Chumby, this weeks buzz word to say the least. Chumby is a hackers dream and it was released at FOO camp this weekend. What is Chumby you ask? Well basically it has two very modifiable ends. The software and the hardware are both promoted as modifiable. In fact the company has already released the specs for both. What does this mean? Well a few things, first off you can redo the soft plushy exterior with whatever design you want. So my mom could sew a quilt for it or you could glue on your favorite patches. Then on the inside you can solder on new ports for something like an iPod or your phone. Finally there is the software end where you can program widgets the display things like the time, weather, RSSfeeds, email status and anything else you can imagine. The web is abuzz with news about this thing and many are waiting to hear hw much it will cost and when it will come out. Im excited especially because I had thought of a similar design. Mine had a bigger screen that was a touch screen, but since
Chumby is hackable, I can add that. The best thing is that people will publish how they do stuff and share their programs, so even if you cant program or solder people will be there to help you. Im excited to say the least. A few more sections of info:

Chumby is different. The Chumby was not created in the design department of some big consumer electronics company. Market analysis and focus groups were not performed. Frankly, there wasnt very much traditional consumer electronics experience brought to bear at all. We made it all up. Chumby Industries was formed by hackers who wanted to create something interesting, useful and different. The starting point was the humble clock radio. What we decided to build was a really low-cost, wireless (WiFi), Internet-connected device that will sit on your bedside table (or in your bathroom, or kitchen, orliving room, or maybe even plug into your car somehow…) that could do a lot more than this old clock radio (or your cell phone, if thats what you use to wake yourself up.) And we named it “Chumby.” -from the Chumby website

The hack-a-day article Some random bloggers talking about it. Im out. p.s. this was lost in the big labor day wipe, and it was all i could recover

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