Looks like a thing that you can plug into pretty much any device that is controlled with IR (or a serial port), which allows you to control it with a computer or smartphone… which means it can be programmed. It also has movement and light sensors built in.
Unfortunately, it uses Java as a programming language, so it’s not going to catch on… well, not until someone writes an API layer onto it which allows it to understand languages that people actually use – probably JS, Python or PHP.
Still… really cool idea.
On Addiction
And The Void Mooned Back...
The Spirit Of The World
A Machine to Steal Souls
More Anti Digital
Thync
Robotic Sensory Loops and Whatnot
Cartestian Robot Roundup.
Post-Scarcity Link-Dump
Servo Bender
it is my understanding that android uses java
Yea – on day #1 of learning to program with Android today.
It’d make things sooooo much easier if there was a jQuery-like wrapper though… I’m not talking anything as hand-holdy as visual-basic (not even sure if people still use VB)… just something to lower the learning curve basically.
I am on day one also! have been for a couple weeks now. I am haveing trouble getting started because i dont know anything about programing (execpt a little VB but i dont think that counts for much) and i dont use money so i cant just go out and get a book. Also i only have the mac g4 w/ 10.5 that i found in an alley (the tab key doesnt work!).
I do have a smart phone though (christmas gift) and i know what i want to do with it. I am going to move onto a small piece of land and i want to document as much as i can. I would like to make a database app that has a game like GUI (like sim city?) something to help me easily interact with data and track small things through out the day (how many eggs i got from each chicken, or the amount of water collected through my rain berrals, how many pounds of food out of the garden) Maybe like a real time farmers almanac.
Soooo, to wrap this up, if you have any digital copys of dev books for android or vids or audia or whatever, or if you just have some links that could be helpful send them my way.
I am ballacneing out my deving with crocheting: here is a video of me disassembleing old sweaters so i could use the yarn to make a rug:
http://youtu.be/BsaGwmbpiAQ
I don’t think I’ve ever used a book to learn a programming language.
I think you’re probably best watching a handful of youtube tutorials, just to get a feel for the work-flow / process… then after that, it’s just a series of “hello worlds”….
… eg:
Hello World to run your first program
Hello World to write to the screen
Hello World to access a DB
Hello World to read from a sensor
etc etc.
Then it’s a matter of finding a little project to do, and doing it… using google to fill in the bits that you don’t know. If you get really stuck, ask in a forum. Eventually the amount of googling/foruming you need to do goes down. But it never goes away completely. I’ve been doing web stuff for 12 years, and I still need to google things sometimes.