How did we track the crossfader during the Art Hack Day?!? ZOMG!! So many questions!

The answer is very simple! We used a VCA Mixer. Specifically the Vestax PMC-07 Pro. Because you know… we’re pro like that.

I hear you asking now, “But, sir! WTF is a VCA Mixer?!?!”

Well, I’m glad you asked. Allow me to explain: VCA or Voltage Controlled Amplifier means that instead of sending the audio signal to the crossfader the mixer instead sends a voltage which in turn controls the volume level for each channel. This makes determining the position of the fader very easy; simply measure the voltage for each channel.

Go team awesome!

Yes, I hear you. You’re wondering, “That’s all well and good, but how am I supposed to hook it all up?!?”

Here I drew you a picture too!

CLICK TO EMBIGGEN

  How did we track the crossfader during the Art Hack Day?!? ZOMG!! So many questions! The answer is very simple! We used a VCA Mixer. Specifically the Vestax PMC-07 Pro. Because you know... we're pro like that. I hear you asking now, "But, sir! WTF is a VCA Mixer?!?!" Well, I'm glad you asked. Allow me to explain: VCA or Voltage Controlled Amplifier means that instead of sending the audio signal to the crossfader the mixer instead sends a voltage which in turn controls the volume level for each channel. This makes determining the position of the fader very easy; simply measure the voltage for each channel. In the case of the PMC-07 Pro the voltage that is sent to the crossfader is 10V DC. We used an Arduino Uno to monitor the voltage. It maxes out at 5V. Not wanting to explode the Arduino with 10V we used a simple voltage divider on each channel utilizing two (four total) 1 megaohm resistors. We would have been a lot better off using 100 kilohm resistors. Using an opamp would have been even more betterer but... we didn't have any of those. Because we're so damn pro and didn't have any of the parts to make a proper Y cable we just soldered everything to the crossfader. Go team awesome!   Yes, I hear you. You're wondering, "That's all well and good, but how am I supposed to hook it all up?!?"   Simple! Follow these amazeball instructions. The PMC-07 Pro uses a 4 pin connector on the crossfader. The outside pins are power and ground the middle pins are for the channels. Use a volt meter to determine which pin is power and which pin is ground. Plug ground into one of the ground pins on the Arduino and the two center pins from the fader through a voltage divider and into two analog pins on the Arduino. We used A0 and A1. You do not need to hook anything up to the 10V power pin on the mixer. Got it?   Here I drew you a picture too! CLICK TO EMBIGGEN The Arduino sketch we used can be found here. In summation here is a list of items you must procure to do this: Vestax PMC-07 Pro mixer (Any VCA mixer will do, just drop the voltage to 5V or less.) Four 100 kilohm resistors An Arduino A proper Y cable for the PMC-07 Pro. Instructable for building it is here Arduino sketch found here Build your Y cable. Make a couple voltage dividers. Hook it up like the picture above and BLAMO! #Pro-Tip: Elliot Marx informed me that if you use an Innofader (the origional, not the Pro or PNP) it will limit the VCA voltages of the PMC-07 Pro to 5V eliminating the need for the voltage dividers. Wire colors for the Innofader are as follows: Blue = 5V Green = VCA1 (varies from 0 to 5 volts) Yellow = VCA2 (varies from 5 to 0 volts, moves opposite from VCA1) Grey = ground Thank you Elliot!  

We know what the white girls say, and what flute players say, and even what black guys say to pregnant girls. But what don’t you know who said what to whom? Has anyone said this shit?

A live search engine for all the shit people say. Over 700 videos at last count.
A collaboration with Lindsey Weber and Tanner Ringerud at BuzzFeed.

Speed Project: 8 hours

We know what the white girls say, and what flute players say, and even what black guys say to pregnant girls. But what don't you know who said what to whom? Has anyone said this shit? A live search engine for all the shit people say. Over 700 videos at last count. A collaboration with Lindsey Weber and Tanner Ringerud at BuzzFeed. Speed Project: 8 hours

This a browser extension which turns all instances of Mitt Romney to Mittens Romney on web pages. ( Mitt is short for Mittens!!!! )

I’m convinced that nobody in the US would accept having a president named Mittens, so I am releasing a tool to highlight his real ( and rather cute ) name.

Screen shot of the installed extension:

A huffington post article made that bit more silly:

An example google search (before & after installing Mittens):

Install Mittens:
What are you waiting for? Get Mittens Now!

