I signed up in Stack Overflow because I genuinely had a question for my CS capstone about strings and objects, specifically in nodeJS and SQL. Before posting the question, I had to thoroughly search up similar questions that might have answers. Of course, my question is kind of specific, so I carried on and drafted the question. I tried hard to make my question as clear as possible, and probably had put in more unnecessary details in it. After posting, not even 30 seconds had past until someone comments in an answer.

The following half an hour was just a bombardment of answers. I even had my question edited by a senior stack overflow user who kind of cut my question short without some details. I commented on some of the answers given for some clarification, but then I miscommunicated about what my next steps would be after I get my answer. Eventually, my question was down-voted because it was not very clear to some users. I also did not have the privilege of officially up-voting or down-voting because I was still a novice in the site. The site still did record my votes just unofficially.

I received a few badges like “Scholar”, which is what beginners get when asking their first question. This form of rewards would incentivize users to further engage in the community and give a game-like situation where other users would have privileges than others. 

I love the extra features that go into the site like creating tags in questions which helps a lot in finding users who are interested and knowledgeable in the topic or question.

It was the first time I was using Stack Exchange, and I honestly found it quite similar to other platforms I have seen/used in the past including Reddit and Quora. When entering the site, I found the options for the different “stacks” quite limiting. There were less than 150 sites altogether, and this contributed to the limited type of groups users could join. Nevertheless, I found myself joining 6 different communities: 1. Sports, 2. Academia, 3. Bitcoin, 4. Economics, 5. The Workplace, 6. Personal finance & money.

I posted my first question on the Sports community. Earlier in the day, I was struggling to find some data for my Capstone Project, and I thought maybe it might be a good idea to post the question. In less than an hour, one user responded to it, and gave me links to useful resources. And, a couple of hours later, another person replied to my posting. Someone even “upvoted” my question. I gained a total of 5 reputation points, bringing my total to 6 (you get 1 for joining the community).

I also posted questions in another communities, including one in the Academia one, and another in the Personal finance & money one. While both questions were answered by various individuals, I did not get any reputation points since neither questions were “upvoted” by other users. In most of interactions, it was quite interesting to observe the seriousness of the answers, including comments that pushed for some of my question to be closed because it was apparently “off-topic”. Neverthless, I appreciated some of the answers and they turned out to be quite useful.  

I enjoyed the elements of interactivity in the Stack Exchange platform. For one, the “reputation points” was a good system to track and rank users based on contribution. This helped create a structured community with users judged on their usefulness. Users could set targets to reach different levels based on their “reputation points”, and unlocked different sets of skills as they gained more points. At the same time, the “upvote” and “downvote” function helped sustain orderliness in the community. It is also interesting to see how users regulated other users. For example, for my questions in the Academia and Personal finance & money communities, other users commented suggestions that my question was not relevant in the following community and that my question should be titled differently for clearer understanding respectively. My final point is regarding the tag system in Stack Exchange. While posting your question, each user is supposed to set tags on their questions to set them into categories. Hence, when I was answering questions in the Sports community, I chose to answer those that were classified as “football”, since I knew the most information regarding this sport. It was a brilliant way to self-organize questions into categories within each community, something that was reflected in our readings this week (i.e. Here comes everybody).

• 

• 

Reine: Interviewees (Reine and President)

Gjorgji: Host

Hani: Reporter 1

Alena: Reporter 2

White House Party Script

Host: Well thank you to everyone who joined us for the March 4th 1829 inauguration. Let us all give a warm welcome to Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States! I’m your host, George, and this is Inauguration Watch. Bob and Bertha are on site right now bringing us live news from this historic event. Bob, how are things in our nation’s capital today?

Reporter 1: Hey there George, it truly is a marvellous day here in DC! We’re broadcasting live from right outside the White House, President Jackson is wearing a classic 1820’s black tux and slicked back silver hair, like everyone else from the 1820’s. He’s just wrapping up his speech as we speak.

Host: What a strapping president!

Reporter 2: He sure is! President Jackson is giving final remarks to his supporters – they are quite a rowdy bunch, aren’t they?

