1. Got lightblue+bluez set up on the raspberry pi, successfully paired and connected with Macbook. Not so much success communicating, sockets only worked one way, and the OS X doesn’t seem to be able to connect to services advertised on the pi despite being able to see that they exist. Also got started with USB programming in python with pyusb — is complex, but less so than I expected.

  2. Spent the afternoon updating lightblue to build on Mac OS 10.9, successfully managed to discover+communicate with a bunch of devices around the office! Next up: serving HTTP over Bluetooth.

  3. Favourite quote from Shaping Things by @bruces so far:

    “What is a “brand”? It’s a mark seared into the surface of something. Is that the best you can do in the way of establishing a relationship between us?”

  4. In reply to a post on twitter.com

    @LapTop006 @kevinmarks somehow I doubt that’s going to end well, e.g. “I just had a great idea for a thing!”

    “Check out this thing I just bought!”

    “There’s a thing on my wrist!”

    “I’m wearing a thing!”

    “I need a raspberry pi and some sensors so I can make a thing!”

    It’s hardly a specific term which enables efficient, productive communication :)

  5. Quite disgusted by the sales copy on sen.se/store/mother — an interesting idea creepily presented. What’s the physical metaphor for the “mother” itself? Or does it end up being just a weird looking ornament, awkwardly placed within ethernet-cable distance of the home router?

  6. @scottjenson RE google maps, I hear you. This particular problem could be solved by an app which remembers your speed, then displays the concentric rings. It assumes internet access/cached maps, GPS data and a device capable of displaying it — what if the device transmitting the information was a pedometer/similar which knows my speed but not location, has no internet access or way of displaying maps?

    I’m a fan of more ambient approaches like this because they enhance my own senses (in this case my poor sense of timing) without trying to run my life, as apps seem to want to do. I see it as a fundamentally different approach; apps make me perform a task and give me output. Ambient information enhances my senses and gives me more context within which to make decisions.

  7. Scott Jenson: Talking about “I'm looking links to non-goofy IoT scenarios” on @branch. Who has something to add? http://t.co/bSSQ5guXQD

    @scottjenson here’s a little one I came up with recently: intelligent map billboards.

    I’m walking through a city I’m not familiar with, going to a concert at 19:35. I headed out a little late but am confident I’ll get there in time.

    I approach a map billboard. My phone and the billboard connect; either because I’ve given it permissions to connect to devices owned by the city council or just by default.

    The billboard requests my average speed over the last 5 mins, and, as this is a piece of data I’m happy to share, my phone complies. The billboard updates it’s display with concentric rings centred around the “you are here”, showing where I can go in 5, 10, 15 minutes if I continue at my present speed. Possibly it would also show the time I would get there.

    I see that the concert venue is just outside the 10 minutes ring; the ETA being 19:45. Damn, that’s 10 minutes late! I speed up my pace or get on a city bike and arrive at the concert in time.

  8. Chris Messina™: Pondering @jennydeluxe's query "Are We Suffering From Mobile App Burnout?” on @branch. What's your take? http://t.co/5IHHJjOI

    .@chrismessina briefly: I agree that, whilst I have a fair number of apps installed, very few of them get regular use. Interestingly IME there is little/no correlation between cost of app and frequency of use (my most expensive apps are music creation ones which get used rarely compared to, e.g. tweetbot, mail or safari).

    I also like some of @scottjenson’s thinking around JIT interactions. Certainly that approach has applications outside the .

    This evening’s hacking is based around parsing and importing my diagnostic data — should be interesting to see if I can find any behavioural patterns.

    (btw, I refuse to sign in to branch with twitter so they can send a tweet for me so you can let me write on your branch. Just… no :)