jywarren · January 27, 2018 19:01 · jywarren · Jan 18, 2018
diff --git a/feed.rss b/feed.rss

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>Recent research notes on PublicLab.org</title>
    <description>Open source environmental science research at Public Lab</description>
    <link>https://publiclab.org/feed.rss</link>
    <atom:link rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="publiclab.org"/>
    <item>
      <title> Can these filter packages be adapted to Raspberry Pi cameras?</title>
      <author>sjmanosalvas</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2018 21:43:32 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/sjmanosalvas/01-26-2018/can-these-filter-packages-be-adapted-to-raspberry-pi-cameras</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I want to use these filters with any Raspberry Pi cameras, but I don't know if works. I want to try with "The infrared Camera Module v2 (Pi NoIR)".&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15622</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How to make a low power timer</title>
      <author>cfastie</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2018 03:51:10 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/01-26-2018/how-to-make-a-low-power-timer</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/349/medium/TPL_20180124-2578.JPG"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/349/medium/TPL_20180124-2578.JPG' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;I decided to turn the [DIY low power timer](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/01-24-2018/a-diy-low-power-timer"&gt;https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/01-24-2018/a-diy-low-power-timer&lt;/a&gt;) into a [KAPtery kit](&lt;a href="http://kaptery.com/product/logalong-timer-kit"&gt;http://kaptery.com/product/logalong-timer-kit&lt;/a&gt;). It sharpens my sense of accomplishment to see a fun winter project converted to shameless merchandise. Also, maybe someone will find the kit enjoyable or useful.

 After assembling a few TPL5110 timers, I settled on a good procedure for making them. The following is the way I would do it the next time.

 [![TPLDIY.jpg](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/348/large/TPLDIY.jpg)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/348/original/TPLDIY.jpg"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/348/large/TPLDIY.jpg)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/348/original/TPLDIY.jpg&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 1\. Build diagram for Log-a-Long Timer. Solder pads 1-8 connect (with PCB copper traces) to pin holes 1-8 respectively. Only number 1 is not used. The two yellow lines are jumper wires connecting things. Four of the pin holes (2, 3, 5, 8) get wires attached from the battery or to the Arduino._

 **Parts**

 - [**SOIC8 to DIP8 adapter**](&lt;a href="https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13655"&gt;https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13655&lt;/a&gt;) - $2.95 for 4\. Available from [AliExpress](&lt;a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-electronic-circuit-20-PCS-SOP8-SO8-SOIC8-SMD-to-DIP8-Adapter-PCB-Board-Converter-Double/32592419821.html"&gt;https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-electronic-circuit-20-PCS-SOP8-SO8-SOIC8-SMD-to-DIP8-Adapter-PCB-Board-Converter-Double/32592419821.html&lt;/a&gt;) for $1.40 for 20\.
 - [**TPL5110 timer IC**](&lt;a href="https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/TPL5110DDCT/296-38830-1-ND/5130150"&gt;https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/TPL5110DDCT/296-38830-1-ND/5130150&lt;/a&gt;) - 93¢ apiece
 - [**P-channel mosfet**](&lt;a href="https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/diodes-incorporated/DMG3415U-7/DMG3415UDICT-ND/2052799"&gt;https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/diodes-incorporated/DMG3415U-7/DMG3415UDICT-ND/2052799&lt;/a&gt;) (MOSFET P-CH 20V 4A SOT-23) 54¢ apiece.
 - **Resistor**. The data logging interval is chosen by selecting a resistor of a particular resistance. A table of resistors and intervals is below. Surface mount resistors would make a neater result but through hole resistors work too.
 - **Other resistor**. A second, optional, 1MΩ resistor can connect the Done line to ground to calm the signal from the Arduino to cut the power.
 - 4 male header pins, 1 extra long pin
 - Short piece of wire

 Header pins are not needed if the five wires to the battery and data logger are soldered directly to the pin holes. Header pins allow DuPont wires (not included in the kit) to be slid on to make the connections.

 **Assembly steps**

 1. Solder the TPL5110 to the PCB as shown. The six legs (1-6) should connect to pins 2-7 respectively. The orientation is important. This can be done with fancy equipment (solder paste, reflow oven, rework station) or any good soldering iron. Tin the six pads on the PCB, align the IC, and heat each leg with a soldering iron.
 2. Solder one end of the longer jumper wire to hole 7 (Source). It's probably best to run this jumper wire along the top side of the PCB as shown.
 3. Solder the two legs on one side of the mosfet (Gate and Source) to pin holes 6 and 7 as shown.
 4. Solder a very short, bare jumper wire to connect the remaining leg of the mosfet (Drain) to solder pad 8\. For strength, the leg should rest on the PCB, not be suspended above it.
 5. If you are using header pins (instead of soldering wires directly to the pin holes) solder male header pins on the underside of the PCB at holes 2, 3, 5, and 8\. Two wires must be connected to ground, so an extra long pin (included) can be used at pin 3 so a connector can be attached above and below the PCB.
 6. If you are soldering wires directly to pin holes 2, 3, 5, and 8, do it now. Two ground wires (from battery and Arduino) get connected to hole 3\.
 7. Solder the free end of the longer jumper wire to hole 2 (Power).
 8. Solder a resistor between holes 3 (Ground) and 4 (Delay). This resistor is chosen based on the desired logging interval. A 60.4kΩ resistor (blue, 1%) is included for a 9.3 minute logging interval. Any interval between 0.3 seconds and 2 hours can be chosen with the appropriate resistor (see table below). 
 9. Solder a 1MΩ resistor between holes 3 (Ground) and 5 (Done). This is optional (and not shown in the diagram) but can make the signal sent from the Arduino to the TPL5110 to cut the power easier to read.

 **Powering the timer**

 Do not supply more than 5.5 volts to the timer. The TPL5110 IC cannot tolerate more than 5.5 volts. The Arduino requires at least 3.3 volts (5 volt Arduinos are harder to use with this timer), so if you supply about 5 volts when logging starts, that allows for voltage sag as batteries drain.

 **Try a kit**

 The [Log-a-Long Timer Kit](&lt;a href="http://kaptery.com/product/logalong-timer-kit"&gt;http://kaptery.com/product/logalong-timer-kit&lt;/a&gt;) can be purchased at the KAPtery for $7.00 including US shipping. I have enough parts for only a few kits, but if there is interest I can order more.

 [![TPL_20180116-2507.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/350/medium/TPL_20180116-2507.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/350/original/TPL_20180116-2507.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/350/medium/TPL_20180116-2507.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/350/original/TPL_20180116-2507.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 2\. This is most of what you need to allow an Arduino-based data logger to last for many months on small batteries._
 .

 **Table of intervals**. _A resistor of the listed resistance will produce the indicated logging interval._

 | Interval | Resistance |
 |----------|------------|
 | 1 Second | 5.2 KΩ     |
 | 2 Seconds | 6.79 kΩ    |
 | 3 Seconds | 7.64 kΩ    |
 | 4 Seconds | 8.3 kΩ     |
 | 5 Seconds | 8.85 kΩ    |
 | 6 Seconds | 9.26 kΩ    |
 | 7 Seconds | 9.71 kΩ    |
 | 8 Seconds | 10.18 kΩ   |
 | 9 Seconds | 10.68 kΩ   |
 | 10 Seconds | 11.2 kΩ    |
 | 20 Seconds | 14.41 kΩ   |
 | 30 Seconds | 16.78 kΩ   |
 | 40 Seconds | 18.75 kΩ   |
 | 50 Seconds | 20.047 kΩ  |
 | 1 Minute | 22.02 kΩ   |
 | 2 Minutes | 29.35 kΩ   |
 | 3 Minutes | 34.73 kΩ   |
 | 4 Minutes | 39.11 kΩ   |
 | 5 Minutes | 42.90 kΩ   |
 | 6 Minutes | 46.29 kΩ   |
 | 7 Minutes | 49.38 kΩ   |
 | 8 Minutes | 52.24 kΩ   |
 | 9 Minutes | 54.92 kΩ   |
 | 10 Minutes | 57.44 kΩ   |
 | 20 Minutes | 77.57 kΩ   |
 | 30 Minutes | 92.43 kΩ   |
 | 40 Minutes | 104.67 kΩ  |
 | 50 Minutes | 115.33 kΩ  |
 | 1 Hour   | 124.91 kΩ  |
 | 1 Hour 30 Minutes | 149.39 kΩ  |
 | 2 Hours  | 170 kΩ     |</description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15616</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How was the tag graph visualization made?</title>
      <author>bsugar</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 19:49:20 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/bsugar/01-25-2018/how-was-the-tag-graph-visualization-made</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Recently I have been asked a few questions about how the &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/notes/liz/09-15-2016/first-draft-of-tag-graph"&gt;tag graph&lt;/a&gt; was implemented. So I figured it might be good to have a public space to answer them!&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;Some preliminary questions:&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;ol&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;If 2 tags belong to same node , they have an edge between them?&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;The different colors is for different types of node like questions , notes , research-notes , etc . ?&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ol&gt;


