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SEND A TWEET TO YOUR OFFICE DOOR And let your coworkers know what you're up to ERBATIEEESpectrum, staffers routinely put Postt notes on their doorsand eubiclesto Tet colleagues know they're out. But you can'tslapa note ‘on your door if you decide towork at homeat the last ‘minute—whieh, as Tlearned this winter, happens quite often when you havea very pregnant wile about to go, into labor any instant ‘That's why Iset out to replace those yellow sheets cofself adhesive stationery with somethingless, ub, aanalog_-something that ‘would allaw metopost the ‘updates electronically, An Jidea then popped upin my hhead: Twitter for my door. Ittumscut tobea simple DIY projet thet anexperienced hobbyist can complete in a few hours. Orif you're mend thisis ‘your first serious hardware project, it might take you couple of monthsand nearly drive you insane. Itworked out in the end, Now, whea I'm home— ‘oractually anywhere with ‘my phone—Tean send a tyweet toa small LCD that hangs by my door thus keeping my coworkers informed of my whereabouts ‘The LCD also shows eurreit, weather conditions in New York City: I thought my colleagues would appreciate this value-added service, ‘Thehardware setup is fairly straightforward. ‘The main components an Arduino, the popular 16 wr. eseseectRuM . wunezon ‘microcontroller for DIY projects. Fused ‘a Duemilanove model (US$40). Youtl also need amaccessory board called the Ethernet Shield (845), ‘hich allows the Arduino toconnect to the Internet Forthe LCD, Lused a SSparkfun black on-green s-volt model with four lines of20 characters each (830), which I connected tothe Arduino witha thin ribbon wire 5) ‘An Ethernet cable plugs {nto the shield, which attaches directly to the Arduino, Three wires connect the Arduino to theLCD—onefor data bits, transmitted serially, che other ‘wo for power and ground. Tewould have been great tohavethe device getits Internet access wirelessly, put that would have involved ‘more complicated hardware and frequent battery replacements. So drilled small hole nthe walland sana cable, oping that the

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