Adam P's Senior Project Blog
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Project Title: Timeline Forge: Weaving Events, Worlds, and Continuity Together BASIS Advisor: Chad Longoni Internship Location: Incognito Cybersecurity Onsite Mentor: Nemuel Cruz, Owner and Director |
Project Abstract
When trying to understand the world of a piece of fiction, it helps to be able to understand its timeline. Timelines also help maintain continuity, provide for easier literary analysis, and keep fans engaged. These timelines aren’t always obvious, so it takes fans to piece them together based on what exposition is given by the narrator, any lines of dialogue, and any given dates. Some worlds have timelines so complicated due to the sheer number of works of fiction within them that trying to piece together their timelines becomes a very difficult task. I am coding a website that will make this task easier by using an algorithm to generate a comprehensive timeline for any fictional universe based on what information users give it about the timeline. Based on dates, holidays, and character quotes about past or future events, my algorithm will piece together the proper sequence of events by narrowing down the possible time frames they could have occurred. I spend my time coding this complex algorithm and building the user interface of my website. As this is digital, it can take place anywhere. I’m also building my own timeline for the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude to use as a test case for my algorithm’s accuracy. My website will export the results of my algorithm’s logic into an image so that a viewer can read the timeline clearly. To understand my project, viewers need only understand how a timeline works. My website will make timeline-building a far easier task, streamlining the logical analysis and helping maintain continuity for fans and creators.
Week 10: The End of the Beginning
Greetings again for the last time. As this is my final blog post, I will discuss what I’ve done and my plans for the project going forward. I finished the algorithm this week, at least to a basic level of functionality. There are more trivial features I am currently working on adding like the ability... Read More
Week 9: More Logic and Classes
Greetings again. I’ve been finishing up my algorithm this past week. I figure this week I could give you guys a more technical overview of how exactly my algorithm is taking links between events and narrowing down their possible date ranges. First of all, every single day is stored as an integer by my algorithm,... Read More
Week 8: Updates and Reevaluation
Welcome back once more, my loyal followers. I have continued to code my refinement algorithm over this past week. It’s taking me a long time to code it, with this project proving to be more work than I anticipated, so it’s now that I’m deciding I will not be able to complete the website during... Read More
Week 7: Problems and Reflection
A warm and heartfelt welcome back to you, my cherished, ever-curious audience. I spent this week on the algorithm again. It's proving difficult. I’m trying to solve an issue with months in a date range. So far, when the algorithm is supposed to generate a date range for events that are for example “three years... Read More
Week 6: Algorithm and Hosting
Hello again my esteemed readers, this week I’ve still been working on my algorithm. As I get closer to completing it, I’ll go over a little of the research I’ve done into website hosting. Unfortunately, my internet provider details in their terms of service that personal hosting is not allowed, so I can’t host my... Read More
Week 5: Coding the Algorithm
Hello readers, this week I continued coding my algorithm, and I’ll give you a basic overview of how I’m building it. Since this is the first section of my project I’ve begun coding, it may (and probably will) have to be revised later in order to integrate it seamlessly into the HTML and Java front... Read More
Week 4: Languages and Logistics
Hello readers, today I’m going to shift my focus from my test case timelines towards the actual coding of my project. I’ve been learning the HTML language this week as well as working on my algorithm in Python. One single coding language won’t be able to encompass everything I wish to accomplish. HTML will provide... Read More
Week 3: How to Construct a Timeline
Hello everyone, I’ve been working on the timelines for Leaf Storm and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez to use as test cases for my algorithm. Today I’ll walk you through how my algorithm will attempt to determine when events in a story occur. Let’s take a look at an event from... Read More
Week 2: Why These Novels? The Logic Behind My Test Cases
Hello readers, as I’m currently building two timelines to use as test cases for my algorithm, this week’s blog will focus on my reasons for my use of the novels Leaf Storm and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez in particular. Beware of spoilers for both. I recently read the novel One... Read More
Week 1: Introduction and Goals
Hello readers, this first blog will be an introduction to my project, TimelineForge: Weaving Events, Worlds, and Continuity Together. I’m a huge movie fan and love to read, and when I watch or read something, I always try to understand the timeline of events for whatever world it takes place in. I find this helps... Read More