{"id":252,"date":"2006-09-10T10:55:36","date_gmt":"2006-09-10T10:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/diversifiedcuriosities.com\/2006\/09\/10\/old252\/"},"modified":"2017-08-18T18:03:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T18:03:05","slug":"old252","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/2006\/09\/10\/old252\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY at Foo Camp, and Why Chumby Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was deliriously fortunate to have been invited to spend the weekend at Foo Camp a weekend ago and equally fortunate to have met a number of hardware makers and hackers including Nathan Siedel from Spark Fun and Colin Cross, engineer by day and open cell phone developer by night.<\/p>\n

[wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/89\/227229729_caf0f1d0cd_m.jpg|align=thumb tcenter|width=180|caption=Nathan Siedel, Spark Fun Electronics|url=http:\/\/www.sparkfun.com]<\/p>\n

[wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/75\/227226498_7539ffa997_m.jpg|align=thumb tleft|width=180|caption=Colin Cross, Open Cell Phone Hacker|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/julianbleecker\/227226498\/]<\/p>\n

\n

[wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/64\/225599650_01abe8638c_m.jpg|align=thumb tcenter|width=240|caption=Tux Phone|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/julianbleecker\/225599650\/]<\/p>\n

One of those brilliant makers is bunnie<\/a> of the eponymous “bunnie studios, LLC”, who is the tech brains behind the Chumby. Chumby is a small, craft hack friendly device that plugs into the wall, and plugs into a wireless, 802.11 network. It’s got an LCD display with touch screen, a squeeze sensor, a USB port and an ARM-based processor. It runs Linux, has an Adobe Flash player \u00e2\u20ac\u201d suitable for running network enabled Flash Lite content.<\/p>\n

[wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/86\/228818319_d21c632668_o_d.jpg|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/33515138@N00\/228818319\/in\/photostream|width=500|align=thumb tcenter|caption=Chumby & Coffee]<\/p>\n

It doesn’t require a torx wrench or rivet shears to take apart, has web-based forums dedicated to hardware and software hacking itself, has instructions for how to build your own (from schematics to a bill of materials) and has no keyboard.<\/p>\n

These last points are why Chumby matters. Whether or not the business plan behind Chumby Studios takes hold (meaning, sustains a thorough-going commercial enterprise), the move toward open-hardware and open-source designed objects is very exciting. It’s an important progression toward empowering DIY cultures, in several senses \u00e2\u20ac\u201d you can make it yours by changing it to suit your needs, sensibilities, aesthetics; you can more easily make it yours by participating amongst a community like-minded participants who may lend suggestions or advice; you share what you’ve done amongst others, an important character of communities of common interest; you don’t have to completely lock your attention to it the way you do with most typical computational and networkable devices, which require you to stare continuously at a screen and bang at keys on a keyboard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was deliriously fortunate to have been invited to spend the weekend at Foo Camp a weekend ago and equally fortunate to have met a number of hardware makers and hackers including Nathan Siedel from Spark Fun and Colin Cross, engineer by day and open cell phone developer by night.<\/p>\n

[wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/89\/227229729_caf0f1d0cd_m.jpg|align=thumb tcenter|width=180|caption=Nathan Siedel, Spark Fun Electronics|url=http:\/\/www.sparkfun.com]<\/p>\n

[wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/75\/227226498_7539ffa997_m.jpg|align=thumb tleft|width=180|caption=Colin Cross, Open Cell Phone Hacker|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/julianbleecker\/227226498\/]<\/p>\n

\n

[wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/64\/225599650_01abe8638c_m.jpg|align=thumb tcenter|width=240|caption=Tux Phone|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/julianbleecker\/225599650\/]<\/p>\n

One of those brilliant makers is bunnie<\/a> of the eponymous “bunnie studios, LLC”, who is the tech brains behind the Chumby. Chumby is a small, craft hack friendly device that plugs into the wall, and plugs into a wireless, 802.11 network. It’s got an LCD display with touch screen, a squeeze sensor, a USB port and an ARM-based processor. It runs Linux, has an Adobe Flash player \u00e2\u20ac\u201d suitable for running network enabled Flash Lite content.<\/p>\n

[wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/86\/228818319_d21c632668_o_d.jpg|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/33515138@N00\/228818319\/in\/photostream|width=500|align=thumb tcenter|caption=Chumby & Coffee]<\/p>\n

