With the Intertubes atwitter about the finalist – and winner – of the Hackaday Prize, it’s only fitting the rest of you get to hear what the judges thought about the finalists.
We had some amazing judges combing over these projects, ranging from people who have told Congress they could shut down the Internet at will to a Dutch guy that just figured out how to order a plain hamburger in the Munich train station. Really, really smart people. Here’s what they had to say about each project:
Today is my birthday so I feel a completely undeserved sense of honour that the prize was announced today. And on top of it the finalist I was hoping for won! Considering these two factors I think I should be allowed to accompany the winner into space lol
Well, your argument certainly is compelling; I’m sure the sponsors could scrounge up another space ticket for you :-) Thanks for the laugh this morning.
Your argument is compelling; I’m sure the sponsors could scrounge up another space ticket :-) Thanks for the laugh this morning.
I looked through SatNOGS but I don’t really understand it. What’s it for? I get the satellite tracking part, but I don’t really get what that DOES for someone. Can someone explain an example use case to my dumb ass?
Most obvious use case: you have the budget to build and launch a small research satelite. But you do not have the budget for a massive network of ground sensors to get data from that satelite, in large part because cheap launches put the satelite into an orbit that is low and fast and hard to track. So you use SatNOGS stations run by other people all around the world to help track your new toy.
Second most obvious use case: You are a total space nerd. You want to play about with cool new space toys, but you can’t launch a whole rocket. But you can afford to build a little ground station. You get your excited little paws all over some hot, fresh data that you and everyone else in the world can now play with. Huzzah!
Thanks, this along with another excellent writeup in the winner announcement post ( http://hackaday.com/2014/11/13/satnogs-wins-the-2014-hackaday-prize/comment-page-1/#comment-2133505 ) really explained things well and helped me understand.
Cheers to all of the finalists! Personally, I was pulling for the ChipWhisperer project based on its sheer bravado, but I can see how the SatNOGS project could certainly be considered worthy of top honours. Well done, all.
So who is this person who told Congress they could shut down the Internet at will? That sounds like an interesting story; seems to me I heard something about it once but I can’t remember the details…
I don’t know if it was Joe Grand, but he was in L0ft when they testified to Congress.
Didn’t the cult of the Dead Cow do it too? I think they were the first.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVJldn_MmMY&w=420&h=315%5D
Well that was fun.
I demand more contests!