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You might remember the original Chumby, which wasn’t quite as cool as the new Chumby One is. It has a touch screen for starters, and an awesome speaker. You can configure the widgets through the free web account that you get when you buy your Chumby. Personalize it any way you want. The thing I think I like the most is that it runs on battery, as well as through a regular cord.

A Chumby takes the best part of the Internet and sends it right to your desk. The Chumby is a window into YOUR Internet life, and only those parts of it you care to access quickly. Things like weather, news, podcasts, music and more now have a place away from your hard drive. Plug in your Chumby, connect to your network and create a lineup from more than 1500 widgets. The Chumby will then stream what YOU want to see… from sports scores to stock quotes… from video clips to games… and from photos to trivia!

You can set alarms and timers for night mode if you want. Just touch the screen, and do your thing! I absolutely love my Chumby, and it’s one of the best Christmas gifts you could buy the Geek in your life as far as I’m concerned!

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Chumby One Review

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I was challenged by Lamarr Wilson to showcase 16 “tech things” in my house. Of course, I opted for the most portable items. How many of these do you have (or want)? Here, in order, are the items that I used:

• iPhone
• Xbox 360
• Huey Pro
• Korg Kaossilator
• Nintendo DSi
• Spy Sunglasses
• Chumby
• Livescribe Pen
• Tenori-On
• MSI Wind
• Sonos
• ROV Bluetooth Scanner
• LED Party Favor
• Card Scan
• PSP
• Vado HD

If you’re inclined to record your own showcase, leave it as a video response to Lamarr’s original video, not mine.

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16 Tech Things in My House

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I can’t respond to every email I get, but I do try to answer what I can. A community member wrote in, asking for a tour of my office. He also is interested in buying the same desk that I have, and was wondering how he should go about putting it together, and setting everything up. This will now be the third person that I know of who has gotten the same setup that I have. It’s kinda cool, you know? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! He has some specific questions about my configuration, so let’s get to it!

• First, he wanted to know how I power the Tix clocks on top of my hutch. Quite simple, really – there’s a power strip mounted to the back of the hutch where the clocks plug in to. If you plug them all in to the same surge protector, you can always hit the switch and reset them all at the same time if you ever need to.
• Next, he wondered where all my speakers are, were the cables long enough to connect them to the sub woofer, and etc. I have one of them on the corner of the desk, near the bamboo tree. I have the cable for it running along the edge of the desk, and strung through a hole that was drilled into the desk already. The second speaker is behind the iMac. The third one is behind the left monitor. The center speaker is up top on the hutch, and the last speaker is behind me. The sub woofer is over in the corner, near a bookshelf. I keep them hidden, because I don’t need to see them. I just need to hear them.
• Your UPS and connections – where is everything plugged in, and how do you not overload? I do have a couple of UPS’, and they’re behind the hutch. There’s about a foot distance between the back of the hutch and the wall. I have the two UPS’, a couple of power strips, and the like in order to keep everything plugged in and not suck up too much energy.
• Your printer/chumby/phone – where are all of these things plugged into? There’s a reason this particular room is my office – it is on its own power circuit in the house. The laser printer itself uses a lot of juice when it’s going, not to mention everything else I have running. The Chumby, my phone, the sub woofer, and the amp are all behind me, and they’re plugged into a regular old power strip. Never plug a laser printer into a UPS, it’s a horrible idea.

That’s it, pretty much. I have my office set up the way that is comfortable and accessible for me. You need to create your own space. It’s really cool and fun that you want to do what I’ve done, but please keep in mind that you need to “own” your own setup. It has to work for you, or there’s no point in all the work you put into it!

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How Do You Put Together Your Home Office?

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Recently, I showed off my new Chumby. It’s truly addictive, and the live community has had a blast being able to send messages to Chuck the Chumby. I have a user named Rotozip who created a Widget that allows them to do that. I didn’t remember the username RotoZip, until he reminded me he is the person who created the “iAlertYou”. It’s a program that I featured in my “Top 100 Mac Apps” list. It’s an equivalent to a car alarm, only for your laptop.

This is Chumby the personal internet player. Since getting this device for Christmas I have been working on a couple of widgets for it. You can see them running on my virtual Chumby above. One of the widgets is a Blockbuster widget which will display the movies you have in your queue waiting to be mailed out. The other widget is a Chris.Pirillo.com widget that allows users in his chat room to send messages to the Chumby. This device is really cool and quite fun to develop for. You can get to know what Chumby is all about and get your own at www.chumby.com.

By hanging out into our chat room, you can become a regular voiced user. Once you are a voiced user, you can add comments to the Chumby, as well!

If you are a Flash Programmer and have ideas for Chumby, or any other applications I might be able to share with others, send an email to me at chris@pirillo.com.

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Chumby Widget

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I’ve always wanted to see my heads popping in and out of virtual holes. Mitch programmed my head into a “Whack a Gnome” game, that you can play for free in your web browser.

You can go to my blog to find this game, along with others. I’m hoping that some more of you will create other cool and fun games that we can all enjoy. Here’s your chance to whack me in the head… and apparently, it’s addictive!

I also have links to documentation for gamer testing, learning to create your own games, etc. If these are things that interest you, be sure and check them out!

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Whack me in the Face – You Know you Want To

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That’s right… it’s Chumby! This is definitely going to be a huge hit, and the favorite new gadget of many Geeks. I am having a lot of fun playing with the Chumby… and so are all the people in our live community!

The Chumby is a compact device that displays useful and entertaining information from the web using your wireless internet connection. Always on, it shows — nonstop — what’s online that matters to you. What can you do with a Chumby? The question is… what CAN’T you do with it?

• Catch the latest news headlines, sports, weather, stock prices.
• Play your iPod mp3 files through built in speakers. Charge it too.
• Enjoy your Flickr and Facebook photos as a digital picture frame.
• Stay updated on new Netflix releases or view your movie queue.
• Make and share e-greetings, photo mash-ups, goofy animations.
• Wake up to the multi-tone alarm clock.
• Track any eBay auction or Craigslist item.
• Monitor incoming email on any POP3 account.

The coolest thing is that I have my Chumby sitting on my desk, and it’s now tuned in to my live chat. Any regular voiced user or channel op can type a message, and it will display directly on my Chumby! At only $179.99, it’s a great way to stay connected and have some fun at the same time.

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The Widget Gadget Gizmo Desklet Thingamajig (Chumby!)