It doesn’t require a torx wrench or rivet shears to take apart, has web-based forums dedicated to hardware and software hacking itself, has instructions for how to build your own (from schematics to a bill of materials) and has no keyboard.<\/p>\n

These last points are why Chumby matters. Whether or not the business plan behind Chumby Studios takes hold (meaning, sustains a thorough-going commercial enterprise), the move toward open-hardware and open-source designed objects is very exciting. It’s an important progression toward empowering DIY cultures, in several senses \u00e2\u20ac\u201d you can make it yours by changing it to suit your needs, sensibilities, aesthetics; you can more easily make it yours by participating amongst a community like-minded participants who may lend suggestions or advice; you share what you’ve done amongst others, an important character of communities of common interest; you don’t have to completely lock your attention to it the way you do with most typical computational and networkable devices, which require you to stare continuously at a screen and bang at keys on a keyboard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[91],"tags":[1067],"yoast_head":"\nDIY at Foo Camp, and Why Chumby Matters - Near Future Laboratory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/2006\/09\/10\/old252\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DIY at Foo Camp, and Why Chumby Matters - Near Future Laboratory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was deliriously fortunate to have been invited to spend the weekend at Foo Camp a weekend ago and equally fortunate to have met a number of hardware makers and hackers including Nathan Siedel from Spark Fun and Colin Cross, engineer by day and open cell phone developer by night. [wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/89\/227229729_caf0f1d0cd_m.jpg|align=thumb tcenter|width=180|caption=Nathan Siedel, Spark Fun Electronics|url=http:\/\/www.sparkfun.com] [wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/75\/227226498_7539ffa997_m.jpg|align=thumb tleft|width=180|caption=Colin Cross, Open Cell Phone Hacker|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/julianbleecker\/227226498\/] [wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/64\/225599650_01abe8638c_m.jpg|align=thumb tcenter|width=240|caption=Tux Phone|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/julianbleecker\/225599650\/] One of those brilliant makers is bunnie of the eponymous "bunnie studios, LLC", who is the tech brains behind the Chumby. Chumby is a small, craft hack friendly device that plugs into the wall, and plugs into a wireless, 802.11 network. It's got an LCD display with touch screen, a squeeze sensor, a USB port and an ARM-based processor. It runs Linux, has an Adobe Flash player \u00e2\u20ac\u201d suitable for running network enabled Flash Lite content. [wikilike_img src=http:\/\/static.flickr.com\/86\/228818319_d21c632668_o_d.jpg|url=http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/33515138@N00\/228818319\/in\/photostream|width=500|align=thumb tcenter|caption=Chumby & Coffee] It doesn't require a torx wrench or rivet shears to take apart, has web-based forums dedicated to hardware and software hacking itself, has instructions for how to build your own (from schematics to a bill of materials) and has no keyboard. These last points are why Chumby matters. Whether or not the business plan behind Chumby Studios takes hold (meaning, sustains a thorough-going commercial enterprise), the move toward open-hardware and open-source designed objects is very exciting. It's an important progression toward empowering DIY cultures, in several senses \u00e2\u20ac\u201d you can make it yours by changing it to suit your needs, sensibilities, aesthetics; you can more easily make it yours by participating amongst a community like-minded participants who may lend suggestions or advice; you share what you've done amongst others, an important character of communities of common interest; you don't have to completely lock your attention to it the way you do with most typical computational and networkable devices, which require you to stare continuously at a screen and bang at keys on a keyboard.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/2006\/09\/10\/old252\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Near Future Laboratory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-09-10T10:55:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-18T18:03:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nearfuturelab\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nearfuturelab\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Near Future Laboratory\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nearfuturelaboratory\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/near-future-laboratory\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nearfuturelab\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/NearFutureLaboratoryLogo-CS4.jpg\",\"width\":1049,\"height\":206,\"caption\":\"Near Future Laboratory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/\",\"name\":\"Near Future Laboratory\",\"description\":\"Clarify Today, Design Tomorrow\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/2006\/09\/10\/old252\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.nearfuturelaboratory.com\/2006\/09\/10\/old252\/\",\"name\":\"DIY at Foo Camp, and Why Chumby Matters - 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