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These tables were part of a display demonstrating how micro-design technology has advanced in a similar way to video game pixels in the sense that over the years, characters in a video game have become more refined as more and more smaller pixels became available, just like how micro-design has been able to use smaller and smaller blocks to build more refined versions of the same thing, in this case a table made out of thousands of little blocks, more accurately described as nickel-plated neodymium voxels. It was interesting for me to see the parallels it had with video game characters, because that is a world that I am very familiar with. To me it showcases how we are able to build new and complex objects by using smaller and smaller parts, which allows for more freedom in terms of what we can actually create. Additionally, it can allow us to easily build something new or change something about the creation easily, since we simply have to take it apart and put it together. We can do more things with the same amount of materials instead of having to destroy the old and find new materials to build the new. I think that this is just the start of projects like these, and in the future we might be using objects that can rearrange themselves based on our need. These tables were designed by Joris Laarman Lab and was loaned to the Cooper Hewitt courtesy of Groninger Museum, the Netherlands. Information on one of these 3 tables can be found here.

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Call me a mirror because this is a reflection

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Call me a mirror because this is a reflection

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I wasn't quite sure what the Cooper Hewitt was going to be like. The only thing I really knew about it was that it was a design museum and that they had an exhibit called "design in the digital age." To me, design meant how people decide to put things together, if that makes sense. There's a difference for me between art and design, I suppose. When thinking about art, I usually connect it with more emotional things, like how the artist was feeling at the time or what the point was that he was trying to get across. Design to me has a more methodical feeling. There's a purpose behind it, like some sort of objective that the designer is trying to achieve, be it solving a real life problem or making up some new fashion with a specially designed dress. It's more than just feeling, it's a logical, methodical process to achieve some greater goal. Thus my impression of the Cooper Hewitt before going into it was that it was going to be all about how different people when through the process of developing the finished product. I was thinking there were going to be some finished products, but also a lot more of a focus on the intermediate steps that it took to actually get there. At the museum, it was a lot more of the finished product and then an explanation of what it was supposed to showcase or its greater purpose. Occasionally there was a video that accompanied it that showed a bit more of the process behind the design of the object. Hearing about the pen-like device to save information made me think that it was essentially just a big USB stick that allowed us to just keep some information for later, that it wouldn't be anything more than that. Part of my initial thought was correct, the fact that we were able to store information for later, but I didn't know that it was going to also be a stylus with which we could draw on the interactive screens that they had in the exhibits. The fact that it was with the whole Digital Literacies class did make me think it would have a lot more digital things going on, but the most it had was some screens and some interactive piano and iPads. Other than that, the "main exhibits" that weren't "design in the digital age" seemed more like things you would find in a "traditional" museum. I really enjoy digital things and interactivity in museums, so that was slightly disappointing to me. I did still learn a lot from the other exhibits, but again, they had more of the "traditional" museum feel to them. I was really excited about the "design in the digital age" exhibit. I expected it to be talking a lot more about picture editing tools and perhaps some 3D design, but it was really impressive to see all the things that people have built with the help of digital tools. Especially interesting to me was the table that was being built out of increasingly smaller blocks, similar to how modern technology has been able to fit more and more pixels on our television screens and video games. Overall, I think that my initial impression of the museum was only halfway correct, since it was a bit about the purpose behind what was there, but what I was wrong about was how many finished products there were as well as the use of digital tools to make physical objects as opposed to just designing objects or pictures on the computer. The fact that there was a physical "output" of the designing process made it very interesting to peruse, at least for me personally.

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I took this picture as we were leaving the subway station in New York City. Here we see people using the screens and pushing buttons in order to purchase tickets to be able to go on the subway. It's a relatively simple technology compared to some current technologies in our daily lives, but it was created for a single purpose. These metal "computers" have the job of taking a customers money and giving them back a ticket corresponding to what they selected along with any change that might be due. It is allowing people to easily purchase tickets to go on the subway. Additionally, it probably replaced some human workers that were doing the same thing at the time. The machines likely save money and space for the city and allow faster transactions. Essentially it has increased efficiency compared to a human, and they are easy to understand as well. There are instructions on the screen that say exactly what to do in order to purchase a ticket, even in different languages if needed. This digital technology was likely one of the first to be implemented in the city, since I think it is relatively simple and more mechanical compared to some of the other things I saw in the city. I also think it demonstrates a trend of giving work that would usually be a human's job and creating a machine to do it more efficiently at a lower cost. This is a rising problem as more and more jobs are taken by machines, and this demonstrated just the start of it. However, I do think that this technology has a tremendous benefit to the public because it is a fast and easy way to purchase tickets needed to get on the subway.

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A moment of time in Times Square (Dolphins REPRESENT)

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In the Cooper Hewitt Museum

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In Rockefeller Center (next to the tower)

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This is an advertisement I saw at Times Square. I used the Google Translate App on my phone to translate the Chinese characters on the sign. According to that app, the top line says "Beijing Yizhuang" and the 3rd line says "International High-end Industrial Zone." This makes sense, since the ad was about a new industrial area in Bejing, encouraging people to come there. I found it rather interesting that there was a Chinese advertisement right in the middle of Times Square.

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Though this street is more commonly known as 46th Street, it also goes by the name Little Brazil Street. I found it as I was walking to Times Square. Of course, the street is much longer than what can be seen, but this is the view when looking from Times Square. According to this New York Times article, in the 1960s, this block in the city had many Portuguese hairdressers and a lot of Brazilian eateries. Today, the fact that it is "Little Brazil Street" is not as obvious, but some traces are still there, like Via Brasil, Emporium Brasil, and Ipanema. This street is also home to the bilingual newspaper, the Brasilians, with monthly issues active for 40 years, according to The Midtown Gazette. The Brasilians newspaper even has a website for those interested.

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I had a stir fry with ginger sesame sauce, chicken, egg noodles, baby boy choy, broccoli, and carrots. An extended menu with what else was available at this particular restaurant can be found here.

Stir fry made with a wok. It often uses a variety of ingredients and cooked quickly to keep in all the nutrients of meats and vegetables. A Chinese wok is used as a "pot" do combine these elements along with sauces and seasoning. At latest, the stir-fry was invented during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) by Jia Sixie, who wrote a recipe in the Essential Points for the Common People in 544, in which the modern stir-fry method is described. The stir-fry method gained a lot of popularity in Asian countries and came to the US with Chinese immigrants. In last 2 decades, having a wok and stir-frying has become a lot more mainstream in everyday cooking. My sources for this information can be found here and here.

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I went to this store in the winter village in Bryant Park, and they were selling a bunch of chart posters. I really enjoy charting things, but unfortunately they did not have any charts that I liked at the time. So I picked up one of these "business cards" which are pretty simple and straightforward. I visited their Instagram page, and they had a lot of pictures of the charts they sell. They also do a decent amount of giveaways as well as connecting events happening in the world to one of their charts. There is no specific subject area that the charts are focused on, though it does appear that they don't have too many "sciency" charts, which was disappointing for me. Regardless, they do sell a lot of other interesting charts, like one on the varieties of beer, the history of Apple (the company), and a history of space travel. By no means does the business appear to be large, but it certainly is selling intriguing products.