sfrancisco

[sfrancisco]

Design is the practice of intentionally creating emotional experiences.

Steven Francisco

I've spent the past few days trying to answer that simple question, because those are the hardest ones. What connects a Noguchi coffee table and the thin shell on the piece of gum I just bit into? What connects the unboxing of a new phone and the sharing of a reaction gif? It's Design.  But which design-- Customer Experience, Design Thinking, Human Centered Design, Agile? There are so many words, word sandwiches, and the occasional word sausage derive from so many refractions of the concept in different contexts. I looked at the definitions and found them all lacking. I'm going to be bold enough as to offer a new one: Design is the practice of intentionally creating emotional experiences. More than aesthetics, more than function, more than desirability, design is the crafting the feeling. For each of the items I was looking to connect, I could explain, remember, and still experience the feeling. I bet if you think about a good design, you can feel the emotion crafted for you.  

[sfrancisco]

Portable Gaming Project

Here is a small evening project that is great to do with kids. 

I built a Wave Share GameHat with my 8 year daughter and she was playing games in 30 minutes. Check out how:

Here is what you need to do:

Parts:

Raspberry Pi 2, or higher (I used a 3B+) $30 at Microcenter

A WaveShare gamehat. (I got mine fore $50 from Amazon, but you can get them on eBay and Aliexpress for ~$30 if you can endure the shppingn and the possiblility of fakes). 

A blank micro SDHC card -- I used a 32 GB for $5 from microcenter

A Microusb charger (an old cell phone charge would do). 

A 18650 rechargeable battery cell  

The last item is the trickiest. Many places will tell you to order it online. But the fact is that you probably have many of those cells lying around without knowing -- that is because if you have a battery bank for your cell phone, or an older moderate priced laptop, it’s probably run using those batteries.  I popped open the first old laptop battery from a Staples recycling bin, and easily found 6 such cells. After some cleanup, I had 5 working batteries that each would last an 90 minutes playing. You can use a pair of needle nosed pliers to pull the silver off the connections between cells. Don’t worry unless you touch something else you won’t cause any sparks. 

Assembly should be pretty straight forward. Plug in the raspberry pi using the HDMI adapter to the screen. Screw in the risers below, then to the cover. Just be sure to leave off the MicroSD card until you have copied the  operating system.

Be careful when plugging in the battery - - you must get the +/- side right and matched to the board, the game hat will get damaged if you mix it up. The positive side has the smaller circle. 

Build the SD Card image

Next download the operating system image:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1alJePNBE_6SeOuvbvhOmbUbPdDOlxASZ

and Etcher to write the image to the SD card:

https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Once etcher finishes, you can try and turn on the device, it includes a few sample games for you to try. 

Adding Roms

You might as well fish around Google for the actual games. You’ll sure to work with only games that have expired licenses and are not freely available right?Plug the sd card into a reader and you can now add roms.

I run linux, and a mac should work just as well, but i’m not sure about windows. Basically you add the rom to the correct folder here, organized by the system its for:

[SD card location]/retropie/home/pi/RetroPie/roms

E.g. For for NES it might look like: retropie/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/nes

You can read about additional ways to load the games in the user manual here.

Gotchas

There are few things that might surprise you as you work on the new device. 

First plugging it into the charger while playing will result in the device turning off. The circuit can’t charge and play at the same time. 

The default password is raspberry, default user pi. But you’ll probably not need it.

Check out a Youtube build so you get another person’s experience

Things to do later

As you get used to the device there is a lot you can do with this capable little setup!

Watch movies, Listen to Music using Kodi

Connect it to Wifi (pi 3, 3B, 3B+) so you can load games, music, and movies over wifi.

Switch to RecalBox -- so you can play against friends on their phones.

Unplug the screen and plug it into a big screen TV for 1080P action

Add a wireless a keyboard and mouse to have  full little linux computer

Join the Facebook Group for tips and tricks.

The possibilities are pretty endless since this is a raspberry pi!

[sfrancisco]

NYC CEC 10: A Goodbye.

