First I must start this story by saying that most of the people staying in the Sig Nu house over the summer are not actually brothers, and that the chapter here rents rooms to various people over the summer so that they can pay their bills. With that, there are two girls living in the house over the summer and that is where our story begins.
About a week ago Alysia, one of those girls, decided that she wanted to put together a slip'n'slide and have a little lawn party one of these days. Well we decided that this past Wednesday would be that day. On Tuesday we went to Waterside (the shopping area I went to in order to get sheets), and stopped by Target, Lowes, and Giant Eagle (supermarket) to acquire all of the required accouterments; such as a large sheet of plastic to slide on, a metric crap ton of soil (which conveniently came out to exactly fifteen 20lbs bags) to build a pool at the end of the slide, a sprinkler, lots of burgers and hot dogs, etc. So when we got back, we felt fairly prepared for the upcoming event.
When Wednesday came around I went in to work early so that I could get off a little early and join in with the festivities. When I got back to the house at about 4:30, Alysia along with the other girl staying in the house, Ashley, and her friend Jeff had already set up the slide on a very large slope in the lawn and were just getting ready to turn on the water. I ran upstairs, threw on a swim-suite, and came back down just in time for the fun to begin. After we turned on the water and put down the baby shampoo (to reduce friction!) we started taking turn sliding down. Within about five minutes two things became very obvious: first, this is awesome; second, the gravel on the ground at the end of the slide is deadly. We quickly ran through our options on dealing with the gravel, talking about everything from putting down a comforter and pillows to shield from the gravel all the way to moving the slide. Finally we decided that we should move the slide and that it was time to start cooking.
We rolled the propane BBQ from out back to the front porch only to find out that there was no more gas. Luckily there is also a charcoal BBQ on the front porch, but we needed coal. That meant is was time for a field trip. We walked to Jeff's car, drove to the nearest Giant Eagle, did some shopping, and got our charcoal. Shortly after getting back, burgers were on the grill and the slide was moved to a flat area of the lawn. While it lost a little bit of its awesomeness, the slide still amounted to the most fun I've had since attending a giant, public, pillow fight. From there the evening continued and eventually concluded with much eating, drinking, and general merrymaking.
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As a side note, I have had a few people ask me about work, so I thought I would fill everyone in with how that is going. What I am actually going to be doing with my research project will likely come to full fruition some time next week, but I am going to be comparing 3D animations of mouth only smiles and Duchenne smiles (smiles that also cause muscles around your eyes to flex), comparing how sincere or genuine people think each of the variations are. Duchenne smiles in actual people are supposed to show that the person is actually conveying a happy emotion that they are feeling, rather than smiling completely voluntarily.
So what I have actually been doing:
Reading a lot of literature on studies dealing with animation and smiles, actual Duchenne smiles, and some analysis techniques that I may take advantage of.
Animating smiles on 3D heads
Programming a front-end for a system to do Active Appearance Models, which I am going to use for my analysis
Helping out with someone else's project, story boarding for an interactive 3D game for children
Helping out with some maintenance on CMU's Motion Capture database, a very large database of free motion capture data
So until next time, I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Day Full of Walking
I woke up this morning at the wonderfully leisurely hour of 1pm, after a night of "socializing" with some of the people I am living with over the summer. Then proceeded to stay in bed as long as possible before hunger drove me to stop being lazy. My day really started at about 3pm, at which point I decided that I wanted to walk around town and take pictures.
About twenty minutes in to walking around I decided that it would in fact be kind of nice to have a bike and pulled out my iPhone to find the nearest bike shop. I quickly found Iron City Bikes on the map, and of course it was in the complete opposite direction as I had been walking. Soon I was heading in the right direction, and snapped away pictures while passing through the melting pot of residential housing, the CMU campus, the Pitt campus, and commercialized areas. Right as I passed the edge of the Pitt campus I found myself walking toward a brightly colored building with a mural of Pittsburgh on one side, and a metal sign saying "Iron City Bikes" on the other. Sadly, the doors were all closed so I settled to come back another day.
From there I started walking down this largely-sloped old cobbled street, cars making a thump-thump-thump as they passed, and bicyclists speeding past me. As I reached the end of the street, and was getting ready to turn back toward campus, I saw a very inviting staircase off to my left, it ran straight up a big hill through a bunch of trees and brushes, so of course I had to follow it. As I got to the top, I found myself in a nice grassy clearing with a fountain in the middle and some pavilions and other gathering places in the distance.
As I turned the other direction I could see some CMU buildings over the trees, so I headed in that direction. I was soon crossing a bridge and heading in to a large park people had told me about that butts straight up to the side of campus. I continued to walk around the park, observing the people out and about. Before I knew it I was back on campus. I walked back toward the house, and passed by the 2005 CMU entry in to the Solar Decathlon before going in to CMU's stadium and taking a walk around the track. Before I knew it I was back in my room.
