Thesis Process Book
Thesis Process Book Spring 2020 Yian Zhao
A recipe, a diary, a journey and a thesis process book.
INTRO This book is about my journey of developing the thesis show in this weird semester. Over the past few months, not only have my thesis and final representation shifted, but also my mindset, position, and perspective. The journey is always the fun part.
01.27.2020 THUR
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50 QUESTIONS
Technology & information How can How can What if What if How can How can How can How can What if What if
we learn from personal data? we define the boundary of privacy? people could fully manage their private info? the government did not have access to personal data? we protect our privacy in this over-crowded world? we reduce the privacy cost in the high-tech era? we use the information to help with public security? we know the appropriate extent of information transparency? technology development had no ethical boundaries? all the countries shared their technology?
Genders & love What if What if What if What if What if How can How can How can What if What if
men could give birth to children? all the country leaders were women? people could choose their genders? I were a boy? the gender couldn’t be identified through appearance? we eliminate gender discrimination? we aggravate gender discrimination? we know we love someone? love could be visualized? humans had no love?
Self What if How can What if What if What if What if How can What if How can How can
we never had negative emotions? we deal with negative emotions we could know our future? we could know the time when our lives end? we could learn everything from history? we could remember everything? we cherish the time? I never came to this world? we know the meaning of our lives? we know who we are?
What if/How can we
Relations What if What if What if What if How can How can What if What if What if What if
people never covered up the problems? people always told the truth? everyone could share their knowledge? everyone could empathize with each other? we know what the right thing to do is? we build life-long relations? everyone is extroverted? there were no boundaries between countries and nationalities? everyone spoke the same language? everyone belonged to the same religion?
Whims What if What if What if How can What if What if What if What if What if What if
the world ends tomorrow? there were magic? animals could understand English? we know if the world we see is the same? everyone had the same aesthetic? we could travel back in time? we could inherent parents’ knowledge? emotion were tangible? everyone were rational? we could see our future in a crystal ball?
This is where I started my thoughts...
02.18.2020 TUE
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ANTHOLOGY BOOK
0 9
4 8 4 1
0
02.25.2020 TUE
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TIMELINE
02/25
Brainstorm 5 projects Prototype 1 project Improve the projects upon suggestions Narrow down to 2 options
02/27
Decide the project Talk to my friends who are the target audience Get more feedbacks
I finished all the steps and was ready to enjoy the spring break.
02/29
Research the methodology and the feasibility Finalize the design Prototyping Finalize the statement and the proposal
03/03
Due: Final statement Project proposal
03/05
Due: Presentation
03.13.2020 FRI
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CFA UPDATE: COVID-19
Dear CFA Students, As you know, President Brown announced that Boston University will embrace remote teaching for all classes effective Monday, 16 March 2020. In light of the rapid global spread of COVID-19, the recent declaration of a state of emergency by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) identifying the ongoing viral outbreak as a pandemic, I agree with the decision to prioritize the health, safety, and wellbeing of members of our community. On Monday, CFA classes will continue but will be taught remotely, primarily through Zoom. In advance, I have asked your faculty instructors to e-mail you to inquire about your geographic location and access to internet. In addition, they (or your professional advisors) will provide you with relevant information to access remote teaching classrooms. Zoom has many benefits, including the ability to host the types of conversations and discussions (including sidebars) that occur in most in-person classes. Several people have e-mailed me to inquire about courses that do not appear, at first glance, to adapt to a remote teaching environment. Faculty across the college have been in conversation about how to realize key learning objectives in this setting. One potential added benefit is that a remote teaching environment creates an opportunity to explore mediated methods of
An email changed everything. Or to be more accurate, I realized everything would be changed when I saw this email.
