Bug Blogger

A step in the right direction

Today's announcement that a consortium of companies is investing $3.2 billion in a new wireless broadband company is big news.  While the details are just coming available I am hopeful.  Sure there is still a lot of golf to be played in the match but, if nothing else, it seems like the spirit of the deal is right on. 

We desperately need more and better wireless broadband options in this country.  I firmly believe that there is a hurricane of innovation just waiting to happen if someone can provide an open, fast, affordable and unrestricted (to the extent that's responsible) wireless network.  Just look at the countries that have this in place now (S Korea, Japan, etc). 

I'm really hoping the naysayers and worriers are proven wrong.  If you recall early days of the Arpanet, there were many ways it could have gone (and that was a closed system built by the US Government).  How'd it end up? Open.  Think about services like Google Maps/StreetView, which the company could easily charge for and lock down tightly.  Instead, they are effectively open to virtually any type of reuse, even commercial implementations. 

Anyone who follows what we're doing here won't be surprised that we eager to get something like this in place.  Cloud-enabled gadgetry will be huge.  And you can bet we're working hard on making it happen.

Fun is good!

This is a very encouraging graph -   We need more fun in our too-techie lives.

Closed is the new open

Newsweek has posted an interview with Jonathan Zittrain, author of "The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It" and it's generating some interesting discussion.  Whether he's a kook or a canary is too early to judge but I will say this - he's gotten me thinking.  I'm old enough to remember the dominant computing model of the 1970s.  It was based on a large central CPU with dumb terminals hanging off it.  Most if not all the actually computing tasks were managed by the centralized computer with the terminals providing the user interface and not much else.  The model worked very well.  Many large, profitable and influential companies grew up around this architecture - IBM, Digital, Wang, Data General, Control Data Corp, etc.  Customers were well served and major advances, both technical and productive, were accomplished. 

So what happened?  Why is it that only IBM survives out of the list above.  The microcomputer was introduced.  At first it was seen as just a toy.  In reality, it represented a shift that, though small at first, quickly became tectonic.  Suddenly the average Joe had control over computing power.  Turns out we discovered that when our information future was owned and controlled by others we didn't get what we wanted and overpaid for what we got.  So the public armed themselves and the revolution began.  Innovation exploded from all directions, prices cratered and big hardware companies lost their grip on customers.  "Power to the People" was Apple's mantra and "A computer on every desk" was Microsoft's.  We've been living with the results of their success ever since.

So here's the thing.  Cloud computing, browser-based applications, proprietary application and network architectures (ala Facebook), closed network devices, all these things start to look suspiciously like the 1970s computing model.  By tacitly accepting this direction, we are in effect ceding control over many parts of our informational existence to large corporations (sound familiar?).  We are giving up the freedoms we fought for and received over 20 years ago.  Maybe that's ok.  I'm not saying the analogy is exact.  But it has me wondering what the costs will be.  History has shown that big corporations don't always do what's in the best interest of their customers.  They are slaves to their investors and shareholders.  But hopefully we've learned. 

I am a firm believer in a democratic, bottoms up model of innovation.  The PC and Internet are my examples of its power and effectiveness.  So, I agree with Zittrain that this is something we need to watch.  The last thing we need is a repeat of the 70s.

En Route to Maker Faire

While packing my bags (gadgets, chargers, extra batteries, cables) I realized why Maker Faire is so important for the DIYer: meeting like minded people. Maker faire allows us to share ideas, obtain advice, see new things; it exercises our innate passion for creating things - cavemen were Makers!

I recall the experience of building my first robot. There I was with a RIM 850, an 8051 micro-controller and a toy tank. I had learned to program blackberries during a summer internship, 8051 assembly during a course, and had some knowledge of basic electronics. I new I could control actuators via an H-bridge with the GPIO pins of the 8051 but didn't know how to interface the RIM 850 with the micro-controller. At that point I perused the Blackberry Hardware Developer's manual and realized that the gold plated connector at the bottom contained the signals for serial communications. Unfortunately, my 8051 provided TTL levels instead of RS232. This was a road block.

Fortunately, as I was drinking some water near an electronics lab, I overhead a classmate discussing the same issue with a professor. When my classmate walked out of the lab into the hall way, I stopped him and told him I was interested in converting RS232 levels to TTL. He relayed what the professor had told him and introduced me to Maxim's RS232 transceivers.

A simple question turned into full-blown discussion where we exchanged our ideas, solutions, and feed back. I can't imagine what will happen while I'm at Maker Faire, but I encourage everyone to ask us questions about BUG and other related topics; as I know I will be asking other Makers many similar questions.

MAKE --> BUG LABS

It would not be an exaggeration to say that MAKE magazine was the trigger that persuaded me to start Bug Labs.  Before I saw the first issue, I assumed that I was on my own in thinking that I wanted more control over the gadgets in my life.  MAKE changed all that.  I used it in my initial investor pitches and continue to do so.  In many ways, what Make is promoting is exactly what we aspire to here.  Give users more control over the products they use and amazing things can/will happen. 