 &lt;p&gt;Please add any questions of your own and I'll hop back on to answer!&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15614</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Conversation on decentralizing data storage and mesh networks</title>
      <author>@lizbarry</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 01:17:15 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/liz/01-25-2018/conversation-on-decentralizing-data-storage-and-mesh-networks</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;We had a great conversation last night at New America Foundation (here was the event posting &lt;a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-small-conversation-about-mesh-the-d-web-and-data-justice-nyc-philly-tickets-42239992956"&gt;https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-small-conversation-about-mesh-the-d-web-and-data-justice-nyc-philly-tickets-42239992956&lt;/a&gt;). I'm still getting photo consent in order to post the great pic that Lenny took.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;Greta, the outgoing Director of Resilient Communities at New America, facilitated the meeting by asking for people to request "Community Agreements", here's what we set for ourselves:&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;step up, step back&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;break down the lingo&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;one mo*, one mic&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;no pix without consent&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;here's no such thing as a stupid ?s&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;"keep stack" of questions, advanced level kept to a minute&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;


 &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;* "mo" in this context stands for &lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama"&gt;Michelle Obama&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;Then we started introductions&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;Greta started us off by saying &lt;strong&gt;"I'm here because the internet is broken and our discourse is too."&lt;/strong&gt; Danny Peralta, the executive director of &lt;a href="https://thepoint.org/"&gt;The Point&lt;/a&gt;, said &lt;strong&gt;"I'm here for that, and also for justice."&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;As we went around the room we discovered just how wide of a wide-ranging group we were! The director of a community development &amp;amp; youth organization in the Bronx i quoted above, the Resilient Communities team at New America that's building mesh networks with 5 NYC communities, young people who run &lt;a href="https://www.alliedmedia.org/ddjc/discotech"&gt;discotechs&lt;/a&gt; (short for "Discovering Technology"), programmers writing applications for the distributed web, other programmers who wrote protocols to fix the problem of links breaking when content moves (&lt;a href="https://ipfs.io/"&gt;IPFS&lt;/a&gt;), a librarian and maker (&lt;a href="/profile/bronwen"&gt;@bronwen&lt;/a&gt; :), three people working on governance and consensus-based discourse, a scholar of missing datasets, a legal fellow at the New York Civil Liberties Union, a remote engineer working on mesh technology, someone who works for 18F and who has had a balloon mapping kit since 2012, a small cluster of omnivores who code for &lt;a href="http://envirodatagov.org"&gt;EDGI&lt;/a&gt; including &lt;a href="/profile/weatherpattern"&gt;@weatherpattern&lt;/a&gt;, and me (instigating extrovert/social gadfly/fraggle).&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;We all had some overlapping interests &amp;amp; affiliations, but had not all met, much less gotten together simply to listen to each other.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;We brainstormed collective goals&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;How can we join forces and build and implement mesh with other people (students or otherwise)?&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Find out why the combination of Mesh and Data Justice is compelling for people&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Share knowledge&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Map out people's skills and progress with mesh networks&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;What are good practices for archiving (for example, Data Together). Specifically, how can NYCLU's archive of documents from FOIA litigation become accessible in a user friendly way? Or more broadly, how to do projects like this in existing institutional structures? What are good practices for using decentralized tools like IPFS or GoodNewNet?&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;How to keep conversation going? What is the best medium?&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Expand access to tech education&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;How can this support just rebuilding efforts in the Caribbean and specifically Puerto Rico?&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;


 &lt;p&gt;This list was refined into conversation topics that we wrote on the well&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;(To Do, get picture from Greta)&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;And then pizza came&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;yay&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;We started defining terms&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Mesh: ad-hoc wireless

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;meshing where there is&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;no center to network&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Community Networks:

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Mesh (or any kind of network) as community network/support for infrastructure : cooperative, pooling resources.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;More people pieces than technical pieces.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;function of a community network is to provide access (to internet)

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;need to join an ISP (various ways communities go about this)&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;New America Resilient Communities:

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;in New York

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Setup in NYC provides internet but also setup for local network (if broadband providers go down)
 five neighborhoods, five community partners, five local wifi networks (a.k.a. RISE:NYC), local servers&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;The Point CDC, Hunts Point, Bronx

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt; training 8 young men and 8 adults to install and maintain a mesh network&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt; what are the ways to sustain the network?&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt; young people learning these skills, community owenership in the network&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Detroit:

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Putting equipment in people's households&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;More centralized, Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP)&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Interesting to note: People/communities are learning about the tradeoffs in mesh as they build the infrastructure, in real time&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Protocols:&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;IPFS:&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;sneakernets (for example, this PNK!)

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;PNK has two modes: local server or internet&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Backhaul commons -- negotiating terms with broadband providers&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;HTTP: location-based. the web address you connect to corresponds to a physical location on a server somewhere (except nowadays it doesn't)&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Decentralized Protocols: peer to peer networks (as internet was originially designed to be) where people's devices can connect directly to one another.

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;"we need a protocol that allows us to talk about content as content, and not just as location"&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;For example: IPFS, or ffdn.rog (Federation are Non-Profit Internet Service Providers)&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Cryptographic hash: a fundamental aspect of how we acheive security on the internet, verifies you are getting the same content / same results - unique identifier;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;


 &lt;p&gt;Oh, and about the notes -- we were all connected to a local network created by a raspberry pi, we were taking notes on an etherpad hosted on that pi! I aim to post about these nifty &lt;a href="https://www.newamerica.org/resilient-communities/resilient-futures/portable-network-kits/"&gt;portable network kits&lt;/a&gt; in another note, maybe make a research area out of it for us.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;Then we actually talked about topics for a while&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;An exciting topic was &lt;a href="https://ischool.utoronto.ca/profile/dawn-walker/"&gt;Dawn Walker&lt;/a&gt;'s work in Toronto. She has created a participatory game for setting up IPFS for hosting and sharing distributed data on rasberry pis which are functioning as a mesh network. It was a little dizzying to see how two decentralized technologies could work together. We all enthusiastically agreed that all this stuff is complicated.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;(will fill this in further when i get more notes from other people)&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;the room got really hot and we opened windows&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;there were still 19 of us in a tiny room so it didn't really help&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;Committments:&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Greta will follow up with Dawn about her game&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;At first I committed to "no new projects" but then I relented and committed to "throwing another party" which got re-interpreted to mean a discotech (see above) for decentralized technologies, which is sort of how Public Lab &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/barnraising"&gt;Barnraisings&lt;/a&gt; work, so everyone was excited about that.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Greta said that in her new job as Co-Director of a Digital Equity Lab at The New School she will be helping to build some kind of alliance around this stuff for NYC. Everyone was excited about that!&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;tbd&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;


 &lt;h3&gt;we had a great time!&lt;/h3&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15606</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Plant air purifier in Paris, Feb 2, 3-6PM</title>
      <author>@zboratory</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Jan 2018 23:34:54 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/nshapiro/01-24-2018/plant-air-purifier-in-paris-feb-2-3-6pm</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/335/medium/PlantPurifier.png"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/335/medium/PlantPurifier.png' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;^^Sketch above by Christophe Guérin^^

 ###Event details

 **What**: A workshop on low-cost indoor air remediation with plants and bacteria

 **When**: February 2nd from 3-6 PM

 **Where**: Studio 13--Cité internationale des arts
 18, rue de l'Hôtel de Ville, 75004 Paris, France

 The event is **free** and open to the public!