creating and sharing the fine and performing arts. An embrace of technology is an increasingly essential skill in the 21st century. As we transition to remote teaching, CFA will close all studios, practice rooms, and classrooms between Tuesday, 17 March and Monday, 23 March. I encourage students to retrieve any essential items over the next few days. On 23 March, I will e-mail our community with an update on the status of these spaces. I sincerely apologize for the disruption to your schedule. I understand the challenges of transitioning mid-semester to an environment in which teaching occurs remotely. COVID-19 has created stress, anxiety, and uncertainty for many. I appreciate both your patience and acknowledgment of the uniqueness of this moment in time. I am confident that we will overcome this challenge. We are a dynamic and resourceful community and the bonds that we have forged and will continue to forge can bridge any distance. Best Wishes, Harvey Boston University College of Fine Arts 855 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215
03.14.2020 SAT
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Italian Dessert
tiramisu 1. Whisk espresso and Grand Marnier. 2. Dip half of the ladyfingers in the espresso mixture. 3. Line dipped ladyfingers in bottom of pan. 4. Beat mascarpone and rum together. 5. Gently cook egg yolks and sugar. 6. Beat egg yolks into mascarpone cream mixture. 7. Make whipped cream. 8. Fold whipped cream into mascarpone cream mixture. 9. Whip egg whites, salt, and sugar. 10. Fold egg white mixture into mascarpone cream mixture. 11. Layer half of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers. 12. Dip and layer remaining ladyfingers. 13. Top with remaining cream mixture, then chill for for 2-3 hours. 14. Dust with cocoa. 15. Chill overnight.
After escaping from Europe. I slept 12hrs that day. When I woke up, I discovered my irresistable impulse to have desserts.
I probably just needed some sugar to relax.
03.15.2020 SUN I was supposed to be in Paris today, and I booked a great restaurant after careful reviews. But now, I was here, in Boston. It is the first birthday that I have no parties and no presents. But when I woke up in the morning, I received so many blessings from my families and friends; My boyfriend bought candles and made me a birthday cake. I couldn’t ask for more. They are the best presents in my life.
it’s my 22th birthday
Hope things can get better soon.
It has been a quite difficult year.
YAAAY ! ! !
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My first remote teaching class came sooner than I expected. I didn’t make much progress in my thesis during the break, but soon I realized it was no longer necessary. In the meeting, I was informed that our Thesis Show in 808 would be cancelled, and we were heading to a new direction.
We no longer had access to the printers, printmaking materials and any other graphic design resources in 808. My plan of making silkscreens prints that could fool the facial recognition cameras apparently failed.
IF IT WERE IN 808 An analogy between the audience and a hamster, both censored by the camera.
Under the surveillence, we are like animals in 1984.
NOW WHAT
Military-Industrial-Prison-DataSurveillance State 2015 ¡ online, print
Sam Lavigne is an artist and educator whose work deals with data, surveillance, cops, natural language processing, and automation.
When I don’t know what to do, I just started to do researches again, running away from making progress.
BACK TO RESEARCH???
3 Degrees of Separation from the
03.22.2020 SUN
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1. Preheat your oil, in a deep-fryer, to 325 degrees F. 2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne pepper until thoroughly mixed. Set aside. 3. Pour the buttermilk into another bowl large enough for the chicken to be immersed in the buttermilk. 4. Place the chicken in a bowl, then the buttermilk and dry mixture. 5. Take your chicken, lightly dust them with your flour mixture, then dip them in the buttermilk until they are coated, and then place them in the flour mixture. 6. Take the chicken that are in the flour mixture and aggressively push the flour mixture into the wet chicken. Place them your hot oil. 7. Next, repeat the dredging steps with your other pieces of chicken. 8. When you place the last wing into the fryer, set a timer for 15 minutes. 9. Remove the chicken from the oil and let it drain for 5 minutes. Let cool for an additional 10 minutes before serving.
America Fast-food
fried chicken
I usually won’t have fried chicken for dinner. Not a great food to stay slim. But now I simply don’t care.
