Mx. Jack Nelson
The Scrobble box is a stand alone computing device with input switches and an e-ink display. It is purpose-built to scrobble (i.e. list music plays on last.fm) from two different radio sources, KXLU and GUSH Radio. You can view the source code here.
I've been using last.fm for years to track my music listening habits. The current year's data is below. Streaming services can scrobble to last.fm, but there's an issue - I listen to a lot of music on the radio, and there is no official way to scrobble the songs I hear on the air, so I needed to make one.
My two favorite radio stations are KXLU and GUSH Radio, so I decided to create a physical box to sit on my desk with switches linked to each of those stations. When I flip on the radio station on my actual radio I can also flip on the KXLU switch, and just as easily turn them both off when I'm done listening.
The Scrobble Box is programmed in Python to scrape the websites that list the currently playing radio station tracks and scrobble them to last.fm. The love button marks a track as loved in last.fm. The box was built from parts that existed around the house, from an unused project case to household light switches and a leftover keycap.
Thornhill!
Craig Hissett
Bill Hill
Damn, I love the use of those AC light switches. Makes it look like the thing was pieced together with trash from the side of the road (in a good way). Such a wild contrast with the high-tech eink display below it. Really awesome aesthetics, and overall an unexpected take on the cyberdeck concept.