 [Here ](&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1523063391142031/)is"&gt;https://www.facebook.com/events/1523063391142031/)is&lt;/a&gt; the Facebook event for the whole workshop series, organized by Garance Malivel. 

 [Here ](&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/373267359769842/)is"&gt;https://www.facebook.com/events/373267359769842/)is&lt;/a&gt; the Facebook event for the larger event that hosts this workshop series. 


 ###Background

 This event represents a major step forward for Public Lab's [indoor air remediation](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/wiki/diy-indoor-air-quality-remediation-kit"&gt;https://publiclab.org/wiki/diy-indoor-air-quality-remediation-kit&lt;/a&gt;) kit.  Although some people are reproducing our DIY designs, the demand for this kind of intervention dramatically outruns the public's willingness to go out to several different stores and piece the kit together. As a result, Christophe Guérin has designed an inexpensive and flat pack (documentation forthcoming after the prototype is finished) plant air purifier that will enable more people to scrub their air of all too common toxicants. 


 ###About the issue and the workshop

 Respiring with the Rhizosphere

 The inexpensive binding agent formaldehyde―also a carcinogen, neurotoxin, and irritant―is ubiquitous in domestic atmospheres. While mammals and birds gradually decompose in the presence of formaldehyde, a host of microorganisms that inhabit the soil surrounding houseplant roots, known as the rhizosphere, also avail themselves of formaldehyde vapors as a source of life-sustaining carbon. This workshop charts the flow of phytobacterial knowledge from a NASA laboratory, through trailer parks in the rural US, and to a plant air purifier, designed by Christophe Guerin, that seeks to accentuate the rhizospheric chemical sinks of domestic spaces. Through assembling prototypes participants will gain a hands-on knowledge of how multi-species alliances are necessary to endure the toxic airs of the ongoing present. Some will be able to take home prototypes assembled in the workshop. 

 _En français_

 Respirer avec la rhizosphère 

 Le formaldéhyde, un agent liant bon marché également connu pour être cancérigène, neurotoxique, et irritant, est omniprésent dans nos atmosphères domestiques. Alors qu’il est nocif pour les oiseaux et mammifères, les micro-organismes présents dans le sol autour des racines d’une plante – ou rhizosphère – tirent partie des qualités nutritives du carbone présent dans les vapeurs du formaldéhyde. Ce workshop retracera les recherches sur ces phytobactéries, depuis un laboratoire de la NASA, à un purificateur d’air rhizosphérique conçu en collaboration avec Christophe Guérin, en passant par quelques parcs résidentiels de caravanes aux États-Unis. À travers l’assemblage des purificateurs végétaux, qui pourront être emportés à l’issue du workshop, les participants développeront une connaissance pratique des alliances multi-spécifiques, nécessaires pour traverser les atmosphères toxiques du temps présent. </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15605</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A DIY low power timer</title>
      <author>cfastie</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Jan 2018 22:41:51 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/01-24-2018/a-diy-low-power-timer</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/334/medium/TPL_20180124-2559.JPG"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/334/medium/TPL_20180124-2559.JPG' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;[Adding a low power timer to a data logger](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/01-23-2018/new-data-loggers-for-long-term-logging"&gt;https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/01-23-2018/new-data-loggers-for-long-term-logging&lt;/a&gt;) has great promise as an easy way to extend the time the logger can operate on small batteries. [Rough calculations](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/12-21-2017/log-all-the-data-with-adafruit-s-tpl5110-low-power-timer"&gt;https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/12-21-2017/log-all-the-data-with-adafruit-s-tpl5110-low-power-timer&lt;/a&gt;) suggest that a few AA batteries can power an Arduino-based logger for a year or more when a TLP5110 timer controls the current flowing to the logger.

 [![TPL_20180116-2493-2.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/327/medium/TPL_20180116-2493-2.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/327/original/TPL_20180116-2493-2.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/327/medium/TPL_20180116-2493-2.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/327/original/TPL_20180116-2493-2.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 1\. A p-channel mosfet (left) and TPL5110 timer (right). These are the two key components of a timer device that can allow an Arduino-based data logger to operate for many months on small batteries. Ruler hatch marks are 1 mm._

 The [Adafruit Low Power Logger](&lt;a href="https://www.adafruit.com/product/3435"&gt;https://www.adafruit.com/product/3435&lt;/a&gt;) costs $4.95 (plus shipping) which adds a substantial proportion to the cost of a DIY Arduino-based data logger. So I investigated making my own timer using the same components. The only components needed are the [TPL5110 timer IC](&lt;a href="https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/TPL5110DDCT/296-38830-1-ND/5130150"&gt;https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/TPL5110DDCT/296-38830-1-ND/5130150&lt;/a&gt;), a [mosfet](&lt;a href="https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/diodes-incorporated/DMG3415U-7/DMG3415UDICT-ND/2052799"&gt;https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/diodes-incorporated/DMG3415U-7/DMG3415UDICT-ND/2052799&lt;/a&gt;), and a resistor. Not including shipping, these cost $1.25 per set if you buy 10 of each. So I did.

 [![TPL_20180115-2464.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/328/medium/TPL_20180115-2464.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/328/original/TPL_20180115-2464.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/328/medium/TPL_20180115-2464.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/328/original/TPL_20180115-2464.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 2\. A SOIC8 to DIP8 adapter (obverse and reverse). These tiny PCBs are intended to allow a surface-mount eight-legged integrated-circuit to be soldered on so it can be used in a circuit on a breadboard. I didn't have an eight-legged IC and didn't want to use it on a breadboard, but otherwise it was the perfect thing (and I had a bunch of them)._

 Ideally, these components would be soldered to a custom PCB, but that costs a little too much to have manufactured, and I don't have the setup to make my own PCBs. Fortunately, the swag bag from last year's Open Hardware Summit included several SOIC8 to DIP8 adapters which are almost exactly what you need for this project. I didn't attend OHS, but I ended up with some of the swag which saved me a dollar or two per timer.

 [![TPL_20180115-2463-2.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/329/medium/TPL_20180115-2463-2.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/329/original/TPL_20180115-2463-2.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/329/medium/TPL_20180115-2463-2.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/329/original/TPL_20180115-2463-2.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 3\. The TPL5110 and mosfet soldered to the PCB. The traces in the PCB connect each leg of the TPL5110 to one of the header holes on the edge of the PCB. Traces connect two legs of the mosfet (top) to the appropriate two legs of the TPL5110\. An added wire (top left) connects the third leg of the mosfet to an unused pin (that's the DRIVE pin which will power the Arduino)._

 It is a bit of a challenge to solder surface-mount components (they are really tiny) but not too bad when there are just a few to do. In addition to the two ICs, a resistor to set the timer interval is needed. A surface mount resistor would have been neater, but I had only through-hole resistors. I also added a second resistor to calm the DONE line, but testing suggests it is not required.

 [![TPL_20180116-2484.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/330/medium/TPL_20180116-2484.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/330/original/TPL_20180116-2484.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/330/medium/TPL_20180116-2484.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/330/original/TPL_20180116-2484.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 4\. A completed timer. Five wires must be connected to header pins (two from the battery and three to the Arduino logger). Using smaller surface-mount resistors (and eliminating the second resistor) would make it a very neat package._

 This DIY timer does not have all the features of the Adafruit version. It is completely up to the task of efficiently controlling a data logger even though there is no potentiometer, tactile button, or LED like on the Adafruit version. But I can't compete with the Adafruit version on price--if I had to buy the little red PCB, the cost of parts would be almost as much as the retail price of the Adafruit product. I'm really impressed that Adafruit can sell their full-featured TPL5110 timer for only $4.95\. It's a bargain.

 [![TPL_20180124-2575.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/331/medium/TPL_20180124-2575.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/331/original/TPL_20180124-2575.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/331/medium/TPL_20180124-2575.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/331/original/TPL_20180124-2575.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 5\. I made a few versions trying different configurations. The next one will be even better. These three function as expected._

 I tested the three timers I made and they all work just like the Adafruit version. I'm glad I tried this, although had I instead spent my time driving for Lyft I could have bought all the Adafruit timers I will ever need.