A bit greasy, but tasted really good! (Totally ignoring my thesis)
03.23.2020 MON
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1. For the sauce: Put the gochugaru, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, mirin, sesame oil, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. 2. For the broth: Put the dried anchovies, garlic, daikon, kombu, onion and 2 quarts water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Strain into a bowl or saucepan and discard the solids. 3. For the toppings: Arrange the Spam, sausages, bacon, tofu, tteok, pork and beans, kimchi and sliced onion in a large, low-sided skillet. 4. Add the sauce to the middle of the pot; don’t stir. Heat on high heat for 5 minutes. Add enough broth to cover all the ingredients, bring to a boil and boil on high heat for 5 minutes. Mix the sauce gently into the broth so it is well incorporated. Lower to medium heat and add the remaining broth. Simmer for 10 more minutes, then add the ramen and cook until the noodles are just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and top with mozzarella, scallions and watercress.
Korean Cuisine
budae jjigae
It was really nice to have hotpot at home on such a cold day. And...Okay. Monday. I really have to work on my thesis now. No more escapes.
03/25/2020 WED
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Letter to change
It is a semester full of challenges. It should have been a semester of pleasant — we finally finished all of the harsh classes and can do something we enjoy to be the ending of our college lives. But things began to go wrong at the beginning of 2020, firstly in China. The cities were locked down, and the confirmed numbers were surging. Many of my friends were stuck in China and had to defer a semester to graduate. It was a quite depressing period, watching the tragedy happening while being powerless. But one thing I have learned was that life would never disappoint me by how bad it can be. My friend and I went to Netherland during the spring break. On the fourth day’s night, I rang up by my parents and friends at 2 a.m., who told me that Trump was going to executive a travel ban, and I had better go back to the States right now. I still remember my hands were shaking so hard that I could barely type on my phone. We bought a plane ticket that was 20 times more expensive than usual and rushed to the airport overnight. As soon as we arrived in New York, we drove four hours back to Boston nonstop. It took several days for me to recover from this adventure, both physically and psychologically, soon after which I was overwhelmed by the bad news again. I start to reconsider what is the sense of security we have believed in, and how well - developed is this society structure we have relied on. Also, when the government’s requirement of self-quarantine and wearing masks are against to the human freedom we have been educated about, what would people do?
This conflict between human rights and security is surprisingly consistent with my thesis topic, which was about privacy and security. I spent lots of time reading twitters and people’s comments these days, and I was surprised to find the debate was quite heated, especially when the situation was getting worse. It was easy for people to say that freedom should be above anything several months ago. We shouldn’t be censored by the government, and we shouldn’t be required to stay at home. But now, people hesitated. It is interesting to think about under what circumstance should the personal freedom make a concession to the collective wellness? Or not at all? I will not change my topic, but I might extend it to different aspects of human rights instead of only privacy. I will also take my position that security should be above anything and hopefully show the audience a different point of view. I haven’t got an idea about how to implement the digital thesis show, but I think it will be helpful to know other people’s thoughts. Best, Nicole Reply
yaelort-dinoor Mar 26 this is a question at the essence of any societal debate: is it the individual or the society at large that we should care about? when do we switch from caring about our own safety to being concerned with our safety in context of the larger society?
I would extend the discussion and incorporate the COVID-19 situation in my thesis.
03/03/2020 THUR
Thesis Statement First Draft
We live in surveillance. Countless cameras are watching us walking, talking, and living in our “private” lives. I used to feel safe in their presence. They are indeed recording our lives, but if no one watches the long and tedious tapes, doesn’t the privacy stay private? I convinced myself with these reasons until my computer science class and internship in the area of Artificial Intelligence, and Facial Recognition taught me the algorithms to peep at people’s lives through cameras, which makes me hesitated. I would still defend the importance of facial recognition technology and cameras, but I want to extend the discussion and explore the boundary of privacy and ethics in technology development for security. Through researches about various applications of facial recognition in real-life situations and artworks, the thesis will explore the intentions and opinions behind them, which is a battle between privacy and security. With the development of technology, anti-facial-recognition is also well-evolved. By wearing masks, goggles, and jackets with specific patterns, people can manage to fool the camera and protect themselves from surveillance. But what is real protection? In this show, I will visualize the concept that we are being watched, by showing the streaming of the audience in the gallery and translating their actions into languages. At the same time, the audience can play with the clothes with specific patterns that can hide them from the surveillance. The clothes protect their privacy at the cost of the protection of their security from the camera.
