So I thought I’d make a FEZ version of this great clock [url]http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/09/defusable-alarm-clock-is-dy-no-mite.html[/url] for some Halloween fun. After receiving the 7 segment LED display from SparkFun, I thought “Crap! I’ve gotta write a driver for this thing”. Then I had a beautiful (almost religious) epiphany. A quick search of the code base turned up EXACTLY what I was looking for: a driver Blue Hair Bob had written last year for this very component! Instead of banging out code, I got busy making my “dynamite” look real. BTW - SF has beefed up the API for this thing since then, so I’ll be updating that code in the near future. Also will post a video of costumed kids trying to diffuse this thing.
That’s what I call some awesome FEZ-OSS. Thanks Bob, and thanks to the community at large for sharing!
Pictures after I get some “real” dynamite! I was told that if I wear a hardhat and dirty carharts, they’ll sell it to me by the case, no questions asked… :o haha
The finished toy. I did a presentation this week at our local .NET user group on NETMF, and GHI graciously provided some prizes. Instead of a raffle, I handed out the goodies to folks who successfully diffused this thing. Great fun!
I’m also planning to do a user group presentation in Feb or March. Any tips/slides you want to share would be appreciated. I don’t suppose you videod your presentation?
My slide deck is at [url]http://www.ransomhall.com/Documents/MakeSenseNetmf.zip[/url] . I primarily focused what NETMF is (and isn’t), available hardware, and some specifics like what kind of buses are supported. I also spent a little extra time on Gadgeteer, as this is a brand new platform. My demos were very simple on purpose. Some of the more advanced attendees wanted to see more code, but I avoided that. I did a quick survey (show of hands) in the beginning to gauge where most folks were on the NETMF experience scale. Most were at zero. Personally, I don’t like presentations that are all code. Code reviews/demos serve a necessary purpose, but Murphy’s Law means there will be unforeseen glitches which can kill your momentum quickly.
Great slide deck. I’ll definitely be borrowing parts of it. I’m with you on the code. Speaking of which… When you talked about differences between NETMF and the full .NET did you have a list of all the differences or did you just mention some common ones? I’d love to find a complete list.
Regarding the avatar… I thought for a long time that it was an alligator with a red eye
@ ianlee74 - Differences - just covered the highlights. Alligator with a big red eye? Whateva…
@ architect - The wiz and I go back a long way to some of my earliest geek days. It’s a metal figurine I’ve had since I was a teenager playing Dungeons and Dragons (with dice and paper, old school). I was almost always the wizard in our group. He’s managed to not get lost and still look pretty shiny 30 years later. The crystal ball is actually clear, and has a red laser shining through it for this pic. Like they say, every project needs a laser!
Halloween was a roaring success… At one point I had to organize the crowd of kids into a line, as they were all clamoring to diffuse “Da Bomb”. I had two brothers drop their candy and run for cover when the lights/sound went off. Their Dad declared I was the winner of “best prop on the block”.