 [![FreezerCycles.PNG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/332/large/FreezerCycles.PNG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/332/original/FreezerCycles.PNG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/332/large/FreezerCycles.PNG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/332/original/FreezerCycles.PNG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 6\. One of my DIY timers was controlling a Mini Pearl Logger in my freezer the other day. A 61.9kΩ resistor set the logging interval at 12 minutes. The graph includes 10 hours of data. My freezer temperature varies a lot more than I thought it would._

 [![MiniPro_20180121-2514.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/333/medium/MiniPro_20180121-2514.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/333/original/MiniPro_20180121-2514.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/333/medium/MiniPro_20180121-2514.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/333/original/MiniPro_20180121-2514.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 7\. Is anyone interested in a kit to make one of these timers? It won't be any cheaper than the Adafruit product, but it is guaranteed to build character and impress your friends._</description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15604</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>What are your experiences with optical gas imaging cameras?</title>
      <author>@lizbarry</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Jan 2018 20:44:45 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/liz/01-24-2018/what-are-your-experiences-with-optical-gas-imaging-cameras</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/325/medium/unnamed.jpg"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/325/medium/unnamed.jpg' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;The caption on the lead image reads:

 &gt;_Stills taken from the optical gas imaging camera video that show what the human eye sees (left) compared to the emissions shown when the camera is switched to infrared mode (right)._

 This image was in a great email that came in today from the New York State Department of Conservation: [&lt;a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NYSDEC/bulletins/1d463fd](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NYSDEC/bulletins/1d463fd)"&gt;https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NYSDEC/bulletins/1d463fd](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NYSDEC/bulletins/1d463fd)&lt;/a&gt;

 Here's what they say:

 &gt;Air Resources staff use an optical gas imaging camera to shed some light on previously invisible air pollution. This video camera allows our staff to see reflected infrared radiation from certain air contaminants. They can use the camera to identify leaks or malfunctioning equipment at air pollution sources, and record real-time pictures and videos to document any issues. The optical gas imaging camera is a valuable tool because it allows identification of pollutants being emitted that would otherwise be invisible to the human eye. Ultimately, the camera helps us to evaluate a facility to find and fix any problems quickly, which helps to keep our air clean.

 **Has anyone else used one of these?**</description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15602</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>New data loggers for long-term logging</title>
      <author>cfastie</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2018 22:51:39 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/01-23-2018/new-data-loggers-for-long-term-logging</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/316/medium/IMG_20180118_130424122.jpg"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/316/medium/IMG_20180118_130424122.jpg' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;_Above: Two Mini Pearl Loggers are in yogurt containers in my woodshed. BME280 sensors extend above the closed containers. TPL5110 timers controlled the Arduino-based loggers. The wooden basket covered both containers to keep blowing snow off the sensors._

 A month ago I [posted about a device](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/12-21-2017/log-all-the-data-with-adafruit-s-tpl5110-low-power-timer"&gt;https://publiclab.org/notes/cfastie/12-21-2017/log-all-the-data-with-adafruit-s-tpl5110-low-power-timer&lt;/a&gt;) which has dramatically changed the way I log environmental data. The TPL5110 low power timer can supply power to a data logger only when it needs it and thereby allow small batteries to last for many months. Previously the programs running on the data loggers had been putting the logger into a low current sleep state between logging events. That can work well, but the low power timer uses much less current than a typical sleeping Arduino-based logger. The timer also eliminates the need to write complicated code which puts the various logger components to sleep and wakes them up again.

 [![TPL_20171220-2252.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/315/medium/TPL_20171220-2252.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/315/original/TPL_20171220-2252.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/315/medium/TPL_20171220-2252.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/315/original/TPL_20171220-2252.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 1\. This Adafruit product can control an Arduino-based data logger and reduce the current needed to run the logger. The first tests of the timer suggest it can make long-term data logging easier and more reliable._

 I have been testing the TPL5110 timer with a few Mini Pearl Loggers this month and the results are all very good. I have not determined how long the batteries last because that might take a few (to many) more months. The loggers have been writing data to a microSD card every 10 minutes or so without fail.

 [![19day.PNG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/314/large/19day.PNG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/314/original/19day.PNG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/314/large/19day.PNG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/314/original/19day.PNG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 2\. The course of outdoor air temperature in my backyard for the first 19 days of January. A TPL5110 timer turned on a Mini Pearl Logger every 9.3 minutes and wrote 2763 data entries to a microSD card._

 Buoyed by the success of these trial deployments, I have made a couple of new data logger kits. The Mini Pearl Logger Kit is now available in three versions. The [original kit](&lt;a href="http://kaptery.com/product/mini-pearl-logger-kit"&gt;http://kaptery.com/product/mini-pearl-logger-kit&lt;/a&gt;) is unchanged and does not include a TPL5110 timer. The new [Mini Pearl Pro Logger Kit](&lt;a href="http://kaptery.com/product/mini-pearl-pro-logger-kit"&gt;http://kaptery.com/product/mini-pearl-pro-logger-kit&lt;/a&gt;) includes a timer but is otherwise similar to the original kit. The [Mini Pearl Snap Logger Kit](&lt;a href="http://kaptery.com/product/mini-pearl-snap-logger-kit"&gt;http://kaptery.com/product/mini-pearl-snap-logger-kit&lt;/a&gt;) includes a timer and is also the only Mini Pearl Kit to require **no soldering**.
 .  

 ###Table 1. Features of three Mini Pearl Logger Kits.  
 [![FeatureTable.PNG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/322/large/FeatureTable.PNG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/322/original/FeatureTable.PNG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/322/large/FeatureTable.PNG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/322/original/FeatureTable.PNG&lt;/a&gt;)

 Producing a Mini Pearl Snap Logger Kit which can be assembled without soldering requires that I do a lot of soldering before I ship it. So that version is a trial offering and is limited to one per customer. It's not priced high enough to pay a living wage to do the soldering, but I hope it will encourage some people to try long-term data logging.

 [![miniGo_20180107-2413.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/319/medium/miniGo_20180107-2413.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/319/original/miniGo_20180107-2413.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/319/medium/miniGo_20180107-2413.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/319/original/miniGo_20180107-2413.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 3\. The parts included in the Mini Pearl Snap Logger Kit. Everything needed to log temperature and barometric pressure for many months (except three AA batteries) is included. An FTDI converter (red) for connecting the logger to your computer is also included._

 [![miniGo_20180107-2448.JPG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/318/medium/miniGo_20180107-2448.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/318/original/miniGo_20180107-2448.JPG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/318/medium/miniGo_20180107-2448.JPG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/318/original/miniGo_20180107-2448.JPG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 4\. An assembled Mini Pearl Snap Logger. The six components are connected with DuPont wires which slide onto header pins on the PCBs. It takes about 15 minutes to get one finished and logging data._

 [![ColdDays.PNG](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/320/large/ColdDays.PNG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/320/original/ColdDays.PNG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/320/large/ColdDays.PNG)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/320/original/ColdDays.PNG&lt;/a&gt;)  
 _Figure 5\. Temperature during the two coldest days in January (so far). Between these data logging events which took about three seconds each, the only thing using battery power was the TPL5110 timer which is designed to use very little current (30µA). So more than 30µA of current was used only 0.5% of the time._