Maker Faire is a terrific extension of the publication and gives everyone the ability to actually see, hear and feel all he excitement going on inside every issue.  If you are at all interested in hacking, crafting or just plain having fun with the gear in your life in and above what's presented in the instruction manual, I recommend attending the event!

I have been informed by my marketing department that I have the authority to give away five(5) passes for FREE admittance to Maker Faire which is taking place in San Mateo, CA this weekend!   We're offering them up to the first five people who submit their best/favorite hacks to us.   It's simple to enter.  Here's what to do:

1 - Write an email summarizing the coolest hack idea you have.
2 - Send it to bugcontest@buglabs.net.   
3 - We will contact you tomorrow if you've won!

So use your imagination and send us an email.  You could be the lucky recipient of a free pass to the coolest event in the Bay area this weekend!

Teen Security: S.H.A.R.K.

When I was an early teen, the issue of security was of paramount concern to me.  Not computer, social, national, or even homeland security.  No, it was Room Security.  My room.  The one in the basement.  The mostly unfinished basement that smelled like concrete and pine 2x4's.  I wanted to build an early detection system for parents.  I called it S.H.A.R.K..  It began simply enough with some parts from Radio Shack:  Some infrared diodes, a relay or two, and a piezo electric speaker.  I had a lot of time for this project, and naturally the system requirements exploded.  I didn't really see it that way at the time (thankfully), but I ended up drawing master plans for a general purpose computer.  While not yet introduced to Alan's machines, I knew S.H.A.R.K. needed memory and some sort of execution system.  I envisioned a tape with rows, each where a hole could be cut.  Through a hole light would cause a relay to trip, closing some circuit that was paramount to Room Security and the prevention of unannounced parental intrusion (UPI).  See the tape allowed me to have a modular, dynamic approach to security.  Swap in a fresh roll and have a brand new security strategy.  Brilliant.  Kind of like programming, or modular hardware, or..well BUG.  Sadly my imaginations never actually worked in practice, but I had a bunch of wires in a shoebox and it did something.

This week I have the honor of speaking on Bug's behalf at Maker Faire.  I'm a huge fan of the publication and when reading it get the same stimulating, awesome feeling of creating that I did when S.H.A.R.K. was fresh in my mind.  I'm really looking forward to seeing all the freaky cool things people are doing, and hope BUG makes a few people smile.

1000 Days To Maker's Faire

My personal road to the Maker Faire has actually taken me three years, as last year at this time my son was born, and the year prior I had a 48 hour long trip to Sweden.  But this year nothing shall stop me (despite being in New York instead of San Francisco as I write this). It's an event I've been looking forward to for quite some time, and not only am I attending, I'll be participating the whole time.

My impressions of Makers Faire were formed from reading various blog posts and hearing personal tales over the years.  In my head I picture a huge field covered with bits of silicon, oddly shaped plastics, insanely huge gears and blowtorches.  Not sure why the blowtorches, but I picture many of them strewn about.  It's the place the teenager in me would've hitchhiked just to get to.  Then again, back then my computer had no case and instead  sat on a piece of foam until the one fateful morning when I wiped it out by accidentally touching the edge of my CGA card (yes, you read that right) and shocking the heck out of it.

Part of why I'm excited about Makers is that it gives those of us who look beyond the Web/computer as "the platform for innovation" a chance to share.  Living in San Francisco I feel heavily immersed in online culture, and while there's phenomenal creativity occurring in that culture, I still believe there's so much more to technology and imagination.  Last week I tried playing with Yahoo Pipes for the first time and felt it was pretty impressive that I could so easily "mash up" various feeds and services.  Experimenting with their tools was definitely dabbling in creation. 

I look forward to this weekend where I can have the chance to meet others who are taking their visions well beyond the screen+keyboard+mouse.

Dip then Dive into BUG Development, by Dave Mathews

The following is a guest post from Dave Mathews, as part of our series on The Road to Maker Faire.

On July 26, 2003 after Chris Pirillo's Gnomedex 3.0 a hungry group including Tim O'Reilly, Rob Malda of Slashdot, and a handful of other software guys sat around a dinner table and talked about a movement in the world of creating new hardware and remixing gadgets.

Prototyping stuff (like my CueCat consumer barcode scanner in 1997) involved digging for parts in bins of old gear, surplus electronics shops and occasionally big-box electronics stores.  Needless to say this was time consuming, required soldering irons and things were frequently "good enough" but not exactly what was in mind for a solution.  Dare I mention all of the warranties I have voided in my lifetime?

