Day XI: Code Seclusion

As one could expect from my title, I finally could not find another task to occupy me from my main job, that of coding. In the morning, I realized that four or five more tapes needed to be digitized and tried to do that early so I could code in the afternoon. In the end, it did take me all morning, and I didn't digitize a single frame. The problem was that my computer did not possess iMovie HD, which is the converter we use. The computer did not come pre-loaded with the software, nor did the lab have an iLife disc from which we could install it. So, I tried the internet. It turns out that it is available to download, but only if you have iLife '08 installed. Back to square one.

Though I tried for a rather long time to circumvent this, in the end Apple prevailed. The time was also compounded by the fact that I'm now located in the ASL room, all the way down the hall from the main room, a room which I have no key to. So, since I can't leave the door open, I need to shut it (locked) and then get someone else to let me back in. Thanks to Tristan for letting me borrow his key later on. Anyhoo, eventually the search for iMovie was abandoned as futile, and I gave Erika the tapes to digitize. I borrowed the portable hard drive and received a Descriptions coding course from Erika and Matt and got to work. (I'd missed the official word from Andy while trying to get the software off the net) By then, though, we decided to break for lunch.

Lunch was uneventful, so we returned to the lab to resume work on coding. I am currently in the middle of the same participant I transcribed, so the eye movements and image sequence are familiar. The coding itself is pretty easy, we don't need to physically designate fixation points, only apply a label to the fixated object. And the beginning half only show the images for a few seconds (which is still many frames, but it could be worse). The large blanks where the participants describe from memory speed it along as well. In the end, I coded somewhere between six and eight minutes of video in about five hours. Only downside is that I was sitting alone in the ASL room for that entire duration. Fun, fun. And again, I had to make trips back to the other lab and ask questions, then be let in again. I apologize for buggin you, Andy! Thanks for putting up with me!

Well, I'll have to be careful in my post tomorrow night, seeing as we'll be touring Bausch & Lomb. Can't spill any corporate secrets. Shhh!