Time to dive into the world of embedded programming head long with one of my favorite Christmas gifts: my NerdKit. What’s a NerdKit? Well its basically a starter kit for bridging programming with the real world through electronics, an API, and a thorough guide for getting started. You might have also heard of Arduino, which is a similar and uses open source technology for embedded programming.

What can you do with it? Well, thats what I aim to find out. In the meantime, though, you can check out the “Projects” page of the NerdKits site for some pretty damn cool projects that include:

• iPhone controlled RC Car
• Morse Code decoder
• Digital thermometers
• Spark generator
• Computer controlled robotics and devices

So for all you SavageLook.com faithful there’s sure to be some NerdKit guides and demos to come. Here’s hoping I haven’t forgotten every bit of electrical engineering I learned in college. Forget it, I drank that knowledge clean outta my head. I guess 3 hours/week of EE can’t compete with 12 hours/week of beer pong. Oh well, should be fun anyway!

Oh and be sure to follow on twitter for all kinds of cool updates, demos, and tutorials!

This is the first installment in what will hopefully be a regular occurrence on my blog. Its simply just a digest of interesting things from my twitter feed, complete with the source articles and the people behind them. Without further ado, let’s light this candle.

Incredible Javascript Performance metrics

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This was my favorite this week. A tremendously huge list of common Javascript tasks (conversions, HTML5, DOM access, etc…) broken into the different ways to perform them. Each of the methods is then tested millions of times against your current browser to tell you the most effecient way to perform them.

I know I am not doing this site justice. Go to it and check it out. This site should be a must have tool for any serious Javascript developer.

Mandelbrot Plotter

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This Flash-based Mandelbrot Plotter application allows you to create and save beautiful images of the Mandelbrot set. A must for you generative art junkies.

If you got a few spare minutes, I’d encourage you to check out the rest of flashandmath’s content as well. Some great visual content based just in code.

Blackberry giving out free playbooks to developers!

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Click the link for details. The short version is that if you build an approved app for the Blackberry App World by Feb 1st, 2011 you get a free PlayBook. Pretty sweet deal.

PlayBook App template using FDT and ANT

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Martin Rädlinger gives FDT users a head start on their road to a free Blackberry PlayBook with this extremely helpful app template.

Understanding Accelerometer Development (AS3)

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A great breakdown of how to use the accelerometer in mobile development, as it relates to AS3. Simple and concise with source code to go with it.

Top 50 Programming Quotes Of All Time

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Nothing like a little truth wrapped up in wit and sarcasm. Especially for us geeks. Enjoy some of these pearls of wisdom from a few programming greats you may recognize.

List of the Best Animation/Tweening Packages for AS3

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A seemingly comprehensive list of available tweening and animation libraries available for AS3. It includes who made it, where to find it, and the pros and cons of each. This is great place to start for a Flash newbie or a terrific reference for a seasoned pro.

Using OAuth with Adobe Air and Flex

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Need to access a 3rd party web API in your Adobe Air application. Check out this extremely useful blog post from Christophe Coenraets that includes a description, application, and full source code.

Blackberry PlayBook will support C++ extensions for Adobe Air

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This isn’t some Adobe Labs Alchemy magic, Blackberry will have a legit part of their mobile development SDK that will support C++ extension use by Adobe Air. This is the best of both worlds: The flexibility and ease of mobile development with Adobe Air and the power and efficiency of native SDK development. Blackberry really is making some strong moves to engage the developer community with its latest mobile offerings.