 I have some work to do finishing the user guides for one of the new logger kits, but they are all [available now at the KAPtery](&lt;a href="http://kaptery.com/products/data-and-control"&gt;http://kaptery.com/products/data-and-control&lt;/a&gt;). Sketches for each of the loggers are available to download at the [KAPtery Guides page](&lt;a href="http://kaptery.com/guides/"&gt;http://kaptery.com/guides/&lt;/a&gt;). I am also continuing the tests, and have three loggers running now at various places.
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15597</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How to interpret the results?</title>
      <author>amir129</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:48:25 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/amir129/01-23-2018/how-to-interpret-the-results</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Hi,&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;I have a question. I am seeing so many graph sets/ comparison posted on the &lt;a href="https://spectralworkbench.org"&gt;https://spectralworkbench.org&lt;/a&gt; website.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;How do you interpret the result? let's say I collected three readings of beet root water with different dilution and uploaded the images to spectral workbench website. I will probably show the graph, but how will I interpret the result of which one has higher concentration? or diluted one?&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;I don't know much about Science but just trying to help out my daughter for her school project, so please let me where can I get some information about interpreting the graph.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;Thanks in advance.&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15594</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Email is evolving - your input needed!</title>
      <author>@lizbarry</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2018 17:49:36 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/liz/01-23-2018/email-is-evolving-your-input-needed</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;For context, staff and some community members of Public Lab are in a long term conversation about phasing out our GoogleGroups -- all 32 of 'em. Phew, shocking, isn't it?&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;The GoogleGroups platform is reaching its end of life&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;As fall as we can tell, Google began letting this platform die about a year and a half or two years ago; at this point, there are zero (0) Google staff working on the GoogleGroups platform. Last summer two of our GoogleGroups were marked "spam" by two different individuals, and there was a very indirect and nerve-wracking process to get those archives reinstated and have people able to send email again. With Gmail's compartmentalized inbox, forum messages are routed _out_ of people primary incoming email feed. For all these reasons we have to reconsider the place of GoogleGroups in our ecosytem.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;Let's develop a long term plan how email fits into the public lab ecosystem&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;The vision is that topic-specific conversations can be handled through &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/subscriptions"&gt;https://publiclab.org/subscriptions&lt;/a&gt;, and if you are looking for more topics to subscribe to, explore via the new sorting features on &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/tags"&gt;https://publiclab.org/tags&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;There are some ideas about showing trending topics on the dashboard rather than all recent activity, see &lt;a href="https://github.com/publiclab/plots2/issues/2076"&gt;https://github.com/publiclab/plots2/issues/2076&lt;/a&gt;. Forums are also organized by topic. What features of forums do you love? Which of these do you feel are lacking in the Public Lab ecosystem?&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;We need to develop a long term plan -- who's interested in contributing?&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15592</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Preferred slit size?</title>
      <author>asnow</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2018 16:46:55 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/asnow/01-23-2018/prefered-slit-size</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/297/medium/slits_1024x1024.jpg"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/297/medium/slits_1024x1024.jpg' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;What size or sizes of collam slits do you prefer to work with? Why?</description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15590</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Refining the user interface of a community science app</title>
      <author>@zboratory</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2018 02:27:02 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/nshapiro/01-23-2018/refining-the-user-interface-of-a-community-science-app</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/299/medium/Smart-Forms_wireframes-cropped-page-001.jpg"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/299/medium/Smart-Forms_wireframes-cropped-page-001.jpg' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;**Smartphone App for Residential Testing of Formaldehyde (SmART-Form)**

 The [SmART-Form project](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/wiki/smart-form"&gt;https://publiclab.org/wiki/smart-form&lt;/a&gt;) seeks to develop free IOS and Android apps that can quantify atmospheric formaldehyde concentrations by taking pictures of a badge that changes color at a known rate when it comes into contact with formaldehyde. Colorimetric badges, as these chemically treated strips are known, are extremely lightweight, which allows them to be shipped at a minimal cost (unlike our heavy and bulky original [prototype](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/05-28-2015/formaldehyde-testing-kit-for-lending"&gt;https://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/05-28-2015/formaldehyde-testing-kit-for-lending&lt;/a&gt;)). With extremely low shipping costs and the colorimetric computation happening on an already purchased device (a smartphone), community members using this technique will have access to formaldehyde testing at around a twentieth of the cost of existing methods and does not require the badges to be sent back to the lab for analysis.

 This method makes formaldehyde testing economically accessible to those that have normally been priced out (and who face a disproportionate burden of exposure), but the process of collecting the data can be tricky. Creating a user interface that is intuitive to the broad range of people concerned about the quality of their indoor air (inhabitants of high-end green homes or 250-square-foot trailers)is critical to making sure our promise of increased access is realized.

 Currently we have several kinds of data that need to be captured by community scientists in order to get a valid result.

 1. Exposure A pre-exposure photo of the badge, followed by a post exposure photo of the same badge 72 hours later. ( a 72 hour timer should be automatically started once the first photo is taken)
 2. Conditions Environmental data about the temperature and humidity.
 3. Metadata A title for the test (date information should be automatically recorded based upon the time the first picture was taken, this will help differentiate tests taken in the same location across time).

 Although not absolutely necessary for the successful use of the app, there are two important additional ways that participants can input valuable data, but both of these are currently a bit tricky because they force users outside the app and into a HIPAA-compliant survey platform (Qualtrics). A unique non-identifiable ID number is automatically copied to your phone's clipboard when you leave the app and can be pasted into the ID field in the survey, this allows multiple data uploads or health survey entries to be tied together without any identifying information. Here are the two surveys:

 1. Uploading your formaldehyde data to a collective public repository. There is a serious paucity of public data on domestic air spaces because they are unregulated and understudied. Contributing data to this database can help researchers and the public get a better understanding of the aggregate problem of domestic formaldehyde, and to inform interventions should they be necessary.
 2. Documenting how the quality of your health may be related airborne exposures in your home and understanding other possible sources of chemical exposure. This information, as I understand it, is not to be made public and is only for researchers. I wonder if there is a responsible way to make aggregate data public in real time, and also if this would be helpful for affected communities.

 ![image description](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/301/large/IMG_0708.PNG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/301/large/IMG_0708.PNG&lt;/a&gt; "IMG_0708.PNG") ![image description](&lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/302/large/IMG_0709.PNG"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/302/large/IMG_0709.PNG&lt;/a&gt; "IMG_0709.PNG")

 Our Initial user interface, consisted of essentially two interactive pages and additional informational pages for information about 1) formaldehyde, health issues and potential mitiation techniques and 2)the app and the project.

 **Beta Testing + the need for a new UI**

 In beta testing the first version of the app with community scientists across the country and in a partnering EJ community in southern Georgia, we found that many people needed a more strictly delineated path through the app. Some of the shortcomings of the beta test had to do with the need to take a picture of a dummy badge on a computer screen. There were many routes through the various options on the two main interactive screens and without breaking those processes down and more clearly choreographing one's movement through the app, they were getting lost. You can read some of user issues that we aggregated [here](&lt;a href="https://github.com/publiclab/SmART-Form/issues/8"&gt;https://github.com/publiclab/SmART-Form/issues/8&lt;/a&gt;). At first, we attempted to make small technical tweaks before coming to the realization that we might need a paradigm shift.

 Aware of his role in creating the UI for EDGI's website change tracker ([GitHub](&lt;a href="https://github.com/edgi-govdata-archiving/web-monitoring-ui"&gt;https://github.com/edgi-govdata-archiving/web-monitoring-ui&lt;/a&gt;)), we asked [Kevin Nguyen](&lt;a href="http://lightandluck.com"&gt;http://lightandluck.com&lt;/a&gt;) if he could provide a UI consultation.

 Kevin wrote a quick set of notes detailing his refinements to the user experience of this app in addition to a new set of wireframes.

 1. Tasks  
 a) Business:
 -Collect info from surveys
 -Present contact info for legal reasons
 -Give helpful info  
 b) User:
 -Use test to get formaldehyde
 -Learn more about app, help project
 -Learn more about health issues, formaldehyde
 2. Design: - 3 main categories represented by menu along bottom. Uses icons, but can use text.  
 a) TESTS (list icon)  
 b) HEALTH INFO (heart icon) - about formaldehyde, health survey  
 c) APP/PROJECT INFO (info icon) - about the app, contact info, user survey (temp)
 3. Tests:   
 -New tests should take user directly to camera to take picture of badge.

 Camera use should be consistent. Right now Android is weird because during the capture phase, the SAVE button doesn't do anything, until they take a snapshot. Then it saves it. Should not present an option that doesn't work until we need to.

 Users should take a snapshot, then confirm or retake it. Once confirmed they'll be taken to details page.

 Details -  
 Title should be clicked on to edit. Android uses an edit button which is unintuitive.

 Date/Time should be filled in automatically once picture is taken.

 Before and After exposures should actually show the pictures. These may be used in place of 'location' picture to remind user. If disagree or location picture mandatory, add a location image as well. But I think the before/after exposures may be enough.

 Temp and humidity shouldn't be scroll wheels because of possibility of accidentally editing them. A modal to edit is suggested.

 Because info about result or when result will be ready is most important for a user, that should be prominent. Recommend displaying it boldly. Also an automatic stopwatch feature would be great.

 'Upload Data' is a misnomer because it's really a survey and takes people out of the app. Should be named as such and taken to 'Go to survey' screen. More notes about that screen below.

 After done, going back to Main List View saves record, same as the app works currently.