Reporter 1: Indeed they are! This is live from the White House reporting that there are at least 10,000 supporters here, one of the largest inauguration crowds we’ve seen yet in our fledgling nation. It now appears that our new president has invited the audience to the White House for an inauguration celebration.

Host: Surely he’s not inviting the entire crowd, is he?

Reporter 2: President Jackson is now exiting the stage to return back to the White House.

Reporter 1: The crowd is getting progressively louder, pushing against the restraining wire. This looks rather troubling if I do say so myself.

Host: The Presidential Open House Reception is usually open for a few hundred guests maximum.

Reporter 2: It appears that the crowd is eager to join – the restaining wire is breaking.

Reporter 1: The crowd, nay, the mob is now forcing its way into the White House!

Reporter 2: Ten thousand guests are rushing past us right now!

Reporter 1: We’re watching President Jackson now – he looks flabbergasted.

Host: Well this clearly is what could happen when you invite the entire audience of an inauguration to celebrate!

Reporter 2: Our new President is panicking and now an absolute rager has erupted in the White House.

Reporter 1: President Jackson’s companions have formed a protective barrier around him. He is now being led outside to his horse.

Reporter 2: We are getting reports that Jackson is on his way to the Executive Mansion to get away from this chaos.

*2 hours later*

Host: It’s been 2 whole hours and this party shows no signs of stopping. Bob, update us on the situation in the white house!

Reporter 1: Well George, the white house is entirely trashed. I’m here with one especially rabid partier. Ms. Defranco, what are your thoughts on what’s happening today?

Reine: Well, Bob, this is quite a crazy night. The crowd is extremely rowdy – they’re destroying everything, and I love it! More people are entering through the windows, and the alcohol just keeps on coming! I’m so happy I made the long trip from Colorado…

Host: Bertha, any updates from the Executive mansion?

Reporter 2: I’m here standing next to the president, terrified by the chaos that’s happening. Mr president, could you comment on the situation?

President: This is a total disaster! All my presidential furniture is being obliterated! People are rubbing cheese on my carpets! They’re absolute hooligans! AHHH GET AWAY FROM ME PEASANT.

Reporter 2: The president  is now being pushed against a wall by the partiers – it looks like he’s about to be crushed! ………………… President Jackson’s companions come to the rescue again, forcing their way to the president and helping him exit the mansion – presumably through a back door or a window.

Host: This is a public service announcement from Washington D.C: If you are currently at the the White House party – LEAVE NOW.

Reporter 2: I’ve just spoken to one of the President’s comrades – Due to high level of insecurity Jackson is currently being relocated to a hotel. There he will be safe until the partying dies down.

Reporter 1: We’re getting reports that the alcohol is being relocated outside by the White House steward Antoine Michel Giusta to hopefully encourage this rabid mob to leave the area.

Host: Is it over yet?

Reporter 1: Follow up report: United States Congress has granted President Andrew Jackson $50,000 to repair the White House and the Executive Mansion.

Host: Looks like that’s it for White House parties for a while. Thank you to everyone who has tuned in to our magical time-travelling radio device. Please stay safe when celebrating the inauguration, and drink some water.

When I first approached the Stack Overflow page to choose a site, I didn’t expect the process of choosing a page to take so long. I figured I’d end up choosing something I’m quite familiar with (leading me to look at Graphic Design and Arts and Crafts), but I was more interested in joining sites that I had almost no relevance in joining.

I ended up joining five different sites and then spending more time answering questions on the Graphic Design site, since I actually had a little bit of help to give. I already felt like I had a foot in that community given my experience, and I was actually really impressed with the expertise that was happening within that group – there appeared to be designers with 10+ years of experience, answering questions from how to adjust vector lines, to doing full critiques of another person’s logo. Even though my score indicated I only recently joined the community, I felt quite at home answering questions and writing critiques because those had been regular class assignments in the past. It also made the idea of messaging strangers seem significantly less odd. 

