SunSPOT

[cjsmith]

So there was this contest where people at this conference could win one of these development kits.

My idea involved monitoring, and doing some simple things to protect, a remote astrophotography outpost. Dramatic temperature changes? An unexpected flash of light? Discard that exposure and begin another. Temp falling near dewpoint? Wind screaming? Rain? Close the dome. I wrote up this idea and submitted it.

Two people were chosen as Grand Winners: no audience voting, no nothing, those two instantly got development kits. Those two ideas were: a) Give it to the local Java Users Group where a different person will have it each month and report back, and b) Will It Blend. Eight others were chosen as finalists for four kits, and each of those eight finalists gave a one-minute presentation this morning.

I won a kit.

About six people gave me their business cards (and wanted mine, but I hadn't had the foresight to bring any) asking that I let them know where my blog was so I could keep the developer community informed of my progress. I met one serious astrophotographer, too.

I hadn't the heart to tell them that this progress was going to be downright glacial. I'm serious. I'm busy! ...But not too busy to have ripped open all the packaging already. These things are way, way cool. The first thing I want to do with one is air text. Because I can.

Comments

[dieppe.livejournal.com]

Oh My! Congratulations!!!!! :) I want one! :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They are awesome. It's so cool that I was picked!

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

congratulations :) that's very, very nifty!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I fully intend to install the dev kit on my laptop before I leave town. I am going to have some really wonky plane flights with long connections. Bringing the devices themselves would be foolish, but the emulator in the toolkit is excellent.

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Cool! Congrats!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's been a while since I did anything programming-ish for pure fun.