Aaron @ ITP - Filed under 'ITP'

5 May 2009

ITP Spring Show - You're Invited!

Finally, the end of my first year at ITP culminates with the ITP Spring Show:

ITP Spring Show 2009 from Winslow Porter on Vimeo. Come check it out! I'll be presenting my project, Gotham Guide.

26 Feb 2009

Postcard Designs for 2009 ITP Show

Well, apparently none of my postcards designs were selected for the Spring show. Since they probably won't see the light of day otherwise, I wanted to put them up here. If anyone would like to offer some constructive criticism, I'm certainly open to it.

Design 1
I know this one is a bit of an inside joke about chunks of the ceiling at ITP falling down first semester, but I thought it also showed a whimsical way to portray our program.

Design 2
This one was more focused on type. I actually like it the best.

Design 3
Since the producers requested a more human approach, I thought this use of the portraits shot earlier this semester combined with a pixelated visual would be compelling.

Design 4
I know the last one is kind of weak, but again, I was going for a more human touch to the design and I thought this looked kinda cool pixelated. (Is pixelated a word? Wordpress doesn't think so.)

24 Jan 2009

On the value of prototyping code

: Image via Wikipedia

Have you heard of Paul Buchheit? I hadn't. But he's the guy who, among other things, built GMail, AdSense and coined the phrase, "Don't Be Evil" for Google. When he left there, he started FriendFeed. Yeah, pretty impressive resume. In a recent blog post, he talks about the value of prototyping code, even if it's for a bad idea. Here's one of the quotes that stuck out to me, which followed a story about the first time he wrote some code introducing relevant text ads into GMail:

...none of the code from my prototype ever made it near the real product (thankfully), but that code did something that fancy arguments couldn't do (at least not my fancy arguments), it showed that the idea and product had real potential. The point of this story, I think, is that you should consider spending less time talking, and more time prototyping, especially if you're not very good at talking or powerpoint. Your code can be a very persuasive argument.

I thought this was good inspiration as we start the new semester.

21 Jan 2009

Nick Bilton quoted in New York Magazine

Our very own Nick Bilton (who, in his spare time, works in the R&D lab at the New York Times :-)), was quoted extensively in last week's issue of New York Magazine. For the interview, he demos a bunch of fun ways to read the paper. We've seen many of them at ITP, but the reporter is way impressed. Bilton sums up the generational divide thus:

Me, I don't read the paper aymore. I read the website. I read the mobile site. When I read the print paper, I get frustrated -- I find I have to sit by the computer and Google things.

I'm pretty psyched for his class! Badass pic courtesy Flickr

27 Dec 2008

Lessons from my first semester at ITP

: Image via Wikipedia

My first semester at ITP has come to an end. It really went by fast, and I am talking about things now I couldn't have fathomed even knowing about four months ago. In case any perspective students or other first year students are reading this, here are a couple of thoughts that crossed my mind multiple times during my first semester in graduate school that were shared by many of my classmates:

You will think everyone is smarter than you. Everyone else will think that as well. In some cases, one of you will be right. It doesn't matter. You can't compare yourself to anyone, since the class is so diverse and comes from so many different professions, countries and backgrounds.
You will think you are paying too much for too little. Again, in many cases this is probably true, and not just at NYU. But what you are paying for is the opportunity to join the NYU community, for the chance to learn from some of the greatest minds in the field and for the community experience you will soon contribute to. If you think of graduate school in these terms, it's well worth the investment.
You will be called an elitist. Deal with it and move on. If you entertain this thought for more than 30 seconds you're wasting your time.
You will be frustrated by pass/fail classes. Some of your classmates will come to every class late. They will work fewer hours and still get the same 'Pass' on their transcripts. This doesn't mean that you will invest less effort, but you will (hopefully) invest more time in your work because you want to, not because you have to. Your reward will be your projects. That's what grad school is about.

I'd love anyone else who may be reading this and has also completed one semester of graduate school to weigh in as well.

16 Dec 2008

ITP Winter Show Starts Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the beginning of the ITP Winter Show. You're invited to join us at the place that Fred Wilson said, " defines a distinguishing characteristic of the New York Internet community." I've been working hard to get my project, Project Run Away, up and ready to go. The rest of my classmates have some incredibly cool projects lined up to show as well. If you're in the New York area, stop by and check out the bleeding edge of where art and technology intersect. Thanks to Steven Lehrberger for the image.

11 Dec 2008

CLASSES: Spring 2009

Registering for classes wasn't as bad as I expected. Basically, ITP uses a different algorithm than the rest of NYU, so there's more of an opportunity for everyone to be equally happy and disappointed. Here are the classes I won in the draft: The World Pixel by Pixel Mobile (Me)dia 1,2,10 Big Games

17 Nov 2008

VIDEO: What is ITP?

Since before I started graduate studies at ITP, I've been asked, "what exactly is it?" Here's one video that helps to answer, "explain the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU." Simply awesome!

I expect I will come back to this often for inspiration, especially during some of those long, dark, bleak nights towards semester's end. Created by chris cerrito, ja in koo, eduardo lytton, kim thompson rodrigo de benito sanz, xiaoyang feng, ami snyderman, che-wei wang. (link)

31 Oct 2008

Arudino Photography

Stunning High Speed Arduino Photography (via GearFuse) This is really incredible. I heard there was a similar project at ITP last year. Can someone direct me to who did this?

6 Oct 2008

Incredible Examples of Processing Related Work

I just found these two videos by Glenn Marshall that were created using Processing. I know I'm just trying to parse some XML right now, but this is pretty inspiring as to what's possible.