The original plan was a projection that could do facial recognition on the audience, and the audience could play with the camouflage fabrics to fool the camera. Also, I would record people’s reactions. I wouldn’t change my topic of facial recognition, but I had no idea where I was heading to. Luckily, a digital show wouldn’t hurt my thesis so much.
Wait. Would it?
IF ONLINE
# Keywords before
KEYWORDS =[ ‘Artificial Intelligence’, ‘Facial Recognition’, ‘Surveillence’, ‘Information’, ‘Security’, ‘Privacy’, ‘Conflict’, ...
];
# Keywords now # I better talk to someone
KEYWORDS. APPEND( ‘Online’, ‘Website’, ‘Interactive’, ‘COVID-19’, ‘Lockdown’, ‘Masks’, ... ‘What is my position?’
);
>>> IndexError: list assignment index out of range
03.26.2020 THUR
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1. Cut vegetables into bite size pieces. 2. Heat oil and brown meat in a pot, then take meat out. 3. In the same pot, fry onions for 8 minutes. Add carrots and potatoes, then cooked meat. 4. Add water to the pot. After it boils, skim fat, and reduce heat to low. 5. Cover and cook for 45 minutes until the meat becomes tender. 6. Remove from heat and add curry sauce mix. Stir well so the pieces of the mix dissolve. 7. Pour the curry over rice.
Japanese Cuisine
beef curry
Japanese curry is easy to make, and it always tastes great with Vermont curry sauce. I don’t have much time to cook now. Everything is coming back to the track.
03/27/2020 FRI
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CONNECTION
Hi Nicole and Aiden, Nicole, Aiden is a former student of ours, currently based in NYC. Following graduation quickly developed his own path as an independent designer. Aiden, Nicole’s thesis is exploring ideas of privacy and security. She is a GD / CS major, considering how to translate her thesis into the digital space following the new remote BFA reality. She has recently looked Sam Levigne’s work and Google’s tracking feature. Any insights and conversation would be wonderful and greatly appreciated. I trust you two to take it from here. Please let me know how I can be of help. With gratitude, Yael
03/30/2020 MON
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SENIOR THESIS
Hi Aiden, Thank you for your email! My thesis is about the conflict between privacy and security, and I was going to focus on the topic of facial recognition. It is a very controversial topic, as it intends to protect public security but in the cost of personal privacy. The idea originated from my last summer’s intern at an AI company. As a UX designer, I was responsible for designing a facial recognition system that helped the government to censor the visitors in public space. I was at first unconcerned about the ethical aspects associated with it, but when I started to do researches for my thesis, I learned more negative news about this technology and began to hesitate. However, the pandemic of COVID-19 gave me a new point of view and confirmed my position as a supporter. In certain situations, it might be necessary for the individuals to make a concession to public security, though the boundary remains blurry. My original plan was designing a projection of an interactive real-time facial recognition system to the wall, so that I could show different aspects of this technology to people. But now, since it will be a digital one, I haven’t got a concrete idea about how to show the audience my struggling and the final standing point. I would love to talk to you and learn your thoughts. Best, Yian
“Narrow it down. Keep it simple.”
“I will be a supporter and show the positive side of facial recognition.”
03.31.2020 TUE
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1. Start by making the graham cracker crust: stir graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter together and press into a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 7 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Set aside to cool. 2. Make the cheesecake filling by stirring the very soft cream cheese together with the granulated sugar. Stir in the vanilla and sour cream. Scrape the sides really well and stir again to ensure there are no lumps. 3. Whisk eggs together in a separate bowl and slowly add to the cheesecake filling with the mixer on. Once eggs are incorporated turn mixer off. Scrape the sides really well to ensure a very smooth batter. If there are lumps, stir them in by hand. 4. Tap bowl on the counter for 30-45 seconds to remove air bubbles. 5. Pour batter into graham cracker crust, smooth the top and bake. 6. Bake at 325 degrees, reduce heat to 250 to finish cooking. 7. Let cheesecake sit in the hot oven with the oven closed for 30 minutes and letting it continue cooling for another hour. 8. Remove from oven and bring cheesecake to room temperature. 9. Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled. Serve.