About five minutes after getting back, a friend came and knocked on my door to see if I wanted to go get chinese food. Five of us were then walking in the direction I started off heading about three hours earlier. We got to Walnut street, and small shopping district, found the Chinese place, and then found that it was closed for remodeling. As a quick alternative, we walked down to the next block and went to a pretty good (but slightly pricey) Thai place. After getting our bellies filled we walked back to the house and I have since enjoyed staying off my feet for the rest of the night.
About twenty minutes in to walking around I decided that it would in fact be kind of nice to have a bike and pulled out my iPhone to find the nearest bike shop. I quickly found Iron City Bikes on the map, and of course it was in the complete opposite direction as I had been walking. Soon I was heading in the right direction, and snapped away pictures while passing through the melting pot of residential housing, the CMU campus, the Pitt campus, and commercialized areas. Right as I passed the edge of the Pitt campus I found myself walking toward a brightly colored building with a mural of Pittsburgh on one side, and a metal sign saying "Iron City Bikes" on the other. Sadly, the doors were all closed so I settled to come back another day.
From there I started walking down this largely-sloped old cobbled street, cars making a thump-thump-thump as they passed, and bicyclists speeding past me. As I reached the end of the street, and was getting ready to turn back toward campus, I saw a very inviting staircase off to my left, it ran straight up a big hill through a bunch of trees and brushes, so of course I had to follow it. As I got to the top, I found myself in a nice grassy clearing with a fountain in the middle and some pavilions and other gathering places in the distance.
As I turned the other direction I could see some CMU buildings over the trees, so I headed in that direction. I was soon crossing a bridge and heading in to a large park people had told me about that butts straight up to the side of campus. I continued to walk around the park, observing the people out and about. Before I knew it I was back on campus. I walked back toward the house, and passed by the 2005 CMU entry in to the Solar Decathlon before going in to CMU's stadium and taking a walk around the track. Before I knew it I was back in my room.
About five minutes after getting back, a friend came and knocked on my door to see if I wanted to go get chinese food. Five of us were then walking in the direction I started off heading about three hours earlier. We got to Walnut street, and small shopping district, found the Chinese place, and then found that it was closed for remodeling. As a quick alternative, we walked down to the next block and went to a pretty good (but slightly pricey) Thai place. After getting our bellies filled we walked back to the house and I have since enjoyed staying off my feet for the rest of the night.
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Public Transportation Expedition
Sunday was a day wrought with various goals, such as finding sheets for my bed, getting laundry detergent, and find a "red, bread, or spread" to bring to a wine and cheese party my adviser was hosting that night. I started off by walking to a local shopping district about a mile away and checking out the various stores. I found one good option for sheets, a cvs pharmacy for slightly overpriced detergent, and no place to get some cheese or bread.
With that I went in to the boutique furniture and linens store and found my cheapest, on-sale, single color, sheet set for a little over $100. What a steal... When I told the lady that was helping me that I was looking for something a little more economical, she was extremely helpful and essentially described to me the entire nature and workings of Pittsburgh's bus system as well as some possible places downtown to get some cheap sheets. As I was walking towards the bus stop to head for downtown, I remember how miraculous and wonderful my iPhone is, and that I can use Google maps to plot out the best course for me to get anywhere in the city using public transportation. I then decided that I would likely be happier with Target, rather than Burlington or Macy's, and let my phone lead the way (with a quick stop at CVS to get some change to pay for the bus fare).
I was soon on bus route 61, heading for the Waterfront, a large commercialized (and chain-store ridden) outdoor mall. About 30 minutes later I started freaking out that I was going to pass my stop, and began incessantly checking the GPS on my phone to make sure we hadn't gone to far. As we hit a stop (at least nearby to where I was going) a bunch of people started to get off, so I quickly checked my phone and the GPS was telling me this was the right stop. I hopped off the bus, only to look down at my phone and realize that I got off about half a mile away from my intended stop. I started my trek in the direction of Target and could see the wonderful red branded shopping carts and parking signs before I knew it.
As I walked in to the store, I realized how hungry I was, enjoyed a nice hot dog at the little mini food court, and then continued to drink my ginger ale as I began shopping. I quickly found detergent, some nice jersey-knit sheets, and a few other various items I realized I needed. After Target I went next door to Giant Eagle, the only grocery store I have seen so far in Pittsburgh, found a nice olive hummus for the party later, and was shortly heading back to campus.
That night, I walked over to Laura's house, met a lot of very nice grad students and enjoyed various red wines and different types of cheese. We played a wine guessing game, in which we each tried three different wines and tried to guess their country of origin, the type of grape, and the type of animal on the bottle (all multiple choice); as it turns out one of the French guys actually got them all correct. After desert and a bit more talking, one of my fellow guests gave me a ride back to campus. I then hung out with people back at the house for a while, watched some TV, and went to sleep in preparation for my early morning 9:30 wakeup!