The sites that I spent more time exploring led to more bizarre experiences. I signed up for the Parenting Overflow, and immediately felt as though I was intruding on people’s private lives. Where some posts were more simple (baby product recommendations etc.), others involved trying to get help from other parents dealing with rebellious teenagers. I didn’t expect to stumble upon people so publicly divulging in on more intimate family issues, and I felt like an outsider entering a community that I didn’t belong to. The site is clearly not meant for people exploring Stack Exchanges – it is a very closed community in which people feel very comfortable sharing and exchanging aid as parents. 

I found that the Puzzling Stack Exchange site had a more dual-sided exchange, where people entered the site to find interesting puzzles and logic games to solve – and others can find an answer to a question that is stumping them. It was one of the more lighthearted communities, and though I could barely wrap my head around several of the questions asked, I learned so much because people were so willing to not only answer but teach the process of how to think through complex logic problems. 

I was at first really excited about the Coffee Exchange so that I could ask a question about what people’s recommendations were for good coffee types and flavors, as well as how coffee masters make the perfect cup of coffee – but as I was posting my question I was told from the site that the question was very likely to be taken down because it was so vague (that was fair – I legitimately asked for recommendations on anything related to coffee). 

The Arts and Craft Exchange seemed like one of the lesser controlled sites in terms of content – art projects of any media or kind were discussed on the site, so questions ranged from asking “whether or not the artist should leave their emotions out of their projects” to “common causes for sticky harness needles”. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtLPazuJlss

Welcome to Dinosaur Broadcasting Company’s 10:46 o’ clock show. I’m Laurenyx, your host for today and we have three guests joining us inside the cave. Cristinasaurus, Keithasaurex and Raitisaraptor, coming from all over Pangia to witness the Full Sun, a spectacle that only occurs every 2000 years.

*side note*

Raitis: My geography is off, can you remind me what’s that?

Keith: that’s the only continent; we’re on it.

Raitis: Got it.

Lauren: Hello gentle-reptilians, pleasure having you here. Can all of you introduce yourself really quickly?

Cristina: Roar, hi I’m Cristinasauraus and I’m known for having the world’s tiniest claws and I am one of the guests from the Eastern European Plateau.

Raitis: I’m Raitisaraptor. Not to brag but my hobby and primary talent is eating greenery, i am a very versatile being, i can eat it from high above and far below. To see more videos of me eating grass, please follow me on instaROCK.

Keith: Roar there, I’m from the great land of Indoplateau, and you’ll know me from the great rock sculptures all throughout Pangia.

Lauren: Awesome, welcome everyone. Can one of you tell me what it is that we are witnessing here today?

Keith: Honestly, nothing I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. It’s amazing, such a beautiful sight out there. In fact, I think this is a great omen for something remarkable that is going to happen in Pangia. But who knows? I remember the olden days when my own Grandmasauras used to say, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get”

Cristina: Babasaurus says that this flying thing is nothing but an overgrown potato, really, or maybe a pokemon. Either way it is meant to bring wealth and growth and maybe better rocks.

Raitis: Just perhaps, this is a falling meteor that will kill us all and our remains will contribute to the formation of oil, and some years later a country named UAE will discover it and become super rich, then the rulers of the country will decide to open a University in the middle of an island, and the next form of life will come from all around the world to study there? *Pause* but this is of course non-sense.

Cristina: next time keep your wisdom in your 3-metre long neck, Raitisaraptor.

Lauren: things are getting heated up, Let’s be civil and stop acting like some prehistoric creatures. Let me just remind the audience, that we accept live messages! Dont shy away from the opportunity to ask questions, confess love for our guests, or shout out for your favourite habibi -saurus. On that note, the temperature does seem to have gone up around the world and it does seem to be a lot brighter these days. And um uh, excuse me, let me just wipe my tail. Oof! It’s getting hot in here, isn’t it?

Cristina: Yeah… my claws don’t usually get this sweaty. Maybe it’s the adrenaline, haha.

Lauren: More about what is happening with the Full Sun later, but now let’s take a moment to give some love for our sponsors.

