[bigiain]

I have found a "happy place" for me in programming _very_ small systems – most powerfully from a personal satisfaction/joy point of view, stuff without an OS. Arduino, Teensy, bare ATmega168s and ATtinys – coded in either the Arduino "java-alike" language, bare (no libraries) C, or actual raw assembler. Current projects include hacking on the Ardupilot quadcopter control code, a data logger for my coffee grinder (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigiain/6722839301/) and an Arduino driving a pair of cameras on pan tilt mounts to feed into some Processing/OpenCV code.

I find once I jump up to a RaspberryPi/BeagleBoard scale device with a whole Linux OS onboard, it starts to seem a little too much like "work".

From a "making things" perspective, I get _heaps_ of inspiration from the Arduino forums, my local hackerspace (both in-person at the space, as well as via the mailing list), and my local DorkBot group (again, both meetings and mailing list).

What works for me might not be what you need – but if you've got a drive to code and make stuff, tinkering on the borders of the tech and art worlds is fun…

[xyyyrz]

Thanks bigiain. I have been mainly a Windows engineer for a while now, though I'm feeling increasingly uncomfortable about my skill level on Windows (very high, imho) against my skill level on Linux (I can't hack Linux with the best of them unfortunately) is off balance. I've spent some time hacking on Android (recently) and have a history with embedded systems, but again not at a level I'm comfortable with. I've also been thinking a lot about 3d printing and how that intersection can yield new opportunities.

Totally think the intersection of tech and art or tech & other fields is a good way to reach some balance, maybe it's time to pick up a Pi...