American Dessert
cheese cake
Time for some sugar!! The cheesecake is a huge success. It tastes exactly the same as those in the bakery. I just can’t stop taking sugar when I am stressed.
I made some progress in the thesis. At least I know my position. Now I should go back to making.
04/01/2020 WED
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Quickstart: Analyze a local image using the Computer Vision REST API and Python Microsoft Azure/Cognitive Services/Computer Vision
In this quickstart, you’ll analyze a locally stored image to extract visual features using the Computer Vision REST API. With the Analyze Image method, you can extract visual features based on image content.
Prerequisites • You must have Python installed if you want to run the sample locally. • You must have a subscription key for Computer Vision. You can get a free trial key from Try Cognitive Services. Or, follow the instructions in Create a Cognitive Services account to subscribe to Computer Vision and get your key. Then, create environment variables for the key and service endpoint string, named COMPUTER_VISION_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY and COMPUTER_ VISION_ENDPOINT, respectively. • You must have the following Python packages installed. You can use pip to install Python packages. requests matplotlib pillow
Create and run the sample To create and run the sample, do the following steps: 1. Copy the following code into a text editor. 2. Optionally, replace the value of image_path with the path and file name of a different image that you want to analyze. 3. Save the code as a file with an .py extension. For example, analyze-local-image.py. 4. Open a command prompt window. 5. At the prompt, use the python command to run the sample. For example, python analyze-local-image.py.
Examine the response A successful response is returned in JSON. The sample webpage parses and displays a successful response in the command prompt window.
Next steps Next, explore a Python application that uses Computer Vision to perform optical character recognition (OCR); create smart-cropped thumbnails; and detect, categorize, tag, and describe visual features in images. • To rapidly experiment with the Computer Vision API, try the Open API testing console.
import os import sys import requests from PIL import Image from io import BytesIO # Add your Computer Vision subscription key and endpoint to your environment variables. if ‘COMPUTER_VISION_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY’ in os.environ: subscription_key = os.environ[‘COMPUTER_VISION_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY’] else: print(“\nSet the COMPUTER_VISION_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY environment variable.\n**Restart your shell or IDE for changes to take effect.**”) sys.exit() if ‘COMPUTER_VISION_ENDPOINT’ in os.environ: endpoint = os.environ[‘COMPUTER_VISION_ENDPOINT’] analyze_url = endpoint + “vision/v2.1/analyze” # Set image_path to the local path of an image that you want to analyze. image_path = “C:/Documents/ImageToAnalyze.jpg” # Read the image into a byte array image_data = open(image_path, “rb”).read() headers = {‘Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key’: subscription_ key, ‘Content-Type’: ‘application/octet-stream’} params = {‘visualFeatures’: ‘Categories,Description,Color’} response = requests.post(analyze_url, headers=headers, params=params, data=image_data) response.raise_for_status() # The ‘analysis’ object contains various fields that # describe the image. The most relevant caption for the # image is obtained from the ‘description’ property. analysis = response.json() print(analysis) image_caption = analysis[“description”][“captions”][0] [“text”].capitalize() # Display the image and overlay it with the caption. image = Image.open(BytesIO(image_data)) plt.imshow(image) plt.axis(“off”) _ = plt.title(image_caption, size=”x-large”, y=-0.1)
environment key import requests python version
SEARCHING Things are never as easy as they seem to be. I spent a whole night researching for 373 items, and finally made the API work.
1. Use OpenCV to take an image by webcam. 3. The API will return a caption that describes the image. There is also a confidence score that reflects the accuracy.
2. Run the file and send the image to the API,
IMPLEMENTING
I have the interactive tool that runs facial recognition! But how should I use it?
