Post by thread:[AD] microOBD 200 article contest -- win $3k

microOBD 200 is a small DIP-24 module that can be used to connect to the on-board diagnostics system of any modern vehicle. http://www.microobd.com Our company is offering you a chance to become familiar with OBD, achieve fame and glory, and win up to USD3000. The rules are simple: all you need to do, is write an article about a project that uses the microOBD 200, and get it published in a major electronics or hobby magazine[1]. The project can be any device that gets information from the vehicle: scan tool, digital gauge, data logger, trip computer, tire pressure monitor, black box, cell phone disabler, remote vehicle health monitor, or anything else your creative mind can come up with. The top prize ($3000) will go to the first person who gets the article published. The breakdown is as follows: 1st: $3000 2nd: $2000 3rd, 4th, etc: $1000 To qualify, you would need to email us a scanned copy or a digital photo of the actual article. The order will be determined based on the timestamp of the email message. You will retain all the rights to your project, and keep the honorarium. You can find the documentation and reference schematics on the product's page. The module is currently on backorder, we expect to receive the next batch within the next 2-3 weeks. We also designed a development board for it, if you think you may need one please email me off-list (spam_OUTvitaliyTakeThisOuTscantool.net) so we know approximately how many PCBs to order. Your thoughts and questions are welcome. Best regards, Vitaliy Maksimov ScanTool.net LLC [1] A "major electronics or hobby magazine" is any of the following publications: CircuitCellar Elektor EPE Make Nuts and Volts Silicon Chip Other publications with a significant circulation will be considered, but please check with us first.

Vitaliy wrote: > Should I take the silence to mean there is no interest? Or people haven't digested it yet (geesh, it's only been a day or so, have some patience), or they are trying to figure out how to juggle this with existing commitments, or they are trying to come up with a project idea, or they are intimidated by writing a article, or yes, they have no iterest. I can only tell you for sure why I'm not interested. I have done projects and have written articles, so I've got a reasonable idea what this will take. I know I would be paid very poorly at $3000 for this job, so it would have be something I do for fun. However, I've already got a plenty long list of those kinds of projects, so I'm going to pick stuff I'm really interested in for my "free" time, and I don't currently have a high interest in OBD2. Or to answer in the form of a old joke, "I can't afford to do it, I'm too expensive". ******************************************************************** Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, http://www.embedinc.com/products (978) 742-9014. Gold level PIC consultants since 2000.

Olin Lathrop wrote: >> Should I take the silence to mean there is no interest? > > Or people haven't digested it yet (geesh, it's only been a day or so, have > some patience), I'm working on it. :) Thank you everyone who replied so far, at least I know the message made it to the list. > or they are trying to figure out how to juggle this with > existing commitments, or they are trying to come up with a project idea, I hope you're right on this one. :) > or they are intimidated by writing a article, Good point. I would be happy to help proofread and edit the drafts. > or yes, they have no iterest. How can someone not have an interest in the wonderful and exciting field of on-board diagnostics? :-O {Quote hidden}> I can only tell you for sure why I'm not interested. I have done projects > and have written articles, so I've got a reasonable idea what this will > take. I know I would be paid very poorly at $3000 for this job, so it > would > have be something I do for fun. However, I've already got a plenty long > list of those kinds of projects, so I'm going to pick stuff I'm really > interested in for my "free" time, and I don't currently have a high > interest > in OBD2. Or to answer in the form of a old joke, "I can't afford to do > it, > I'm too expensive". Fair comment, but as far as I can tell most articles in CircuitCellar are written by people who do it for fun or name recognition. The $3k is just an added incentive, or a means of justifying working on the project to a significant other. Vitaliy

Tamas Rudnai wrote: > People are busy with writing the article... :-) I sure hope so! > Do you have a special evaluation kit for this contests? How much is that? > What is the time frame? I put a picture of the development board here: http://maksimov.org/piclist/microobd_200/ Don't have a price yet, I estimate our cost to be around $50-60. If a lot of people were interested, we could build them for a small fraction of that. :-) Vitaliy

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 1:53 PM, Vitaliy <.....piclistKILLspam.....maksimov.org> wrote: > Should I take the silence to mean there is no interest? > I'm not sure how the magazines feel about their authors getting kickbacks from component manufacturers. Regards, Mark markrages@gmail -- Mark Rages, Engineer Midwest Telecine LLC EraseMEmarkragesspam_OUTTakeThisOuTmidwesttelecine.com

Mark Rages wrote: > I'm not sure how the magazines feel about their authors getting > kickbacks from component manufacturers. As long as it's a good article that stands on its own, I think most wouldn't care. Of course I wouldn't go out of my way to point it out to them either. At least for Circuit Cellar, it's too late for that though. ******************************************************************** Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, http://www.embedinc.com/products (978) 742-9014. Gold level PIC consultants since 2000.