With that I went in to the boutique furniture and linens store and found my cheapest, on-sale, single color, sheet set for a little over $100. What a steal... When I told the lady that was helping me that I was looking for something a little more economical, she was extremely helpful and essentially described to me the entire nature and workings of Pittsburgh's bus system as well as some possible places downtown to get some cheap sheets. As I was walking towards the bus stop to head for downtown, I remember how miraculous and wonderful my iPhone is, and that I can use Google maps to plot out the best course for me to get anywhere in the city using public transportation. I then decided that I would likely be happier with Target, rather than Burlington or Macy's, and let my phone lead the way (with a quick stop at CVS to get some change to pay for the bus fare).
I was soon on bus route 61, heading for the Waterfront, a large commercialized (and chain-store ridden) outdoor mall. About 30 minutes later I started freaking out that I was going to pass my stop, and began incessantly checking the GPS on my phone to make sure we hadn't gone to far. As we hit a stop (at least nearby to where I was going) a bunch of people started to get off, so I quickly checked my phone and the GPS was telling me this was the right stop. I hopped off the bus, only to look down at my phone and realize that I got off about half a mile away from my intended stop. I started my trek in the direction of Target and could see the wonderful red branded shopping carts and parking signs before I knew it.
As I walked in to the store, I realized how hungry I was, enjoyed a nice hot dog at the little mini food court, and then continued to drink my ginger ale as I began shopping. I quickly found detergent, some nice jersey-knit sheets, and a few other various items I realized I needed. After Target I went next door to Giant Eagle, the only grocery store I have seen so far in Pittsburgh, found a nice olive hummus for the party later, and was shortly heading back to campus.
That night, I walked over to Laura's house, met a lot of very nice grad students and enjoyed various red wines and different types of cheese. We played a wine guessing game, in which we each tried three different wines and tried to guess their country of origin, the type of grape, and the type of animal on the bottle (all multiple choice); as it turns out one of the French guys actually got them all correct. After desert and a bit more talking, one of my fellow guests gave me a ride back to campus. I then hung out with people back at the house for a while, watched some TV, and went to sleep in preparation for my early morning 9:30 wakeup!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Paintball
I woke up this morning from a call by Laura, saying that if I was ready in five minutes I could go paintballing with the robotics and Disney Lab grad students. Of course I said yes! So I jumped out of bed, through on some clothes, brushed my teeth and was out the door. So we got to the paintball place and I was quickly shooting up a storm, army crawling through muddy revines, and sprinting from bunker to bunker. The paintball place was actually pretty neat, it was essentially on the bank of one of the rivers, running right through Pittsburgh. Anyway, it was a great, and was very nice to get to know some people.
Friday, May 14, 2010
First
So I have decided to start up a blog to document my adventures in and around CMU over the summer. If you are interested, keep checking back, and I will try to let people know when I have a new post.
My story starts shortly after leaving DeLand, after getting in that last game of Smash with my room mates, and saying goodbye to my friends, I arrive at the airport to find that they have switched me to a slightly earlier flight. While getting a last meal with my dad at the airport, I called my contact at CMU, Laura, who was picking me up from the airport later, and left a voicemail with her. I was soon on the plane, flying north, enjoying onboard wifi, and reading a preliminary paper on "The Uncanny Valley". After we landed I found out that Laura's phone had died and she never found out I was coming in early, so I ended up taking a fairly nice city bus that runs from the airport throughout town.
The bus was mostly empty and I was able to enjoy the hour long trip across town; looking out the window to find giant advertisements and logos plastered on the sides of buildings that looked like they were straight from the 1950's in all their industrial era greatness. As we got closer to campus we went through different areas of the city, all of which seemed to still be going strong at midnight on a Wednesday. Finally we made it to campus, I hopped off the bus and headed straight towards the "Greek Quadrangle". Before getting here, I wasn't quite sure where in the quad the Sigma Nu house was, but I was pleasantly surprised by golden glowing Sigma and Nu that came in to view the closer I got to the quad. I stopped to take quick first picture of the house, then headed straight for the front door, calling my contact from the Delta Sigma chapter. Shortly after being let in, I chose a room, got unpacked, and was soon asleep.
The next morning I met Laura on campus, and she showed me to the Graphics Lab in the Robotics Institute (in which I will be working for the next 10 weeks). We have spent the better part of the past couple days working through all the logistics of getting me set up, but I have actually already gotten a chance to start working. I will be working on research in the Uncanny Valley, which is essentially the idea that when you make an animation or robot that looks like a human, but isn't quite right, it freaks you out. Specifically I will be focusing on smiles, and the proper way to animate smiles (and if that even makes a difference when you do).
Anyway, on my first day I met a few of the brothers staying at the house. That night I got a knock on my door and was happy to be greeted by a welcome wagon. The rest of the night seemed to fly by, getting to know some of the brothers and their local traditions.
This summer looks like it is going to shape up to be a great experience, and I am extremely grateful to all the friends and family members who are helping pave my way.
P.S.
I have been taking pictures, but forgot the cable I need to get them off my camera. I will start posting pictures as soon as I get that situation worked out.
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