I’m a notorious task-starter, and not a great task-finisher.  My garage is littered with old projects that are collecting more dust than accolades.  I can lean on the old, dependable excuses 1 but really that’s lame.  If every moment is the new normal, then there aren’t any excuses.  Our hobbies define us, and I love my hobbies.  So it’s time to get serious about some side projects.

One thing that I’ve always responded to positively when it comes to my side projects is a good deadline.  Nothing motivates like external pressure.

The deadline this time?  Something called the Galactic Side Project Month  (GaSiProMo) challenge.  You’ve heard of Hackathons or Codefests?  This is similar, but with a more sane schedule of an entire month for completion.

It was tempting to submit one of my more languishing, challenging old projects.  But in the end I decided on something new and fresh, one that is slightly more achievable.

Osram 5x7 display module
Osram 5×7 display module

For GaSiProMo, I’m going to get this display up and running.  It’s an intelligent LED matrix.  I might even throw in a keypad to change the patterns and such.

I’ve had this display module lying in my Big Bin of Parts for… more than 10 years.  At this point:

  1. I’m not convinced it even works.
  2. I don’t know what color the LEDs are (the module comes in yellow, red, and green).
  3. And I’m certainly not convince it will be that cool, but at least it’s a project that I’ve always wanted to do.

So there we go.  I’ll post regular updates here and over at the GaSiProMo website.  It’s time to blow the dust off some of these old projects.

Footnotes

  1. kids, age, waning interests, kids, fear, work, kids

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4 Comments

  1. Clever idea. I have an Arduino and a set of Pinocchio devices that I’ve barely done more than pull out of the box. I’d love to spend more time with them….but…. there’s always mountain biking or skiing!

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