Click to install Mittens Chrome Extension

Download and Install Mittens Safari Extension ( then double click to install )

Click to install Mittens Firefox Extension ( 1.0.1 – New! )

Note: Firefox version was automatically made with this tool and isn’t working on google search results. Working on getting it working 100%. Update: Thanks to Greg Leuch – we have a much better 1.0.1 Firefox version, with google search result integration.

You can grab the code or contribute to the project on github:
https://github.com/ofTheo/mittens/

Credits:
Made by Theo Watson.
Thanks to Greg Leuch for Shaved Biever which the Chrome version is based off of.
Icon is from the header from this cat heavy Mittens Romney site.

This a browser extension which turns all instances of Mitt Romney to Mittens Romney on web pages. ( Mitt is short for Mittens!!!! ) I'm convinced that nobody in the US would accept having a president named Mittens, so I am releasing a tool to highlight his real ( and rather cute ) name. Screen shot of the installed extension: A huffington post article made that bit more silly: An example google search (before & after installing Mittens): Install Mittens: What are you waiting for? Get Mittens Now! Click to install Mittens Chrome Extension Download and Install Mittens Safari Extension ( then double click to install ) Click to install Mittens Firefox Extension ( 1.0.1 - New! ) Note: Firefox version was automatically made with this tool and isn't working on google search results. Working on getting it working 100%. Update: Thanks to Greg Leuch - we have a much better 1.0.1 Firefox version, with google search result integration. You can grab the code or contribute to the project on github: https://github.com/ofTheo/mittens/ Credits: Made by Theo Watson. Thanks to Greg Leuch for Shaved Biever which the Chrome version is based off of. Icon is from the header from this cat heavy Mittens Romney site.

Learning from the lessons of the 1%, I set forth to outsource our occupy-related labor to a robotic workforce. Robots obviously have many advantages over their human counterparts. For instance, robots never get tired, they don’t get cold, they don’t sleep, nor eat, don’t require tents, and when armed insurrection becomes necessary, robots are much more morally ambivalent. Additionally, we had a discussion with an unnamed member of the San Francisco police force and they confided in us that the police currently do not have any plan for dealing with robotic occupiers.

For all of those reasons and more, I present to you Occu(pi) Bot; the first in a promising line of tireless, unstoppable, robotic class warriors.

Learn how to make your own:
http://instructables.com/r/occupy/

Learning from the lessons of the 1%, I set forth to outsource our occupy-related labor to a robotic workforce. Robots obviously have many advantages over their human counterparts. For instance, robots never get tired, they don't get cold, they don't sleep, nor eat, don't require tents, and when armed insurrection becomes necessary, robots are much more morally ambivalent. Additionally, we had a discussion with an unnamed member of the San Francisco police force and they confided in us that the police currently do not have any plan for dealing with robotic occupiers. For all of those reasons and more, I present to you Occu(pi) Bot; the first in a promising line of tireless, unstoppable, robotic class warriors. Learn how to make your own: http://instructables.com/r/occupy/

White-out the over-produced reality of the Kardashians*.

In a time where many wish to marry out of love but can’t because of how others feel about the sanctity of it all, we have celebrity Kim Kardashian to thank for showing us how great celebrity life can be… gorgeous ceremony, romantic honeymoon, million dollar licensing fees, and everything in between.

As the masses drool over her over-produced reality, for others, ignorance can be a true bliss with a little help from the Dash-Out browser blockers.

* Also blocks out executive producer Ryan Seacrest.

Code by Greg Leuch (source)
License under MIT License

(more…)

White-out the over-produced reality of the Kardashians*. In a time where many wish to marry out of love but can't because of how others feel about the sanctity of it all, we have celebrity Kim Kardashian to thank for showing us how great celebrity life can be… gorgeous ceremony, romantic honeymoon, million dollar licensing fees, and everything in between. As the masses drool over her over-produced reality, for others, ignorance can be a true bliss with a little help from the Dash-Out browser blockers. Chrome Firefox * Also blocks out executive producer Ryan Seacrest. Code by Greg Leuch (source) License under MIT License if (FATLab_SpeedProject) {FATLab_SpeedProject.Values.Format='strip'; FATLab_SpeedProject.Values.TimeSpent=240; FATLab_SpeedProject.Make();} function dash_out_addon_info(r) {try{var r = eval(r); $('#dash_out_addon_count').html('Downloaded over '+ r.download_pretty_count +' times!');}catch(e){}} OMGWTF var hide_occupy_internet = true;

While webmasters are able to support the OccupyInter.net protest on their sites, the other 99%* of netizens out there also need a way to armchair participate. For those netizens like you, we are offering browser extensions to take over a show your protest for sites across the web while being able to see the volume of other netizens also protesting your favorite sites.