Yesterday was my last day representing the parents of NYC's District 10. During my years on the CEC (How many was it? 3ish?) a lot has changed, I can't take credit for an ounce of it. But I'm proud to have been present for it. Here are some of my favorite changes in this time: * All principals and APs in the district were trained in culturally Responsive Education, teachers are in the works, schools are being inventoried. * Our neighborhood public schools are in such demand that most remain at over 100% capacity (yes that's aka overcrowding but parents are voting with their feet for our schools). * A new superintendent who rocks: a boricua from brooklyn, with incredible poise, intellect, presence and an eye for inspirational talent. * A district who responded to the CEC's challenge with a new mission statement, a vision for the whole child, and a willingness to say yes to Social Emotional Learning and a push for academic excellence. * An annual parent forum with parenting talks, help navigating schools, and showcasing our kids' talent. * Only one school in the district remaining in receivership. * No schools remain on the state's most violent list. * Hundreds of pre-k seats added at 2 new sites * A district wide focus on advanced literacy (raising instead of lowering expectations) * A path for opening our district's elite high schools, to our high performing middle schoolers across the district. * A process by which 1/2 the CEC meetings were held in the lower performing schools in our district, giving parents at those schools a chance to talk to the superintendent directly * A parent center opening up in the district office to help parents who need access to technology (for applications, jobs, whatever) * Defending the character, composition, & diversity of the schools in my neighborhood by making tough choices as to their school zones. * The council talked publicly, openly, and accessibly, about district data and test performance. * The council disagreed publicly, openly, and let people see that we don't have to be unanimous all the time. * Lastly, I've seen the changes in my daughter. She loved attending the meetings, and grew as a fierce advocate of healthy lunches and more time to eat. The opportunity taught her how to speak to power, and gave me the chance to show her why civic participation is a duty.

There is so much more to do. But that is the subject of another post, now is a time to pass the torch on to some new faces, and lift a glass to the path we walked together. Thank you all who allowed me to serve.

If you are in NYC and are on the fence about joining a CEC, just apply, don't look back, don't doubt:

https://www.nycparentleaders.org/

[sfrancisco]

I recently visited the Legacy Museum in Montgomery Alabama. Needless to say, I had a strong emotional response. I felt drawn to a video I had taken of cotton fields as a group of co-workers and I later drove from Selma to Montgomery. In processing all that I was feeling, I wrote this poem.

Alabama

The old lines were severed maybe the strange fruit came down before the rope The necks could not have borne the weight Or did the branches give out? Or did the fire consume? No one bothered to bring a pen, no one bothered to ask a name, pockets empty, save for cloth, save for matches, save for  linen wraps for macabre mementos how many souvenir body parts roll around them attics today? rolls of crimson pride and tide fingers and toes drying out humanity severed, yours, unable to survive the deep cuts and tangles, the serpentine angles of the Alabama river.

[sfrancisco]

Latest project, in progress, a voice controlled Magic Mirror. 5/4/2018 worked on this instead of going out for Gringo de Mayo. (#NotAMexicanHoliday).

As I got planning, research turned up someone who had already built something just like this: https://medium.com/@aallan/a-magic-mirror-powered-by-aiy-projects-and-the-raspberry-pi-e6a0fea3b4d6

But unlike that solution, I’d like to keep the button and probably recognize the hotword with some basic machine learning on the RPi itself. 

Supplies:

Raspberry Pi 3B ($35) Microcenter

10x20 Shadow box from JoAnn Fabrics. ($21)

Old Screen recovered from 17″ Laptop (free) I preserved the back panel and cut it to fit with a jigsaw

Controller board and power for Screen ($36)

Sugru ($10)

18″ HDMI cable ($5) Amazon

12″ x 24″ Acryllic Two Way Mirror ($37) Amazon

Google AIY Voice Kit ($10) Old version on Blowout Microcenter

Hot glue gun, double sided tape

Electrical tape (screen edges, random black out.)

32 GB MicroSDHC card (free) Microcenter

3D printed pieces:

Custom base for Raspberry PI (didn’t want to glue board to the screen)

Custom base for the LCD controller

Likely still needed

A replacement button if I want to turn off voice activation unless a button is pressed (the Google AIY Button is too big and too bright. I’d like something subtle.)

An acrylic backing if I want to create a clear back to show off the internals.

Software:

MagicMirror2 (Node JS) https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror

Google AIY included Examples

Notes so far:

An OLED screen would be a massive improvement over this cheap laptop tft, mostly because the backlight is the part that breaks the “magic” if the screen is on.

