Well my relay still isn’t in from China and my projects are all at a stand still.  So instead of updating you all on my progress, I’m going to show you awesome Arduino inventions others have built!

First is this awesome automatic bartender called The Inebriator. This person programmed the recipes for a variety of cocktails into his Arduino and used the Arduino to operate a conveyor belt and valves on bottles to mix the drinks automatically.  I suppose the name is extremely fitting.  Having this in your apartment or at a party would be a great conversation piece and would undoubtedly be a big hit with all your guests.  This is something I may consider building the in future.

The coolest project of all, in my opinion, is the Laser Harp. By sensing the distance of your hand from the base and whether or not the laser is being broken, the Arudino decides the note of the sound to play.  Not only is the laser harp very functional and awesome sounding, but it looks amazing too.  I can imagine something similar being used in electronic music shows and sci-fi movies.

There are a lot of cool things that one can make with an Arduino.  The possibilities are limited just by your imagination.  As I learn to make more complex inventions and gain more knowledge from my classes I hope to create something that rivals the laser harp.  I have a long way to, but at least these fantastic creation provide a source of motivation for me to continue my Arduino work.

So the relay I ordered off of Amazon is apparently coming all the way from China, meaning it won’t arrive for another month most likely.  This puts me in a bad situation because there aren’t many worthwhile projects I can make without a nice relay as the one that came with the kit I bought really isn’t very good and is impossible to use practically.

In the mean time I’ve been learning a lot of coding, especially in my CMPSC 121 class.  I haven’t done any coding before this year, but I find that I am really enjoying it.  I look at each project a new puzzle waiting to be solved.  Arduinos are coded in their own purpose designed language, but I’ve found that it is based off of C++, which is what I’m learning in class.  This makes learning to program the Arduino extremely easy because I don’t have to learn any new syntax.

I hope my relay arrives soon and I can get to work on my automatic box fan project.  Using relays truly unlocks the power of the Arduino as a control system and I can’t wait to see what projects I’ll build in the future!  What sort of devices would my readers like to have automated?

Marijuana has experienced a great shift of perception by the public.  Back when marijuana was first introduced into the culture of the United States, its users were not highly looked upon.  The very fact that we call the plant marijuana in the US is in fact racist in origin.  In contemporary times, a variety of states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes and cannabis use is becoming part of popular culture.  The public’s opinion on cannabis has undergone significant changes in the last few year and there is evidence to suggest the change will keep its momentum for while longer.

There are a lot of possible sources I could use for my essay.  I plan on using polls concerning the percent of the US population that thinks marijuana should be legalized, the frequency of references to marijuana in popular culture, frequency of use now vs in the past, and possible changes in legislation dealing with the decriminalization of marijuana and the use of cannabis for medical purposes.  There is no doubt that a paradigm shift is happening and I’m interested in analyzing it.

All of my creations so far have been low voltage circuits.  It’s been fun making them and playing around with the Arduino, but I’m ready to make something really cool!  In the United States, the sockets in the wall are a source of 120V AC current.  The Arduino runs on 5V of DC current.  The difference between the two is most easily explained visually in the video at the end of the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZjMuIHoBeg.  Since wall sockets produce 120V AC current, most appliances (including my box fan) are built to run on this amount and type of power.

This begs the question, how is one supposed to control 120V AC circuits with a simple 5V DC circuit?  The answer is by using a relay.  A relay is a mechanical switch that can be turned on and off based on whether or not it is receiving current.  Relays work by producing a magnetic field that physically closes a switch on the other side of the relay completing the second circuit.  By using relays, I can turn 120V circuits on and off at my will.  Using a relay and an temperature sensor I plan to turn on and off my box fan based on the temperature in the room!  When it gets to cold, my Arduino will turn on the fan, pushing the heat from the radiator around the room.  This could also be changed for summer so the fan turns on when it gets to warm. I am looking forward to starting on this project, which I plan to do as soon as the new relay I ordered comes in the mail.

Sorry that the picture is so huge.

2 DAYS ONLY!  RED ZONE CLEARANCE!   This advertisement is meant to urge its audience into shopping at JCPenney now, not next week or next month. By highlighting the short length of the sale the ad instills a sense of kairos in the viewer. “I must go shopping now or else I’ll miss the additional 15% off!”  Furthermore, the name of the sale, Red Zone Clearance, is meant to make the subject feel rushed.  In football, the red zone is when the offensive team is very close to scoring.  By using the term red zone, they make it seem like the sale is nearing the end of something, much like a football team is nearing the end of their possession when they enter the red zone.

I do feel this ad creates a strong sense of urgency.  By giving the shopper only two days to  receive the additional 15% savings they ensure a quick response.  The name of the ad, although not as direct, does enhance the sense of urgency felt by the subject of the advertisement.  Would this ad motivate me to shop at JCPenney?  Sure I think it would, an extra 15% off is nothing to scoff at.  I would not having a problem rushing out to JCPenney to get the additional saving.  However, I would not ditch other plans just go shopping.  All in all, I would argue the ad is effective.

When the student body moved in to the residence halls to begin the new school year, they were quite hot.  I remember waking up covered in a layer of sweat and my sheets sticking to me at night.  Nowadays, it is quite a bit cooler.  How cold? I did not know.  In order to answer this question I decided to build a thermometer with my Arduino.

I dug out a temperature sensor and figured out how to wire it up.  Then I set up 7 LED lights that would act as the output.  I programmed the Arduino to read the temperature, then light up more lights as the temperature increased.  Pretty nifty huh?

One problem I did run into was actually quite scary.  The fist time I set up the circuitry and plugged the Arduino in I almost fried the temperature sensor! I was wondering why my thermometer wasn’t working, then I started to smell something burning.  I felt the sensor and it was extremely hot. Turns out it was above 400 degrees. I messed around with the wiring a bit and got everything in to working order.  That was a close call.

I came up with the topic of my essay fairly quickly.  Being election season, everyone is bombarded with politics day and night.  Naturally, I decided to analyze campaign ads.  I enjoyed writing this essay more than I anticipated I would.  Examining things you see everyday but never notice gives you a certain introspection into the workings of the world that is always nice to have.

The organization of my paper shifted dramatically from the drafting stages to its final form. Before I began writing my paper, I had planned to write a paragraph only concerning ethos, one on pathos, and another of logos.  As I started writing, I realized the paper would be much easier to read if I broke it down by commercial instead of by rhetorical device.  I think doing this worked out for the better.

I do feel I analyzed a lot of the rhetorical devices used in the commercial  but its hard to shake the feeling I missed a lot of nuances.  Perhaps I need to study psychology to truly understand all of the the forces at work, but I feel as if the commercials true message goes extremely deep.  Perhaps through continued introspection into the true meanings of messages I will learn to see things for how they truly are.