04.03.2020 FRI
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1. Slash the fat rimming one side of the loin cutlet to keep the meat from curling when deepfried. Pound to flatten to about 1/4 inch. Salt and pepper both sides of each cutlet. Dredge each in flour, then dip into beaten eggs and press into bread crumbs to coat both sides. 2. Heat a large skillet with about 1/2 inch of oil until hot. Lay 1 or 2 cutlets in the hot oil. Deep-fry until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, turning them once or twice. Drain the cutlets on paper towels and cut the pork into bite-size strips that can be eaten with chopsticks. 3. Arrange the pork on a platter lined with the shredded cabbage, and garnish with lemon wedges. Serve the sauce on the side for dipping, or pour it over the pork and cabbage.
Japanese Cuisine
pork tonkatsu
I had an argument with her. She said I had to stay in Boston for this summer. It was not negotiable.
I really miss my mom’s Katsu Don. It has already been a year since last time I went home, and I don’t know when would be the next time.
04.05.2020 SUN
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Japanese Dessert
zenzai Zenzai is a traditional Japanese dessert soup made with azuki beans. This sweet red bean soup is served hot with mochi (rice cake) or shiratama dango (glutinous rice flour dumplings) inside the soup. 1. Put the red bean paste and water in a pot. Boil it. 2. Toast the mochi until puffed up and nicely brown, about 10-12 minutes. 3. Serve the red bean soup and mochi in a bowl and enjoy!
Today is Qingming Festival in China. People muorned for those who died from this pendamic.
This is the easiest dessert I can ever make. Mochi is one of my favorite food. I am so stuck on my thesis. I don’t know how to represent my ideas through that API.
04/07/2020 TUE
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FACULTY REVIEW WITH JAMES
The technology is innocent. What makes a difference is how people use it.
INNOCENT? GUILTY? I will make the facial recognition warm and fun instead of being creepy and aggresive in people’s stereotype.
04/11/2020 SAT
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Flask tutorial by Full Stack Python
Flask (source code) is a Python web framework built with a small core and easy-to-extend philosophy.
Why is Flask a good web framework choice? Flask is considered more Pythonic than the Django web framework because in common situations the equivalent Flask web application is more explicit. Flask is also easy to get started with as a beginner because there is little boilerplate code for getting a simple app up and running. The equivalent “Hello, World!” web application using the Django web framework would involve significantly more boilerplate code. Flask was also written several years after Django and therefore learned from the Python community’s reactions as the framework evolved. Jökull Sólberg wrote a great piece articulating to this effect in his experience switching between Flask and Django. I firstly need to put this API online so that the audience can interact with it.
Flask tutorials Learning how to build full-featured web applications with any framework takes a lot of work. These resources listed below are the best up-to-date tutorials and references for getting started. The Flask mega tutorial by Miguel Grinberg is a perfect starting resource for using this web framework. Each post focuses on a single topic and builds on previous posts. The series includes 18 parts: #1 Hello World, #2 Templates, #3 Web Forms, #4 Database, #5 User Logins, #6 Profile Page and Avatars, #7 Unit Testing, #8 Followers, Contacts, and Friends, #9 Pagination, #10 Full Text Search, #11 Email Support, #12 Facelift, #13 Dates and Times, #14 I18n and L10n, #15 Ajax, #16 Debugging, Testing and Profiling, #17 Deployment on Linux and #18 Deployment on the Heroku Cloud. Miguel also wrote and recorded numerous Flask Web Development content including a great book and video book that are excellent resources worth the price, especially to support his continuous revisions to the content. Armin Ronacher, the creator of Flask, presented the technical talk Flask for Fun and Profit at PyBay 2016 where he discusses using the framework to build web apps and APIs. Explore Flask is a public domain book that was previously backed on Kickstarter and cost money for about a year before being open sourced. The book explains best practices and patterns for building Flask apps. Learn to Build Web Applications with Flask and Docker is a video course by Nick Janetakis that shows how to build a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application that he open sourced which uses Flask for the web framework and Docker for the local development environment. Flask by Example: Part 1 shows the basic first steps for setting up a Flask project. Part 2 explains how to use PostgreSQL, SQLAlchemy and Alembic. Part 3 describes text processing with BeautifulSoup and NLTK. Part 4 shows how to build a task queue with Flask and Redis.