 Main List View - pretty straight-forward, again emphasis added for displaying results or timer until after exposure should be taken. This gets rid of 'finished' checkbox, which isn't really helpful.

 1. HEALTH INFO - Simple list view. Takes user either to a screen with the pertinent information on it or the survey screen

 Go to Survey - Because surveys are dependent on leaving app and is jarring, suggest an information screen to handle it. Be honest here. We should explain what's about to happen, how long the survey will take, how many times they can/should take, etc. Also place the UUID here so they can grab before they go, then BYE!

 Info screen - just text of whatever needs to be said here

 1. APP INFO - All the same interactions as the HEALTH INFO screen



 ![image description][1]

 UI redesign by [Kevin Nguyen](&lt;a href="http://lightandluck.com"&gt;http://lightandluck.com&lt;/a&gt;). Phone Outlines by [Arun](&lt;a href="https://cssauthor.com/resources/mobile-wireframe-kit-psd/"&gt;https://cssauthor.com/resources/mobile-wireframe-kit-psd/&lt;/a&gt;).


 **Further Refinements**

 A .psd file Kevin's redesign is available [here](&lt;a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SbZog5bou9gsCbv5kqFMKwvD6QCCG_Kl"&gt;https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SbZog5bou9gsCbv5kqFMKwvD6QCCG_Kl&lt;/a&gt;) should anyone else like to further iterate on his design. Some initial refinements that might be necessary in the final stage of programming this app are as follows:

 1. Make the function of the "+" in the upper right hand corner more explicit by naming it "new test"
 2. In the redesigned workflow, starting a new test takes the user directly to a camera view to take the "before" picture of the badge. The picture of the testing location, a part of the initial UI, has been removed in the redesign. The image that is shown as a thumbnail in the main list view of the app is not the location image but the before image of the badge, under the assumption that there is enough contextual information in that photo around the badge for it to be valuable for jogging the mind about that specific test. I think we might want to revisit this and maybe the location test photo should be should be where the user is taken when they click "new test" and then from that screen they are taken to the "before" photo. Or, alternatively, we could cut the thumbnail in the main list view all together and keep the workflow the same as is proposed in the redesign.
 3. In the redesign we do not clearly indicate when the health survey should be taken. Assuming that we would want this survey to be administered in the 72 hours between the before and the after photo (ie. before they can be biased by the test results)we may want to lead them to the
 4. Do we want the users to enter temp and humidity twice (once for each photo), as both can fluctuate considerably in 72 hours, and the quantification of formaldehyde would be calculated from an average of the two?

 ---------

 This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.[](&lt;a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1645090&amp;HistoricalAwards=false)[1645090](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1645090&amp;HistoricalAwards=false"&gt;https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1645090&amp;HistoricalAwards=false)[1645090](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1645090&amp;HistoricalAwards=false&lt;/a&gt;) "EAGER: Collaborative Research: SmartPhone App for Residential Testing of Formaldehyde (SmART-Form)." Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

  [1]: &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/312/large/Smart-Forms_wireframes-cropped.jpg"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/312/large/Smart-Forms_wireframes-cropped.jpg&lt;/a&gt; "Smart-Forms_wireframes-cropped.jpg"</description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15589</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Can we use this DIY spectrometer device to quantify colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) of water?</title>
      <author>jacksch</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2018 02:16:21 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/jacksch/01-23-2018/can-we-use-this-diy-spectrometer-device-to-quantify-colored-dissolved-organic-matter-cdom-of-water</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;We would like to know the possibility to use this DIY spectrometer for CDOM data for water, like rivers, estuaries, and sea. We would like to use this data for remote sensing study, to build model based on satellite image to estimate and predict water parameters.&lt;br/&gt;
 Thank you.&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15588</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How do we do user interface design work in a community process?</title>
      <author>warren</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jan 2018 23:46:15 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/01-22-2018/how-do-we-do-user-interface-design-work-in-a-community-process</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;With generous support from Autodesk, &lt;a href="/profile/caufenkamp"&gt;@caufenkamp&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="/profile/tommystyles"&gt;@tommystyles&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="/profile/julvie"&gt;@julvie&lt;/a&gt; and I have been meeting for a few months, digging into tough questions about user interface design on PublicLab.org -- see this post, for some of the topics we got into: &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/questions/tommystyles/10-20-2017/need-your-feedback-on-tag-pages#a725"&gt;https://publiclab.org/questions/tommystyles/10-20-2017/need-your-feedback-on-tag-pages#a725&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;We have a lot to work from here, and you'll see a number of changes to our site leading out of this work and &lt;a href="/profile/siyuan"&gt;@siyuan&lt;/a&gt;'s work &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/notes/siyuan/06-12-2017/a-questions-page-to-encourage-discussions-through-better-ux"&gt;in this post&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;Today we had a great discussion about how Public Lab might structure and support user interface design work going forward -- thinking about how designers who want to pitch in can quickly:&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;ul&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;get up to speed on design conventions and our "style"&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;look through and choose design problems that need help&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;learn about contextual details necessary to good design work&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;find empirical data to work from -- interviews, user studies, survey results -- to inform design work&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;get feedback on designs or test them out&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;evaluate success of their design work&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;


 &lt;p&gt;...all working in a small, modular workflow, rather than taking on massive bespoke design projects! &lt;a href="/n/15543"&gt;Read more about that here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;I'll paste the notes I took from this discussion below. Thanks to the whole Autodesk Pro Bono team!&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15587</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>3. Building a Basic Microscope Stage</title>
      <author>partsandcrafts</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jan 2018 19:26:35 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/partsandcrafts/01-22-2018/building-the-microscope-stage</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/284/medium/image5.jpg"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/284/medium/image5.jpg' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;# Why use the Hackteria stage?

 The microscope stage holds the optics, the sensor, and the sample together in a fixed geometric relationship. The optics have to be lined up with the sensor in the camera and with the sample on the sample-holder. The sample holder needs to be held in place a slight distance away from the end of the objective lens and must be movable up and down. By moving the sample tiny distances closer to and further away from the lens we can get bring image into focus.

 Hackteria [has developed](&lt;a href="https://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_microscopy"&gt;https://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_microscopy&lt;/a&gt;) a nice simple stage that you can laser cut from 1/4 inch plywood or acrylic. If you'd like help finding materials or getting one, leave a comment below or [ask a question on this page](/basic-microscope). 

 ---------

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Xc1OoWKcM3lqsvOnl0yf6gOmvB7NXMU-M6BxumAr9_MmBra-aj9kO_GYT36-8IQJUUMFEdhKD-u9Z7BPH9o33XZxvfg4UB8c202UDYF2G-I-j_K5PTdy4IOu4V0rpPQBHYTidLDX"&gt;https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Xc1OoWKcM3lqsvOnl0yf6gOmvB7NXMU-M6BxumAr9_MmBra-aj9kO_GYT36-8IQJUUMFEdhKD-u9Z7BPH9o33XZxvfg4UB8c202UDYF2G-I-j_K5PTdy4IOu4V0rpPQBHYTidLDX&lt;/a&gt;)

 We use a modified version of the Hackteria laser cut microscope stage -- [&lt;a href="https://hackteria.org/wiki/Laser-cut\_microscopy\_stages](https://hackteria.org/wiki/Laser-cut_microscopy_stages)"&gt;https://hackteria.org/wiki/Laser-cut\_microscopy\_stages](https://hackteria.org/wiki/Laser-cut_microscopy_stages)&lt;/a&gt;. We used this design as our base because we found that it was pretty easy for people to successfully build and because the OpenSCAD template files they make available were easy to modify.

 ---------

 # How to modify the template

 Starting with the Hackteria openSCAD file, available here, [&lt;a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1057872](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1057872)"&gt;https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1057872](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1057872)&lt;/a&gt;, we made a few changes to fit our design:

 **1\. Raise sample holder plate**

 The Hackteria stage is designed for using a particular set of webcam optics which are significantly shorter than the objective and tube that we are using, so we've increased the height of the backplate so you can put the sample holder higher.

 **2\. Increase size of sample hole**

 The square hole in the sample-holder plate that allows light to pass through the sample into the lens was just barely large enough to fit the optics we are using. We made the hole bigger to make the build a bit more forgiving.

