It’s that time of year again: 1st of July, and time for me to take a break.
Just as last year, this is going to be my last post on this JeeLabs weblog post for a while – two months to be exact. This isn’t so much about going on holiday (nothing planned yet, other than a few short trips) as it is about performing an internal reset.
The past year has been mostly about taking a new direction in software (by which I mean Node.js and the Dive Into JeeNodes series) – not the embedded Arduino stuff), and about exploring numerous electronics and software topics – a.k.a. Physical Computing.
Speaking of which, yesterday’s post was a good example of what I hope to keep up for a long time to come: introducing electronics and mixing it with embedded microcontrollers to show just how easy it is to tie the two fields together, and to keep on enticing everyone who comes across this weblog to explore, learn, tinker, and play with this stuff. It’s all very low-cost, it’s wide open to make tons of new ideas happen, and there is an immense body of knowledge, experience, and open source software + hardware available to anyone with some spare time, a healthy dose of curiosity, and an internet connection.
There’s a lot to be done beyond what I’ve been dabbling in here at JeeLabs. The field of wireless communication has only just started for the home and the hobbyist. There’s an explosion going on w.r.t. small affordable Linux boards, which take Physical Computing to totally new levels of capability. And there is a huge need to find easy and enticing entry paths into all this, if you ask me. The more there is to learn, the more we need to come up with ways to help people “find their way in”. The RoboCup 2013 event (which will be over by the time you read this) has shown that there is a great opportunity to expose kids of all ages to technology. From hundreds of cheering cardboard FanBots all the way to amazing self-organizing teams of autonomous “Middle Size League” football-playing robots.
The future has only just begun. What an amazing times we live in!
Second bit of news is that it’s time to kick off a summer sale in the web shop once again. And as in previous years, the following discount is for existing JeeLabs supporters, i.e. it can only be requested if you have ordered products from JeeLabs in the past:
And while I’m at it, let me list all the key dates for this period, here at JeeLabs:
- July 1st – weblog paused and summer sale kicks off
- July 31st – sale ends at midnight, 0:00 CEST time
- September 1st – daily weblog resumes
Due to the fine efforts by Martyn Judd & Co., the shop will remain open throughout the summer break, with fulfilment continuing as before from the UK Center in Cambridge. The staff level will be somewhat reduced during August, but we will nevertheless attempt to keep up the regular flow of sending your packages promptly.
There is also a summer sale at Modern Device, but note that since the shops are separate and independent entities, we cannot extend the same offer across the shops. Please check the shop you have purchased from in the past to see what’s on sale.
If you’re looking for geek stuff to do this summer: check out the chronological index of this weblog, maybe there is something that interests you, somewhere in those past 1,364 posts?
Anyway: thank you for all the interest, comments, discussions, tips, and appreciative emails – I’m honoured by everything that’s happening around JeeLabs and looking forward to lots of new ideas, developments, sharing, and products – starting again on September 1st.
Have a nice summer (or winter, on the southern hemisphere)!