Ad sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5F0Lq03spM&list=PLnnxRSLejUndkH0rWzc2_qVlQTLxPv_0O

(Raitis) AD: are you tired of not being remembered after your extinction? Fear no more! Find a pile of mud, step in it and leave your footmarks for the future generations to notice. Similarly, when your days come to an end, lay meaningfully in an exposed way – learn how to make the best fossils! Enroll now and invest in your future by taking the Protzsaurus’ IM Class – Communication and technology, only offered on the 4th moon of 10 000 Before Christ (jingle (all of us): because we know when the Christ will be born)

Lauren: Thank you for staying with us, everyone. And we are back live in the cave. Our next question is: how long do you think the full sun will last? What’s your forecast?

Raitis: Definitely two moons, or at least two moons, but i hope not longer, because the greeneries are dying, it really looks to me like a global crisis is coming.

Cristina: Speaking of greeneries, Laurenyx, are we still getting the free food? I only signed up for the free food.

Keith: Me too! I want some free food.

Lauren: You are a tough crowd, let’s see what our listeners have to say!

Q&A: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V1dl221Q3YLDYjAGISVAdTgYOSh7GEtfmqsr4-E_xOM/edit?usp=sharing

*As we are answering the last question/reading *

Keith: Wait wait wait… everyone look outside.

Cristina: *screams*

*Background noise of large commotion*

Lauren: Oh no what is happening?! The full sun is approaching

Everyone: *screams*

*Large destruction noise*

*Radio cuts*

Commotion:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZuH4_Zn6YM

Explosion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ0XFNgdFLY

White noise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCnCMHNyny8

Raitis: in spite of the recent tragic events, the assignment for Protzsaurus’ IM Class still exists. Please upload your homework written on clay pieaces. ROAR out.

Premise: Recreate ResEd housing application process, invite the audience to join a satiric internal view of the ResEd team on the day of opening the housing portal and hear about what two eager students are going through in the process.

Interaction 1 – Setting the scene

Flavia: Good morning Howler Radio tune ins, this is RA Flavia Cereceda on set with you and you are now listening to Sounds of the Housing Arrangement, a special live broadcast covering Housing Selection-  brought to you by our main sponsors, The Gazelle national newspaper.

On this fine Saadiyat morning we also have RA Ali Al Dhaheri on site, the housing portal just opened so he is currently sitting on his RA desk in A5B and is going to be handling any potential problems students might encounter through the process, can you hear us Ali?

Ali: Hello Flavia -Yes yes, I can hear you.

Flavia: Perfect, it’s great to have you here with us today Ali, how are you feeling about the housing process?

Ali: I’m actually feeling pretty good about it, this year ResEd worked very hard on the portal so I’m confident that there won’t be many problems, I’m expecting a very calm morning and I’m sure I’ll be able to handle any issues that come my way .

Flavia: That is great to hear Ali! So, the housing application has just gone live – and for all you tuners, we would like you to know that if you’re going through any problems, we’re also going to be taking live calls here at Howler starting now – so please don’t hesitate and dial our Howler # written in the comments – We are here for YOU. But the meantime, let’s listen to some under-appreciated jazz elevator music.

(Jazz Music plays for a few seconds – Inter)

Interaction 2 – Sharon’s Complaint

(Phone rings)

Flavia: Oh well, that was quick

(phone pick up)

Sharon: Hi, I just wanted to say I’m SO excited for this. I’ve been counting down the minutes and I have everything ready!

Flavia:  Great!  

Sharon: This year is the year! I’m not making the same mistake as last time. The housing time slots are in Gulf Standard Time, right?

Flavia: No, actually this year we changed it to GMT – 3!

Sharon: Oh wait what, why would you do that?  – Nevermind, I’m having trouble with the housing portal. Just a minute ago, I was logged in and I was ready to choose my room but then the website crashed!

Flavia: Okay – can you send an email to our IT team to let them know?

Sharon: I tried but the whole wifi system is down too.

