DeskLights

DeskLights project

What: ThingM's BlinkM lights activated by Growl via a Node JS server.

Why: I had been tossing around the idea of using some ThingM BlinkM lights to provide a visual notification for cases where audible notifications are not possible. This could be useful to deaf people or in cases where the environment is too loud, or must remain silent.

By using multiple BlinkM lights, it would also be possible to give significance to color and position.

Requirements:

• Working Growl install
• Working Node install - nodejs.org
• ThingM BlinkM light(s) and LinkM controller - thingM.com
• Node server from this sample code
• Growl plugin from this sample code

How:

• Install Node JS according to tips at nodejs.org
• Install the linkm-tool script from ThingM (http://code.google.com/p/linkm/downloads/detail?name=linkm-tool-macosx.zip&can=2&q=)
• Install Growl according to instructions at growl.info (I am temporarily using a fork of Growl, see link below.)
• Install the DeskLights Growl "style" by double clicking on it (http://growl.info/documentation/expanding-growl.php)
• Verify the correct linkm-tool path in DeskLights.js
• Start the DeskLights.js server "node DeskLights.js"
• Wait for Growl events or send commands using http (http://127.0.0.1:8124/lights?cmd=blue)

Huh?: So yeah, this is pretty silly, but it was fun. It's been a good proof of concept, but it needs work. I would really like to see the following things happen:

• Figure out Node Serial and stop using linkm-tool
• write a real growl style in Cocoa to get more data out of notification
• maybe write a growl replacement now that AppleScript has access to local notifications

Additional Resources: Thingm: thingm.com NodeJS: nodejs.org Growl: growl.info Growl Fork: https://bitbucket.org/pmetzger/growl/downloads