Download the browser extension for your browser, tell your friends, and continue to support the Internet Occupation!

New features for Chrome and Firefox include the ability to right-click to see the number of protesters that have occupied the current page, as well as selection options to control the loudness of the protesting crowd!

Code by Greg Leuch and Theo Watson
Extensions code: github.com/gleuch/occupy-internet-extensions
Server code: github.com/gleuch/occupy-internet-server
Concept development by Theo, Jerry, Jamie, Greg, Evan and Aram.
License under MIT License

While webmasters are able to support the OccupyInter.net protest on their sites, the other 99%* of netizens out there also need a way to armchair participate. For those netizens like you, we are offering browser extensions to take over a show your protest for sites across the web while being able to see the volume of other netizens also protesting your favorite sites. Download the browser extension for your browser, tell your friends, and continue to support the Internet Occupation! Chrome Firefox Safari New features for Chrome and Firefox include the ability to right-click to see the number of protesters that have occupied the current page, as well as selection options to control the loudness of the protesting crowd! Code by Greg Leuch and Theo Watson Extensions code: github.com/gleuch/occupy-internet-extensions Server code: github.com/gleuch/occupy-internet-server Concept development by Theo, Jerry, Jamie, Greg, Evan and Aram. License under MIT License

Force-occupy any website! “Occupy The Internet – The Service”

http://fffff.at/occupy/

This is how it works:

1. Type URL into form on fffff.at/occupy or add it directly in the URL bar.
   Example: http://fffff.at/occupy/goldmansachs.com
2. Take a screenshot, upload it somewhere, and put it to our comments!
3. Profit Share the occupied websites on twitter!

Recapitulation: More than 100 webmasters have joined the online protest and added the animated GIF army to their websites today. A Safari Extension and a Chrome Extension have been released (Major Firefox Add-on by @gleuch coming-up next)

Credits: This service is part of “Occupy The Internet”, a F.A.T. Lab Production. Collaborators:Theo, Jerry, Jamie, Greg, Evan, Aram and Tobias.
This specific part was created by Tobias and the awesome COLO

Force-occupy any website! "Occupy The Internet - The Service" http://fffff.at/occupy/ This is how it works: Type URL into form on fffff.at/occupy or add it directly in the URL bar. Example: http://fffff.at/occupy/goldmansachs.com Take a screenshot, upload it somewhere, and put it to our comments! Profit Share the occupied websites on twitter! Recapitulation: More than 100 webmasters have joined the online protest and added the animated GIF army to their websites today. A Safari Extension and a Chrome Extension have been released (Major Firefox Add-on by @gleuch coming-up next) Credits: This service is part of "Occupy The Internet", a F.A.T. Lab Production. Collaborators:Theo, Jerry, Jamie, Greg, Evan, Aram and Tobias. This specific part was created by Tobias and the awesome COLO

The Googlher is a device which plugs into your computer and triggers a bullet vibrator any time that Google pings your web browser (with the aid of The Googlher Firefox Add-on). By doing so, The Googlher translates Google’s pervasive reach into highly stimulating vibrations for vaginal or anal web browsing. Mistrust and fear Google’s omnipotent ways no longer as the web giant profoundly soothes, touches, and moves you. This is perhaps the biggest thing to happen to augmented reality since the invention of methamphetamine.

The Googlher was produced with both open source software and hardware. For full instructions on how to make your own, visit the instructions page.

The Googlher Firefox Add-on is based on Jamie Wilkinson’s Google Alarm.

The Googlher is a device which plugs into your computer and triggers a bullet vibrator any time that Google pings your web browser (with the aid of The Googlher Firefox Add-on). By doing so, The Googlher translates Google's pervasive reach into highly stimulating vibrations for vaginal or anal web browsing. Mistrust and fear Google's omnipotent ways no longer as the web giant profoundly soothes, touches, and moves you. This is perhaps the biggest thing to happen to augmented reality since the invention of methamphetamine. The Googlher was produced with both open source software and hardware. For full instructions on how to make your own, visit the instructions page. The Googlher Firefox Add-on is based on Jamie Wilkinson's Google Alarm.