On 7/14/2010 1:38 PM, Mark Rages wrote: > On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 1:53 PM, Vitaliy<piclistspam_OUTmaksimov.org> wrote: >> Should I take the silence to mean there is no interest? >> > > I'm not sure how the magazines feel about their authors getting > kickbacks from component manufacturers. > > Regards, > Mark > markrages@gmail In my experience, *most* tech magazine articles are written by someone with a vested interest in the topic.

Olin Lathrop wrote: > Mark Rages wrote: >> I'm not sure how the magazines feel about their authors getting >> kickbacks from component manufacturers. > > As long as it's a good article that stands on its own, I think most > wouldn't > care. Of course I wouldn't go out of my way to point it out to them > either. > At least for Circuit Cellar, it's too late for that though. LOL, I did consider the fact that Dave is a regular poster. :-) However, I arrived at the same conclusion as Olin: I figured that they wouldn't mind. It's a triple win: the magazine gets an interesting article, we get product exposure, and authors get bragging rights & prize money. Maybe even a quadruple win, if you include the readers of CircuitCellar. I think that forbidding this kind of arrangement would be counter-productive: it would simply drive it underground, and hurt the companies that play by the rules. Vitaliy

Vitaliy wrote: > Olin Lathrop wrote: > > Mark Rages wrote: > > > I'm not sure how the magazines feel about their authors getting > > > kickbacks from component manufacturers. > > > > As long as it's a good article that stands on its own, I think most > > wouldn't care. Of course I wouldn't go out of my way to point it out > > to them either. > > At least for Circuit Cellar, it's too late for that though. > > LOL, I did consider the fact that Dave is a regular poster. :-) However, > I arrived at the same conclusion as Olin: I figured that they wouldn't > mind. It's a triple win: the magazine gets an interesting article, we get > product exposure, and authors get bragging rights & prize money. Maybe > even a quadruple win, if you include the readers of CircuitCellar. > > I think that forbidding this kind of arrangement would be > counter-productive: it would simply drive it underground, and hurt the > companies that play by the rules. The first thing that passed through my mind when I saw Vitaliy's original post was, "Should this be a real Circuit Cellar Design Contest?" But then I figured that that would be a lot more than his company would want to commit to. No, Circuit Cellar would not have a problem with this arrangement; like Olin said, the article has to stand on its own technical merit anyway. I might give it a little extra scrutiny, given that I know that this is going on behind the scenes, but I don't think that would have a major influence on the final decision. -- Dave Tweed Circuit Cellar project editor

Dave Tweed wrote: > The first thing that passed through my mind when I saw Vitaliy's original > post was, "Should this be a real Circuit Cellar Design Contest?" But then > I figured that that would be a lot more than his company would want to > commit to. Thank you for your reply. We considered sponsoring an official contest, but we really can't afford it right now. Unless we could get a company like Parallax or Sparkfun to co-sponsor. > No, Circuit Cellar would not have a problem with this arrangement; like > Olin said, the article has to stand on its own technical merit anyway. > I might give it a little extra scrutiny, given that I know that this is > going on behind the scenes, but I don't think that would have a major > influence on the final decision. Thank you for the clarification. Vitaliy

jim wrote: > What is the status of the microOBD 200 article contest? Have the boards > been ordered yet? We're making a few tweaks to the dev board, hope to have the PCBs the first week of August. > How do I go about getting one of the chips to start development with? > Please advise. You can order one here: http://www.scantool.net/microobd-200.html There is a lead time right now, because we keep running into all sorts of delays (latest one, Customs on the other end put a hold on the tester) but orders will be processed in the order they are received. You can cancel the order at any time, if you change your mind. Vitaliy