The mirror coating is easily damaged, next time I might keep the original glass behind the mirror.  It now has several scratches :-(

Get an aryllic scoring tool.  I used a cutting knife but a tool would have led to less chipping.

Give up

Tried to save the nice back of the shadow box, and keep the lid opening, but in the end decided spacing was better without either. 

Display Rotate: https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2017/11/how-to-rotate-the-raspberry-pi-display-output/

New Google AIY Voice kit is $50 with a Pi Zero W, it’s significantly slower than getting the older kit and a Pi3 at $35. But is also significantly smaller. So it’s price vs. size really.

Really want to fit a battery pack inside so I can run it at least for a few minutes without power! (Imagine, removing the cable and scaring kids at a Halloween party!)  

[sfrancisco]

Public Key Encryption: A beginner guide for non-techies

================================= ================================= 1) Why Use Encryption? ================================= Becuase if the day comes that you ever NEED to use encryption you will want to know how, you will want to be ready, you will want to have successfully used it before.

When properly used, Encryption can: * Verify the sender of an encrypted message/package. * Hide sensitive and non/sensitive data against attackers. * Allow sensitive data to be backed up anywhere, even the cloud. * Be used from your Phone, to computer, to tablets. * Send sensitive information even from non-secure connections (public computers, even monitored Internet connections.)

================================= 2) Why Public Key Encryption? ================================= Encryption uses a key or multiple keys to mathematically "lock" away some data or a message.

There are 2 basic kinds of encryption: Shared Key (SKE) and Public Key (PKE). Shared Key requires a shared secret between parties. This is usually something that all parties know, or have access to. SKE assumes that this secret is difficult to guess or attain. It doesn't verify identities or the untampered contents. Anyone who knows the shared key can decrypt the information (like having a WiFi Password).

Public Key Encryption (PKE) sounds like a contradiction, but it's not and has many advantages over SKE. PKE creates 2 mathematically linked keys, one you give away to EVERYONE you can that is the "public key". The other you keep all to yourself, that is your "Private key". If you set it up correctly you will also set a private password that will be required before you can use the key. To send you an encrypted message someone would use your public key to lock the package. Then you would use your private key (and password) to unlock the package.

Consider these common attacks on encryption * Guessing (Bruteforce). SKE - Possible. People often pick poor passwords. PKE - Not possible. You'd have to guess a random identity string so long it's currently mathematically impossible to do so in the age of the universe. * Faking A Sender (Spoofing) SKE - Possible. The technology to do so is easy. PKE - Difficult. Everything from an unencrypted email to the encrypted package can be signed by the sender. This allows you to verify that it came from who a package claims to be from. * Swapping a package (phishing/man in the middle): SKE - Likely. This is perhaps the most common attack on this form. PKE - Not Likely. Your Private key can be compromised, but if you set up a password for it, a theif would need the KEY and your password for the key to use it.

The biggest risks with PKE are:

a) A "backdoor" in the software or other vulnerabilities. You protect yourself against that by using Open Source Software. Open source software exposes the source code that makes up the program to public scrutiny. Experts, who have a lot to lose, can review the software for vulnerabilities and alert the general public. Closed source software, on the other hand, relies on obscurity to safeguard against vulnerabilities.

b) Someone publicly claiming to be you and offering their private key. This is where building a "web of trust" comes into play. Keys can be signed by other keys. It means you vouch that this key is from the person who claims it.

You cannot trust a service provider-- such a Signal, WhatsAPP or HushMail -- to make the PKE encryption easy for you. Even if they use PKE encryption they can make mistakes or make decisions on your behalf that you wouldn't. This is why HushMail was compromised in 2007 by the US Government (https://www.wired.com/2007/11/encrypted-e-mai/).

There is only one way to use PKE: you have to learn to do it yourself! You have to teach people how to use it.

================================= 3) How to use Public Key Encryption? ================================= The most common PKE standard is called "Pretty Good Privacy" or PGP. One open source impementation of this is called GnuPGP.

Numerous resources are available for you to properly create, use, store, distribute your encryption keys.

4 Steps to Mastering Encryption 1) Download PGP software. 2) Generate Keys. 3) Try it out! Practice encryption/decryption. 4) Build a Signed KeyRing of your trusted network.

