-48.vlw");

	public void setup() {
		size(1440,900,P3D);
		colorMode(RGB, 255, 255, 255, 255);
	}

	public void draw() {
		background(0,0,0);

		try {
		A2ZFileReader data = new A2ZFileReader("data.txt");
		String datacontent = data.getContent();

		String wordtokens = "[.\\s]";		//period here makes it work, relate the number to the decimal?
		//breaks into "word" "0" "value after decimal sign"

		String[] words = datacontent.split(wordtokens);
		//String[] numbers = datacontent.split(numtokens);

		// me trying to see what actually is in the array
		/*System.out.println("+++"+words[0]+"+++");
		System.out.println("+++"+words[1]+"+++");
		System.out.println("+++"+words[2]+"+++");
		System.out.println("+++"+words[3]+"+++");*/

		//instantiate a new array of arrays with more space than we'll need (i hope)
		int[][] location = new int[2][4000]; // 2 rows for x and y, 4000 words allowed

		int counter = 0;
		for(int i = 0; i < 4000; i=i+3){ //note: there is a waste 0 in the array, need to increment by 3
			//String current = lines[0];

			/*System.out.println(counter);					//debug
			 *System.out.println("word: "+words[i]);		//debug
			 *System.out.println("number: "+words[i+2]);	//debug
			 */

			/* by having the for loop iterate with i+2 each time, I can use a single array to hold all of
			 * the interesting stuff
			 */

			// pull out the number associated with the words
			// the number is the third of the word/number pairs, hence i+2 as the array value	

			String shortnumber = words[i+2].substring(0, 2);
			int temp = Integer.parseInt(shortnumber);
				System.out.println("temp: "+temp);

			String temp2  = "0."+temp;
			float bayesnumber = Float.valueOf(temp2).floatValue();
				System.out.println("bayesnumber: "+bayesnumber);

			/* possible to round the numbers to just two digits? maybe even just truncate them?
			 * then it's easy to take the 2 digit values and divide by 100 to get a nearly on
			 * decimal that can be used by the rest of the code that I've written
			 */

			// Set up a size for text, proportional to interestingness
			float value = Math.abs(0.5f - bayesnumber);
			System.out.println(value);

			System.out.println("value: "+value);

			//testing
			if (value < .03){
				value = 0;
			}

			//float logvalue = log(value);
			//int size = (int)((value) * 150);
			//int size = (int)(30*(1-value));
			int size = 12;

			//give it a minimum, for display purposes
			if (size < 12){
				size = 12;
			}

			// Set up a minimum transparency for text to be somewhat visible
			textFont(fontA, size);
			int alpha = (int) (value*255);
			if (alpha < 32){
				alpha = 32;
			}
			// Set color with transparency, fiddle with presentation

			/* To do: need to get the center of each word based on word length
			 * and then center each word's display
			 */

			noStroke();

			if (bayesnumber > 0.5){
				// Right side is red
				int c1 = color(255,(255-(2*alpha)),(255-(2*alpha)),(255-alpha));
				fill(c1);

				//scale location for size of screen
				int xpos = ((int)(width*bayesnumber)-65);
				int ypos = (int)(.31*counter);

				//draw words themselves
				int textwidth = (int) textWidth(words[i]);
				int modwidth = 2*(textwidth+30);
				text(words[i], xpos-textwidth, ypos);

				//add location of the word to the location 2D array
				location[0][counter] = xpos;
				location[1][counter] = ypos;

				//on mouseover of quad, draw box
				if ((xpos-textwidth < mouseX) && (mouseX < xpos) && (ypos < mouseY) &&( mouseY < (ypos+size))){

					//get the information used in the box
					String ranking = "Bayesian Score: "+bayesnumber;
					int size2 = 12;
					textFont(fontA, size2);
					int boxwidth = (int) textWidth(ranking);

					if (boxwidth > modwidth){
						fill(0,0,0);
						stroke(255,255,255,64);
						quad(xpos,ypos+15,xpos-boxwidth-30,ypos+15,xpos-boxwidth-30,ypos-50,xpos,ypos-50);

						//draw the word in a legible size
						fill(c1);
						size = 30;
						textFont(fontA,size);
						text(words[i],xpos-15-boxwidth,ypos-15);

						//draw the bayesian ranking for the word
						fill(c1);
						size2 = 12;
						textFont(fontA, size2);
						text(ranking,xpos-boxwidth-15,ypos+10);
					}
					else{
						fill(0,0,0);
						stroke(255,255,255,64);
						quad(xpos,ypos+15,xpos-modwidth,ypos+15,xpos-modwidth,ypos-50,xpos,ypos-50);