Flavia: Well, umm, hmm, yeah lemme see on my side of things. I might have to talk with our IT team and see why some residents would have access while other don’t. Not to worry, it might just take 5 minutes to fix. Hopefully nothing happens again…

Sharon: 5 minutes?! That’s way too long. My time slot is now, I can’t miss it!

Flavia: Just wait a little bit, it should be fixed soon. That’s strange, the wifi signal seems fine in the freshmen dorms

Sharon: Wait – hold on – I think it’s working now actually

Flavia: Oh okay awesome! I’m glad it’s working now!

Sharon: But the room I selected is not showing up anymore. Why is that?

Flavia:  It’s tough competition out there. Better luck next time.

Sharon: What? No, no wait you don’t understand, I’ve been waiting three years for this chance, everything was going as planned… I think the freshmen blocked the wifi here somehow… They’re taking up our spots! Please, you must help me – can’t you change it?   

Flavia:  Sorry, I can’t do anything to help from here! Please head to the RA dest at A5B and I hope you have a great semester!

(Hangs up phone)

Interaction 3 – Tensions Rises on Ali’s Site

Flavia: Well that was an exciting! How are we doing down in A5 Ali!

Ali: Exciting??? If she was affected by this, then there are probably others who are experiencing the same issue! If this goes on further, we might just have to postpone the Housing Selection yet again!

Flavia: Haha, it might be just minor issues Ali, don’t think into it too much.

Ali: What do you mean?!?! If she didn’t have a chance in selecting her room, there will be an uproar, especially in FaceBook, and we both know how much that affects how things are dictated here!

Flavia: Relax Ali, if the selection was really going bad, we would have gotten another call by now…

(Phone rings)

Interaction 4 – Theo’s Complaint

Theo: Hi, I am calling because I JUST got a reminder email that that the room selection period opens up on Monday Dec 4… anddd it is Tuesday the fifth! I thought it opens up on the 7th!

Flavia: Uhm , it must have been a technical glitch. It actually opened right now! We just got a new system, coded it ourselves, pretty proud of it!

Theo: Uhm, anyway, So I went to the housing portal using the link in the email you sent me. The link doesn’t work. Can you please give me the correct address asap, I hope the good rooms are still available.

Flavia: Ok. Go to www.res.ed.housing.abu.dhabi.nyu.edu. (say it fast) Did you write it down.?

Theo: Uhhmm yeah… sure. SO I opened the housing portal, it says that I didn’t register on time…

Flavia: Yeah, you have to pay a 147 dollar late application fee, 38 dollars excessive reminders fee, and 29 dollars for timbits and other incurred expenses, and 21 dollars value added tax/

Theo; what…

Flavia: yeah, this is the only way we can let you proceed with your room selection.

Theo: ok then… I just wired the funds. Why is the portal still not opening…

Flavia: oh… must be another technical glitch…

Theo: ok so I just got in. I am searching for rooms and it says no singles available!

Flavia: Yeah unfortunately at this point all the rooms have been taken by freshmen. we are trying some new incentive strategies giving them priority. Also, instead of singles, we created a shared living community area which houses 60 students in the same room. We just  opened the new wing of campus housing, previously known as D1. This is your only room option left, so I will go ahead and reserve you a sofa in the new d1 apartment.

Theo: but but.. ..

Flavia: Thank you for calling Res-Ed. For any further complaints please visit the RA Desk on A5B! Have a great semester!

(Hang-up the phone)

Interaction 5: Uproar happens

Ali: Flavia!!! I heard that!! – That wasn’t helpful at all, this is only getting worse!!

Flavia: Haha its okayyyy, I mean this is why we have charges, whenever we mess up, we can just blame it on them and make them pay!

Ali: I know Flavia, but all these bean bags, hammocks, timbits, and donuts around us won’t help us now with our residents’ issues!

Flavia:  ooooooh talking about donutss, can you save me a glazed one??

(Sound of protest outside)

Ali: Wait…. Do you hear that?

(sound becomes louder)

Flavia: Oh wow, would you look at that! It sounds like there are people outside probably praising us! Listen, they are chanting our names!!