The best guide to do so, as well as a volunteer group who will test that you were able to practice your encryption can be found here:

Windows: https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en/windows.html Linux: https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en/index.html Mac: https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en/mac.html

Oh and here is my public key should you ever need me:

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: GnuPG/MacGPG2 v2.0.22 (Darwin) Comment: GPGTools - https://gpgtools.org

mQENBFNW2RQBCAC2EYEPb4+s663CcpVkUwkn09K9+JFBvzJEVJEtR+e665t8iifV xlnP9VILoZKhXIsjvjuecdFkF+Stx7iOJWJvRAURotl8jXDCVIbBMZA4lUKAP4ge c4W8b/P1SggmcZ4GvyM6F7u0H+d1qmDHOpF8BWegrww85oEkQJEvhJPncENzROb0 T3EC392Kff7g2Iqrb6SL+YAoNLK5fjnMmV+QKEst80IKfcWUKQBiDLIgw9HzucHn hzq+Y5SKMjJ2OC4rfX1UsQjEXPsx35cP/X9+x0Oo4ludcb1yqBM+j16jTvvEz59L IGjf/jQyr4k0HZa4/0BLkEpViPO1fUI6rI/VABEBAAG0OVN0ZXZlbiBGcmFuY2lz Y28gPHN0ZXZlbi5mcmFuY2lzY29AZWR1Y2F0aW9uYWxlcXVpdHkub3JnPokBPgQT AQIAKAUCU1bZFAIbLwUJB4YfgAYLCQgHAwIGFQgCCQoLBBYCAwECHgECF4AACgkQ oYtVEifSRhpNawgAk6xPB1tLwUkOY5imq5ehN/CabKjnA4UYeN+UGxWVtsUMn50L eI8Mt9zXOrkdAysz775IKDD8o9YnBwW72ZTW1jv3wguiTNvJMVmfkldv8+2s6UZk W+IhWK8hNeu2hCxqwJ6tOQf1gp8XlSanBTbK+Cmi0zH7neJ4F+2BBLC4jn+IV0qS twNWqi5aHDAdNWv/flgcQ1v1Nap6ym+vDLNcvCU24AY72zGSLKKyg07Vqpn6ecR4 UqY+aBLPTucEDVs4Yk047X0Uz1l9wxVEHJIPATd+vNS1riPxbcX6MbUia693nhir S+G0/kvlY+hn9QUe66QIUX3Fe0ZJlGi/7bN6JrkBDQRTVtkUAQgAspRPPfRYHC4P hDRS5wbbYKHXwlCcWKwQBIb67S3KR3MUOlBBjLMsf9SS+Wxm7uQ9PA6vkjPF4ZKW 9wqXW9VXksqLpc+T3iXsJwXrP00/7r32aZldb4Wc6YaiEuzP3e9TRJcmv9n6FvNp LFzmJczAPTci00v2UJMgjgFmeNSOtXaExkoo7KWBt4qxWgxkYqcMgda4uCfkJU+P Z9zLm37iy1DezWJ+/KPiy3uxGhENcBNCMvUsyh7ANtsOqE7hEcHVqE/YBH+D7pMZ iAXlRTusnQuaSwphtmVu5+7dsyqV6PO9IgLW5q38caUb2V5uUCHZjHQrXv6i92bB i6mlv3QZEQARAQABiQJEBBgBAgAPBQJTVtkUAhsuBQkHhh+AASkJEKGLVRIn0kYa wF0gBBkBAgAGBQJTVtkUAAoJEJ/wzHQTkuENSiUIAJGBzaKlB2RjyO14Fz1ZOuyb Af5GaPIDXUvEVyfqrQEVLd7LLTgjiRgSj1bA81UX62Pp4NwAKAx7sqFBWR4enLPd cGdLAVoWJ+U7h76VSlPxcL2vWfZnpvioU3rdst2bfGs+xnJMwM7zvXEZ3oaImsgj 9FbA3MZ1MBc5LyXHnAAIhC2x7lvnULtkO3vnzr+GgivwrPKDIx1THZggH4uPXQF9 FwAA3HbRORJ4sCTmHxjjmGTNOdP2f33zf+JSjIprydbrcU7xWJ3VL/YyL0kvW36P zOZQP5bCfLKW1YbgbAOrUS38/9/XrYghN/3+ew22VKR7R3nU7bhC+BLXvpUU/0X7 Egf+L83vj0luvfVKqJ/pLByesdfx4pCTm9q6O+GTgqvH9ywp6Eroe06NpmO8oNka ieUfgcAIJ4hN2yHI74KhsGDQAux///oE1H6NhRRPaghvprS05hBjBOZMesP1osI/ bzRNU6HiPEYu0IeQ8uQOvBuli8FgxCYf36BEqom5ARk+KqcWdJF0CRQzxhpJTxSD 4clMHbvoGEo1vPUK6BYAE1X0tZIkc2QSwQzHao6ADdUHYcRNmvXa89p3ReoanHDx tdG3wqMa5yTqUq/I0D8+4cEkViFjplOW0CWkwA2Ajpjk+k84yTtAxJi2SIbhZKzL XIBov/VZDxuiBVOhROKZLj0Qmg== =jFB9 -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

