Hmm.. I wonder if I can physcomp up one of these suckers. Cheap cheap cheap on eBay.
posted by dens at 3:09 PM

I've got a new side project these days... trying to find an old Sony eMarker (keychain-sized USB adaptor that allows you to 'bookmark' the songs you hear on a given radio statio). Anyway, my goal is to hack it enough to bring it back to life. Anyone know someone that has one?
posted by dens at 6:18 PM

"The Terror-o-meter is a small, wall-hung device that displays hourly readings of the world's current state of terror. It contains a small TCP/IP enabled microcontroller which continually analyzes the current stat of terror based on the keyword parsing of world news feeds."

http://www.junkfunnel.com/terror.html

... I saw something like this at least years ITP spring show (i think). not sure who was working on it, but it was light, colors and keywords projected onto a flat surface. colors and light changed depending on the keywords returned giving ambient feedback on whether today was a 'good news' or 'bad news' day.
posted by dens at 9:09 AM

Microsoft getting into the whole ambient devices thing...

Press release on watches that display "personal messages; calendar updates; and customized news, weather, financial and sports information".

Overview of Microsoft SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) (follow the link to "Choose a Style")

Info on DirectBand, the FM network which powers the watches (is this different than pager networks?)
posted by dens at 8:43 AM

Quick list of blogs to read...

gizmodo.com (all sorts of cool devices)
smartmobs.com (Howard Rheningold's blog on mobile community)
ambient411.com (fan site for ambientdevices.com)
posted by dens at 8:36 AM

If you've got a second, check out what Ambient Devices, a tech company based out Cambridge MA, is doing. They're sending data via paging networks to, er, low-end pagers embedded in everyday devices.

They've got all sorts of cool products/demos - key chains that change color bassd on traffic reports, squishys that glow when your friends are online, pinwheels that spin when you get email (er, Igoe's fan), pens that glow when you get voicemail...

http://www.ambientdevices.com/cat/applications.html

And, a weather forecasting clock too...

http://www.ambientdevices.com/cat/images/gallery/Ambient-Weather-Meter.jpg

... what's even slicker is that most devices work without a subscription plan (e.g. get the weather & stock reports for free), although you have to pay $6/mo to send "custom" data to your devices (e.g. specific highway traffic reports, a particular stock quote, the IM friend tracker).

The only device they're actually selling is the Stock Quote orb and it carries a pretty hefty price tag at $299, though I just saw some on eBay for as low as $100
posted by dens at 8:34 AM

Finally got the Cobox to talk to stage.itp.nyu.edu. Check out my notes for my info.
posted by dens at 10:12 AM

This semester is OVER... and now I have 30 days to do nothing (I am already bored). Check out Big Brother Foosall (final project) to see what I was working on.
posted by dens at 8:52 AM

midterms. coming soon.
posted by dens at 6:08 PM

Just so I don't forget again... Java J2SE API.
posted by dens at 9:54 AM