Ali: What do you mean?!?! It’s an angry mob! I’m so dead!!

(Sound of mob stops)

(sound of someone breaking the door)

Ali: (screams and shouts) – sound is cut

(Jazz starts playing again)

Flavia: Oh that was weird!  It seems like we’re having some small technical problems on site – but that’s no problem, we’ve sadly reached the end of our broadcasting time. I hope you’ve had a good time with us, we most certainly have with you! For any live complaints please head to A5B, else have a great Housing Selection and make sure to tune in for our Dining Hall special next week!

THE END

Hani Hasani, Gjorgji Shemov, Alena Mikhalkovich, & Reine Defranco

Presentation Evaluation + Links and Slides

Link to Presentation Slide

Pre-internet virality

Chain letters

–  Newspaper exchanges

First Viral Videos

– Reefer madness

– First internet viral video

First Internet Meme

– Link to the article

Virality Study

–Kevin Allocca – Why Videos Go Viral

– Vice: Fake Top-Rated Tripadvisor Restaurant

– Video

Analytics

– Hoaxy

– Google Trends

– Talkwalker

Fake News Links

– Snopes

– Politifact

When our group first decided on virality for a presentation, we understood one of the central challenges would be covering a critical part of communication across history and a vast number of digital platforms. With our limited time available, we chose to touch on a variety of different components to virality to leave the class with more resources and questions to ask on the nature of virality.

We outlined the central aspects of virality to research, beginning with the psychology and theory behind virality (including its name attachment to biological virality), then progressing on to a few historical examples of virality, leading into class activities, modern day virality theory, and fake news.

Part of the interest behind virality was discovering the methods used to cause something to go viral, especially on modern platforms. Studying the theories of group triggering, Novelty Search, and Information Gap Theory was included to help supplement the discussions we hoped to have in class regarding how virality occurs so prevalently in modern platforms.

Looking back on the presentation, we were all excited about the level of class engagement throughout the presentation. Through the longer periods of slides, the questions and class activities managed to break up the longer segments of explanations.

The more disruptive points in the presentation included the technical glitches of clicking links and also going a few minutes overtime to finish the presentation. Looking back, we wish we had invested more time in a conclusion that could bring all elements of virality together. The presentation could have been boosted with a central takeaway for the class that could provide a synopsis between the virality theory, psychology, historical and present day examples, and fake news points.

We asked a few classmates for comments about the presentation and overall got largely positive feedback for the information discussed and the subsequent class discussions. The activities were great inclusions, and we wish we could have included more time for discussion in the last Google trends activity. Perhaps a more fluid integration of virality theory into the class discussions would have also been effective, versus jumping back and forth between the two sections.

Code

After touring the IM lab and costume shop and spending a few days getting inspired by different ideas, our team met to brainstorm as many thoughts as we had on ways to send a secure message remotely. We initially thought of using binary to encode 37 characters which would require 7 bits (each bit having two orientations). While this seemed like the most optimized way to transfer messages through wires and over the internet, it did not take full advantage of movement, color, and different types of peripheral objects. Movement, color and the ability to use more than 2 objects meant that our code can be less simple in its character set, but each character can be represented in smaller chunks of information.

We decided to use color in our encoding as it was a very clear transferable signal. We used two wooden rods, one covered in blue tape and one in red tape. Each rod can be held in one of four positions (up, down, left, right), and the combination of the two encode a single character. This ensures clarity and gets rid of ambiguity. While many teams divided the plane to 8 equal parts, we decided to stick to 4 quarters because that made the interpretation simpler. While we knew with what we wanted to encode our data, we weren’t sure on the code itself. One initial thought was to have easier signals for letters that are the most common in English such as vowels and leaving more complex encodings to letters such as Q, Z, and X.

However, this started looking like a rule of exceptions, and so we decided to stick with the standard order of the alphabet. We also thought it was intuitive to separate the codes for numbers and letters, so we created a separate encoding system based on the Roman numeral system. The number “V” was encoded with a circular movement of the rod, and “I” was encoded with a top-to-down swing of the rod. We decided to start each digit with the crossing of the rods in an “X” shape.