[sfrancisco]

Siren’s Song

If your heart aches for Aleppo, that is the quiet call of humanity. The call nationalism drowns out her quiet voice, but if you learn to sit quietly, filter from her the din of patriotism, the bustle of consumption, the promise of your prosperity, you'll see you stand not on shoulders of giants, but on the bodies of Aleppo, the dead of Cholera in Haiti, the massacres in Manilla, the genocides in Rwanda, the holocaust of Germany, the centuries of slavery, and that from beneath those bodies, down under the ashes, to the very earth, comes the sound you seek. The ba-dump, ba-dump, that sets her rhythm. That voice you've known longer than you've known. Longer than you've known that you are human, and so is everyone else, who has ever lived. If we listen we there is hope, for her song may guide us home yet.

[sfrancisco]

Fire and Ice

(italicized parts from Robert Frost's poem of the same name)

We lit the fire because it was cold We lit the fire because it was dark around the embers we gathered Dreaming of possessions once bought, now sold. Us. Of loss. Of death.

Some say the world will end in fire.

Our bodies of history confronted by bodies of history A body armored against the truth. Padded and shielded. Truth that cannot be delivered 9 millimeters at a time, Nor in bound books, nor bound in bars. Beats or hooks. This truth had no path but upon that brick, That chair, That match. It was heart, body, and mind hardened. Theirs. Ours. Us. Me. To face the truth you must make callouses where once there were smiles. Hardened. An armored personnel carrier for my soul.

Some say in ice.

We watched the fire engulf the car, Devoid of it’s occupants we made sure. We children of the ice, We didn’t want to kill the officer overseer We just just wanted to slow him down. Slow him down, no more relentless pursuit. Slow him down, no more boots on my neck. Slow him down, no more sub prime mortgages. Slow him down, no more grand juries. Slow him down, no more red lines, Slow him down, no more gentrification, Slow him down, no more jails. Slow him. Down. Slow him. Slow. Slower still. For we were dying quickly And sunrise, we hoped, wasn’t too far away And we were told liberation would come one day, Maybe by then, these fires can go away And yet keep the ice at bay.

But

From what if have tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire.

[sfrancisco]

Eldest Son

Chips is stacked, money’s short, and daddy's gambling. Be a provider, be a bread winner, be always angling black man sell a loosie, got not right to air. White man selling weed to be billionaire black man sell CDs, get shot by cops White man wearing hoodie, CEO with chops black woman go to jail, wind up dead for speedin’ white man kill 9, cops will stop and feed him Spotlight gon' shine on what daddy did wrong. Echoes of Eric Garner in the same song. The words already ring out like a fucked up gong. "Hey lil' man - ya got to stand strong." Why he a little man in a mid life crisis. To the young black child, these cops are killer, ISIS. they wonder why we wear them shirts, stop snitchin' ain't nothing gonna stop the blood, not a dr's stitchin'

just not a month ago go an' ask supremes they turned the 4th amendment into pipe dreams shit got more holes in it now than swiss cheese pledge allegiance? Man. N**** please. there's a little boy tonight on his knees, begging God to make this pain ease, "Don't let daddy be only in my memories." ..wondering why God won't hear his pleas. There's the college graduation daddy's gonna miss. There's the granddaughter he will never kiss. So many memories to be had, yet stolen. Thinking of my own son, with my eyes swollen. Have I bought him more time with the light skin? It wasn't my intent, but the fix is in. His momma used to worry about me getting home 'bout having to raise a brown boy all alone. I used to raise a ruckus, in the days gon' direct action, played it safe, 'cause the game is long I laugh about sometimes, oh to be alive. I can't walk the killing field no more, I drive.

