[=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=] [<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>] [=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=] Note: The text below is basically a facsimile of the note I placed in the Chumby One project section. [=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=] Stardate: 20181203.21h03 Location: Home office Input Device: chumby one w/ usb keyboard Audio: aNONradio.net - open mic? Visual: Messy desk, small chumby screen, small chumby font. Energy: 40% Mental: 45% Emotional State: tired. [=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=] This entry is being banged out on the chumby one since it still works. Unfortunately, the screen is 3.5 inches @ 320x240 rez. I have a full-sized USB keyboard plugged into the USB port, which opens the console prompt, but the font is super small and hard to read. Good thing I can touch type. The Chumby One is a consumer internet appliance that runs linux and has a touch screen. It like an Internet-enabled clock radio that has widgets/apps/channels that you could subscribe to from the chumby web page. There was some hype about it when it first came out, but it didn't last that long...probably because of tablets and smartphones. When I first read about the chumby, I didn't see where I would use it. This Chumby One I am writing on was acquired during a woot! (or 1saleaday?) sale back in 2011. I think that Chumby Industries were clearing out their inventory to make way for the Chumby 8. I have a press release for that somewhere in my old notes. This was before chumby industries went out of business and was re-launched by Blue Octy...run by the former CTO, Duane Maxwell (which I learned about in recent searches.) I did some research prior to the woot! purchase and saw that there was a small community out there hacking these devices. The way it was even designed was hacker friendly. The chief engineer for the project, Andrew "bunnie" Huang, made it so and even kept a blog that gave some insights into hacking the device. This really appealed to me, so I made the purchase. For the first few weeks of owning the device, I used it as most consumers did. I created a login for it and "subscribed" to some of their channels or widgets, like weather, rss feeds, online radio stations, even a Chuck Norris app that gave a quote of the day about Chuck Norris kicking your ass or something. That functionality would probably be fine for most. For me, being curious and all, I started doing more research on what it could do and tinkering with the different things that other people have done with the chumby one. The device has plenty of easter eggs. There is even a secret menu that you can get to from the settings where you access it by touching a grey pi symbol in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. The menu was called, "Do you believe in the Users?" and allowed you to do things like start sshd, power off the device, access the file system, etc. I really like seeing things like that, where the developers help you get into the device and mess around with the innards. This feature is even documented in their wiki, along with other commands and tools that are very helpful for people interested in hacking their devices. I wish more companies would take this kind of stance with their products and devices...try to help people in fixing their stuff instead of making it disposable through planned obsolecense, which seems to be the ongoing trend. "If you can't fix it, you don't own it!" I tinkered with the device for a couple years, but it never became any kind of permanent fixture or part of any bigger project. The Chumby (cholula was the hostname) was mostly used as a clock radio and an audio device on my desk, as well as a distraction. I did mess around with hacking together some scripts with buttons that could be launched from the touch screen, but they were mostly simple things, like wake-on-lan for some of my local servers or quick shortcuts for web radio stations. One thing I though was cool was when you ssh'd into the chumby, the logo of the octopus was drawn in ASCII prior to the command prompt. I think I stopped using it after Chumby Enterprises went out of business and the widget service stopped. It was still usable to some degree, but limited. I added the chumby to the recharging rotation and focused on other things. Earlier this year, I took the chumby out of the charging rotation and revisited this device. It was still configured as I had left it, with my old notes and scripts in storage. Even the wifi still conntected as it should. I rememberd that I used to listen to web radio on the device and mounted my mp3 collection to it over the network. I wanted to see if it would work with aNONradio.net. It did with no issues, so I can take cholula out of the charging rotation and use it again as a web clock/radio, etc. Plus, I can stop using my Raspberry Pi workstation for web audio and dedicate the chumby for this. The battery I have for it still works, but unsure of the capacity. I know that if I unplug the device, it still runs and can last for at least 15 minutes without an external power source, but I have not tested beyond that. Even though there is only one USB 2.0 port, I added a non-powered 4 port hub, which works as well. I currently have a USB ethernet dongle and a USB keyboard attached to it. USB drives can be attached as well, but not sure about the maximum capacity. The ethernet dongle comes in handy with audio streams. I have been doing further research on Chumby and there's newer information out there. The company and service was revived by Blue Octy, but they no longer make devices. The Chumby website is still alive to support the widgets, but they want $3US a month for a subscription fee for the widgets. It used to be free...even though I didn't use the free widgets much. I'll pass on that one. My device shows as "unsubscribed" but I can still hack away at it. The chumby wiki, which was really helpful even before, and the community forums are still around. Looks like I will be breathing new life into this unit. In revisiting the chumby, I am reminded of some of the Raspberry Pi projects I have seen over the more recent years with the small touch screens, hackability, and running linux. Things have come a long way, especially with ease of use compared to the chumby. There was even a Chumby Hacker Board that was distributed by Adafruit and Sparkfun based on the chumby one. I remember seeing that when I was researching the chumby one, but it was more expensive than the one on woot! Tinkering would probably have been more challenging compared to Raspberry Pi. Adafruit still has some info about it. [1] The original chumby came out around 2008 but hardware is no longer being developed or sold. Raspberry Pi came out around 2012 and is still in active development. It is nice to reflect on the evolution of the technology just within my own limited experience and research. My tinkering has moved on to other development boards and devices, but for some reason, I keep looking back at old devices. Perhaps I am just being nostalgic and reminiscent of how things were. Perhaps I am looking just at the progression. Perhaps I am looking back at my former self, intrigued and fascinated by such objects of wonder. Perhaps it is all of it. [1] https://learn.adafruit.com/chumby-hacker-board/overview NOTE: Screen font was too small. Only typed out about 85% of this on the Chumby. Finished the rest via ssh. [=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=]