Since the orientations of left and right are flipped for two people facing each other, we first thought of creating two different code cheat sheets, one for the sender and one for the receiver. This seemed unnecessarily complex, so we instead decided to continue with a single encoding system, and have the sender face their back towards the receiver instead. To solve the problem of separating each character, we decided to use jumping to signal to the receiver that they can move to the next character. This way the receiver knew that the transmission of one character was over.

We also thought, why not make this form of communication a part of a healthy, active lifestyle, and so we included two different starting positions: standing and squatting. (These combined with the jumping created a way of communicating with crossfit). These two starting positions + the red and blue rods + the four positions for the rods gave us a total of 32 possible characters for the letters.

The Day of The Competition

Adam’s Perspective

We got to the Arts Center lobby with hopes of getting the message through. We could feel the pressure transmitted (pun intended) by our classmates who just as prepared to send some messages as we were.

My biggest concern was not that I wouldn’t be able to finish the message but that I would skip a space or that Sohail wouldn’t see the sign as I am squatting. Since we didn’t mirror the code to avoid confusion of direction, that actually worked against us: as a transmitter I did not have any visual feedback of Sohail being able to receive the message or not. I had to make sure during the setup that his view was not blocked by any of the columns and that he can even see the signals that I showed to him while squatting.

On the other hand since the need for visual feedback was eliminated and we implemented the “jumps” to divide each character, I got through the message surprisingly fast. Later our classmates told us that they did not even notice me sending the code, they only realized that the message was sent as we got down the stairs. I was able to transmit a letter every 3-4 seconds, coupling that with the spaces the 40 character code went through in around 2 minutes. The efficiency of transmitting and the fact that the sending went unnoticed proved that the code was secure to use and hard to decode.

Sohail’s Perspective

We practiced a few times before where I was the receiver, but we were still hoping that the code would work over the long distance across the Arts Center lobby. The few times that we practiced, we also finished encoding and decoding the message very close to six minutes, so we felt pressured to go through the characters as quick as possible. Since I didn’t have a hard surface to write on, I sat on the floor instead, which made it a bit difficult to see because of the glass.

As the receiver, I also did not have enough time to decode each character in real time, so I just hoped that I had enough time at the end of the six minutes where I went and decoded the symbols one by one. We added a minor addition before the competition where Adam would jump to indicate a new character. This helped me not lose track of the message, especially as I constantly looked down to my paper and back up again.

As soon as the stopwatch started, I noticed that it was difficult to clearly see the blue rod when Adam was squatting, because it was blocked by one of the pillars. I didn’t want to waste any of our precious time so I just made a note of the ambiguity on my sheet. At the end of transmission, the sentence I had down was “Prerident wins by 8 votes”, so it was easy to notice my mistake.

Design and Process

We decided to design a semaphore system that uses colors and shapes to code the meaning of the communicated text. Our decision was based on the knowledge that human eye tends to react to colors and shapes very quickly, which is why the traffic signs, for example, rely on the color and shape system as well. There is a well-thought and well-tested methodology behind the traffic signs system, as each sign communicates a message to the drivers and pedestrians. A message is supposed to be as clear as possible and the receiver is expected to comprehend and react upon the message as soon as possible.

As speed and clarity of communication were some of the main parameters of the assignment, we decided to use the most clearly noticeable colors and shapes in our semaphore system. Firstly, we were trying to identify which colors are most easily distinguishable. For that reason, Theo consulted his colleague, Sarah Frampton, who is the Lead of Design and UX in NYUAD OSA department. She helped a number of colors and shapes that are most distinctly visible from a distance. So, having taken her advice into consideration, we decided to use 4 shapes (triangle, circle, square, and diamond) and 9 colors (red, yellow, green, blue, black, pink, brown, turquoise, dark red). Sarah also recommended using bold black borders to emphasize the shape and color, so we designed the shapes accordingly.

As we printed a few shapes out, we realized that dark red looked very similar to red. Thus, we added a black circle to the middle of each red shape, making sure it is clearly visible from the distance.

