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Hackaday Birthday Event: October 4th in Pasadena — Parallax Forums

Hackaday Birthday Event: October 4th in Pasadena

Comments

  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2014-09-06 07:23
    That's cool Jon.

    Now, go preach to the masses.!
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2014-09-06 08:16
    "His talk will cover the virtues of multi-core embedded design when compared to interrupt-based approaches."

    Excellent. That's a winning topic.
  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,105
    edited 2014-09-06 09:37
    Or course I will mention that -- thanks to Steve and his team -- the Propeller can be programmed in Spin/PASM on any platform, and in C on any platform. Hopefully, that will end the excuses. Having just come of a really successful DEFCON with the Propeller, there is a lot of good information to share with those that may not have given the Propeller a fair shake.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-09-06 13:23
    Sounds like fun! Too bad I am obligated to a family event. Jon, if that your Hackaday thing gets cancelled, consider yourself invited to our twins' Rapunzel birthday party in Torrance. No Propellers, but Princesses aplenty! No jumpers, but jumphouses!
  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,105
    edited 2014-09-06 14:32
    It's too bad you're not going to be there, Eric -- I was certain you would. Family should always come first, especially when they're young princesses. We'll miss you at the event.

    If you are thinking of having a princess to entertain your princesses, and you don't already have one, contact my friend Kalinda (super nice lady, wonderful with kids) at Wishing Well Entertainment
    -- http://www.wishingwellparties.net
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-10-04 08:26
    Jon: I'll miss your uber-fantastic talk, due to kids' birthday conflict. But I'll be at the 7:30 party, are you going? If so I'll bring my brand new BS1-IC 2D laser tracker, just finished at 3am today!
  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,516
    edited 2014-10-04 08:53
    JonnyMac wrote: »
    http://hackaday.com/2014/09/05/celebrate-hackadays-10th-anniversary-october-4th-in-pasadena/

    Note who's on the speaker list....
    Great! Any chance a video will be posted of your talk?
  • RS_JimRS_Jim Posts: 1,766
    edited 2014-10-05 06:37
    How did it go?
    Jim
  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,105
    edited 2014-10-05 15:27
    Well... frustrating. I was rushed to the platform and then there were problems with my PC and the vidoe connection, yada, yada, yada. I finally thought, "Heck with this!" and just talked -- like myself, unleashed from my PC. After that it was fine. I was able to give real-world examples of how I do things and, to my happy surprise, several people approached me after expressing that they liked the presentation. As with DEFCON, a big response was "I didn't know the Propeller was that powerful." and "I didn't know the Propeller was so easy to program." I don't know how or why, but one guy was under the impression that getting started with the Propeller would cost him about $1000. I actually laughed. I showed him a PAB and gave him the happy news that he could have a tidy little dev board for $50 -- and the language of his choice would be free.

    I pointed out Parallax's move toward Open Source, and shared about the multitude of programming languages that one can use. A couple guys were quite excited by the idea of being able to use Forth.

    I spent the rest of the evening talking with people -- okay, shouting over the STUPIDLY LOUD music that was playing -- about the Propeller. My voice is a little sore today, but it was worth it.

    Even with the computer glitch, I think it was a win for the Propeller.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2014-10-05 15:42
    Sounds like it was good all around.

    Thank you for the continued preaching.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-10-05 19:16
    Unfortunately I missed Jon' s presentation, but I made it to the party afterward. Wasn't sure how to find Jon in the crowd, fortunately his was the very first face I saw when I entered the building. He was in good spirits even after the tech hiccup in his presentation. Paintball-blasting Rick was there too, and we swapped some fun ideas on Halloween pranks. Hackaday throws some nice parties, this was my second. I know not where the money comes from, but I can't argue with free food & drink.

    I finished a BS1-IC version of my 2D laser tracker at 3 am the day of the event, so I took it there and gave numerous demos at the party. Most people assumed it was Arduino-based, so I got to do a little Parallax preaching too. Nothing compared to Jon's, but I connected with several folks in the name of minimalism and the KISS principle. People really do love lasers and servos, maybe I rshould have hooked up a flamethrower to it instead of the little beeper. I'll post a demo video of the new & improved unit in that thread over in robotics in a bit.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-10-05 21:01
    Silly me. I only took one pic all night, but it gives a flavor of the event. My buddy and 3D printing guru Mark (shining my own laser tracker at me) and Katarina, a CS major originally from Russia. An eclectic crowd, to be sure. I also met people from London and France, but no I did not see their underpants. :)
    hackaday.jpg
    1024 x 614 - 71K
  • Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
    edited 2014-10-06 09:38
    JonnyMac wrote: »
    Well... frustrating. I was rushed to the platform and then there were problems with my PC and the vidoe connection, yada, yada, yada. I finally thought, "Heck with this!" and just talked -- like myself, unleashed from my PC. After that it was fine. I was able to give real-world examples of how I do things and, to my happy surprise, several people approached me after expressing that they liked the presentation. As with DEFCON, a big response was "I didn't know the Propeller was that powerful." and "I didn't know the Propeller was so easy to program." I don't know how or why, but one guy was under the impression that getting started with the Propeller would cost him about $1000. I actually laughed. I showed him a PAB and gave him the happy news that he could have a tidy little dev board for $50 -- and the language of his choice would be free.

