Chumby
I did some furniture rearrangement in the bedroom and finally got rid of my trusty, old LED alarm clock. That thing must have been with me for at least 15 years and you could tell that by how beaten up it was. Since then I don’t have an alarm/clock in the bedroom. I really don’t need the alarm, because I always wake up at the same time and even if I have to go on a trip and have to get up earlier, I usually wake up before the alarm goes off. However, what I miss in the bedroom is a clock: I really would like to known whether it is 3am, 4am or 5am when I open my eyes for the first time.
I found the perfect alarm/clock replacement called “Chumby”. That thing has been around for years already (I think 2006) and I remember reading about it in the past, but then forgot about it. I’m not even sure how I rediscovered it, but there’s one on the way to my home right now.
Chumby is about the size of a traditional alarm clock, but it is so much more. The little device features a touch-screen and connects wirelessly to your home network. You can customize what is being displayed on the Chumby by using your web-browser and configuring the widgets (screens) that are supposed to be displayed. Each screen is displayed for a configurable amount of time before it gets replaced by the next weidget. Last time I checked there were more than 1000 widgets to choose from: clocks of all shapes and forms, news/rss readers, games, weather widgets, internet radio stations, etc. – the possibilities seem to be limitless and development of new channels is extremely easy (each widget is in fact a small Adobe Flash Application that can communicate with network services out there).
Just to give you an idea, I created a “Virtual Chumby” (displayed below, if you have Flash installed). It’ll cycle through some widgets and a few of them are interactive (look for buttons, sliders, etc.); on the 2nd widget click the mouse inside the dark area and move it around to create “relaxing sounds”:
I know Pia is going to love it … and perhaps daddy as well 
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Hey tobs! what a great gadget! haven’t been on kb in a while but cruising by today made me realize what I’ve been missing! Hope you’re doing well. I promise to be a more frequent visitor!!!
Love,
Pam