Then, we began to assign each symbol a letter. For that purpose, we researched the letter frequency in English alphabet. We wanted to use the most easily distinguishable shapes and colors with the letters that are used most often. So, for example, we assigned a yellow triangle to a letter E, which is the most frequent letter in English alphabet (it appears in 12.7% cases). Conversely, the least frequent x, q, and z were assigned to less distinguishable colors. Also, we decided to give all numbers the same shape of diamonds, as we saw this shape as potentially confusing given its similarity with triangle and square, and we assumed that there will not be a lot of numbers in the sentence.

Lastly, we assigned particular hand gestures to space, article “and”, “the”. Besides, we agreed on gestures that the receiver might need to use: one would mean “repeat the letter”, and another one “repeat the word”. We also decided that the sender should try to omit as many vowels as possible, assuming that a word can be easily comprehended without them.

In regard to the process of sending the message itself, we first thought about attaching printed symbols to a cardboard. Then, we thought about using clippers and attaching papers to the glass. Lastly, we decided that the sender would just take one paper by one and then show it to the reciever. 

Outcome

At the tournament we realized that our system had a few disadvantages. Firstly, communication was not fast enough (it took the sender 5 minutes to send the message). The reason for slow speed was the following: we had a separate paper for each symbol, and they were organized in different piles by color. So the process of searching for each symbol and then putting it back to the pile took longer than expected.

Secondly, the receiver could not always distinguish between the blue and turquoise colors, which led to confusion with some of the letters. Thus, one word in the sentence was not received correctly, which jeopardized the clarity of the message. However, omitting of vowels did work fine, as the receiver could comprehend the word “anniversary” sent as “annvrsry”. Thus, the overall meaning of the sentence was clear, despite the second letter being understood incorrectly.  

Perhaps, if we could improve our system, we would think of a more efficient way to send a message – something that does not require every symbol to be on a separate paper, but can rather allow multiple symbols to be communited with the use of few objects.

We began by thinking of a system that would efficiently encode each letter of the alphabet, and so we settled on the idea of using a string of five papers, with each paper representing a different column number on a 5×5 grid of letters. Each letter would be encoded by its position in the grid. By tapping the appropriate paper along the string, the sender would signal the column number. To indicate which row, the sender would signal a number with their arm. This would give the receiver a coordinate to quickly find the corresponding letter in the grid. The numbers were inspired by their positions on a clock, modified to capture only the numbers 1-9, with 0 indicated by two hands on the head.

Our initial idea looked like this:

However, we realized that from a distance, it would be difficult to see which paper in the string was being signalled. We also wanted to make the system more efficient, after our initial practice attempts using the paper and arm-number method took quite some time to transmit messages. So we modified our system to include colours that would more clearly distinguish each separate column along the string.

We also decided to simplify the grid system by using the same colour sequence for both the row and column positions. In this system, the sender taps the two colours that correspond to the letter’s grid position, with the first tap indicating the row, and the second tap indicating the column. For example, to transmit “A”, the sender taps White then White (again). To send “N”, the sender taps Yellow then Green. (Z was a special character – given its low frequency of usage, we did not fit it on the 5×5 grid. The sender would wave her arms frantically to transmit “Z” if indeed it appeared.)

We also decided to keep numbers separate from the letters for clarity, so we kept the numbers according to the original clocklike positions (although the order would be the mirror image of the above, from the sender’s point of view). A space was indicated by crossing the arms in an X shape.

On the receiver’s end, an arm up signalled that the colour combo was accurately noted. If the combo was unclear (for example, which colour came first), the receiver would roll her arms to signal for the combo to be repeated. Although it took some practice to learn our system, it was fairly efficient once we were both familiar with the colour sequences.

During the actual competition, set up proved to be slightly tricky as the string became tangled. Once the string was set up, however, the system was smooth sailing from there. (I think I was so stressed from the set up that sending the message was a lot easier than I had anticipated). We managed to beat our average rehearsal times of 4:40, by transmitting our message in under 4 minutes.