Ski jumper
Here’s a freestyle ski jumper practicing. In the summer. In a pool. Odd.
Before I forget, I need to make the following Special Morrowlife Announcement: No blogging tomorrow or Friday. We’re going camping and don’t expect to have internet access. I realize this is a major disappointment to many of my Loyal Readers, but just think of how much you’ll appreciate it when The Blog returns on Monday. And how energized I’ll be from my vacation time off.
As mentioned before (I think) we’re going to be camping at Anthony Chabot Regional Park – the same place we stayed over the Thanksgiving holiday. We enjoyed it then and are looking forward to a summertime stay.
In other news, progress is being made on the MARV front. LRN1 got the two Arduinos talking to each other and is close to getting the accelerometer hooked up and sending data. We’ve decided to do a lot more documentation on the Gardenville website – updates on a nearly-daily basis, with more detailed posts as appropriate. Our first tech spinoff of the program is the LCD board. LRN1 is getting the prototype finished today, hopefully, and we’re designing a circuit board and will have a few made up. We’re trying to decide whether to try to sell kits, completed boards (may cost too much to produce), or just bare boards with parts lists. Need to do a little research to see what’s already available. I’m thinking the easiest way is to release the schematic, PCB layout files, and software as open-source and offer to sell bare boards to people who want them. That keeps the price low to undercut whatever prebuilt competition is out there. I think it may also maximize our profits, although kits might end up making more money. Either way, I see this as a great way to monetize open-source design. If we sold kits, we could also pre-load the software onto the chip. Could also just sell pre-programmed chips, for that matter.
Anyway, check out the Gardenville website for project status on an ongoing basis.
LRN2 is also working on his writing for the HRVA and, in an important new development, Spinfo. We’re going to get the latter site going with reviews and news on free and open-source games. Still need to do a little web research and see who else is doing the same thing so we can find a way to differentiate ourselves. Also need to figure out where we ultimately want to take those sites and how to monetize them, if possible.
Loyal Reader ideas are welcome. I guess if there’s no direct money to be made, we can at least hope to contribute to the community in a meaningful way and get our work in front of a few eyes.
Otherwise, the situation is stable and everybody’s happy and healthy. Looking forward to hearing from LRN3 on his new job.
Weekend camping plans include geocaching, hiking, and some business strategy meetings. Also some good meals, campfires, and lots of relaxation.
I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with some unfortunate criminal toilet news: stay out of the elevator.
See you on Monday, with lots of news.