15 years old gone is innocence, or what was left. In it’s place, boys got to live with its f*ing theft. And this is where it get’s so f*ing twisted. In his dad’s death, one thing is insisted: That he step up and be a man too. Step into his dad’s own blood soaked shoes. He’s fifteen, and now he’s a man gambling. Be a man, be a provider, be always angling. Pray for food, pray for rent, stay above the strife And above all pray you get to live your life.

And if this young man dies don’t shed a tear, At least he got to live longer than Tamir.

[sfrancisco]

The Not-so-obvious Structural Racism in NYC Gifted &Talented Programs

The economic issues with NYC’s G&T tests are well known, so much so that why bother re-hashing. OK maybe a little, I’ll be brief: there is inequality in prep, in encouragement to take the test, and in the ability of rich people to buy the test out of state. 

That said, there is a pervasive lesser known issue, that affects two boroughs, but one disproportionately. NYCDOE has 5 citywide G&T programs. These are the elite of the bunch -- unlike district programs:

The entire school& building is G&T

The schools run at least K-8, with one K-12

They are generally very small, no more than 50 per cohort in each school.

They don’t get big, you can only test in for grades k-3, and then only on availability.

They get a foreign language. How would you like 8 years of Latin? 12 years of Mandarin? I don’t know of any other non-dual language public elementary that teaches a foreign language as a central part of its curriculum.

You must score in the 99th Percentile to actually get in, the qualifying number (97th percentile) is bullshit. There aren’t enough seats. 

With the exception of TAG (in East Harlem, where the 5th google search result is about white parents worrying about safety in a NYT article) the schools are NOT diverse: roughly 60% white, 25% asian, scraps to the brown kids.  

I don’t want my daughter in a non-diverse school. That’s 1950s BS right there. But I do want to not have to worry about a middle school for her. I’d love to send her to a school where the kids learn Mandarin and don’t watch movies every time it rains.   

The problems begins when you realize where these programs are located: 3 in Manhattan, 1 each in Queens and Brooklyn. That wouldn’t be so bad because NYC has such an extensive busing program. Except for one issue:  NYC school buses do not carry kids from on borough to another. 

Now the issues begin. Consider the case of my daughter, who just tested into the 99th percentile against the odds on the tests. In order to send her to one of the citywide programs she would need to cross from the Bronx to another borough. The Harlem and Queens programs are both only a 15 minute drive away without traffic, but I’d need to take her and pick her up myself. Well that’s not compatible with a full time job now is it?

So let’s say I send her to the local G&T program, where her brother attends. It’s reasonably close, but not in a school we’re zoned for. That’s ok. But it turns out that many of the kids in his class come from all over the Bronx because there aren’t enough G&T programs in the Bronx. That G&T Program also displaces many local kids to other schools, displaces them from a one of the best neighborhood schools to one of the worst. 

So starting from a lack of a program in an entire borough (sorry Staten Island, you too) to a lack of busing across boroughs, we end up with kids traveling further and displacing local kids from a better school.

To be clear my son’s G&T program seems to be a defacto citywide program for the Bronx. It’s diverse I think there are 2 out of 30 kids who are white. But when they hit the 6th grade it’s out into the wild that they will go. There are no G&T middle school programs they can now apply to. 

Hunter High school starts then-- a program based out of Hunter College that is super elite and public-- but you can’t even take the test if you don’t live in Manhattan.

I care about all kids. This group -- gifted students of color -- are near and dear because I was one of them and felt the schools did little for me until high school. But think about it this way: in this capitalist society where my kids are competing against kids, less than a mile away, attend $50K a year private schools of Fieldson and Riverdale Country schools, my kids are facing anything but a meritocracy. If the gifted kids in a community of color don’t do well, who will create the wealth that will permeate and uplift that community in future generations? We need all kids to do well, capitalism requires our gifted kids to do exceptionally well. 