 **3\. Add holes for camera mounting bolts**

 We wanted to be able to anchor the Raspberry Pi camera to the baseplate so we added two holes in the plate for mounting the camera to the stage with M3 bolts.

 **4\. Increased size of focus bolt**

 The Hackteria stage uses a bolt which moves the stage up and down as the focus mechanism. We found that it was easier to make fine focus adjustments with a larger bolt so we increased the size of the hole to fit the carriage bolts we had lying around.

 ---------

 ### Design files

 The resulting openSCAD file is here:

 [&lt;a href="http://partsandcrafts.org/pi\_microscope/Hackteria\_Microscope\_Modified\_for\_picam.scad](http://partsandcrafts.org/pi_microscope/Hackteria_Microscope_Modified_for_picam.scad)"&gt;http://partsandcrafts.org/pi\_microscope/Hackteria\_Microscope\_Modified\_for\_picam.scad](http://partsandcrafts.org/pi_microscope/Hackteria_Microscope_Modified_for_picam.scad)&lt;/a&gt;

 We used openSCAD to export the file as an .svg and then we had to scale that file up in inkscape to get to the appropriate dimensions. The unscaled .svg file is here:

 [&lt;a href="http://partsandcrafts.org/pi\_microscope/hacktera\_modified\_exported.svg](http://partsandcrafts.org/pi_microscope/hacktera_modified_exported.svg)"&gt;http://partsandcrafts.org/pi\_microscope/hacktera\_modified\_exported.svg](http://partsandcrafts.org/pi_microscope/hacktera_modified_exported.svg)&lt;/a&gt;

 We scaled the initial output of the .svg export up to have an x-dimension of 7 inches and then sent this file to our laser cutter. You may need to experiment with various dimensions and scaling factors for your equipment and materials. Our scaled up and ready-to-cut .svg file is here:

 [&lt;a href="http://partsandcrafts.org/pi\_microscope/hackteria\_modified\_for\_cut.pdf](http://partsandcrafts.org/pi_microscope/hackteria_modified_for_cut.pdf)"&gt;http://partsandcrafts.org/pi\_microscope/hackteria\_modified\_for\_cut.pdf](http://partsandcrafts.org/pi_microscope/hackteria_modified_for_cut.pdf)&lt;/a&gt;

 Since the width of many of the cuts is directly related to the thickness of the materials you are using, you may need to play with various aspects of these settings to get your project to snap together correctly.

 We used ¼" plywood (which can be anywhere between 3/16" and 5/16" thick.) Since the actual dimensions of the rest of the project are pretty forgiving you can scale the stage up or down to get a snug fit with your chosen material pretty freely without too much trouble.

 If you are using a very different thickness of material you should adjust the "Base Material" and "Plate Material" parameters of the OpenSCAD file and export to svg from there.

 ---------

 # Build the microscope stage

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/HpI5tu6JuQGQBVV3mn_sz7_pLJpNd83_Xxx0Q2Iivrhz3ZW3BRJIh7TxuWrwaG179crAlzObbDWTh_IIdBzMbbyXxr30d_2nVYTx5NLujZ3Y_zfp1NaZu8jZfCY0aEkefxKtgxwk"&gt;https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/HpI5tu6JuQGQBVV3mn_sz7_pLJpNd83_Xxx0Q2Iivrhz3ZW3BRJIh7TxuWrwaG179crAlzObbDWTh_IIdBzMbbyXxr30d_2nVYTx5NLujZ3Y_zfp1NaZu8jZfCY0aEkefxKtgxwk&lt;/a&gt;)

 Building the stand is pretty straightforward. You will press-fit the laser-cut pieces together and secure them with nuts and bolts. If you are following our guide you will already have the camera and tube mounted to the baseplate and it will look like this:

 **NOTE:** You may find it easier to build the stage with the objective unscrewed and the Raspberry Pi Zero W unplugged. If that's the case, back it up to Step 4 and start building the stage!

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jriZTO8XDTHJHoqwh4EL9xnr1Y1m22q0t-hZx8PE_F2gW25yUR8SdIlgA56zqbkl09J4CZIoeAhib26EyUlM7k46uLyds0M6ubzeiOVW-qfz6E-yoOYoecczVc2ovx1svOZmJfMr"&gt;https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jriZTO8XDTHJHoqwh4EL9xnr1Y1m22q0t-hZx8PE_F2gW25yUR8SdIlgA56zqbkl09J4CZIoeAhib26EyUlM7k46uLyds0M6ubzeiOVW-qfz6E-yoOYoecczVc2ovx1svOZmJfMr&lt;/a&gt;)

 **1\. Attach backplate-holder to baseplate**

 The backplate-holder is about 1" tall and fits snugly in the rectangular holes in the baseplate. It has two holes through it for bolts to attach it to the sliding back-plate and is held in place with a nut and bolt vertically through a hole in the bottom of the baseplate.

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BBJ1cGn-HzoJig1A8SWtguAD4_CQRRCdrcQ1ZAq99QLSWffp8aANEncvNJuvOSCqzJ4nGAGwMgi_jM2Yho6cD9WGbePL-W_PnvKiTnsrL3eEWgpIt61nVpUPpvXu8rmGNyND50wG"&gt;https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BBJ1cGn-HzoJig1A8SWtguAD4_CQRRCdrcQ1ZAq99QLSWffp8aANEncvNJuvOSCqzJ4nGAGwMgi_jM2Yho6cD9WGbePL-W_PnvKiTnsrL3eEWgpIt61nVpUPpvXu8rmGNyND50wG&lt;/a&gt;)

 **2\. Attach the sliding backplate to the backplate-holder.**

 Bolt the backplate to the backplate-holder using bolts and washers. You should be able to slide the backplate up and down along the bolts and tighten them to hold it in place to adjust the height of the sample-holder. Make sure to use washers between the bolt-head and the backplate.

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/z7CNWvFwe7f9lk9h4j0v5aCBaHbg8YECwsk4GvTx-r2G2-iVImv7lLziIQURn6iJ7rrLuNt9ue4Hc_VyCbeEUN6EJ5ZmZQNrXk0FMSaftdt_OqaTZFklFLdBVblJwWa7Qv-6vJzC"&gt;https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/z7CNWvFwe7f9lk9h4j0v5aCBaHbg8YECwsk4GvTx-r2G2-iVImv7lLziIQURn6iJ7rrLuNt9ue4Hc_VyCbeEUN6EJ5ZmZQNrXk0FMSaftdt_OqaTZFklFLdBVblJwWa7Qv-6vJzC&lt;/a&gt;)

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JeWPtMbjWP83LSOCh_a8H-su5hNHMGhX2jQCwgT3vrnZ8kLoJSAPl8EEvjERb8lNBmqG7ypGzGGLihpfxTsORZkoSxp5_1PcwTkm2r06x9GRmZfBA79jx_SQeHMDPOwhNTuh856C"&gt;https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JeWPtMbjWP83LSOCh_a8H-su5hNHMGhX2jQCwgT3vrnZ8kLoJSAPl8EEvjERb8lNBmqG7ypGzGGLihpfxTsORZkoSxp5_1PcwTkm2r06x9GRmZfBA79jx_SQeHMDPOwhNTuh856C&lt;/a&gt;)

 **3\. Attach the sample-holder to the backplate.**

 The sample-holder wants to sit ever-so-slightly above the tip of the optics that you are using. You should be able to get approximately any desired height by sliding the backplate up and down along its rails and picking different notches for the sample-holder.

 Once you've determined the correct notch height to use you can secure the sample holder with a nut and bolt. This is probably also a good time to reattach the microscope objective!

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/B61_PGxTA85n7oQIARgXpVUf_V895K0Su8wzJMWq1OF4BGKpLMrj-Q_JY9h_KgI1FHk9zm0AdXUGC6QNEXCSuCmz-P0GNJL9kaxilvjXDwzg06IjwbJnLxKaLLQkm6XgPybYGvLs"&gt;https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/B61_PGxTA85n7oQIARgXpVUf_V895K0Su8wzJMWq1OF4BGKpLMrj-Q_JY9h_KgI1FHk9zm0AdXUGC6QNEXCSuCmz-P0GNJL9kaxilvjXDwzg06IjwbJnLxKaLLQkm6XgPybYGvLs&lt;/a&gt;)

 **4\. Add feet.**

 Our microscope stage now has screws sticking out of the bottom so it doesn't sit flat on the table. We will add stick-on felt furniture pads to the bottom corners of the stage. These will allow the microscope to sit flat on a table and because they are soft they will also dampen vibrations between the table and the microscope.