04/14/2020 TUE
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New Direction
I came up with this idea that one could get a computer-generated portrait from my thesis website by interacting with the facial recognition program. If the audience allows the camera to take an image of him/her, the program will extract key features from the image and match each feature with a graphic in database. Collaging these graphics together will form a portrait of the audience. The portrait honesly reflects the audience’s status at home: What does the audience have on hands? What’s in the background? Is it grey and teadius? Does the audience look positive? What can one do to improve the life? It will be fun and encouraging. The audience can play with the technology and learn more about facial recognition.
Comments: Make the graphics more literal Build an explicit visual system so that the audience can decode. What if people refuse to take an image by the webcam? How to make the website more inviting?
CODING
First draft of visual system. Too abstract.
SYSTEM I should use pictures instead of graphics.
04/16/2020 THUR
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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang=”en”> <head> <meta charset=”UTF-8”> <title>Document</title> <style> video { border: 1px solid #ccc; display: block; margin: 0 0 20px 0; float: left; }
The website now can take an image and return a list of tags.
cv_web/templates/ test.html
#canvas { margin-top: 20px; border: 1px solid #ccc; display: block; } </style> </head> <body> <video id=”video” width=”500” height=”400” autoplay></video> <canvas id=”canvas” width=”500” height=”400”></canvas> <button id=”snap” >Take an image</button> <script type=”text/javascript”> var context = canvas.getContext(“2d”); window.addEventListener(“DOMContentLoaded”, function() { var canvas = document.getElementById(“canvas”); var video = document.getElementById(“video”); var videoObj = {“video” : true}; var errBack = function(error) {
code);
console.log(“Video capture error: “, error.
}; if (navigator.getUserMedia) { navigator.getUserMedia(videoObj, function(stream) { video.srcObject = stream; video.play(); }, errBack); } else if (navigator.webkitGetUserMedia) { navigator.webkitGetUserMedia(videoObj, function(stream) { video.srcObject = window.webkitURL.createObjectURL(stream); video.play(); }, errBack); } else if (navigator.mozGetUserMedia) { navigator.mozGetUserMedia(videoObj, function (stream) { video.srcObject = window.URL.createObjectURL(stream); video.play(); }, errBack); } }, false); document.getElementById(“snap”).addEventListener(“click”, function () { context.drawImage(video, 0, 0, 500, 400); var dataURL = canvas.toDataURL(); var temp = document.createElement(“form”); //temp.action = “http://127.0.0.1:5000/”; temp.action = “https://zya-testone.herokuapp. com/”; temp.method = “post”; temp.style.display = “none”; var opt = document.createElement(“textarea”); opt.name =”imgdata”; if (dataURL !== null) { opt.value = dataURL; } temp.appendChild(opt); document.body.appendChild(temp); temp.submit(); }); </script> </body> </html>
04.18.2020 SAT
TEMP 32°- 46° PRECIP 0.00IN SNOW 0.0IN CLOUDY
1. Using a paper towel, pat skin of pork belly until it is completely dry. Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl and then pour into a rectangular pan that is big enough to hold the pork belly. Place pork belly into the pan, making sure only the meat touches the marinade and the skin stays completely dry. Place in fridge for several hours or overnight. 2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Completely line a roasting pan with foil. Pour 1 inch of water into bottom of pan. Place wire rack on top of roasting pan to hold the pork belly. Place the pork belly on the wire rack. The pork belly will cook above the water, with the pork drippings dripping down below into the water. Make sure the pork belly is level. Spread 1 cup of salt evenly across the pork belly skin. Place into top half of oven. Bake for about 40 minutes until meat looks cooked. 3. Remove pork belly and increase oven temperature to 465°F. The salt that was poured over pork belly should have formed a crust. Remove salt crust from pork belly. Wipe off any excess salt from the pork belly skin. Once oven has reached desired temperature, place pork belly back into oven. Bake for another 30 minutes until skin is completely bubbly and crisp. Let pork belly cool a few minutes before cutting and serving.