						//draw the word in a legible size
						fill(c1);
						size = 30;
						textFont(fontA,size);
						text(words[i],xpos+15-modwidth,ypos-15);

						//draw the bayesian ranking for the word
						fill(c1);
						size2 = 12;
						textFont(fontA, size2);
						text(ranking,xpos-modwidth+15,ypos+10);
					}
				}
			}
			if (bayesnumber < 0.5){
				// Left side is blue
				int c1 = color((255-(2*alpha)),(255-(2*alpha)),255,(255-alpha));
				fill(c1);

				//scale location for size of screen
				int xpos = ((int)(width*bayesnumber)-65);
				int ypos = (int)(.31*counter);

				//draw words themselves
				int textwidth = (int) textWidth(words[i]);
				int modwidth = 2*(textwidth+30);
				text(words[i], xpos, ypos);

				//add location of the word to the location 2D array
				location[0][counter] = xpos;
				location[1][counter] = ypos;

				//on mouseover of quad, draw information box, fill it with info
				if ((xpos < mouseX) && (mouseX < xpos+textwidth) && (ypos < mouseY) &&( mouseY < (ypos+size))){

					//get the information used in the box
					String ranking = "Bayesian Score: "+bayesnumber;
					int size2 = 12;
					textFont(fontA, size2);
					int boxwidth = (int) textWidth(ranking);

					if (boxwidth > modwidth){
						//draw the information box to fit boxwidth
						fill(0);
						stroke(255,255,255,64);
						quad(xpos,ypos+15,xpos+boxwidth+30,ypos+15,xpos+boxwidth+30,ypos-50,xpos,ypos-50);
					}
					else{
						//draw the information box to fit modwidth
						fill(0);
						stroke(255,255,255,64);
						quad(xpos,ypos+15,xpos+modwidth,ypos+15,xpos+modwidth,ypos-50,xpos,ypos-50);
					}

					//draw the word in a legible size
					fill(c1);
					size = 30;
					textFont(fontA,size);
					text(words[i],xpos+15,ypos-15);

					//draw the bayesian ranking for the word
					fill(c1);
					size2 = 12;
					textFont(fontA, size2);
					text(ranking,xpos+15,ypos+10);
				}
			}
			if (bayesnumber == .05){
				int c1 = color(255,255,255,(255-alpha));
				fill(c1);

				//scale location for size of screen
				int xpos = ((int)(width*bayesnumber)-130);
				int ypos = (int)(.31*counter);

				//draw words themselves
				text(words[i], xpos, ypos);

				fill(255,255,255,32);
				quad(xpos,ypos,xpos+30,ypos,xpos+30,ypos-10,xpos,ypos-10);

				//add location of the word to the location 2D array
				location[0][counter] = xpos;
				location[1][counter] = ypos;

				//on mouseover of quad, draw box
				if ((xpos < mouseX) && (mouseX > xpos+30) && (ypos < mouseY) &&( mouseY > ypos-20)){
					fill(0);
					stroke(255,255,255,64);
					quad(xpos,ypos,xpos+150,ypos,xpos+150,ypos-50,xpos,ypos-50);

					fill(c1);
					size = 30;
					textFont(fontA,size);
					text(words[i],xpos+15,ypos-15);

					noLoop();
				}
				else{
					loop();
				}
			}

			counter = counter + 2;
		}
		}
		catch (IOException e) {
			System.out.println("File I/O Error");
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
	}
}

The last couple days I’ve been doing some writing of the thesis paper. Tomorrow, I debug the xbee circuits with the new PCB controlling them, and hopefully plan out how I am going to build the insecurity prosthesis that has me kind of stymied at the moment. Triage time!

Also, this is a really nice review of the new Iron Man movie, talking about a lot of the same stuff that I’m working through as I write. Zeitgeist?

“uninvited collaborations”

After re-stringing the anxiety prosthesis, i worked on making an PCB design for the body component of the alienation prosthesis. I wanted something pocket sized so that you could keep it with you at all times. I figured a key chain would be a nice object to make, so I kept it pretty small. This design measures in at a little over 2 inches by 1 inch and maybe a half inch thick. It’ll use a flat lithium polymer battery to give power, and has a tiny switch so that it can work during a presentation and not be out of juice. For today, I’m working on a final debug of the electronics in the alienation prosthesis, and in the evening I’ll be moving into making a final prototype of the insecurity prosthesis.

It was pretty okay, I got some really good comments from Nancy Hechinger about how to frame my work and clarify definition. Useful… exactly what I needed to hear before moving into the final framing of my work before the presentation before the thesis committee.

Bonus shot of me testing the fit in the bathroom.

(besides calibrating and testing the lighting and stuff like that, but i want to have my little victories)