 Vibrations can be a big problem when you're trying to adjust sample placement or focus because the movement of the vibration is also magnified by our microscope so very small disturbances on the table make for very large disturbances in the magnified image.

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cV9_a3sWHvNTPG-d_CCUl-zEwlWtEX5kHvPiGwhbgmRjvYunbqCeFvngfqOtE3svK7431EZv2_xfPc-Izh38QvZh4_DdfXD7JyAT1iyWBaYb7J2aoAlGaSvGZqnf1OF3ybfQARlZ"&gt;https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cV9_a3sWHvNTPG-d_CCUl-zEwlWtEX5kHvPiGwhbgmRjvYunbqCeFvngfqOtE3svK7431EZv2_xfPc-Izh38QvZh4_DdfXD7JyAT1iyWBaYb7J2aoAlGaSvGZqnf1OF3ybfQARlZ&lt;/a&gt;)

 **5\. Add focus knob and tensioning band**

 We will use a carriage bolt as a focusing knob. When the bolt turns the threads will cause the table to move up or down slightly based on whether we are tightening or loosening the bolt.

 We will put a rubber band around the baseplate and the sample-holder as well. This will keep the sample-holder in tension pulled towards the baseplate which will make the focus knob more predictable and will minimize the effects of random movements and vibrations.

 If your camera is not currently plugged into your Raspberry Pi you should plug it in now because it's easier to do so before we place the bolt and rubber band in the way.

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RtZQFYIflgJXjq7M9cHTpdE17C5cWtVNQI3AJej07vqrCzUpH3aM0gPoMnFgBfzaK7V_4Y3Mh1yxCFosxL7jPuVjvUSIXPILrJV5pst6j4UmuYoeqLTBaeRWHnvEPC8LzA1e2oJL"&gt;https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RtZQFYIflgJXjq7M9cHTpdE17C5cWtVNQI3AJej07vqrCzUpH3aM0gPoMnFgBfzaK7V_4Y3Mh1yxCFosxL7jPuVjvUSIXPILrJV5pst6j4UmuYoeqLTBaeRWHnvEPC8LzA1e2oJL&lt;/a&gt;)

 ![](&lt;a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ec4Hwq4m5wvpdptOxjWXloZAaFrmhBUmtxJ0Ftk_FRT-eFpp9eVAn7hpLSWKn4URPjOlgyMySY7vHK-jscjq4NiiW4CsuW_zWdf4fE2w-YtNBXsZd9ACAN2cqIqle5m70aWvOo7J"&gt;https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/ec4Hwq4m5wvpdptOxjWXloZAaFrmhBUmtxJ0Ftk_FRT-eFpp9eVAn7hpLSWKn4URPjOlgyMySY7vHK-jscjq4NiiW4CsuW_zWdf4fE2w-YtNBXsZd9ACAN2cqIqle5m70aWvOo7J&lt;/a&gt;)

 And you're done! At this point you should be able to turn the bolt and see the stage move up and down around the lens.</description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15585</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Leaflet Blurred Location</title>
      <author>mridulnagpal</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:33:22 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/mridulnagpal/01-22-2018/leaflet-blurred-location</link>
      <description>&lt;h2&gt;About me&lt;/h2&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Name&lt;/strong&gt; : Mridul Nagpal&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Github&lt;/strong&gt; : &lt;a href="https://github.com/mridulnagpal"&gt;https://github.com/mridulnagpal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LinkedIn:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mridul-nagpal-0663bb131/"&gt;https://www.linkedin.com/in/mridul-nagpal-0663bb131/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Affiliation&lt;/strong&gt; : International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad - 500032&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Location:&lt;/strong&gt; Hyderabad, India&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Email:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="mailto:[email protected]"&gt;[email protected]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;**Project Title: **Leaflet Blurred Location&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gitter:&lt;/strong&gt; mridulnagpal&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h2&gt;Project description&lt;/h2&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;The project I will be doing this summer will be :-&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;h3&gt;Leaflet Blurred Location:&lt;/h3&gt;

 &lt;h4&gt;This summer we will be enhancing the present Leaflet Blurred Location library. We will first be adding a Display library name Leaflet Blurred Location Display (already exists with basic functioning &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/02-28-2017/call-for-proposals"&gt;https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/02-28-2017/call-for-proposals&lt;/a&gt;). We can also start connecting people on the basis of the location they enter. We can switch to other geolocation API to make it faster. Option to subscribe to specific locations as well linked with email notifications.&lt;/h4&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15584</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Reflection on a flask surface</title>
      <author>James_Ye</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jan 2018 06:27:15 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/James_Ye/01-22-2018/reflection-on-a-flask-surface</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Hi all, just wanna hear some insight for a question recently asked by one of my students which is puzzling me. The quesion is why the reflection of light from a vacuum flask surface always appears as a line. Say if you shine a beam of laser toward the flask surface and you will see a line beam from reflection, as seen in the picture below. I wonder if it is because of the special structure of the surface that scatters the light in the vertical direction and causes this effect. Hope you can shed some light on this question. Thank you!&lt;/p&gt;

 &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.goodhousekeeping.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMG_9511_resized.jpg" alt="image description" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15579</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Do I need to use a DVD-R?  Will a CD-R work too?</title>
      <author>jordankc</author>
      <pubDate>Sun, 21 Jan 2018 00:18:04 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/jordankc/01-21-2018/do-i-need-to-use-a-dvd-r-will-a-cd-r-work-too</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;working on the paper spectrometer.&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15574</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>article on vertical consolidation in for-profit scholarly research infrastructure</title>
      <author>@lizbarry</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 20 Jan 2018 20:56:04 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://publiclab.org/notes/liz/01-20-2018/article-on-vertical-consolidation-in-for-profit-scholarly-research-infrastructure</link>
      <enclosure url="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/278/medium/production-cycle.png"/>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;![CDATA[ &lt;img src='https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/278/medium/production-cycle.png' alt='' &gt; ]]&gt;&lt;/p&gt;_lead image from &lt;a href="http://knowledgegap.org/index.php/sub-projects/rent-seeking-and-financialization-of-the-academic-publishing-industry/preliminary-findings/_"&gt;http://knowledgegap.org/index.php/sub-projects/rent-seeking-and-financialization-of-the-academic-publishing-industry/preliminary-findings/_&lt;/a&gt;

 Hey folks, I finally got around to reading the article linked above ^^ from September 2017, and i'd love to hear your thoughts on it. 

 It features the diagram of the academic knowledge production process at the top of this post, and a 2nd version that shows one or more Elsevier companies operating at each stage:

 ![image description][2]

 Overall, the article is about how scholarly publishers have been responding to the Open Access movement by shifting their business models towards acquiring "scholarly infrastructure, the tools and services that underpin the scholarly research life cycle, many of which are geared towards data analytics." Basically, vertical integration in for-profit knowledge production services:

 * Elsevier has acquired and launched products that extend its influence and its ownership of the infrastructure to all stages of the academic knowledge production process. 
 * potential threats posed by this are 1) exclusion of already marginalized researchers and institutions, 2) a resulting increase in global knowledge inequality, and 3) loss of diversity in knowledge as a whole

 The article's final thoughts call for scholarly communication to be non-profit: 

 &gt;Our findings support [Jefferson Pooley recent argument](&lt;a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/08/15/scholarly-communications-shouldnt-just-be-open-but-non-profit-too/"&gt;http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/08/15/scholarly-communications-shouldnt-just-be-open-but-non-profit-too/&lt;/a&gt;) that scholarly communication shouldn’t just be open but should be not-for-profit as well. The benefits of integrating the academic knowledge production value chain should not be in the hands of rent-seeking and profit-maximizing corporations. There is an urgent need by research communities and public agencies to collaboratively reclaim the infrastructure around the academic knowledge production process. 

 What do you think?

  [2]: &lt;a href="https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/280/large/with-companies.png"&gt;https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/023/280/large/with-companies.png&lt;/a&gt; "with-companies.png"</description>
      <guid>https://publiclab.org/notes/show/15573</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
 </rss>