This hacker spirit however, is what lead Dale Dougherty, Andrew "Bunny" Huang, Joe Grand, Phil Torrone and I to get together at O'Reilly's ETech a few months later to continue the discussion and put some framework around MAKE Magazine, which debuted in February 2005.  I am proud to say that the MAKE Magazine movement, including the blog and associated Faire events have become a phenomenon and have spurred offspring like Craft, which I hope grows to be as strong.

The founder and CEO of Bug Labs, Peter Semmelhack captures this spirit with BUG and his model of open source hardware.  Hell, he even has "hack" in his last name – and is leading the next evolution of home remixing; by giving their customers the ability to quickly and easily build their own "whatever."  Third party accessory makers can get involved too as BUG connectors and wiring diagrams are open and easily sourced. Have you seen Apple's iPod connector licensing agreement?  Trust me, you do not want to.

What I like best about BUG is that you can dip your toes in the water today, now, for free.  Let me back up a bit - when the Apple Newton was announced at Macworld Boston in August of 1993, handheld computing was an interesting oddity. I remember playing with the hardware in my local CompUSA, but stayed away from it due to the price of $699.  When Palm launched their PDA in March of 1996 however, the price was much better at $299, but I still was apprehensive on its value proposition.  I first stuck my "digital toe" in the water by downloading the Palm Desktop client to my PC, then used this software for weeks – first importing my contacts, getting my calendar setup and filling up my "personal digital assistant world" with data before buying the associated hardware device.  I loved the interface and after I trusted the software, bought the Palm Pilot (the original name before a Pilot pen lawsuit), sync'd it up and had an "instantly-full" assistant.

So I challenge you – download the SDK, for free. You'll find a debugger and virtual BUG hardware emulator.  See what you can come up with on your desktop and let us know what your creation does, via comments or the forum!  If you like the software, then you will love the hardware and the ability to mobilize your build.  If you are a company that has manufacturing experience, take a look at the open source connectors and communication capabilities of BUG.  I predict that we will see hardware options for this platform that an iPod could only dream about…

Dave Mathews is an entrepreneur and lifetime inventor with more than two-dozen patents, writer for several technology outlets and frequent TV host.  His stories can be found at www.davemathews.com online.

On the Road to Maker Faire, Day 1

Now in its third year, Bay Area Maker Faire 2008 takes place next weekend, Saturday May 3 and Sunday May 4, and Bug Labs is raring to go as we gear up for the event. For those who are new to Maker Faire, it is best described as a weekend of unbridled creation and exploration of all things hackable - whether mechanical, electrical, or other. From making music with tesla coils to aptly titled danger machines, next weekend will be about celebrating the unabashed spirit of DIY and, for lack of a better word, "making" things.

For our first go at Maker Faire, we're inviting the community of hackers, hobbyists, tinkerers, designers, and free thinkers at large to come by our station at the San Mateo Fairgrounds, and join the Bug Labs team in creating the next batch of BUG applications and modules.  The Bug Labs team will be arriving in force, with our biggest showing at an event to date. We'll have two tables and several BUGs to play with,  and we encourage you to bring your soldering irons, your laptops, and your breadboards, and come along with us as we venture into making new gadgets and apps.

And over the next week, we'll be publishing a series of posts on this blog chronicling the "Road to Maker Faire," featuring pieces from Bug Labs employees and guest columnists. We'll also be giving away several passes to the event for those interested in attending. Stay tuned for more details!

StarBUG

Recently, I've been spending a lot of time out of the office giving talks and meeting with people - customers, suppliers, potential partners, investors - both listening and talking about BUG and our mission.  Somewhere along the line someone compared what we're doing to Starbucks...

They said that when they were growing up they had "plain ol' coffee" and maybe an espresso once a year or so at a restaurant.  Nothing more and everything was fine.  There was no "problem" or perceived pain with that state of affairs.  Then along came Starbucks and, bam!, they had all these choices to make.  And make them they/we did.  Some basic research turned up this, and a brief, informal survey of the baristas around here confirmed that each one needs to understand 100+ different combinations of coffee, tea, milk, soy, flavorings, quanitities, etc. (this is further suggested here).  Starbucks has catered to something we innately desire - choice and control.

Choice and control.  We all like it.  In fact, more and more we're spending our $$ with vendors who give it to us.  Witness the success of Toyota's Scion.  It was a huge draw at the latest Auto Show in NYC (just ask my son who I could not drag away).  Given the building blocks of beverage or automobile making we will take more over less every time (with some guidance for getting it right the first time).  And I think this applies to everything.  Literally.  I think ten years from now we will live in a world where today's one-size-fits-all restrictions will be unrecognizable.  Just like a Google-less world is hard to imagine now.

BUG is fundamentally about choice and control.  In our case we're focusing on electronics because we think there is a huge untapped market waiting to be explored.  Others are focusing on different areas - check out the open source footwear!

The Starbucks analogy was spot on.