As you are more than likely aware, this past week, many areas of Colorado were absolutely devastated by flooding. In some areas, nearly 20 inches of rain fell in just a couple days. The damage is significant and it's going to take years to fully recover.
SparkFun wants to help. So on Monday, September 23rd, 10% of all SparkFun sales will be donated to the United Way Foothills Flood Relief Fund. That's not all - Elevations Credit Union, an outstanding local business and friend of SparkFun, is going to match whatever we raise dollar for dollar.
So if you've been holding out on making a purchase for just the right time, that time is Monday, September 23rd. Now on to today's products.
The rain has finally stopped and everyone's drying out. We have a few new products to talk about this week as everything starts getting back to normal.
ReplaceMeOpen
ReplaceMeClose
If you want to see what the OpenSegment Shields look like, check out the video from last week.
The MiniMoto is a new motor driver breakout. It can driver motors with a voltage range of 2.7 to 6.8 and up to 1A worth of current. What makes this driver unique is that it's controlled over I2C so you can free up some data lines if you're going to be driving a bunch of motors with a minimal amount of pins. If you want to know what you're in for, check out the getting started guide which also includes an Arduino library to make things easier for you.
Do you have big meat paws for hands? Or do you have tiny hands, like that of a child? No need to worry, our new large alligator clips should be easier to use for kids and adults alike! They're easier to handle and can clip to wires or large pads like the ones on a LilyPad.
The BigTime Watch Kit is back in stock! This new version fixes some issues with the enclosure. We are now using brass inserts instead of threading the screws directly into the plastic. This solves the problem caused with over-tightening the screws. No more cracking or stripped holes. We've also got rid of the extra-scratchy velcro band and replaced it with a stripey NATO style number. Snazzy.
Last week we released the OpenSegment Shield, but didn't have the blue version ready yet. The parts came in and now we have stock of the blue one. Be sure to check out all the OpenSegment displays we carry.
Lastly, we have a new version of the mini breadboard. Right now we only have the black. The new version has different 'nubs' which don't work with the older ones. Apparently the company can only make these now. We will be getting them in all colors soon.
That's all the new products I have for this week. Next week we'll have more new products as always. Be sure to check back then, thanks for reading!
To go along the lines of helping out flood relief. if you live in Colorado, and want to help out, I suggest going to a volunteering group to help clean up. If you can't donate money, donate time.
I will be spending most of my Saturday helping out co-workers who had their houses flooded by the St. Vrain.
Let's help restore faith in humanity for people by doing something good for those less fortunate than yourself.
When did the "Continue Reading" button become part of spark fun?
Edit - I agree with the people below. Please get rid of it.
- I'd second ditching the continue button. Sparkfun has one of the neatest, cleanest layouts of any site I frequent with great write ups; I'd definitely pass on the 'continue reading' button becoming a permanent feature though. Scrolling past an article is easy enough if for some reason I don't want to read it, and something might catch my attention and I'd decide to look at it while scrolling past. My preference would be it takes effort to not read an article, not effort to read it. I can't say I speak for the general public though, so just take it as my 2 cents. I'm sure I'll survive if the button stays. :-)
I second that
I third that
I definitely agree, I would rather just have the entire article on the page. Since there is really only one article being shown at a time it doesn't make much sense, unless you really want people to see the list of past articles...
fourthed. i don't particularly like the 'read more' button. for starters, there's barely enough to read to know if i want to read more! and it's sparkfun, so there's a 79% chance i will want to read more anyways..
Fifthed.
Sixeth
First thing I thought of when I saw "continue reading" was Starship Troopers "would you like to know more?", perhaps in the spirit of letting your geek shine you should change the button text.
It's gone, for the moment. We're obviously still kind of working on this one.
Couple-o days ago.
I like some of the changes that were made but the "continue reading" button is definitely not one of them.
If I had a penny for each time Robert says "actually"... :)
You'd have a dime!
actually, I think you'd have more than that.
Well, for this video alone, he'd have a dime. 11 cents if counting the 'actual' that almost rolled into an 'actually' :)
Either way, I'm just glad people are paying attention.
Wish it wasn't United Way. I have been intimidated by bosses (all the way up to Boeing VP), Failed because I have seen lumber mill workers beaten for failure to signup for automatic United Way payroll deduction in their drives for 100% participation. Will never give to them. Ever. Got an alternative? Do a deal with Salvation Army.
Way to support in times of disaster!
It's Milli-Amps not Milla amps, that's one I hear Robert say a lot, just like the Yanks call it "Soder" instead of Solder. You guys should sell those little brass insert that you use in the Big Time Watch kit, they could be quite handy. Anyway, all trivial rubbish aside, good luck over their guys and keep safe.
Those floods are similar to those Mexico is suffering on this days...
Have been watching the events unfold and my heart goes out to you all.. I'll be placing that wish list on order Monday..