[sfrancisco]

Symmetry is something we all tend to recognize, but probably find hard to quantify. Things like mirror symmetry are easy to describe, but what about the image above. It gives a feeling of symmetry, but exactly how would you describe it?

Brian Oberlein is amazing. I had to sit with this for a few minutes, but he is the first one to help me “get” why Emmy Noether was celebrated yesterday (on the Google Doodle). She had a fundamental insight, the kind that humanity doesn’t get very often. “every conservation law in physics is connected to a physical symmetry.”  

A then B. No if, ands, or buts. 

Of course this requires a physics sense of what is symmetry: there is a change, yet things are the same. Now it makes sense: the earth moves, I don’t detect a change, something is conserved -> angular momentum. 

The contrapostive is also true (of course): no symmetry means no conservation (~b -> ~a). So every time you can observe a change, something has not been conserved -- I mean its conserved in the larger system, but not within that locus. It doesn’t mean that physics doesn’t apply, it means that you have to think bigger than the box you’re in --- because somewhere there is a symmetry in every change!!!!!!!!

This is where it all begins. Super Symmetry, parallel universes, the multiverse. This idea is where it is all born! Conservation laws mean all sorts of Physical symmetries in these “bigger boxes”!!!! Not theoretical: physical symmetries. A wold in which you change one thing and the rest appears the same (you, me, everything.)

[sfrancisco]

Metacognitive Habits of Mind

One of the fascinating things about having kids and in many ways still being a early childhood educator is watching and testing the theories I've learned about for so long.

Last night, my youngest, Tavi, was awake from 11 to 3 AM, I got to listen to her talk to herself on the baby monitor, and occasionally walk in to talk with her or provide new books. Vygotsky is generally considered the theorist behind studying metacognition in children, and I had forgotten about it's role in literacy until last night: Here was this 4 year old talking to herself aloud about the books she "read" (she can't read yet). Frustrated with having graphonemic awareness (knowing the letters mean something) and knowing that she didn't yet know how to read (itself a metacognitive awareness).

When I came in and talked with her, asked her to picture walk some books with me, corrected a few misconceptions, she drew conclusions about where she had been wrong -- she saw her own comprehension gaps and marked the moments of change. As she read "Belly Button," she noted where she thought the book said "Bee Bo" but couldn't find the letter B (she was pointing to the word listen). In reality she was testing her old understanding of the book -- who was talking and why. Finding the B, she guessed again, correctly. It was next to a baby rhinoceros. She made a hypothesis: the baby can't yet say belly button, that's why it says "bee bo". She then explained aloud how her old understanding had been wrong, all along.

Think about that. When confronted with evidence of their misstep, kids can be aware of where there comprehension breaks down. Not just where, but why. How often do we encourage that behavior? She now will take into account the kind of word it she is hunting for, and it's relative placement next to the characters drawn. How complex are these little minds? How much are they capable of?

I wonder how do reading curricula approach this. Teachers use modeling and think alouds, but this is more. This is a metacognitive habit of mind -- the habit of thinking about her thinking. This occurs outside of literacy. It was there before any instruction -- unlike Ovee, Tavi hasn't been as receptive to being taught, so I haven't pushed her. In this case, I think it was about her constant play with her "babies" -- dolls of varying ages and species to which she has ascribed speech and characteristics. This skill is from play not instruction. But this is also like the core skill in her comprehension.

I've been really blessed all these years that Tavi has been incredibly verbal since about 15 months old. She's taught me so much by her constant thinking aloud.

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Hey look! That's me and my son! Bottom left photo.

Tumblr HQ Update: Week 342

Hosted the MLK Dream Code hackathon. Our youngest coder was six! Bottom right, the winning team shows off their demo.

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My 5 year old son asked for a computer for Christmas. Here is how I created a build-at-home-laptop-kit for under $130 that he can assemble by himself.

Raspberry Pi model B ($40) B&M Microcenter

Clear Case ($9 )B&M Microcenter

Motorola Lapdock ($40) used

16GB SD card (Free, spare card I had in "the drawer")

HDMI Micro Female to HDMI Male Adapter ($11)

HDMI Extension Cable ($9)

USB Micro Extension Cable ($14)

USB Micro to Regular adapter ($5)

Optional Wifi Dongle: Tenda m311m ($10 Microcenter) works without any driver hassle.

