If you’ve got one of those cute Staples ‘Easy’ buttons lying around, you can make it a lot more useful by connecting it to Slack, like Nick Sypteras did.<\/b>
\nIf you\u2019 ve got one of those cute Staples \u2018Easy\u2019 buttons lying around, you can make it a lot more useful by fiddling with its innards and connecting it to Slack, like developer Nick Sypteras did. Staples \u2018Easy\u2019 buttons like developer Nick Sypteras did
Like many of us, Sypteras works at his desk with headphones on, and grew tired of being spooked by visitors making loud noises or waving in his face to get his attention. He found a solution in the \u2018Easy\u2019 button, which he hacked to send him an alert on Slack whenever a visitor pressed it.
Want to whip up your own desktop notification button? Just grab a soldering iron and an Adafruit microcontroller with Wi-Fi on board, and follow Sypteras\u2019 fairly straightforward instructions. The button costs about $7, while the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH will set you back by about $16. Adafruit microcontroller with Wi-Fi on board
He\u2019s even included the Micropython code he used to configure the Adafruit board and connect it to Slack\u2019s API. You can, of course, tweak it to do other things; I\u2019 m thinking about setting one up at my co-working space so our lunch deliverywoman can buzz us all when she\u2019s dropped off our meal.
Got any other bright ideas for hacking an \u2018Easy\u2019 button? Let us know in the comments.
«Easy» Desk Alert Button on Nick Sypteras «Easy» Desk Alert Button on Nick Sypteras Distract Slack
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