    I pointed out Parallax's move toward Open Source, and shared about the multitude of programming languages that one can use. A couple guys were quite excited by the idea of being able to use Forth.

    I spent the rest of the evening talking with people -- okay, shouting over the STUPIDLY LOUD music that was playing -- about the Propeller. My voice is a little sore today, but it was worth it.

    Even with the computer glitch, I think it was a win for the Propeller.

    Glad it went well despite the hardware/connection problems.

    Why do event planners feel like music have to drown out everything?!?
  • ColeyColey Posts: 1,110
    edited 2014-10-10 12:09
    JonnyMac wrote: »
    Well... frustrating. I was rushed to the platform and then there were problems with my PC and the vidoe connection, yada, yada, yada. I finally thought, "Heck with this!" and just talked -- like myself, unleashed from my PC. After that it was fine. I was able to give real-world examples of how I do things and, to my happy surprise, several people approached me after expressing that they liked the presentation. As with DEFCON, a big response was "I didn't know the Propeller was that powerful." and "I didn't know the Propeller was so easy to program." I don't know how or why, but one guy was under the impression that getting started with the Propeller would cost him about $1000. I actually laughed. I showed him a PAB and gave him the happy news that he could have a tidy little dev board for $50 -- and the language of his choice would be free.

    I pointed out Parallax's move toward Open Source, and shared about the multitude of programming languages that one can use. A couple guys were quite excited by the idea of being able to use Forth.

    I spent the rest of the evening talking with people -- okay, shouting over the STUPIDLY LOUD music that was playing -- about the Propeller. My voice is a little sore today, but it was worth it.

    Even with the computer glitch, I think it was a win for the Propeller.

    Hey JonnyMac,

    I just watched your presentation on HAD, it really shows how much Propeller and Parallax means to you.
    We need more like you to spread the word.

    http://hackaday.com/2014/10/10/hackaday-10th-anniversary-jon-mcphalen-and-the-propeller/

    Good luck with the acting too ;-)
  • David BetzDavid Betz Posts: 14,516
    edited 2014-10-11 06:33
    Coley wrote: »
    Hey JonnyMac,

    I just watched your presentation on HAD, it really shows how much Propeller and Parallax means to you.
    We need more like you to spread the word.

    http://hackaday.com/2014/10/10/hackaday-10th-anniversary-jon-mcphalen-and-the-propeller/

    Good luck with the acting too ;-)
    Nice presentation! Thanks for posting the link.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2014-10-11 07:25
    Awesome presentation Jon!

    How many cups of Starbucks did you consume before that presentation? You seemed pumped up. :)
  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,105
    edited 2014-10-11 10:14
    Well, I was last and the event was running over -- I knew they were going to rush me (and they did). I was tryi!ng to get as much information crammed into the short time I had as I could!
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2014-10-11 10:30
    I don't think you get enough accolades as you deserve.

    I have learned so much from your SX, Basic Stamp, Nut&Volts, and Spin articles, that I have to take every opportunity to say what a great job you do.

    Not only here, but your clients seem to feel the same way too.

    Thanks for all the contributions!

    Jim
  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,105
    edited 2014-10-11 10:39
    Thanks, Jim, that's very kind.
  • msrobotsmsrobots Posts: 3,709
    edited 2014-10-11 19:50
    Hi Jon,

    I had just the video clip since I did not attended there. Sadly the clip ends midways. I really enjoyed listening to you.

    I am just a nobody here in Propeller Land and I am fine with this. But I really like the effort you put in here. Very often I am stumbling on code you wrote. Not that the code just works, it is also well written and understandable. So I can learn from it. I learned a lot of my knowledge about the propeller from your posts, your code in the OBEX and your articles like in Nuts and Volts.. Just Excellent.

    So I am here to say "Thank You" loud and clear.

    Enjoy!

    Mike
  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,105
    edited 2014-10-11 20:31
    I am just a nobody here

    Please don't ever say that about yourself, Mike -- to me or to anybody. I'm regular guy (should be evident from the video) who takes great joy in helping others with the technology bits that I know.

    And thank you for the kind words. I hope that my future works are helpful.

    Jon
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