Chinese Cuisine
crispy pork belly
It is high fat, but it is SO good! It has been a whi le since last cooking. All the projects wi ll be due within two weeks. Almost there!
04/20/2020 MON
TEMP 32°- 46° PRECIP 0.00IN SNOW 0.0IN CLOUDY
Thesis Statement
We live in surveillance. Countless cameras are watching us walking, talking, and living in our “private” lives. People block the cameras on the laptop; states banned the use of facial recognition by agencies. My computer science class and internship that taught me the algorithms and applications to peep at people’s lives through cameras make me feel worse. However, is facial recognition really that evil? Can banning technology solve the problem? For the thesis, I will explore various aspects of artificial intelligence and discuss the trust crisis brought by the technology. Through researches about facial recognition in real-life situations and artworks, I learned opinions from different perspectives. The AI technology can be the devil that censors the public and minority. However, it can also be the opposite that improves life quality and protects people, especially during this pandemic period. Technology is innocent. The outcome depends on who uses it and how it is used. In the show, I will build an interactive website that enables the audience to explore facial recognition by oneself. The audience can upload or use the webcam to take an image, and the website will return an abstract computergenerated portrait based on it. The elements in the portrait will build a visual system that gives an objective description of the user during the lockdown. It is designed to be a warm and encouraging experience for people who have stayed at home for months. It also aims to provide another perspective to people about AI technology.
04/23/2020 THUR
TEMP 32°- 46° PRECIP 0.00IN SNOW 0.0IN CLOUDY
s
hand
s e s s gla
IMAGE
I mainly used images of vintage objects and then bitmapped them. Though the final portrait will be organized by computer algorithms, these elements can give a human feeling to it.
They also have different rotations and sizes, so that the portrait would be more palyful.
table
p
lapto
mug
camera
woman
indoor shi rt
PROCESSING
visual system According to the tests, the first 15 tags returned by the algorithm are most accurate and informative. 10 nouns and 10 adj are selected to be the final images.
04/24/2020 FRI
TEMP 32°- 46° PRECIP 0.00IN SNOW 0.0IN CLOUDY
Poster Design Rules
Four layers: 10 Bitmapped images chosen out of the first 15 tags Date and the caption Small graphical elements to make the poster more playful and encouraging Color blocks that reflect the confidence level of the portrait Special case: Gender Normally, both woman and man tags will appear in the list, as long as there is a person in the image. Only choose the one that comes first. It represents the user’s gender. It looks nice in Indesign. Wish it will work online.
Make a poster in indesign is so much easier than in an HTML.
Firstly, take an image of myself.
Why is it compressed???
04/28/2020 TUE
TEMP 32°- 46° PRECIP 0.00IN SNOW 0.0IN CLOUDY
TEST_ONE
???
LIFE IS FULL OF ACCIDENTS AND SURPRISES Fine. I will redesign the proportion of each image and refine the algorithm.
05/01/2020 FRI
TEMP 32°- 46° PRECIP 0.00IN SNOW 0.0IN CLOUDY
Redesign the proportion
Gender 11.2 ✕ 11.2 in Noun & Adj. 5.6446 in Poster 17 ✕ 22.4 in
Resize the canvas and images.
Add another two layers of random graphics
05/03/2020 SUN
TEMP 32°- 46° PRECIP 0.00IN SNOW 0.0IN CLOUDY
TEST_FINAL
Lovely!!! A portrait generated by the computer based on the user’s selfie.
I have come a long way to land on this idea. I started with a critical attitude towards facial recognition and then became doubtful. Finally, I decided to represent its neutral side to the audience, and invite the audience to take a step and experience with it by themselves. Facial recognition can censor oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal information, but it can also just draw a portrait to make one smile. Technology is innocent. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how people use it. My exploration of the technology ethics wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come to an endpoint with this thesis show.
Thesis process book Designed by Yian Zhao At Boston University May 5th 2020 Typeface Menlo Kayak Sans
My journey just begun :)