You can get the cables and adapters much cheaper if you don't have Christmas hanging over your head. I needed everything prime-eligible!

*B&M = Brick and Mortar, as in I got myself into a car and drove to Microcenter.

I used a regular monitor to test and configure the pi and OS. 

Made the /boot/config.txt changes mentioned here.

$ sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Find and uncomment or change:

hdmi_force_hotplug=1

hdmi_drive=2

And didn't have to do any power splicing since the latest pi board can be powered by the regular USB ports (so called "backpowering").

I labeled everything so that he can put it together with minimal directions, making sure that the orientations matched. As a bonus I can have him learn about the names of the pieces and write a how-to book for himself over the Christmas break. Fact is my 3 year old could also do this build, but since she can't yet read it's not really appropriate yet.

Next for me is to get gnash running on it so that he can play flash games on kid websites. (Why are flash games still so prevalent in a age where there is no more mobile flash!)

There are some issues with suspend/resume but I don't really care. He should be shutting down after every use.

Another bonus: if I want him to work on something offline (a game I installed or complete a project, I can just take the wifi dongle out.)

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A site for just observing

This looks useful. I've pretty much decided on PocketSphinx as a recognition engine.

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Mind that (30 million Word) Gap.

I've begun sketching out the rough plans for a new project in my spare time.  Here are my initial thoughts.

15 Second Pitch: I want to help parents ensure their children's academic success by enabling them to monitor verbal engagement during the pre-school years.

Problem: The 30 Million Word Gap. "Researchers found that measures of accomplishment at age three were highly indicative of performance at the ages of nine and ten on various vocabulary, language development, and reading comprehension measures."

Solution: Build a FitBit-type device for monitoring social engagement with children as a tool to develop and meet social engagement goals. Begin with mere word counting then as then expand to analysis and coaching. Additional sensors such as temperature and motion may later be used to track other targeted indicators of social engagement and safety.

Possible tools: 

Pygsr: Python + Google's offline speech recognition.

pocketsphinx: MIT library

PySpeech: can use dragon or windows speech recognition engine

Hardware:

RaspberryPi running Ubuntu

2-3 mics. 

SDcard storage

BT 4.0 or Wifi

Battery pack

3d printed custom case

User Layer:

Secure Website

Tips, pointers, alerts, analysis

Send results not raw data

Minimum Viable Prototype (Stage 1):

Goal: Record and differentiate words sort into a database.

Microphone

Clean Ubuntu install

Speech Library

Communication API Design

Initial scoring algorithm

Stage 2 (Tethered Device):

Goal: Prove the device works on a tethered mobile platform. Attach to one of my daughter's toys. Collect data. Test resolution speed and mics. 

Raspberry Pi

Case

Duct Tape

Power Source

Test with dual microphones

SDCard

Stage 3 (Untethered Device):

Goal: Functioning prototype works for a few hours without connection to computers. Processes voice data on its own, responds to API based inquiries using response framework.

Battery Pack

Basic noise cancellation with dual mics.

Response server (Probably custom Python server) + NginX

Stage 4 (Testing, Seed Funding)

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Workspace 2.0: Project Wireless

MacBook Air. Contolled by the desktop using Synergy as a second screen. Mac development, pitches, on the go work.

3TB in external HD space. Backup + Raid1 for Photos, Videos.

FoxConn NanoPC. Used the included vesa mount to attach to the monitor. Fantastic machine replaced my Mac Mini Server. Very happy that this runs Ubuntu so well!

Simple Sucker cell phone stand, Great for listening to Pandora.

Rosewill 10 port USB Hub for quick connections, charging, and testing devices.

Logitech KB & Mouse. Unified receiver saves a port. Wish I had a good ergonomic option!

Wacom Bamboo Create Graphics tablet for screencasts and picture editing.

(Not Pictured) Tripp Lite UPS. Brownouts, power outages, blown fuses. All poor excuses for not getting a project done.

(Not Pictured) Turtle Beach PX5 Headset. I use them only over bluetooth, so they hang until I need them for screencasting or zoning in.

The wire disappearing act due to Inland Cable Management kit, dozens of cable ties, and some Sugru.