svanbrunt asked: Hi Andrew, I was hoping I could find some time to chat with you about Dittokey. I was wondering what became of it. - Thanks, Scott

Hi Scott, I proved out the tech and got some customers but didn’t pursue it as CircuitHub took priority.

3 days ago  /  0 notes  / 

Interview with Chris Gammell on the Amp Hour →

I had a lot of fun talking to Chris about CircuitHub, check it out!

1 month ago  /  0 notes  / 

blakeorama asked: Hi Andrew. I recently completed a Startup Weekend here in Victoria, BC & we created IDmyKEY SImilar to your concept of dittokey, we wondered if it was worth pursuing or should we chalk it up to a team building excersize. In your opinion is it a viable proposition & if so would you be interested in working with us or be involved in helping us launch. I'd love to share more info with you. Many thanks for any input you can provide, Blake

Hi Blake,

It’s a service I would use, i’m not sure if it scales. I still get the odd email from somebody who wants a key cut so there definitely is some demand.

I’m not sure how much you’ve looked into the technical side but there are issues in getting the required accuracy, mostly to do with lens distortion.

I’m happy to answer any specific questions you’ve got, andrew@seddon.me .

Cheers,

Andrew

3 months ago  /  0 notes  / 

A talk i did on massive-git at the London Node User Group.

1 year ago  /  0 notes  / 

HTML5 PDF Viewer

Just finished some tinkering with NodeJS. Pretty Damn Fine is basically google docs viewer but the text extraction works properly!

I’ll clean this up if anybody is interested, it should be pretty easy to setup on your own site.

1 year ago  /  7 notes  / 

SVG for Electronics Design Automation

I’m currently exploring the idea of using the widely supported SVG standard as a file format for Electronics Design Automation data. There are a plethora of propriety and some open formats for printed circuit board design data. There have also been attempts in the past to create a universal standard, which pretty much failed.

After a decade on the sidelines SVG is now becoming universally supported via the browser and represents a great opportunity for the EDA industry to convene around a common standard.

I’ve started to hand craft some schematic symbol representations in SVG, take a look at the repo here; Svgparts . I see no reason why PCB footprints can’t be given the same treatment and eventually the entire schematic and PCB layout.

I have some disruptive uses for this idea, please do get in touch to discuss further.

1 year ago  /  2 notes  / 

DittoKey Launched!

—edit—For TC—

Game changing application DittoKey launched today, completely overshadowing last weeks colour.com announcement. Sources close to the team report that they pre-emptively refused a $42m convertible note led by Sequoia, who in a face saving move deny all knowledge, muttering something about deal-flow…

Regardless it’s generally agreed here that the life of your average door key owning human fundamentally changed today.

—-

Check it out, might save you a half an hour that you can put to use doing something fun!

p.s keys are just the start!

1 year ago  /  0 notes  / 

Personal Area Social Networking

A much better term than ‘elastic networking’ coined by colour.com !

1 year ago  /  0 notes  / 

How To Find A Designer

Like most developers by I’m slightly baffled by the design process. I find it easy to recognise and appreciate good design, I think that’s an inherent human trait but actually creating great design from a world of infinite possibilities is a real talent. In the software and especially web business we are pushing pixels for money so the importance of great design can’t be underestimated.

I’ve had very limited success with crowed sourced design from Elance, 99 Designs and crowdSPRING, treating designers as a commodity is a big mistake.

I’ve been having a lot more success with this method;

1. Sign up for ImageSpark and download the Firefox upload tool. This allows you to right click on images and upload them to your personal library.

2. Spend some time browsing Dribbble for designs that you like and fit the aesthetic that you are looking for. When you find a Dribbble that you like right click and save to ImageSpark.

3. Go into ImageSpark and create a MoodBoard for your project.

4. Go back into Dribbble and make a list of the top 3 designers that feature in your Moodboard.

Now the last and most important step;

5. Treat the designers with respect and craft a personal email to the first person on your list. Say what you like about their design ethic, tell them a bit about your project and link them to your moodboard. Hopefully you can then establish a relationship and get to work on the project. If for whatever reason you cant find a way to work together then move down your list.

In summary your going to have to put some work in and not just treat design as an afterthought! 

2 years ago  /  0 notes  / 

iPhone 5 NFC, What Will Your App Do?

It’s pretty much a dead cert that the iPhone 5 is going to feature near field communications technology. There are a few silicon providers in this space, all with very similar offerings. For example NXP already has some design in’s with the PN544;

www.nxp.com/acrobat_download2/literature/9397/75016890.pdf

so you can pretty much anticipate the capabilities before the new iPhone ships. 

So what’s your app going to do? I would advise staying away from anything to do with mobile payments unless you happen to be the CEO of a Fortune 100 company. There are however a wealth of systems currently in production using the ISO 18092 and related standards. Perhaps you could develop the Oyster card app and quickly flip it to Transport For London before they get around to producing their own.

Let the scramble begin!

2 years ago  /  0 notes  /