Dirk de Kok is grinding. Hunched over a MacBook in a fluorescent-lit basement, he and 31 other software engineers pound away at source code for the 12th straight hour. Thick metal bars—actual bars—obscure the few tiny windows. Outside it’s 82 degrees, a glorious day in San Francisco’s startup-glutted SoMa district. Whenever a set of bare legs strolls by, it’s like a kick to the groin. “It’s too damn sunny today,” de Kok sighs.
Good news: The kitchen is stocked with Red Bull, Popchips, Corona, and Chewy Granola Bars, all gratis. Bad news: 34 hours to go.
We’re participating in BeMyApp. It’s a hackathon—a contest to pitch, program, and present a functioning Android mobile application in 48 hours. Last night we worked past midnight. I say we because I’m leading one of the teams. On Friday I was handed a microphone and given 60 seconds to outline my idea for an app, then 30 minutes to mingle and out-schmooze a dozen other wannabe CEOs. We were vying to be one of six “idea generators.” While engineers and designers are admitted automatically, people with ideas for apps (regardless of experience or qualifications) need to win over the crowd. Only the engineers and designers get to vote. We, in turn, jockeyed to recruit them, channeling the hyperbole of used-car salesmen.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
